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You are here: Home / Sports / Cameroon v Croatia Open Thread

Reader Interactions

105Comments

  1. 1.

    Morzer

    Croatia to win 3-1. There, if that doesn’t help Cameroon’s chances, I don’t know what would!

  2. 2.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    Imagine how different this game might look if the Croats hadn’t been screwed in their first game.

  5. 5.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    Cameroon’s kit is quite something, but so is that of Croatia.

  6. 6.

    SRW1

    I am not sure the wannabe Mowhawk warriors in the various teams will look all that fondly at pictures of their WC 2014 participation in, say, 30 or 40 years time.

  7. 7.

    HumboldtBlue

    I have been binge-watching Downton Abbey and the acting has been simply magnificent, although I am now re-evaluating that notion after having watched the last week of soccer. Drama queens are bush league compared to these guys

  13. 13.

    HumboldtBlue

    What has changed in 30 years? It used to be Czechoslovakia and Serbia. Now it’s Czech Republic, Serbia, Slovakia, Bosnia-Herz, Monetenegro and one I am forgetting

  15. 15.

    allium

    @SRW1: If we have hair on the sides of our heads in 2040, how will our neurolinks to the Master Computer get a good reading from our brain?

  28. 28.

    Cacti

    Pulling for the Croats just because it will make the final two matches of Group A a lot more meaningful, especially Mexico vs. Croatia.

  29. 29.

    scav

    @HumboldtBlue: What’s the Czech Republic doing in there? Not a part of the former Yugo. They had their Velvet Divorce, granted, but that’s with the Slovaks.

    ETA: Not part of the Balkans, different dynamic during post-Communist breakup is what I mean.

  31. 31.

    HumboldtBlue

    @scav: I cross-mixed all sorts of nations in that post, please don’t beat me or point fingers and laugh at my ignorance, I am very shy and very sensitive, like Betty Cracker

  32. 32.

    scav

    @HumboldtBlue: No, I could see different reasons why they might be included or not, just going for clarification. Could also be football reasons, which I’m clueless about.

  33. 33.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @SarahT: @Violet: You are both wrong. It is Grimace. Since he quit eating fast food, he’s dropped a lot of weight.

  37. 37.

    Morzer

    @⚽️ Martin:

    Song elbowed the guy in the back off the ball. Right in front of the referee. Why he did it, I can’t say, he just liked it better that way.

  41. 41.

    Morzer

    From the Guardian live-blog:

    http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/18/cameroon-v-croatia-world-cup-2014-live

    41 min: That was Cameroon in a nutshell, there. As Mbia and Moukandjo were arguing with each other after a mix-up, Alex Song was sprinting behind Mandzukic, who appeared to slow down and cause a collision. Song continued running after him and sort of – as difficult as it should be to perform such an act – elbow him from behind. The referee was perfectly placed and had no hesitation in showing him the red card. That’s really dim-witted from Song. All we needed was a couple of players elsewhere on the pitch arguing about bonus payments and we’d have been able to shout ‘House!’ in the game of Cameroon bingo

  45. 45.

    burnspbesq

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):

    Does Kosovo have its own team?

    Yes, but they are pretty far down the European pecking order. They might be better than Andorra, San Marino, and Liechtenstein, but they would have trouble keeping up with Luxembourg, the Faroe Islands, and Northern Ireland.

  49. 49.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    Down a player and down by two goals? I don’t think Cameroon comes back.

  50. 50.

    burnspbesq

    Well, that makes up for Olic’s horrific miss in the early moments of the Brazil match. Classy, composed finish.

  54. 54.

    MattR

    So Croatia needs to beat Mexico to advance. I don’t think they can count on Cameroon beating Brazil to give Croatia a chance to advance with a tie.

  55. 55.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    Okay, that was a silly play by the Croat, but why was Matip holding his head after getting kicked in the ribs?

  57. 57.

    Morzer

    @MattR:

    My bet would be on El Tri in that game. I think they are a more complete team and have a much better keeper.

    (Now I’ve said that, Ochoa will probably be possessed by the ghost of Iker Casillas).

  62. 62.

    Morzer

    @SarahT:

    This has turned into a rather depressing game. Cameroon don’t seem likely to score and their incompetence isn’t especially entertaining.

  63. 63.

    ⚽️ Martin

    @burnspbesq: Already set to record on the TiVo. Not optimistic given how Irvine played against Vandy. Hard to win a game mainly on walks and HBs.

  64. 64.

    MattR

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN): Because he is more likely to draw a red card if the ref thinks there was contact to the head. He might get lucky and fool the ref, but more likely the ref is going to remember that and not give him the benefit of the doubt in the future. At this point, I can’t really blame him for taking the chance, lame as I may find it. The only way Cameroon has a chance of coming back is if Croatia loses a player.

    @Morzer: I think Mexico should be able to at least manage a tie, though with the way they have been playing a win is quite possible. It would take a not unprecedented Mexican meltdown for them not to advance. (Yikes, that’s a lot of negatives)

  65. 65.

    ⚽️ Martin

    @MattR: Mexico is riding high here. All things being equal, I think they have the emotional edge going in.

  66. 66.

    Morzer

    @MattR:

    Well, that’s 3-0 and I think there’s more chance of Rand Paul becoming an honest man than there is of Cameroon saving this game.

  68. 68.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    Brazil really should be the team staring at the hard road to the second round.

  71. 71.

    Calouste

    Croatia should try for one more goal. That means they’ll advance in the scenario that they draw with Mexico and Brazil loses to Cameroon (not likely, but you might as well cover all bases).

  73. 73.

    Morzer

    @SarahT:

    I am almost expecting the Cameroon manager to rush onto the pitch and start screaming “Mercy Rule! Mercy Rule!”.

  75. 75.

    Onkel Fritze

    The Croat scorers Olic and Perisic play for VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. Mandzukic used to.

  77. 77.

    scav

    Another dumb question. Do teams care who they could hurt by losing by a lot of points? (in other words, are they so mean as to play to lose so long as they really had the teams they hurt with the differential – whatever that complicated ranking thing is called?)

  78. 78.

    Morzer

    @scav:

    Goal difference – and generally, no. Players want to get endorsements and offers from big clubs, so they have no desire to be publicly humiliated.

  82. 82.

    scav

    @Morzer: Ah yes, should entirely have thought of the personal consequences in addition to whatever national antagonisms might be playing out. dumb question indeed.

  83. 83.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @SRW1: No. I just think that Croatia got screwed out of three points against Brazil and should be at the top of the group with Brazil trying to figure out how to amass the points needed to move on.

  88. 88.

    Cacti

    I’ll make my early prediction: Croatia beats Mexico and advances out of group play on goal differential. Mexico having two goals disallowed in their opening game will be their undoing.

  89. 89.

    SRW1

    Croatia really could have been done something more for their goal difference in this game.

  90. 90.

    ⚽️ Martin

    Croatia really prefers passing the ball into defenders on a break rather than shooting on goal.

  91. 91.

    Morzer

    @Cacti:

    If Croatia beats Mexico, they won’t need to worry about goal difference. They’ll have 6 points to Mexico’s 4 and Cameroon’s 0, 1 or 3.

  95. 95.

    Morzer

    Well, thank heaven that’s finally over. What a depressing game to watch for a neutral.

  96. 96.

    SRW1

    @Cacti:
    If Croatia draw against Mexico, Mexico is through with five points and Coatia would rely on Cameron beating Brazil. If that were to happen, goal difference would come into play and would be in favor of Croatia (over Brazil!).

  98. 98.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @Morzer: What I saw watching that first game, admittedly not being an expert:

    1) The penalty that led to Brazil’s second goal was ridiculous;
    2) The whistle that negated a goal for Croatia was almost as bad;
    3) Neymar should probably have been sent off for elbowing prior to scoring Brazil’s first goal;
    4) I thought the chance that led to Brazil’s third goal was created by fouling a Croat defender.

    I thought the first two absolutely should have been called differently and the Croats could feel hard done by in not getting at least one of the other calls. Add it up and it’s about a three goal swing in a game Brazil won by two.

  99. 99.

    Cacti

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):

    I thought the first two absolutely should have been called differently and the Croats could feel hard done by in not getting at least one of the other calls. Add it up and it’s about a three goal swing in a game Brazil won by two.

    And if my aunt had balls, she’d be my uncle.

  103. 103.

    Morzer

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):

    I see your argument – and I said at the time that the ref had screwed up the game. I am not so sure that Croatia would have won it. I do think they would have managed a draw at the least.

  105. 105.

    Cacti

    @Morzer:

    Pletikosa doesn’t strike me as the most reliable keeper I’ve ever seen.

    I don’t know enough about him to say whether that was a typical performance for him. Maybe it was first game jitters, I don’t know. The nicest thing you could say about him that day was that he was below average.

    Mexico had jitters in yesterday’s match, but settled in after surviving the barrage of the first 25 minutes or so. Pletikosa didn’t seem to improve as time went on.

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