The 2018 World Cup in Russia is now upon us with the first game between Russia and Saudi Arabia kicking off at 6:00am on Thursday June 18th. With so many games to watch I created my own WC timetable for the group games.
Here is a copy.
My personal level of excitement is very low but I love watching football and given that in Canada and the -5 hour time difference with the UK it will make it a little easier to watch.
The group games are usually the dullest with so many having next to zero chance of advancing to the knock out games.
England should advance with little trouble but as yet I have not bothered to see who in the final 16 teams they will potentially face.
Written by GunnerN5
Arsenal News 24/7
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Morning All,
Thank you GN5.
I am looking forward to some of the games and a reason to sit down most of the day.. Hope work doesn’t interfere with the daytime games.
BBC saying we are looking at a 22 y.o. Uruguayan DM. Could be true, in wbich case someone is certainly leaving.
Ha ha GN5
I’ve spent hours doing a chart of games but my personal level of excitement is very low 🙂
Chas
Who is the bloke in the been-there-done-it video earlier?
Cheers GN5
This will come in handy over the next month.
Not sure, Micky.
SRP – i actually have reed other google answers, saw the Islington connection and thought it was weird as the Club originated in Woolwich, all right?
thanks GN5, I have printed your table
Im as excieted as you, not very. But it’s football and as I said before in the absence of fish a crab is fish
Or even, in the absence of mud carp is mud 🙂
🙂 crab not carp 🙂
we have singed a 22 year old Uruguayan midfielder. It probably means one of those mentioned the other day is going to leave. I have my money on Wilshere and Iwobi, academy graduates
Great work GN5, thanks, that will come in very handy.
I do hope we sign this Lucas Torreira chappy … any midfielder whose name ends in eira is fine by me.
It’s still a rumour Eddie …. we were definitely going to sign Fellaini a week ago 🙄
Apparently … according to Wiki … he was born in Fray Bentos … but that could just be spam ….
Quality work there, Rasp 🙂
…. think of the song we could make up for him ….. “He’s Unai Emery’s man …. he’s tastier than spam” … etc etc
Morning all.
Micky, you are right it did take a few hours to put it together. I put it together for my own use with Canadian game times – then I thought it may come in handy for others in the UK. However I made a dumb error and deducted 5 hours to get UK times – instead of adding 5 hours – fortunately Chas caught and corrected my error.
Micky I remain feeling so so about the World Cup. I created the schedule to keep myself busy – being idle drives me crazy so I try to keep myself occupied.
Canada, Mexico and USA have won the bid to hold the 2026 World Cup. Eight years away seems like an eternity to me – but I would love to still be around to experience the atmosphere.
I have no idea how the games will be split but I’m sure the lions share will be played in the USA.
I dont understand youth anymore (especially as I’m over 50 now). My daughter is travelling through europe for 6 weeks at the moment and not going to any world cup games. She is in Dubin at this week so I organised for her to go to the emirates as her next stop but instead she is flying to Lisbon enroute to Barcelona.
The 2026 WC will have 48 teams playing in 80 games, the USA will host 60 including all games from the quarters forward, Canada and Mexico will each host 10 games.
The Canadian games will be played in 3 cities, my travel distance would be – Toronto, 200kms – Montreal 750kms, – Edmonton 3500kms.
Canada hosting WC games after Trump and Trudeau clash.
And Mexico, how will we get over the wall that Trump will build?
VP -Trump is a like a nightmare in 2018 but he will be just a bad memory in 2026.
He’s looking to get the Nobel peace prize but his performances are more deserving of an Oscar.
We will be 2 DM, one young and one confirmed. I think that Iwobi is out for sure. Wilshere maybe.
Adli staying in Paris in the end – strange
– Leno, Sokratis and Martins to be announced at the same time
Free agent William Carvalho could also be targeted
Leno – Bellerin, Sokratis, ?, Koli – Xhaka, Carvalho, Miky – Ramsey, Ozil – Auba
Cech – Lichten, Mavro, Holding, Monreal – AMN, Torreira, Wilshere – Gelson, Laca, Wellbeck
How does that look to you?
Other option:
Leno – Bellerin, Sokratis, ?, Koli – Ramsey, Carvalo – Martins, Ozil, Miky – Auba
Cech – Lichten, Mavro, Holding, Monreal – Xhaka, Torreira – AMN, Wilshere, Wellbeck – Laca
Who is Martins? And I had better look up Leno whom I guess is a GK.
Charalambos Papastathopoulos
This is the name of the father and agent of Sokratis,
BR – Leno is Dortmund’s GK
Martins is Sporting’s winger (8 goals, 8 assists in the Portuguese league) and a Portuguese international
Do you know how you to say Chicken pasta in Greek? Pastha Tho Poulos 😦 bad joke sorry
– Ok so I can see a Brazil – Spain final with Brazil winning and Uruguay and Belgium to battle it out for 3rd place with Uruguay edging the Belgians
– Golden boot: Neymar or Gabriel Jesus or Suarez
RC. I bet you a fish that Brazil do not reach the final
which fish and where do we eat it?
Beware RC
When Erik sends a fish, it’s designed to be a right stinker by the time it arrives. The box is dispatched second class for a slow journey and within the fish has been shoved into a fur coat for added warmth. Then, just to be sure, he puts a small sun in there for a scorching temperature
Mmm, Uruguay and Belgium in the semis eh?
The seal flippers can get quite stinky, too.
World Cup warm up.
Mbappe left training early with an injury.
Morning All,
RC. Paris?
Chas. I am going to give that recipe a try, though it may well be beyond my culinary skills.
Tonight Russia 2-1
Enjoyed the 6.48 WC warm up
Spain Portugal fri eve
Nigeria Croatia sat eve
I cannot remember the last time I watched an England game and to be frank, I could not list the team. Harry Kane starts and beyond that, I have no idea
In the absence of Pele Iwobi is Pele
My WC mantra anyhow
there you are DidIt, shame on you! you know Harry Kane but not Danny Wellbeck, pssssshhhhh
England squad – in full
1. Jordan Pickford
2. Kyle Walker
3. Danny Rose
4. Eric Dier
5. John Stones
6. Harry Maguire
7. Jesse Lingard
8. Jordan Henderson
9. Harry Kane
10. Raheem Sterling
11. Jamie Vardy
12. Kieran Trippier
13. Jack Butland
14. Danny Welbeck
15. Gary Cahill
16. Phil Jones
17. Fabian Delph
18. Ashley Young
19. Marcus Rashford
20. Dele Alli
21. Ruben Loftus-Cheek
22. Trent Alexander-Arnold
23. Nick Pope
Iwobi is Pele 🙂 🙂 great one
i am not sure if it is my depression or bad weather, or the country WC is staged – i don’t give a flying feck, not sure I’ll watch it at all. unless poland gets to the final, I might perk up then
frenchie in the sink 🙂 I wish all living creatures were puppies
Crikey Eddie, that list is hardly going to strike fear into the hearts of any opposition teams is it?
Not sure what I was expecting. Gazza, I suppose 🙂
18/19 season kicks off with vs Man City at home, then Chelsea away.
aaaahhh, Gazza, he was special 🙂
and you are right, he would probably scare the shit out of the opposition if he turned up on the pitch in the full English kit looking like that
that’s much better from Gascoine, I hope he stays sober
City home, then Chavs away. Wow, definately a start to be excited about. Nothing worse than getting a campaign under way with a Burnley or Huddersfield away
look at Newcastle fixtures and cheer up
anyone else for the opener?
the goal fest begins 🙂
Robbie Williams leads the opening ceremony 🙂
ahh eddie
watching the game?
I think the lefties are boycotting it 🙂
Simple, aquire, distribute or better still, create a distributed system
Marx: out of date
Albert Einstein ” makes sweeping and negative generalisations, for example calling the Chinese “industrious, filthy, obtuse people”
Even the brainiest of men can say very stupid things 🙂
no micky, I am on a very potent cocktail of drugs at the moment, cannot concentrate at all. 30 secs and i will start wondering what competition it is and why are we wearing weird away kit
sorry to hear that Eddie
Hope you’re back on top form asap
wow, great goal to end the game
5 goals!!! nice
Well after professing so, so interest in the WC I watched game 1 (while I was doing a crossword puzzle) and although it was a very one sided affair I liked seeing lots of goals. I just hope it was a good sign for the rest of the tournament.
Looking at tomorrows schedule the game that stands out is the one between Portugal and Spain.
cheers micky, I’m weak, that’s all
Spain without a coach could be interesting
Ditto GN5
My hopes were low, but now I’m hooked
Today’s teams were the lowest two ranked in the competition, and while I inked in Spain Portugal as the first must-watch, I’ll now try and watch as many as I can.
I’m now looking forward to watching England, which hasn’t happened …urrr…before 🙂
Eddie
What the experts were saying was that Spain changing manager at this time shouldn’t effect them too badly as the core of the side have been together for so long. Me? Dunno
Nothing weak about mental health stuff at all
I cannot believe that the Spanish team will not be effected by the change. After all the guy who chose them knew how he was going to play them and they knew what was expected from them. They’ll suffer
ok, I am not weak – divorce, financial insecurity, death of best friend would probably depress even the likes of chas and Terry 🙂
Micky. Are you espousing the non-functioning drip-down theory?
Really enjoyed the Russia game which came as a major surprise,
Eddie Chin up 😀
Of course not, Erik dear, it doesn’t work
Eddie, I sure hope you get to watch a few exciting games to cheer you up, feeling low is not fun at all.
If all else fails try a few glasses of single malt scotch – it’s always been my way of cheering myself up – it’s not let me down so far.
Micky for PM, Chancellor and next manager of Arsenal (after 5 years of Emery success, of course) !
..
Morning!
This about sums up my football knowledge these days.
GN5 – thanks! I don’t drink, but maybe I will try delivering milk – when everything goes tits up – there is milk to be delivered.
this is a mouse:
Morning All,
Eddie. Milk. This is a brilliant philosophy and one which I will adhere to from now on.
Erik
I’ll sign up to the Eddie philosophy as well
It’s the heart of everything isn’t it. When you know what bottom is, you can then adopt the fuck-it way of life 🙂
I bet chas didn’t expect this response to his fine photo 🙂
Spain Portugal
A dull draw would suit both or one desperately wants to top the group and beat the neighbour
Is this the must-have an early goal scenario?
Exactly right. We are all doomed anyway 😀 😀
yes, early goal followed by many more from Spain. Or portugal. Or both.
Eddie
It is a great photo indeed. I was trying to find one for Chas in return but couldn’t. It’s similar in content. One of H. Upmann (London’s finest cigar/tobacco blender). It’s a blitz pic as well, and he’s set up a desk amongst the rubble with him sitting suited and booted with an “open for business” notice. Same day, he sent a telegram to Churchill with the message “Sir, your cigars are safe”
That’s simply brilliant! I have always admired the mental strength of the English
The Darkest Hour is on top of my most favourite movies. I had no idea that was how the war in rotten west was panning out, we were told a different story of cowardice and deceit from our allies and not just the French.
When we get to around the 100 comments mark, as now, can we simply publish the day’s WC fixtures (in the absence of some wise words from anyone) just to avoid excessive scrolling about?
POST ‘ish
WC today:
1pm Egypt Uruguay..do we see AFC target Lucas Torreira
4pm Morocco Iran…Desert Derby
7pm Spain Portugal….Iberian punch up?
Thanks for the post GN5. To be fair I think it may be the group stages where the best football is to be seen. More goals and teams tend to open up their play a bit more because they have 3 games to try and progress to the knockout stages. Also some of the minnows maybe feel they have nothing to lose so go for it a bit more. There is drama and do or die scenarios in the knockouts but you often find the big teams play less expansively against each other and often cancel each other out.
Anyway I recommend a fantasy football team in the WC. It keeps you more interested in how your players are doing. Not giving you any tips or telling you my team but I wouldn’t turn my nose up at hat-tricks for Messi, Neymar, Lukaku, Muller, Reus, Coutinho and Erikkson (plus some assists), and clean sheets and assists from Kimmich, Pepe and Trippier. Oh and perhaps Lloris could save a penalty on his way to a clean sheet.
On the WWII subject I have a true story to share which relates to a lot of my family tree being Scottish.
My Grandfather was a RSM in the Black Watch, so probably not a man to be trifled with. Anyway he was one of those fighting his way off the Dunkirk beaches and was with one of his troop when they spotted a raft about to depart. They sprinted for it but as they got there whoever was co-ordinating the raft said there was already too many on it and they would have to get the next one.
They took cover on the beaches again thinking that was their only chance gone and that they now wouldn’t make it out of there, but fortunately, after a while, another came along and they managed to get on it. About 20-30 minutes into the Channel they spotted the remains of that first raft, bombed, and the co-ordinator dead in the water and with no other survivors in sight. I always felt that it indicated how the smallest of details and perhaps lucky breaks in life can alter so much, being that my father is the youngest of 3 brothers and wasn’t conceived until the end of the war.
Morning all, WW11 holds a lot of mixed memories for me, I believe I’m the only AAer who actually experienced living through the war.
Just imagine this happening when your friends an family are having a drink at their local on Boxing Day.
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
Islington, Boxing Day, 1944. A V2 rocket exploded in Mackenzie Road, Holloway.
At least 73 people were killed and 168 injured, 86 of them severely. Twenty buildings were wrecked, including the Prince of Wales pub.
The V2, launched in Belgium, took less than 20 minutes to reach its destination. It exploded at 9.26pm, leaving a crater 30 feet wide and 15 feet deep. Water and gas mains were cut and the sewer broken. The crater quickly filled with water and nearby basements flooded. Escaping gas caught fire in numerous places. The night was very cold and extremely foggy. The thick smoke from several fires made visibility more difficult and rescue efforts were particularly hazardous: the first vehicle on the scene stopped only a few feet before the crater.
On Christmas Day the pub had been closed, but it reopened the next day with numbers swelled because other pubs nearby had run out of beer. There was a celebration taking place for Emily Neighbour, who had just got engaged.
The proprietors, George and Agatha Streeter, survived the explosion. It forced them under the counter, which protected them from debris when it and they fell into the cellar. That had been in use as an overflow bar and was crowded with drinkers; kids, too, were on the step outside the pub with biscuits and soft drinks when the bomb struck.
Fifteen houses in Mackenzie Road were demolished and 22 in the surrounding streets partially fell down.
………………………………………………………………………………………….
Many of my families friends and two of my young cousins were among those who did not survive, they were outside the pub.
0-0 68 mins, I haven’t missed much
no-one else watching..again
I am in the chair at last. Anything happened?
Only seen 10 minutes and it is crap.Hoping for better in the Spain game
According to a French paper we have bid for David Luiz at Chelsea. Love to see that lunatic at THOF. Him and Mustafi are the dream team 😀
yukkie Diego Costa yuk yuk
We got the early goal so fingers crossed
Another league in terms of quality from the other two games I’ve watched.
brilliant from costa
Yes, it was. I want Portugal to win b ..jeepers what a shot…but a goal fest and I won’t mind. Superb game so far
You Eddie. P or S?
are you being disgusting – P or S 🙂
S I think although I loathe Costa
where are the Vines, gone to Rosiya?
I’d go for P every time despite the winker
P for me
That aside, I think the game needed that goal for Portugal. Had Spain got the next they’d have done all that possession shit
the Vines have been up the pub, surprisingly.
De Gea – hahahahahahahahahaha
wow, cracking half
That possession shit is bollox.
That Costa goal is superb
Exactly Chas 🙂
I’m always one comment out of sync 🙄
Soz, just came on during the half time refill.
aha, the Blues Brothers 🙂
As you say, different level of football. Great to watch and Ronnie is just superb
What an amazing strike
Great game. Come on Portugal
Are we after Gelson Martins ,,,,,,,,,, a Portuguese sub?
What has this Club come to?
Spain playing some lovely football
Been keeping an eye on Carvalho
I’ve never seen a more pointless player. Thank God they were always just rumours
Are you talking about ‘possession shit’, BR?
Just the DM we need said everyone.
Hang on, he’s shite.
fuuuuuuuucking hell
shit, what a player
i thought it was going to be all huffing and puffing, much a do about nothing AND then this goal, bloody hell
Wow
Holy shit, that chap can bend a ball
bloody love football
True about Carvalho, the man is pants
Brilliant stuff after the crap we saw earlier in the day.
And tomorrow evening we have Iwobi. Really looking forward to that
Oh, and we have:
RC’s France
Erik’s Denmark
VP’s Aus and Croatia
and OUR Iwobi’s Nigeria
Mrs R has arranged for us to go out tomorrow evening during the Denmark game. A 24 hour flu may be in order.
The last game is why I love football so much. Ronaldo is in a class all of his own, he may well be the best player that has ever graced a football field.
I am, once again, a believer and I’m a World Cup fan – we are watching the best of the best and fortunately we get to view all of the games.
England always seem to find a way to disappoint us so I don’t have very high expectations, plus I simply cannot begin to cheer on Spurs players – my dearly departed Dad would disown me……………
GN5, what were your thoughts and feelings over the Sol CAmpbell transfer?
Also your post on the bombing of the pub in Islington during WW2 was sad
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