if your team wins....

Looks like I gave Mark the French spelling. Should be @markjedi1.

I'll put some bottles of MMM Mark & Manny's Malts aside… Because, indeed, mark my word... BELGIUM is going to win the world cup :-)

@markjedi1 - We shall see oh Jedi one!

I'd like to see England win it now. How likely not sure, This world cup has been a game of upsets, anyone could have made a ton of money betting on the underdogs. Thinking I'll pour myself a Tali 18 tonight. Can't wait to see Canada in a World cup!

@Lars - Me too!!! When I've visited Canada years back I was impressed by the amount of football pitches - real good condition as well. I guess it's fairly popular over there? be very good to see Canada in the mix!

As for England's chances . . . last night was two B teams playing so not much to see really (except we got the better draw I feel). We have good attacking options so need to play to them. Our defense looks shaky when under pressure.

Belgium have a very strong side and Croatia and Uruguay look very decent. Spain or Brazil still the teams to beat though but then I picked Germany so what do i know ha ha!

@RianC They are in good condition because no one plays on them...

@Nozinan - ha! Friend of mine used to live next to a semi-pro football pitch (tiny stand on one side and a fenced off pitch). He had netting for one net and we used to revel in hooking it all up and playing in that one net all day in the summer - and the pitch resembled someone had buried 6 elephants under it . . .that was luxury! I go to Canada years later and see all these perfect pitches with netting just left there in the goals (that would last 2 minutes here before being swiped!) and you tell me no-one plays on them!: Travesty, good Doctor!

@RianC Tens of thousands of kids play, but only up to a certain age level. Beyond that there is no university or progressive league infrastructure the way there is in ice hockey. The Canadian women far outperform the men at the Olympic and international level.

@BlueNote here in NZ football (not allowed to use the name 'soccer' anymore) is the much poorer cousin of rugby (and rugby league). Likewise, there are many young people playing football but the numbers drop off steeply with increasing age and level. Many parents see it as a safer option for their kids than rugby but unfortunately it doesn't have the same kudos that rugby has here. Hence, no NZ team in the world cup.

@RianC, the pitches get used, a lot. It's a seasonal thing as well as a proprietary one. Ownership by municipal corporations and school districts dictate access. Bureaucracy rules! Not many are privately owned. American Football is played on these fields as is rugby. These sports can chew up a pitch in short order and render it "unsafe", thus it will be perceived to be idle but is under repair/recovery.

Baseball occupies a lot of the athletes, lacrosse too. Water sports are huge in Canada, especially recreational endeavours. Canada is the land of lakes and EVERYONE has access to them, it is the law in this fair land. Winter is long and harsh and summer is short and hot. "Soccer" pitches are often empty in the hot days of summer, but utilized by organizations in the cooler evenings and often on weekends for tournaments. The pitches get used, but remember this is also the land of ice and snow. Outdoor football is nearly impossible six months of the year. Indoor facilities are not nearly plentiful enough and more non-grass surfaces are required to extend the seasons with earlier starts and later endings.

Whisky tie in: many great bottles of whisky were consumed from flasks and travel mugs while watching matches in weather that was cold enough to produce snow...and sometimes did....and perhaps (more than a few times) during the wee hours on road trips while coaching or supporting youth teams.

@Hewie, we still call it soccer.

@paddockjudge @Hewie - It's funny I grew up in a 'football' town but it borders a well known rugby town. A lot of my family are from there and it was striking as a kid: As you drove through my town all you saw were fields with football nets on them, as soon as you crossed the border all you saw were rugby posts! And whilst we quietly mock those who call it soccer I recently discovered that was the games original name and apparently it carried over with the new settlers. I need a whisky tie in . . . oh well, those settlers then created bourbon

@RianC, our goals are multi purpose. They can carry netting for soccer and also have uprights for American/Canadian football and some for rugby too! This certainly is a unique thread...and it doesn't clutter the others.

I'm American. Being such I couldn't care less about soccer XD

@casualtorture, very disappointing post

@casualtorture what's soccer XD?

@paddockjudge I just can't get past players bumping into each other and acting like they've been shot.

@casualtorture The way things look, in the US that might not be so far from the truth...

@casualtorture, me too, that drama is off-putting, but we still managed to make it through high school. You don't have to like the game, just don't diss those who do. I'm late to the game, never played, but I coached for ten years because my kids played and I got tired of watching soccer people eff things up. I learned from some excellent coaches what the game was about. The theory involved rivals that of hockey and basketball. I'm a hockey guy, player, coach, builder. I've learned more about hockey theory from soccer than I ever did from hockey alone....and I couldn't stand the game of soccer for forty years....and yeah, I'm Canadian.

@paddockjudge points taken. I love hockey we just don't get ice down here so I never learned to ice skate. The Preds had such a disappointing playoff run. I played basketball all my life though, and love our football. I just will never understand why the whole world loves soccer. When I was in China, the Brits would always watch soccer matches at the bars and be super into it. Me and the other Americans just turned our heads sideways wondering what they were yelling about because to us it didn't seem like anything had happened. XD but then we got our glasses and drank our Glenfiddich 18 (our go to) with them anyway so at the end of the day who cares. We were still all comrades. With so much division in the world, I cherish those nights of so many different people from all over the world having a great time together.

@casualtorture, I believe the game is embraced by so many because it is so pure...until the drama sets in. All you need is a ball, the rest is frills. It is a game that stays with the boy throughout his life...and the fiddich 18 wouldn't hurt either.

@paddockjudge That's what I love - no matter where you go in the world there's a bunch of kids kicking a ball around in the dirt - it's the most universal sport in that sense

@casualtorture - All the poncing and overacting is very much frowned upon in the UK. It used to be something only 'continentals' did but it's becoming more and more popular with the youth . . .

I used to be a football nutcase but things like the above and players on ridiculously high wages, and not exactly giving 100%, has made me lose a good chunk of the passion I used to have.

@paddockjudge - Yes, purity and accessibility as @Hewie says. At its best football can be beautiful and graceful to watch with real tension and drama - at worst it's a bunch of cloggers humping a ball backwards and forwards.

As I've got older it's the tactical battles and clashes of strategy that appeal more and more: This WC has been interesting as no-one team seems to have anything that stands above any other team - all very much to play for. Spain labouring against Russia as I type being a good example - Russia were 'supposed' to be very poor . . .

@paddockjudge My only real problem with footie is the nil nil draw. What kind of result is that after you’ve committed 90 minutes of your life? You end up neither disappointed nor elated. Never happens in hockey.

@casualtorture What does XD mean?

@BlueNote I think it's an American thing... I asked before but he wouldn't say...

@BlueNote XD is an emoticon of a big smile and squinty eyes ie laughing

@casualtorture, I think I owe you an apology. Not being able to absorb the meaning of XD led me to a somewhat terse reply. I applaud you for your calm demeanour and again agree with you, some of these high end athletes appear to be high maintenance and fragile. I love the stage, not so much some of the actors.

... if I've offended anyone else, have a drink after you've finished rolling around on the turf holding the wrong ankle, it will go away.

Cheers to all.

pj.

@paddockjudge no worries. Yes, XD is a laughy face.

That^

No more Spain. No more Germany. i am rooting for Brasil...and Uruguay.

@Victor “The Russians are Coming”. Time to recheck the urine samples?