World Cup 2018 FIFA World Cup-Group E Thread (Costa Rica, Serbia, Brazil, Switzerland)

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COSTA RICA V SERBIA
Sunday June 17-10pm @ Samara

BRAZIL V SWITZERLAND
Monday June 18-4am @ Rostov-On-Don

BRAZIL V COSTA RICA
Friday June 22-10pm @ St Petereburg

SERBIA V SWITZERLAND
Saturday June 23-4am @ Kaliningrad

SERBIA V BRAZIL
Thursday June 28-12am @ Moscow

COSTA RICA V SWITZERLAND
Thuesday June 28-12am @ Nizhni Novgorod
 

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bato

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Serbia aside from SMS and one or two others are s**t house and should finish last.
"shithouse"

They've got seriously in-form players heading into the World Cup...

Milivojevic and Milinkovic Savic are the two highest scorers for their position in the top 5 leagues in the world.

Nemanja Matic had a massive year at United. Still is by far the most underrated player in the world.

Ivanovic and Kolarov are always trustworthy at international level. One being a former captain and one being the current captain. Maksimovic was their best defender in qualifying so there's competition for a similar spot there and Ivanovic the most likely to go out IF Krstajic decides to go with him.

Mitrovic and Tadic (amazing tandem) -- currently one of the most in-form international players with their goals and assists. Mitro now also firing at club level and single-handedly taking Fulham to the EPL.

Tadic - Since his Premier League debut, only five players created more chances from open play in the league.

Gacinovic and Jovic dominated in the German Cup final, beating Bayern in the final. Jovic was dominant since coming to the club on loan.

Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina) is already touted as the next big defender to break transfer records.


There's a string of players around from the 2015 World Cup Under 20s win who are also battling for a spot in the squad.
 
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Aug 16, 2011
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"shithouse"

They've got seriously in-form players heading into the World Cup...

Milivojevic and Milinkovic Savic are the two highest scorers for their position in the top 5 leagues in the world.

Nemanja Matic had a massive year at United. Still is by far the most underrated player in the world.

Ivanovic and Kolarov are always trustworthy at international level. One being a former captain and one being the current captain. Maksimovic was their best defender in qualifying so there's competition for a similar spot there and Ivanovic the most likely to go out IF Krstajic decides to go with him.

Mitrovic and Tadic (amazing tandem) -- currently one of the most in-form international players with their goals and assists. Mitro now also firing at club level and single-handedly taking Fulham to the EPL.

Tadic - Since his Premier League debut, only five players created more chances from open play in the league.

Gacinovic and Jovic dominated in the German Cup final, beating Bayern in the final. Jovic was dominant since coming to the club on loan.

Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina) is already touted as the next big defender to break transfer records.


There's a string of players around from the 2015 World Cup Under 20s win who are also battling for a spot in the squad. Grujic,
Are you a Serb? Cos that is flat out wrong.
 

Established1870

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Milivojevic and Milinkovic Savic are the two highest scorers for their position in the top 5 leagues in the world.

Milivojevic gets most of his goals from the penalty spot. It's not like he scores a s**t tonne from open play. And I already said SMS is awesome.

Nemanja Matic had a massive year at United. Still is by far the most underrated player in the world.

Um, what?

Ivanovic and Kolarov are always trustworthy at international level. One being a former captain and one being the current captain. Maksimovic was their best defender in qualifying so there's competition for a similar spot there and Ivanovic the most likely to go out IF Krstajic decides to go with him.

If your defense has two aging veterans like them and an injury prone guy like Maksimovic then it's not something I'd be getting too excited about especially against a side like Switzerland who have Shaqiri, Memhedi and Embolo up top.

Mitrovic and Tadic (amazing tandem) -- currently one of the most in-form international players with their goals and assists. Mitro now also firing at club level and single-handedly taking Fulham to the EPL.

Mitrovic isn't carrying Fulham at all. Sess and Cairney have been more influential for them then Mitro has been.

Tadic - Since his Premier League debut, only five players created more chances from open play in the league.

I agree that he's underrated no debate there but who else is there? Tosic? Kostic? ******* Ljajic?

Gacinovic and Jovic dominated in the German Cup final, beating Bayern in the final. Jovic was dominant since coming to the club on loan.

Neither of them are consistent starters for Frankfurt and Rebic has been better than both of them.

Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina) is already touted as the next big defender to break transfer records.

Do you read Serbia National for these opinions? I watch Fiorentina constantly and read Viola Nation on a daily basis and no one thinks this at all.
 

Macpotata

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I have a good vibe on the Serbs. I think they'll make it out of the group. It's tough however because the Swiss have been a solid performing team for the last 4 years now.

Please, please, please Serbia no more self imploding. Hand balls in 2006 { x2 } and Ghana in 2010 was ridiculous. Beat Germany in the 2nd game then lose to Australia.

Typical Balkan behaviour.
 

bato

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Are you a Serb? Cos that is flat out wrong.
What part of this is wrong? The part where someone calls them shithouse despite them dropping one game in about two years, or me trying to prove that they actually have some decent players and good youth?
 

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corbies

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What part of this is wrong? The part where someone calls them shithouse despite them dropping one game in about two years, or me trying to prove that they actually have some decent players and good youth?
Probably the part he bolded.
 

bato

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Milivojevic gets most of his goals from the penalty spot. It's not like he scores a s**t tonne from open play. And I already said SMS is awesome.



Um, what?



If your defense has two aging veterans like them and an injury prone guy like Maksimovic then it's not something I'd be getting too excited about especially against a side like Switzerland who have Shaqiri, Memhedi and Embolo up top.



Mitrovic isn't carrying Fulham at all. Sess and Cairney have been more influential for them then Mitro has been.



I agree that he's underrated no debate there but who else is there? Tosic? Kostic? ******* Ljajic?



Neither of them are consistent starters for Frankfurt and Rebic has been better than both of them.



Do you read Serbia National for these opinions? I watch Fiorentina constantly and read Viola Nation on a daily basis and no one thinks this at all.
I agree he scores a lot from the spot, but he’s more than capable of firing from open field. His job as a pure defensive type is very underrated in a poor team in a tough English league.

Matic is a superstar. His work gets very little credit at times, he covers the pitch like a mad man controlling both offence and defence behind Pogba. There’s a reason why Mou went out of his way to sign him TWICE.

They may be ageing but they’re still of worth. I don’t think Ivanovic will end up starting anyway, there was a fallout over captaincy not too long ago. Kolarov was a huge factor in Roma making it as far as they did in the CL. He teamed up with Dzeko to perfection. Don't forget Basta who plays for Lazio and Rukavina who plays for Villareal. Both more than handy defenders.

Mitrovic, who I never liked, continues to score goals for club and country. Doesn’t matter how, but he always seems to bloody score. He’s already had a handful of MOTM matches for Fulham during his short stay. He didn’t even score last game and STILL received the MOTM award.

Tosic is a defender. Unless you’re thinking of Zoran? I don’t even think he’s playing anymore? Haven’t heard from him in years. I don’t like Ljajic but he definitely has some talent, nothing like what he used to be. Kostic was a positive in a relegated Hamburg side. He’ll get snatched up by a good club soon.

Regardless of starts, they’ve both had their good share of minutes played. Jovic made 27 appearances for 9 goals and 2 assists as a 19-20 year old. He was tracking at a goal every 85 minutes in March.

No, I don’t read the Serbian National. I read neutral opinions of these players on blogs and watch the different leagues where they’re involved. Milenkovic, considering his age, shows awareness and presence well beyond his years. He plays much older than he is, which could never be a bad thing.
 
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bato

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Probably the part he bolded.
Couldn’t see it at first.

But to answer your question Cruyff14

Matic was huge this season and stepped up on his performances at Chelsea. He’s still very underrated in terms of the best CDMs. Bias aside, he’s one of very few that actually perform that role well every single match. Heck, Yaya Toure came out and said Matic was the toughest opponent he’s ever faced.
 
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Couldn’t see it at first.

But to answer your question Cruyff14

Matic was huge this season and stepped up on his performances at Chelsea. He’s still very underrated in terms of the best CDMs. Bias aside, he’s one of very few that actually perform that role well every single match. Heck, Yaya Toure came out and said Matic was the toughest opponent he’s ever faced.
lol so you are a Serb.

Big difference between that and "Still is by far the most underrated player in the world." I like Matic and think he's a good player, but he's not the most underrated player in the world.
 

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There's always a few major surprised in the WC group stages, think the Swiss could be one this year.
 

bato

Norm Smith Medallist
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lol so you are a Serb.

Big difference between that and "Still is by far the most underrated player in the world." I like Matic and think he's a good player, but he's not the most underrated player in the world.
He's seriously undervalued. How is he not? His role doesn't allow him to be flashy, he isn't the best player at United in terms of skill rating on FIFA 18 (joking), he's a quiet achiever and doesn't really get individual recognition when he offers more than someone like Kante.

That's the very definition of the word underrated.
 
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He's seriously undervalued. How is he not? His role doesn't allow him to be flashy, he isn't the best player at United in terms of skill rating on FIFA 18 (joking), he's a quiet achiever and doesn't really get individual recognition when he offers more than someone like Kante.

That's the very definition of the word underrated.
Does he? Kante creates more, tackles more, plays more key passes.

upload_2018-5-24_12-25-17.png


Unless you're indicating something else other than attacking?
 

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bato

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Does he? Kante creates more, tackles more, plays more key passes.

View attachment 501573

Unless you're indicating something else other than attacking?
Chelsea have a different formation and game style which favours Kante. He's allowed to play further up the pitch and make that final pass - hence the higher number. The key passes stat will always favour someone with that much freedom in the middle, because the English generally play very wide. It's always been their style.

Don't get me wrong, Kante is absolutely world class. But the difference really isn't that big between the two. That's the point I'm trying to make. One gets credit every single week, while the other gets shat on by 'some' fans who like using him as a scapegoat, mainly because of the big transfer fee, but also because United aren't winning titles/cups.

While at Man U, you have Pogba playing Kante's role, which in the way, somewhat lessens the overall offensive impact that Matic has in each match because he's played so deep. It's very much an undervalued job that he does and plenty of 'normal' United fans view it the same way.
 

bato

Norm Smith Medallist
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lol take off the Serb glasses mate. Matic is very good - just not as good as you are making out.
I never said he's the best in the world. I said he's very underrated and I'll stand by that. He never gets the credit he deserves when he saves United's arse time after time THE SAME way other elite CDMs do for their respective clubs.
 

bato

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I have a good vibe on the Serbs. I think they'll make it out of the group. It's tough however because the Swiss have been a solid performing team for the last 4 years now.

Please, please, please Serbia no more self imploding. Hand balls in 2006 { x2 } and Ghana in 2010 was ridiculous. Beat Germany in the 2nd game then lose to Australia.

Typical Balkan behaviour.
Pretty much this. Back them in to beat Brazil in a nothing match after losing to both CR and SUI. :cool:
 

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