JadedWolf

I had promised myself not to watch the Iran-Nigeria game, as it didn't exactly look promising on paper. Then I broke my promise, watched it for ten minutes and concluded that I had been very much right in not wanting to watch it and turned it off again. Looking forward to the U.S.A.-Ghana game though.

Pepe a red card! Who would have thought, normally he is such a nice boy!

Well, it has eight legs, so it's surely not an insect. It surely looks like an arachnid. In fact, it looks like an Amblypygid. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amblypygi It's still welcome in this thread though! Just... Keep it away from the actual insects a bit. It's giving them funny looks.

Since Portugal is playing tonight:

Right you are, sir kitty.

So you're probably thinking... Giant insects? Allow me to demonstrate. Om nom nom nom! No, it's not a photoshop. It really exists, and it's actually kind of cute, as long as you don't imagine for a moment that the carrot is in fact a human finger. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_weta

Heh, 2-1. I will admit if Bosnia scored another it wouldn't even be undeserved.

I can't believe how much trouble Messi's Argentina is having with footballdwarf Bosnia. They seem to have left not just their A game at home, they did not bring even their D game.

Poor Equador. The Swiss were better though.

The U.S.A. team is playing Ghana tomorrow night. The popularity of association football, or soccer if you prefer, is ever growing in the U.S. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1776715-world-cup-2014-will-take-american-soccer-interest-to-new-heights http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexmorrell/2013/11/08/after-flirting-with-failure-major-league-soccer-popularity-now-surging/ http://time.com/2857626/how-soccers-growing-popularity-undermines-america/ I haven't really seen much of the U.S. team this year, but I am hoping they put up a good show. Ghana doesn't strike me as incredibly strong from what I have seen, so they should be able to win their first match.

If you ever get the chance to see this man live, I highly recommend it. He's a real performer.

Italy seemed to be done with the whole affair as soon as they made 1-2. Some great chances for England, a shame they can't seem to finish. Too bad. This game deserves a 2-2 ending.

Italy looking the more dangerous team so far.

I made something for you. Feel free to use it. :D It's your new avatar. And if that's too much orange for you, here is a toned down version:

Uruguay is really quite disappointing. It's hard to assess how good Costa Rica is considering how badly Uruguay is playing.

Yeah, they were shocking. I expected them to be past their prime, but this was just sad. I pity the poor unemployed Spanish youngsters who had to watch these spoiled millionaires, who could only manage one goal - and that only through a dive.

It may be hard not to get swept up into the renewed Oranje fever that swept up the country - everyone was expecting the worst but now the orange decorations have come out in full force. But I don't want to be a fair weather fan, so I'm going to continue to expect they'll choke horribly and start ninja kicking people again in desperation, just like last time. Well, Nigel de Jong still showed his lack of restraint at times yesterday, but that's the only player I really worry about. Really pleased we don't have to deal with the likes of van Bommel anymore, what an incredible .... that was.

I doubt it will collapse. The Kurds are still at the sidelines, but they could quickly halt Isis if they wanted to. And there's also Iran who wouldn't like to see their new bestest Shiite buddies toppled.

Absolute world class. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPTauuyThI8

Even our national team could have had this Brazil, shockingly bad. The only thing that saved them tonight was the referee's helping hand. Nothing lost for Croatia though, I am sure they can handle Mexico and Cameroon. They showed their quality tonight, but they have to keep going when they are ahead, because as tonight shows one goal difference is never enough to rest on your laurels.

I'll just leave this quote here: "ISIS's seizure of Mosul is a major threat to Middle East stability, not just Iraq. It highlights the risk that Sunni Islamist extremists with past ties to al Qaeda will create an extremist enclave in both Iraq and Syria,” he said. “This could make any hope of a serious moderate rebel force emerging in Syria impossible. It could create an extremist sanctuary that could threaten Jordan and the other Arab Gulf states, make the conflict between Sunni and Shiite even worse, and push the Iraqi regime closer to Iran in self defense." Cordesman added that the situation may force the US and its allies to prop up Maliki, despite what he described as the PM's "total unfitness to rule" and conduct which actually helped ISIS gain support in Iraq. "Maliki has been steadily more authoritarian, corrupt, and repressive. He has made the Iraqi security force his political tool, deprived it of effective leaders, used security funds for his own profit, and brought his supporters and relatives into the command chain,” he said. “His ruthless repression of legitimate Sunni opposition and pressure on the Kurds, and lies and broken promises to Sunni tribal leaders have lost the support of Iraq's Sunnis and Kurds and empowered ISIS." https://news.vice.com/article/iraq-vows-to-beat-back-isis-after-militants-seize-saddam-husseins-hometown-of-tikrit The problem seems to be once again, like in so many troubles countries in this region, that the people propped up by our politicians are incompetent, corrupt and of questionable morals.

To be honest, when I think "reptile", "attractive" isn't the first thing that pops into my mind. That being said...

Huh? Italy are no divers.

For a country like my own, the Netherlands, leaving the E.U. would be like cutting off your own leg. We're a trading nation in the heart of Europe, it would be absolutely stupid. Yeah you are correct Jadedmeister, leaving the EU will spell economic doom for the Netherlands as all your important exports like clogs, Old Amsterdam Cheese and weed will be impacted. Why, you....