Quote:
Originally Posted by Jagger
I've been watching football for over 35 years so I don't need goals to keep me entertained! I enjoy the knockout phase for the drama that enfolds and, believe me, I watched lots of 1-0 games over the years. I'm sure part of the reason for not watching any matches so far is that I'm just too darned busy at work to be able to.
Croatia winning over Germany is a bit of a shocker. That Croatian team is very good actually though. Doing the double over England proved that. There were certainly my dark horse going in and they are certainly looking that way.
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I agree. Knockout matches are so tense when everything is on the line.
But I feel the importance of winning and losing overshadows the flow of the game. Players are restricted by coaches to what they can or cannot do and they are overly cautious.
In the group stages, whether there are goals or not, players are free to be creative and the pace of the game is better.
For example the Austria-Poland match I'm watching now has a fabulous pace to it. If this were a knockout stage match, I feel both teams would concentrate on shutting each other down and 'not losing'.
I've always argued that the World Cup should have a 2nd group stage.