Another point about Di Maria. He does indeed drift to the left wing for Argentina when spreading the field, but he's equally dangerous on the right side. His one fault is that he has almost nothing to offer with his weak right foot, so he just deals with that by providing ridiculous rabona assists at will.

Before Bale…

You mention their pace as a team, and that, to me, is the most impressive thing about this England squad. Ox, Sturridge, Sterling and hell, even Welbeck all have the speed to just blow past defenders in an instant. That's also why England are one of my favorite teams to play as in FIFA. TURBO ALL DAY.

ETA: Oh, sorry Ox.

I mean, I get it from a utilitarian point of view. But that doesn't change the fact that Suarez is one of the biggest heels in soccer history.

Also somewhat of a surprise:

As long as we're talking complete and utter nonsense, why not predict Australia to win the group with a +9 goal differential? GO BACK TO HOLLAND, YOU COMMIE!

Agreed on most counts, but Casillas still totally deserves to be the number 1. The only reason he didn't play in the league for Real is that Ancelotti inherited the fucked up situation that Mourinho created due to his personal issues with Casillas. And don't forget that Real won both competitions in which he played,…

Too soft in what way? The way the Dutch handled their opponents at Euro 2012?

I don't see Koke getting too many minutes, even though he completely deserves them. VDB just seems very hesitant to give chances to anyone outside of his core players. Look at Llorente not even getting called up, while the fading Torres and Villa get to come based on their performances two or four years ago.

An avid Barça fan like you must surely have noticed that Xavi is pretty damn close to that point already, though. You want the pinpoint short passing and subtle movements to create space where there is none? Iniesta gets it done. You want the accurate long balls and physical presence to win back possession? Alonso…

Wait, so Spain's midfield needs to evolve and be improved upon to be more physical, but it's Alonso and not Xavi who you think needs to be replaced? They both struggle to run for 90 minutes anymore, but if you're afraid of the midfield getting out-muscled, I don't know why you wouldn't want Alonso there.

Mexico over Croatia? That seems like a mistake.

A+ narration from some guy's nostrils.

/redacted for failure to recognize sarcasm

In their respective biopics, who plays Messi, Ronaldo, Ibra, and Ribery?

Question for Billy:
Which MLS matchup are you most looking forward to this weekend? Colorado-RSL should be fun.

God dammit.

Who ruined Deadspin?

Seems the soccer-fans-as-SEC-bandwagoners analogy is a popular one.

They have a fantastic manager and Diego Costa has stepped into the shoes of Falcao, who left for Monaco last summer.

Yeah, that was tough to swallow. It's a crime that Dungy never got to win the Super Bowl with Tampa. Although I believe that was two or three years before they won the SB in 2002-03.