#tvw watches the world cup

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My cousin thinks that Luis Suarez looks like a long-lost Property Brother.

Now I’m imagining Drew Scott biting homeowners and Jonathan Scott biting furniture.

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What I like about the underdog teams is that you can tell what they’re trying to do.

The favorite teams? It’s like they’re relying on individual talent with no real organization at all. If I even want to cheer for them I can’t because they give me nothing to cheer for.

I think I’m on the Mexico and Iceland bandwagons. Both teams know what they are and play like actual cohesive teams. Mexico is actually fun and Iceland has their cool cheer and a whole Trinidad and Tobago feel.

I might stop watching this Belgium and Panama clash because they’re not fun to watch for either greatness or LOL-quality.

Hopefully I can get my LOLs from England.

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Commentators could shut up about Messi and Ronaldo now. Of course, that just leaves them more time to talk about Neymar.

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I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of anyone who plays for Panama but I’m cheering them on solely because that Mertens dive was awful.

During the last World Cup I was in Europe and would cheer for whatever country I was in because I wanted to be surrounded by happy people. And it was kind of funny that Belgium’s exit kind of coincided with a Flemish holiday so in some spots those Belgian flags were quickly replaced with Flemish ones.

Still, maybe nothing was more amusing than being in London in 2002 when England beat Argentina. Folks walked out of their pubs and celebrated in the streets and jumped into fountains.

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Me watching Sweden play: “Oh, it’s Team IKEA.”

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Usually I watch matches with low sound because the commentary is sometimes inane but this commentary team for South Korea vs Mexico is both very fun and informative. 

I would probably enjoy watching this match by itself but the commentary enlivens it even more.

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Just saw the clip of Pepe falling down after getting patted on the back.

So pathetic. Cannot cheer for this team.

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They won 3-0 against a team that wasn’t very good. For Panama scoring one goal would have been a victory in itself. The thing about Belgium is that they aren’t an unbalanced squad and they have enough quality in all areas. And watching DeBruyne, Hazard and Lukaku connect is one of those situations that makes these country-based competitions interesting and exciting. (To think they were all on Chelsea’s payroll at one time.)

Not sure about this 3-5-2 setup from England. I usually LOL at them but this isn’t a team loaded with superstars so it’s not as much fun to take pleasure in their usual self-sabotage. Not as much. There’s still potential.

The only player that’s fun to make fun of is Harry Kane.

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LOL @ England

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A bit gutted for Japan here.

But this game totally changed when Chadli and Fellaini were put on.

Totally love Belgium going for it at the very end there though. No sissy holding it for extra time.

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I think Tony Meola is the right level of color commentator for World Cup matches. He’s not filling us in on information about how players play for their pro clubs. He’s just commenting on what’s actually happening in the match, sharing technical information in a quick, basic way. He’s not terribly wonkish, nor does he keep describing everything in terms of emotion like some other commentators have been.

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Maybe I’m just used to the EPL but some of these fouls in this Egypt vs Uruguay match are laughably ostentatious.

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Brazil did this to themselves.

Or, really, Tite with his crap starting selection.

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Surprised the FOX ad featured Coutinho rather than Neymar.

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At least one of Argentina or France is going to out in the next round.

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I might actually like this English team if Harry Kane wasn’t the captain.

Or, even, if he acted like a captain. It’s clear when you watch who’s actually shouting orders on the pitch and it isn’t Kane.