Strange article I saw recently that we may be in for the CSKA player Govonin bu Wenger is saving him for himself even though he is out of a job. It hints that he is looking to manage right away and would want to sign him. Read another report he's turned down 2 positions. When you were the world's highest paid manager, anything is a pay cut I suppose. I have the feeling though Wenger has an inflated view of his value right now.

Lichsteiner was more than lucky to get away with a rugby tackle on the Serbian forward. That was the most obvious penalty claim of the whole tournament.

Xhaka’s strike was superb, particularly as the ball was spinning wildly, could have gone anywhere if it wasn’t hit perfectly. I was pleased for him because the co comm was giving him stick all game, it was a bit like Xhaka was one of the few players he knew anything about so kept going on at him. It seemed lazy because he was saying Xhaka had been careless on the ball when he had the best pass completion rate of any Swiss player.
Lichtsteiner is an angry man, or competitive if you prefer, was in the refs ear all game. Can’t have a whole team of players like that but a bit of a b*stard is something arsenal have lacked

Shakiri available for £12m, relegation clause apparently. You’d struggle to find better value for money for an attacking wide player this summer

Former referee Jonas Eriksson is working as a pundit for Swedish televisionn during the world cup, he spoke a bit about Lichtsteiner before Switzerland - Brazil. Said he was the most unpleasant player he's ever come across, always in a bad mood and impossible to talk to. I think Arsenal can be accused of being way too nice as a team, so a little bit of that could be a good thing.

Özil dropped, I think warranted. He is too slow in his play. It seems like he is spiralling downwards in double quick time. I believe he hasn't been playing well for a long time for club and now, country.

Oh dear, Germany concedes. They have been toothless in attack. The team is surprisingly poor in attack.

Would you believe it Germany down 1-0.......................

Never seen a Swedish team cause this much trouble for Germany. Could've scored three goals and I think it was a penalty on Berg as well. Germany look completely disoriented.

Situation completely reversed in the opening minutes of the second half. Shame

Yeah, shows how fast things can turn around in football. Sweden missed a great chance at the dying seconds of the first half - a goal there and we're looking at a completely different game. Instead Germany scores immediately in the second half and the momentum has completely shifted. Think Germany wins this with a couple of goals now.

That’s the beauty of football. You never know. Germany are bossing it but it could change in an instant.

Unbelievable. You couldn’t make it up. 30 seconds after the end of added time. Stupid foul for the free kick though.

Bugga they'll probably win the tournament now.......................

Fantastic free kick goal from Kroos

Well it will keep Bernard happy.

Bad free kick to concede, but that's a very harsh way to end the game.

Sorry for the Swedes.. Germany back from the brink. Dramatic stuff.You'd expect them to turn the South Koreans over now and qualify. They didn't look great but as has been said you wouldn't be surprised if they get stronger and stronger and go on and win it.

I don't think so. There's an odd fragility about this German team. Sweden didn't try to take the initiative when Boateng was sent off. They paid for it.

While upsets are fun, it diminishes the knockout phase when you lose big teams in the group stages. We might have Brazil v Germany in the next round.

To be fair, I think it was a combination of tiredness and simply not having enough quality that prevented Sweden from taking the initiative. Forsberg is the only really skilled player in the side and unfortunately he's not in form at all.

Not if Mexico allow Sweden to win. I am prepared to pay my own way to Russia to broker that deal. My wish is for a WC final with a couple of teams who have never been there before.

I don’t enjoy the way Germany play & never have. I like teams with flair and also teams which have an edge with them. You may not be surprised to find that Brazil of 82 & the Argentina win of 86 bring the most fond memories to me. I would rather watch Morocco in this WC than some of the more traditional teams.

Mueller is a very dirty player. I am surprised he needs to resort to unnecessary fouling. Perhaps the frustration brought this up.

Germany will carve S Korea open in the next game. Goal difference will count. I do not think Mexico will chance it, in letting Sweden win. They may find themselves going out with an inferior goal difference.

Will Özil return to the fold against S Korea?

Belgium is my new favourite. I like the way they take their game forward. A very positive side.

I didn't like Belgium's yellow kit yesterday. Personal taste, but I don't like yellow full stop. So yellow football kits just don't do it for me. I agree with gooner7 that Mexico won't risk letting Sweden win because it could see them go out on goal difference if Germany slaughter Korea.

Having said that, I don't think he was right about Thomas Muller. He's hardly Peter Storey, Chopper Harris, Tommy Smith, Graham Roberts and countless othes reinvented, is he? Blimey, he's not even Mathieu Flamini.

His skill levels were Flaminiesque yesterday. I was amazed that Low didn't take him off. I also thought that second half was crying out for Özil. It was lots of effort and huff & puff from Germany when some craft and incision was needed.

As for yellow kits, I like them. Brazil's iconic shirt and many of our own away kits have been tremendous. Don't like Belgium's though. Best kit of this tournament has been Peru's with that wonderful red sash.

Not that any nation should get too far ahead of themselves at the World Cup...but it’s impossible not to look at the few....and it’s fun. There could be a fight to finish 2nd rather than top between England and Belgium. England’s group play the winners/runners up in the group of Colombia/Poland/japan/Senegal. Coming first or second has no real up or downside, Senegal maybe looking the strongest there but England and Belgium would be favourites whoever they face. It would be a Potential QF tie where it gets interesting. The winners of England’s group are on course to play the winners of a Brazil v Germany game, whereas the runners up in England’s group on course to play the winners of a Mexico/Swiss match.

There’s obviously plenty of football to play and England need to make sure they beat panama before they think about what they might do v Belgium.

Excellent play the way the Panama Canal opened a clear path for Stones. It looked rehearsed if so well done Gareth.

England 5 nil now but looking a bit shaky

What a horrible team. It’s like watching England play a Pulis Stoke team. No intent to play football whatsoever. No intent to entertain.

Panama utter filth.

Sooner they go home the better.

6-0 England. Will they get to double digits before the end of the match? Panama deserves to be embarrassed, some of their players are downright dirty in their play.

But look at the celebrations when they score 6-1. That's the best part of the World Cup.

And they have a player named Fidel Escobar.

Fans were great they deserved a less unpleasant team.

England's defence looks wobbly at times - Maguire especially.

I reckon we should lose next game to Belgium in which case next round is a doodle but the following round we will definitely avoid Brazil or Germany.

What odds are bookies offering on us losing to Belgium?

Muller played badly but what I mentioned Flamini for was gooner7's comment in post 496291, page 12408 that "Mueller is a very dirty player. I am surprised he needs to resort to unnecessary fouling." He's not what I call a dirty player.

It's a matter of taste. I don't like yellow. That includes Brazil's shirts, Belgium's shirts Arsenal's away shirts, yellow cars, ripe bananas, whatever.

Yes. I knew what you meant with regard to the Flamini reference. He's not dirty.

As for the colour yellow, I'll leave that to your therapist

Japan vs Senegal was one of the best matches so far. Felt badly for the Senegalese team which I thought were the better side.

They stopped their dirty play in the 2nd half. Good for them. It was a wonderful celebration from team and fans, was very happy for them.

I think it was because of frustration that Mueller fouled. But didn't you see the few times he unnecessarily tripped the opposing player after the ball was gone? Overall he is not a dirty player, but he was doing a few rough house manoeuvers during the game. Perhaps the cameras deliberately panned to him during those times.

I enjoyed the Japan/Senegal match. Both very positive teams, who play to win. I thought Japan was the better team, and surprisingly so. They were not overawed by the physical presence of the Senegal players. Gosh, it looked at giants against midgets out there. Yet, the Japanese players bravely ran at their opposition. Their nifty movement got them into good positions many times. I hope Poland sends out more of their reserve players in their last game. They are already out, and should let their fringe players enjoy their day at the World Cup. And at the same time, make it a tad bit easier for Japan.