fauxluxe Complete 2014 World Cup Preview

No burying the lede, no personal stories, just a complete breakdown of how I see the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil play out.  Here we go.

GROUP A

Brazil 3W 0D 0L 9pts

Mexico 1W 1D 1L 4pts

Croatia 0W 2D 1L 2pts

Cameroon 0W 1D 2L 1pt

Brazil should breeze through this group despite all the travel they have in store for them.  Only one other team will rack up more air miles during the tournament, the United States.  The crucial match that will be the difference for Mexico advancing will be on Friday, 13 June, where I see them beating Cameroon two to one.  That means Mexico would only need a draw against Croatia ten days later.  I think they can handle that.  

GROUP B

Spain 3W 0D 0L 9pts

Netherlands 2W 0D 1L 6pts

Chile 1W 0D 2L 3pts

Australia 0W 0D 3L 0pts

One of the most exciting games of the group stage will happen on the second day of the tournament, as Spain and the Netherlands have a rematch of the 2010 World Cup Final.  I believe Spain will win a thrilling three to two victory that day.  Lots of folks are high on Chile right now, but I am not convinced.  I have the Netherlands beating Chile two to one on Monday, 23 June.  

GROUP C

Columbia 2W 1D 0L 7pts

Greece 2W 1D 0L 7pts

Japan 1W 0D 2L 3pts

Ivory Coast 0W 0D 3L 0pts

I expect Columbia will win the group on goal difference.  Columbia should be able to score more goals against Japan and/or the Ivory Coast than Greece can.  Ivory Coast have a terrible reputation for being crap in the big tournaments.  I do not see that changing here.  Greece will play their normal defensive minded boring football, and their one-nil victory over Japan on Thursday, 19 June will see them through to the Round of Sixteen.

GROUP D

Uruguay 1W 2D 0L 5pts

Italy 0W 3D 0L 3pts

England 0W 3D 0L 3pts

Costa Rica 0W 2D 1L 2pts

This is a brutal group, and I really feel for the Ticos.  I think Italy will advance on the strength of scoring more goals than England, even though I do not see a whole lot of goals being scored in this group, period.  Ingerland will sack their manager for sure, and the British press will be merciless.  Uruguay beating Costa Rica two-nil on Saturday, 14 June will be the match that separates Uruguay from the rest of the group.  

GROUP E

Ecuador 2W 1D 0L 7pts

Switzerland 0W 3D 0L 3pts

France 0W 2D 1L 2pts

Honduras 0W 2D 1L 2pts

This should be the most boring group in the whole tournament.  There will not be a lot of goals scored, and it will come down to Wednesday, 25 June when France and Honduras will  be sent packing.  Honduras will manage a nil-nil draw against my beloved boring Switzerland, but Ecuador will beat France one-nil.  The difference for Switzerland over France is the Swiss will have been able to draw one all v Ecuador ten days earlier.  

GROUP F

Argentina 3W 0D 0L 9pts

Nigeria 1W 1D 1L 4pts

Bosnia and Herzegovina 0W 2D 1L 2pts

Iran 0W 1D 2L 1pt

If our new Pope really did pray for an easy group for Argentina then he really did get his wish. This group will be a cakewalk for Messi et al, and they should win all three games.  The difference for Nigeria will be that they can beat Iran, while Bosnia only manage a draw v Iran on Wednesday, 25 June.  

GROUP G

Germany 2W 1D 0L 7pts

USA 1W 2D 0L 5pts

Portugal 1W 0D 2L 3pts

Ghana 0W 1D 2L 1pt

The USA will draw v Ghana one all; beat Portugal three-two again; and then kick the ball around the park with Germany on Thursday, 26 June, earning a draw, whilst Portugal maliciously destroy Ghana four-nil.  It will not matter, though.  Portugal will flame out of a major tournament once again, even with Ronaldo.  

GROUP H

Belgium 1W 2D 0L 5pts

Russia 0W 3D 0L 3pts

Algeria 0W 3D 0L 3pts

South Korea 0W 2D 1L

Belgium will advance on the strength of being the only team in this extremely boring group to win a match, (one-nil over South Korea on Thursday, 26 June).  Russia will score more goals than Algeria, and break through because of that.  Lots of folks really fancy this Belgian side, and on paper they do look impressive, but I am skeptical.  

ROUND OF SIXTEEN

SATURDAY, 28 JUNE

Brazil 3-2 Netherlands

Columbia 0-1 Italy

The Brazil Holland match will be the most exciting game of the 2014 World Cup.  Unfortunately, right after that, Italy will bore Columbia to death, and win yet another one-nil Azzurri Special.

SUNDAY, 29 JUNE

Spain 2-0 Mexico

Uruguay 0-0 (4-2 PKs) Greece 

Spain will tiki taka Mexico senseless, and Uruguay and Greece will put everyone to sleep, until Los Charrúas win on PKs.

MONDAY, 30 JUNE

Ecuador 2-1 Nigeria

Germany 3-1 Russia

This will be a fun day for football, with loads of goals scored, and one extremely tight, and competitive matchup that could also go in to Extra Time or PKs.  

TUESDAY, 1 JULY

Argentina 2-0 Switzerland

Belgium 0-2 USA

I told you I did not think Belgium were for real.  Plus, European teams do not do well away from their continent.  (The exceptions are Germany, they are always good; Italy, they either win it all or suck; and Spain, who are becoming the new version of Germany.) And, Argentina will have no problems with the Cantons of Helvetica.

QUARTERFINALS

FRIDAY, 4 JULY

Brazil 0-0 (4-3 PKs) Italy

Ecuador 0-1 Germany

Germany will reach yet another semifinal, and Brazil will break Italy's heart again, on PKs.

SATURDAY, 5 JULY

Spain 1-0 Uruguay

Argentina 2-1 USA

The party ends for the USMNT, but they acquit themselves well, and are not a complete pushover for Argentina.  Meanwhile, Spain marches on, and eliminate one of my favorite sides, the gutsy, and tough Uruguayans.

SEMIFINALS

TUESDAY, 8 JULY

Brazil 2-0 Germany

WEDNESDAY, 9 JULY

Argentina 1-3 Spain

Yup, I am picking a Spain Brazil final.  Pretty boring, hunh? But, that is how I see it.

THIRD PLACE GAME

SATURDAY, 12 JULY

Argentina 1-2 Germany

FINAL

SUNDAY, 13 JULY

Brazil 0-2 Spain

I am going with Spain to win their second straight World Cup, and their third straight Major Tournament.  Perhaps a safe choice, and perhaps not.  We will see.  I can not wait!

Mwah, ... 

This is for Nick C

One of my faves, and a teaser for a future fauxluxe London post.

Sometimes you find beautiful wisdom

In the most unassuming places.

I was watching Championship Sunday over a whole host of networks of the NBC family a couple of days ago.  It was the last day of the Barclay's Premier League, so all twenty teams were playing ten games, all at the same time, all televised on ten different channels, including Bravo and E!.

Commentator Lee Dixon when he played for The Arse

After flipping around a fair bit, I decided to settle in with the Man City game against West Ham United, as it appeared that Man City's result would deliver them their second EPL title in three years.

With about twenty minutes to go, color commentator Lee Dixon started speaking about a talented player for West Ham, who was approaching the beginning of the end of his career, and had had a disappointing season for the Hammers, and had not had a particularly good day on the pitch.

Dixon started by saying that this player had done nothing especially memorable today, as he was substituted for, but then Dixon said something like this (I am paraphrasing from memory):  "And, that is really what is important, especially towards the end of your career.  It does not always have to be goals, but leave the fans with a fond memory of something you did today.  I do not mean to be picking on [the said player], but a football career is fleeting.  It is important that you take advantage of every single opportunity in front of you while you have the chance.  I am not talking about trophies and titles.  It is important that you do something memorable every chance you get, and send the fans home talking to themselves, 'Do you remember when he did that last Saturday?' "

I told the Wife about this right after he said it.  She was gobsmacked, as well.  She said, "That is just great advice for life."

Arlo White (named after the Oklahoma singer Arlo Guthrie) and Lee Dixon were the top commentating team for NBC's sterling coverage of the Premier League this season.  I hope they keep them together, and I can not wait for more from them next season.





Mwah, ... 

London

I was fully expecting to see Lily Allen Sheezus hand bills plastered all over London while I was there.  That was not the case.  (btw, Sheezus entered at No 1 in the UK album charts.  Sweet!)

But, I saw two wonderful hand bills all over the London Underground:

That is Lesley Sharp and Kate O'Flynn, starring in A Taste of Honey, which was its author, Shelagh Delaney's first play ever.  She was twenty years old.

I fell in love with Lesley Sharp aboot twenty years ago, when she was in Mike Leigh's masterpiece of a film, Naked.  I fell in love with Ms O'Flynn about five years ago when she was in Mike Leigh's masterpiece of a film, Happy-Go-Lucky.

Moreover, I knew about A Taste of Honey before I had even seen the script, thanks to The Beatles, and The Smiths.  The Beatles covered the song from the film version, and Morrissey referenced the play in a song, and also made Ms Delaney (a Mancunian) a cover star for their Louder Than Bombs double lp.

I did not catch on to those facts until I actually read the script, and did some scene work for a graduate student playwright.  It was some of the best work I ever did.  Stephanie Swenson played the Kate O'Flynn role.  I can not remember the name of the woman who played Lesley Sharp's part, and I played O"Flynn's sort of boyfriend.  We did it in untutored Mancunian accents (and did it quite well!) I just channeled Paul McCartney crossed with Ringo, and even though Stephanie and I were crushed back stage after finishing, thinking we had done an epic fail, it was one of our finest performances.  I got a number of other off-Main Stage roles from writers and directors just on the strength of that performance.

Also saw this on the Tube walls:

Well, I love both of these guys.  A lot.  And, apparently this show has won a bunch of awards, but Jeeves and Wooster will always be Fry and Laurie to me, so, I do not know.

There is also a production of this play with one of my sweetie's favorite stars, Matthew Macfayden, too.  Macfayden plays Jeeves.  Renee would definitely be down with that!
















Mwah, ... 

Paris

The Wife & I were on the Metro in Paris, I think it was when we were looking for that fantastic cheese shop in a decidedly non-touristy, non-English speaking part of Paris, (and The Wife just had the sweet non-English speaking lady cheese monger pick five cheeses for us.  The highlight was a raw milk St-Marcellin cheese that I could write a whole other entire blog post about), and as we were boarding our train, one of the ubiquitous Parisian Metro accordion players boarded with us.  (It was not the dude in the video above.  I just pulled that from YouTube.)



(The Wife & I have a joke, that whenever I am watching a French film, and she is doing something else in the house, and can not see the teevee, as soon as she hears an accordion -- which apparently are in every French film ever made, even a lot of Godard films -- she exclaims, "French film! You are watching a French film!")



Anyroad, the accordion player played for the folks in the carriage, and then got off a few stops later. He then set up in the normal spot in the passageway right before travelers reach the landing. But, as the train pulled away again, Renee and I could see another accordion player coming down another ramp, ready to set up.  


You should have seen the absolute look of disgust on our second musician.  He heard the other player first, and then poked around the corner to see who his competition was.  Renee and I bust out laughing, trying to figure out just what the rules and etiquette for these guys is.



I hope there was not a fight.

















Mwah, ...

Here's the Saint the cheese is named after.  He looks more likely to be in the Beach Boys to me.

The Double opens today in New York, and L.A.,

And was playing in London when we there! (We should have seen it then.)

It is the second film directed by Richard Ayoade, (Moss from the IT Crowd) and is his follow up to Submarine, which was a ruddy good Welsh coming of age film with an obvious debt to Harold and Maude.  The Double looks to owe debts to Brazil by Terry Gilliam, which is a-ok with me because since Bob Hoskins' death I think it is time I snuggle up with Brazil again.

The Wife and I are v excited about The Double, and will see it as soon as we can.

Everyone have a fab Friday! 'Nother fauxluxe post this afternoon!
Ciao!

fauxluxe isnae dead

I lost my chic glasses,
Just reading frames,
In a Parisian taxi
On our way
To L'Atelier
On the Champs-Élysées

Near the Portobello Road,
In London,
Did I later
Refresh my eyesight
At a bookstore

The sweet shop girls there
Spoke of Cumberbatch
As Richard the Third,
But,
I know he is too tall

This new prescription is intense
And stronger than before,
But,
Now through these glasses
I can see in to your soul

************

So, we were waiting to go in to the most fabulous department store evah, in London, called The Liberty, and we were waiting because it was Sunday, and on Sundays The Liberty don't open till noon.

The Wife is furiously working on her mobile, researching The Liberty, and I keep drifting further to the left, with both my eyes and my feet.  Because, just to my left are some crappy cafes with Hull FC Tiger supporters, sitting down for an early lunch.  (Hull FC would win its FA Cup Semi at Wembley later that day.) And, also further to the left is the real honest to goodness Music Hall where Mister Memory from The 39 Steps had his last breath.  Not really.  Hitch did it in a studio, of course.  But, that is the very same Music Hall that Buchan and Hitchcock based their whole masterpiece upon.

I wander down, the Wife wonders why.

The Wife wis right.  There are a tourist group in front of the Music Hall, and the Hall is plastered with an obnoxious giant neon sign of the travesty that is pretending to entertain Londoners at the present time.  I did take a picture.  It is bad.  Here t'is:

The London Palladium, where Donat, Carroll, and Mr Memory saved the day.

That's right.  The London Palladium.

Meanwhile, here is what London department stores look like:

The Liberty.  Badass old school department store.

Anyroad, The Liberty is on our right, The Palladium is on our left, and I wander back to The Wife, and she has been doing some furious research on her iPhone about The Liberty.  And she says, "Ugh.  Sometimes it is better to do Wikipedia.  Know what I mean? I do not want The Liberty's version, right?"

"Yes," I say, "The public relations point of view? The Pee-are version, right?"

"Look," Renee says, "The doors are opening."

************

The Wife is right.  Most of the time.

Sometimes the PR version is done so well, you can do nothing but admire.

To wit,

All apologies to my Mexican friends, and their Cinco celebration (which is basically, yet another crappy reason for United States of America citizens to get loaded and embarrass themselves), but my new idea is to make a holiday out of Chanel No. 5.  The fifth day of the fifth month, which was Mademoiselle's lucky number, and when she launched the most famous perfume ever.  Seriously, ever.  This is not some, "I like The Stones, The Beatles suck" kind of thing.  There is Chanel No. 5, and there is everybody else.

But, let me get back to what I was saying:  Sometimes the flipping industry can give you the great story.  And the Inside Chanel videos, which you can watch on YouTube, and are a product of Chanel, are the best video representation of Coco Chanel's life I have yet seen.  (The last two videos with Lagerfeld speaking in French suck, but it is all animated magic till then.)

Those animated videos are better than both of the Chanel bio films I have seen.  Coco Before Chanel is not bad, actually good.  Fudging the truth in a pleasant sort of way.

As I like to do.

fauxluxe isnae dead.

"Realize all things have their place/And live my life with dignity and grace"






All my love,
fauxluxe isnae dead.
You will be bombarded with fab posts re Paris et Londre, so get used to it.















xxxoooxxx