Stickers: World Cup Day 17

       Today's predictions are both 2-0; to Mexico against the Netherlands and to Greece against Costa Rica.  I get half of the Recife stadium where the latter game takes place.

Via ebay where they were asking silly
money like 99 pence per sticker

       For the first game I was at the cricket in Taunton and trying hard to avoid the result, as the cricket would end before the football. A friend with a whizzy phone and got the score on his phone but only told me how many goals had been scored in the game.  As the train was pulling in to Exeter the train manager announced "The next station stop is Exeter and in the World Cup tonight it was Holland 2 Mexico 1".  I don't know whether this was being used as an excuse for not coming round to collect tickets.  Anyhow the Mexico goal is scored by Giovani dos Santos, whose sticker I get, and Javier Hernandez, who comes on for the last fifteen minutes. Maybe Mexico's demise is all his fault.
      In the second game,  Costa Rica take the lead, Greece's Vasilis Torisidis nearly concedes a penalty when the ball hits his arm and Jose Holebas puts in good crosses that Greece almost equalise from. As the game went into injury time, before you could say Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Greece equalise.  The game goes to extra time which fails to produce a goal.  Hollibobs goes on to score in the penalty shoot out but Greece lose 3-5.

Stickers: World Cup Day 16

     This is all getting a bit tricky as there isn't really enough time in the day to do this blog- even at the weekend -  but I'll persevere.
     And the predictions for the first pair of knock out games are: Brazil 0 Chile 0 and Colombia 0 Uruguay 1. This shouldn't be a difficult one to write.
     As previously said with a goalless prediction the only thing to say is how long it stayed 0-0. In this case, 18 minutes when a Chilean defender put through his own net via David Luiz's body, Chile equalised and despite some near misses it went all the way to penalties and a Brazil spot kick victory.
    The later game ended two nil to Colombia thanks to goals by Ham-and-eggs Rodriguez, one possibly the most spectacular of the World Cup thus far.  The lone sticker is that of Edinson Cavani, who has a poor game to add to the rather non-descript tournament he's had. Perhaps he should bite someone to attract attention.

     And the winner is: Germany.  The first complete squad after sticker 492 ends my Mertesacker emptiness.  As they are still in the tournament, I haver placed a massive fifty pence each way bet on them to win the cup.  Although at rather shorter odds than I would have got before the tournament.

Stickers: World Cup Day 15

Via paninincheapskates but ed
ited

     The last round of group games before the knock out stages.  Today I get both halves of the Sao Paolo stadium where Belgium play South Korea and half of the Brasilia stadium which hosts Portugal v Ghana.  And the predictions for today are Germany 5 USA 3, Portugal 2 Ghana 2, South Korea 0 Belgium 0 and Russia 0 Algeria 3.
     The bookies seem convinced that Germany v USA will be a 0-0 stitch up as I cannot get a price on my predicted eight goal thriller.  Rain was close to being the big winner.  Germany scored the only goal of the game, but it failed to involve any of the eight stickers - well, I suppose it went past USA keeper Tim Howard.  Of the Germans, Mats Hummels and Toni Kroos start, Mario Gotze comes on as sub, Sami Khedira remained on the bench and Marcel Schmeltzer did not even make the squad.  The other Americans were Matt Besler and DaMarcus Beasley who both play, Mr Beasley causing some problems for the German defence by running at them.
      Ghana let me down by not getting a second, thus losing 2-1.  Portugal's Bruno Alves starts, Ghana's Jordan Ayew comes on as a sub, Daniel Opare doesn't, likewise Fabio Coentrao, made with oranges ripened in the sun, but who's injured.  The first goal is an own goal by John Boye and BBC's commentator makes the "G'night John Boye" joke. Copycat.
      There's not much likelihood of being able to write much when I don't get any stickers of either side.  However it does mean that for at least part of the game I will have the right score. In this case, for 77 minutes until Belgium's Jan Vertonghen scores the only goal of the game.
      Now that England have gone out, English fans have to take their pleasures where they find them and watching Fabio Capello's Russia draw 1-1 with Algeria and be eliminated by the North Africans is one of them.  Algeria's Essaid Belkalem is in their team, Saphir Taider fails to get on and once again I get the non-selected Adlene Guedioura.
      At the end of the group stages the betting running total is -£21.83 and I still need 166 stickers with 310 left to be revealed, hence I would need to get 53.5% new stickers to complete the set or 37.4% (over one in three) to be able to order them; both rather tall orders, I think. 
     Now it's time for the roll call of teams that have a worse record than England at this World Cup:
          Cameroon - no points, one goal scored
          Honduras - no points, one goal scored
          Australia - no points
          Japan - one point, conceded six goals
          South Korea - one point, conceded four goals
          Iran - one point, one goal

Stickers: World Cup Day 14

    Games are still coming thick and fast.  Since opening a new box the swaps are also coming thick and fast. Today's predictions are Honduras 1 Switzerland 0, Ecuador 1 France 2, Nigeria 1 Argentina 1 and ,erm,  Bosnia 3 Iran 8. Could happen.  Although online bookmakers are failing to offer odds for it, so probably not that likely.
     So the first game bombs against my predictions with Shaquiri, whose hips don't lie, scoring a hat-trick for the Swiss - I assume as with Roger Federer winning tennis tournaments  that they will give him a cow, which makes it a cow-trick. The sticker for this game is of Honduras's  Jerry Bengtsen who has an effort cleared off the line.
     The other game in the group was described as 'a team that didn't need to win against a team that weren't capable of getting a win'. No, it's not a re-run of Costa  Rica v England but Ecuador v France did similarly end 0-0.  Ecuadorian Renatu Ibarru comes off the bench for half an hour, which is more than Matthieu Debuchy and a damn sight better than Eric Abidal who failed to make the squad.
     Argentina beat Nigeria 3-2 and neither badge - yes, I got both teams' badges - makes a significant impact.  After yesterday's Suarez related shenanagins - and if he does appeal against his ban, let's


Via oldschoolpaninini.com

hope the appeals committee have the power to increase it - Argentina do feature the  most vampiric player in the tournament, Angel di Maria, who would be nailed on to feature in a remake of FW Murnau's 1922 silent classic Nosferatu.
     And finally, Iran failed to get eight, but Bosnia did get three.  I did get half the Salvador stadium that hosts this fixture.  The scorer of Iran's only goal Reza Googoobarabajagal, sorry, Ghoochanejad is one of the eight stickers.   Pejman Montazari, Ehsan Hajsafi, Javed Nekouman and  Andranik Teymourian start, Khosro Heydari comes on at half time, Hashem Beikzadeh is on the bench and Mohammed Khalatbari failed to make the squad.  For Bosnia-H Emir Spahic plays the full game, Izet Hajrovic is on the bench and Adnan Zahirovic did not get selected for the squad.
      Two days ago the swaps passed the 100 mark, today they passed the 200 mark.

Stickers: World Cup Day 13

     Unlucky for some.  Today will be the day England go home. OK, play their last game, they're probably not going straight from the ground to the airport.  And my prediction for that game is England 2 Costa Rica 6. I suspect if you'd tried getting odds on that scoreline before the tournament started you either wouldn't be able to get a price or it would have been far longer than 500-1, although the way this group has gone so far 500-1 is probably quite generous.  We all expected this to be a team that had already qualified against the group's whipping boys, didn't we ?  Much ado about nothing-nothing.  The two England stickers are Ashley Cole and Kyle Walker, neither of whom made the squad.  Difficult to relate anything to the stickers as next to nothing happened in the game, but Joel Campbell did actually have a shot on goal.  President Yeltsin Tajeda starts but Johnny Acosta Coffee, Christian Bolanos and Michael Barrantes are on the bench, Ariel Rodriguez failed to make the squad and reminds me that I must dot my i's and make e's less like a's.
     The other predictions for the day are Italy 3 Uruguay 1, Japan 0 Colombia 1 and Greece 0 Ivory Coast 2.  Diego Perez is on the bench for Uruguay as they win with a goal in the last 10 minutes.  I get the sticker of the victim of the bite, Giorgio Chiellini, and Andria Burzagli who plays the full game as well as Thiago Motta who plays the last fifteen minutes.
      The sole sticker for the Japan v Colombia game, Juan Cuadrado, opens the scoring with a penalty in Colombia's 4-1 win. Greece beat Ivory Coast 2-1 with an injury time penalty and Didier Drogba starts but does not finish, in many senses of the word; again a country's badge fails to make a significant contribution.

Stickers: World Cup Day 12

    In terms of packets opened I am now just past half way, having got two packs into the second box.
    I think I may regret trying to bet on scores predicted by stickers obtained on the day as today I had a bout of 'a Mexican in every pack'.   I have been unable to obtain odds on a result of Croatia 2 Mexico 10. Thankfully the other predictions are more sensible, erm, Brazil 3 Cameroon 3, Australia 3 Spain 0 and Netherlands 1 Chile 3.
     So I got 3-0 Australia v Spain right.  OK, so it was 3-0 to Spain, but frankly who's counting ?  Mark Bresciano plays the last 18 minutes, Dario Vidosic fails to get on and Rhys Williams failed to make the squad due to injury.
     Memphis Depay comes off the bench to score the Netherlands second  goal in a 2-0 win. (Adrian) Chile's Eugenio Mena, Mauricio Isla Bonita (young girls with eyes like potatoes) and Marcelo Diaz all play.
     Brazil beat Cameroon 4-1 with ITV pundit Ian Wright complaining that Cameroon's players are too comfortable and only concerned with getting paid.  Thiago Silva starts for Brazil, Ramires comes on after being dropped from the previous game and Dante experiences the circles of hell on the bench.  Eyong Enoh gets booked for the Cameroon, Eric Choupo-Moting gets substituted and Benoit Assou Ekoto fails to make an appearance.
     So, did Croatia v Mexico finish 2-10 ?  Of course it didn't.  'Twas 3-1 to the  homeland of Speedy

Via Paninicheapskates
 

Gonsalez. Remarkably of the ten Mexicans only Andres Guardado (who I get twice) scores, but Paul Aguilar clears off the line, Hector Herrera hits the bar and Oribe Peralta sets up Guardado's goal.  I also get the Mexican badge which doesn't do a lot, Carlos Pena comes on as a sub and is the victim of a tackle that results in a sending off, Giovani dos Santos is substituted (who I also get twice, not by Pena) and Aldo de Nigris failed to make the squad.  For Croatia Vedrun Corluca plays the full game and Mateo Kovacic comes on as a sub.
      Well, one box down and I've just got my first England swap; Glen Johnson. the swaps have passed the 100 mark and so have tournament goals, but I doubt the scoring rate will keep up with the swap rate. 
    
      'Gots':            433

       Swaps:         112

     Most stickers: 18 Croatia and Iran, plans to bet on the first complete team to win the tournament
                             may be scuppered as  Croatia are already out and Iran are not certain to qualify.

     Least:              6   South Korea

     Most Swaps:    10   Portugal

     Least Swaps:    None   Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Switzerland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium,
                              and Nigeria

     Complete Pages:   10

     Most Individual Swaps: 2   Eleven different stickers

    Longest Sequence of Stickers:   18   Numbers  53 - 70, 372 - 389 and 449 - 466.

    Betting total:      -£11.53

Stickers: World Cup Day 11

     Today's predictions: Belgium 2 Russia 0, South Korea 0 Algeria 2 and USA 0 Portugal 4.

Via bundesliga.com

     I get half of the Rio stadium that hosts Belgium v Russia and half of the Porto Allegre stadium where Korea v Algeria is played.  In the first game, Belgium win it with a late goal but sadly for my betting fail to get a second.  Prince Harry lookalike Kevin de Bruyne plays and Dries Mertens supplies a number of chances down the right.
     The Korea v Algeria game is more goal packed than the prediction; Algeria becoming thee first African side to score four in a World Cup finals and Korea getting two in reply. Islam Slimani gets the opener for Algeria but Crystal Palace's Adlene Guedioura failed to make their squad.  And the game was 2-0 for a full ten minutes.
     The USA come within a whisker of knocking Portugal out but a last minute equaliser makes it 2-2.  The man who scores that equaliser, Silvestre Valera, is one of the Portuguese stickers I get. Twice.  The other is the defender whose injury against Germany ended his World Cup, Fabio Coentrao. Twice.  A 'convenient' draw between the States and Germany will eliminate Portugal anyway.
     The Honduras team group means that I have now put a sticker on the last blank page.

Stickers: World Cup Day 10

       Well, the predictions weren't ever that likely to make logical sense, and today's are: Argentina 0 Iran 3, Germany 0 Ghana 2 and Nigeria 1 Bosnia 1.
        Iran actually give Argentina a good contest with only an injury time goal at the end separating the teams. Pejman Montazeri crossed for Reza Ghoochannejad (isn't that a Donovan song ?) whose header was blocked by the Argentine keeper.  Javed Nekounam becomes, I think, the first player whose sticker I get on a match day to be booked in that match.
      Again, in the second game Ghana run Germany a lot closer than expected, even being ahead for eight minutes.  Jonathan Mensah performs well in defence, but Michael Essien fails to make an appearance from the bench.
      In the late game, a couple of misses and a wrongly disallowed goal by Manchester City's Dzeko possibly deprives me of a winning bet as Nigeria win 1-0.  Bosnian keeper Asmir Begovic is nutmegged for the goal and the Nigerian team group really never stood a chance of a good individual performance.

Stickers: World Cup Day 9

      The feedback from the Panini cheapskates is that they Google them in order to know what the sticker looks like so they can draw it.  I had no idea  it would be that easy. I'd have thought that Panini would have been more protective of their rights.  This does, of course, give me another option for completing the set; I could just print them.

Via www.collectabubble.com
 

     Amongst the stickers I get today are No 4 which is the top half of the mascot that looks like a cross between a kangaroo and a pony. Presumably one of the thousands of new species that are still being discovered in the Amazon every year.  Sticker number 271 Alvaro Gonsalez of Uruguay completes the first full page, I also get the USA badge to complete a page of only 7 stickers.  And in trying to find a picture of the Gonsalez sticker I find a site where you can buy each sticker for 10 pence each http://www.collectabubble.com/panini-2014-world-cup---individual-stickers-858-c.asp, which would mean being able to buy the whole set with no swaps for under £70, not including postage.
       OK, so on to the predictions:  Italy 2 Costa Rica 0, France 4 Switzerland 1 and Ecuador 1 Honduras 0. 
     So not only did I lose a pound when Costa Rica beat Italy with the only goal of the game, but the result means England are out. And they didn't even play. Well, at least I was proved right when I suggested months ago that this should be the England Official World Cup song.  Gigi Buffon returns in goal for the Azzurri but the other sticker  is of Alberto Gilardino who, on behalf of Panini and like his club, I'd like to congratulate on getting into the Italian squad. Except of course that he didn't.  I think England's real problem has been that they have no players called Rodriguez (Jay was sadly injured) and no naturalised Brazilians.
      And surely the rock solid Swiss defence wouldn't concede four ?  There was a six minute period where my 35-1 on 4-1 looked like it might come in; all I needed was the Swiss to score and that to be the end of the goals. Then France scored their fifth. And the Swiss got two back in the last ten minutes, the last goal being scored by Granit Xhaka, who had previously had the ball in the net but been ruled offside.  Remarkably the four Frenchmen whose stickers I get are none of the five Frenchman who score for Les Bleus.  Patrice Evra and Mathieu Debuchy both go close to scoring, Paul Pogba, lucky not to be sent off in the first game, comes on as a sub. And Samir Nasri was left at home, allegedly because he would be disruptive to team spirit.
     Ecuador v Honduras was decided by the odd goal, but in three rather than just the one.  Ecuador's Joao Rojas fails to get off the bench.

Stickers: World Cup Day 8

     And today I get half of the Brasilia stadium, which hosts the Colombia v Ivory Coast game, which the stickers predict will finish 2-1 to the Ivorians.  The other games will, yes, I promise, will end Uruguay 2 England 0 and Japan 3 Greece 2.
     I told you Colombia v Ivory Coast would finish 2-1.  Sadly, it was to Colombia.  But I did get Cote d'Ivoire scorer Gervinho and the 'substituted for being a bit shit' Wilfried Bony.  However, Colombian Carlos Bacca fails to get a run out.
     Well, the Uruguay two bit was right.  Damn Wayne Rooney for scoring his first goal in World Cup finals.  This finals' country with the smallest population's Egidio Arevaldo Rios plays and Abel Hernadez is on the bench.
     Another sticker predicted thriller turns out to be a dud; Japan 0 Greece 0. Partly responsible are Japan's keeper Eiji Kawashima, who makes a couple of good saves, and Atsutso Uchida who misses a good chance. Greece's Giorgios Karagounis puts in some good dead balls from which players then fluff their finishes.  Giannis Maniatis plays for the Greeks but Yoichiro Kakitani fails to make it to the pitch from the bench.
     Number of swaps passes the fifty mark.
     I have found a new and ingenious way of finishing the set; draw them. http://paninicheapskates.wordpress.com/about/   However, what I can't fathom is that it is obvious that they are copying the stickers, but where are  they getting them from ?  And why no drawings of any stadia yet ? I'll just nip across to their blog and ask them...

Stickers: World Cup Day 7

     Today's sticker based predictions are Australia 0 Netherlands 2, Spain 3 Chile 2 and Cameroon 0 Croatia 1.
     Memphis Depay scores the winner for the Netherlands in their 3-2 win having come on as a substitute.  The other Dutch sticker is that of Kevin Strootman who failed to make the squad because of injury.
     Spain's fall from grace or return to their old 'flattering to deceive' ways continues as they lose 2-0 to Chile. Think their problem has been that on the days they've played I've got their defenders; Gerard Pique presumably was blamed for the defeat to the Dutch and was dropped; Sergio Ramos and Jordi Alba were again lacklustre.  Chile's Jose Rojas fails to get on and David Pizarro was in the provisional squad but did not make the final squad.
      Croatia's win over the Cameroons is more emphatic than the prediction; by four goals rather than a single one.  Although, joy of joys, lone sticker Mario Mandzukic scores twice. 

Stickers: World Cup Day 6

     And the estimated scores on the doors tonight are Brazil 2 Mexico 1, Belgium 1 Algeria 0 and Russia 1 Korea 1.
     Amongst the stickers I get Ghana's John Boye. G'night John Boye.
    As Brazil disappoint by drawing 0-0 with Mexico, keeper Julio Cesar and defender Marcelo are part of the clean sheet and Mexico's Miguel Layun plays the whole game.  Dani Alves blond/ grey dyed hair was said on Twitter to be unlucky.  It never stopped John O'Flynn.
     Belgium come back from a goal down to beat Algeria, but their foil badge doesn't play a huge part in the game.  Belgium did not really look like a team until the two mighty 'fros of Alex Witsel and Marouane Fellaini were united in midfield
     And they said it wouldn't happen ?  OK, I said it wouldn't happen.  Sticker based prediction proves to be a  correct score, thanks to Russia's foil badge and Korea's Ji Dong-Won, erm, I won. Neither the foil badge nor Dong-Won takes any part in the game. Alas the correct result only yields £3.25. However currently I am only £2 down which is quite surprising.
   Is anyone else finding the 'look to camera, cross your arms' thing when they announce the teams a tad annoying ?

Stickers: World Cup Day 5

     Today's predictions: Germany 0 Portugal 1, Iran 3 Nigeria 4 and Ghana 0 USA 1.

     Amongst those stickers revealed is the England team group which is just a composite of head shots rather than a picture taken before a match, giving the impression that it's not officially sanctioned by the FA.
    So the first prediction goes spectacularly wrong as Germany run out 4-0 winners against a lack lustre Portugal who were a man light after a sending off. And to top it all off the one sticker I do get, Josue, failed to make the Portuguese squad.  Portugal bring on Eder as substitute and every time he gets mentioned I want to sing this.
      I wish the Iran v Nigeria game had matched my prediction instead of the borefest it turned out to be. Partly responsible for the nil-nil draw are Iran's Khosro Heydari and Nigeria's John Obi Wan Kenobi Mikel and Ogenyi Onazi who play, relatively blameless are Hashem Beikzadeh of Iran and Elderson Echiejile and Azubuike Egwuikwe of Nigeria who are on the bench, totally blameless is Iranian Mojtaba Jabbari who failed to make their squad and has retired from international football.
       A bizarre result of sorts from the USA v Ghana game:  the one sticker I get Matt Besler, is the player replaced by the scorer of the winning goal John Brooks University.  It finished 2-1 to the Stars and Stripe.
    
Swaps have now reached 30.

Stickers: World Cup Day 4

     I've now got the World Cup ball which has completed a page. Not as impressive as it sounds as there are only two stickers on that page. 
     The predictions from the stickers obtained today are Switzerland 4 Ecuador 0, France 2 Honduras 0 and Argentina 1 Bosnia-Herzegovina 1.  Swiss keeper Diego Benaglia disappoints me by not keeping a clean sheet and Gokhan Inler and Xheridan Shaquiri get shots on target. Fourth sticker Phillipe Senderos is only on the bench as Switzerland sneak a 2-1 win in injury time.  In the second game 'diminutive' Mathieu Valbuena sends over the free kick from which France scored their third (and is fouled quite a lot, but then so is just about everybody in this game) and Mamadou Sissoko comes on half way through the second half in Les Bleus' 3-0 victory.  In the final game of the day, Federico Fernandez starts for Argentina but Avdija Vrsajevic is only on the bench for B-H as Argentina run out 2-1 winners.
     The betting is none too successful as the odds on the winning results are not enough to cover the lost  correct score bets as they are odds on.

Stickers: World Cup Day 3

     Well, today I got half of the Belo Horizonte stadium where the Colombia v Greece game is due to take place.  I may not have got the correct score or result but I did get the sticker of the first goalscorer Pablo Armero. Even more remarkably it was supplied by the other Colombian sticker I get, Juan Caudrado. We should savour the moment. It may not happen again. Both Greek stickers, Jose Hollibobs, sorry , Holebas and Panagotis Kone play.
     The  BBC commentators have said that "we've seen plenty of goals", however I held out little hope for Uruguay to lose 7-2 to Costa Rica. Or, indeed, to lose at all.  The wonderfully named Yeltsin Tejeda - I'm hoping that, like cricketer Nixon McLean had brothers named after US presidents, Tejeda has brothersnamed Aafter Russian presidents - concedes the free-kick from which Junior Diazfoulsa Uruguayan to giveaway the penalty. Brain Ruiz was fouled for the free kick which Christian Bolanos took which lead to Costa Rica's second goal. One of the other Costa Rica players whose sticker I get comes on as substitute and the other two are on the bench. 
     The England game is a bit of a failure by comparison; wrong score, wrong result and the one sticker is that of Kyle Walker who didn't make the England squad through injury. Another significant injury from the  game was England's physio Gary Lewin whose ankle was broken in the celebrations after Daniel Sturridge's goal. However, there should be plenty of injury time in future England game as physio hobbles on on crutches.  Phil Neville, BBC's co-commentator for the game, shares more than most of the same latters with Phil Neal; he just repeats the last thing the commentator says, even if it contradicts the last thing Neville said.
     Ivory Coast fall one goal short of giving me the  correct score with their 2-1 win over Japan. But the correct result, along with the Costa Rica result, means I'm only  £1.25 down.  Didier Diver is the 'inspiration' for the win after they were behind to Japan and Yaya Toure has some moments. But the third Ivorian sticker Lacina Traore failed to make the squad.  The Japan badge has little influence on the game.
     I also got the World Cup and  a couple of  stickers at the front which I don't understand, possibly the logo and the mascot, but as they are in halves they both look a tad weird.
     There seems to be a new trend in different coloured boots on each foot. Whether this is one-upmanship on coloured boots or a boot company's initiative I have no idea. Looks bloody daft though. As does absurdly tight shirts that looked particularly stupid in a rainstorm.
     Appropriate that Chris Waddle was one of the guests for Sunday's Football Focus as the BBC's studio is as high above Copacabana beach as Waddle's Italia 90 penalty was above the crossbar.
Is there a split in the Italy camp ?  Mario Balotelli seems to be only growing the bit of hair that Gabriel Paletta can't.


Via TransferMarketWeb.com

 

 

 

 



Via National Post, Canada website





Stickers: World Cup Day 2

I get my first English player, Gary Cahill, and the first foil sticker, Fair Play, which is sticker number 1 as well as Lee Keun-Ho of South Korea who is number 639 and hence last in the book.  I also got the first packet without a team group in it, so there isn't one in every packet, which should make things easier.  Possibly the most significant sticker revealed is the one which may describe this whole exercise, or perhaps a relation for Alan Sugar's typical footy import Carlos Kickaball, Honduran Carlos Costly.
No stickers for either Mexico or Cameroon indicates a nil-nil draw,  and the other two predictions are Spain 3 Netherlands 1 and much fancied Chile 1 lowest ranked team in the finals Australia 2.  Officials tried hard to make the first game  0-0 by disallowing - wrongly - two Mexican goals, but it finished 1-0 to Mexico and a pound lost.
For Spain against their former colony (yes, I know it was a long time ago, but it's mntioned in the Dutch national anthem) the stickers are relatively significant Ramos gave away free kick for 3rd goal, Casillas miscontrolled a back pass for 4th, compared to them fellow defender Jordi Alba was relatively blameless.  On the BBC's highlights programme they interviewed an old tramp outside the stadium.  No, sorry, it was Mark Lawrenson.  Sadly, I can't find this on I-player so you'll just have to trust me.
Chile beat Australia 3-1 and two of the stickers Marcos Gonsalez and Lucas Neill failed to make their nation's squads and Dario Vidosic is on the bench for The Socceroos.  Gary Cahill's Australian namesake, Tim, scores their goal.Two more pounds into the bookies pocket.
Anyhow swaps thus far 6, including the Costa Rican team twice.

Predictions for Day 3's game having opened the requisite packets:

Colombia 2 Greece 2         22-1 correct score, 5-2 correct result
Uruguay 2 Costa Rica 7    Funnily enough couldn't get a price on this score,8-1 correct result
England 1 Italy 0               7-1 correct score, 21-10 correct result
Ivory Coast 3 Japan 1        25-1 correct score, 6-4 correct result

Stickers : World Cup Day 1

Well, I hadn't really thought this through, particularly with some games kicking off at 2am UK time.  So everything will be a day in arrears at least. Anyhow, with only one game today, I can proudly announce that after 6 free stickers and three packets of five I've got my first swap - Jackson Martinez, sticker 201, of Colombia.  Not a great sign.  The  free six were:  Cristiano Ronaldo, Hugo Lloris, Gonzalo Higuain, Daniele di Rossi, Yaya Toure and Roman Shirokov (who he ?).  I got no Brazilians but Nico Kranjcar, so have bet 50 pence each on Brazil 0 Croatia 1 at 20-1 and on Croatia to win the game at 10-1.  So there's another pound thrown away.

Oh, and I happened to walk through a WH Smith Panini swap shop. However, don't think my one swap would really have done me much good.

Update: Well, it was 1-0 to Croatia. For 17 minutes, which was more of a run for my money than I was expecting.  Kranjcar doesn't feature as he was injured. In May, so didn't make the squad.  That's the problem with these sticker books coming out so long before the Finals.  3-1 to Brazil at the end did indeed mean that it was a pound wasted.

Panini World Cup 2014

     This year I am collecting the Panini Official Licensed World Cup sticker album. I first started doing this when I was thirty, having read that if you buy a sealed box you should be guaranteed a set.  As I believed at the time that I had enough 'spare liquidity' to afford a box that was what I did. It livened up a World Cup for which England had not qualified.  Sadly since then boxes of stickers are 100 packets rather than 200 and, having browsed through an album, I know there are 639 stickers in the set and five stickers per packet. Hence one box, even if devoid of swaps, wouldn't be enough to complete the set.
     I bought two boxes and an album from the Co-op in Fore Street, Exeter, largely because in passing it most nights on the way home from work I know that they are used to dealing with lunatics and drunks. The lad on the till had to call for assistance on how to avoid scanning 200 packs one by one, which would've rather pissed off the queue. Total cost £102.99.
   I have read in Four Four Two that two Swiss mathematicians who've analysed 12 boxes of stickers from 4 Swiss cities for the 2010 World Cup decided that there was a high probability that there was no such thing as a 'rare sticker'. Their recommendation was to buy one box plus forty packets and swap until you're down to the fifty which you can order from the company.  I wish I'd read that before buying two boxes, but then I may not find anybody to swap with.
     Having calculated that I have just over three packets for every game, I decide to open, erm, three packets for every game, although this will go up slightly as the tournament progresses.  With five free packets with the album and six free stickers in the centre of the album - I checked most of the albums in the Co-op, the six free stickers are all the same - I have 1036 stickers to reveal and 639 to get, so I need 61.7% of the stickers to be non-swaps.  I think that's a bit of an ask.
     To make things a little more interesting and a little different from other times I have done this I will bet on the result of the game dependent on the number of stickers of each team which I get on each day; I feel I haven't wasted enough money on this already.  So I will bet 50 pence on the correct score and 50 pence on the win/ draw market.  Yes, I'm that much of a high roller.  I also suspect that nearer the end of the tournament I'll be betting on a lot of nil-nils.
     Not sure whether I will be able to keep this blog up each day whilst trying to watch the games themselves.  Highly doubtful that I'll get the set of stickers and extremely dubious that the betting will make any money whatsoever.
     Anyway, here goes.