Iberian Derby plus Japan take on the Italians

Firstly, sympathies go out to our American readers after their elimination from WC2010 yesterday. I was drinking a couple of bottles of La Choulette, the French entry to COGH during the game. I hope this didn't in any influence the course of the game... It was going to be Guinness Foreign Export.

'I never touched him ref, honest'

Match 51:

Japan 1
Miyagi 61
Italy 0

The Forza Azzurri bandwagon grinds to a halt, but we've had better taste-offs to be honest. 'There's no way the Italian beer deserves to go any further - it isn't much cop,' says James. 'Agreed,' says Dan, 'and Sapporo would walk any World's Driest Beer competition - if anyone could be bothered to hold one.' Now there's a thought... not really - but nonetheless Japan go marching on to the last eight.

Fabio Capello posting his team sheets earlier today -
apparently John Terry is 8/1 to be first England player to cry if they lose

Dave Henson

One of the cultural highlights of the World Cup for me has been the songs of Dave Henson - he of Vuvuzela Song fame. Have a listen to I'll Be Watching You and At Least We're Better Than France - both made me laugh quite a lot.

England 2006 - 2007 in two words

Match 52:
Portugal 1
Castrol 58
Spain 3

Torrid 35, 40, Biscuits 70 (pen)

A whole different encounter. By this time we're all thoroughly relaxed, but still have sufficient faculty to enjoy the sophisticated flavours in Alhambra Mezquita in all it's 7.2% glory. Slightly sweet and deeper than resentment about Gibraltar. In comparison Sagres is 'respectable holiday beer' and 'alright once in a while but nothing special'. No contest.

Brazil yet to score shocker...

Twitter Titter #5

davidschneider

I'd say the disarray in the French team dates from the appointment of sports psychologist Paddy O'Shaunessy

and latest news:-

simonmayo

Sky sources: England coach Fabio Capello agrees to tell players of team selection earlier. (via @SkyNewsBreak)

Here's a link to current scenarios in all groups. Especially interesting is the possibility of a coin toss if England score two more goals than the US in their final games.

Cup of Good Hop Match 29:
Brazil 0

Ivory Coast 0

Deaks' 'Barak Obrahma' quip is more entertaining than either brew, and Tusker yet again fails to impress. 'The only big game this will be involved with is the elephant on the label,' says Peter. By this time the lads are very bored of generic Lagerland lager, and this goalless encounter is testament to that. 'Brazil need to have a word with themselves beer-wise, this is a shoddy display,' says James.

Not everyone is complaining about the Vuvuzela

Match 30:
Portugal 1
Mandi 10

North Korea 0

An encounter nearly as flat as Mann's Brown Ale itself. Sagres gets the nod over a 2.8% beer that has recipes written on the side of the bottle. 'It's going to qualify for the last 16, but I can't see Portugal getting much further,' says Stu. Like Ronaldo, there's something a little effeminate about Sagres, whereas Mann's has completely lost the faith of the judges. 'It's giving me the shivers,' says Peter, who can't face drinking any more. 'You've got to wonder who still buys this rubbish.' I suppose we did, but for a very specific reason.

Group G Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Portugal	2	2	0	0	3	0	3	6
2	North Korea	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	3
3	Brazil	2	0	1	1	0	1	-1	1
4	Ivory Coast	2	0	1	1	0	2	-2	1

COGH Analysis: Portugal top a poor group and have yet to concede a goal. Brazil, on the other hand have yet to score one and run the very real risk of first round elimination at the hands of North Korea. The Ivorians could spoil their party but will have to perform significantly better than in their previous two matches.

Not so nuts about Brazil...

A fascinating clash of cultures in Group G, with the Iberian influences of Brazil and Portugal going head to head with the totalitarian nuttiness of North Korea and the war-torn morass that has been the recent history of the Ivory Coast. Similarly, in terms of getting hold of the beers, we had no trouble with two (#Bra and #Por), whilst the other two steadfastly refused to surrender. Therefore, we have been forced to field a couple of ringers, which are:-

North Korea
Mann's Brown Ale, 2.8%
'In 2000, North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il announced he wanted a brewery. At the same time, the Ushers Brewery in Trowbridge, Dorset, was put up for sale. A deal was done and within 18 months, the North Korean government had dismantled the brewery, shipped it home to Pyongyang, put it back together again and begun brewing “Taedong River Beer”. As you can’t get Taedong River Beer in the UK, we’ve opted for Mann’s Brown ale, the terrific traditional beer that was once brewed on the same brewing kit. A slightly sweet, malt driven creamy ale with a nutty finish.' thedrinksbusiness.com

Ivory Coast
Tusker, 4.2%
'Tusker is a medium lager, yellow in colour but with little of a head. It is quite crisp and clean and makes an ideal 'Sunday Afternoon' beer. Tusker leaves a satisfactory aftertaste. It tastes quite sweet and fruity. It has much more of a taste to it than many lagers and if you are looking for something different then this is probably worth checking out.' yoodoo.com

Brazil
Brahma, 4.8%
'This beer has a very weak bite, flowery aroma and very pleasant afertaste leaning toward citrus/grape. It almost feels as if your drinking a soda rather then a beer. There is no sickly feeling or gassyness after it goes down, not carbonated at all. I expect a large amount of synthetic ingredient, which is infact a good thing with this beer as they've managed to make it taste very-non generically stale.' thebackpacker.net

Portugal
Sagres, 5.2%
'This pale, lager-type beer is a little bland on the nose, with some mild malty notes. On the palate it is quite smooth and rich-textured, with a decent amount of dry, almost bitter-edged hoppy fruit and decent length, but it is bit too "clean" and under-flavoured for me.' Beernotes.com

Twitter Titter #1

This is a new COGH occasional feature where we pull out the tweets that have made us titter...

Enjoyed @DolphinHotel's 'North Koreans already celebrating their team's 3-0 thrashing of #Bra thanks to 62 goals from Kim Jong-Il.'

Match 13:
Ivory Coast 0

Portugal 2
Castrol 20, Contralto 69

Though we were a bit dismissive about Sagres as a 'holiday beer', it was nonetheless crisp and hoppy. However, this was less entertaining than the 'Tusker Du' comments and the exchange between Stu and Deaks.
D: 'I'm not getting anything off this.'
S: 'Reminds me of my honeymoon.'
D: 'Why? Didn't you get any?'
S: No - I went to Kenya.'
Still, such mirth was not enough to save Tusker from a two-goal turnover.

Key man: Kim Jong-Il
Match 14:
Brazil 0

North Korea 1
Jong-Il 77

Critique reached new lows as Mann's was described as a 'Paraguay wannabe', and 'it's giving me the shivers', and Brahma received a damning 'its what you'd drink on Copacobana Beach when feeling up a girl who was actually a boy.' At this point, Dan asked 'how do you spell deteriorating?' Kinda summed it all up. Low quality, apart from the five-star humour.

3 continents in one trip

Wandered down to Lewes Road in Brighton on friday and amongst the significant choice of Polish beers (memories of Boniek and co flooding back..) discovered three on Questionable/Difficult list:

Nigeria:

Always been a Guiness fan so am looking forward to this Foreign Extra coming in at 7.5%,

Portugal I've always thought to possess flair, style but often lacking a little bit of weight up front.

Sagres is not is best looking label it has to be said. Having never been to Portugal this does look like a campsite staple so with holding judgement..

The highlight of the trip was finding this rather simple and fetching blue and white striped bottle of Quilmes from Argentina:

If only the Poles were in we could have a dozen for them alone..

JB