Welcome to the final Group F game. Let’s see how things stand.
Pretty straightforwardly, as it happens, since both the earlier results in this group ran exactly the same way. Nigeria (managed by Cis) are through on 6 points, Bosnia-Herzegovina (managed by Scott) are eliminated with zero. Which leaves Iran (Wichita Lineman) in a strong position for the second qualifying place with 4 points, and Argentina (Chris) needing a win here on 2.
Songs and poll below the cut!
NIGERIA: Olamide – “Elada Mi”
“Olamide takes the field to give thanks for the grace that lets us play at this level. Truly we are blessed. We’re proud of our play so far; we have no need or desire to rest on our laurels; we face the future with hope and faith.”
IRAN: Baran – “100 Baar”
“The luxuriantly long-haired Baran dons her heels and jumps into a taxi out of Tehran, adding considerable verve – and a mazy ping-pong hook – to the now-familiar Iranian melancholy. It may sound like she sings “Vicky Icky”, but I’m sure she doesn’t really.”
ARGENTINA: Niko Cota – “Cool”
“Niko Cota is a Buenos Aires striker from the unheralded, but great, funk scene in Argentina. “Kool” uses progressive rhythms while recalling a more traditional (and classic) style of play. There’s a fluidity to “Kool” that propels throughout the song’s 4 1/2 minutes. This formation comes from Cota’s 2013 playbook, Escucha el Ritmo. It’s influenced by previous Argentine funk forward-strikers Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas. This is a formation that throws a lot of funk and soul sounds at the defenders, waiting for opportune moment to strike.”
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: Dubiosa Kolectiv – “Kazu”
“It’s a shame BiH’s involvement in the Pop World Cup ends here, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still time to make an impression, and in this case, political points. Whether ‘Kažu”s ska bounce can gain some hitherto elusive Group F ones remains to be seen, but hopefully voters will have as much as fun with it as Dubioza do. Even Cristiano Ronaldo is mocked in the video, but with nothing left to lose it takes to his kind of showboating, all with a disdainful eye on the directors’ box.”
THE POLL
F3: Which TWO Tracks Do You Pick? [ballot]
- BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: Dubiosa Kolectiv 32%
- IRAN: Baran 31%
- ARGENTINA: Niko Cota 23%
- NIGERIA: Olamide 14%
Total Voters: 40
Poll closes: 18 Apr 2014 @ 13:00
Loading ...RESULTS: England’s “Golden Generation” of the early 00s may never have brought home a major trophy, but they do enough to get their side another 3-point haul and let England top Group D. Italy restore a bit of national pride with 2 points, which means Costa Rica’s 1 isn’t enough to see them through to qualification. The second spot goes to Uruguay, despite a nervy third game performance. They now face a rampant Japan side in the Round of 16: England’s opponents are Cote D’Ivoire. Congratulations to Ronald and Matthew. Commisserations to Pete and Andrew Hickey. Final standings: 1. England – 7 points. 2. Uruguay – 5 points. 3. Costa Rica – 4 points. 4. Italy – 2 points.
With progress into the next round assured Nigeria put out a team who put on an exhibition match. This performance either speaks of confidence in their future tactics or may be something they will wish they’d saved for a later, more decisive match. They play with plenty of space and dazzling footwork. A joy to watch.
Iran combine passion, precision and propulsion. Beneath the modern gloss there’s a compelling sense of history and hurt being redressed. An inspiring performance.
Argentina look off the pace. The midfield splutter and the forwards stumble. when they do have possession they lack direction and pass the ball around aimlessly.
Bosnia-Herzegovina throw caution to the winds and throw everything into forward motion. It’s thrilling stuff but does leave them vulnerable to counter-attack. After a while their approach becomes a little too predictable and they risk picking up cards for dissent.
Relieved of the pressure, Bosnia-Herzegovina play on of the best games of this PWC thus far. Frenetic, irresistible, carefree, they groove around the opposition with gusto.
Iran nail progress to the second round with a polished performance combining their traditional strength with modern flourishes.
Nigeria’s performance starts like a team playing for time but is a grower. By the end of the game they are playing with supreme ability. Pity about shipping the early goal to B-H. (If this is Nigeria with nothing to play for, I wouldn’t like to play them in the knockout rounds.)
And Argentina, who fought valiantly, and may have been robbed in the last round, but sadly miss out on the vote here. The funk is patient, the moves well worked but there is just too much quality in the other teams for them to progress for me.
Great squad selections from all the teams – it’s a shame there can only be two winners, Brian.
1. Bosnia & Herzegovina
2. Argentina
3. Iran
4. Nigeria
BiH put in the performance with the most energy, one that had they played it sooner, their stakes here may have been quite different. It seems they’ve a team that’s finally ready to play for keeps, gear and all. Worthy of a finale, certainly, and has earned my adulation today — which sort of says a lot considering how much of a distaste I have for ska. I don’t know how I feel about the video.
Argentina take the scenic route in their final game and manage to funk around into a lusher depth of field than the other tracks, rollin’ and scratchin’ around a potent yet patient bassline, a beat that can surely get heads nodding, but seems to be divisive as to which way said heads do. I’m saying yes to this though, even if the players sort of glitch with the time-stretch slow down in the final seconds. Yes, it could always get slower than this, it seems to say — a misstep that recovers at the very end.
Iran play a sort of route one style reminiscent of BiH’s second round pick, with bigger production values to sort of get it by on the pitch. There’s a conviction here I admire, and that should see to it that it does better than said BiH track at the least, but will it be enough?
Nigeria play as if they have nothing to lose, but nothing to win either, opulence on display, a sort of laid back, top back, and catchy enough victory lap which certainly shows that they’ve been #blessed this PWC, but I don’t see any hunger from this side, so I don’t see any points for them. Good thing they can afford it, for now. Not the sort of seize the day abandon that make a team like Cameroon a favorite.
Another quality round:
Nigeria: the big boys of West Africa – now facing serious competition, at the moment in other groups, from quite a few of their neighbours. It’s appropriate then that they show these young upstarts what to do – which, here, is rest, take it easy, once you’ve deservedly won that promotion to the next round, you can save your energy for putting on killer games then: best not to wear out the players unnecessarily when there is nothing to prove. After the performances they put on in the first two rounds, they’ve earned the right not to break into a sweat too much, and today, they don’t. Not ugly to watch, but definitely an energy-saving move.
Iran: pretty good, bouncy bouncy at the start, comes close to overshooting the goalposts on a couple of occasions though. Then goes a bit in the direction of “music you unavoidably hear in taxis in the South Caucasus” a little too much, but, ha, that melancholic aspect, and the early 80s percussion sound, and one particular percussive sideline that crops up a couple of times, save it from an ignominious fate
Argentina: a pleasingly retro performance, bringing back fond memories of when pop football was played in dark, smoke-filled rooms. The needle on the vinyl… There’s a lot here that is right. Better than a fair bit of Shakatak, too. But better than D-Train? A-ha, that would be saying.
Bosnia: I Say (as I think the song title means…). This is quite fabulous. They may be going home, but can do so with heads held high on the basis of this performance.
the Nigerians are dangerously coasting here, especially when up against some unexpectedly strong performances here from the other teams. I wouldn’t be surprised if this risky strategy loses them the group win and sets them up for what could be a very tricky second round…
Another solid performance by Iran, but it’s the Bosnians who really wow. If they’d found this form earlier in the tournament they’d be sailing through, but as it is this is leaving me hungry to explore the Bosnian Ska League in a lot more detail. Absolutely fantastic.
I took to Argentina’s funky, fancy footwork immediately. And Iran’s performance is a nailed on vote-winner for me. I can’t call it between those two, so I voted for both. I know that’s probably unhelpful with both countries fighting for that 2nd spot, but it’s PWC. Anything can happen.
Bosnia Herzegovina on any other day would have got my vote. Just the sort of thing to go with beer and nuts. And the Viz-heads look on proudly, Fulchester Utd’s radio pundits would have wanted these fellas to feature in the knockout stages, but thanks Bosnia. You should be proud.
Nigeria, already through, put on an effortless display. No vote here, but to be honest, this is the kind of performance that wins trophies. Onwards and upwards.
Bosnia-Herzegovina: now that’s the way to play a meaningless end-of-season fixture! Exhibition stuff and a laugh-out-loud vid, I need to understand some of the references, but tweaking Ronaldo’s nipples is a great way to exit the tournament if you have to (I bet Rooney wished he’d thought of that).
Nigeria on the other hand show complacency and I’d ask for my money back after that pertormance (he obviously has plenty). Decent midfield but the striker is autotuned to death.
In the clash that counts, Argentina are solid but stolid and offer nothing original. Iran weave pretty patterns but it’s their passion and mystery – a new view of Teheran and of Iranian women – that gets the vital winner.
Bosnia/Herze going out like winners here! Glad to see Iran go through. Sorry Argies. Expectedly ending on the bottom, but ultimately it’s no skin off the neck of Nigeria. They’ll come back stronger than ever I’m sure in the knockouts.
France v Nigeria is going to be a cracker.