Emerald Emblem Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 Oh hang on, penalties back on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 Pens back on the cards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 For the Mother Land! For the Union! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killthenet Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 This World Cup guys! Let's hope the semi's and the final continue to deliver the drama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drahkon Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 (edited) Here we go The drama is real! Edit: Lol, worst penalty ever... Edited July 7, 2018 by drahkon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happenstance Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 Commentary over penalties always makes me laugh. "If he'd kicked it in a place that the goalkeeper wasn't, he would have scored." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drahkon Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 2 minutes ago, Happenstance said: Commentary over penalties always makes me laugh. "If he'd kicked it in a place that the goalkeeper wasn't, he would have scored." To be fair, your team only just learned about that 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 Now the riots in the streets of Russia will start. Russia done a fantastic job in this tournament and have done far more than everyone expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 A great run for Russia. Croatia were the better team, but Russia pushed them all of the way. So, one of Belgium, France, England or Croatia is going to win the World Cup. The final is either going to be: Belgium vs. England Belgium vs. Croatia France vs. England France vs. Croatia Option 1 is my first choice. Think it may well be that. France vs. Croatia would be the most disappointing final, for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killthenet Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 It's a dream semi final line up, there are great stories within every team. I will be hoping for a Belgium victory in the first semi final to set up either England winning it or a new country getting their name on the trophy. I don't know what to expect from the semi final, Croatia could play through England if their squad clicks but they've looked so lackluster in the last 2 rounds and they look weak from set pieces which England have obviously been really strong on so far so it really could go either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramar Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 On 07/07/2018 at 5:29 AM, Ramar said: Told you miserable lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 We are ready for tonight! We zijn klaar! I reckon 2-1 or 3-2 to Belgium after extra time. @Eenuh is going for a France win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Quite an even match so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Belgium are having most of the ball, with France looking to counter with Mbappe. If Mbappe gets one on one with Kompany, he'll absolutely destroy him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Dembele has been a liability tonight for Belgium. He's given the ball away too many times and he's not been doing his job all that well in midfield. I'd take him off, bring Fellaini back into centre mid, then put De Bruyne in the middle and either Mertens or Carrasco on the wing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eenuh Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Booooooh. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killthenet Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Unlucky for Belgium but they didn't really get in behind the French defence too often. France still haven't played that well outside of 20 mins against Argentina but they were really disciplined tonight, Matuidi and Varane were fantastic for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 Really bad second half performance from Belgium. I don't really get it. You wouldn't have thought that there was a fucking World Cup Final up for grabs when you see that second half. I have no idea where De Bruyne was meant to be playing as he was everywhere bar the place he should have been playing. Lukaku may as well have brought his picnic basket and set up camp in the French box as he had nothing to go on all game. I don't understand Martinez. He changed the side from one that was working and the one that was unbeaten and it just massively backfired. Atrocious tactics, tbh. Dembele was absolutely awful and lost the ball so many times in both halves. Chadli's crossing was terrible. But, no urgency in attack, no runners from midfield and no one really forcing the players to move it up a gear on the pitch. De Bruyne in that second half...worst I've ever seen him play. The team never looked like coming back into it after going 1-0. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Interesting opinion piece from Sky News https://news.sky.com/story/sky-views-englands-success-is-for-the-real-fans-11432705 It will no doubt be an unpopular opinion but I feel the same and had a conversation about this kind of thing just last week with a few people at work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 It's all a bit 'gatekeeping' though isn't it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drahkon Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Won't be able to watch the match tonight, but I'll be crossing my fingers for England France will win the World Cup anyways, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 (edited) 17 minutes ago, bob said: It's all a bit 'gatekeeping' though isn't it? Yup. Just the way I likes it. My eldest brother hates the sport but now that England are doing well he tries to have a conversation about it with me and it's just embarrassing. The same thing happened at work a few times, which is why the conversation got brought up. Down in the lab we all love football and talk about it on a daily basis. The guys in the office never bother with it but now all of a sudden they try to engage in conversation about it with us and the best you get is "That guy who plays for France who runs really fast looks pretty good, doesn't he?" I'd rather they don't bother at all. It's like when Andy Murray won Wimbledon. It was great for Scotland/Great Britain but I didn't all of a sudden become interested in the sport and jump on the bandwagon pretending I knew what everything was all about. It's actually a great example to use because when Andy ever lost he was Scottish but as soon as he started winning he was British. As I said, this is no doubt an unpopular opinion. Edited July 11, 2018 by Hero-of-Time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 2 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said: Interesting opinion piece from Sky News https://news.sky.com/story/sky-views-englands-success-is-for-the-real-fans-11432705 It will no doubt be an unpopular opinion but I feel the same and had a conversation about this kind of thing just last week with a few people at work. Which part do you agree with? Fairweather fans? That's always going to be a part of football and every club or country will have many of these fans. Every country experiences it. It's like the Olympics and Tennis. Most people don't really care about the athletes until a big tournament comes around. The rest of it is all the same sort of stuff that has been said many times over the last decade. England finally put a load of players out to make a team, rather than just playing "the top class players" all together. There are no more issues such as "Gerrard or Lampard", "who should go up front with Rooney?", etc. Southgate has got to where he is because of his experience managing at England Under-21 level, so he's got to know his players from working with them at that stage. It was a smart move on his part and it's given him a unique insight to the International game that other managers simply won't have. He's done a good job and it's clear that future England managers should take a similar path. Let's not pretend that this current crop of England players are just any old crap, though. They are all important player for their clubs in different ways and still all play for their top teams in England. (with the exception of Pickford, but that's because the other top teams have the best goalkeepers from other countries) They may not all be star players for their clubs like Gerrard and Lampard were, but they start week in week out and are important players. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 13 minutes ago, Fierce_LiNk said: Which part do you agree with? Fairweather fans? That's always going to be a part of football and every club or country will have many of these fans. Every country experiences it. It's like the Olympics and Tennis. Most people don't really care about the athletes until a big tournament comes around. Yeah, that's pretty much what I was agreeing with, hence my rant. 15 minutes ago, Fierce_LiNk said: They are all important player for their clubs in different ways and still all play for their top teams in England. (with the exception of Pickford, but that's because the other top teams have the best goalkeepers from other countries) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 4 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: Yeah, that's pretty much what I was agreeing with, hence my rant. Forgot about Karius. Here's a radical idea...why don't Liverpool put in a cheeky bid for Pickford? That would really wind the Evertonians up! The part-time fans are annoying, but they're only part-time annoying, too! They're very easy to sniff out and see through. The ones that annoy me are the ones who trash stadiums or start riots, as they give the sport a bad name. I dislike these ones most of all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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