Hero-of-Time Posted June 19, 2018 Posted June 19, 2018 30 minutes ago, drahkon said: This World Cup is amazing Yup. The shock results keep on coming. Germany being defeated, Brazil and Argentina being held to a draw and England winning a match. Crazy times!
Emerald Emblem Posted June 19, 2018 Posted June 19, 2018 (edited) Looks like it's bye bye Mo Salah. Egypt 2-0 down. EDIT: All sealed, better start packing. EDIT: LIFELINE! VAR rightfully awards Egypt a penalty and no mistake from Salah. They have the faintest glimmer of hope. Edited June 19, 2018 by Emerald Emblem
drahkon Posted June 20, 2018 Posted June 20, 2018 Ronaldo is insane Four goals in two matches now... With Portugal most likely winning, we could see Spain knocked out today (almost). If they lose against Iran...my my, that would be hilarious
Hero-of-Time Posted June 20, 2018 Posted June 20, 2018 I'm not watching the match ( stuck at work ) but I am reading the live updates. Seems like Morocco are playing well but just cant get it in the back of the net.
drahkon Posted June 20, 2018 Posted June 20, 2018 1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said: I'm not watching the match ( stuck at work ) but I am reading the live updates. Seems like Morocco are playing well but just cant get it in the back of the net. Having only watched the second half, I can say: Yup. Morocco just weren't clinical enough. Wasn't expecting a match like this after the early goal, to be honest. I really want to see Iran win against Spain tonight Won't happen, though.
Hero-of-Time Posted June 20, 2018 Posted June 20, 2018 Just a matter of time before Spain scores. They've battered the defense for the past 20 mins.
Emerald Emblem Posted June 20, 2018 Posted June 20, 2018 That said, when Iran counter they look dangerous.
Hero-of-Time Posted June 20, 2018 Posted June 20, 2018 3 minutes ago, Emerald Emblem said: That said, when Iran counter they look dangerous. True but it's only happened a couple of times. You have to wonder how long they can keep sitting back and absorbing the pressure.
Jonnas Posted June 20, 2018 Posted June 20, 2018 Well, I am disappointed in Portugal. I only watched a few glimpses of the match, but I felt like I was watching a 3rd-rate team pass the ball around. And after that good performance against Spain, too. It's one of those victories that just doesn't feel good at all.
drahkon Posted June 20, 2018 Posted June 20, 2018 No way Iran will come away without conceding at least one. (Hoping that they will, though)
Emerald Emblem Posted June 20, 2018 Posted June 20, 2018 (edited) Have Iran equalised? VAR to the fore. EDIT: Disallowed! Big moment in the match that. Offside given. Edited June 20, 2018 by Emerald Emblem
drahkon Posted June 20, 2018 Posted June 20, 2018 Before the ref raised his flag I said to my mate: offside. I should be the VAR
Jonnas Posted June 20, 2018 Posted June 20, 2018 Like I said before, Iran is my underdog of choice for this tourney. I'm glad they played well, and that they can hold their heads high, but it still stings to see they couldn't get that equalizer. Needless to say, that Portugal/Iran match is going to be high stakes.
Julius Posted June 20, 2018 Author Posted June 20, 2018 (edited) Such a weird game for Spain. They were in total control for the entirety of the match, but there was no-one effectively bridging the gap between the midfield and Diego Costa like there was last Friday night. Some great defending from Iran for the most part, but I can’t imagine them maintaining Ronaldo like they did Costa — for the most part — tonight. Portugal v. Iran should be a very interesting game nonetheless. Uruguay are being weirdly conservative, and though they’ve qualified for the knockout stages regardless of the result against Russia, they’re playing in the exact same way that Simeone sets up Atlético against relatively “bigger” teams — despite having so far played against only relatively smaller teams. Playing in such a way in the knockout stages against the like of Germany or Brazil is one thing, but to play like they did today against Saudi Arabia, especially after their opposition had shown how poor their defence was in their 5-0 defeat to Russia, is nothing but shameful. Edited June 20, 2018 by Julius Caesar
Hero-of-Time Posted June 21, 2018 Posted June 21, 2018 This has to be one of the most embarrassing things i've seen so far in this World Cup. I wish refs would stamp this kind of thing out.
drahkon Posted June 21, 2018 Posted June 21, 2018 23 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: I wish refs would stamp this kind of thing out Said it once, I'll say it again: Retroactively ban a player for one game. They'll stop diving/crying after a week, two weeks tops. 1
Emerald Emblem Posted June 21, 2018 Posted June 21, 2018 (edited) Argentina in all kinds of trouble, howler from Willy Caballero and if hes the best keeper Argentina can call upon right now they'll get no further in this. EDIT: Modric and Rakatic completing an easy win. Despite their riches in attack, the midfield, defence and Goalkeeper for Argentina are ordinary. Edited June 21, 2018 by Emerald Emblem
Julius Posted June 21, 2018 Author Posted June 21, 2018 Argentina were an absolute shambles, and their performance tonight was a sorry sight. Not only are they below par everywhere else on the pitch, Sampaoli didn’t build a system to make the most of their attacking players prior to the tournament, and not much has changed since they scraped through to qualify for the tournament. Not to mention that Dybala is a straight swap for Messi in the same way that Higuaín is, in many ways, a straight swap for Aguerö, meaning that they couldn’t offer the Croatian defence a different type of challenge with their substitutions in the final third. Let’s not forget that the silly decision was made to not take Mauro Icardi to this tournament, a player who could have offered such a different dynamic to the others in that he resembles more of a typical No. 9 (in height and pace, and is much more than that in raw ability). Croatia played very well, to no surprise, as the core of their team is completely solid. Both teams were very shaky in the first half, and they both completely failed to capitalise on each other’s early mistakes. Such a strange showing from the referee, might I add. There were some good decisions made, and then there were some very, very ones: waving advantage to Croatia when Rakitic got winded only to rescind it when Argentina were on the break; waving off Vrsaljko’s complaints about having his ankle stamped on, which he did — for a good few seconds, whilst travelling; and Otamendi should have got a red card for pelting the ball at Rakitic’s head at point blank, in my opinion. This is a football match, not a public execution. Argentina’s only realistic chance of going through sees them beating Nigeria next week, with Iceland drawing against Nigeria tomorrow, and then drawing or losing to Croatia next week. And, on the odd chance that they end up level on points with another team for the second spot, they’re basically going to have to annihilate Nigeria and not concede. Part of me wants them to go through, because it’s always horrible to see a footballing nation crash and burn like this on the biggest stage. It was rough to watch it happen to Spain four years ago, or Italy four years before that, and I still can’t that both Italy and the Netherlands failed to qualify for this tournament. That being said, unless Argentina wipes the floor with Nigeria and dazzles us with football that we haven’t seen from them in a very long time, they don’t deserve to go through. Which sucks to admit, but there has been nothing cohesive about their play thus far in the tournament, and I reckon that I could find some complete strangers with more on-pitch chemistry than these guys.
Jonnas Posted June 21, 2018 Posted June 21, 2018 I saw the second half of that Croatia/Argentina game. The result was absolutely deserved. Croatia was a well oiled machine, whereas Argentina felt like a dizzy cockroach. I wanted Argentina and Portugal to meet in this tournament, but now... I'm not so sure. That's not the team I want us to play against. 11 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said: This has to be one of the most embarrassing things i've seen so far in this World Cup. I agree, but I think for a different reason: Pepe didn't actually dive there, he was taunting the Moroccans because he felt that they were diving too much. That was him making fun of diving in general, as he got up two seconds later, and didn't even call a ref or anything. He was just taking the piss. I have no idea whether he was right about the Moroccans or not, but it doesn't matter. It's still a dick move, it's highly unprofessional, and he should really cut that shit out. 11 hours ago, drahkon said: Retroactively ban a player for one game. Huh? How would that even work? Pretend that that player's passes and assists never happened in the last game? Or are we operating under different definitions of "retroactively"?
drahkon Posted June 21, 2018 Posted June 21, 2018 45 minutes ago, Jonnas said: Huh? How would that even work? Pretend that that player's passes and assists never happened in the last game? Or are we operating under different definitions of "retroactively"? Nah, just ban them. Every statistic counts, but ban them for the next match. 1
Fierce_LiNk Posted June 21, 2018 Posted June 21, 2018 What the fuck, Argentina? They have played absolutely shit against Croatia. Such a terrible performance in so many ways. Can't believe it.
Hero-of-Time Posted June 22, 2018 Posted June 22, 2018 (edited) I only watched the first half of the match due to be being knackered and going to bed at half time. I was chuffed to bits to wake up and see Argentina got a thrashing. Whoops. Edited June 22, 2018 by Hero-of-Time 1
Hero-of-Time Posted June 22, 2018 Posted June 22, 2018 Haha. Well played, ref. Would like to see more of this in this tournament. 1
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