FIFA World Cup

@Windows97 said in FIFA World Cup:

Well we were ahead against Iran and Egypt for significant periods of the game but in the end only manged a draw and a loss from being in a winning position both games.
Our parking of the bus seemed to consist of letting the other team have the ball and come at us, which seemed to have an air of inevitability about it.
It's also fair to say that our qualifying path for the WC now in no way prepares us for the WC, and unless we can get a diet of high class international friendlies or involvement in some kind of competition higher than beating the likes of PNG and Vanawatu it's going to be hard for the All Whites to do much better than what they are doing now.

yeah
I thought they played it all wrong for a WC
what they did would have been fine when they were beating up on Oceania types

At first i was blaming the coach for the strategy
but it turns out the game plan was decided by the players
so that probably means Chris Wood, as the senior player
as an attacker (and a good one) that would mean an attacking strategy
and the attack was ok (4 goals, some teams got thru with less than that) and secured the lead in a couple of games
but the defence was terrible, badly neglected

all the other teams at the WC are good (so not Oceania types)
organising a decent defensive structure to deal with high class attacking teams, has to be a priority for next time

bit of a shame really, had two class strikers with the ability to snag some goals, and secure a couple of wins

@MajorStokes said in FIFA World Cup:

I love to give krauts shit as much as the rest of us but it’s hard to take it seriously after such an awful var decision. Properly robbed.

Haha

guna disagree again

as soon as I saw Anton had contacted and blocked the keeper I thought it was a foul
the only thing I wasn't sure about was whether VAR would intervene

all the players knew the ball had crossed over to the back post
seeing that, Anton then moved directly into an offside position, and into the keeper
his sole intention was clearly to take the keeper out of play, and he did
if he hadn't actually contacted the keeper, he might have got away with it

was a reassuring call by VAR, was beginning to think they were favoring "big teams" with their no calls

@MiketheSnow

go Paraguay
first germany,
france next!!

@mohikamo said in FIFA World Cup:

@MajorStokes said in FIFA World Cup:

I love to give krauts shit as much as the rest of us but it’s hard to take it seriously after such an awful var decision. Properly robbed.

Haha

guna disagree again

as soon as I saw Anton had contacted and blocked the keeper I thought it was a foul
the only thing I wasn't sure about was whether VAR would intervene

all the players knew the ball had crossed over to the back post
seeing that, Anton then moved directly into an offside position, and into the keeper
his sole intention was clearly to take the keeper out of play, and he did
if he hadn't actually contacted the keeper, he might have got away with it

was a reassuring call by VAR, was beginning to think they were favoring "big teams" with their no calls

You can’t be offside from a corner unless another player touches it. It all happened before the header.

The debate is whether he pushed him or not as he’s entitled to hold his ground.

I’m with Shearer, no way.

@MajorStokes

you have to call it, or the set piece just gets even more chaotic
cant have players running interference on the keeper (american football style)
so i'm ok with it

Shearer!
corse he's goin orf his head!

desperation play by anton, which is ok, but maybe he didn't even need to get involved

@mohikamo why is shearer of course going off his head? Poms and Krauts are sporting enemies! Schmeichal, arguably the goat keeper, also claims it was bullshit.

Anton allowed to stand his ground, no question.

Keeper runs into him and totally milks it. It’s bollocks and VAR isn’t in place for this.

Good game today between Norway and Ivory Coast. 3 really good goals of different types. Nusa was finally given some space and curled a beauty into the top corner, Amad with a brilliant individual goal after a 1-2 and then Haaland with the winner after a beautiful pass by Bobb.

And France looks ridiculously good. They battered Sweden up until the first goal and then picked them off after. Paraguay will park a better bus than Sweden but France has so many different ways to hurt you. First goal was great, Mbappe does the thing that Vini jnr is also good at - you delay the shot to avoid a defender's block but shoot immediately after before the keeper is really set. Olise is fantastic and could have had a hat-trick on another day - his side bicycle kick that hit the post would have been a World Cup highlight for decades if it had gone in.

@KiwiPie said in FIFA World Cup:

And France looks ridiculously good.

They have so many weapons.

Looking at the highlights there were some fantastic individual goals in today's games.

@Bovidae said in FIFA World Cup:

@KiwiPie said in FIFA World Cup:

And France looks ridiculously good.

They have so many weapons.

Looking at the highlights there were some fantastic individual goals in today's games.

All 6 goals were pretty good in the first 2 games, Amad's was probably the pick but it was a high bar.

France look unreal.

Difficult to assess because of the opponent - but they did qualify for the R32 by beating Germany - but Mexico could have scored 10 last night

They look formidable

@MajorStokes

anton and nagelsmann clearly didn't bother to read the memo

shearer is going off his head because he's in the strikers club
i'd be checkin on his health if he said anything else

noticed everyone steering clear of the keeper at SP today

a tremendous amount of BS goes on in the penalty area at set piece, almost like a rugby ruck, with no ball!
the refs cant handle it
only seem to really intervene when the GK gets caught up in it

i'm thinking the ref should be able to award free kicks in the penalty area while the ball is still dead at SP
that'd clean it up a fair bit pretty quickly IMO

the thing is, anton probably didn't need to get involved
it was a good header
anton fucked up, and the krauts are out

@mohikamo said in FIFA World Cup:

@MajorStokes

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anton and nagelsmann clearly didn't bother to read the memo

shearer is going off his head because he's in the strikers club
i'd be checkin on his health if he said anything else

No comment on Schmeichel?

anton fucked up, and the krauts are out

The keeper conned is the overall point. Var and ref should be above that.

FIFA / Collina have to back the ref given what would occur if they said he got it wrong.

DR Congo leading a very tame England 1-0 in Atlanta.

1-0 to the Africans at half time. Great heart and belief from them so far.

England has done well to get back in to this

Great saves from Dr Goalie

Nuts of Steel

Doctor Congo deserve the lead

Just

Good to see that even in the simplest team sport in the world the refs and TMOs can be inconsistent

Will give rugby officials more slack in the future

Ref and TMO got it right in my opinion.

It was a massive dive by Kane. No penalty.

Congo doing a Ghana … England can’t get past the goalie.

Early exit incoming!

Don’t think was penalty but I’ve never ever seen that not be a penalty!

Past the hour mark. DR Congo still lead but are tiring. Can England's substitutes get them a goal?

England equalise. Great cross by Gordon. Harry Kane does the rest.

England looking a lot better since Djed Spence went off.

Kane gets another for England which probably takes them out of jail.

Fuck me, what a finish.

Was asking my Geordie buddy wtf Gordon adds.

Two assists later.

England wins 2-1. Sets up an exciting last 16
match against Mexico in the Azteca.

Lots of big dogs at the top of the goal scorers table:

Great goal that second one by Kane

@booboo said in FIFA World Cup:

Great goal that second one by Kane

Kane’s movement off the ball is brilliant

@MajorStokes said in FIFA World Cup:

Fuck me, what a finish.

Was asking my Geordie buddy wtf Gordon adds.

Two assists later.

That Belgium v Senegal game was quite a ride. Was only paying a bit of attention (working) and Senegal were dominant, built a 2-0 lead and appeared to be coasting to victory (and should have had a bigger lead). Decided to watch the last 10 minutes but not much was going on. The Lukaku pops up with a goal and then Tielemans with an unlikely header brings it level and we have extra time. Again not a whole lot going on with a couple of minutes left in extra time, a Belgian cross, a collision at the near post and the ball ends up with Lukebakio who hits the bar when it looked easier to score. Then VAR review, ref sent to the screen and a penalty awarded for a very marginal foul on Tielemans who buries the spot kick. All of this took place after Doku and de Bruyne were withdrawn.

@KiwiPie said in FIFA World Cup:

That Belgium v Senegal game was quite a ride. Was only paying a bit of attention (working) and Senegal were dominant, built a 2-0 lead and appeared to be coasting to victory (and should have had a bigger lead). Decided to watch the last 10 minutes but not much was going on. The Lukaku pops up with a goal and then Tielemans with an unlikely header brings it level and we have extra time. Again not a whole lot going on with a couple of minutes left in extra time, a Belgian cross, a collision at the near post and the ball ends up with Lukebakio who hits the bar when it looked easier to score. Then VAR review, ref sent to the screen and a penalty awarded for a very marginal foul on Tielemans who buries the spot kick. All of this took place after Doku and de Bruyne were withdrawn.

I thought the foul was technically correct.

Just watched Belgium v Senegal

Great match

Senegal very unlucky not to have been 4 up

Fair play to Belgium though

Definite penalty for me

@MiketheSnow said in FIFA World Cup:

Just watched Belgium v Senegal

Great match

Senegal very unlucky not to have been 4 up

Fair play to Belgium though

Definite penalty for me

was following the score online, one minute its 2-0 to Senegal at the 84th minute.
i close the browser to do some work, go back to check a few mins later and its 2-2!
Fucken wild really, gutted for Senegal. The keeper made a meal of that 2nd goal from Belgium

Fuck the Spaniards are pussies

So annoying to watch them flopping

Schlager has been good, the only thing stopping Austria from being 4-0 down instead of just 1-0. Spain players looking alot quicker than their opposition, but maybe won't be able to maintain the pace in the 2nd half.

I remember watching Spain play England at Wembley about 10 years ago. The gap in terms of technical ability was clearly evident. They are magicians with the ball

Portugal v Croatia

What a match

Absolute Pandora’s Box of a penalty mind

From here on in every corner should see a penalty

It’s like a Royal Rumble in the box