FIFA World Cup

African Monkey

Certainly not a clear penalty

ACT Crusader

Norway looking likely here.

booboo

Poms hold on. Into the semis

sparky

England through to the final 4 for the 4th time.

Rode their luck a bit tonight though.

KiwiMurph

Pleased to see a crackdown on simulation

Idiotic by the Swiss already on a yellow to do such an obvious dive

Enjoy watching from the stands

ACT Crusader

Suisse defence pretty stoic with 10 men. But Argies pressure and mountain of possession in the last 10-12 minutes

canefan

England have a massive opportunity to advance against a less than great Argentina side.

Spain haven’t shown the kind of killer instinct that the French team have, but they will try to strangle France. I can’t stand Argentina’s mastery of the dark arts, I’m hoping for a France vs England final

ACT Crusader

Jayden Adams, 25, died after playing for South Africa at the World Cup.
South Africa's players' union described his passing as "an immeasurable loss" for the country.
Adams started two of South Africa's group stage matches despite the death of his grandmother the day before the 1-1 draw with Czechia.

booboo

@ACT-Crusader

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@canefan

haha

love south american teams
they've got absolutely no respect for anyone, especially european teams

possibly only argentina can beat france
they can play like paraguay if they need to
the difference is, that unlike paraguay, they can score
paraguay are the only team to cause france any sort of trouble so far

if england want to win it; they are guna have to step it up a bit more yet
and show some composure
the rich kids are going home

was ok with all the var today
really like the way colina seems to have cleaned up all the nonsense in the penalty area at corner time
var even made me laugh with the simulation send off
very silly by the swiss player; and he knew it; completely f'd it up for his side
his first yellow would have been a straight send off in rugby league (running thru the kicking leg of an opponent)

Victor Meldrew

England in the Semis - again.
Against Argentina - again.

I feel a recurring nightmare coming on all over again

canefan

@Victor-Meldrew said in FIFA World Cup:

England in the Semis - again.
Against Argentina - again.

I feel a recurring nightmare coming on all over again

England won the last meeting. But that was 22 years ago. And it wasn't a SF

booboo

I just recall Gascoigne breaking down in tears when he got the YC that would mean he'd miss out on the Final. (1990 SF apparently.)

I dont know how it works but part of me wants a win for Gazza.

ACT Crusader

Messi is a freak and doesn’t dive as much as some of his more annoying team mates.

I like this England side and want them to beat this crop of Argentinian divers.

@ACT-Crusader

I see Antonio Rattin died today.
He did more for the Argie-Eng rivalry than even Diegos hand-of-god
the anticipation of another eng/Arg match up might have got him overexcited!
They were doing a lot more than just diving when Antonio took the poms on.

Whilst I’m willing this England team to win, jeez they make it hard sometimes, and the cynic in me feels they’ll be found out by the likes of Argentina/France/Spain. They play some pretty uninspiring stuff, far too flat and defensive, lacking pace and reliant on flashes of individual brilliance.

KiwiPie

@ACT-Crusader said in FIFA World Cup:

Messi is a freak and doesn’t dive as much as some of his more annoying team mates.

I like this England side and want them to beat this crop of Argentinian divers.

I don't see Argentina as any worse than the other teams for diving - and Embolo is the worst of all for diving before the contact, most divers wait until after the contact.

It is hard to work out if Argentina is any good though, but they are on an extraordinary tournament winning streak having won the last World Cup and the last 2 Copa Americas. And in this tournament, they have rarely looked assured and seem to take long time-outs when they let the other side play. Messi plays like a man who has 8 games to play and wants to make sure he can still run at the end of the 8th i.e. most of his time is spent walking around near the half-way line.

The change to 5 subs has really helped the teams with more depth. Norway were probably the better team over 90 minutes and dominated long stretches of the second half - but England could keep bringing on top class players to change the game (Rogers) and quick athletes (Spence) and Norway couldn't and once the keeper made that mistake early in extra time, the game was effectively over.

bayimports

@KiwiPie said in FIFA World Cup:

I don't see Argentina as any worse than the other teams for diving - and Embolo is the worst of all for diving before the contact, most divers wait until after the contact.

slight correction, not just diving before but swinging his leg to make contact rather than just receiving contact.

glad he got pulled up for it