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Author Topic: 2018 World Cup Thread  (Read 144361 times)

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Offline Deeks

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #780 on: June 19, 2018, 01:18:29 PM »
Egypt was looking real good and they now falling apart. So sad. Pressure.

Offline Bitter

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #781 on: June 19, 2018, 01:19:58 PM »
Bitter is a supercalifragilistic tic-tac-pro

Offline Deeks

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #782 on: June 19, 2018, 02:52:04 PM »
Hard luck dey, pharoahs!!

Offline palos

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #783 on: June 19, 2018, 05:10:17 PM »
Senegal in dey waist!!!   

:duel: :flamethrower: :wavetowel: :party: :whip: :applause: :cheers: :flamethrower: :flamethrower: :applause: :applause: :wavetowel: :wavetowel: :wavetowel:

What a waggonist!

By the way.....whey Robbing and dem?  :devil:
Carlos "The Rolls Royce" Edwards

Offline palos

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #784 on: June 19, 2018, 05:14:21 PM »
The very best line of this World Cup so far


Quote
Kalinic declined the chance to make his World Cup debut as a late substitute in Croatia’s 2-0 win over Nigeria. Mr Live Wire cannot confirm that the forward exclaimed: “Allyuh take me for Brent Sancho or wot? Fire fe dat!
  :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Carlos "The Rolls Royce" Edwards

Offline soccerman

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #785 on: June 19, 2018, 10:57:53 PM »
1 black coach in the tournament, like the WC need a Rooney rule  :devil:

Offline Brownsugar

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #786 on: June 20, 2018, 04:39:43 AM »
Senegal in dey waist!!!   

:duel: :flamethrower: :wavetowel: :party: :whip: :applause: :cheers: :flamethrower: :flamethrower: :applause: :applause: :wavetowel: :wavetowel: :wavetowel:

What a waggonist!

By the way.....whey Robbing and dem?  :devil:

If you was minding mih business properly over the years you would have known I always throw support behind ALL the African teams in addition to the Oranje.......just left mih!!

 :notlistening: :talktothehand:

"...If yuh clothes tear up
Or yuh shoes burst off,
You could still jump up when music play.
Old lady, young baby, everybody could dingolay...
Dingolay, ay, ay, ay ay,
Dingolay ay, ay, ay..."

RIP Shadow....The legend will live on in music...

Offline Deeks

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #787 on: June 20, 2018, 06:04:29 AM »
CR7 strikes again.

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #788 on: June 20, 2018, 10:51:49 AM »
Yeah they have their issues, but I'm not convinced that Saudi Arabia is well-coached.

Offline Bitter

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #789 on: June 20, 2018, 12:26:35 PM »
So does Iran have a bus?
Bitter is a supercalifragilistic tic-tac-pro

Offline Deeks

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #790 on: June 20, 2018, 12:27:13 PM »
Iran park the bus, but they counter-attacking like Uber.

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #791 on: June 20, 2018, 01:10:14 PM »
Iran in de terminal buh dey will soon be forced to drive.

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #792 on: June 20, 2018, 01:13:45 PM »
There it is. Gol de España. End of parking phase. Commence driving.

Offline Bitter

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #793 on: June 20, 2018, 01:20:36 PM »
The bus have wheels!

VAR to the rescue
« Last Edit: June 20, 2018, 01:22:15 PM by Bitter »
Bitter is a supercalifragilistic tic-tac-pro

Offline Deeks

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #794 on: June 20, 2018, 01:21:20 PM »
VAR to the rescue.

Offline FF

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #795 on: June 20, 2018, 01:26:57 PM »
Not VAR. the officials got it right.

They only went to VAR to confirm
THE BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #796 on: June 20, 2018, 01:32:20 PM »
Iran park the bus, but they counter-attacking like Uber.

Yuh bad-talking Uber.

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #797 on: June 20, 2018, 01:36:09 PM »
Anyhow Iran score, any Portuguese thoughts about resting CR7 will be put to bed. On the other hand, with the Golden Boot in his head, he would likely be vigorously against the idea.

Offline Bitter

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #798 on: June 20, 2018, 01:53:43 PM »
Luck is a valuable squad member.
Bitter is a supercalifragilistic tic-tac-pro

Offline Deeks

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #799 on: June 20, 2018, 01:56:50 PM »
Iran park the bus, but they counter-attacking like Uber.

Yuh bad-talking Uber.

Actually is a kinda compliment. Uber giving taxi service a run for dey money

Offline Peong

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #800 on: June 20, 2018, 02:06:03 PM »
Anyhow Iran score, any Portuguese thoughts about resting CR7 will be put to bed. On the other hand, with the Golden Boot in his head, he would likely be vigorously against the idea.

Cristiano too bad mind to take a rest. Man want goals

Offline soccerman

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #801 on: June 20, 2018, 03:57:50 PM »
Anyhow Iran score, any Portuguese thoughts about resting CR7 will be put to bed. On the other hand, with the Golden Boot in his head, he would likely be vigorously against the idea.
And the Ballon Dor still up for grabs

Offline FF

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #802 on: June 20, 2018, 06:18:10 PM »
And Portugal not guaranteed 2nd round passage.

Portugal 4pts
Spain 4pts
Iran 3pts
Morocco 0pts

All to play for
THE BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #803 on: June 20, 2018, 07:54:23 PM »
So does Iran have a bus?

Sid Lowe writing in The Guardian:

"Iran ... soon settled into what was often in effect a 6-3-1, the first two lines close. The game squeezed into a 20-metre strip running the width of the pitch near Iran’s area."




Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #804 on: June 20, 2018, 08:13:23 PM »
Germany players hold crisis meeting as Joachim Low is urged to axe Mesut Ozil
By James Ducker, The Telegraph


Joachim Low took a stroll along the beach in Sochi’s blazing sunshine on Wednesday but the heat will have felt a lot less intense for the coach than the inquest that has followed the dismal start to Germany’s defence of the World Cup.

From a crisis meeting between players and staff to growing questions over their controversial choice of training base and mounting calls for Mesut Ozil to be dropped, the fall-out from Sunday’s shock 1-0 defeat to Mexico has been brutal.

Indeed, for all the relief felt in the German squad at finally escaping their much maligned base camp in Vatutinki, 25 miles south west of central Moscow, for the tranquility of the Russian Riviera, there was simply no escaping the recriminations from the Mexico debacle.

No punches were pulled during a crisis meeting between the players, Low and Oliver Bierhoff, Germany’s general manager, on Tuesday, as they probed for answers ahead of Saturday’s crucial clash with Sweden at the Fisht Stadium on the banks of the Black Sea.

Manuel Neuer was honest enough to admit that he had never heard so many frank words exchanged during his nine years with the national team, with the prolonged internal inquiry prompting him to turn up 50 minutes late for a scheduled press conference.

“We didn’t mince words, because we want to make things better against Sweden,” the Germany goalkeeper said. “We talked a lot. We’re our harshest critics. It was a wake-up call - there has never been such strong words within the team.”

The disconnect on the pitch at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium was alarming, even if Mats Hummels had hinted at pre-match concerns about an imbalance in the team by decrying a lack of defensive cover that left huge spaces for Mexico to ruthlessly expose.

The conclusion was that the experienced players, in particular, needed to demonstrate far greater responsibility, although whether some get the chance to atone against Sweden remains to be seen.

Sami Khedira could make way for Ilkay Gundogan or Leon Goretzka in central midfield and Marco Reus seems likely to come in, probably for Julian Draxler.

Striker Timo Werner is also sweating on his place but there was little doubting the main source of German anger. Ozil could yet be granted a reprieve by Low, who has long been a staunch supporter of his, but there were former German players lining up to take potshots at the mercurial Arsenal playmaker on Wednesday.

“Ozil’s body language is like that of a dead frog, it’s pathetic,” Mario Basler, a Euro 96 winner with Die Mannschaft, told German television. Basler is known for being deliberately outspoken so Lothar Matthaus’s criticism in his column with Sport Bild was considered more damning.

“For a year or two, Özil has played much weaker and at a level that does not justify Jogi Löw's free ticket,” said Matthaus, who played in five World Cups for Germany and won the tournament in 1990. “With Özil on the pitch I often have the feeling that he does not feel comfortable in the German jersey, almost as if he does not want to play. There is no heart, no joy, no passion.”

Stefan Effenburg struck a similar tone and accused Low of making a “completely misjudgement” by starting Ozil over Reus against Mexico.

The problems are not confined to the pitch, though. Sochi was Germany’s base for their Confederations Cup triumph last summer and Bierhoff has been forced to defend calls over why he opted to break with a tried and tested formula by instead picking Vatutinki, which has been likened to a “boarding school”, as their World Cup HQ. Brazil and Poland are both based in Sochi and there are suspicions Bierhoff was slow off the mark in making arrangements.

“I continue to believe that Moscow is the right choice,” he said on Wednesday, although it is doubtful the players would agree. There was more than a hint of sarcasm in Toni Kroos’ voice when asked for his assessment of the Vatutinki Hotel. “I had water in my shower, so I was happy,” the midfielder said.

Yet much like Thomas Muller, who was busy urging Germans to get behind the team, Neuer had opted for a more upbeat tone on Wednesday and seemed to imply that their troubles were being blown out of proportion. “It’s probably something anchored in the German mentality to always look for problems and negative aspects,” he said. “Whether before the Olympics or a tournament - hair is always sought in the soup.”


Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #805 on: June 20, 2018, 08:17:10 PM »
Can Joachim Löw keep faith with old guard after Mexico loss?
Deutsche Welle


Germany's loss to Mexico in their World Cup opener was no fluke. They were out-run, out-thought and out-fought by their opponents. The display poses Joachim Löw serious questions about some of his most trusted players.

As the team news filtered through an hour before kickoff in Moscow, it emerged that this was the oldest eleven Germany had selected for a World Cup game since the 2002 final against Brazil. From the moment the first whistle blew, that looked painfully apparent.

Despite that statistic, this isn’t an old team, only Sami Khedira and Manuel Neuer are the wrong side of 30. But they were made to look ancient by a vibrant Mexico side who, had they made the right decisions in key moments, could’ve been out of sight at the interval.

Germany lost possession an incredible 36 times in a first half where the only surprise in Hirving Lozano’s goal was that it took so long. Khedira was particularly culpable. The Juventus man isn't naturally a true holding midfielder and with Toni Kroos alongside him, a pair of attacking fullbacks and a front four not renowned for their work rate, his can be a tough job when the world champions are on the back foot.

But Khedira completely abdicated his responsibility to protect his center backs. Time after time Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels were forced to step out of the defensive line to meet Mexican runners driving into space in the middle of the pitch.

This is a particularly uncomfortable situation for Hummels, who lacks pace, and Germany were fortunate that the defensive pairing was able to save their bacon on more than one occasion. Their reluctance to trust the left-hand side in the absence of Jonas Hector and the questionable nature of Joshua Kimmich’s first-half positioning were also glaring issues.

Pace is a problem

Unfortunately for Germany, Hummels isn’t the only man who struggles to keep up with a rapid opponent. Of Germany’s starting XI, only Timo Werner has genuine speed and while watching Lozano, Carlos Vela and Miguel Layun pour forward on the break, it was impossible not to think of Leroy Sane watching from home after being omitted from the Germany squad by Joachim Löw.

Despite the poor quality of their performance, Löw made no changes at the break and, given how far his trusted crop of late-20s performers has taken this team, it’s easy to understand his faith.

But even the best sides need freshening up. And for all Germany’s vaunted squad depth, there are still areas where their options are limited. While there’s a glut of attacking midfielders, Löw’s squad doesn’t really offer him a genuine midfield smotherer in the mould of Sergio Busquets, Casemiro or N’Golo Kante.

That point was rammed home by Löw’s first change, when he ended Khedira’s misery by removing him in favor of Marco Reus, finally making his World Cup debut, and moved the anonymous Mesut Özil back into the middle of the park.

The world champions started to look a little more dangerous going forward after the Dortmund man’s introduction, though more in desperation than thanks to any creative spark, while Löw’s faith in Draxler was somewhat rewarded by a display that, although far short of stunning, put his senior partners Özil and Thomas Müller in the shade.

Time to ring the changes?

But the change did nothing to stem the flow of Mexican counterattacks, with Özil often the deepest of Germany’s midfielders, a role he couldn’t be less suited to.

Löw waited until the 80th minute to make his second change and the 86th minute to make his third. The men brought on — Mario Gomez and Julian Brandt — went as close as any German player all game.

With the exception of Boateng, Hummels and Neuer, his senior men let him down. All have plenty of credit in the bank but Löw must decide if that’s enough. Would Ilkay Gündogan, Leon Goretzka or  Sebastian Rudy stiffen the midfield? Is Reus a better bet than Özil or Müller? Or is this result enough to shake his leading men from their slumber?

As concerning as this display was, it’s unlikely to be fatal. In Spain in 1982, Germany lost their opener to Algeria, before going on to reach the final against Italy. Four years ago, they tied a group-stage match with Ghana before going on to win the World Cup. And even after Sunday, Sweden and South Korea should be easily swatted aside.

Many had felt the same way about Mexico. But the team in green offered a thoroughly convincing blueprint for how to topple the holders, one that’s available to any side with pace and the ability to counter-attack.

After months of buildup, Löw is left with far more questions than answers. He may be forced to choose between his heart and his head.

Offline Deeks

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #806 on: June 20, 2018, 09:53:26 PM »
Where is Sane, Mr. Low?

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #807 on: June 20, 2018, 10:55:15 PM »
This certainly issues a challenge to Messi to perform on this stage.

When it's all over Messi wont match him.  CRonaldo not only confident in himself but also his team. When they won Euro with him on the sidelines it gave both him and the team real belief and confidence that they can all perform when needed.  5 years ago Ronaldo wasn't putting that ball back to the top of the box for any of his national teammates. Sleep on this team at your own Peril.  I was not removing Costa from this game unless injured. He is a straight up battering ram!

RE: DIEGO COSTA

And in a sense it's that that got Spain out of today's bind. Not many players are showing a willingness to engage two defenders. The goal had an element of luck but Costa's presence in that situation was purpose-filled.

RE: CR7

Also, the dynamic might have been slightly different during the period when Bruno Alves was captain ... because there's still a difference between being a senior player and being the skipper.

I wasn't convinced when Ronaldo was handed the armband but he certainly has evolved in embracing the responsibility (even if there's still an egotistical component to his motivation).
 


Offline asylumseeker

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #808 on: June 21, 2018, 04:13:57 AM »
1 black coach in the tournament, like the WC need a Rooney rule  :devil:

Well, "technically" there's also Oceano da Cruz who is clearly involved with good work and an active contributor to his team's success but he has low global name recognition that essentially translates into anonymity. Just on the stats alone, he should be getting props.

The  focus in the discussion is always on managers but lighting should equally be placed on the entire technical staff.



Offline Deeks

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Re: 2018 World Cup Thread
« Reply #809 on: June 21, 2018, 04:53:11 AM »
1 black coach in the tournament, like the WC need a Rooney rule

This situation a real irony. When WC comes, teams want men with the coaching experience. It is obvious that Euros will ALWAYS have the upper hand. It is not their fault. That is just hard facts. They have the all the access top class coaching. That is why even Africans, most of the time pick Euro coaches. And  in the case of TT and Beenhaker.

 But in Europe and in South American, you don't see the former native born Blacks getting up the heirarchy. They have just as much access to the training courses. But after that, who will give them a chance. As much as Brazilians does big up their racial diversity, I don't see even Black assistant coaches on the national teams. And very few on the club teams. There was one exception. Didi did coach Peru in 1970. And they were excellent. They met Brazil in the 1/4 finals and did score 2 I think. After that, we never see him again. I thought he could have coached them in 74. And a former national called Peu coached Flamengo do Rio for one season.
« Last Edit: June 21, 2018, 04:56:01 AM by Deeks »

 

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