World Cup 2022

[TommyRude]

I watched this morning for the first time (in this world cup).  Too bad, seemed like USA was competitive.

 

Curious if anyone has attended a match in Europe or elsewhere than the U.S.?  In my corp job back in the mid-2000s, I traveled to Birmingham UK, and the locals took me out to a couple of matches, including Aston Villa v. Manchester U.  That was a crazy and somewhat scary experience, really glad I had the locals kinda 'protecting' me, steering me in the right direction outside the stadium.  LOTs of hooligans

[mobi]

26 minutes ago, TommyRude said:

Curious if anyone has attended a match in Europe or elsewhere than the U.S.?

 

In Europe, going to a Football match it's a very safe thing usually, one of the wildest crows are the ones from Great Britain,

tend to be very overexcited, specially when they travel abroad to root for their teams (aka Hooligans)

[zephonic]

1 hour ago, TommyRude said:

 

Curious if anyone has attended a match in Europe or elsewhere than the U.S.?  In my corp job back in the mid-2000s, I traveled to Birmingham UK, and the locals took me out to a couple of matches, including Aston Villa v. Manchester U.  That was a crazy and somewhat scary experience, really glad I had the locals kinda 'protecting' me, steering me in the right direction outside the stadium.  LOTs of hooligans

 

I know what you mean. With the hardcore supporters there’s often an undercurrent of aggression and latent violence, which can erupt in case of a lost match or whatever.

 

However, in my experience that is mostly a club thing; club supporters live and die with their team. I don’t think it’s as prevalent with national teams, which are typically loosely-knit temporary collectives that only play together occasionally or for the duration of a tournament like this.

 

[TommyRude]

3 hours ago, mobi said:

 

In Europe, going to a Football match it's a very safe thing usually, one of the wildest crows are the ones from Great Britain,

tend to be very overexcited, specially when they travel abroad to root for their teams (aka Hooligans)

The UK matches I went to were teetering on the edge.  Thousands of guys were standing up and pointing and screaming at each other (from one grandstand to another), essentially the precursor to brawls after the match.

 

The game itself was wild, with lots of songs being sung by the crowd.  I was amazed, as they didn't seem to repeat any song.  Does anyone remember when they used to chant "Daryl".... for Daryl Strawberry?  There was a similar thing going for Andy Cole.

[jejefunkyman]

Well done France 😁👏👏!! Even though there are still some issues in defence 🤔 But we have a top player: Kylian Mbappé  🤩 If he continues like this,  I think some good things could happen. But before, the team must solve this defencive problem. It’s a must for any team to go far in such a competition. Now I can watch England-Senegal peacefully 😁

[zephonic]

Mbappé is easily the best player in the tournament IMO. Ahead of Messi, Neymar and C.Ronaldo.

 

[nadroj]

As a Scot I am bound by law to not care who wins, so long as England lose. 

[Joe Muscara]

If you want to learn a bit about soccer and its status in Europe, I'd recommend the show Welcome to Wrexham, where Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought a struggling Welch team and promised to bring it back to glory after many years of relegation. While I'm generally familiar with the sport, I had only a little idea about relegation, and none about hooligans, fans, history, etc. It's really wild to learn along with the two owners how things work over there.

 

I've really enjoyed watching Wrexham when it gets broadcast here. Them and Richmond AFC are two of my favorite teams.  

 

Bummer about the USMNT (which I always read as "US Mint") but congrats to Netherlands and Menno! The Dutch just looked so much better Saturday morning. But hopefully USMNT is finally coming around to be competitive on the world stage. A lot of those guys are playing for some serious teams around the world so that's good.

[MAJUSCULE]

I just knew there was gonna be some dumb ideas about "how to improve the game" in here...

 

Some fantastic games so far, unbelievable excitement with late goals in several games and all the upsets. Been awful for my productivity.

 

P.S. "Doofus of the tournament" was spoken for before the first kick-off with Infantino's "Today, I feel..." speech. Aboubakar had just scored against Brazil, I'll cut him some slack.  

 

P.P.S. Went to a Wrexham game last spring, actually. Was playing at Focus Wales there and met some guys who had an extra ticket to the game the next day. Beat table leaders Stockport 3-0 and I only swallowed beer (none of which I paid for) until about 8 pm. Unbelievable, bucket list day.  If you like shows like that, Sunderland Til I Die is another good one.

[zephonic]

I kinda love that Morrocco is through! Penalties is not a great way to advance, but I do think they were the better team today!

 

[Doerfler]

Croatia past Brazil. Not many would have called that one. 

[Stokely]

One person's "dumb ideas" are another person's progress IMO.  All sports change over time, including soccer with VAR that helps punish the worst of the flopping and get things right.  But we'll agree to disagree.

Speaking of time-wasting classless punks, I'll be rooting against Argentina no matter who they play assuming they finish this game out.

HAHAHAHAHA amazing!  Of course Argentina can still win, unfortunately.

[kalpajazz]

59 minutes ago, Stokely said:

HAHAHAHAHA

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

 

[zephonic]

it’s 2014 semis all over again
 

 

Amazing comeback from our guys, only to miss the first two penalties...

 

I think Messi should have gotten a second yellow and thus red, though.

[Doerfler]

19 minutes ago, zephonic said:

Amazing comeback from our guys, only to miss the first two penalties...

 

Ref's let the guys play today, was quite the feisty game. Yes, those PK's need to be made (see Croatia vs. Brazil)

[zephonic]

I think the ref did a whole lot more than just let them play. He was dominating the game and all players (both sides), but unsurprisingly lenient and deferent towards Messi.

 

[zephonic]

And Morocco sends Portugal packing!

[Doerfler]

Morocco looked great today, played a completely different game than they did against Spain.

 

Spain contest was boring to watch, today's game was exciting.

[zephonic]

So the FIFA got their dream finals. I hope France will get their back-to-back, I just don’t like how Argentina got there.

[stoken6]

7 hours ago, zephonic said:

So the FIFA got their dream finals. I hope France will get their back-to-back, I just don’t like how Argentina got there.

Given the choice? Allez les bleus!

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Stokely]

On 12/9/2022 at 4:59 PM, kalpajazz said:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

 

Indeed, I figured they'd win in the end--they were the better team, and that goalie did the same thing he did in the South American tourney.

I hope France crushes them, and mainly for Argentina being a bunch of douches during that previous game.   After seeing what Argentina did to Croatia (very tough team) I think France may be in some trouble defensively.  England peppered them with shots.

[nadroj]

It should be a very good game, might even go to penalties…

 

…but in the end I think Argentina will clinch it. 

[jejefunkyman]

Allllleeeeeeezzzzzzz les Bllllleeeeeeeuuuuuusssssss!!!!!!!!!!  

 

Sorry I couldn't resist 🤣 For me it's 50/50 against Argentina. Yes they are a good team, with the best player in the world. But we have also a good team, with the 2nd best player in the world and some other top players.

I just don't like so much the way France is playing, letting the opponent team dominate during a certain period of time, and waiting to counter attack.

I think it's very dangerous, and that France can do it differently. Also it's very stressful to watch for the fans 😬 but it worked until now, so who am I to criticize 🤣...

So let's see what happens in the final round...

[Doerfler]

From what I have seen, if France has a weak spot, it is their defense. Looks to be an exciting final. 

[zephonic]

Only Italy (1934, 1938) and Brazil (1958, 1962) ever managed back-to-back championships. If France pulls it off, they’ll be the first to do so in the modern era.

[nadroj]

That was probably the best final of all time. Hell, my dad, who’s been watching since the 50s, said it was probably the best game he’s ever watched. It had everything, and the stakes simply couldn’t have been higher. The last 20 minutes + ET were some of the best moments of Football I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing - and I was a neutral!  
 

Not really a football (or soccer, whatever 😜) fan but that game had me hooked from start to finish. I’ve several friends telling me it will be one of those games still being talked about 50 years from now. 
 

Glad Argentina won it - fairy tell ending for Messi. Though France almost won the World Cup after not playing for 80 minutes. That is impressive in itself! 

[jejefunkyman]

For me it will never be the best final of all time, as France lost in the end 😞 Also, France was very weak during most of the game for some reasons I can't really explain. It was probably due to some nervous breakdowns after such a complicated turnament and fronting the aggressive playing style of the Argentinians. Probably also some physical issues for certain players as well as a very bad performance from some others (Dembele and Kounde I'm looking at you).

But the saddest part is that France had the matchpoint in its feet 🤮 which makes the ending even more crual. Then the penalty session was once again a complete disaster 😞

 

From this perspective, one can say that Argentina deserved to win, but France was so close nonetheless.

However, I really don't like the Argentinian teams' behavior, constantly simulating injuries, yelling at the referees. Moreover, they have done this the whole turnament! Really bad from them, and that continued even after the game!!

 

So to me Argentina is not a nice world champion, and I will always remember that unfair behavior.

 

Anyway, I'm really pissed off now. Need some days to get it over....

[Dockeys]

I thought it was a great final, but it really only took off in the final 10 minutes of normal time. Argentina were in cruise control for the first 80 minutes and France were uncharacteristically poor. They had no shots on target until Mbappé dragged them back into it near the end. It was real tit-for tat stuff in extra time, once Messi scored the third I was convinced they wouldn't let that lead slip and then Mbappé pops up again. And both teams nearly won it with seconds to go??!!

 

I think that much extra time is a killer in a game. They played 90 minutes plus an additional 12/13 minutes added times, then about half hour with more added time, and then penalties? That's too much to expect even at this level. Once it goes to penalties its about who is least tired and who won't make as many mistakes. Everything is out the window then in terms of form. 

[Biggles]

Worst result for Football.

 

Foul simulations galore.

 

Cynical chopping down opponents.

 

Time wasting

 

Harassing the Officials, the absolute worst, no official should be surrounded and harassed like the Argentines did.

 

Many years ago after a match between Argentina and England where the Argentina team hacked and fouled any England player the Manager, Sir Alf Ramsey described the Argentinians as Animals, 50 years later they are still the same.

 

Not a good spectacle for the young footballers of any nation to see this on field behaviour as The Norm.

 

 

[Docbop]

There's nothing professional about professional sports from the players or the fans, so all that matters is who is declared the winner and goes home with whatever they win.   Congrats Argentina!

 

Of course I went to a high school in lets say a rough area so our football team's reputation was if we didn't win the game, we won the fight after the game!   I remember on time we lost at an away game at a rich kids high school.   They started throwing crap at our bus as we were leaving and the team was mad.   It got bad and the bus driver got ticked off, so he stopped the bus looked at the team and okay go get 'em.   Again we won the fight those rich kids scatter fast when they saw the team getting off the bus. Like Miles Davis said... it all about the MF's attitude!