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I never thought it could go worse than qatar but this is the worst FIFA World Cup there has ever been, by far. It's the most corrupt, the most expensive, and has had the most blatantly wrong decisions. I've never seen so many incorrect VAR calls, its absolutely insane.
That clown of a president talking to the FIFA boss to get a suspended players charges dismissed is just the tip of the iceberg.
And, of course, the USA has turned the tournament into an over commercialized spectacle. We now get hydration breaks, even in conditions where the weather clearly doesn't justify them. Instead of letting the game flow naturally, everything seems designed around maximizing broadcasting revenue rather than protecting the integrity of the sport.
I totally disagree!! I think this has been one of the most interesting men's world cup in a long time. BUT the players falling down like they've been shot is OUT OF CONTROL!!!!! Theres always wrong decisions is this year worse than previous years, I don't know? Our president calling the boss to ask for a second look was BAD, but that was not a red card offense!! What country doesn't turn a big sporting event into a money grab??
FIFA has that Nestle thing going on. The more you research the worse they get.
I've been loving some other narratives of the cup though. The whole Algeria & Lawrence KS thing was wholesome af. I saw a video on IG of some Irish guy asking this kind of grumpy looking older restaurant patron if he could help explain the difference between white and brown gravy and the old guy lit up like he'd been waiting his whole life for that moment. Idk I get our country has a lot of social issues but my experience is that most people here are SO damn kind.
The flopping on the ground thing cracks me up. Soccer is right at the perfect intersect of sports and amateur theater.
'Shithousery', as it's known, is part of modern Football unfortunately.
Tactical fouls are used both offensively and defensively to disrupt and control the tempo of the game, gain positional advantage if you're attacking in a dangerous area or to relieve pressure when defending deep in your own half. To 'win' a free kick you usually play for it and feigning injury is a way to convince the referee in that split second that you've been definitely been fouled.
It looks pathetic I agree, but it works and games can be won or lost because of it. Players will often spend an entire game trying to irritate and wind up the opposition to draw a reaction from them - especially in high stakes games in which star players are targeted. That can be cynical little kicks, elbows or stamps that go unnoticed, along with deliberate attempts to 'win' free kicks from them in the hope they might annoyed or get carded, so the play acting is part of that too.
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Actually , "modern" football imposes penalties for faking injuries.
So, it appears Al Bundy was right! 🤣
My solution to the ridiculous flopping would be that the first time you're on the ground crying in pain, you go out, but get one chance to get subbed back into the game. Second time you're on the ground crying in pain, you're automatically out for the rest of the game.
That is a lot of words when you could have said “faking an injury is part of the game.”
I can’t wait for this to be over. I don’t give a single shit who wins. The best part has been people from all over the world coming here and recognizing how great America is and how hospitable Americans are.
It's part of the modern game because there's so much money in football these days. Any advantage from gaining a free kick or penalty can have a tangible value with no downside so teams play to the ref. Refs do penalize players for diving but the reality is it's not easy for refs to be sure in distinguishing a hurt player from one who is acting.
Regular football fans just ignore it and don't give it a second thought but I can really appreciate how dumb it looks to those that don't follow the game.
Well put, lad.
I played a long freaking time. I didn't ever flop, but if I was getting hacked and the ref wasn't seeing it, I fixed the problem. This often came with cards, but it usually also ended the hacking.
One thing you learn as a midfielder or defenseman is the ability to drop a guy like a Sequoia if need be. Step on my heel one more time, dick head. Oh, I get carded? Cherish that on the way to the ER.
None of them met you though, clearly.
The Springboks play Scotland later...rugby that is. Them Scott's will be crying themselves to sleep tonight.😁...
I shouldn’t have to remind you on this Boom, but any rugby fan worth their salt doesn’t cry when we lose. You shake hands with the opposing team and then go drink their supporters under the table afterwards.
Unless it’s England, then there’s a day of mourning followed by a year of telling everyone you see in a white jersey to fuck off. As is tradition.
Pass.
"Back in the day" British Premier League and such was great to watch, but the sport has devolved into a Gen Z pussy soap opera just like F1. DRAMA and catfights all the way. "Mommy mommy she pulled my jersey!!"
I grew up playing rugby, and even that is teetering...... go watch some fat chicks running around playing "rugby" and you'll see what I mean 😡
Soccer.....pffffft.
You could have just said, “cheating”.
Here's an example of that from yesterday's Argentina v Switzerland game.
A clear dive with faked injury and he get's a red card (as it was his second yellow of the game).
I don't know jack shit about the game but coverage of the Scottish fans kinda drew me in and then I saw Haaland...I really like the dude. I was rowing the boat with them. I'm a fan of all things British so it was a mixed bag when they knocked Norway out. I'm not sure England can go much farther though.
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I did look it up though and penalties can be imposed for faking injury. Because the practice seems so prevalent, it could very well be like the traveling rule in American basketball, conspicuously overlooked in certain situations.
They're not doing it because they're pussies but to gain an advantage, but to be fair Argentina are the worst team for faking shit.
A match can get tough sometimes. But with the Argentinians, that's just their system. Only if they fall behind, they'll ease up on the kicking, teasing and provocations. Not a nice team to watch, imo. On the other hand, their win was deserved. Better chances, better team. Wrong call by Tuchel to start defending their 1-0 so early.
It's strange that the Argentinians only started playing football after they fell behind. Without the English goal, that endless wandering back and forth on both sides would have lasted 120 minutes and we would have been completely bored to death. By the way, it was clear that this was the conclusion for the "weaker" half of the table. Give Norway an "easier" group stage and they would never lose to this England.
In England they're busy analyzing where and when things went wrong and how it could have been avoided, but they still refuse to admit that they simply don't have the top team they believe they have. Only Kane and Bellingham stand out above the average and also have scoring ability (what possessed a club like Barcelona to pay 80 million Euros for Anthony Gordon is beyond me, for example). Without Kane they don't even reach the quarterfinals. The vast majority of the English squad is and remains (very decent) filler material from Premier League teams where foreigners are the main and decisive forces. In my opinion, the relatively good results they achieved in recent international tournaments were more the result of lucky draws that allowed them to avoid stronger opponents for as long as possible than a reflection of their own qualities. Or how the quality of the Premier League continues to blind them.
'Only Kane and Bellingham stand out above the average and also have scoring ability (what possessed a club like Barcelona to pay 80 million Euros for Anthony Gordon is beyond me, for example)'
Who scored for England last night? 😄 I think Gordon gets a bit of a bad wrap personally. Barcelona standard? Maybe not, I guess we'll find out soon, but I do think he's a better player than some people think - like Bellingham he has confidence and positive mindset hat England players often lack.
Our results in recent tournaments have been:
2018 World Cup = Semi Finals
2020 Euros = Runners up in the Final
2022 World Cup = Quarter Finals
2024 Euros = Runners up in the Final
2026 World Cup = Semi Finals
I agree that foreign players sometimes carry English players in the Premier League and make them seem better than they maybe are, but they cant all be lucky draws. This is our level. We have a team of 'good' players and a few who are exceptional, but we're just not quite at the standard of a Spain, France or Argentina etc.
Still, very disappointing to effectively hand it to Argentina after we scored, in a game that until then was fairly even. You only need to look at how the momentum changed when Tuchel started making tactical defensive changes. You can't expect to defend deep against the reigning world champions and the greatest ever player for 30+ minutes and not concede. I don't mind losing, it's the manner in which we lost that's frustrating - as is often the way with England. Spain would have pulled our pants down in the final again though!
Decent runs yes, but if you read well, I said they got a fair share of lucky draws and if you took the time to list those, I assume you saw the paths aswell:
So, out of the last 5 big tournaments, England only played against following top nations: Belgium (lost twice while they were in their prime in 2018), Germany (won), Italy (lost), France (lost), Netherlands (won), Spain (lost), Argentina (lost). 2 wins, 6 defeats.
They're good, but not "champions good". Their losses often seem to come out of fear (or too much respect) of their opponent. The group stage game against Belgium aswell as the third place match, Italy, France and Argentina yesterday. Tuchel had to do something as Argentina was overrunning them, it just was way too defensive.
'Their good, but not "champions good". Their losses often seem to come out of fear (or too much respect) of their opponent.'
Absolutely agree - and their opponents know we have a habit of folding too.
We thought Southgate and Tuchel had managed to turn that around. We have definitely improved, but both managers switched to negative, defensive tactics at critical and decisive moments in big games and it's cost us.
I agree that England aren't a top tier team but to be fair that's irrelevant to the subject of my post.
You say that ''Only if they fall behind, they'll ease up on the kicking, teasing and provocations'' but the worst of their behaviour happened after the game ended, when they paraded the Malvinas banner and threw a racist slur at Jude Bellingham. They are hated in the rest of Latin America for that reason.
Yeah I agree. I was rooting for England to make it to the final, but to no avail.
In my opinion England lost because they stopped doing what they did very well in the first half, namely depriving Messi of the space to play. Back then, they played higher up the pitch and were constantly pressing very close to Messi in the midfield area, who barely got to play in the first 45 minutes, often lost the ball, and was not in the match at all. And if Messi doesn't deliver, Argentina doesn't get chances. From minute 55 onwards, England dropped back far too deep; they were essentially standing with 7 at their own back line, waiting. As a result, Messi got the space he wanted in the midfield to pretty much do whatever he wanted and scatter his dangerous crosses around. Remove Messi from their team and they won't make it into the semifinals either. Once again, all dangerous moments came via him, including the 2 goals because of his assists.
The thing is, it's very 'English' for you guys to blame the managers when this happens, yet it happens in every major tournament and it also happens in other sports. In rugby England has the players and resources that other countries can only dream of, you should by rights be a top three side every single year and yet consistently since 2003 the players choke in big games and never seem to carry the same passion or pride in the jersey that you see from the Welsh or the Scots. More often than not when we beat you it's based on average players lifting themselves to play above their level, but with English sides that never happens.
I always get the feeling there's an inherent lack of confidence in 'Englishness', which leads to over-confidence in media but which gets exposed badly in sports when English sides are under pressure...
I normally don't support England as a rule, (although don't wish any particular ills either despite the banter), but against Argentina would never go against a British team. For all the reasons mentioned above. Although strangely, that seems more a football thing and doesn't carry over to other sports so much.
'In rugby England has the players and resources that other countries can only dream of'
As they do in Football, which I think along with the pressure, expectation and media focus weighs heavily when the pressure is on. Clive Woodward, and to a slightly lesser to extent Gareth Southgate, were able to change that psychological mindset, prevent self doubt from creeping, made the players believe they were capable of beating the best and it lifted standards. What Wales, Ireland and Scotland have achieved in Rugby in recent years has been fantastic - Argentina and Italy as well - but I think it helps a little bit when you're underdogs in terms of the number of players and resources. Plus you really, really, really want to beat us! 🙂
To be fair, that's also the detriment of most Welsh and Scottish sides is that they beat England then switch off against everyone else. I'm a bit of an outlier that I'd swap one win against NZ for three against England in rugby terms, but that does go away somewhat when the anthems start up!!
The best team won, but when you sit back and invite the world Cup holders and teachers pet to come and play, then we only have ourselves to blame.
I have tried to like messie, but have come to the conclusion, no matter how hard I try, I just can't
Come on Spain 🇪🇸
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