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The 2017-2018 Football Thread
- Thread starter Lord Blackadder
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Sure, if you believe in that sort of thing.
Perhaps the Russians inserted a tiny gyro-control unit in the ball and steered it into Pique's arm. I'd love to see the next Bond film be set at this World Cup.
But really, Spain just weren't ruthless enough today. They are undoubtedly better at football than Russia - much better - but in a knockout tournament that is not the most important factor.
Anyone watch them sing their anthems and translate?
Example
We will slave in the kitchens
We will slave in the ovens
We will slave in the drying racks
Blueberry strawberry cherry and cheese
Our country will provide the best breakfast pastry as you please!
Denmark
Example
We will slave in the kitchens
We will slave in the ovens
We will slave in the drying racks
Blueberry strawberry cherry and cheese
Our country will provide the best breakfast pastry as you please!
Denmark
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I am done with the OP. While some decent thoughts, these comments ruin every decent thing you have to say. We all have our biases, yours are obnoxious. Rather discuss football with level headed people.
Spain were undone by their poor tactics, and a harsh penalty call. The coaching change killed any chance they had here. Russia’s run will end now thank goodness.
You got me there, fair play....
EDIT: Four minutes into the Croatia-Denmark game and it's already 1-1. Sheesh.
Look, @bmac4: Sergio Ramos is a filthy player, in fact, he is a master in the dark arts of fouling. Now, he is also a gifted footballer, and his penalty today was a thing of clinical and precise beauty (I wish his teammates were watching and learning).
I don't think the penalty was harsh, it applied the rules as they are currently understood.
However, and this is a signifiant however, there are two further points worth making: The first is that made by @Lord Blackadder - and I have also remarked on this: Spain were - at least on paper - the better team or, "better at football" but not only were they not ruthless enough, they weren't organised, composed and hungry, instead they were complacent and lazy.
They could - and should - have killed that game - by scoring, they had the players with the ability to do so - and they failed to do so, long before that penalty was awarded.
And that brings me to the second point. We are in Russia. We can - and should - expect micro-calls on the part of the refereeing authorities, calls where the difference between awarding them and not doing so is infinitesimal - to go Russia's way for the moment.
But teams should not be stupid enough, and complacent enough, to let it go that far. They should have wrapped Russia up, neatly packaged and all, far earlier than that, so that such calls never became an issue.
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Disagree about Ramos. I can think about at least 2 other players if not more that play more dirty than he. We can agree to disagree on this.
As for the other part, I agree. Spain should have destroyed Russia. The attack was toothless, and frankly lacked passion.
The penalty was harsh. Isn’t the rule clear and obvious? That was not a clear handball. In terms of trying to get an advantage. Let’s asked this. Do you think Spain get that call if Russia did the same?
Oh, I would never make the argument that he is the dirtiest player; I merely argue that he is skilled in the dark arts of playing dirty, and the guerrilla warfare of fouling; he is also an extremely good footballer, and - genuinely - his penalty was a thing of precisely placed beauty, demonstrating a clear head and an excellent footballing brain.
Re the penalty, my own professional specialty is the study of - and these days, the analysis of - politics and history; I study, teach, examine, research and analyse - and sometimes advise on - how politics and power works.
What I think will happen, and what I would like to see happen, are often two very different things.
It is entirely possible that such a decision would not have gone Spain's way, were the positions reversed.
Do I like approve or agree with that? No, of course not, any more than I like skilful if dirty players plying their dark arts on the football field.
However, I think any team with the level of potential skill that Spain possessed was negligent to the point of self-destruction not to have been aware of such a possibility, and not to have put the match well beyond reach long before the referee was ever in a position to award such a penalty.
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I as well! I wish Russia had joined them. I believe as Argentina are dirty, Russia are lucky. Oh well, this WC has been interesting. Glad the English are still here, and think they have a real shot. Tomorrow’s games should be interesting.
I think that the tournament loses a certain"je ne sais quoi" without Italy. But, if they didn't qualify, there is a good reason for that; let them learn from it.
The Netherlands are a team I have mixed feelings about; at their best, sublime - football as intelligent, articulate yet quietly passionate poetry - (and who - among the neutrals - would not have loved to have seen them win in either 1974 or 1978?) at their worst, argumentative, divisive (above all, internally) and downright unpleasant.
I've not been a big fan of either Italy or the Netherlands recent years...but it is odd to not have them in the tournament. Both have somewhat lost their way though. The Italians still blame their manager entirely for the failure, however, so I doubt this will lead to any systemic reform in Italy.
The way things are going, the World Cup will eventually be so bloated that nobody of consequence will ever fail to qualify.
EDIT: AND a bunch of Panamas will qualify for every tournament. The group stages will become lopsided as bigger teams hammer the minnows. But hey! If it means more nations are involved (and thus more TV $$$$) it has to be a good thing, right??
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Agreed.
However, having said that, I am truly sorry that no team from Africa (specifically Senegal, who played cheerful, effervescent, positive football) managed to qualify for the knock out stages of the competition.
Boring match thus far, apart from the first 4 minutes. Croatia have gone pretty quiet...where is the team we saw in the group stages? Denmark don't look terribly dangerous but are playing a little more on the front foot.
And now Extra Time.
What chance we are offered the opportunity to observe the stressful spectacle of......more penalties tonight?
What chance we are offered the opportunity to observe the stressful spectacle of......more penalties tonight?
The more football I watch, the more I hate penalties. They are dramatic, sure, but it is a stupid way to end a contest.
The Danes have been the better team today (if only by a little bit); if Croatia win Denmark will be within their rights to feel a little robbed.
At one level, I agree, but at another, I think that they are a test of a different kind, a test of individual mental strength, one where you are no longer protected by the team, there is nowhere to go missing, games of hide and seek cannot be sought out, for this is a test of an individual's mental strength and physical skill and psychological toughness.
As a footballer, this is the ultimate test; can you place that ball accurately, boot it or stroke it with sufficient strength behind your strike, with enough insight to bluff or defeat or read the intentions of the goalkeeper, to score for your team with the eyes of the world on you?
I am unkind enough to think that if you earn a salary of six figures (or five figures) a week, and the adulation that goes with this profession and life....well, prove that you have the mental strength, too, to deserve it.
By now, we are dealing with the teams that are supposedly among the top sixteen (international )in the world - I'm willing to bet that most of them would be hard put to beat the best club teams, but that is a different argument; let them show what they can do - and are capable of - in such circumstances.
Granted, the players may not have played all that frequently together, but most of them are already playing for top clubs, and all are sufficiently good to be deemed eligible to represent their country; some clubs have nothing but international players, albeit not playing for the same international team.
And with a penalty (to Croatia) saved (by Denmark's Schmeichel) in the dying minutes of Extra Time of the Game, I think that yes, we may be facing the second penalty shoot-out of the day.
Frankly, I would have thought that Croatia should have put away Denmark without too much trouble. Well, well.
Frankly, I would have thought that Croatia should have put away Denmark without too much trouble. Well, well.
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