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The 2017-2018 Football Thread

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bmac4 said:
Yeah Your probably right. Seeing as how they screwed with our election as well, your probably right. I hate the political nature of football. It should be bringing us together not asking whether is fair or not.

For those very reasons, not a fan of Russia at all.
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Indeed.

bmac4 said:
That goes a long way for goal difference.
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Actually, I think this will victory - the margin of it - make a lot of difference to Russia escaping the group; a few nil-all draws or something similar will put pressure on others.

Apple fanboy said:
Goal difference, confidence and national pride!

Also ensures you don't end up working in the saltmines come August!
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Indeed; don't underestimate the boost that playing in front of your own will give them, as well.

Zenithal said:
Brilliant two goals in the last 18ish minutes of match play. Was about to walk away and get ready for work until I saw the ball midflight on the telly post OT minutes. I can't see Russia doing well in future group games let alone stages if they manage to succeed and come up against a worthy adversary.

Have a wonderful day!
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But they have made a flying start and have a nice cushion for now.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
What a tremendous coincidence that Russia were handed an opponent they actually have a chance of beating for their first match! It's almost as if someone manipulated the schedule to make sure the Russian-hosted World Cup began with an emphatic Russian win...

...but we all know that couldn't possibly be true.
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And I thought you weren't the Sceptical one!

Meanwhile on the Domestic front we are being linked with several players.

Alfie Mawson
Lukasz Fabianski
Felipe Anderson

Being linked is one thing. Signing them is another!
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
What a tremendous coincidence that Russia were handed an opponent they actually have a chance of beating for their first match! It's almost as if someone manipulated the schedule to make sure the Russian-hosted World Cup began with an emphatic Russian win...

...but we all know that couldn't possibly be true.
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How will they stage the rest of this group without making it blatantly obvious? Clearly Egypt and Uruguay are better teams.
 
bmac4 said:
How will they stage the rest of this group without making it blatantly obvious? Clearly Egypt and Uruguay are better teams.
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Well, there may be a difference between being blatantly obvious, and er, somewhat more subtly......surreptitious.

Okay: Over the course of the competition, we might get to see something along the lines of (iffy) goals allowed, (good) goals disallowed; examples of the elasticity of time - let us say, ten minutes of stoppage time (and maybe an ambiguous goal inexplicably scored in the ninety-eighth minute?) Red cards for some, while we may see mere yellows awarded for others; a mysterious injury (to Salah?) A dodgy-draw?

In the old days, indigestion used to be a favourite tactic, but I doubt that we'll see much of that; likewise, the rent-a-crowd skinhead thugs are probably under orders to be on their best behaviour.
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
Well, there may be a difference between being blatantly obvious, and er, somewhat more subtly......surreptitious.

Okay: Over the course of the competition, we might get to see something along the lines of (iffy) goals allowed, (good) goals disallowed; examples of the elasticity of time - let us say, ten minutes of stoppage time (and maybe an ambiguous goal in the ninety-eighth minute?) Red cards for some, while we may see mere yellows awarded for others; a mysterious injury (to Salah?) A dodgy-draw?

In the old days, indigestion used to be a favourite tactic, but I doubt that we'll see much of that; likewise, the rent-a-crowd skinhead thugs are probably under orders to be on their best behaviour.
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Ok yeah I see what your saying. Probably right. There is probably going to be some shady going ons with Russia. I have no faith they keep things stand up.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Well, there may be a difference between being blatantly obvious, and er, somewhat more subtly......surreptitious.
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One thing that doesn't require Russian skullduggery to get dodgy is VAR - the implementation of the technology is still inadequate, and it isn't the fault of the refs. Somewhere in the tournament we will see the VAR system blow a big call.

I am still on the fence as to whether I give a damn about this tournament at all, or the freak show that will be Qatar.

But hey! 'MURICA [and sort-of-but-not-really Canada and Mexico] is going to host in 2026! By then the tournament will probably include 128 teams, and we will have to move from having a "host nation" to a "host continent" anyways.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
One thing that doesn't require Russian skullduggery to get dodgy is VAR - the implementation of the technology is still inadequate, and it isn't the fault of the refs. Somewhere in the tournament we will see the VAR system blow a big call.

I am still on the fence as to whether I give a damn about this tournament at all, or the freak show that will be Qatar.

But hey! 'MURICA [and sort-of-but-not-really Canada and Mexico] is going to host in 2026! By then the tournament will probably include 128 teams, and we will have to move from having a "host nation" to a "host continent" anyways.
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Is this the third time the US have hosted? Meanwhile just the once for us!
Obviously we need bigger brown envelopes!

But the first WC I remember was Mexico. I had a wall chart and my panini sticker book!
 
Brown envelopes? I both share Sceptical's sentiment but also oppose it. It's natural to believe Russia may have influenced it given their tactics with olympics, but I'm not so sure here. Everyone has surprises during these major games.

That said, the US Men's National Team will likely be tossed out. They lost some good talent. I overheard someone at the wine shop I visit often talk about how good they are and all I could think, internally, was that they didn't even qualify.

As for broadcast, I indulge in the Latin American broadcasts despite my Spanish being poorer than a child's. The enthusiasm and high spirit envelopes around you as a viewer and makes you feel as if you're there on the pitch playing with the players. American, Spanish (Spain), British, German or French usually are similar in terms of tone and spirit.

Anyway, looking forward to tomorrow's matches. This time I've got the schedule written down! Could you think of any better way to spend a Friday? Even the kids sat through this morning's match and seemed to enjoy it.
 
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Apple fanboy said:
Is this the third time the US have hosted? Meanwhile just the once for us!
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This will be the second time, actually - and technically it's a joint bid with Canada and Mexico. The reason the USA is a perennially attractive host country to FIFA is threefold:
  1. The USA has better infrastructure for hosting a large tournament than anyone else - and that infrastructure is already in place and operating. Virtually no new construction is needed.
  2. The US bid promised to be twice as lucrative for FIFA compared with Morocco - we're talking billions in extra revenue for Crooked Infantino and the boys.
  3. There is still a perception within FIFA (aided and abetted by US Soccer, our FA) that the US can be "cracked", opening up a tidal wave of profitable interest in the sport...there is some truth to this, but in reality it's more a gradual, organic process than some sort of quick marketing coup just waiting to be figured out. Nevertheless, FIFA believe the US is a goose that will eventually lay a golden egg once coaxed properly.
Zenithal said:
Brown envelopes? I both share Sceptical's sentiment but also oppose it. It's natural to believe Russia may have influenced it given their tactics with olympics, but I'm not so sure here. Everyone has surprises during these major games.
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It's not opinion that Russia cheated their way to hosting the world cup - it's fact. Whether they engage in cheating now, during the actual tournament, is an entirely different question. I certainly don't trust Putin's government, but they will also be more interested in painting Russia as a good host than wining games, and they know as well as we do that Russia's national team are quite weak - propaganda win over Saudi Arabia notwithstanding - so there is only so much they can be expected to achieve. But we shall see.

Zenithal said:
That said, the US Men's National Team will likely be tossed out. They lost some good talent. I overheard someone at the wine shop I visit often talk about how good they are and all I could think, internally, was that they didn't even qualify.
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Right now USA are deep in a transition period, but by 2026 all the kids who are rookies now will be at the peak of their careers age-wise, so it is virtually impossible to predict where they will stand. One thing is for sure - if Pulisic continues to develop, by 2026 he will be a genuine world-class player and the team will be built around him.
 
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Huge loss for Egypt. It’s going to be really hard to get out of this group now. We all know Russia will do everything in their power to screw them now.
 
bmac4 said:
Huge loss for Egypt. It’s going to be really hard to get out of this group now. We all know Russia will do everything in their power to screw them now.
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And they have that cushion of five fat goals, plus three points.

I still see them getting out of the group but am genuinely sorry for Egypt.
 
bmac4 said:
Yep totally agree. Still not sure way Salah didn’t play at all.
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Probably not fully fit, and not fully recovered from his earlier injury, and if he played, he may have risked further injury and not been available for a do-or-die game (which will now come sooner than expected).

But, to lose one-nil in the eighty-ninth minute is a perverse form of cruelty.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Probably not fully fit, and not fully recovered from his earlier injury, and if he played, he may have risked further injury and not been available for a do-or-die game (which will now come sooner than expected).

But, to lose one-nil in the eighty-ninth minute is a perverse form of cruelty.
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Absolutely 100% agree!
 
Terrific win for my sweepstake team, Iran.

Hopefully Iceland follow suit (my other team).

Looking forward to tonight's game. Portugal won't beat Spain imo.
[doublepost=1529085890][/doublepost]My mistake. I thought football was on tonight.
Apparently it's the diving instead :p
 
Apple fanboy said:
Well yes, but there goal was pure long ball! Got to change it up a bit I guess.
[doublepost=1529088164][/doublepost]I wish Nacho wasn't playing. Every time I hear his name it makes me hungry!
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Oh 100% agree. Sorry I just meant their current play.

You and me both. I want some Nachos.
 
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