2018 FIFA World Cup XXI

[DBotero]

Uruguay-Egypt 1-0
So Uruguay managed the win in the end,but the game was bad,very bad.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Watching a bit of Iran vs Marocco. Dreadful level of football for the World Cup. Crazy.

 

[Laplaz]

Re:

Watching a bit of Iran vs Marocco. Dreadful level of football for the World Cup. Crazy.

Indeed. Absoluty awful. Every minute one is laying on the pitch.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Goalkeeper just stood there as if nailed to the grass somehow. Iran leads.....

 

[Flamin]

Lol, what a pathetic player Ronaldo is. Look at the direction he kicks the ball and then where he runs. So obvious he was 100% looking for contact. Unbelievable that the referee falls for it.

 

[DBotero]

Good save from de Gea :lol:

 

[Laplaz]

Portugal vs. Spain first great game of this WC

 

[Unchained]

Just looked at two things about the technique to make the trophy and how they clean it!!! It's over 13 pounds of 18 karat gold...est value between 12-20 million dollars... Italian craftsmanship

 

[del1962]

3-3 Hatrick for ronaldo 87th minute

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

Watching a bit of Iran vs Marocco. Dreadful level of football for the World Cup. Crazy.

Have to disagree. Only watched the first half but Morocco have some very technically gifted players (ziyech, harit, amrabat, belhanda) and produced some very good football. Iran defended very well, not allowing many spaces. It was far, far better quality than Egypt and Uruguay. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Iran pulled out a 0-0 draw against portugal or spain, or morocco drew or even beat those teams either.

excellent match, isco keeps becoming incredible whenever he plays for spain and ronaldo had by far his best ever match at a major tournament. Interestingly, half his world cup goals came today.

 

[Robert5091]

Mr Hat Trick Man is also Mr Tax Avoider -
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/cristiano-ronaldo-accepts-two-year-12714662

Ronaldo denied the alleged tax evasion when he appeared in court last summer but the case has still not been settled.

His initial offer was reportedly rejected last month but El Mundo claim (see http://www.elmundo.es/deportes/football-leaks/2018/06/15/5b23a57e22601dcf128b4609.html ) he has accepted a prison sentence and admitted his guilt, in exchange for a reduced charge.

He will also pay a sum amounting to exactly €18.8m (£16.4m).

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Morocco-Iran (and the Saudi team too) and the issues of cramp within 90 minutes and the soporific pace as the game drew towards a conclusion may also have been affected by the fact that Eid al-Fitr was yesterday, so their preparation will have been affected by Ramadan.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

Morocco-Iran (and the Saudi team too) and the issues of cramp within 90 minutes and the soporific pace as the game drew towards a conclusion may also have been affected by the fact that Eid al-Fitr was yesterday, so their preparation will have been affected by Ramadan.

I also though the same whilst watching the latter stages, it was also pretty obvious that Egypt were starting to tire drastically in the final 15 minutes, it just can’t help that they aren’t able to take in food and water during daylight hours whilst trying to compete at the top level. Whereas in the case of Saudi Arabia I think they were just absolutely woeful, and no surprise to see they are on of the lowest ranked sides at the tournament.

As for today, an absolute feast of action with 4 games in 11 hours. All of them look like decent fixtures, too.

 

[Brullnux]

France scrape past Australia (they'll be better against sides that play to them - they're so quick on the counter but don't have someone who is able to create something out of nothing and unlock a good defence).

Iceland draw against Argentina. Argentina had 80% of the ball but created remarkably little, and that's down to Iceland's brilliant defence. Halldorsson is a beast.

 

[Robert5091]

Scrappy football so far today - not surprising with first games. Hope Croatia - Nigeria raises the level.

 

[l.Harm]

Won't expect too much from the group stage anyway.

 

[Pricey_sky]

First group stage games are nearly always scrappy, but most of the games have been fairly entertaining so far, bar Iran v Morocco and Croatia v Nigeria that I found boring.

 

[BullsFan22]

All the games at least had one or two moments, IMO. Obviously the Spain vs Portugal was the game of the tournament so far, though apart from his free kick, not sure the overzealous gloating of Ronaldo is necessary. The penalty was so tame and of course he was gonna be the one to take it. De Gea had a howler, much like Karius. It must be the ponytail.

I am not going to go over every game, but one can see the difference in skill in most of these games. Good example was Argentina vs Iceland. Argentina more pure talent, just couldn't seem to get in to a groove, despite dominating possession. Iceland doesn't control the ball as well and they often lost it in midfield, or when they were trying to make inroads. Credit to their organized defense though. It's what made them so tough at the Euro's two years ago. Another game was the Croatia vs Nigeria. Sure, Croatia didn't dominate possession but they strung up passes more easily and had better chances. Their team is talented. They were a major disappointment in 2014, but the core has returned with Modric, Rakitic, Mandzukic, Lovren...They were hosed by the refs vs Brasil in the opening game of the WC. This time the refereeing was much better and they faced a team that's not as good as Brasil 2014 (not saying that the Brasilians were magnificent then..). I think they have the talent to beat Argentina, especially if Argentina play the way they did today. Problem is, I don't think Croatia will be defense minded like the Vikings were. That one should be good and free flowing.

I also think the Germany vs Mexico game tomorrow should be ok as well. Mexico usually does well in the group stages, it's the round of 16 they can't seem to go through, and Germany sometimes takes a couple games to get going.

 

[Brullnux]

Peru vs Denmark was excellent too. Rarely do you see a team win 1-0 whilst conceding a penalty, so many chances and just generally being second best for about 75 minutes. I don't like saying wins are undeserved, but I think that one was. Peru tore them apart but just somehow couldn't score, with a mixture of Schmeichel and bad finishing - apparently their xGoals were 1.7.

 

[kingjr]

It's a platitutde, but if you can't score, you don't deserve to win.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re:

Peru vs Denmark was excellent too. Rarely do you see a team win 1-0 whilst conceding a penalty, so many chances and just generally being second best for about 75 minutes. I don't like saying wins are undeserved, but I think that one was. Peru tore them apart but just somehow couldn't score, with a mixture of Schmeichel and bad finishing - apparently their xGoals were 1.7.

Penalties immensely help for xGoals.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Peru vs Denmark was excellent too. Rarely do you see a team win 1-0 whilst conceding a penalty, so many chances and just generally being second best for about 75 minutes. I don't like saying wins are undeserved, but I think that one was. Peru tore them apart but just somehow couldn't score, with a mixture of Schmeichel and bad finishing - apparently their xGoals were 1.7.

Penalties immensely help for xGoals.

They still had two or three other clear cut chances that schmeichel saved or they missed.

Germany lose!

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

Peru vs Denmark was excellent too. Rarely do you see a team win 1-0 whilst conceding a penalty, so many chances and just generally being second best for about 75 minutes. I don't like saying wins are undeserved, but I think that one was. Peru tore them apart but just somehow couldn't score, with a mixture of Schmeichel and bad finishing - apparently their xGoals were 1.7.

Penalties immensely help for xGoals.

They still had two or three other clear cut chances that schmeichel saved or they missed.

Germany lose!

Speaking of an undeserved win...

 

[python]

^^if germany deserved to win...they should have won. no ?

i understand the game dynamic(which i did not have a chance to watch YET) might have gone against either the result or someone's sentiment, but that's what sport is. bad luck or someone's good luck are always present. that said, i personally doubt that germany is out of thetopest top yet. that team is too smart and too talented to just underestimate based on one game...

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Peru vs Denmark was excellent too. Rarely do you see a team win 1-0 whilst conceding a penalty, so many chances and just generally being second best for about 75 minutes. I don't like saying wins are undeserved, but I think that one was. Peru tore them apart but just somehow couldn't score, with a mixture of Schmeichel and bad finishing - apparently their xGoals were 1.7.

Penalties immensely help for xGoals.

They still had two or three other clear cut chances that schmeichel saved or they missed.

Germany lose!

Speaking of an undeserved win...

Not at all. In terms of chances created, Mexico had a lot more. Germany were terrible.