The Real Football Thread

[Tricycle Rider]

These are words that I have never spoken before

Spoiler

Go France

While usually pretty indifferent toward the French I'll be rooting for them today just because I think they stand a better chance against Argentina. (Lord knows Argentina and Messi don't need any more fans and supporters, I'll be rooting for whoever plays them be it even Morocco.)

 

[BR2]

I can't say much about the last games as I'm boycotting the WC, but from what I've read on the way Messi has been quite convincing, and after all these years it's clear there's just nothing he could do to make people who dislike/hate him appreciate him.
I suppose the base of all of this is that he's painted as an angel by some, and then there's this huge outcry by people whenever he doesn't live up to that standard because for some reason they hold him against this standard which he didn't set, but some of his fans.
In a way I find it understandable. Of course there sometimes is so much over the top media euphoria it can only be annoying. But on the other hand he's had a real share of criticism which often went over the top as well.
I have never had so much fun watching a player as I did watching him at times. I find his style of play deeply fascinating. And whatever people think about his character, there surely are a lot of negative aspects, I often find it weird when I hear of THEIR favourite players. Without knowing him any better I think there are really worse people.

 

[BR2]

And I just do hope it's not Morocco that wins the title.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

And I just do hope it's not Morocco that wins the title.

I'm not really seeing that, if Morocco does bag it all I'd find it pretty suspicious. We'll see how the refs handle the Morocco - France match today at any rate and I'll just go from there.

 

[Põhja Konn]

Manipulation comes from all sides, but the grey areas are just so convenient to *** games up systematically under the excuse of "VAR didn't intervene cause it wasn't clear and obvious" or "ref is just incompetent yo"

Not to mention there's so many clear cases where rules straight up aren't followed, starting with the fact that clear red cards are rarely ever given in the first half of a game

That's all true and seriously frustrating. Until the obsession with diving and soft looking fouls persists I don't see things getting markedly better.

 

[Põhja Konn]

I can't say much about the last games as I'm boycotting the WC, but from what I've read on the way Messi has been quite convincing, and after all these years it's clear there's just nothing he could do to make people who dislike/hate him appreciate him.
I suppose the base of all of this is that he's painted as an angel by some, and then there's this huge outcry by people whenever he doesn't live up to that standard because for some reason they hold him against this standard which he didn't set, but some of his fans.
In a way I find it understandable. Of course there sometimes is so much over the top media euphoria it can only be annoying. But on the other hand he's had a real share of criticism which often went over the top as well.
I have never had so much fun watching a player as I did watching him at times. I find his style of play deeply fascinating. And whatever people think about his character, there surely are a lot of negative aspects, I often find it weird when I hear of THEIR favourite players. Without knowing him any better I think there are really worse people.

Very well put. One aspect that could play into this is also the age old Messi-Ronaldo rivaly. Messi was held back in his early years by frequent injuries and Barcelonas struggles during Rijkards last years. At the same time Ronaldo managed to make his big breakthrough in the Premier League, after which Messi was up against it in the eyes the hugely influencial english language football media and a myriad of fans following the international game through its lens. Many of those have never really warmed to Messi and have used every possible excuse to diminish his achievements.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Lol at commentators praising Mbappe so much for that goal by Hernandez when it was all set up by Varane and Griezmann (alongside a defensive mistake), but those 2 outshining him while he gets all the praise is nothing new.
Don't get me wrong, he's fantastic at what he does, an Henry type striker, but he isn't the guy on his team, aka the crucial element.

 

[BullsFan22]

Two clear penalties not given to Morocco in the first half. 2 goals that France had were terrible mistakes by Morocco. That bicycle attempt my Morocco just before the half would have been epic. Referees again missing calls (I hope not on purpose). Morocco deserved much better, they surprised me with their technical abilities.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Very well put. One aspect that could play into this is also the age old Messi-Ronaldo rivaly. Messi was held back in his early years by frequent injuries and Barcelonas struggles during Rijkards last years. At the same time Ronaldo managed to make his big breakthrough in the Premier League, after which Messi was up against it in the eyes the hugely influencial english language football media and a myriad of fans following the international game through its lens. Many of those have never really warmed to Messi and have used every possible excuse to diminish his achievements.

Some of us are sick of the hagiography that surrounds both of them.

And the teams they played for.

 

[Tim Cahill]

I never knew Griezmann was that good, always thought he was just a decent attacking player on his day, an astonishing performance.

 

[Põhja Konn]

Some of us are sick of the hagiography that surrounds both of them.

And the teams they played for.

That's completely normal, although personally I've learnt to mostly ignore stuff like that by now.

 

[Põhja Konn]

Two clear penalties not given to Morocco in the first half. 2 goals that France had were terrible mistakes by Morocco. That bicycle attempt my Morocco just before the half would have been epic. Referees again missing calls (I hope not on purpose). Morocco deserved much better, they surprised me with their technical abilities.

Referee was a disaster all around, but he wasn't partial to one side. He clearly went out with of avoiding calling fouls as much as possible and ridiculously overdid this schtick. There were two particularily appalling non-decisions , where Moroccans reckless, clearly out of control challenges went completely unpunished. One in the first half was borderline red card offence when a Moroccan went studs first into the ankle/top of the foot of Hernandez(?), the other early in the second half on Mbappe was a clear yellow. Neither was deemed even a foul. It was a disgraceful farce of refereeing all around.

 

[BullsFan22]

Referee was a disaster all around, but he wasn't partial to one side. He clearly went out with of avoiding calling fouls as much as possible and ridiculously overdid this schtick. There were two particularily appalling non-decisions , where Moroccans reckless, clearly out of control challenges went completely unpunished. One in the first half was borderline red card offence when a Moroccan went studs first into the ankle/top of the foot of Hernandez(?), the other early in the second half on Mbappe was a clear yellow. Neither was deemed even a foul. It was a disgraceful farce of refereeing all around.

Perhaps if Mbappe didn’t dive every time he was touched the referee would have called fouls when he was actually fouled.

 

[Põhja Konn]

Perhaps if Mbappe didn’t dive every time he was touched the referee would have called fouls when he was actually fouled.

Refs who let themselves influenced from trivial s**t like that should have nothing to do with big games.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

That's completely normal, although personally I've learnt to mostly ignore stuff like that by now.

You'd have needed to watch all football on mute with no reading skills to ignore the Messi/Ronaldo adulation train this last decade. So I object to the suggestion that my being sick of the beatification of Messi is because of preferring Ronaldo. I can't stand either of them, the teams with whom they are synonymous, and the same goes for El Clásico being treated as the only match all season that matters as a whole.

It's clearly been decided that one of the big stars has to have their World Cup moment, so with Ronaldo not even meriting a place in the team anymore it makes sense HGH Jesus gets to the final despite Argentina reverting to classic "anti-futebol" of the days of António Rattín, acting like douches and, looking at the Netherlands match, being the beneficiaries of some refereeing even worse than we've seen in the last two French games (worst World Cup knockout refereeing since 2002, and matchfixing allegations persist to this day about those games, whereas incompetence and/or inability to coexist well with VAR seems a bigger problem at the moment).

And of course the problem is that, like Maradona before him, after all the BS, the diving, the persistent infringements and the poor sportsmanship that characterise this Argentine squad, once the other team is behind and has to push forward, leaving Messi with more favourable matchups on the ball, he can still produce moments like leading to the third goal against Croatia. He may be older now and his defensive contributions, never great, have almost evaporated entirely, but he can still turn it on and produce the same magic that he did throughout his peak years. They can win on skill, they don't have to be an awful side to watch and a team of awful people. But they do it anyway.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I never knew Griezmann was that good, always thought he was just a decent attacking player on his day, an astonishing performance.

He was a top 3 player when France one the last World Cup and over the last 2 games he has pretty much carried the team.

 

[Red Rick]

HGH Jesus

Lucky I wasn't taking a sip of coffee when reading this cause that would've ended on the screen

I think there's also this trend in football to create fandoms around individual players more so than clubs that's somewhat recent. I'd presume this is mostly to sell the sport to faraway places without much football or club culture.

May not be entirely isolated to football either, cause I think it happens a lot too in basketball and "football"

 

[Põhja Konn]

You'd have needed to watch all football on mute with no reading skills to ignore the Messi/Ronaldo adulation train this last decade. So I object to the suggestion that my being sick of the beatification of Messi is because of preferring Ronaldo. I can't stand either of them, the teams with whom they are synonymous, and the same goes for El Clásico being treated as the only match all season that matters as a whole.

It's clearly been decided that one of the big stars has to have their World Cup moment, so with Ronaldo not even meriting a place in the team anymore it makes sense HGH Jesus gets to the final despite Argentina reverting to classic "anti-futebol" of the days of António Rattín, acting like douches and, looking at the Netherlands match, being the beneficiaries of some refereeing even worse than we've seen in the last two French games (worst World Cup knockout refereeing since 2002, and matchfixing allegations persist to this day about those games, whereas incompetence and/or inability to coexist well with VAR seems a bigger problem at the moment).

And of course the problem is that, like Maradona before him, after all the BS, the diving, the persistent infringements and the poor sportsmanship that characterise this Argentine squad, once the other team is behind and has to push forward, leaving Messi with more favourable matchups on the ball, he can still produce moments like leading to the third goal against Croatia. He may be older now and his defensive contributions, never great, have almost evaporated entirely, but he can still turn it on and produce the same magic that he did throughout his peak years. They can win on skill, they don't have to be an awful side to watch and a team of awful people. But they do it anyway.

Firstly, nowhere did I infer that it was specifically you, who can't stand Messi because Ronaldo. Don't know were you read that out.
Secondly, for me the commentary to games is often not much more than a backround noise, I can easily ignore it without muting it. If a player or a team has given me some of the best emotions and memories I've had watching the game, then the idea of building such an intense hatred you display here solely based on the over the top adulation in different media, is something that I truly cannot understand.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I think there's also this trend in football to create fandoms around individual players more so than clubs that's somewhat recent. I'd presume this is mostly to sell the sport to faraway places without much football or club culture.

May not be entirely isolated to football either, cause I think it happens a lot too in basketball and "football"

I think it's also a big media thing, it allows you to create more content that generates a lot of interest really easy. You can also create some drama even if the club overall is doing well, but of of those stars isn't.

 

[Mikecolady]

Who will win Football world cup?

1. Argentina
2. France

My vote is for Argentina.

What's your?

 

[Red Rick]

Such

a

joke

 

[Tim Cahill]

He was itching to give that

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Woke up just in time to see Argentina score their first goal, went off to do some work and meanwhile Argentina scored their second. Now it's halftime - come on France, do something! (An Argentina blowout would be just too anticlimactic.)

 

[Jumbo Visma Fan :)]

Argentina has just been putting on a masterclass, France just didn’t wake up for the first half it seems.

 

[Jumbo Visma Fan :)]

Well maybe that means the quality of the big teams has decreased.

Today Argentina beat Australia. They play the Netherlands next. That should be an interesting encounter. The US simply not good enough. We hear every year, every WV how the US has improved, how popular football is in the country, how they’ll finally break through….Not really happening. 2002 was when the US really had a chance for a huge result, they played Germany in the quarterfinals but lost a close one. Frings handball that wasn’t called on the goal line.

Haven’t seen this until now, the US talent is better than 2002, but the coaching isn’t, as Berhalter is stuck on MLS tactics, and threw one of the most talented players under the bus publicly, Gio Reyna. He barely got any playing time, and he leaked an in house issue to the world. Disgusting.