[Mentalist]

You'll do better next time, England. Your players are young, and they'll continue to improve.

Let's be honest, for Croats it was literally now or never.

[Macros]

Macros, on 01 July 2018 - 04:57 PM, said:

This is a tough one as it will be France v you are gay in the quarters

Ima say

France V Croatia

France to win 3-1

Third place Brazil, giving England a trashing

I'll take the hit on the Brazil shout, they were woeful against Belgium, but I demand rep already for calling the final.

Sticking by score prediction

[Tiste Simeon]

☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️

[Malankazooie]

John Stones should not be allowed back into the U.K. Dude just watched as Mario Mandžukić slips behind to score the winning goal.

[Macros]

I said to all the lads at footy on Monday night.

The hype train was getting silly, England had not been tested yet.
And John Stones was always over rated IMO. Big money English player playing for Man City is why he made the squad, not based on form

[Mentalist]

Malankazooie, on 11 July 2018 - 09:28 PM, said:

John Stones should not be allowed back into the U.K. Dude just watched as Mario Mandžukić slips behind to score the winning goal.

To be fair, he DID have a nice header that only was saved cuz Versalko was right where he needed to be.

I also derived huge satisfaction from the fact that the reason Perisic was able to deliver such a perfect backwards header that Mandzukic pounced on was because he was showed in the back with both hands by a defender. Ironically, this time, it was a shove in the direction of the ball.

I'm not saying thing to make any English feel bad, btw. It's just that i'm a strong believer in the "hands off" rule--as a defender, I never use my hands to shove anyone, and always either go in with my feet, or body, and I don't think that wrestling, pushing or shirt-pulling should ever be an acceptable part of the game. And it's amusing to see such silly things backfire in the offenders' faces.

I do feel genuinely sorry for Trippier though. must be heart-breaking to have to limp off and watch your team struggle for the last 10 mins with a man down and a goal down,

[Hammerhead88]

Got the final right.

Just need an Mbappe hattrick on sunday now!

Hammerhead88, on 03 July 2018 - 08:14 AM, said:

Final - France -v- Crotia. 3-0 France.

Golden Boot - MBappe to nick it.

[D'rek]

What's the deal with soccer players trying to score a goal without setting the field back up after a previous goal and while the other team is still celebrating? England did it in this game while Croatia was celebrating their goal, some other teams did it earlier in this WC, and it's apparently not uncommon overall. Like, there's obviously a rule against it because it is never allowed/counted, so why do they even try to do it, or pretend to do it? There's a better reason than that these athletes don't actually know the rules of their own sport, right?

[Mentalist]

D, on 12 July 2018 - 07:19 PM, said:

What's the deal with soccer players trying to score a goal without setting the field back up after a previous goal and while the other team is still celebrating? England did it in this game while Croatia was celebrating their goal, some other teams did it earlier in this WC, and it's apparently not uncommon overall. Like, there's obviously a rule against it because it is never allowed/counted, so why do they even try to do it, or pretend to do it? There's a better reason than that these athletes don't actually know the rules of their own sport, right?

Get their morale back up, mostly. Demonstrate to yourself that you can actually hit the net when you shoot (providing no one is is trying to stop you).

Conceding a goal in a low-scoring game can feel fairly demoralizing, especially if you've been struggling to avoid it, without making much progress to score on your own (the way England was when after 1st half, when Croats ramped up the pressure). So instead of watching the other side celebrate, you try to reframe your mind to the task at hand-even if it's purely symbolic.

[Tiste Simeon]

I also imagine Croatia were wasting time with their celebrations and that is a sure fire way to get them charging back to their own half...

[Malankazooie]

Yep. It was because time was running out and England wanted to get the ball back into play as fast as possible. England players were even trying to force Mandzukic to stand when he was playing that too fatigued/cramping game to get play stoppage while the clock kept running.

[Malankazooie]

Alas, fourth place for England. Completely uninspired play. Belgium had their best showing (3rd place) ever in a World Cup. So that's something that should put a smile on their fans faces.

[Macros]

and that's the third time Eng;and have played a half reasonable team and the third time they've lost.

lets put the hype train back in the station boys, Panama are a way home long ago

[Khazduk]

And it still stands at Sweden 3 WC medals, England 1 WC medal.

[Gorefest]

I think a gold medal trumps quite a few bronze ones, though.

[Macros]

Not really.
England are fucking pish and have been since '66.

Also the media's constant referencing of 66 and 50 years of hurt etc negates any value of that win

[Tiste Simeon]

About 5 minutes into this game and I suddenly realised I really don't care who wins. Weird. Usually I'll pick a side and stick with them but right now I'm just "meh"

[Macros]

I'm on the fence, on one hand I have a bet on 3/1 France, but on the other hand I would like to see Croatia lift it.

[Malankazooie]

Heh. Griezmann did the Fortnite loser dance after that PK. I've never played Fortnite myself but it seems to be popular as hell, especially among celebrities. You guys ever play it?

Good final so far. Contesting and aggressive play by both sides. Croatia really stepping up to the challenge. Glad to see two teams playing like they want it, instead of closing down only to hope to get through on PKs at the end of regulation time.

Uh oh, lighting in the area. Could there be a delay?

[Macros]

Just need one in the second half and I'm a happy man