[Mentalist]

Was up late last night trying to finish StarCraft, so naturally I slept through the England game (even though I set the alarm and everyhting). Good on them for the result.

turned on the Senegal - Japan game right before Japan scored the 1st time. My, what an enjoyable match. I pity Poland, though- Japan looked miles more dynamic against Senegal compared to them.

[Tiste Simeon]

And Poland are losing to Columbia.

[Mentalist]

Yeah, that was a massacre.

I don't think I watched a team I like get so comprehensively destroyed since Ukraine lost 2:0 to Northern Ireland in the 2nd group stage in the last euros.

Sigh. Welp, go Croatia, Swiss, Belgium and Germany.

[Macros]

I don't know why so many people are surprised by this, they topped their group last time and made it to the last 8.
they have some serious quality on the pitch in places too.

and poland are ... well... a bit shit

[Macros]

also, I was at the ukraine game in the euros, what a glorious day!

[Mentalist]

Macros, on 24 June 2018 - 09:30 PM, said:

I don't know why so many people are surprised by this, they topped their group last time and made it to the last 8.
they have some serious quality on the pitch in places too.

and poland are ... well... a bit shit

Poland are uneven. They had an okay showing in the euros and this was supposed to be building on that, as they pretty much breezed through the qualifiers.

That being said: yeah, they certainly didn't display much quality in these 2 games. Their play was centered around trying to lob the ball to Lewandowski, and that's a very predictable and easy strategy to counter.

Colombia - Senegal ought to be a good game to watch. Neither team can be certain of qualifying without a win, as Japan could still easily pick up 3 points from Poland.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 24 June 2018 - 11:01 PM

[Tiste Simeon]

Also James is immense. Glad he's back in action.

[Mentalist]

Gooooo Iran! Send Ronaldo home!

[EmperorMagus]

Mentalist, on 25 June 2018 - 05:11 PM, said:

Gooooo Iran! Send Ronaldo home!

Apparently not.
(If it's not obvious, I'm bitter.)

[Mentalist]

God fucking dammit.

Now its Portugal-Russia. 2 teams I despise play each other in 1/8th

Sigh, Iran got such great balls in the box. Just couldn't finish it.


aaaaargh

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 25 June 2018 - 08:01 PM

[Malankazooie]

Damn, Iran was fun to watch. Not exactly controlled, but fun nevertheless. Favorite moment is when Iran's goalie denied Ronaldo's PK.

But the word and/or acronym of the day kids, is V.A.R.

[Mentalist]

Actually, no, Spain plays Russia, And Portugal gets Uruguay.

I actively dislike Uruguay, but I despise Portugal, so go Suarez and Co.

[Tiste Simeon]

Ugh there's two games where I don't want anyone to get through... Probably have to root against Russia and Uruguay though it pains me to want Spain to win...

[Tiste Simeon]

Also, who saw Egypt finishing with 0 points?

[Gorefest]

I did, after their first round match without Salah. That is one poor team.


Interviewer to Pele: "Do you think Brazil's 1970 team could beat today's Argentina?"

Pele: "Yes

Interviewer: "By how much?"

Pele: "1-0."

Interviewer: "1-0? That's it?"

Pele: "Well, most of us are over 75 now."

[Morgoth]

I have to say, despite some minor hiccups, VAR has turned out to be a great good for this tournament. It would have been a travesty if that last, gorgeous goal, of Spain's had been denied.

[Gorefest]

Var has done more wrong than right do far, though.

Or at least the use (or lack of use) of it has been more troublesome than productive.

This post has been edited by Gorefest: 26 June 2018 - 07:33 AM

[Morgoth]

Gorefest, on 26 June 2018 - 07:32 AM, said:

Var has done more wrong than right do far, though.

Or at least the use (or lack of use) of it has been more troublesome than productive.

I don't think i agree with that. So far there's been what, one mistake, the Iran-Portugal one? If not for VAR there would have been several mistakes when it came to penalty and offside.

[Gorefest]

It is more the things where VAR clearly shows a foul but the ref doesnt act on it. If you are going to use the system, use it correctly. But they fear that this would create too much stops and downtime in the matches, so videorefs still make split second decisions even though it is blatently obvious from the footage that e.g. a player is pulled to the ground.

Really what they should do is a system like in tennis, where each team get 2-3 chances per match to request a review and the game goes to a time out while this is happens. Now it just makes refs look incompetent.

This post has been edited by Gorefest: 26 June 2018 - 07:54 AM

[Hammerhead88]

Gorefest, on 26 June 2018 - 07:26 AM, said:

I did, after their first round match without Salah. That is one poor team.


Interviewer to Pele: "Do you think Brazil's 1970 team could beat today's Argentina?"

Pele: "Yes

Interviewer: "By how much?"

Pele: "1-0."

Interviewer: "1-0? That's it?"

Pele: "Well, most of us are over 75 now."

Haha that is brilliant!