[Mentalist]

Well, that was a set of extremely weak spot kicks.

A shame, because the Japanese looked the more dynamic team. Their thruballs were a joy to watch, and they were fighting for nearly every ball.

I'm afraid Brazil will rip this Croatian defense to pieces.

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

May Morocco honour the memory of Abd el-Krim and kick those fucking Spaniards out of the World Cup.

[Gorefest]

That would be amazing, but sadly not going to happen in a million years.

I have 6 out 6 quarter finalists predicted correctly so far in my local football pool. Shame it can at most be 7 out of 8 in the end, as I had Belgium - Germany listed as one of the round of 16 matches. So that's a bit of a stinker. It would be nice to see at least one dark horse go through to the quarter finals, so I will be cheering for Morocco and Switzerland tomorrow.

[amphibian]

I think Switzerland would be my pick over Portugal.

Spain needs to iron out defensive issues. They were fine until that 10 minute burst against Japan where it looked like they were nearly as bad as Qatar. But I still think they'll be able to do that. The squad was a whole has such wonderful on ball skills and movement that it allows them to play into shape in a way that few nations ever could.

[Mentalist]

Switzerland can play wonderful-looking attacking football, but they tend to prefer to play boring defense instead.

Ideally they shake that off and give Portugal a solid kick in the teeth, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Mentalist]

Welp, it's practically a rule now. Spain sucks at PKs.

Though that Moroccan sub striker made me curse out loud when he fumbled a THIRD breakaway run.

Could've put this game away a lot earlier.

Portugal might struggle against this team, actually.

[Gorefest]

go Morocco!!

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

Gorefest, on 06 December 2022 - 12:03 AM, said:

That would be amazing, but sadly not going to happen in a million years.

And it happened.

[Gorefest]

If they could kick out the horrible Portuguese as well, this might be the greatest world cup of all time.

This post has been edited by Gorefest: 07 December 2022 - 12:39 AM

[polishgenius]

Portugal should be fine as long as Ronaldo doesn't play. Even finer if he's exiled from the squad, that would be great.

[Gorefest]

They still have Pepe.

[Tsundoku]

A 48 team WC? I heard something about this a while back, but had thought it was just an idea. It's a thing.

https://www.news.com...929ab658b0a580c

Thoughts?

[Gorefest]

FIFA want money. That is the whole reason. The only money spinner that FIFA has is the world cup. That is why they already floated the idea of doing a world cup every 2 years instead of every 4 years. But that keeps being shot down by the various national and continental unions. So the only alternative is to get increasingly more countries participating in order to generate extra money. It is not for the sport, it is to line Infantino and friends' pockets.

[Tiste Simeon]

Infantino is just the worst

[Mentalist]

Bloody hell, Croats scrape through.
Well done, I expected Brazil to face France in the finals, but that was quite something.

I hate PKs, but they had a game plan, and they stuck to it. And it may not be the most exciting watching, but it works.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 09 December 2022 - 05:45 PM

[Tsundoku]

And Argentina are through. Good for Messi, but I was sorta kinda hoping for the Dutch.

I'd rather see Messi hoist the trophy than CR though.

[Mentalist]

Tsundoku, on 09 December 2022 - 11:40 PM, said:

And Argentina are through. Good for Messi, but I was sorta kinda hoping for the Dutch.

I'd rather see Messi hoist the trophy than CR though.

We must have faith in Morocco.

Absolutely soul-crushing for the Dutch. They mounted an astounding comeback, but couldn't finish it, and the kicks did not go their way. If I was the Argentine coach I wouldn't let the kid who just nailed the post in the last minute shoot though, those players always mess up.

Other than that, Argentina deserved the win for most of the game, if I'm being honest. That Messing thruball for the first goal was a work of art.
Still, feel terrible for the Dutch. Hopefully this team can shine in the Euros.

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

I don't want to witness Argentina winning the World Cup EVER!!!!!!!

They always talk about winning the World Cup like it's some sort of divine right.

[Gorefest]

Oh well, we did our best. Never really got going in this tournament. Having said that, though, that last second comeback to 2-2 was one of the most exhilarating moments in my 3-4 decades of football support. Bloody hell, that was off the chartd. My throat is gone from shouting.

[Mentalist]

ContrarianMalazanReader, on 10 December 2022 - 12:18 AM, said:

I don't want to witness Argentina winning the World Cup EVER!!!!!!!

They always talk about winning the World Cup like it's some sort of divine right.

To be fair, every country that ever won the World Cup has fans that will say that.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 10 December 2022 - 12:57 AM