[Macros]

As opposed to the English who are always bringing it home....

[Mezla PigDog]

Macros, on 10 December 2022 - 12:58 AM, said:

As opposed to the English who are always bringing it home....

One day... one day. Just think how awful you will feel!

I missed the Brazil v Croatia game for work. Watched the second half and ET of the Ned v Arg game and now I'm bricking it for England v France. Once you get beyond the round of 16 you dare to hope and it's the hope that kills ya!

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

Mentalist, on 10 December 2022 - 12:57 AM, said:

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.

In my years following the World Cup Argentinians are amongst the worst, always shit-talking everyone else, and when they are knocked out they're the sorest losers ever.

[champ]

What a day of games and I had to miss them due to a works do, gutted! I had Brazil in the sweepstake too, epic fail.

[Tsundoku]

Go Morocco and *uncomfortably clears throat* Eng-er-land I guess.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 10 December 2022 - 12:50 PM

[Mentalist]

I predict this is gonna be the dirtiest 2nd half of the tourney.

The Portuguese will be flopping like beached fish to get a PK for an equalizer

EDIT: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT


Well, now I'm happy with any potential outcome.


Best World Cup ever

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 10 December 2022 - 04:53 PM

[champ]

Tsundoku, on 10 December 2022 - 12:49 PM, said:

Go Morocco and *uncomfortably clears throat* Eng-er-land I guess.

That must have been hard to say haha!

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

Mentalist, on 10 December 2022 - 03:44 PM, said:

Best World Cup ever

Not if Argentina win it.

[Mentalist]

ContrarianMalazanReader, on 10 December 2022 - 06:49 PM, said:

Mentalist, on 10 December 2022 - 03:44 PM, said:

Best World Cup ever

Not if Argentina win it.

They're not a top choice for me by any means, but I can tolerate that, provided the final is pretty and Messi does something interesting.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 10 December 2022 - 08:56 PM

[Tsundoku]

Well done Morocco. The little nation that could.

Damn there have been some upsets in this WC. Guess it just goes to show (unless you believe in organised match-fixing) that if you can get to this stage, anything can happen.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 10 December 2022 - 08:03 PM

[Tsundoku]

Urgh, the cheese-eating surrender monkeys are up 2-1 over the Pomgolians with 6 mins regulation time to go.

It hurts me to say it but: come on you Pommy bastards!

EDIT: WTF Kane?

EDIT2: ah well, not quite.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 10 December 2022 - 08:56 PM

[Mentalist]

Well, there were certainly some... Interesting calls by that ref. I guess he still remembers the Falklands.

I dunno about letting Rashford have the last crack at it, though. Wasn't he the one who blew that PK at the Euros? It seems everytime England is about to exit a big tourney, I see him with the ball.

Bellingham really grew in this tourney, though. May become a linchpin for England in their next Euros campaign.
Overall, though, the French can produce goals, and that's what matters more than drawing PKs.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 10 December 2022 - 09:01 PM

[Mezla PigDog]

Darn it. Wasn't confident against France and it was a scrappy game with a dodgy ref. We were the better side in the second half. So that's that.

[Tsundoku]

"Go Morocco" it is then.

[Macros]

Is this what Schadenfreude feels like?

[ContrarianMalazanReader]

I never want to witness an Argentina World Cup victory, but I'm afraid I'll have to swallow that bitter pill this Sunday.

[Tsundoku]

3-0 Argentina. Whoa.

Go Morocco!

[Mentalist]

ContrarianMalazanReader, on 13 December 2022 - 07:57 PM, said:

I never want to witness an Argentina World Cup victory, but I'm afraid I'll have to swallow that bitter pill this Sunday.

Messi vs Mbappe will be a duel to behold.

Sad for CRO, but they've gotten exceptionally far as it is for a team without a dedicated striker. They never really found replacement for Mandzukic. And their core mid and D has been working overtime, and most of them aren't young anymore.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Should Morocco beat France, it would be the third European power that invaded Morocco to stumble [...] after Spain and Portugal.

"Symbolically, it would restore the prestige of a country and of peoples who have been oppressed by colonial powers," [...] the African continent and the Arab world have identified with the successes of the Atlas Lions[...]

France has kept vivid memories of a soccer game against Algeria in 2001, during which Algerian supporters booed the French national anthem and invaded the pitch[...]

[France's] difficult relationship with North African immigrants from former colonies — often marginalized in France, where they are subject to racism and police violence — may have nurtured a bitterness that engenders more support for Morocco[...]

[...] immigration and national identity are highly combustible issues. French right-wing forces have already fanned the flames [...] by denouncing support for Morocco as a form of disloyalty to France, showing that the country's immigration policy has failed.

[...] president of the far-right National Rally party, criticized second-generation immigrants "who behave like nationals of a foreign state by constantly expressing a feeling of revenge that may be linked to our colonial history."

[...] exploited by some right-wing politicians as evidence of a "great replacement" — a racist conspiracy theory that white Christian populations are being intentionally replaced by nonwhite immigrants which gained momentum during this year's presidential election in France.

[...] scenes of euphoria [...] featuring Morocco supporters chanting, waving flags, honking their horns and playing the drums — were also marred by clashes with the police, who fired tear gas to disperse the crowds.

[...] 10,000 police officers would be deployed throughout the country, half of them in the Paris region, on the day of the game. But confrontations with the police — whose management of this year's Champions League final proved chaotic — may only compound the situation.'

As Morocco and France Prepare for World Cup, Historical Tensions Swirl

'the French military occupation of Morocco had begun with the invasion of Oujda and the bombardment of Casablanca in 1907'

French protectorate in Morocco

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 14 December 2022 - 12:25 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Paris braced for "civil war" [...] as France prepares to take on Morocco

France has the world's biggest Moroccan population [outside Morocco ...] 1.5 million people[...]

[...] mayor [...] where the Champs-Elysees is located [...] "When you want to celebrate victory, you don't come with mortars. But these people are really only coming to smash with iron bars.

[...] everyone is afraid of a war, a guerrilla war, a civil war, and we do not want the Champs-Elysees to be transformed into a battlefield."

[After Morocco beat Portugal ...] clashes broke out [in France] between supporters and riot police who fired tear gas, with 100 people arrested after shops were damaged and cars set alight.'

Paris braced for 'civil war' on the Champs-Elysees as France prepares to take on Morocco

Best way to prevent a place from becoming a battlefield is to put 'soldiers' there (or even better---racist police!)?...

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 14 December 2022 - 01:27 PM