World Cup 2018

Started by kishnevi, December 01, 2017, 06:10:52 PM

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Marc

Quote from: amw on July 12, 2018, 01:04:38 PM
They've been amazing this year—a genuine team effort instead of relying on one or two star players. (Not that being a star player seems to mean much anymore given Messi's dreadful performance.) [...]

Don't underestimate the stardom of Luka Modrić. Ask people in Madrid. ;)
On the pitch, he's the (more modest than others) genius conductor of tough Team Croatia.

vandermolen

Quote from: Marc on July 12, 2018, 09:15:16 PM
Don't underestimate the stardom of Luka Modrić. Ask people in Madrid. ;)
On the pitch, he's the (more modest than others) genius conductor of tough Team Croatia.

Yes, he's an excellent player and grew up in difficult times. However I thought that he exhibited unnecessary schadenfreude in his post-match interview after the defeat of England.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

Well done Belgium for coming third. They were far better than England.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Florestan

Quote from: vandermolen on July 14, 2018, 10:23:16 AM
Well done Belgium for coming third. They were far better than England.

Yes.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Brian

Very happy for Belgium today - hope to be similarly happy for Croatia tomorrow!

Christo

Saw the Belgian team winning from Brazil last week in a Cairo suburb, and saw them winning today between red alerts about missiles from Gaza on an Israeli TV screen. The Egyptians I was with were fans of Brazil, but here the Belgians were favourite. Something with Europe and underdogs.  ::)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

vandermolen

Quote from: Christo on July 14, 2018, 12:32:42 PM
Saw the Belgian team winning from Brazil last week in a Cairo suburb, and saw them winning today between red alerts about missiles from Gaza on an Israeli TV screen. The Egyptians I was with were fans of Brazil, but here the Belgians were favourite. Something with Europe and underdogs.  ::)

Sounds like you're having an interesting time!
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

bwv 1080

Entertaining So far but have the same problem with soccer that I do with hockey - penalties have too much an impact on the outcome.

eljr

Quote from: bwv 1080 on July 15, 2018, 07:39:24 AM
Entertaining So far but have the same problem with soccer that I do with hockey - penalties have too much an impact on the outcome.

it's way worse than hockey

no other sport is so determined

FIFA needs to get it's act together

the refs and video review is bush league
"You practice and you get better. It's very simple."
Philip Glass

Florestan

Congratulations to the French, honor to the Croatians! The former were the better team, the latter fought until the last minute but the supplementary match they had ahead of France (due to extra time and penaltty kicks) took its toll on them. An excellent match and one of the best finals ever.

But --- the free kick which resulted in Mandzukic's self goal was a gross error both of Pitana and the VAR team, a rather unpleasant spot on the otherwise quite clean record of this tournament's referee. That being said, I would respectfully suggest some Americans to abstain from commenting on football --- have you seen we Yurpeans commenting on baseball or American football?  ;D
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

vandermolen

Quote from: Florestan on July 15, 2018, 10:08:41 AM
Congratulations to the French, honor to the Croatians! The former were the better team, the latter fought until the last minute but the supplementary match they had ahead of France (due to extra time and penaltty kicks) took its toll on them. An excellent match and one of the best finals ever.

But --- the free kick which resulted in Mandzukic's self goal was a gross error both of Pitana and the VAR team, a rather unpleasant spot on the otherwise quite clean record of this tournament's referee. That being said, I would respectfully suggest some Americans to abstain from commenting on football --- have you seen we Yurpeans commenting on baseball or American football?  ;D
The penalty was a poor decision as well. The referee was obviously in two minds about it and it should not have been awarded. The whole game swung on two poor refereeing decisions. I do not agree that the French were the better team. Croatia was unlucky and deserved better.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Ken B

Quote from: Florestan on July 15, 2018, 10:08:41 AM
Congratulations to the French, honor to the Croatians! The former were the better team, the latter fought until the last minute but the supplementary match they had ahead of France (due to extra time and penaltty kicks) took its toll on them. An excellent match and one of the best finals ever.

But --- the free kick which resulted in Mandzukic's self goal was a gross error both of Pitana and the VAR team, a rather unpleasant spot on the otherwise quite clean record of this tournament's referee. That being said, I would respectfully suggest some Americans to abstain from commenting on football --- have you seen we Yurpeans commenting on baseball or American football?  ;D
As a Canadian I am exempt this prohibition. Soccer is a cheater's game. You may draw what conclusions you like regarding its popularity in Europe!

Madiel

The better team on the day lost.

They were certainly the better team for the first hour, and really the game only swung in France's favour after some highly dubious decisions had swung the scoreboard in their favour and forced Croatia to chase the game, even more than they had been.

At halftime one of the Australian commentators said France must be asking themselves how on earth they were leading when they were playing so badly (and being made to play badly by the opposition).

This article encapsulates my views pretty well: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2018/07/15/decisions-world-cup-final-showed-vars-fatal-flaw-on-field-referee/

And earlier in the day a friend and I had actually been discussing how the standard of refereeing and the use of VAR had been pretty solid this tournament. Who knew they were going to save some of the worst outcomes of the tournament for its biggest match?

Still, it will go down in history as the craziest and most action-packed final for a long time.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Florestan

#193
Quote from: vandermolen on July 15, 2018, 01:46:12 PM
I do not agree that the French were the better team. Croatia was unlucky and deserved better.

Quote from: Madiel on July 15, 2018, 03:45:23 PM
The better team on the day lost.

They were certainly the better team for the first hour, and really the game only swung in France's favour after some highly dubious decisions had swung the scoreboard in their favour and forced Croatia to chase the game, even more than they had been.

At halftime one of the Australian commentators said France must be asking themselves how on earth they were leading when they were playing so badly (and being made to play badly by the opposition).

This article encapsulates my views pretty well: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2018/07/15/decisions-world-cup-final-showed-vars-fatal-flaw-on-field-referee/

And earlier in the day a friend and I had actually been discussing how the standard of refereeing and the use of VAR had been pretty solid this tournament. Who knew they were going to save some of the worst outcomes of the tournament for its biggest match?

Still, it will go down in history as the craziest and most action-packed final for a long time.

Actually, I changed my mind rather quickly after posting. Croatia has been robbed of their chances by bad refereeing, both on-field and VAR. For the record, I rooted for them.

The article Madiel linked to is spot on.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Florestan

Quote from: Ken B on July 15, 2018, 02:40:34 PM
Soccer is a cheater's game. You may draw what conclusions you like regarding its popularity in Europe being invented in England!

Fixed.  ;D

Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

vandermolen

#195
Quote from: Madiel on July 15, 2018, 03:45:23 PM
The better team on the day lost.

They were certainly the better team for the first hour, and really the game only swung in France's favour after some highly dubious decisions had swung the scoreboard in their favour and forced Croatia to chase the game, even more than they had been.

At halftime one of the Australian commentators said France must be asking themselves how on earth they were leading when they were playing so badly (and being made to play badly by the opposition).

This article encapsulates my views pretty well: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2018/07/15/decisions-world-cup-final-showed-vars-fatal-flaw-on-field-referee/

And earlier in the day a friend and I had actually been discussing how the standard of refereeing and the use of VAR had been pretty solid this tournament. Who knew they were going to save some of the worst outcomes of the tournament for its biggest match?

Still, it will go down in history as the craziest and most action-packed final for a long time.

Totally agree with this. The Croatian team were dominating the match until those two poor refereeing decisions. The Telegraph article is right. It reminded me of when Frank Lampard, playing for England, had a perfectly good goal not given against Germany (VAR would have shown the ball clearly over the goal line) and it changed the whole dynamic of the game. Obviously teams can overcome bad decisions but as Modric of Croatia said two bad decisions killed the game for them.

Still, at least England broke their penalty shoot-out curse!
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Florestan

#196
In 1990 Pele predicted that an African team was going to win the FIFA World Cup by the year 2000. He was wrong by 18 years.  >:D

Griezmann should have seen the yellow card for simulation and Perisic's handball, while obvious, was not obviously intentional. I have lauded and applauded the refereeing, both on-field and VAR, all during the tournament --- how could I have guessed they saved the worst for last?  :(



Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

vandermolen

Quote from: Florestan on July 16, 2018, 02:20:51 AM
In 1990 Pele predicted that an African team was going to win the FIFA World Cup by the year 2000. He was wrong by 18 years.  >:D

Griezmann should have seen the yellow card for simulation and Perisic's handball, while obvious, was not obviously intentional. I have lauded and applauded the refereeing, both on-field and VAR, all during the tournament --- how could I have guessed they saved the worst for last?  :(

Yes, they did save the worst decision-making for the Final, I agree.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

premont

Quote from: Florestan on July 16, 2018, 02:20:51 AM
.... Perisic's handball, while obvious, was not obviously intentional.

Quote from: Florestan on June 21, 2018, 12:05:40 PM
Nothing doubtful about it. Clear and indubitable handball.
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Florestan

#199
Premont: I saw that coming.  :D

I'll give you I might have been wrong; will you give me France-Denmark a shamefully, blatantly non-combat match?
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini