The football (soccer) thread

[Florestan]

Iran beats Wales 2-0, a deserved victory albeit in the very last two extra minutes.

The Welsh goalkeeper should have seen the red card directly, his action (although justified by the imminent danger) was reckless and could have resulted in very serious injuries both to the Iranian player and to himself. Hat tip to the VAR referees for making the principal rectify his error (yellow card only).

[Madiel]

I missed only the matches on Sunday and Monday (wasn't aware the WC had started already). Their timing is very convenient for me, Romanian time 12:00, 15:00, 18:00 and 21:00. I guess in Australia it's not that convenient.

9pm, midnight, 3am and 6am.

I'm used to it... and take time off work when there's 4 matches a day. 

[Madiel]

Iran beats Wales 2-0, a deserved victory albeit in the very last two extra minutes.

The Welsh goalkeeper should have seen the red card directly, his action (although justified by the imminent danger) was reckless and could have resulted in very serious injuries both to the Iranian player and to himself. Hat tip to the VAR referees for making the principal rectify his error (yellow card only).

Iran utterly redeemed themselves after playing pretty poorly for much of their first match.

I have to admit I didn't initially see the red card, because in terms of denying a goal it was only a yellow (because there was a covering defender). But yes, the KIND of contact he made was dangerous and worthy of red.

But I have to wonder what Hennessy was thinking, given that there was a covering defender it wasn't necessary to come out like that. A moment of irrational panic.

Iran was arguably on top anyway. The bit where they hit both posts in about 10 seconds was pretty amazing.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

A jaw-dropping second goal by Richarlison but although Serbia were good I wasn't blown away by Brazil.
That 6'8" Serbian goalkeeper! I would not like to be the one who knocks his beer over in a bar.

No footie for me lately; yard work calls! 

At least it's not terribly cold outside...actually colder inside.

Enjoy!

PD

[Florestan]

Senegal-Qatar 2-1, not a bad match. As a general rule so far, second halves are more interesting than first ones.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I just found out that England is playing the USA today.  Hope that I can catch a little bit of it.  Heard the announcer say that apparently America has a really young team?

PD

[Florestan]

Yet another surprise, The Netherlands-Ecuador 1-1. The Dutch should actually be happy with this draw, the match could have ended disastruously for them.

Decidedly, this WC is full of surprises --- and all the better for it. 

[Brian]

I just found out that England is playing the USA today.  Hope that I can catch a little bit of it.  Heard the announcer say that apparently America has a really young team?

PD

The youngest in the tournament, I think, or maybe tied with another country. The Americans are young and promising but there is some question as to whether the coaching is getting them mature enough to win. We'll see - so far the game has been fun!

Ecuador looked really good. Enjoyed watching them and hope the striker is able to return from that injury.

[Florestan]

England-USA 0-0. It gets beter and better by the match.   

I am well aware that one of the big names will win this WC, but it's good and refreshing to see outsiders doing their best in opposing them --- and succeeding.  I am particularly fond of Iran's victory today --- that unfortunate nation deserves better than being enslaved by the fanatically criminal and criminally fanatic regime of the Ayatollahs, and it really made my day seeing Iranian players and supporters alike showing their contempt for, and protest against, their leaders. I say, forget Iran, make Persia great again!

[Karl Henning]

I just found out that England is playing the USA today.  Hope that I can catch a little bit of it.  Heard the announcer say that apparently America has a really young team?

The live banner at the WaPo says it was a draw, which sounds like success for the US team

[Florestan]

The live banner at the WaPo says it was a draw, which sounds like success for the US team

Yep. See my post above.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Well, I managed to catch some of the first half and then had to go back to other business.  Alas, I checked back later and was just in time to seeing the men shaking the other team's hands.     So it goes!  At least I was able to catch the post-game commentary and the highlights.  Died when I saw the bounce off of the crossbar.

One last chance to advance on Tuesday.  Come on guys, you can do it! 

And well done to England to be at the top of Group B!

PD

[Florestan]

Of all my favorites, only Spain lived up to expectations.

[Madiel]

The live banner at the WaPo says it was a draw, which sounds like success for the US team

I don't know about that, if anything they could have won and might be a bit disappointed that they didn't. They really put England under a lot of pressure for periods of the match.

USA v Iran could be an absolute doozie.

[Madiel]

Yet another surprise, The Netherlands-Ecuador 1-1. The Dutch should actually be happy with this draw, the match could have ended disastruously for them.

I definitely felt that Ecuador were on top, they were most impressive.

Netherlands aren't going to have any trouble making the next round against Qatar. But Ecuador v Senegal... all sorts of variables there. If Ecuador's captain is injured that will be a big blow to them.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I like the logos of Wales, England, Tunisia and Morocco!

[Madiel]

There are entire websites devoted to rating the team jerseys (which regularly change in their details, pretty much every year, as a way of making money).

[vandermolen]

I like the logos of Wales, England, Tunisia and Morocco!

I agree Manabu (I like the Welsh Red Dragon especially).
England were very disappointing in the match against the USA, who were the better team. We are following the usual pattern here of huge unrealistic expectations followed by massive let-down.

[Irons]

England lost 0-0.

USA were fitter, more committed and tactically aware. They lack a cutting edge, a striker, as only scoring a single goal in two games proves, but impressive just the same. The USA v Iran game has become highly significant. 

[Florestan]

Australia won a rather dull match.