Thread to discuss the football itself.
This is not a thread to discuss the hosting of the competition in Quatar.
You can discuss the hosting in the relevant thread.
Morocco versus Croatia would be an awesome final.
And Noppert walked right up to Martinez as well with the ball for the penalty kick. Gamesmanship right to the very end. The Dutch have been involved in plenty of dirty matches over the years.
The blinkers are beyond parody at this point. Argentina are loathsome and went unpunished, they should have been playing with 9 men but for the refs man crush on Messi.
An Argentine ref team for the Morocco vs. Portugal game this afternoon.
They reff'ed South Korea's win over Portugal
I wonder will they favour Morocco so Ronnie doesn't get as far as Messi in this World Cup.
Bizarrely Messi thinks the ref was useless but believes the decisions were all going to Netherlands.
I thought he was equally bad for both sides to be honest. Of course Messi should have been booked but so too should Van Dijk. Refs have clearly been instructed to only issue red cards as a last resort (which is a good thing) which saved a few players last night, Timber being the obvious one. He committed 2 fouls after his booking that would be guaranteed yellows in the PL.
i don’t mind a bit of needle in a game and much prefer it to one where players get booked for being in the general vicinity of someone who throws themselves to the ground.
While Argentina aren’t the nicest team they are choirboys in comparison to the 1990 version!
Every pantomime needs a villain. The way I look at it when under pressure and it is last resort a nation falls back on their in built ‘culture’. Argentina has always had an ‘edge’ it is how they play football.
When Argentina were underachieving many said they played nice football but… . The collective did not seem to be there.
Now they have that togetherness them against the world. Creating the persecution complex. And it is working for them.
As for the Dutch they tried the same thing in 2010 even more OTT and it nearly worked.
But yesterday we saw the true Dutch culture - tactical ingenuity under the peak of pressure.
As for the image up above you posted. That is just the competitive winning mentality when there is an edge in game. Some cross the boundary of what is decent - and others react, that is sport.
All players don’t go hugging each other and asking ‘how do you feel?’
People may have short memories but a quick search of Fernando Couto and Aldridge 1995 reveals the following image and story.
And I still remember it, that’s sport. The red hot caldron of competition gives memories. If soccer was completely sanitised it would lose its soul. Becoming mind numbingly dull.
Oh there's people blinkered here alright. Blinkered against Argentina and Messi.
The entire global audience (outside of Morocco and Croatia) after about half an hour of that final
Not really.
Save yourself the frustration and just tune in for extra time and penalties
ET tends to be the most soul-sapping part of these WC games. Even decent games that end in a draw often see both teams tipping round at the back for half an hour.
It’s a funny old game, Argentina score 2 goals while picking one of the most defensive teams I can remember seeing a major team put out. Brazil score one goal with a team geared towards attack.
"Reds as a last resort" is not a good thing. You should get a red if you deserve it and that shouldn't change tournament by tournament.
Or to a peno to anybody in the final ;)
Anyone on the Argentinian side of things should
https://theathletic.com/3987289/2022/12/10/argentina-netherlands-world-cup/
God given right to not go by the rules
I agree with whoever posted last night saying that it would have been good if both Argentina & Netherlands could lose and get knocked out 😁
C'mon France
Poor guy.
Ronaldo on the bench again. Right call from the manager
He couldn't drop a hattrick hero in fairness.
No law Ronaldo has to start at centre-forward, if the manager really wants to fit him in. I'm old enough to remember when he was primarily a right winger, or 'wide forward' as the kids say nowadays....
True. But Ronaldo has shown that he is only happy with being either the main man, or nothing.
Not playing Ronaldo is a mistake, this game will be about one or two chances, and he's the man to take em
He is mostly just the man to sky a few free kicks these days.
Ramos and Leao are much more proven "men to take em" at this World Cup.
Toby just likes trying be be funny and hipster he probably spent all Ronaldos career saying he wasn't very good
Didn't realise Morocco were going to be without Aguerd and Mazraoui. Big loss and a big ask for the squad to compensate it. I'll go for a Portugal win by a goal.
So many empty seats again it really is a joke, a world cup certainly not for the fans or players
Starting him would have been a mistake. He'd have been out to prove a point, which would mean it would be his show and his alone. Easy decision for the manager to make after they ripped the Swiss to shreds.
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