World cup thread

gandhisflipflop · Post by **gandhisflipflop** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:55 pm

No surprise to me this. I said the biggest shock would be argentina to lose all 3 games they were that bad in qualifying. I had money on 1-3 as i thought argentina had at least 1 goal in them but croatia was always going to win this.

kaptin1 · Post by **kaptin1** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:55 pm

Messi has been so poor. Yes he has had very little service, but he’s got to put more effort in to get the ball. Maradonna had the ability to take an average side and make it into a winning side. Messi just disappears when it’s not going his way. He might be one of the most skillful players we have ever seen, but for me he I not the best.

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:56 pm

Argentina in European World Cups since 1974, against European teams.
P20 W4 D9 L7.

Relegation form is that.

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:57 pm

kaptin1 wrote:Messi has been so poor. Yes he has had very little service, but he’s got to put more effort in to get the ball. Maradonna had the ability to take an average side and make it into a winning side. Messi just disappears when it’s not going his way. He might be one of the most skillful players we have ever seen, but for me he I not the best.

True but his best days are well behind him. At his best the GOAT for me.

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:58 pm

I want Iceland to qualify. They have every chance now!

Claret · Post by **Claret** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:59 pm

Why is the BBC panel looking so glum, like they’re at a funeral? They should be smiling, laughing, mocking!

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:59 pm

kaptin1 wrote:Messi has been so poor. Yes he has had very little service, but he’s got to put more effort in to get the ball. Maradonna had the ability to take an average side and make it into a winning side. Messi just disappears when it’s not going his way. He might be one of the most skillful players we have ever seen, but for me he I not the best.

To be fair, only Ronaldo comes close, no other player can ever touch him for his dribbling skills.

dermotdermot · Post by **dermotdermot** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 9:00 pm

Just amazing that no one was sent off in that game.

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 9:01 pm

Ironic as well that the player who scored the opening goal should have seen red for a deliberate stamp earlier.

VAR is pointless and a waste of time!

kaptin1 · Post by **kaptin1** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 9:03 pm

Spijed wrote:To be fair, only Ronaldo comes close, no other player can ever touch him for his dribbling skills.

Best and Maradonna were both amazing dribblers too. I think Ronaldo is the better all round player ... pace, power, skill, vision, a leader and a winner

Tall Paul · Post by **Tall Paul** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 9:10 pm

Iran > Argentina.

South West Claret. · Post by **South West Claret.** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:01 pm

An awful lot of rank bad bone crushing tackles in this game should have red carded At least 6 players mainly Argentinians.

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:29 pm

kaptin1 wrote:Messi has been so poor. Yes he has had very little service, but he’s got to put more effort in to get the ball. Maradonna had the ability to take an average side and make it into a winning side. Messi just disappears when it’s not going his way. He might be one of the most skillful players we have ever seen, but for me he I not the best.

Another thing that Ronaldo has proven, Messi has it all comfortable at Barca, useless with worse players for Argentina though.... Ronaldo just has that ability to grab the game by the nuts

Wile E Coyote · Post by **Wile E Coyote** » Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:38 pm

if you were new to football and you had just seen messi in this tournament, without doubt he wouldn't make anyone take notice.
His stats are amazing, but at International level he is hampered by lacklustre teammates and his form is poor.
Ronaldo also plays in a relatively shoddy side, portugal are unimpressive, yet he is capable of single handedly eeking out a win against all the odds.

South West Claret. · Post by **South West Claret.** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 12:34 pm

South West Claret. wrote:An awful lot of rank bad bone crushing tackles in this game should have red carded At least 6 players mainly Argentinians.

Refs nowhere near strick enough for me far too many serious fowls going under punished.

RingoMcCartney · Post by **RingoMcCartney** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 12:43 pm

Does anybody know if JBG starts for Iceland today?

Tall Paul · Post by **Tall Paul** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 12:45 pm

RingoMcCartney wrote:Does anybody know if JBG starts for Iceland today?

Heimir Hallgrímsson probably does.

Rick_Muller · Post by **Rick_Muller** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 12:45 pm

RingoMcCartney wrote:Does anybody know if JBG starts for Iceland today?

Unlikely he'll be fit for us at the start of the season, he wont play again this WC

Dyched · Post by **Dyched** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 12:45 pm

RingoMcCartney wrote:Does anybody know if JBG starts for Iceland today?

Wouldn’t have thought so.

chekhov · Post by **chekhov** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 12:54 pm

South West Claret. wrote:Refs nowhere near strick enough for me far too many serious fowls going under punished.

Is that serious fowls as distinct from wildfowls. Personally I don't see the need to persecute bird species.

chekhov · Post by **chekhov** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:01 pm

KRBFC wrote:Another thing that Ronaldo has proven, Messi has it all comfortable at Barca, useless with worse players for Argentina though.... Ronaldo just has that ability to grab the game by the nuts

What a lot of nonsense. Useless my arse. He just about got a poor team qualified virtually single-handed. This stupid comparison with Ronaldo is futile. And the way everyone is on his back because he has one poor game is totally unreasonable.
In my book he is just a phenomenal player and has absolutely nothing to prove.

RingoMcCartney · Post by **RingoMcCartney** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:02 pm

Cheers lads

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:17 pm

chekhov wrote:What a lot of nonsense. Useless my arse. He just about got a poor team qualified virtually single-handed. This stupid comparison with Ronaldo is futile. And the way everyone is on his back because he has one poor game is totally unreasonable.
In my book he is just a phenomenal player and has absolutely nothing to prove.

He will always have something to prove until he demonstrates he can do it without the comfortable life at Barcelona infront of the best midfield ever, a system that spoon feeds him. Messi and Ronaldo are different level to the rest but I think Ronaldo is a different animal completely.

chekhov · Post by **chekhov** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:23 pm

KRBFC wrote:He will always have something to prove until he demonstrates he can do it without the comfortable life at Barcelona infront of the best midfield ever, a system that spoon feeds him. Messi and Ronaldo are different level to the rest but I think Ronaldo is a different animal completely.

All Messi does is play football really well. Why does he have to prove something? After all it's not him saying "I'm the best in the world!"
It's like Tim Henman getting slagged off for not winning Wimbledon. Never mind he was at the time the best British player for about 40 years.

Dyched · Post by **Dyched** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:29 pm

Messi somert to prove

Neymar has something to prove
Pogba has something to prove

But a guy who has scored over 600 career goals?? Nah

This Ronaldo v Messi debate is ******* daft. Enjoy it whilst it lasts.

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:29 pm

chekhov wrote:All Messi does is play football really well. Why does he have to prove something? After all it's not him saying "I'm the best in the world!"
It's like Tim Henman getting slagged off for not winning Wimbledon. Never mind he was at the time the best British player for about 40 years.

He doesn't have to prove anything to anyone, I was talking about in terms of the ''Messi v Ronaldo'' argument, Messi has something to prove.

chekhov · Post by **chekhov** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:33 pm

KRBFC wrote:He doesn't have to prove anything to anyone, I was talking about in terms of the ''Messi v Ronaldo'' argument, Messi has something to prove.

Hmmm...you say he doesn't have anything to prove, then follow it by saying he's got something to prove. I'm confused.

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:36 pm

chekhov wrote:Hmmm...you say he doesn't have anything to prove, then follow it by saying he's got something to prove. I'm confused.

You're confused because you took it quite literally, basically I don't think he's better than Ronaldo.

Tall Paul · Post by **Tall Paul** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:38 pm

Didn't Messi prove it in the last World Cup when he dragged his rubbish team mates to the final and won the Golden Ball?

While Ronaldo and his Portugal team crashed out in the group stages after failing to beat the mighty USA.

Claret · Post by **Claret** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:39 pm

Ronaldo is a Diving, cheating egotistical cry baby so will never ever ever be better than me at football

chekhov · Post by **chekhov** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:43 pm

KRBFC wrote:You're confused because you took it quite literally, basically I don't think he's better than Ronaldo.

Maybe what you would've liked to to have said is the folk claiming that Messi is best in the world have to provide more proof? Anyway I still hoe he can pull a rabbit out of the hat against Nigeria. I'd love it!

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:45 pm

chekhov wrote:Maybe what you would've liked to to have said is the folk claiming that Messi is best in the world have to provide more proof? Anyway I still hoe he can pull a rabbit out of the hat against Nigeria. I'd love it!

They don't need to provide more proof though, it's their opinion and while I disagree i'm certainly not going to argue it.

Ashingtonclaret46 · Post by **Ashingtonclaret46** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:50 pm

Listening to the commentator going on about lack of yellow cards, VAR, brutal challenges in yesterday's game etc., etc. just confirms to me that the EPL has gone totally soft and the officials have been instructed to issue cards for almost every challenge, which is what this commentator is wanting to happen in this match. He even queried whether or not Jesus was 'active' when he did not touch the ball but was in a position that meant the defender had to head the ball out for what would have been a corner, had Jesus not been offside.

This World Cup, the officials have refereed a physical, contact sport exceptionally well without issuing cards for very minor offences and the only thing that they haven't really clamped down on is by issuing cards for diving. It has been refreshing to see football played with a proper competitive edge and officials who still realise that it is a physical game.

South West Claret. · Post by **South West Claret.** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 1:56 pm

Don’t confuse physical with serious fowls that go under punished which has been a very disappointing aspect of this otherwise vg WC in my view.

Ashingtonclaret46 · Post by **Ashingtonclaret46** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:04 pm

South West Claret. wrote:Don’t confuse physical with serious fowls that go under punished which has been a very disappointing aspect of this otherwise vg WC in my view.

I have yet to see a bad injury resulting form one of these serious fouls, perhaps it is another aspect of the way the game has gone that the snowflake players make them appear more serious than what they actually are and the officials are not so easlity conned. Just a thought.

South West Claret. · Post by **South West Claret.** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:12 pm

“I have yet to see a bad injury resulting form one of these serious fouls,”

Point taken AC but that does doesn’t excuse some of the obvious let’s call them “studs down the back of the leg fowls” that have been let go with just a free kick or at the worst a yello.

If this sort of fowl is not stamped upon by refs. It can become the norm which would just be wrong for football in general.

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:35 pm

Penalty for that? Really?

Claret · Post by **Claret** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:36 pm

No penalty
Well done VAR. Well done ref.
Sanity returns

taio · Post by **taio** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:37 pm

VAR growing on me. Rightly no penalty on review.

Claret · Post by **Claret** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:37 pm

Shouldn’t the cheating Brazilian be booked?

piston broke · Post by **piston broke** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:39 pm

Brave and correct overturn by a very good ref.
Apart from the England game the reffing has been superb, it’s no wonder there are none from England deemed good enough.

taio · Post by **taio** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:39 pm

Claret wrote:Shouldn’t the cheating Brazilian be booked?

Definitely. And would now be off.

Claret · Post by **Claret** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:43 pm

piston broke wrote:Brave and correct overturn by a very good ref.
Apart from the England game the reffing has been superb, it’s no wonder there are none from England deemed good enough.

There have been some very good referees but there have also been some bad ones. More than just the England game

Claret · Post by **Claret** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:45 pm

Still time left yet, but I would not have put Brazil v Costa Rica as a likely nil nil draw

Claret · Post by **Claret** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:48 pm

As I was saying

KRBFC · Post by **KRBFC** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:52 pm

Another poor game, a big team not got out of first gear yet still look to have won. Costa Rica offered nothing going forward, not even tried to score and just dived around wasting time.

Claret · Post by **Claret** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:55 pm

The worst dive of the lot was the Brazilian trying to cheat his way to a penalty

ElectroClaret · Post by **ElectroClaret** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:57 pm

Neymar starts skriking.

Fanny.

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 3:02 pm

Some nice football from Brazil played in parts, there. It could end up being a Brazil - Germany last 16 game at this rate, with the winner playing us.

Rick_Muller · Post by **Rick_Muller** » Fri Jun 22, 2018 3:06 pm

I can’t believe how petulant Neymar was towards the ref - when the opposition had 2 players down, probably timewasting, Neymar was “giving it large” as the youngsters would say and when the ref approached him to move him away I’m sure I lip read “don’t you touch me...” from Neymar - within moments he was again pushing the ref. I can’t stand him, would have loved to see Brazil leave early too.