Qatar World Cup thread of off-the-pitch drama and debauchery

[CooterBrown 18012]

14 hours ago, Born to Run said:

14 hours ago, Zepol87 said:

That shit happens to very world cup and the soccer haters eat it up. It's stupid and hopefully stops 

I always laughed in High School when the football players "who used to play soccer" tried out for the soccer team. Lot of falling on your ass happening despite elite speed.

The average professional soccer player covers 7 to 10 miles per game.

Imagine any football player running 308 to 440 40-yard dashes in a 90 minute period. 

[YGIFS 19450]

1 hour ago, CooterBrown said:

The average professional soccer player covers 7 to 10 miles per game.

Imagine any football player running 308 to 440 40-yard dashes in a 90 minute period. 

Yes, which is precisely why they only play 60 minutes instead of 90.  DUH!  Fucking Euros...

[MoJames 8244]

12 hours ago, Porterhouse said:

Yeah man, fuckin’ A bro. Let’s celebrate the downfall of Texas and many people on here. Even though I have no idea what I’m talking about and none of that will ever come to fruition in my lifetime. Fuckin’. A. 

Fairly certain you've confirmed moving to all electric fleet of cars wouldn't dent the O&G business...

[G650 14256]

13 hours ago, Porterhouse said:

Let’s celebrate the downfall of Texas and many people on here

Well I'm unironically for that, so...

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, MoJames said:

Fairly certain you've confirmed moving to all electric fleet of cars wouldn't dent the O&G business...

It’d help gas. Would hurt oil. Wouldn’t kill it. And, the entire world isn’t moving to EVs. So crude isn’t going anywhere. @crash_davisis a fucktard. 

1 minute ago, G650 said:

Well I'm unironically for that, so...

Awesome dude. You rock. Glad you’re apparently a UT alum. 

[G650 14256]

2 minutes ago, Porterhouse said:

 

Awesome dude. You rock. Glad you’re apparently a UT alum. 

Nope.

[Guest]

What is your connection to this site

[G650 14256]

The internet.

[utee94 15823]

@G650 is a billionaire Alabama alum surly 1%er who loves sailing really fast boats,  and McLaren cars.  

But come on G650, you have to admit that if the entire state of Texas failed and surlyhorns went away, you'd be sad and lonely and bored.

 

[G650 14256]

1 minute ago, utee94 said:

@G650 is a billionaire Alabama alum surly 1%er who loves sailing really fast boats,  and McLaren cars.  

But come on G650, you have to admit that if the entire state of Texas failed and surlyhorns went away, you'd be sad and lonely and bored.

 

Well, alright, you got me. Just Porterhouse then.

[Armybrat 40846]

[Hanrahan 1306]

2 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

The average professional soccer player covers 7 to 10 miles per game.

Imagine any football player running 308 to 440 40-yard dashes in a 90 minute period. 

Yeah, but during most of that time, they're just prancing around, not really running hard.

[ABSR 5312]

12 hours ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

I mean, thought what I said was ridiculous enough that most folks would immediately recognize it for what it was. Apparently I miscalculated. 

Fool!  You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia,' but only slightly less well known is this: 'Never over estimate the intelligence of Surly Posters .”

[Grade of D as in David 13253]

On 11/29/2022 at 10:01 AM, Buzzrock said:

NYT article yesterday about how their fans are mostly imported from other countries because duh.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/sports/soccer/world-cup-fans-qatar-ultras.html

Now it makes sense why aggy has a campus in Qatar

Quote

Midway through the second half of Qatar’s match against Senegal at the World Cup, the drumming stopped as a man in a bucket hat and sunglasses rose and asked for quiet.

Moments earlier, a section of the crowd — more than a thousand strong, almost all men, all of them in identical maroon T-shirts with the word “Qatar” in English and Arabic — had been chanting in unison at the direction of four fan leaders. But now the sea of men understood what was expected, and they followed the order and fell into a strange silence as the match noise swirled around them inside Al Thumama Stadium.

Then a signal was made. And the crowd exploded back to life.

“Play, the Maroon!” they chanted over and over in Arabic, a reference to the nickname of Qatar’s national team. The men linked arms in long lines and jumped up and down. The floor below them shook.

 

[Armybrat 40846]

5 minutes ago, Grade of D as in David said:

Now it makes sense why aggy has a campus in Qatar

 

Did they grab their nuts?

[Guest]

2 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

The average professional soccer player covers 7 to 10 miles per game.

Imagine any football player running 308 to 440 40-yard dashes in a 90 minute period. 

I have no doubt they’re in fantastic shape. It’s easier when, relative to football and basketball players, they’re waifs. The ESPN comparison was dumb. Really dumb. Just as the vast majority of football, basketball, hockey and baseball players couldn’t sniff the USMNT or soccer at a high level, no soccer player can play any of our big four sports. Soccer players are not the best athletes in the world. Not even close. 

[Gene Parmesan 4007]

1 hour ago, Porterhouse said:

I have no doubt they’re in fantastic shape. It’s easier when, relative to football and basketball players, they’re waifs. The ESPN comparison was dumb. Really dumb. Just as the vast majority of football, basketball, hockey and baseball players couldn’t sniff the USMNT or soccer at a high level, no soccer player can play any of our big four sports. Soccer players are not the best athletes in the world. Not even close. 

It's not that it's easier because they're waifs, it's a physiological necessity.  You can't simultaneously be a great endurance athlete while carrying the muscle mass and explosive characteristics needed for football or basketball.  I'd say out of the major sports that basketball hands down has the best overall athletes.  Soccer is all skill sport like baseball.  Yes there is a minimum level of athleticism required to play, but beyond that no amount of athleticism can overcome the lack of skill.  The USMNT doesn't need better athletes they need more skill.

[BrickHorn 18234]

10 minutes ago, Gene Parmesan said:

Soccer is all skill sport like baseball.  Yes there is a minimum level of athleticism required to play, but beyond that no amount of athleticism can overcome the lack of skill.

WTF? Soccer is nothing like baseball. Hockey and basketball are much better comparisons. Those three sports all require athleticism, endurance, tactical intelligence, spatial awareness, and fine motor skills. In baseball, you just swing a stick at a ball and run in one direction. 

Skill is a barrier to entry in any of those sports. But all other things being equal, better athleticism (speed, strength, explosiveness) is a big advantage in soccer just as it is in hockey or basketball. 

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, Gene Parmesan said:

It's not that it's easier because they're waifs, it's a physiological necessity.  You can't simultaneously be a great endurance athlete while carrying the muscle mass and explosive characteristics needed for football or basketball.  I'd say out of the major sports that basketball hands down has the best overall athletes.  Soccer is all skill sport like baseball.  Yes there is a minimum level of athleticism required to play, but beyond that no amount of athleticism can overcome the lack of skill.  The USMNT doesn't need better athletes they need more skill.

Agreed on all. The best athletes in the world are basketball players, and NFL wide receivers, then NFL running backs, linebackers and corners. 

[YGIFS 19450]

20 minutes ago, BrickHorn said:

WTF? Soccer is nothing like baseball. Hockey and basketball are much better comparisons. Those three sports all require athleticism, endurance, tactical intelligence, spatial awareness, and fine motor skills. In baseball, you just swing a stick at a ball and run in one direction. 

Skill is a barrier to entry in any of those sports. But all other things being equal, better athleticism (speed, strength, explosiveness) is a big advantage in soccer just as it is in hockey or basketball. 

You make it sound so easy.  Of all position players in MLB, the guys who "just swing a stick at a ball", less than 300 are from the United States.  Now position players do not require anywhere near the endurance, spatial awareness, and athleticism that professionals in NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLS require.  But their fine motor skill abilities are among the rarest in the world, never mind hand-eye coordination.  

Each sport requires a different type of "athlete", we all get that.  Alls I know is soccer/football requires far more strategy than almost every single American can possibly fathom.  Just because there's not a guy on the sidelineswith a color-coded, laminated posterboard with 256 plays on it, whispering into a headset to 9 guys in the booth with binders full of shit...the amount of strategy and timing and awareness is beyond compare.  Most athletic?  Not by a damn sight.  Impressive to watch?  Absolutely.  

It's like Water Polo.  Even when the action isn't right near you, you still gotta tread water.  In WC action, you're still at least lightly jogging to get into position and follow angles.  Like the Matt Damon quote in "Dogma"

[Parliament 14260]

If you're looking for the best all-around athlete, you gotta go with Crossfit, duh.  

[Armybrat 40846]

Pole dancers.

[MissingInAction 25077]

17 hours ago, Porterhouse said:

Considering it’d harm the Texas economy, considerably, yes you would. Considering it would harm me?  Start walking it back now fucko. 

What color is your F250 and do your wrap arounds match?

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

What color is your F250 and do your wrap arounds match?

That’s not what I drive but I like 250s. 

[MoJames 8244]

[Brisketexan 105140]

47 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

Pole dancers.

Monkey sometimes included.

[MoJames 8244]

ITT we learn that soccer players are just glorified long distance runners.

[YGIFS 19450]

According to this groundbreaking analysis, shouldn't Kenya be in the world cup every time then?  /noracist

And how do countries not at all known for middle distance to long distance running like Portugal, Uruguay, and Italy do so well in soccer?  

[Rudiger 1163]

4 hours ago, Porterhouse said:

Agreed on all. The best athletes in the world are basketball players, and NFL wide receivers, then NFL running backs, linebackers and corners. 

No love for rugby?

[TKthunder2 4991]

1 hour ago, YGIFS said:

According to this groundbreaking analysis, shouldn't Kenya be in the world cup every time then?  /noracist

And how do countries not at all known for middle distance to long distance running like Portugal, Uruguay, and Italy do so well in soccer?  

Their goalies all suck obviously.

[crash_davis 23113]

FIFA: Since you bitched about Qatar....why not North Korea????

 

https://sportsbrief.com/football/28400-fifa-president-gianni-infantino-open-north-korea-hosting-a-world-cup/

Addressing the furore around Qatar being the 2022 World Cup hosts, the FIFA boss - who has been steadfast in supporting the hosts - lashed out at critics while claiming that football could bring 'real change' to the world. 

“FIFA is a global football organisation,” Infantino said as quoted by Sport Bible. “We are football people, not politicians, and we want to bring people together.”

The Swiss-born FIFA president revealed he had visited North Korea in recent years to see about the country hosting the Women’s World Cup. “I actually went to North Korea some years ago to ask the North Koreans if they were ready to host part of a Women’s World Cup with South Korea." 

Infantino admitted his trip did not bear any fruit, but he stated he would visit as many times as he could if it would change the Asian country's stance on hosting the event. “Only engagement can bring real change. We’re a global organisation and want to remain an organisation that unites the world.”

 

[royiv 9317]

6 hours ago, crash_davis said:

FIFA: Since you bitched about Qatar....why not North Korea????

 

https://sportsbrief.com/football/28400-fifa-president-gianni-infantino-open-north-korea-hosting-a-world-cup/

Addressing the furore around Qatar being the 2022 World Cup hosts, the FIFA boss - who has been steadfast in supporting the hosts - lashed out at critics while claiming that football could bring 'real change' to the world. 

“FIFA is a global football organisation,” Infantino said as quoted by Sport Bible. “We are football people, not politicians, and we want to bring people together.”

The Swiss-born FIFA president revealed he had visited North Korea in recent years to see about the country hosting the Women’s World Cup. “I actually went to North Korea some years ago to ask the North Koreans if they were ready to host part of a Women’s World Cup with South Korea." 

Infantino admitted his trip did not bear any fruit, but he stated he would visit as many times as he could if it would change the Asian country's stance on hosting the event. “Only engagement can bring real change. We’re a global organisation and want to remain an organisation that unites the world.”

 

Holding an event in North Korea would mean innocent North Koreans would die of starvation as resources are diverted away from basic needs. In addition, I'm guessing any venues built would be built by forced labor and perfectly up to all of the internationally accepted building codes.

[berlinerbaer 678]

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/12/01/germany-world-cup-ozil-turkey-protest-dual-citizenship-reform-scholz/?tpcc=recirc_latest062921

Mesut Ozil’s Ghost Still Haunts Germany

Proposed citizenship reform offers a chance at redemption.

By Allison Meakem, an assistant editor at Foreign Policy.

 

Quote

DECEMBER 1, 2022, 6:00 AM

There are plenty of reasons to be upset with Germany’s performance so far at this year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The team opened with an embarrassing defeat to Japan last week and eked out a draw against Spain on Sunday. Whether they can advance to the round of 16 will be determined on Thursday in a match against Costa Rica. If the Mannschaft fails to defeat Los Ticos, this World Cup would be their worst in history: While the German team exited the tournament after the group stage in 2018, they did so having won at least one match.

The German squad has also been criticized for their strange denunciation of Qatar’s human rights record. Ahead of the Nov. 23 matchup against Japan, team members posed muzzled in protest of a last-minute FIFA rule stipulating that captains wearing an armband in support of LGBTQ+ rights—as German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had planned to do—would be penalized with a yellow card. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser instead donned the band in the stands while seated next to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who has emerged as one of Qatar’s most fervent apologists.

“Human rights are nonnegotiable. That should be self-evident. But sadly it still isn’t,” the German soccer federation, or DFB, wrote in an accompanying statement. Sex between men can technically be punished with the death penalty in Qatar, though there is no record of anyone ever facing the punishment for this reason, according to the Washington Post. There are reports of gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals in the Gulf country being harassed and beaten.

The Mannschaft’s photo-op has been lambasted by Qatar boycotters and defenders alike. One German commentator wrote that the stunt was insufficient and embarrassing—“A signal to FIFA: You’re right, we’ll let you shut us up?”—and contrasted the squad’s meek silence with the much riskier protests by members of Iran’s national team. The timing was also awkward, coming just as Faeser’s rainbow-clad government finalized a liquefied natural gas deal with Qatar.

Others questioned whether Germany’s move fed its disastrous performance by distracting players from the game at hand. And an emerging cohort has accused the country’s anti-discrimination stance of being hypocritical, invoking the travails of former player Mesut Ozil, who resigned from the German national team in 2018 after being blamed for its disastrous showing in that year’s World Cup. Ozil considered the criticism to be racially motivated and said he no longer wanted to represent a country that disrespected him; today, he plays for Turkish club team Istanbul Basaksehir but lacks any national affiliation.

During Germany’s Nov. 27 match against Spain, a group of attendees held up photos of Ozil while covering their mouths with their hands. It’s unclear whether they did so independently or whether it was a broader action organized by Qatari officials—or perhaps both. One Bangladeshi worker told Germany’s Bild tabloid that posters depicting Ozil lay in his seat when he arrived at the stadium and that Qataris instructed him to hold them. “I don’t know what the posters meant,” he said. Still, the display has earned genuine support from many observers, particularly in the Islamic world.

 

Spoiler

Germany’s historic failures at the 2018 World Cup became a lasting trauma for many because of how they spiraled once the team arrived home. A bitter blame game among fans, pundits, and DFB leadership ensued, hastily zeroing in on Ozil’s performance as the source of the Mannschaft’s woes. Never mind that he was a reigning world champion who created a record seven chances during Germany’s ouster against South Korea—all unanswered by his teammates—and that soccer is, by definition, a team sport. Ozil “was arguably Germany’s best player in their doomed lineup,” John Dillon, an editor at Bavarian Football Works, wrote at the time. But “[e]ven an outstanding performance never completely convinces his dedicated critics.”

Those critics had been angry even before the tournament. In May 2018, Ozil, who is Turkish German and a practicing Muslim, met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in London—just one month before Erdogan was vying for reelection. Fellow Turkish German player Ilkay Gundogan was also in attendance. The pair gifted Erdogan jerseys from their U.K. club teams and posed for photos that caused an uproar in Germany.

The DFB roundly condemned the gathering, saying that “the DFB stands for values that Mr. Erdogan does not sufficiently respect.” Two months later, after the World Cup, the federation returned to this refrain. DFB team director Oliver Bierhoff said Germany “should have considered passing on Ozil” after the Erdogan photo, implying that it somehow lessened Ozil’s fealty to Germany and thus damned the national team.

I was working in Berlin at the time and distinctly recall how anger at Ozil consumed the German public. It seemed almost taboo to defend him because that could be interpreted as an endorsement of Erdogan and his autocratic policies. The national discussion was completely lacking nuance, and Ozil was—understandably—fed up.

In late July 2018, Ozil announced his resignation from the Mannschaft on social media, writing that “people have used my picture with President Erdogan as an opportunity to express their previously hidden racist tendencies.” He questioned why his Polish German teammates Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski were never asked to speak for Warsaw and pointed out that former Germany captain Lothar Matthäus, who is white, did not face much criticism after he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the tournament, which Russia hosted.

Prior to Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine, German leaders generally had amicable—if sometimes tense—ties to Moscow. Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder enjoyed famously chummy relationships with both Putin and Erdogan but did not face widespread backlash until this year; even so, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has declined to kick him out of its ranks.

In all this, Ozil saw a double standard and famously concluded that “I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose.” Since then, Ozil—who is also vocal in his support for Palestinians and Uyghurs—has become somewhat of a heroic resistance figure in much of the Islamic world.

Parallels between Qatar’s homophobic laws and Ozil’s treatment in Germany are obviously overblown. One country is a monarchy that makes gay sex punishable by death; the other is a representative democracy that chastised a player for failing to toe its political line. And while some Western criticism of Qatar is rooted more in Islamophobic racism than principle, it remains a stretch to compare Qatar’s human rights record to Germany’s.

 

What Sunday’s Qatari counterprotest did presciently highlight, however—most likely unintentionally—is the exclusionary nature of German citizenship policy at a moment when it appears poised for groundbreaking reform.

Ozil’s experience of racism in Germany is inextricably tied to the country’s archaic nationality laws. As Germany’s largest ethnic minority group, Turkish Germans like him have been on the front lines of the country’s often painful identity wars. Turkey and West Germany signed a migrant labor agreement in 1961—Ozil’s grandfather among the beneficiaries—and today, Germany is home to around 3 to 4 million people of Turkish origin.

But even as Turkish settlement in Germany became permanent, politicians neglected to acknowledge the country’s emerging multiculturalism, and Turkish Germans were denied a reliable pathway to citizenship. That they were overwhelmingly Muslim didn’t help: Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) reportedly told his British counterpart, Margaret Thatcher, that he didn’t have a problem with European immigrants but that “Turks come from a very different culture.” He went so far as to offer them financial incentives to return to Turkey.

It wasn’t until the 1990s that Germany opened a pathway to citizenship for non-ethnic Germans who had lived in the country for at least 15 years. (This requirement was reduced to eight years for those between the ages of 16 and 23.) And only at the turn of the millennium, under Schröder, did the SPD and Greens push for Germany to lower this threshold to eight years for all and introduce jus soli, or birthright, citizenship to complement its existing jus sanguinis, or ethnicity-based, model. It was a far cry from the automatic passport enjoyed by those born in most countries in the Americas: To qualify, a child must have one parent who has lived legally in Germany for at least eight years. But it was still a landmark achievement.

“Until the end of the 1990s, you were either a German or a foreigner. There was nothing in between,” Ferda Ataman, who is now the German government’s federal anti-discrimination commissioner, wrote in 2018.

The SPD had to make one concession to get the new nationality law past conservatives in the CDU and Free Democratic Party (FDP), who contended that allowing naturalized or jus soli Germans to maintain their previous citizenship was an “act of provocation” that could create “division.” Their opposition was often explicitly racist—one CDU politician lamented “ghetto-formation” and suggested the SPD and Greens would grant German citizenship to Kurdish militants.

The CDU launched a petition opposing dual citizenship that garnered 5 million signatures and subsequently strong-armed the SPD-Green government into including a provision that children who became German citizens on the jus soli track and had a second nationality would have to choose one citizenship upon becoming legal adults. The measure did not apply to the mostly white cohort of jus sanguinis Germans who happen to be dual citizens of other countries, such as myself.

While the blanket ban on dual citizenship in theory applied to all non-ethnic Germans, it was geared in practice toward Turkish Germans and other Muslim immigrants. This is partially because it granted an exception to dual nationals of other European Union states and Switzerland. In op-eds and campaign materials, CDU politicians defended their opposition to dual nationality by invoking Turks and their alleged failure to integrate into German society.

 

It’s important to dwell on these legal minutiae for two reasons. The first is that they inform the arc of Ozil’s story. The soccer phenom was born a third-generation Turkish German in 1988 and only became a German citizen at the age of 17; he had to give up his Turkish passport shortly thereafter and was reportedly excoriated as a “traitor” by Turkish officials when he did. While Ozil was determined to play for Germany at the time, the forced decision has clearly left a scar.

It also arguably proved counterintuitive insofar as the much-heralded German imperative of integration is concerned: Once considered a poster child of successful integration, Ozil quickly learned that this stature could only be maintained by disavowing his Turkishness. In his 2018 resignation, Ozil singled out then-DFB President Reinhard Grindel, a former CDU member of parliament, for having “voted against legislation for dual nationalities” while in office. Today, though Ozil lives in Istanbul with his Turkish wife, he still faces accusations of not being Turkish enough. This partially explains why he has been so quick to accept Erdogan’s embrace—even if it has turned him into a bit of a propagandist for the controversial Turkish leader.

The second reason that the legalese of German citizenship policy matters is that it could imminently change. The government already scrapped the dual citizenship provision for most naturalized and jus soli Germans who grew up in Germany in 2014 due to pressure from the SPD, and since then, Germany has slowly come to terms with itself as an immigrant society. The transition was hastened both by the 2015 influx of refugees and by Ozil’s resignation.

Ozil’s departure was such a blow to national cohesion that it forced many white Germans to confront the reality that their country was not as welcoming as they had believed. Palestinian German politician Sawsan Chebli called the moment an “indictment of our country” and wondered if “we will ever belong? My doubts are growing daily.”

Ordinary Germans of color started a mass online movement to share their experiences of racism under the hashtag #MeTwo that fundamentally changed Germany’s conversation about race and identity. And even Grindel apologized for his actions, pledging structural change within the DFB and saying that he should have “stood by Mesut Ozil.” In ensuing years, other German soccer stars, including Antonio Rüdiger, who is Black, have also spoken out about their own experiences with racism.

This year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the SPD tapped Reem Alabali-Radovan to be Germany’s first-ever federal anti-racism officer. And this past week, Scholz’s government confirmed that Faeser’s interior ministry was drafting new nationality reform. Faeser plans to lower the citizenship application residency requirement from eight to five years, a reduction that would extend to jus soli provisions as well. She also intends to do away with all restrictions on dual citizenship.

Scholz is enthusiastic about the proposals, which he says would grant representation and voting rights to more than 9 million noncitizen residents who contribute to Germany’s economy. He also admits he has never understood conservatives’ obsession with dual citizenship. “Belonging and identity are not a zero-sum game,” Scholz told the German parliament during a debate on Monday.

But criticism of the plan has come from predictable circles within the FDP and CDU—to say nothing of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD)—who have resorted to their well-trodden racially tinged talking points. Spiegel’s Oliver Trenkamp wrote that the CDU “seems to be switching back to populism” in response to Scholz and Faeser’s proposals. CDU leader Friedrich Merz has warned of immigrants skirting integration and abusing Germany’s welfare state.

Scholz likely won’t need support from the AfD and CDU to pass his proposals, but the FDP is a part of his coalition and could potentially water down the reforms. It’s remarkable how out of touch these three parties’ comments are with Germany’s cultural, political, and economic trajectory of the past two decades. This contrast appears even starker with Ozil back in the headlines. At this most contentious of World Cups, the departure of Germany’s onetime playmaker has proved that it is still an open wound for the country—both on and off the field.

Scholz’s proposed citizenship law cannot single-handedly undo the racist abuse faced by Ozil and countless other Germans of color, but it can address one of Ozil’s key grievances by redefining what it means to be German in a modern, multicultural society—and prove to a skeptical global public that Ozil’s tumultuous exit four years ago has become an impetus for inclusive reform rather than polarized regression.

 

 

[Wulaw Horn 19070]

Now El Tri can boycott the knockout stage of the WC. 

[Telegraph_it 3357]

Some things transcend language or culture or whatever. 
 

[Lhorn 4913]

On 11/30/2022 at 3:48 PM, Rudiger said:

No love for rugby?

I’ve consider cyclists, like TdF riders to be the most physically fit at least cardiovascularly, but as an athlete we’re not trying to be the best as exercise. 

[YGIFS 19450]

15 hours ago, Telegraph_it said:

Some things transcend language or culture or whatever. 
 

so like armybrat said, a Pole(sh) Dancer.

[52-80 19159]

On 12/3/2022 at 4:04 AM, Telegraph_it said:

Some things transcend language or culture or whatever. 
 

Sports bring people together

[Deej 76792]

[crash_davis 23113]

[InkaUtexas 25942]

7 hours ago, 52-80 said:

Sports bring people together

Face paint, would not.... Oh wait.... Her? Yes.... 

[52-80 19159]

Whats the deal this year with team uniform colorways not reflecting their primary or even secondary national colors. 

Today morocco looked like Portugal and Spain looked like argentina

[YGIFS 19450]

Because of the Moops?

[crash_davis 23113]

it was real to me!!!!

https://en.as.com/soccer/thousands-of-viewers-watch-world-cup-2022-in-qatar-on-illegal-streams-but-in-reality-it-is-pixelated-fifa-23-games-n/

Thousands of viewers watch World Cup 2022 in Qatar on illegal streams, but in reality it is pixelated FIFA 23 games

More than 40,000 people thought the replays of the soccer video games were illegal streams from the 2022 World Cup.

[YGIFS 19450]

1 minute ago, crash_davis said:

it was real to me!!!!

https://en.as.com/soccer/thousands-of-viewers-watch-world-cup-2022-in-qatar-on-illegal-streams-but-in-reality-it-is-pixelated-fifa-23-games-n/

Thousands of viewers watch World Cup 2022 in Qatar on illegal streams, but in reality it is pixelated FIFA 23 games

More than 40,000 people thought the replays of the soccer video games were illegal streams from the 2022 World Cup.

So all those migrant workers didn't really die?  It was just all a video game simulation.  Good!  Then I'm not not going to be drinking this pretend Budweiser and banging this pixilated whore.

[wildcat09 29354]

 

I'm going to jump to conclusions here and propose that the moment the World Cup is over and everyone has left we bomb the fuck out of Qatar.

[Post Oak 20213]

Wtf.

[TexasHooch 5122]

More context for those not following closely:

 

https://www.tmz.com/2022/12/09/world-cup-soccer-reporter-grant-wahl-dead-48-after-detainment-lgbtq-shirt/

 

Quote

CBS Sports journalist Grant Wahl -- one of the most respected soccer reporters in the country -- died while covering the World Cup, his brother announced Friday ... He was 48 years old.

Grant was in Qatar when he passed ... and Eric Wahl believes foul play was involved, as he claims the reporter was receiving death threats over wearing a rainbow shirt in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

 

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Absolutely stupid. Good job fifa. Jfc.

[Brisketexan 105140]

More context for those not following closely:
 
https://www.tmz.com/2022/12/09/world-cup-soccer-reporter-grant-wahl-dead-48-after-detainment-lgbtq-shirt/
 

CBS Sports journalist Grant Wahl -- one of the most respected soccer reporters in the country -- died while covering the World Cup, his brother announced Friday ... He was 48 years old.

Grant was in Qatar when he passed ... and Eric Wahl believes foul play was involved, as he claims the reporter was receiving death threats over wearing a rainbow shirt in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

 

Yeah….needs to be real digging into this, and a real non-Qatari autopsy. May well just be an awful tragedy. But you’ve got several folks hinting at foul play (and of course, people saying it was the COVID vaccine).