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2018 World Cup


DanTheHorn

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5 minutes ago, Cameltoe said:

What's the story on Suarez these days? They still let him play? Is he still awesome when it comes to things on the pitch not involving biting?

He's only one of the best strikers in the world. Playing for one of the biggest (if not the biggest) club in the world.

Yeah. He's fine.

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13 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

He's only one of the best strikers in the world. Playing for one of the biggest (if not the biggest) club in the world.

Yeah. He's fine.

That's cool. I like how every 4 years we're reminded there's this little country called Uruguay, and they play some damn fine soccer there.

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1 hour ago, Chico_SA said:

 

With about a week or two to go before the start of the 2010 World Cup, my Argie novia and I listened to this song on repeat for about 3 or 4 hours as we were each just surfing the web on our computers at her apartment. No biggie. Just about 60 to 70 times in a row as we were getting amped for la Copa Mundial... y... y... y... y bueno.

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7 hours ago, Cameltoe said:

That's cool. I like how every 4 years we're reminded there's this little country called Uruguay, and they play some damn fine soccer there.

Speak for yourself and anyone else who doesn’t actually follow or care about the sport.

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How many matches does everyone plan to watch? Literally watched every match in '98, '02, '06, '10, and '14, but not as enthused for this cycle (for obvious reasons, plus the time zone thing). The World Cup is my favorite sporting event, but 4 a.m. or whatever it will be comes early.

Seems like everyone wants Germany to win. For me, that's like rooting for GSW--it's probably gonna happen to the point of being anticlimactic. Outside of wanting Messi to lead Argentina to a championship, it would be nice to see someone other than the "usual suspects" win it.

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How many matches does everyone plan to watch? Literally watched every match in '98, '02, '06, '10, and '14, but not as enthused for this cycle (for obvious reasons, plus the time zone thing). The World Cup is my favorite sporting event, but 4 a.m. or whatever it will be comes early.
Seems like everyone wants Germany to win. For me, that's like rooting for GSW--it's probably gonna happen to the point of being anticlimactic. Outside of wanting Messi to lead Argentina to a championship, it would be nice to see someone other than the "usual suspects" win it.


Most days games start at 7am CDT, so I imagine I’ll have the tv on all day. Only one 5am game in group

I also work from home, so it makes it easy.
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38 minutes ago, bularry1 said:

Any realistic scenario where someone outside of Germany, France, Brazil and Spain win this thing?   I can't really see another squad winning it.

It's possible that Belgium, England or Argentina could make a run and/or get an easy draw in the knockout rounds. 

Who knows. In a 1 game final, anything could happen.

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1 hour ago, bularry1 said:

Any realistic scenario where someone outside of Germany, France, Brazil and Spain win this thing?   I can't really see another squad winning it.

According to bookmakers, about a 15% chance the winner is not among the teams you mention. 

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13 hours ago, Napoleon said:

With about a week or two to go before the start of the 2010 World Cup, my Argie novia and I listened to this song on repeat for about 3 or 4 hours as we were each just surfing the web on our computers at her apartment. No biggie. Just about 60 to 70 times in a row as we were getting amped for la Copa Mundial... y... y... y... y bueno.

 

I was on a Kenya airways flight post-2010 World Cup  on the way from Jo-burg to Cairo and on our stop in Khartum we had to stay on the plane for about an hour and a half (no a/c and no electronics allowed). There was a class of school children seated behind me and the plane played waving flag and the shakira song consecutively for all 90 minutes with the kids singing along the whole time. 

 

If if I never hear those songs again it will still be too soon. 

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14 minutes ago, Firemans4Horn said:

I was on a Kenya airways flight post-2010 World Cup  on the way from Jo-burg to Cairo and on our stop in Khartum we had to stay on the plane for about an hour and a half (no a/c and no electronics allowed). There was a class of school children seated behind me and the plane played waving flag and the shakira song consecutively for all 90 minutes with the kids singing along the whole time. 

If if I never hear those songs again it will still be too soon. 


I can't eloquently convey how much I love this story.  😂 😂 😂
 

Having taken a 28 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires to Florianopolis, I understand a little of this, though we never had stifling heat in the bus. After having to wait at the ARG/Brazil boarder sitting on the ground with homeless kids sleeping in the grass along with stray dogs in every direction while our bus, our luggage, and our passports/visas were inspected, only to get on the bus and have the bus drivers continue to play bad movies through the night with the volume on (rather than only through headphone jacks), I can somewhat relate to misery of less-than-high-budget-travel.

My good friend since 5th grade was my freshman roommate at UT and his pledge class' Hell Week Song was "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys. I think that it was only the last day that they had to listen to this song for 24 HOURS STRAIGHT! (Cruel & Unusual Punishment)
 

 

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1 hour ago, bularry1 said:

Any realistic scenario where someone outside of Germany, France, Brazil and Spain win this thing?   I can't really see another squad winning it.

Others have already mentioned Belgium and Argentina as those are the obvious.  But my dark horse is Colombia.   

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12 minutes ago, ScottishHorn said:

England has about as good a chance as the USA...

This is the best England squad since they missed out on the 1994 World Cup.

I don't know if that means much, but they have creative attacking players with skill and a flow to their game. And Steven Gerrard isn't on the pitch to slow the offense so that their speedy players go to waste. I always felt that Lampard could play with almost any player... except for Steven Gerrard, yet they always played those two together. Lampard would find space to run into and Gerrard would throw on the brakes and go down looking for a dead ball opportunity.

I'm not saying that England is going to win this, but they are probably the 7th most likely team to win The Cup after the aforementioned Big Four + Belgium & Argentina. I'm not sure if Colombia has what they had in 2014... when Brazil hacked them down like Debt Collecting Mobsters because they knew that the refs weren't going to call anything against them in a WC held in Brazil. But they do have an Argentine manager, so anything is possible.

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9 hours ago, Napoleon said:

This is the best England squad since they missed out on the 1994 World Cup.

I don't know if that means much, but they have creative attacking players with skill and a flow to their game. And Steven Gerrard isn't on the pitch to slow the offense so that their speedy players go to waste. I always felt that Lampard could play with almost any player... except for Steven Gerrard, yet they always played those two together. Lampard would find space to run into and Gerrard would throw on the brakes and go down looking for a dead ball opportunity.

I'm not saying that England is going to win this, but they are probably the 7th most likely team to win The Cup after the aforementioned Big Four + Belgium & Argentina. I'm not sure if Colombia has what they had in 2014... when Brazil hacked them down like Debt Collecting Mobsters because they knew that the refs weren't going to call anything against them in a WC held in Brazil. But they do have an Argentine manager, so anything is possible.

The '98 and '02 teams had more talent than this one, but this is the best _selection_ England have chosen in 12 years, because there are no past-prime big 6 names on the squad to sell kit, only in-prime big 6 names on the squad to sell kit.  The Lizard (Southgate) has chosen a dynamic young group, but he is not going to play the best 11 together.  Because he's not.

England are going to dominate possession, look pedestrian going forward, get out of their group, and crater in the quarters when they run up against someone that is going to pick apart this conservative 3421 formation.  I love the one-touch passing style and the control, but their is very little end-product.  England should be playing a flying get-up-and-down run run run style like, oh, say, the successful teams in their top flight domestic league, you know, the hardest league on the planet, that prem thing.

Noop.  Southgate is going to do what he does best, and what he knows how to do.  Lose to Germany on kicks.

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52 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

The '98 and '02 teams had more talent than this one, but this is the best _selection_ England have chosen in 12 years, because there are no past-prime big 6 names on the squad to sell kit, only in-prime big 6 names on the squad to sell kit.  The Lizard (Southgate) has chosen a dynamic young group, but he is not going to play the best 11 together.  Because he's not.

England are going to dominate possession, look pedestrian going forward, get out of their group, and crater in the quarters when they run up against someone that is going to pick apart this conservative 3421 formation.  I love the one-touch passing style and the control, but their is very little end-product.  England should be playing a flying get-up-and-down run run run style like, oh, say, the successful teams in their top flight domestic league, you know, the hardest league on the planet, that prem thing.

Noop.  Southgate is going to do what he does best, and what he knows how to do.  Lose to Germany on kicks.

dont waste your breathe, engerwanddddd would lose to germany in the first 15 because youre a shit squad "mate".

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19 hours ago, Longhornfan1024 said:

Others have already mentioned Belgium and Argentina as those are the obvious.  But my dark horse is Colombia.   

I could see any of those teams reaching the semi's, but beating elite national teams 2 times in a row to win it?   I can't get there in my head.

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5 hours ago, Firemans4Horn said:

Croatia is my sleeper pick. One of the best midfields in the world and solid players everywhere else. 

My feeling is that countries like Croatia might be able to win on any given day, but they aren’t deep enough to win 4 straight games after getting out of their group. 

Tournaments are about quality youth & depth. If you don’t have both of those, you hit a fatigue wall along the way. 

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6 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

youth, depth, and some kind of surprise-package, lighting-in-a-bottle, darkhorse turned cinderella, some kind of mojo that sets a team on a course towards destiny.

or you can just be germany.

They were completely dominant 4 years ago. But it is this edition just as good? Have they gotten fat and lazy on their success?

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24 minutes ago, Cameltoe said:

[Germany] were completely dominant 4 years ago. But it is this edition just as good? Have they gotten fat and lazy on their success?


Germany may have been dominant, but Argentina had the best scoring chance during regulation in the Final.

[FUCKING FUCK YOU HIGUAIN !!!!!!]

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4 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

Argentina has the most legit chance to win the World Cup of all the teams who nobody thinks will win. The amount of disrespect they get is over the top.

Dude, i'm all about dog vs. ronaldo in the final.  Argentina all the way.  But you know what makes a winning side in this tournament and it's not an average age over 30.

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On 6/8/2018 at 1:26 PM, Napoleon said:


I can't eloquently convey how much I love this story.  😂 😂 😂
 

Having taken a 28 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires to Florianopolis, I understand a little of this, though we never had stifling heat in the bus. After having to wait at the ARG/Brazil boarder sitting on the ground with homeless kids sleeping in the grass along with stray dogs in every direction while our bus, our luggage, and our passports/visas were inspected, only to get on the bus and have the bus drivers continue to play bad movies through the night with the volume on (rather than only through headphone jacks), I can somewhat relate to misery of less-than-high-budget-travel.

My good friend since 5th grade was my freshman roommate at UT and his pledge class' Hell Week Song was "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys. I think that it was only the last day that they had to listen to this song for 24 HOURS STRAIGHT! (Cruel & Unusual Punishment)
 

 

Similar story... we had to listen to this pile of shit for 6 straight hours.   I wanted to blow my brains out.  

 

 

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21 hours ago, Napoleon said:


Germany may have been dominant, but Argentina had the best scoring chance during regulation in the Final.

LOL... no. That would have been Benedikt Höwedes' header against the post before halftime. Argentina didn't hit the goal all game long.

U7kwHHHY_o.gif

kvV9q9ze_o.jpg

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5 hours ago, Netzer said:

LOL... no. That would have been Benedikt Höwedes' header against the post before halftime. Argentina didn't hit the goal all game long.

U7kwHHHY_o.gif

kvV9q9ze_o.jpg

When a ball hits the post and bounces out, it never has a chance to go in. (Frequently this are counted as "Shots On Goal"... but if it were really "On Goal" and no one stopped it, then it would be "a goal".)

He had his shot, he took it in the blink of an eye, and he failed to put it on goal.

Higuain had the ball one-on-one with the goalie and then just completely sucked ass. He had plenty of time to score a goal and couldn't even put it on frame. Any team would take one-on-one with the keeper rather than a contested header any day.

 

Edited by Napoleon
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On 6/8/2018 at 1:03 PM, Firemans4Horn said:

 

I was on a Kenya airways flight post-2010 World Cup  on the way from Jo-burg to Cairo and on our stop in Khartum we had to stay on the plane for about an hour and a half (no a/c and no electronics allowed). There was a class of school children seated behind me and the plane played waving flag and the shakira song consecutively for all 90 minutes with the kids singing along the whole time. 

 

If if I never hear those songs again it will still be too soon. 

My girls say, "here you go" because they think it will never be surpassed. Although one of them thinks this year's song is much better than 2014.

 

 

Edited by DanTheHorn
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Higuian has cost Argentina at least 2 and maybe 3 international championships in a row.  I have no idea why they seem to think he is a better option than Aguero but I’m sure they will do the same stupid shit again this year.

Edited by IPoopOnWhoop
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2 hours ago, DanTheHorn said:

My girls say, "here you go" because they think [Shakira's "It's Time For Africa"] will never be surpassed. Although one of them thinks this year's song is much better than 2014.


1) I feel that BOTH of the songs for 2010 had a bouncy energy that translated all over the world. I agree that for me, they are the quintessential World Cup songs. (That being said, I didn't really realize that every World Cup had an official song... or two... until I lived in Argentina.)

2) The song for 2014 was horrible! I definitely think that this year's song is better than that one, but that doesn't say a ton.

 

2 hours ago, IPoopOnWhoop said:

Higuian has cost Argentina at least 2 and maybe 3 international championships in a row.  I have no idea why they seem to think he is a better option than Aguero but I’m sure they will do the same stupid shit again this year.


Yes he has.

But he doesn't break down like El Fideo (Di Maria) and Aguero do. Also, Aguero is 5'5" (I don't care what his "official height" is) and Higuain is 6'1". When defending corner kicks, having enough guys over 5'7" (actual height, not listed heigh) is a major concern for Argentina (like Mexico, Chile, Bolivia, Guatemala, El Salvador...) and I think that that is definitely considered when filling out the lineup.

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8 hours ago, Napoleon said:

When a ball hits the post and bounces out, it never has a chance to go in.

Hahaha... this is probably the dumbest reinterpretation attempt that I've heard so far. A ball against the post is literally centimeters away from going in. That's math.

That Argie shot, gifted by Kroos, missed by at least two meters.

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We want to thrill to the beautiful game, but Fifa’s World Cup is toxic

Guardian

Nick Cohen

Sat 9 Jun 2018 18.00 BST Last modified on Sat 9 Jun 2018 22.00 BST

The tournament has never been so blighted by politics and the taint of corruption

Like the male gaze, football fans have eyes for just one thing. Nothing can turn them away from the pitch. When Fifa announced it was handing the World Cup first to kleptomaniac murderers who run Russia and then to the overseers of a serf economy in Qatar, even cynics thought Zurich’s masters of corruption had finally gone too far. Surely the world wouldn’t stand for it.

Read the sporting press or examine your own conscience and you learn the world will not just stand for it but stand to attention and salute it. I am not claiming moral superiority. I will finish this righteous piece then purr over reports of how Marcus Rashford is coming into his prime at exactly the right moment. The looting of the Russian economy, the downing of civilian airliners, the murder of journalists, the sheer brazenness of Fifa’s decision to stage a World Cup in a country that has invaded and occupied another country are powerful arguments to boycott the circus. But their power is nothing before the power of the fans’ gaze that fixes your eyes on your team.

It’s not that politics and sport don’t mix – Putin wants the World Cup to boost his political prestige, Qatar wants to get one up on Saudi Arabia. Rather, fans and politics are the hopeless combination. The battle is always unequal. If you wonder how you would have reacted to Hitler’s 1936 Olympics, look at how you are reacting to Putin’s 2018 World Cup and learn something about yourself and the nature of sport.

I expect the swine will get away with it: they usually do. But it is worth thinking about why the fix might not work for once. By choosing Russia as the host country, Fifa has put racism directly in the fans’ line of sight and we may not be able to miss it.

When Danny Rose described how he had told his family not to travel to Russia, he was not revealing that he had asked them to stay at home as a protest against the invasion of Ukraine. The practical threat of racism, both to players and fans, was his sole concern. He “didn’t want to be worrying, when I’m trying to prepare for games, for my family’s safety”. Equally, when Gareth Southgate discussed whether players should walk off the pitch, he was not thinking about the England back four taking a quixotic stand against homophobia, but how much racist chanting his players could be expected to take before playing on became impossible.

Fifa’s stance on racism is as notorious as it is contemptible. It wound up its anti-racism taskforce, saying its mission was accomplished before it had even begun. When Russian fans directed monkey chants at Paul Pogba, it fined the Russian Football Association £22,000, a sum so pathetic no aspiring host nation would dare offer it to a Fifa delegate.

A report to be published tomorrow by researchers at the human rights consultancy 89up shows that Fifa would not disclose whether it sought a meaningful commitment to human rights from Russia when it negotiated terms with Putin’s administrators. In theory, they were obliged to set high standards. After the Sepp Blatter scandal, Fifa tried to salvage the remnants of its reputation by committing to “social responsibility, human rights, environmental protection and gender equality”. Its president, Gianni Infantino, even has a specific responsibility to promote human rights.

The record shows that Fifa does nothing of the sort. It argued to a Swiss court in 2017 that Dutch and Bangladeshi trade unions could not ask it to compel the organisers of Qatar’s World Cup to protect migrant workers dying on the sites of new stadiums. Fifa is in the commercial business of selling football, its argument ran. The internal affairs of Qatar were its concern. You might think from reading Fifa’s ethical codes it had a particular responsibility to protect the safety and security not just of workers, but of players, journalists and fans visiting World Cups. That would be to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. How could it meddle when it was just a business like any other? Fifa offered us a modern version of the old “you can’t mix sport and politics” excuse.

Fifa’s demands on states show its defence is insultingly disingenuous. If Fifa is a business, it seems to me that it is a global corporation that demands favours from national governments or a mafia running a protection racket. Host nations must protect its intellectual property and punish miscreants who infringe it, establish exclusion zones around stadiums where its sponsors’ rights are supreme and allow unrestricted access to Fifa delegates and commercial partners. In other words, countries must change their civil, criminal and immigration law for the duration of a tournament.

In these circumstances, why cannot Fifa make it a condition of hosting the World Cup that LGBT fans are not harried by the police? Or visiting journalists aren’t arrested?

Sashy Nathan, the legal researcher who compiled the report, said the hardest questions are likely to come from European teams. Russian racists tend to leave black African teams alone. It’s the sight of black and white players on the same side that infuriates them and provokes them to isolate and intimidate their targets.

Rose’s interview was a mournful affair. His father was mortified, he said. “I could hear it in his voice. He said he may never get a chance again to come and watch me in a World Cup.” That was just how it is. “Somehow Russia got the World Cup and we have to get on with it. Whatever we do here isn’t going to change what is happening around the world.”

Probably not, but we shall see. Russian abuse will be directly in the fans’ line of vision. Our gaze will not be able to shift from it. Blind though we are to everything outside the game, we may not be able to escape politics when it is staring us in the face.

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