World Cup 2018 FIFA WORLD CUP FINAL-FRANCE V CROATIA

[Macpotata]

Awesome for France. I had this as 1998 written allover again from the word go. Picked them like many did and I had them winning this tournament from over 2 years ago. After their Euro 2016 home defeat to the Portuguese I fancied them even more.


Funnily enough when France won the world cup in 1998 they did so with their opening opponent South Africa scoring an O.G, like the Aussies did this time. They were drawn with the Danes and played them in their final group game, before meeting South American opposition in the 2nd round { Paraguay/Argentina }
Played a past winner in the quarters { Italy/Uruguay } a European side having a fairy tale run in the tournament that would be eventually be their best, after displacing a former world champion of their own the round before { Belgium beat Brazil in the quarters like Croatia beat Germany } France scored 2 goals by half time in the 98 final and did so again in 2018. Played the Croats again, who themselves would also go on and have their best run ever at a world cup finals.

Just recalled as well that like in 1998, their no 1 striker didn't score a single goal yet they persisted with him and he held the ball up well and added to their chemisty. He also started with G - Guivarch. Giroud was that version this time around.

There were many similarities to 1998 with other sides too like England being drawn with Tunisia and playing them first off, playing Colombia. Argentina playing Croatia, Germany playing Mexico, Morocco making it for the first time since 1998.

 

[Alfonz]

Whether the Croatian keeper was injured or good in other games is besides the point. Those two long range goals were solid strikes, but were well inside the post. Good footwork and reaction times and they get saved.

 

[Macpotata]

Croatia played awesome in the first half and even for moments in the 2nd. The first goal came as a clear dive from Griezman in earning his free kick, but the Croatians did get back on level terms. Perisic's goal was pure world class with a brilliant one touch turn to his left. Lethal left foot Perisic possesses. Once I saw the replay for handball I knew it was going to be given. His arm and hand moved, whether it was an accident or not is besides the point because it wasn't ball to hand. It was hand to ball. Deschamps was right in taking an already yellow carded Kante off as he was getting caught in possession and giving away the ball. Mbappe's run was instrumental in Pogba getting off a couple shots and eventually scoring. Once it was 3-1 it was game over. It could and should have been 5 or 6-1 and very lucky for Croatia that a blunder from Lloris put some respectability in the scoreline and made it a '' contest '' until the end of the game. France were sitting back and absorbing, playing counter and could have easily picked them off for a couple more. Pogba missed a sitter late on.


Well done Croatia though despite the scoreline and some bad luck in the first half they were the better team and were worthy finalists. Awesome spirit, football, and great great people.

 

[peppy la pew]

He did. The only WC winning striker in history that did not register a single shot on goal for the entire tournament.

Englands version of Sterling, should be made to pay their own fares

Nothing but pasengers

 

[peppy la pew]

Whether the Croatian keeper was injured or good in other games is besides the point. Those two long range goals were solid strikes, but were well inside the post. Good footwork and reaction times and they get saved.

He was like a statue in both goals, being unsighted is one thing but at least have a crack

 

[JimDocker]

How selfish are the protesters? Billions of people simply want to watch sport without political s**t.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, they have so many options living under an authoritarian regime to get their points across.

 

[Macpotata]

Fosters a legend but * off comparing Australia to Croatia. Croatia obviously formerly of Yugoslavia have football in their DNA. They've been on the big stage and beaten the best consistently.

'' If Croatia can do it why can't we ''

Seriously disrespecting Croatia without even meaning too. Beat the best on the biggest stage for decades then you can start having that conversation. A nation as great as Croatia still has struggled at times to even qualify for tournaments and that's after having deep runs in competitions. There's a huge difference in making a World Cup Final or Euro as opposed to winning it too. Look at Holland.

 

[David Schwarz]

I'm late to the party as I've only been able to watch the game now due to an early start today, but that was such a fun final to watch. What a relief a final game was finally decided in normal time

France in the end deserved to win. Great football, Mbappe is such a talent. Croatia weren't disgraced and I think they've set themselves up for some successful years ahead.

The penalty... Ugh it's a handball but again you see them both given and not throughout league seasons. This is my fundamental problem with VAR - if it's used for howlers I might be able to accept it, but if it's just lineball decisions that history has shown are essentially 50/50 calls, then I find that ridiculous. If you want to watch sport that hinges on close reviews and challenges, watch American football.

Best World Cup I've seen since '98. Haven't decided if it's the best I've seen in my lifetime yet.

The "Its coming home" thing....this is the way i saw it.

As england were gaining traction, and were part of orchestrating (correctly) their knockout path, it was used as an anthem to bring the trophy home. However, when the semi loss happened, it changed to "we never said we would win, it was for something else". It's like when a poster makes a declaration, comment aimed towards another poster, then when proved wrong says he/she is "just kidding". In the end, it didnt hurt anyone.

I didnt think it was an arrogant thing to claim/sing either.

That song was sung in jest. I've noticed on a few other message boards and media that I follow for football that England was accused of arrogance, but for how long can you accuse fans of being arrogant for s**t papers like the Mail running garbage about Lingard being better than Kempes?

English fans enjoyed the ride, and rightfully so - that's the end of it. First time I've actually liked an English football team due to there being an absence of dickheads.

I remember in 2006 watching us against Italy there were jokes and songs about us winning the World Cup. None of us believed it, and it wasn't arrogance, was a celebration of emotion and nothing more.

 

[peppy la pew]

Modric won the player of the tournament and rightly so, he single handedly kept them in the tournament.

 

[David Schwarz]

Modric won the player of the tournament and rightly so, he single handedly kept them in the tournament.

There's a good article floating around on how he surely has to be recognised as one of the best midfielders on the planet now after this tournament.

Him and Rakitic have been surreal.

 

[JimDocker]

Terrific final. Being married to a Croatian/Australian, I wanted them to win but gave them little hope after three extra time games. I could not see how they would cope with the pace of the French, but they were fantastic. Unlucky to be down at half time. Some sloppy defending from both sides made the spectacle a bit better. The most entertaining final that I can remember.

Some of the negative posting on this thread has been pathetic. This world cup has been so entertaining, yet when I check these boards out, it is all about how much hate we can have for a player. Strange people inhabit the internet.

 

[Scotland]

Final pretty much went to script. Croatia made the play, France sat back and waited for counter attacks and opportunities to fall over.

Frustrating to see teams like France succeed but that's the game. They have an incredibly strong squad and were always going to be right in the mix.

 

[Macpotata]

So Croatia drew in 120 mins with Denmark. Drew in 120 with Russia. Beat England after 120.

France beat Argentina in 90. Beat Uruguay in 90. Beat Belguim in 90. Beat Croatia in 90.

Best team by far. Haters are funny because their hating wont change history.

haha!

weak + jealous = Haters

 

[David Schwarz]

haha!

weak + jealous = Haters

Greizmann is a discount Graham Kennedy

Come at me #hater

In all seriousness though...

Some of the negative posting on this thread has been pathetic. This world cup has been so entertaining, yet when I check these boards out, it is all about how much hate we can have for a player. Strange people inhabit the internet.

I've just read a news article about Elon Musk calling someone a pedophile because his Tesla submarine couldn't make a 20 degree turn - all complete and utter nonsense basically

Is this where we are at as a civilisation, seriously?

Just enjoy it for what it was, a brilliant tournament with a shedload of talking points and - for the first time since probably 2002 - attacking football took precedence over playing kick-to-kick for two hours

 

[ioppolo]

Had a good time watching this with mates out last night. Found a place that wasn't packed to the rafters. A lot of the people there were neutrals supporting Croatia, like myself.

What did everyone make of the penalty?

 

[JimDocker]

I thought a penalty was a reasonable call. In recent years, if a player has his arms away from his body, a penalty is given. Unlucky, but consistent with the way the rule has been interpreted for quite a while now.

 

[David Schwarz]

Had a good time watching this with mates out last night. Found a place that wasn't packed to the rafters. A lot of the people there were neutrals supporting Croatia, like myself.

What did everyone make of the penalty?

I said before, by my understanding of the laws technically I think it is a penalty, but it's so close to a 50/50 chance I don't see why VAR was called in

You see them given and not given all the time across so many leagues around the world it kinda seems ridiculous to pull the trigger on the biggest stage of them all

France still would have won, it really was such a non event that has just created a needless black hole of doubt

 

[swampy]

I said before, by my understanding of the laws technically I think it is a penalty, but it's so close to a 50/50 chance I don't see why VAR was called in

You see them given and not given all the time across so many leagues around the world it kinda seems ridiculous to pull the trigger on the biggest stage of them all

France still would have won, it really was such a non event that has just created a needless black hole of doubt

I reckon the referee may have been unsighted originally. If he didn’t see it live and got the first view on VAR then the penalty call is fair enough, like you said you see them paid 50/50 (more like 100% in this tournament). If he saw it live and ruled no pen, then changed his mind seeing it on VAR, that would be harsh/wrong.

 

[Scotland]

Some of the negative posting on this thread has been pathetic. This world cup has been so entertaining, yet when I check these boards out, it is all about how much hate we can have for a player. Strange people inhabit the internet.

I don't usually like him but Craig Foster summed it up perfectly last night when he said France won not by playing the best football but by being even across the park. Maybe I'm negative but the most entertaining football France played was when Croatia were pushing to get the game back to 2-2 or 3-2. Having seen France beat Australia 2-1 with a very iffy penalty and an own goal, it's understandable that a lot of people on an Australian forum are going to be salty about France going 2-1 up in the final with an iffy penalty and an own goal...

 

[David Schwarz]

I reckon the referee may have been unsighted originally. If he didn’t see it live and got the first view on VAR then the penalty call is fair enough, like you said you see them paid 50/50 (more like 100% in this tournament). If he saw it live and ruled no pen, then changed his mind seeing it on VAR, that would be harsh/wrong.

Watching it live and knowing it was slightly controversial I missed it completely until the referee drew a very strange rhombus with his hands

On the replay I thought it was a penalty

I just don't see how that benefits the game. If it's that close why bother? It doesn't detract from either the quality of the result nor the fairness of the match

 

[David Schwarz]

I don't usually like him but Craig Foster summed it up perfectly last night when he said France won not by playing the best football but by being even across the park. Maybe I'm negative but the most entertaining football France played was when Croatia were pushing to get the game back to 2-2 or 3-2. Having seen France beat Australia 2-1 with a very iffy penalty and an own goal, it's understandable that a lot of people on an Australian forum are going to be salty about France going 2-1 up in the final with an iffy penalty and an own goal...

Fair call - 2006 all over again really. It's an angry marriage of perception and reality though, someone can probably remember or search for my comments on how I thought Neill decided to have the IQ of a stone when he conceded that penalty

Beat us on a technicality and you win the World Cup within 4 years

How much is Qatar paying to win the tournament?

 

[Macpotata]

Took a fluke goal for the world champs to beat us in the group stage.

And we followed that up with a mighty draw and loss in our next two games.

Sterling effort.

 

[Scotland]

No pen for mine. Hand was by his side and he didn't benefit from the contact as he was already moving his leg into position to clear the ball. Not sure there's enough evidence to suggest the ref/linesman made a howler not calling it live.

 

[David Schwarz]

And we followed that up with a mighty draw and loss in our next two games.

Sterling effort.

What was it, a valiant effort against Maradona's Argentina, then kicking ourselves in the arse against Iran way back when?

Christ being 30 makes me feel old

 

[Milanista28]

I personally thought it wasn't a good game, I thought France we're average overall and I still can't believe they we're 4-1 up at one stage, Croatia were good in the 1st half and deserved the equalizer, I think the handball was probably there, I mean they payed similar pens this entire world cup so I have no issue here. The Croats definitely fell away big time in the 2nd half.

The Griezmann dive for the free kick that lead to the opener was ugly, Ref was conned, IMO this was a yellow card dive for me, Also was Pogba offside? Did he have any impact on the MM17 play on the ball?

It never felt like a world cup final to me, It was never tense it didn't have that be all end all feel to it, Not sure If I'm alone here but that's how it felt to me, perhaps my lack of sleep didn't help.

Congrats France.