World Cup 2018 FIFA World Cup General Discussion Thread

Macpotata

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Been such a weird world cup.

The French and Belgium sides are probably the only two who qualify as teams I think of as WC winning sides, in terms of quality all over the pitch.

Even then, I think they pale to some of the past winners over the last 20 years.

I think whoever wins this will be one of the weaker winners in a long time. Just personal opinion.
I agree in a sense it's been a weaker world cup. But you could see two very strong performances in the last games from any side which could cement themselves as a great winner. As a whole though, yeah, it's like 2002 where all the '' big '' guns crashed out early.

Belgium have been good though and very consistent. It takes mental and physical strength to come down from 2 goals down, and They did beat Brazil who played a great game. If they win it, they will be worthy. France were coasting in the group and have stepped up and like Belgium If they have two good games also, they'll announce themselves as a worthy contender.

I do see where you're coming from though. But We also look at things a bit more biased in the past perhaps. Most world cup winners weren't without their struggles or poorer performance/near misses. France in 98 beat Paraguay with a golden goal, beat Italy in a penalty shootout and needed 2 goals from a defender who had never scored in his career, nor a single goal after it, to edge past Croatia. Then there was the Ronaldo incident in the final. Brazil in 2002 had 2 bogus calls go their way against Turkey and Belgium. Italy in 06 struggled with the USA and that dodgy game against us. Took 121 minutes to score against Germany in the semis, Beat France on penalties. Spain in 2010 lost their opener and were outplayed by the Portuguese in the 1st half, beat Paraguay after surviving a late penalty, then edged Germany who had their chances as did Holland in the final. They could have been considered very lucky. Germany in 2014 drew with Ghana, needed extra time to beat Algeria, beat France narrowly and could have easily lost that extra time final to Argentina.


edited - The game's changed. Styles, tactics, the way teams win, it's different to what it used to be. It's certainly not always pretty as times. You might like they way football used to be as a whole compared to what it is now.
 
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David Schwarz

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Been such a weird world cup.

The French and Belgium sides are probably the only two who qualify as teams I think of as WC winning sides, in terms of quality all over the pitch.

Even then, I think they pale to some of the past winners over the last 20 years.

I think whoever wins this will be one of the weaker winners in a long time. Just personal opinion.

I am confident enough to say out loud that this is the best cup I've seen since the first I was old enough to appreciate in '98

I don't see it as weak - I think we saw the teams with the brightest future in the quarters - save an arguable Russia that has purely lived through sheer adrenaline alone. Ideally I've always believed that the World Cup is the real showcase of the current and future, of which all four teams still in it have.

On that, I can't disagree with the top four right now, given all the games that have happened. If all things worked out, the final should have been France and Belgium, with England and Croatia playing off for third
 

Macpotata

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Agree with Fozzie on last nights world cup show. It will be sad to see the world cup go, and see it drawing to an end. In the past as he also mentioned I was excited about the big games and couldn't wait for them. Now it;s the opposite and the big games mean less of them, and the tournaments almost done and dusted.

What I will not miss is the scattered sleep and tired state it puts you in however. When you do catch up on sleep, usually the next day it's rinse repeat with world cup/less sleep. It's hard to get any momentum in normal day living/tasks like going to the gym etc. Rest days are good because you can get consecutive nights sleep and normal activity and into your groove. Amazing how great you feel and take it for granted the life we live. Pretty awesome when you live a great balanced life. Additionally I hate having to avoid the missus for even an expression or tone and I could figure out the result. It can be a pain of the ass trying to watch games without knowing the score and almost becomes like a choir. It's been a fascinating ride despite this and will reiterate that the rest days in between games are fantastic because they're rest days for us. Being rested and in normality is a treat with world cup soccer still to be played.

If only we had the world cup here in 2022. * you FIFA. * you Qatar.
 

Macpotata

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I think we knew going in that there were no truly stand-out teams, and it's refreshing to have a combined two WCs between the four semi-finalists.
Ahhhhhh, no we didn't. We had what many thought was as many great teams that could win it. Especially Germany. People were rating Brazil and Spain very highly also.


Thanks capatin hindsight.
 
Ahhhhhh, no we didn't. We had what many thought was as many great teams that could win it. Especially Germany. People were rating Brazil and Spain very highly also.


Thanks capatin hindsight.

Perhaps you got sucked in by the hype, then. Among the people I discussed the WC with in the lead-up, all were agreed that there wasn't really any clear cut favourites. All the usual suspects had question marks over them, although some ?s were clearer than others (eg. something about Germany seemed off, but I couldn't pick what it was and therefore I figured they'd be at least alright for the group stage, whereas with Argentina it was more obvious).
 

David Schwarz

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Ahhhhhh, no we didn't. We had what many thought was as many great teams that could win it. Especially Germany. People were rating Brazil and Spain very highly also.


Thanks capatin hindsight.

I had a shortlist of Brazil, Germany, France, Spain, Morocco, and with Argentina as a smokey to win it, and couldn’t decide on one on the night it started

Whilst my tips have been shithouse this time, I was fortunate to narrow it down in 2014 to Argentina or Germany, and in 2010 I think it was a given it was Spain’s time - think The Speaker was running along my same lines
 
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Agree with Fozzie on last nights world cup show. It will be sad to see the world cup go, and see it drawing to an end. In the past as he also mentioned I was excited about the big games and couldn't wait for them. Now it;s the opposite and the big games mean less of them, and the tournaments almost done and dusted.

What I will not miss is the scattered sleep and tired state it puts you in however. When you do catch up on sleep, usually the next day it's rinse repeat with world cup/less sleep. It's hard to get any momentum in normal day living/tasks like going to the gym etc. Rest days are good because you can get consecutive nights sleep and normal activity and into your groove. Amazing how great you feel and take it for granted the life we live. Pretty awesome when you live a great balanced life. Additionally I hate having to avoid the missus for even an expression or tone and I could figure out the result. It can be a pain of the ass trying to watch games without knowing the score and almost becomes like a choir. It's been a fascinating ride despite this and will reiterate that the rest days in between games are fantastic because they're rest days for us. Being rested and in normality is a treat with world cup soccer still to be played.

If only we had the world cup here in 2022. **** you FIFA. **** you Qatar.

We got 1 vote.

It was never coming to Australia and never will.
 

Macpotata

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After having some rest days not only in the cup but also for those of us who have been in a state of slumber the past 3 and a half weeks, I've had time to process the knockout rounds. It's been pretty good. Not always great, but for the most part enjoyable with some fantastic results. I really enjoyed the first two knockout games involving France-Argentina and Uruguay-Portugal. Hard to maintain that standard but when the K.O Rounds exploded the way it did I thought beauty. You'll be hard pressed to get a better World Cup than this. The next game I enjoyed as I was on the Russian Band Wagon somewhat and I like to see the underdog prevail. I had my doubts about Spain coming into the tournament but they were definitely quietened after a strong showing vs Portugal in their opener despite some shambolic Keeping by De Gea. They were far from convincing in their last two group games and I expected the Russians to beat them in what captivated me due to Spains inability to break them down and Russia holding ever so firm. Loved the penalty shootout. Always a bonus when the home team rolls on and the support is boisterous from the fans which adds an extra element to the World Cup. Fast forward to the next game and I had flashbacks to Denmark 1998 when they took on the more fancied Nigerians in the 2nd round and opened the scoring after just two minutes. I believed Denmark would be a sturdy test for the Croats but unlike Nigeria the Balkans hit back immediately and once again I thought this World Cup couldn't get any better. 1-1 after 4 minutes and the World Cup continued to roll on producing good football, shock results and many surprises. Only it didn't. This game was like a freight train that ran out of kick. The rest of the game was a bore and one of the worst I've witnessed in all honesty. We had a couple of good story lines at the end with Modric's miss, a few twists and turns in the shootout but if it wasn't for that, I'd say throw this game in the trash { Which I still would in all likelihood }

The next games were Brazil vs Mexico and Belgium against the surprising Japanese. I gave Mexico zero shot in this match. Actually I gave them a one in ten chance as nothing is impossible and especially what we've seen in Russia 2018. Mexico did better by about a goal in my mind. I envisioned a 3-0 result for Brazil pre-match as I did not fancy Mexico at all against Brazilian opposition combined with their abysmal record in 2nd round fixtures and their titanic collapse vs the Swede's in their final group meeting. Can't really say I enjoyed the game by any stretch although it wasn't that bad, but didn't excite me nonetheless. The World Cup as it had done a few times already was beginning to take a negative spin on me. Thank god for Belgium vs Japan and what a mouth watering fixture that proved to be. As was the case numerous times throughout the tournament one or two games had the ability to propel the quality and up feel good factor with great football, goals and drama. You couldn't ask for more than what these two teams delivered with the flashy Japanese taking a shock 2-0 lead looking set to provide another upset, before Belgium shook its tag of chokers coming back in stunning fashion winning the match 3-2 in stoppage time with a brilliantly worked counter attack.

Sweden vs Switzerland. I liked the prospect here as two teams who were very well organised and less fancy than many of the other '' bigger '' nations. Great to know one of these sides runs would continue to at least the quarter finals and awesome to see a surprise team progress against the odds. I enjoyed the first 15 minutes of the match or so with a good tempo, good vibe from the supporters and a couple of nice attacking moments. The game died down pretty fast however and Sweden came away with a narrow 1-0 win from a deflected shot off the Swiss defender that the keeper looked to have covered. Identical to how Sweden scored in Stockholm vs 4 time champions Italy. The next game on this match day was England pitted against Colombia. Mouth watering. The English rested their whole team pretty much last start vs Belgium after opening their campaign with 2 wins out of 2. Scored 8 in the process and sat top of Group G. Their calculated move looked to have paved off as they avoided a much harder side of the draw and avoided a very hard path indeed. Or did they? In a spiteful match that was full of niggly fouls, play acting and diving, England went in front courtesy of Harry Kane's 6th goal for the tournament after he converted from the spot. England looked set to get the win and the Keeper saved a superb long range effort that was tipped over the bar in stoppage time. Colombia however broke English hearts scoring from the resulting header forcing extra time and posing England with a whole bunch of what if questions and past demons. Did their '' plot '' to avoid the dark half of the draw backfire on them? Were they going to be a victim of their own demise yet again as they so often have in past campaigns gone by? It sure looked that way in the shootout after Henderson missed bringing back memories of Jamie Carragher's failed attempt vs Portugal in 2006, as well as countless other botched shootouts at the European Championships and World Cup. Only this time it was Colombia who had their '' England '' moment when like Ashley Young vs Italy in 2012, their shot cannoned off the cross bar. England came back in the shootout after being on the brink of defeat and finally lay some of those very evil demons to rest. At least, for the short term.


I didn't enjoy the last two 2nd round matches personally and in total liked half of the games they served up. Belgium vs Japan did a lot in saving the remainder of the games after the opening two were scintillating and as mentioned I enjoyed the story line and questions that Spain-Russia posed us. As for the quarter finals I did enjoy them. It was football, it was battle, and there were some goals in it too. Pre-game I fancied the French that much I almost plonked 3000 on them at evens to get the task done against the plucky Uruguayans. I believed in them that much and felt it was their time to win and they were the better, more well rounded team. But sometimes in life you have to do with what you believe and the world cup means more to me than making money so I chose to remain firm in my stance and remain faithful to the higher power:) I dozed off briefly and was awoken by Muselera's fumble making it two nil france. Before Varane's header I was having flash backs to Hummels vs Portugal 2014 and more so Hummels vs France in the 2014 quarter final where he opened the scoring also from headers. I felt it was going to go in and sure as you know it, it did. France are going along nicely and the express train starting to warm in their pursuit for World Cup Glory which imo, will be theirs in less than a weeks time.

Belgium vs Brazil and what a belter. I had the Red devils pencilled in for the win ever since the Tournament began should they meet in the quarters and they duly did. Brazil as many are now aware have gone out to European opposition every time since their 2002 triumph. World Cups are just so hard to win on foreign continents and Belgium had the look about them as a team ready to take that next step. They had the class, experience and game plan to execute a selecao stripping and they triumphed in a mentally strong fashion. Brazil were unlucky and for me played their best offensive game of the tournament but it wasn't to be. Certainly imo it was a penalty on Jesus despite the ball being gone but Belgium were owed one for their poor treatment vs Brazil in 2002. Additionally if you are constantly cheating, diving, play acting to get a free kick, a player booked or sent off or to win a penalty then imo, you get what you deserve. Speaking of such Hernandez for France should pull on a canary yellow jersey. The amount of cheating, shrieking and diving he did to get his opponent in trouble was an absolute disgrace and he should literally be banned from the tournament. Extreme I know but there should be no place for such dire sportsmanship, particularly at this level.

England vs Sweden - The Poms too good. Went ahead, survived some scares from the Swede's who could have equalised or pulled a goal back but weren't good enoug and the English thoroughly deserved their win. Sterling is scuffing chances but the chemistry with Kane and amongst the team is better when he's there so I see why Southgate has continued to opt with him. England look strong which has been lacking in previous campaigns gone by.

Russia vs Croatia - Great game. I thought Russia were going to go on with the show at 1-0 up. They got pegged back and off to extra time we went again. Croatia were desperately unlucky with Perisic's effort in normal time hitting the inside of the bar and going out. Same cas in extra time vs Denmark where Modric missed his penalty. Both games could have easily ended before penalties so for this talk of Croatia being lucky really isn't true at all if you look at both sides of the spectrum. Vida put the Croats up 1-0 before Russia found a way home in the 2nd period of extra time. The penalties see-sawed again as was the case in Croatia's other shootout involving Denmark but this time they held firm which they couldn't do at Euro 2008 and in extra time against Portugal. If you know Croatian history in those two tournaments it's like something out of a hollywood movie with all the twists and turns, heroes, villains and plots within a plot. Epic stuff.

On to tonight and we have in many peoples opinions the two best, two most standout teams of the tournament meeting in the 1st semi final. Attacking flair and talent and it's a shame one of these sides will exit as you could arguably say both would be worthy winners of Russia 2018. We'll see how it pans out though. A France-England final looks on the cards for me with the French winning but lightening could inexplicably strike twice for the French where they've got to the final, only to be dislodged by a team on the '' weaker '' side of the draw. Belgium and Croatia will have a lot to say about that and both semi finals promises to be very special.
 
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Been such a weird world cup.

The French and Belgium sides are probably the only two who qualify as teams I think of as WC winning sides, in terms of quality all over the pitch.

Even then, I think they pale to some of the past winners over the last 20 years.

I think whoever wins this will be one of the weaker winners in a long time. Just personal opinion.
Not so sure this is any weaker than 1994 or 2002.
The final in 1994 was between a very uninspiring, unconvincing Brazilian side and an Italian side which looked crap in the group stages, was heavily reliant on Baggio and were pretty unconvincing throughout a pretty easy draw in the knockout stages.

2002 - Brazil was the only standout team. There was little competition for them but they weren't really tested against any decent opposition throughout the tournament. A semi final against Turkey and a final against the weakest Germany team arguably in the past 30 years.

2018 is definitely no worse.
 
He spoke about his sleep again. Did you catch that part?

I feel Quivorir would want to know about his sleep patterns too.
I certainly will read it if I ever need to be put to sleep.
 
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