The Russia 2018 World Cup Thread

a reply to: gortex

So you’re telling me there’s a chance...? YEAH!!



Now that was entertaining (maybe stroke-inducing to the English)! Here’s to England 2018

originally posted by: Freeborn
a reply to: TheConstruKctionofLight

Winning is everything; seen every World Cup since '70.....I HAVE to see England win The World Cup once in my life, semi's, runner's up mean nothing!

Been all over watching England, seen so many false dawns.

Same here mate. Even a Euro win would do. But there is a whole group of players who've done it at junior level coming through the ranks as well. It's just whether the top teams have the bottle to give them a chance.

To be honest this is far from the England team of 1986, 1990. 1996 and 2002. But they seem to have luck on their side so far. Maybe now they have belief as well. The curse of the penalty shootout is out of the way after 22 long years. This World Cup is so unpredictable that I refuse to predict anything.

One last observation.

At least the James Rodriguez movie that was playing during stoppages of play will never be seen again.

To put things in perspective,
Despite the gamesmanship,
England won on penalties...

Against a third tier footballing country
...England beat a third tier nation, on penalties ..

They should scrape through against Croatia ... should
But against Belgium, in the semis, the wheels will come flying off
;@)

a reply to: Cassi3l

England play Sweden in the next round and if successful they play either Croatia or Russia.
We can't play Belgium again until the final.

Belgium have two little games against an increasingly impressive Uruguay then if successful then the winners of the two best looking teams so far in the tournament, France and Brazil.

Belgium will do incredibly well to get to the final.

So excuse me but your blatant lack of knowledge on the subject immediately invalidates your opinion as utterly pointless.

originally posted by: Cassi3l
To put things in perspective,
Despite the gamesmanship,
England won on penalties...

Against a third tier footballing country
...England beat a third tier nation, on penalties ..

They should scrape through against Croatia ... should
But against Belgium, in the semis, the wheels will come flying off
;@)

What do you mean by a third tier nation exactly?

Colombia were ranked 16th in the FIFA rankings

England were ranked 12th.

So by your definitions where exactly do these tiers lie?

Are England near the bottom of the second tier and Colombia near the top of the third tier?

Or did you just feel that you had to have a dig at England because of your own biases? You didn't even check who meets who in the semi-finals by the way.

You do seem a bit touchy ...

I did say that England 'should' win against Croatia
Croatia come after Sweden
Sweden shouldn't be a big deal

Irrespective of when/if England meet the Belges (their first real test)
it doesn't make any odds if it's in the quarters/semis
They'll be out

No use quibling about at which point England pack their bags to go on holidays !

England have not progressed (in substance nor in style) since 1966
2018 will be no different

a reply to: Freeborn

a reply to: Cassi3l

England may indeed fail to win the tournament but please at least get the draw right.

And you seem to be making a hell of a lot of assumptions.

It's far from a certainty that England will beat Sweden, always been a bogey team for us.
They'll be hard to break down....and we seem particularly poor at breaking teams down.
Croatia do seem a better side than Russia but the Russians do seem very driven and organised.
They also have momentum and home advantage which is a massive thing in the World Cup.

I've never for one minute thought that England would reach the final, but they've got a hell of a better chance than Belgium now.
Belgium will do well to beat Uruguay.
They then have to beat the winners of France and Brazil, that's highly unlikely.

ETA
Oh, and afer watching that England game are you surprised I'm touchy!

"Colombia were ranked 16th in the FIFA rankings
England were ranked 12th.
So by your definitions where exactly do these tiers lie?s "

"Tier 1"
Brazil, Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland... Portugal, France
always, usually in quarters or semis
usually in quarters at least
odds on winners for the overall win at the start
Typically 'seeded' countries

"Tier 2
England, Argentina, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium
Good show-ers, but fade out 1/8 or 1/4 finalists
can push their luck a wee bit further

"Tier 3"
Any other South American team
1/8 at best


"Tier 4"
Any north african team
Morroco, Tunisia, Egypt...

"Tier 5"
Any asiatic teams and cental european teams
Japan, Korea (India and Pakistan don"t appear to have teams !)
Mongolia, Azerbaijan, china, iran ...

To over simplify things
a reply to: mirageman

*switched to azerty keyboard for work, it's not at all the same ;'(*

yayyyy double posting !!!

a reply to: Freeborn
"please at least get the draw right. "
"Belgium will do well to beat Uruguay. "

Noooooohhhn, France will do a job on Uraguay ;@)
France are World champions in waiting

Unless you think that Uruguay will....
do a number on France,
then bedazzle Brazil,

then overcome some deadbeat side between ...
Russia and England

Yeah, I got that side of the draw as wrong as you got the other side!

Uruguay v France.
Brazil v Belgium.

I suspect a Brazil v France semi.....but it wouldn't be a complete shock if Uruguay beat France......I can dream can't I?

I know it is highly unlikely but could you imagine the passion and intensity if it were an England v France final!!

a reply to: Freeborn

Same here - it'd be good to see a major Soccer country go into the finals

a reply to: mirageman

This World Cup is so unpredictable that I refuse to predict anything.

True. I found it funny the brouhaha over the Koreans swapping jerseys to negate Swedens spying. Dont tell me other teams dont check out the opposition to work out strategies and get that edge.

a reply to: Freeborn

ETA Oh, and afer watching that England game are you surprised I'm touchy!

I love it how our Commentator said England were doing set pieces to try and get a penalty and a shot at goals.Good luck to them, all part of the overall strategy playing to your strengths. Anything legal to get into the finals

Some of the tackles done by Colombia were deserving of red cards

a reply to: Freeborn

England v France final!!

hahaha Macron the ex-investment banker. ( Rothschild & Cie Banque )

Brexit

Rothchilds vs City of London


All traffic on the Chunnel - temporarily suspended

Visas needed Schengen no-go zone

hahahaha

a reply to: Freeborn
"Yeah, I got that side of the draw as wrong as you got the other side! "

Yeah, i know, no biggie, i think that we're all caught up in the moment !


Eng/France does indeed seem to be on the cards as a final
That would be brilliant !

Roll on Friday for the quarters ;@)

Final should be Croatia vs Brazil based on the teams left in, which probably means it won't be.

Tuesday July 2nd Results

2nd Round KO: Sweden 1-0 Switzerland

Two teams who began with "Sw" and whose ability to hit the target was sadly lacking. In the end it was decided by a flukey deflection from a Dolph Lundgren shot that hit Sepp Blatter on the foot. Roger Federer in goal stood no chance. Sweden now meet England in the quarter final.

2nd Round KO : England 1-1 Colombia

England won 4-3 on penalties


Colombia looked to have turned up for a spot of wrestling and seemed to prefer niggling at the English players rather than playing football. Ironically, although their star player James Rodriguez was not playing we actually saw more of him than anyone else in the stadium. The cameras showed his face at every possible opportunity during breaks in play.

Sometime in the second half Harry Kane was wrestled to the ground. The referee awarded a penalty. 2 hours passed while the whining Colombians cried about it to the referee. Kane eventually scored the penalty. England ran out of steam and Colombia finally realized this was a football match and not a wrestling or debating society. Pablo Escobar scored in the last minute from a corner.

Extra time passed a little more peacefully as the game drifted towards penalty kicks. Finally England won a penalty shootout as Lord Nelson, Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden and Lady Diana finally gave out one hell of a beating!


Quarter-finals to come
========================

Friday 6th July 2018

Uruguay v France
Brazil v Belgium



Saturday 7th July 2018

Sweden v England
Russia v Croatia

A big rumble from L'quipe21 (only in français, sorry ;@) )
Fekir to start on Friday

...........Giroud
Fekir... Grizeman... M'Bappé
.......Kanté......Pogba........

Highly offensive stuff !

Jeebus, Giroud holding off on point
(if not creating penos)
Fékir as lay-off man, 5m behind him ...

should be dispatching back to
Grizeman, M'bappé, Pogba, Kanté ...
How many feeders is that !?!

Pavard's handy too !

On paper, at least, you do not want to meet this team
They are tasty

a reply to: mirageman

The referee awarded a penalty. 2 hours passed while the whining Colombians cried about it to the referee.

Ok. So I know you can draw a yellow card for arguing, but can you argue your way out of a yellow/penalty? Why the histrionics and what not? Is it just the culture of soccer?? Can arguing a call do anything but result in compounding the call(s)?! I don’t get it.

Sidebar: Oops, what a soft goal the Uruguayan keeper just allowed. France looks like a stud...