Jul 5, 2018 23:44:04 GMT @admin said:

It's diving not flopping. They're penalty shootouts not penalty kicks (and if you're just talking about one it's just a penalty) and things happen in the 90th minute, not on it.

There is no issue with calling a shoot-out "penalty kicks" or "penalties" or "pens". You'd be just as likely to hear them used by kids playing in a park or men in a pub than "penalty shoot-out". Also, there is no issue with saying the more official "penalty kick" for a single penalty.

Agreed with the rest.

Way to go, Lions! The game was not as tough as I envisioned.

Hopeful that they play Russia next.

PENALTIES!!!

Nothing short of dramatic. 1-1 after regulation, then Croatia scored in extra time, followed by Russia with five to go.

CROATIA!

That was an awesome game. The Croatian goalie is a fucking STUD!

Russia/Croatia so far has been the game of the tournament for me. If the Croatians were taking the Russians lightly they damn near paid for it.

Pure drama but large portions of the game were very low-quality. England should really beat Croatia. Lingard, Sterling and Alli are so neat around the box, I can just see them winning so many free kicks around the box and England are so powerful from set pieces.

England’s dream run will come to an end! As will Belgiums. After going 2-2 in those 4 games and 3-5 in the first 8, I’m now at a horrible 5-7. However, time to get to .500!

France beats Belgium 2-0.
Croatia beats England 2-1.

France/Croatia in the World Cup Finals.

Spain vs Portugal is still clearly the best game of the tournament.

Russia vs Croatia was tense and tight but as Todd said, not exactly high quality (no game with Russia ever would be) and Croatia really struggled to the finish line with fatigue and injuries. They're going to struggle to back up again having played consecutive extra time matches.

Spain vs Portugal is still clearly the best game of the tournament.

Spain's defense was pure shite. They allowed ONE guy (one brilliant guy mind you but still) to carry Portugal to a tie against them. We saw what happened when Portugal ran into a REAL defensive team.

If all you look at is offense, yes it was the game of tournament. But if you a prefer a complete game this one is highly overrated.

Clearly was too strong a word, France vs Argentina would be right up there with Spain/Portugal. Belgium vs Japan and Japan vs Senegal were easily better than Russia/Croatia as well.

Good attacking always makes for a better spectacle. Conceding to Ronaldo doesn't make you shit.

Once again, Belgium's gold turns to rust. France goes to the Final.

Belgium really needed to get a goal when they were on top for the first 15-20 minutes. Varane was magnificent though, keeping them at bay before his teammates settled into the game. From there on they controlled proceedings with their solid and well balanced lineup.

Belgium really missed Meunier and the width that he provides. They are a narrow team at the best of times but became quite one-dimensional without the contributions from the fullback(s).

France is the most boring team since 2004 Greece in euros. Final will suck major ass if Croatia gets there.

Getting so nervous about tonights game

Jul 11, 2018 10:26:51 GMT toxicboy1980 said:

France is the most boring team since 2004 Greece in euros. Final will suck major ass if Croatia gets there.

Honestly all the teams in that made semifinals were pretty boring except for England.

Belgium have been pretty entertaining LT

Second half v Panama they were good
Beat Tunisia 5-2
England game was a dud between two reserve sides
Great comeback from 2 down against Japan to win 3-2 in the last minute
Game against Brazil was another good game

Ugh,the World Cup Final NOBODY wanted.


Will pull for Croatia though, as this would be their first World Cup win. That at least would bring some excitement. France winning would be the most boring outcome possible.

You were just talking about the virtues of balance across the pitch and now you’re complaining about France being boring when they are the very embodiment of that.

Jul 12, 2018 0:45:28 GMT @admin said:

You were just talking about the virtues of balance across the pitch and now you’re complaining about France being boring when they are the very embodiment of that.

Like I said, NO ONE wanted France in the Final.    England winning would have meant their first World Cup since 1966.   Croatia winning would be their first World Cup ever.

France has actually won the Cup in recent memory.    Nothing terribly exciting about that.

I reckon the French are pretty happy they’re in the final.

They won twenty years ago, this is a completely different generation of players. Acting like them winning would be boring when this has been the most unpredictable tournament in terms of favourites is just a horrible opinion.

Feels good to see Croatia make it to the big game. I’m going to stick to my gut and stick with Croatia winning it all.

2-1, GW goal in the 95th minute.

Modric is amazing player. Too bad players like him will never get the recognition they deserve. 

Jul 12, 2018 7:02:19 GMT toxicboy1980 said:

Modric is amazing player. Too bad players like him will never get the recognition they deserve. 

He is universally acknowledged as one of the very best players in the world, what are you talking about?

Jul 12, 2018 8:07:53 GMT @admin said:

Jul 12, 2018 7:02:19 GMT toxicboy1980 said:

Modric is amazing player. Too bad players like him will never get the recognition they deserve. 

He is universally acknowledged as one of the very best players in the world, what are you talking about?

I mean players like him, Xavi and other players of their kind will never win Ballon D`ors. Modric was better in Real Madrid this year, than Ronaldo, but who gets the praise from media? 

Modric is my pick to get the GW goal in the Finals, by the way.

If you’re not left with a country to root for, it’s hard to not root for Croatia. The heart they have shown in every game can be mistaken for luck. Extra time, bodies being broken; they’re giving it all. I read an article that talked about France making it to the Finals by doing the bare minimum. That’s a scary thought as they could save their absolute best for last. I’m just wondering if France gets a team in Croatia that is damaged enough where they can methodically keep them down. It’s almost as if France entered 30th in the Royal Rumble and Croatia has been in it since the first entry.

It should be an awesome game.

Jul 12, 2018 8:44:20 GMT toxicboy1980 said:

Jul 12, 2018 8:07:53 GMT @admin said:

He is universally acknowledged as one of the very best players in the world, what are you talking about?

I mean players like him, Xavi and other players of their kind will never win Ballon D`ors. Modric was better in Real Madrid this year, than Ronaldo, but who gets the praise from media? 

I saw a tweet that basically said exactly this yesterday. The "all-around, solid, reliable" players never get the credit they deserve because everyone only cares about the players winning the Golden Boot or whatever.

It raises a fair point, but I have a hard time agreeing with it. Anyone that watches the sport knows Modric is world class. It's like, yeah, ok, the guys winning the most trophies are the most popular. Well sure, that goes for every sport. How many people know who Wayne Gretzky is but have never heard of Mike Bossy? How many people have heard of Mickey Mantle but not Sandy Koufax? It's how it is.

Goalscorers will always get the most attention because it is the most easily quantifiable measure of quality - and lets face it, at the end of the day putting the ball in the net is what the sport is all about.

Regarding the Ballon d'Or it just so happens that we are in the age of two of the all time greatest scorers, so obviously it's very difficult for anyone to get a look in whilst Ronaldo and Messi are scoring at a rate of a goal per game. But they do heavily weight World Cup winners (Cannavaro in 06 comes to mind) so if Croatia win on Sunday I think Modric would be a legitimate chance to be given the award. Voting is also back to being just done by journalists so that will also work in his favour.

Xavi never won the award, but three times in a row came third in the voting. Pretty hard to argue he should have won any of those years as that was when Messi was at his peak performance level.

Beautiful goal by Croatia!

1-1!

No matter who you cheer for, whether they're still in it or not, the world stops for the World Cup Final.