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Well that was deserved 🙂
Mexico have been the best team I’ve seen so far.
good lad Mo’.
It’s good to see the integration of wrestling in to football. Seems rugby tackles in the box, during corners and free kicks, are now par for the course.
There’s no way on earth you’d be getting away with that shit in the premiership
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/world-cup-2018-wallchart-predictor/
Oh and predictions please 😉
I just got Germany vs England in the Final with Iceland making the semi and Australia in the Quarters 🙂
Also... First round of matches over STW_FF Update
Happy with second due to having Lukaku and Kane in the team there but I can't see anyone's teams, few subs for the next round and off we go. Well done Andy Ro
I didn’t join the fantasy football as I’m already doing two others, but I’d Like to take my hat off in appreciation of the team name Benteke Fried Chicken 😂
Wow - That's Ronaldo's 85th international goal.
Don't like him at all - but have a huge respect for him & his dedication.
I’m watching the Por-Mor game and I see just how professional and well executed the Por players are at both marking and diving to the ground to check out the length of grass cutting 🕺💃
if morocco played to the end of time they still wouldn't have scored.
Wow – That’s Ronaldo’s 85th international goal.
Yeah I think he's now the official GOAT, which I wouldn't have thought possible only a year ago. Incredible individual and to think we used to laugh at his stepovers when he first came to Man U.
GOAT?
Greatest Of All Time
He is good at what he does though, not quite as good at tax evasion though
It does help that he is the focal point of that team and has been for a while
God this noise is annoying as ****!
Well Iran seem up for it - even though I wasn't going to watch this one... longer it stays 0-0 the more nerves for Spain
Good to see Iran giving Spain a proper game. I’ve transferred in Diego Costa to my fantasy football team. The kiss of death for any striker 😃
I wish I could mute the crowd!
With reference to Ronnie when he came to United with his stepovers then falling over, all the opposition fans used to sing “you’ve bought the wrong Ronaldo”
That stopped pretty quickly
I can't see Iran holding out, it is near relentless pressure.
I wish I could mute the crowd!
On the plus side it's muting the commentary a little 😉
Costa really is a horrible ****, isn’t he? Probably why he fitted in so well at Chelski
@binners If Jose lasts a bit longer he will be old enough to play at untied in a couple of years...
I see Southgate found the adult channels in the hotel, and gave himself a masturbation injury.
Ehh ?
Dislocated his shoulder "out running" allegedly on for a 10km PB....
How can they miss from there?
They can't!
Game on!
Should I be wanting Spain to lose btw?
EDIT Nooo!
VAR..... offside and handball by the look of it
My daughter's opinion......
when faced with a choice between being right, and being kind.....
var sucks. I’d rather have years of bitterness over incorrect refereeing decisions.
youse still going on about maradona? 😆
It was offside though, to be fair.
So who has been convincing so far??
🙂
Just got in from a lovely ride on fast dusty trails, bliss! So what did I miss?
Spain trying to throw it away
I was waiting up to watch the Spanish highlights, but woke up after it had finished! Clearly my mtb ride tired me out! 😊 💤
Best team so far? I have no idea! It's very open I think.
Best team so far? I have no idea! It’s very open I think.
I think you'd have to say the hosts, based on results so far. After all, that really is the only way to judge a team!
We will know more about Russia when they play Uruguay, The Saudi and Egypt both actually looked like they wanted to have a go which made it a bit easier. Could be some upsets today though in Group C
Costa really is a horrible ****, isn’t he? Probably why he fitted in so well at Chelski
Never has the C word ever been so perfectly matched to one individual!
As a friend of mine remarked when discussing him recently, he is an Olympian, gold medal winning, record breaking, C word!
Another goal of the tournament contender from Denmark
What a goal by Erikson ..!
VAR does Denmark again! Probably deserved pen though.
Who do we like in Argentina vs Croatia later? Not seen either play yet but sounds like Argentina underperforming so far, what are the chances of Croatia winning do we reckon?
I've an interest in the Denmark game from a Nicolai Jorgenson / Newcastle point of view having had a £20m offer turned down in January ..he did set up the goal but to be fair I would go along with the author of an article in "The Mag" ( a toon fanzine ) who remarked after his first match the other night " At £20 million he is probably £18million overpriced"
Couldn't agree more based on that first half showing
Cracking match so far. Hand ball a bit harsh, but thems the rules, and with VAR if you go waving your arms around in the box you’ll probably be found out.
don't think it should have been a penalty, not intent in the handball at all imo.
was a good game.
not intent in the handball at all imo.
No intent but hand in an un-natural position getting between ball and goal/destination enough for a Handball decision for me
No intent but hand in an un-natural position getting between ball and goal/destination enough for a Handball decision for me
Agreed - the player wasn't sent off so it was clearly not seen as a deliberate handball, but it was still handball as it interfered with play. The only way it *shouldn't* be given if it was unavoidable (ie, if he had his hands in front / behind his body and the ball was kicked at him).
Reading the article about the lengths some of the Peru fans have gone to, to get to Russia I'm supporting them this afternoon. Come on Peru.
I don't think it was in an un-natural position.
That isn't in the rules anyhow:
Handling the ball
Handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the
ball with the hand or arm.
The following must be considered:
• the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand)
• the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball)
• the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an offence
• touching the ball with an object held in the hand (clothing, shinguard, etc.)
is an offence
• hitting the ball with a thrown object (boot, shinguard, etc.) is an offence
The goalkeeper has the same restrictions on handling the ball as any other
player outside the penalty area. Inside their penalty area, the goalkeeper
cannot be guilty of a handling offence incurring a direct free kick or any related
sanction but can be guilty of handling offences that incur an indirect free kick.
The only way it *shouldn’t* be given if it was unavoidable (ie, if he had his hands in front / behind his body and the ball was kicked at him).
we did this in another thread so i'm sure we won't get agreement here either but here goes....
If the player has his hands raised or out sideways, he's increasing the effective blocking area consciously and therefore if the ball hits them he has 'deliberately' put his hands there and therefore deliberately contributed to handling the ball. Different to putting an arm out to actively block a ball, but still culpable.
I know some say that you 'have to' raise your arms to jump, or for balance, or whatever, but the fact is you don't. Sure, you can jump higher or balance better if you do, but you see plenty of players defending nowadays with arms deliberately behind their back to make it clear they are doing all they can to avoid handball. It might be less effective, but you don't risk a penalty; take your choice.
Players will learn / the game will evolve to overcome it.
Or it'll just remain a controversial decision as some refs give it and some won't, even with VAR.
Ah - we demand consistency, but we also want referees to officiate 'in the spirit' and interpret as well......
P38/39 of this
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/soccerball-201718-jumpers-for-goalposts-megathread/page/38/
Frankly, as long as we can all still argue in the pub / online, we're happy 😉
aye, we need the arguments! 😆
This french team, looking good, put together some great moves here going forward.
Come on Peru ...rooting for your team Nobby! 😁
Like to Messi rise to the Ronaldo challenge but I fear he may not.
By God I'm pushing my luck !
I will have watched all three matches today and the missus has been as good as gold ( although she has been out most of the day ) ..
Hope it's a good open game but these two teams could cancel each other out ....
Oh goody! Mark Lawrenson is commentating!
Messi doesn’t look a happy bunny at all. I’ve had a punt on a Croatia win
Argentina seemed to have raided the local clown circus for defenders.
I really hope Argentina lose this. Their blatant diving is embarrassing
OOPS!
and they’ve just taken Aguaro off
HOTT!!! 😆
Howler of the tournament! 😆
aguero offered less than sterling did for us. Hope they go out diving then moaning when it happens to them. messi should have done what costa did and swapped to Spain.
Argentina seemed to have raided the local clown circus for defenders.
And a goalkeeper.
Embarrassingly bad defending and goal keeping in this game
Can dybala or aguero play in midfield. Surely put messi on the wing cutting inside with higuen in the centre?
Pick that out
Don't cry for me Argentina?
Scrap that they need a miracle.
What a finish! That’s Messi going home then having done nowt! Ronnie must be laughing his tits off!
peach, think messi chucked it 10 minutes ago, just been walking about the pitch...
Game over
Well continuing the song from above Messi might reply, “...the truth is I never loved you”.
Well that was quite a rough game I thought, but the better team won (even though they played just as dirty as the other team) 3.0 Cro and it’s pretty much “blue and white failed to fight”
So Iceland need 4 points to make it out of the group at the expense of Argentina guaranteed. Doable but it will be tough to get a point off Croatia.
Yep and at 3 pts with a good win will get them most of the way. It really doesn't look like Argentina can play for each other at the moment
Thoroughly entertaining game. Brilliance from modric and such calmness to finish them off for the 3rd. Hey Cro, Let's Go!
So today I shall mostly be an Iceland fan... along with Costa Rica & Serbia.
I didn't see the game last night, were Croatia good or were Argentina that bad?
Bit of both.
Would prefer to see Croatia knocked out at the first opportunity however as they don't seem to play very nice. Argies were just as bad mind.
Oooh - drama for Brazil...
Nice to see VAR working. That was never a penalty! He should have carded Neymar for diving!
Another game that isn’t going according to the script! Brilliant! 😀