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Japan through, Germany out, unreal, Japan have beaten Germany and Spain to make it through!
Well bugger me - Germany out. 😱
Boris Becker! David Hasselhoff! Fella that sang Rock Me Amadeus! That bastard dentist from Marathon Man! Your boys took one helluva beating!
/paddypower
Quite a poor set of results from Spain in the end. Through on 4 points. Probably not what they expected after thrashing Costa Rica. Wonder what the FIFA rankings were in that group…
Can someone shut Souness up!!
Can someone shut Souness up
Yes, such a moaning bastard! Shut up man. Who cares, it was a great game, talk about that.
The most definitive angle (high goal line) looks in to me. Another less precise angle also looks in.
Thrilled for Japan
Well that was entertaining, even my wife was hooked.
I'm very glad to see Germany go out. I mean I've nothing against them but we've been knocked out by them enough, it's time to give someone else a go!
Got in the car after finishing at the gym, and as I understood it, Germany and Spain were out, then Germany scored twice and saved Spain but not themselves?
Not sure what was going on but it was great listening
Yeah I was out and about and the 5Live bounce around was proper entertaining.
Got in the car after finishing at the gym, and as I understood it, Germany and Spain were out, then Germany scored twice and saved Spain but not themselves?
Yeah, Costa Rica went 2-1 up which put Spain out as they were losing so CR 6pts, Spain 4. Germany levelling put CR back to 4 but with a worse goal difference, then Germany winning put CR at the bottom on 3.
Wonder what the FIFA rankings were in that group…
Spain 7th.
Germany 11th.
Japan 24th.
Costa Rica 31st.
Footage of the Japanese fans in the stadium was fantastic!
Were they cleaning it up again?
If you look through the groups, not the results but the final/current top 2, I'd say only Germany out is the big upset. I'm surprised at that as there were some odd results. Although tbf, that's why we always start with a group stage and once the knock out starts it's a whole different game. It feels like a fairly open tournament though so far.... Although I suspect it'll be a familiar name on the trophy again by the end of this.
Can someone shut Souness up!!
Not sure you'd really want to say that to him. He was like Keane but nasty. Brilliant footballer though.
Astonishing that Spain were within a gnats cock of going out...after a 7-0 win and a draw against the other supposed strong team, you should be nailed on. IDK what Spanish for squeaky bum time is, but that was it!
FIFA not releasing that Japanese goal line decision is pretty dodgy and somewhat surprising given that institution's integrity.
Wonder what odds you would've gotten at the start for both Japan & Morocco topping their groups
Can someone shut Souness up!!
At least Keane is funny, in a shouting at buses sort of way. Souness is just a pub bore.
If that ball had been that far across the goal-line (in goal), would it have been a goal? I am confused...
Fella that sang Rock Me Amadeus!
Falco was from Austria (and he's now dead...)
If that ball had been that far across the goal-line (in goal), would it have been a goal? I am confused
The rule is that the whole of the ball has to cross the whole of the line
At least Keane is funny
Every game Roy Keane turns a little bit more into Father Jack. Come the final he'll be shouting 'Arse! ****!' at Ian Wright. I really think the BBC should hire him. Can you imagine him and Shearer sat on the same sofa?
Edit: why has f-e-c-k been starred out? I mean I can just about understand why some of the worst swear words are banned but f-e-c-k??
Ah, from the analysis it looks like it was in by a whisker, the TV view from the bad angle makes it look well out, but that's now what VAR assessed against.
It's good to see Japan through though, they may not have superstars, but what they do have is a team and a work ethic throughout, said it a few pages back, it was not a huge shock them beating Germany, they are a unit and work together a lot, we see it up at Celtic a lot, Maeda just runs himself into the ground for 60 minutes and then another comes on to put the energy back up, you don't get that from a lot of European teams.
tension in Group H. South Korea beat Portugal and are through on goals scored currently but if Uruguay score again (2-0 up) then they'll go through. You'd think after the Suarez handball years ago Ghana would park the bus to *** them up, but if Ghana get two and draw then they go through. It's like playground stuff, no defenders, end to end......
This is great!
Another great end to the group games! So exciting! Have to say this World Cup is delivering some great excitement
SK through, URU and GHA out; and ooh, scenes - referee being manhandled by Uruguayans about a refused penalty as he leaves the pitch
Brazil could almost field a Premier League 11.
Brazil could almost field a Premier League 11.
and they didn't take the best one
doesn't feel like a Brazil team either,
Cameroon player on a yellow, scores, takes shirt off, booked and sent off. Clot.
More drama! You score the most important and best goal of your career then get sent off for taking your shirt off, when you need another goal! What an absolute idiot 😂😂
"Brazil could almost field a Premier League 11."
Just to correct myself, there's 13 Premier League players in the Brazil team!
Might explain why they seem to have ditched the samba for something a bit more grimey..
then get sent off for taking your shirt off, when you need another goal! What an absolute idiot
Loved the scenes as he shook hands with a very apologetic looking ref though 😎
This guy? “Patrice Evra offered to give Ireland a replay on PlayStation after the Thierry Henry handball”.
So, group stage over and for a WC I was trying to not be interested in because of the human rights / corruption issue, sad to say it's been pretty good so far and I've been drawn in!
Aside from some VAR issues I think the officiating has been pretty good, players have learned to control their tackling against the new law interpretations such that by my reckoning there have been three red cards only, of which one was the SK coach for arguing after the game, and one was for Cameroon's shirt off second yellow. No ruined games consequently.
I also wonder whether the stricter interpretation of timekeeping along with VAR has reduced the play acting/simulation. I don't recall it being as bad.
BBC article analysing some of the stats - most interesting for me is Germany; most touches in opposition box, most shots; and highest xG per game and yet they only managed 6 goals in three games (with 4 vs CR) and are on the bus to the airport. Just proves that putting the ball in the net is still the hardest part of the game and why a proven goalscorer is still the most sought after player commanding the highest fees. Germany may be in the doldrums but reality is they're only a goalscorer short of being right up there.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63820511
So, group stage over and for a WC I was trying to not be interested in because of the human rights / corruption issue, sad to say it’s been pretty good so far and I’ve been drawn in!
I feel slightly bad about the collapse of my moral fibre, but also been drawn into this much more than I expected.
Yep, it's a worryingly good world cup so far
another dull game US-NL..... after all that I'd written above above the important of goalscorers, the US net minder deserves a payrise.
Can anyone explain why the US goal wasn’t inside? The scorer was 2 yards offside when the ball was played through. I thought that was the whole point of VAR??
you mean when the ball was played out to the guy on the wing. It's all about active and passive phases of play, as the ball went nowhere near the centre forward he's not deemed to be active at that point.
You might go "what?" but them's the laws, and the ref/lino were right.
Ok - I thought that when the ball came back across & he kicked it after 2 touches, he became an active player so the offside flag would go up. I admit I’m no longer an avid football watcher…..
FA website..
2. Offside offence
A player in an offside position at the moment the ball is played or touched* by a team-mate is only penalised on becoming involved in active play by:
interfering with play by playing or touching a ball passed or touched by a team-mate or
I know, it can confuse but the active phase was the ball being passed to the winger, the striker was in an offside position, but not offside because not considered part of active play. That phase ends, and the next phase is the ball being crossed where he is active, but by then is back onside.
It was brought in to stop the old Arsenal tactic of everyone pushing up, and catching someone with no part in play loitering on the other wing being technically offside but 60 yards away from the play then getting pinged for it. I think the game's way better as a result, and no-one complained about it from the Dutch side indicating it's not controversial any longer.
Ive just read a good description from a ref - every time another player touches the ball the active phase restarts. Makes sense now - thanks!
that's not exactly right but it'll cover most situations.
I don't know what Argentinian for squeaky bum time is, but.....
oh, what a great piece of goalkeeping that was by Martinez...... worth a goal at the other end.
Was almost a last minute scare, not sure how Argentina were favourites coming in to this, yes they have Messi, but they've not got a starting 11 strength of a Brazil, Spain or England, think they're pretty similar to Netherlands as well, some outstanding players, but no real strength across the pitch.
Predictions for today's games?
France and Senegal to win.
Five Live were discussing resting Kyle Walker because he’d be best equipped to deal with Mbappe in the next game.
So that’s Senegal’s pre-match motivation taken care of then. Absolute crazy talk given that it’s Engerland we’re talking about here
I've been unimpressed with Senegal so far, probably reinforced by not having Mane available. That said, England were insipid against a workmanlike US (who got unpicked by a more incisive Dutch team), and the first 45 mins against Wales. I reckon we'll win, perhaps even by 2 or 3 goals, but wouldn't be surprised if play cautiously and go out.
If we do progress, then I really don't think we should fear France (who should obvs progress) too much. But I can see Southgate reverting to a defensive mindset, and France dominating possession + territory and making us look toothless as they win 2-0. Would like to see us start with a high tempo and take the game to them, but can't imagine our starting 11 being given such freedom.
If England do lose it will be spoken about for years.
pace is mental at the moment, feels like a premiership game
how did Poland not score?!
Poland got lucky there, seemed a good goal to me :/
ooof he gave that a wallop!
turning into Mbappe show
Another diabolical penalty decision. Metre away, back to the shot.
And a retake. FFS, that'll cost Lloris the golden glove or something now.
Fairly straightforward lesson there for England should they beat Senegal. Not that they didn't already know it. The question is how do you take Mbappe out of a game (by legal means obvs)?
I so hate ITV, I'd forgotten how annoying their adds can be.
I so hate ITV, I’d forgotten how annoying their adds can be.
That and the God awful commentary hopefully McCoist isn’t doing the match….🙄
Is the ITV feed on a dial up modem FFS.
I struggle with Mattaface and Dixon. I'd rather anyone tbh!
Dixon is a bit of a bore, but he’s a major, major improvement over Mcoist. Jeez he’s tedious.
Don't deserve to be level. Any sign of a decent press and we fall to bits.
Lucky, lucky, England
Riding our luck...ah...1-0!
I was just about to point out it clearly came off stones' elbow and Var was wrong again.
Henderson is on form so far!
Bellingham is very good. Nice goal.
But alarm bells ringing about the back four….especially the two centre backs.
Can’t see England keeping a clean sheet.
Pickford has stopped giving it to them.
Edit: bit of Fergie time there.
the goal has completely thrown senegal
When will Kane get booked for constant simulation?
To be fair to England, that’s two very well worked goals.
The hoof it long tactical change has worked well. It plays to their strengths….
Feel for Sengal though, they’ve played well.
It's not hoofing it long; although it's been a bit nervy with some of the pressing against our back four it has pulled them out gradually to widen the distance between their defensive lines which means those more direct passes have more chance of finding their target. I'm surprised as Dixon said, we didn't solve that on the pitch and mix it up sooner, but at 2-0 up halftime I'm not going to criticise the outcome.
I was just about to point out it clearly came off stones’ elbow and Var was wrong again.
It's specifically mentioned in the laws that the ball deflecting onto an arm with no intent is not to be considered handball
"So should a penalty be given every time the ball hits a player's hand in the area?
No. The exceptions are if the ball hits a player's arm directly from the player's own head or body and if a player is falling and their arm is between themselves and the ground for support.
It’s defo hoofing it long. So long that on one of the chances the hoof from Pickford went over Kane’s head and was collected near the corner flag by Sako.
That was after England were being pressed and losing the ball in their own half.
Nowt wrong with it. It works better than the keeper and the back four who may not be the best or most composed on the ball, the midfield are being constantly tracked.
YMMV. I watched enough of Martin Hicks (Reading) and the Crazy Gang to know when it's pumping long balls up and fighting for knockdowns from the 5-9 battle, versus more targeted balls (edit, just like PIckford to Kane there)
I agree it’s targeted. But it’s still root one. And like I said, nowt wrong with it.
England can play good football though. I’m in no way criticising them. They’ve had to adapt and have done it well, really impressive.
Foden and Bellingham looking very good.
It's a per hate of mine though - when a player hits a 50 yard crossfield pass bypassing 8 midfielders it's purred over, switching the focus, stretching the play..... hit it back to front bypassing the opposition midfield and it's 'longball' with all the negative connotations of Wimbledon in the 80's, Graham Taylor teams, Big Sam, the Charles Hughes manual.......