2018 FIFA World Cup Finals

  • Thread starter Famine
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Turn on the game and the first thing I see is someone diving. Normally I would say, what are the odds....
 
If Croatia wins tonight and Iceland wins tomorrow, is Argentina out, or is it on goal difference?

2-0. Nice.

Maradona is going to OD tonight.
 
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It shows that the time of a single man doing all the work is over. You need a team now. Something Messi doesn't have in Argentina.

And that should have been a deep red for Otamendi.
 
It's been an ill-tempered and often cynical game, where both teams should be down to 10 men.

Sad to see Argentina disintegrate, but they have been absolutely no match for a well-organised Croatian team.

I'm sorry for Messi - he's had no chance to play, and even Aguero only had 7 touches of the ball in the entire 1st half - that is clear evidence that Croatia have done their homework and have been as good as Argentina have been bad.

Still, a great opportunity for Iceland to qualify - now that would be a fairytale indeed...
 
Dennisch
But they have somewhat of a team, who know when to send Mr 7 forwards. Argentina gave the ball to Messi everywhere on the field. He's good, but he is not going to run 50-60 meters with a ball and dodge 8 players.
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Agreed. Portugal are a far better team than Argentina and that is reflected in the performances of Ronaldo and Messi for their national teams. I hate the term "one man team" a little bit because some people would have you believe that sending the one man out would be enough but this is just ridiculous. There are examples of one outstanding player lifting the rest of the team but stick Maradona in at Crawley Town and they won't magically win the Champions League.

Lionel Messi has scored 64 goals in 126 games. That is fantastic for any forward but it shows just how lacking the rest of the team and management is if people think he's so crap at international level.
 
I don't understand why Argentina seem to have forgotten how they played in 2014. That style would bring them a lot more than this. It wasn't perfect but it was efficient. This squad, and especially the manager seem to think that giving the ball to Messi will solve all their problems all the way to the final.
 
Dennisch
I don't understand why Argentina seem to have forgotten how they played in 2014. That style would bring them a lot more than this. It wasn't perfect but it was efficient. This squad, and especially the manager seem to think that giving the ball to Messi will solve all their problems all the way to the final.
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4 years ago they were 4 years younger.

That and the fact the Coach left the creative guys in the bench today and kept old guys in, especially Mascherano and Enzo Perez who don't have legs to run 90m at this level.

It would also help if Messi scored his penalties ofc.
 
zzz_pt
4 years ago they were 4 years younger.
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The lack of imagination has nothing to do with age, 4 years ago it was "give the ball to Messi once we get near the box." Now they even got so far as letting him pick the ball up on their own half. And after the first game it should have been painfully obvious to everyone involved with the Argentinian squad that that tactic didn't work. Against a tiny team like Iceland. Why in the hell did they think it would work against Croatia?

It will probably work against Nigeria, but it will most likely be too late for Messi and Co.
 
Not imagination but if your body is 4 years older, you're slower putting your ideas into practice.

I think the coach made the wrong decisions from the get go and then the team didn't play as a team. There was no midfield basically.

Otamendi didn't get a red card. Revic and Meza should probably have gotten a red as well.
 
Dennisch
The VAR is an absolute failure so far. Too inconsistent. The World Cup is not the smartest place for a full scale test.
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I agree. And a lot of referees have never worked with the VAR on a weekly basis. As it happens with the football teams, a lot of good European refs are not in the world cup because they need to bring refs from countries where they're not used to high levels of competition.

It will take some time until the VAR works properly. Both for the refs behind it and the ones in the pitch.

But yeah, some games have been a bit of a disgrace for the VAR.
 
Friday
Brazil v Costa Rica (E 1pm)
Nigeria v Iceland (D 4pm)
Serbia v Switzerland (E 7pm)

Saturday
Belgium v Tunisia (G 1pm)
South Korea v Mexico (F 4pm)
Germany v Sweden (F 7pm)

Sunday
England v Panama (G 1pm)
Japan v Senegal (H 4pm)
Poland v Colombia (H 7pm)

Monday
Saudi Arabia v Egypt (A 3pm)
Uruguay v Russia (A 3pm)
Spain v Morocco (B 7pm)
Iran v Portugal (B 7pm)

All Kick-off times are GMT.
 
Dennisch
The VAR is an absolute failure so far. Too inconsistent. The World Cup is not the smartest place for a full scale test.
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It is quite perplexing how there have been quite so many glaring mistakes - at this point, VAR has caused about as many injustices as it has prevented, making the entire thing a complete waste of time. Australia should never have been awarded that penalty, England should have got a penalty against Tunisia, and various players ought to have been booked or sent off for serious fouls or ridiculous acts of simulation that aren't even being reviewed. Ironically, VAR is also pointing out the shortcomings of the officiating at the tournament - but not only are the officials making mistakes, referees are even getting some things right only for them to be overturned (wrongly) by the VAR officials! It's a bit stupid really.
 

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