2018 World Cup in Russia

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Zidane
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Re: 2018 World Cup in Russia

Post by Zidane » July 15, 2018, 10:59 am

Eden Hazard and family.jpg
Belgium 2 England 0
England got off to a shocking start after just 4 minutes when Rose let Meunier get goalside of him to put the Belgians in front.At that stage it looked as though England might be on the end of a thrashing as they struggled to contain the Belgian attack.
But they held on to 0-1 till half time when Southgate made two substitutions bringing on Lingard and Rashford for Rose and Sterling.England improved after the break and took the game to Belgium.Both Dier and Maguire had good chances to equalize but Belgium were always dangerous on the break and man of the match,Hazard,wrapped up the game with 10 minutes to go...….he'll be sorely missed by Chelsea when he joins Real Madrid next season.
Overall,not a great performance from England but they finish 4th overall which was well beyond expectations when the tournament started.
The big plusses for England in the matches overall were the performances of Trippier,Maguire and Pickford.Stones also had a good tournament and Loftus-Cheek showed promise for the future.Barring something incredible happening tonight,Harry Kane looks like picking up the Golden Boot award....he's done nowt in the last 3 matches,though.

So its the big Final tonight at 10pm Thai time.....Croatia v France....enjoy the game.


Just when I thought our chance had passed,you go and save the best for last.

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Barney
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Re: 2018 World Cup in Russia

Post by Barney » July 15, 2018, 5:28 pm

The Poms had the dream draw to make the final but just not geed enough again. They promise so much and don't deliver.
I suppose 4th place will be taken as a positive though.

Tonight should be a cracker with the 2 best team having arrived at the final, these 2 teams will not leave anything in the tank at fulltime.
I'll go for perhaps the sentimental favourites in Croatia.
Will be in time to knock off work at 6 and get to the bar for the 7pm kickoff.
The movie theatres here in Dubai have the game on. I'll assume UT has the same.

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arjay
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Re: 2018 World Cup in Russia

Post by arjay » July 15, 2018, 9:52 pm

England did look as if they didn't know how to contain Belgium in the first half. Again they looked unsure as to how to proceed when they got to the Belgium penalty area. Belgium looked very competent.

Kane looked a bit lacklustre,- the TV commentators were suggesting he may be carrying an injury.

Just getting ready for the France v Croatia final.

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arjay
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Re: 2018 World Cup in Russia

Post by arjay » July 15, 2018, 10:27 pm

Well at 20 minutes in, it looks like a similar picture emerging with France v Croatia, as with France v Belgium. Croatia have had more of the possession and more attacks on goal, but haven't yet scored. Yet France have barely got going, but have scored a goal. (In fact a Croatia own goal by no 17, from a French free kick).......

Edit: He said, .... but Croatia have just scored, in the 27th minute, also from a free kick. So far 1-1.

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Re: 2018 World Cup in Russia

Post by arjay » July 15, 2018, 10:48 pm

France gifted another goal, this time by an unjustified penalty for hand ball. It certainly didn't look deliberate. It looks like the referee was mislead by a series of "slow mo" replays on VAR.

A couple of corners to Croatia in the last few minutes of the first half keeping the pressure on France.

Half time score: France 2 Croatia 1.

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stattointhailand
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Re: 2018 World Cup in Russia

Post by stattointhailand » July 15, 2018, 11:06 pm

First half shots on target France 1 Croatia 7 ....... goals France 2 Croatia 1

VAR comes to the fore in the final Greasy man flicks ball up then dives, ref gives free kick which leads to a goal
Where was the VAR clear and obvious ref error that led to a goal should be reviewed goal cancelled and greasy git given yellow for dive. Later arm not in un natural position, french forward ducks under ball giving guy no chance to adjust ..... how the hell even without VAR and slo mo can that ever be given as deliberate hand ball [-X

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arjay
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Re: 2018 World Cup in Russia

Post by arjay » July 15, 2018, 11:29 pm

Croatia attacking strongly in the second half, but France becoming increasingly rampant on the breaks, having now scored twice more. Oh dear. 4 - 1 to France.

But...wait,.... in the 64th minute, the French goalkeeper makes a mistake and is dispossessed, Croatia score. It's 4-2.

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Re: 2018 World Cup in Russia

Post by stattointhailand » July 15, 2018, 11:37 pm

Es tu Karius in disguise?

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arjay
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Re: 2018 World Cup in Russia

Post by arjay » July 15, 2018, 11:54 pm

France win the World Cup.

An exciting match.

I felt sorry for Croatia, but rather like England, despite long periods of possession and pressure, they couldn't actually put the ball in the net.

France almost scored again in the 92 - 93rd minute.

Final Score: France 4 Croatia 2.

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stattointhailand
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Re: 2018 World Cup in Russia

Post by stattointhailand » July 16, 2018, 7:17 am

Final Score ...

France 2
Croatia 2
VAR cock ups 2

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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GT93
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Re: 2018 World Cup in Russia

Post by GT93 » July 16, 2018, 7:54 am

Well done France.

I hope many of our posters can take some delight in this result.
Lock 'em up - Eastman, Giuliani, Senator Graham, Meadows and Trump

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Zidane
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Re: 2018 World Cup in Russia

Post by Zidane » July 16, 2018, 9:40 am

France World Cup winners 2018.jpg
Albert Steptoe with the World Cup.jpg
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"Arold look what I've got....we could get 50 quid for this down the flea market"


Croatia were so unlucky....
They were by far the best team for the first hour....
France's first goal wasn't a free kick in the first place =;
Frances second goal was a penalty but it wasn't a free kick that led to the corner from which the incident occurred =;
Lloris the latest keeper to show solidarity with Karius.
Two good goals by Pogba and Mbappe but am I alone in thinking that the Croatian keeper was slow reacting to both shots ? Maybe carrying an injury ?
Goal of the match was by Croatian,Perisic….a beauty.

But I thought it was a great Final to watch....up there with Brazil v Italy in 1970 and England v West Germany in 1966.
Was it the best of the tournament ? Certainly on a par with Spain v Portugal and France v Argentina.
I've really enjoyed this tournament.The best I can remember for a long time.Very well organised and the Russians were great hosts.The only downside,a few problems with VAR,but the standard of refereeing has,generally,been very good.
A big plus with England reaching the semi finals,although the draw was very kind to them.
The tournament was all the better for some of the big teams.....Argentina,Germany,Spain,Portugal etc. going out relatively early on.

France's luckiest day since Sacha Distel made number 1 with "Raindrops keep falling on my head".....only joking ;) ....well done to France....they have some excellent players and the future looks bright for them.

So thats it.....logging off.... :wave:
Just when I thought our chance had passed,you go and save the best for last.

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AlexO
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Re: 2018 World Cup in Russia

Post by AlexO » July 16, 2018, 10:34 am

Zidane
Personally I thought the Group Stage matches were pretty poor with too much feigning injuries and below par refereeing for the worlds premier football tournament. Kind of spoiled the spectacle for me. Why FIFA and the other ruling bodies do not take serious action ( even retrospectively) against these cheats is beyond me. Knockout stage was far better and felt for Belgium who I thought were best team in the tournament.

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stattointhailand
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Re: 2018 World Cup in Russia

Post by stattointhailand » July 16, 2018, 1:03 pm

Few observations

Personally I cant say I really enjoyed the World Cup, as I've never really been a fan of International footie, and would prefer it to be kept for a few friendlies to celebrate special occasions rather than have it year in year out.
My German friend is adamant that the authorities are against Germany as we all know that "VE never VIN der VAR"
VAR has shown what a complete waste of time and money it is "Yes it will disrupt the flow of the games and make it less enjoyable to watch with the inevitable stoppages, but we will get the right decisions and that will make it ok"......... WRONG we now have the unwanted delays and correct refereeing decisions are now made incorrect ....Lose lose if ever there was one :evil: :evil: I have listened to about 20 ex players/pundits/ex referees this morning and NOT ONE has agreed with the VAR decision that it was a penalty.. VAR over ruled a correct referees decision which completely changed the World Cup final and probably changed the games result.

Fans of all the major European nations stayed away from the tournament in their droves. Those that were there were not the normal footie fans that turn up at grounds up and down the countries every week. May be the cost of tickets or the fact that getting 4 weeks off work is pretty impossible for most had something to do with it but from many videos/fan cams etc etc it could be seen that the number of Germans/English/Belgian/Spanish and even French (apart from those who obviously paid a fortune for final tickets who would not be your ave League Un fan) was well down on previous tournaments, even those on other continents. Perhaps fans from the likes of Serbia/Croatia etc attended as they never see their own players in their own leagues as the best are always playing abroad, but on the whole when pundits are in a city a day before an England game and "can't find an England fan" it says it all.

Football associations MUST step in now and tell FIFA that they are boycotting Qatar. Football must not and cannot be seen to have the blood of thousands on their hands.

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arjay
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Re: 2018 World Cup in Russia

Post by arjay » July 16, 2018, 7:13 pm

stattointhailand wrote:
July 16, 2018, 7:17 am
Final Score ...

France 2
Croatia 2
VAR cock ups 2

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
In a nutshell. =D> =D> :D :D

And a good assessment of the match by Zid. =D> =D> :D :D

(The clapping hands emoticon doesn't appear to work).

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