World Cup 2018... OFFICIAL THREAD....

Yoshi

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I'm not sure you could watch a better opening round match.

edit: That free kick in the ~88th minute you could see on Ronaldo's face was going in. He just wanted the ref to hurry up and move so he could execute it.
 
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Lets Gekiga In

Neon Night Rider
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You called it, Tak. It's a hell of a game! Ronaldo is very motivated.

I don’t know if I’m more impressed by Diego Costa's taking on nearly five Portugal defenders and scoring; or Cristiano Ronaldo's hat trick and amazing free kick.
 

Mac91

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Let the circlejerk over Ronaldo commence.
 

neofonta

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Worst De Gea's match with Spain of all times.
In the free kick goal he could have done more than watchin' the ball hittin' the net :snack:
Who's goin' to pay 75 million € for a goalkeeper like him?
 

RAZO

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Worst De Gea's match with Spain of all times.
In the free kick goal he could have done more than watchin' the ball hittin' the net :snack:
Who's goin' to pay 75 million € for a goalkeeper like him?

No Goalie is saving that shit. It dipped over the wall and almost went upper 90. By the time he saw the ball, it was already in the net.
 

evil wasabi

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Took the day off to watch games and was not disappointed much.

Egypt deserved a point against Uruguay. They played expansive and offensive football. Looked like a good side. Their loss was a gut punch. Heartbreaking.

Iran Morocco was some of the shittiest football of the tournament, and no, I didn’t watch the Saudi clown show, but those guys never had any business in sports, full stop.

Portugal Spain delivered a full set of highlights. Spain was not convincing. On paper, fantastic. But Portugal looked complete. Their midfield was solid. Both teams should score 3 points in their next fixture. And Razo is correct that no goalie was saving Ronaldo’s superior curve on that fk.

I think the next must see game is Germany Mexico. A lot of garbage teams in this cup though.
 

Lets Gekiga In

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I think expanding the number of teams is going the wrong way. The quality of soccer would probably go up if it was the best 24 teams just the same as pre-1994.
 

oliverclaude

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Egypt deserved a point against Uruguay. They played expansive and offensive football. Looked like a good side. Their loss was a gut punch. Heartbreaking.

We have to thank Ramos for that. He terminated Salah, like Boateng did Ballack before the WC '10.
 

Rot

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I think expanding the number of teams is going the wrong way. The quality of soccer would probably go up if it was the best 24 teams just the same as pre-1994.

I suppose there will be a lot of poor ass games when they expand it to 42 teams...

But there's always the possibilty of an upset... which keeps me interested...

Egypt defo deserved a point but that's the way Football is... gotta play for the full 90 minutes or so...

The Sapin vs Portugal match didn't dissappoint... It would've made a fitting Final... which is still a possibility...

xROTx

PS. 4 matches today... France vs Australia first...

Le Boot vs Le Drunkz Lachlan!
 

Rot

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Hahaha... The Aussies thinks it's Australian Rules Football...

KILL DEM' FRENCH PLAYERS!"

xROTx
 

neofonta

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Australia deserved more than a losed match after the 90 minutes.
I hope them get more luck on the next match.

France has more names than true players.
 

Heinz

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Hahaha... The Aussies thinks it's Australian Rules Football...

KILL DEM' FRENCH PLAYERS!"

xROTx

Australia deserved more than a losed match after the 90 minutes.
I hope them get more luck on the next match.

France has more names than true players.

Fucking bullshit on that first penalty shot but fair game on the second one ;)

I kinda expected it though considering how much those players are paid in comparison, I was hoping for another 2006 WC run :(

Hopefully we can beat Denmark on Thursday!
 

evil wasabi

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I think expanding the number of teams is going the wrong way. The quality of soccer would probably go up if it was the best 24 teams just the same as pre-1994.

I agree. Serie A used to be 16 teams. Increasing the league to 20 gave more games, more gate proceeds, but it also reduced the quality of the league a lot, and the Italian coefficient in UEFA suffered consequently.
 

Rot

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I agree. Serie A used to be 16 teams. Increasing the league to 20 gave more games, more gate proceeds, but it also reduced the quality of the league a lot, and the Italian coefficient in UEFA suffered consequently.

Yup...

But look at La Liga... only 2 real competitors most seasons to win it... how the fook can you solve a situation like that?

xROTx
 

Rot

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Argentina 1 - 1 Island... what a mess(i).

What pisses me off... is the Commentators....

I think the line they used was ... "Iceland are holding Messi...." in reference to the Argentinian TEAM!

A team is NOT one player... which Iceland just showed...

xROTx
 

RAZO

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What pisses me off... is the Commentators....

I think the line they used was ... "Iceland are holding Messi...." in reference to the Argentinian TEAM!

A team is NOT one player... which Iceland just showed...

xROTx

True, and Argentina has a hell of a squad with big names. Hats off to Iceland, they were fighting for dear life in that 2nd half but a draw against a team like Argentina is a win for Iceland.
 

oliverclaude

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I think the line they used was ... "Iceland are holding Messi...." in reference to the Argentinian TEAM!

A team is NOT one player... which Iceland just showed...

xROTx

I also agree, my reference was in regard to the missed penalty only. I still don't understand, what happened here. IIRC Argentina is playing for the first time with this lineup. Iceland was ironically more experienced in this field.
 

Takumaji

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Iceland looked more focussed than Argentina to me, they know their strengths very well and are great team players. Argentina seemed a bit ovewhelmed with the quick switching from zoning to man-to-man by the Icelandic defense. Couple of missed chances, some nice shots from Messi but too nervous, which is no wonder given that many of his supporters rate him as some sort of saint and consequently expect a footie miracle... stuff like that puts lotsa weight on the shoulders of even the most experienced player.
 

Yoshi

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It's unfortunate for Messi that the way the match unwound set up so many natural comparisons (albeit a ridiculously small sample). PK vs. PK, several FKs from dangerous spots vs. one late one, etc. I had forgotten, but Twitter reminded me, that Iceland similarly shutout Ronaldo during Euro 2016.
 

RAZO

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All true but that penalty shot though

No excuses. When your considered one of the best players in the world, you have to bury it. Whether its Ronaldo or Messi, you have to face the music.
 
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evil wasabi

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Yup...

But look at La Liga... only 2 real competitors most seasons to win it... how the fook can you solve a situation like that?

xROTx

Atletico and Valencia are legit too. It’s not just Barca and RM.
 

RAZO

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Atletico and Valencia are legit too. It’s not just Barca and RM.

Yea but I get what Rot's Saying Bro. The Premier League has bottom tier teams rise up in the rankings. It's not always Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal. ToT . I mean Chelsea was shit for a long time before Mourinho came in but all the other leagues have the usual teams that are typically 1st or 2nd.
 

evil wasabi

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Yea but I get what Rot's Saying Bro. The Premier League has bottom tier teams rise up in the rankings. It's not always Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal. ToT . I mean Chelsea was shit for a long time before Mourinho came in but all the other leagues have the usual teams that are typically 1st or 2nd.

Chelsea was shit before Abramovich came in. Remember that right before Mou, it was Ranieri, and a lot of the players who became famous under Mou were Ranieri signings. Cech, Gallas, Makelele, Lampard, and Joe Cole were all Ranieri signings. Mou came in after winning the CL with Porto. He made Chelsea a better team, but that midfield wasn’t his.
 
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