World Cup 2018 is upon us - this thread is for discussions of the tournament and its attendant craziness.
Calling it now, Russia lose their opening match, then cancel the rest of the cup.
Calling it now, USA makes the semi-finals!
Whooooooooo!!!
Calling it now, USA makes the semi-finals!
If you'd like to talk international U-18s basketball, please create a separate thread.
Guess I'll still watch. Who to cheer for though?
Joking aside, I'm super excited for this. Lots of cool stories, some really strong teams, and all the drama and tension. Be cool if the USA were in it, but whatever. It's a WORLD CUP! Bring it!
Guess I'll still watch. Who to cheer for though?
• Argentina is a good one. Messi's last chance to get a World Cup victory.
• Iceland, just because they have as many people as a small city and yet they made the World Cup! And their manager's real job is a dentist.
• Egypt, because Mo Salah is a great role model in such a divisive world, and Egypt hasn't qualified in like, forever.
• Portugal. If you like Ronaldo, this is likely his last chance as well.
• Spain and France have amazing teams. But Spain has Ramos, and that makes it hard for me to cheer them on, despite some of the other players on the team that I do like.
• Germany and Brazil are running 1-2 in the odds for taking it all, so backing either of them will possibly see your team standing at the end.
Calling it now, USA makes the semi-finals!
I don't know... the US has a really tough group with Italy, the Netherlands and Ghana.
I destroyed my credibility in the soccer thread by saying this but I think England will do pretty well. They don't have a perfect squad (looking at you, Henderson) but they have some good talent, no Lampard-Gerrard midfield in a 4-4-2 cramming, and look to be set up well for a knockout tournament.
Two years ago I thought Belgium would be a team to watch here - loads of talent and pretty much every position - but they went out and appointed Roberto Martinez whose approach is unsuited for a short knockout tournament.
I expect the hosts will be poor. They had an old squad at the Euros and did badly and glancing at their squad it's still old. I'm sure they'll get some of that FIFA host magic but if Salah hadn't been injured in the Champions League Final I'd have them not getting out of their group.
I'm hoping Argentina does well (though after having to drag Barcelona through parts of the season I doubt Messi will have the energy to do the same here), Brazil/France/Germany/Spain are interesting favorites, Iceland should be fun, and I expect Costa Rica will again outperform their pre-tournament odds.
Should be fun.
Right, now to get myself ready for the WC.
Now which to start with - the 'Battle of Santiago' (always a classic) or a documentary called 'Pele, Argentina and the Dictators'.
I'm in the mood for kick boxing - the Battle of Santiago it is.
Iceland the dentist it is!
And Egypt.
Sounds fun.
I really didn't want to be the one to break it to Certis that the Oranje didn't quite make the World Cup.
Apparently there have been 3m preorders for the Nigeria kit.
It looks like one of the 1990s atrocities that Adidas and the like pumped out. Does it come with free money or something ?
It's truly horrendous.
Speaking of jerseys, this blog ranked them: https://www.starsandstripesfc.com/wo...
As far as who to cheer for with the US missing out, I have elected to use the "I married into this allegiance" option and support South Korea. My Son Heung-min jersey arrived yesterday. I got the red one.
The ROK came in 2nd in that blog's jersey rankings, btw. 
Even when the US is in it, I'm usually more interested in watching the Germans anyway.
Right, now to get myself ready for the WC.
Now which to start with - the 'Battle of Santiago' (always a classic) or a documentary called 'Pele, Argentina and the Dictators'.
I'm in the mood for kick boxing - the Battle of Santiago it is.
If you're unfamilar with the sport's history and haven't seen it yet, I cannot recommend watching video of the Battle of Santiago enough. It is absolutely one of the funniest things I've seen. The introduction alone is worth the price of admission.
Speaking of jerseys, this blog ranked them: https://www.starsandstripesfc.com/wo...
Oh, there are some cool ones in there! I liked: Brazil (away), Iceland, Japan (away), Panama (away), France (home). I'm not necessarily pulling for Brazil, but that blue away jersey totally rocks. I'm tempted...
If you're unfamilar with the sport's history and haven't seen it yet, I cannot recommend watching video of the Battle of Santiago enough. It is absolutely one of the funniest things I've seen. The introduction alone is worth the price of admission.
To be fair to David Coleman - he wasn't wrong.
Tensions had been somewhat inflamed when the Chileans learnt of some copy that had been filed by Italian journalists, who stated that
"Santiago was a backwater dump where "the phones don't work, taxis are as rare as faithful husbands, a cable to Europe costs an arm and a leg and a letter takes five days to turn up", and its population as prone to "malnutrition, illiteracy, alcoholism and poverty. Chile is a small, proud and poor country: it has agreed to organize this World Cup in the same way as Mussolini agreed to send our air force to bomb London (they didn't arrive). The capital city has 700 hotel beds. Entire neighbourhoods are given over to open prostitution. This country and its people are proudly miserable and backwards."
If I'd been the Italian team, I'd have gone for a chat with those journalists to thank them for the pre-match build up.
Fedaykin98 wrote:Speaking of jerseys, this blog ranked them: https://www.starsandstripesfc.com/wo...
Oh, there are some cool ones in there! I liked: Brazil (away), Iceland, Japan (away), Panama (away), France (home). I'm not necessarily pulling for Brazil, but that blue away jersey totally rocks. I'm tempted...
Brazil's blue jerseys might be the best of the tournament, absolutely!
Sweden away is my favourite kit in the tournament. The shirt with the pattern is really nice but the bright yellow shorts make it.
The Brazil away shirt is better, but plain white shorts aren't going to do it.
South Korea's away kit is truly fantastic.
Moving away from the Fashion World Cup...
Spain 1 Switzerland 1. Decent game, although spoilt in the second half by multiple substitutions. Spain looked as good as you expect, although I do wonder whether they have enough in the striker positions - at the moment its Costa, Rodrigo and Aspas...neither of the latter 2 are world beaters in any sense.
Switzerland looked well organised and committed, with a decent amount of experience and youth. Again, not too much in the central striker position (they ended up with Drmic, whose skill set based on my sight of him in Bundesliga games is throwing his hands up in the air and looking 5 yards off the pace), but they play with attacking wingbacks in Lichsteiner and Rodriguez which might catch some teams out. I'd back them to come second behind Brazil in their group.
Spain looked as good as you expect, although I do wonder whether they have enough in the striker positions - at the moment its Costa, Rodrigo and Aspas...neither of the latter 2 are world beaters in any sense.
Spain's defense and midfield are so good, but they fall of the table at striker. Too bad Argentina couldn't give them a striker or two and get a couple of midfielders in return.
davet010 wrote:Spain looked as good as you expect, although I do wonder whether they have enough in the striker positions - at the moment its Costa, Rodrigo and Aspas...neither of the latter 2 are world beaters in any sense.
Spain's defense and midfield are so good, but they fall of the table at striker. Too bad Argentina couldn't give them a striker or two and get a couple of midfielders in return.
If only Messi had decided to play for Spain internationally instead of Argentina. Plus we wouldn't have to hear the "he's not that great, he never won a World Cup" garbage.
South Korea's away kit is truly fantastic.
I hope it clicks for me when I see it on actual players. It didn't ROK my world (heh) when I first saw it. I'm also biased against most white jerseys except for the Centennials, which should be reissued with the new crest.
So, Leroy Sane (10 goals, 15 assists, Premier League Young Player of the Year) is out of Germany's squad for the WC (he was in the initial 27 man squad, but was one of the 4 to miss out).
Marco Reus (7 goals, 0 assists, only managed 15 games this season) is in.
Good. That's one player who should be avoiding WC injuries then.
I couldn't beehive that Sane news. I know it's Germany, but come on. He kills it in the EPL.
I'm not a subscriber to the idea that players have a separate club form and national form, although I can admit there may be some psychological factors. Your national form is a much smaller sample size than your club form, so the latter has to be considered.
In fairness, Sane hasn't reproduced his City form when he plays for Germany, possibly because they play a different system. But I do find it surprising that both Brandt and Reus have been preferred to him, when neither of them have done too much this season.
Wow, yeah, I was looking at the German squad and thinking that Mane is currently their strongest striker, given his recent form with City. He's playing so fast.
Sane, not Mane.
Germany are still one of the favourites, but a number of them didn't play too well against Austria. Kimmich was very poor, which is unusual for him, and Sule was ponderous and looked easy to turn. I'm also surprised that they are putting so much faith in Neuer, he's another who has missed large chunks of the season.
Gundogan actually going surprised me a little as well - he's very much second string at City, and I think looks a little lightweight.
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