World Cup General Chit Chat

[Nalis]

Croatia Morocco final wouldnt even be a massive shock at this stage

[Jattdogg]

7 minutes ago, Nalis said:

Croatia Morocco final wouldnt even be a massive shock at this stage

Morocco all day for me if that happens.

[Heathrow fox]

The usual level of hype this time round has been surprisingly subdued.Not a bad thing.Has the Woman’s success let a bit of pent up steam out???Or is it simply the fact it’s Winter?

[Nalis]

Dullest semi final line up of all time, fvckin hate the idea of France being a back to back world champion, shithousers.

 

All the teams are bang average with faults but come on Morocco!

[fazzyfox]

I’d really like to hear Infantino’s opinion on the refereeing, big games, the pinnacle of players careers and refs appointed by FIFA rock up and either bottle it or try to make themselves the centre of attention. I get it that it’s a World game, we need to spread it around and different cultures may have differing interpretations of the rules but like the poor chap in the African Qualifier game who clearly had a psychological problem with the occasion, we get clown like performances like last nights Argentina v Holland. Results have been affected but thankfully and miraculously player safety hasn’t  been. No transparency or feedback from FIFA, why am I not surprised?

[Super_horns]

19 minutes ago, fazzyfox said:

I’d really like to hear Infantino’s opinion on the refereeing, big games, the pinnacle of players careers and refs appointed by FIFA rock up and either bottle it or try to make themselves the centre of attention. I get it that it’s a World game, we need to spread it around and different cultures may have differing interpretations of the rules but like the poor chap in the African Qualifier game who clearly had a psychological problem with the occasion, we get clown like performances like last nights Argentina v Holland. Results have been affected but thankfully and miraculously player safety hasn’t  been. No transparency or feedback from FIFA, why am I not surprised?

I don’t think these 2 refs were exactly seen as lower level officials who couldn’t handle big games but just had poor ones.

 

Compared to Micheal Oliver for example.

 

I notice Portuguese players are complaining about their official v Morocco although not seen anything to suggest they were hard done by .

 

Was player safety in danger last night ?

 

Thought the general consensus was he got too fussy and showed too many cards /gave a lot of fouls .

Edited 10 December 2022 by Super_horns

[marbles]

Portugal was mad because the ref wouldn’t give them the calls when they went through the trouble of throwing themselves on the ground.

Other then that, he did good

[Stuntman_Mike]

11 hours ago, Nalis said:

Dullest semi final line up of all time, fvckin hate the idea of France being a back to back world champion, shithousers.

 

All the teams are bang average with faults but come on Morocco!

It is annoying France are just one game from another final having only beat Australia, Denmark, Poland and just edged England. 

[shen]

3 minutes ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

It is annoying France are just one game from another final having only beat Australia, Denmark, Poland and just edged England. 

Bizarre comment. England would've beaten Iran, Wales, Senegal and just edged France. How is that any different?

[shen]

12 hours ago, Nalis said:

Dullest semi final line up of all time, fvckin hate the idea of France being a back to back world champion, shithousers.

 

All the teams are bang average with faults but come on Morocco!

None of teams are bang average. They each have outstanding characteristics which got them there. England were unlucky to be drawn against France in the quarters, but then you had the 'easy' runs in the Euros and to the semi final in Russia, so its a bit of give and take.

[Stuntman_Mike]

8 minutes ago, shen said:

Bizarre comment. England would've beaten Iran, Wales, Senegal and just edged France. How is that any different?

How is that bizarre? I was merely stating that's a jammy run to a final, it's got nothing to do with me supporting England or with me being happy with our run up to playing France.

[Koke]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought refs couldn't ref beyond the last 16 if their country qualify for it. Like how can there be an Argentine ref for Portugal v Morocco when Argentina are in the quarters?? 

[Koke]

France are without Pogba and Kante yet they still have a superior midfield to most nations. The talent pool is insane.

[Deebhoy]

You have to wonder what was the point of Southgate bringing Maddison to the World Cup. It was obvious he doesn't particularly like him as a player and he appeared to bow to a bit of pressure to pick him.

[Manley Farrington-Brown]

21 minutes ago, Koke said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought refs couldn't ref beyond the last 16 if their country qualify for it. Like how can there be an Argentine ref for Portugal v Morocco when Argentina are in the quarters?? 

Well if there was, it would appear you were wrong! Also, it was in the other half of the draw to Argentina, so not like he had an influence on who would be their opponents. And there was also an English ref for Croatia v Brazil - but again, other half of the draw.

[shen]

5 hours ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

How is that bizarre? I was merely stating that's a jammy run to a final, it's got nothing to do with me supporting England or with me being happy with our run up to playing France.

It's bizarre because virtually every team going to the final will have had a similar run, that's the nature of this format. On top of that, this WC has shown that games with a heavy favourite are far from a foregone conclusion, so 'easy' runs are only such when looking in hindsight.

[Spudulike]

Sterling must be the only foreign born player in our squad? 

 

 

[davieG]

13 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

Sterling must be the only foreign born player in our squad? 

 

 

Isn't Rice Irish?

[StanSP]

1 minute ago, davieG said:

Isn't Rice Irish?

Was born in London. Qualified for Ireland through his grandparents I think.

 

17 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

Sterling must be the only foreign born player in our squad? 

 

Believe so.

[Aus Fox]

11 hours ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

It is annoying France are just one game from another final having only beat Australia, Denmark, Poland and just edged England. 

Comments like this come out every World Cup and euros. They get used to downplay any success England have had recently too.

The reality is if you are a top 8 side in the world, the likelihood is you won’t meet another big nation until the quarter finals. It’s the same every tournament, no one has a group of England, Brazil, France and Morocco followed by Argentina in the last 16, Germany in the quarters Spain in the semis and Portugal in the final. 
To make a World Cup final you just have to be consistent over 7 games, when you are going to be favourites in at least 5 of the games.

[Guest Col city fan]

5 hours ago, davieG said:

Isn't Rice Irish?

Yes.. grandparents.

MON tried to recruit him to play for the Republic but he chose England.

[Tommy Fresh]

55 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

Yes.. grandparents.

MON tried to recruit him to play for the Republic but he chose England.

He was already representing them at numerous age levels and played for their senior team. O'Neill started leaving him out because he was considering switching to England

Edited 11 December 2022 by Tommy Fresh

[Guest Col city fan]

1 minute ago, Tommy Fresh said:

He was already representing them at numerous age levels and played for their senior team. O'Neill started leaving him out because he was considering switching to England

You really are the little minefield Tom!

[Super_horns]

Obviously FIFA feel the ref in our game did a good job as he has been kept on whilst Micheal Oliver hasn’t.

 

https://m.allfootballapp.com/news/Headline/Referee-who-infuriated-England-fans-vs-France-kept-on-for-World-Cup-final/2981569

[Lionator]

On 11/12/2022 at 09:40, Koke said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought refs couldn't ref beyond the last 16 if their country qualify for it. Like how can there be an Argentine ref for Portugal v Morocco when Argentina are in the quarters?? 

Because a referee who has worked his arse off to get to the top of the game not just in his country, but worldwide, is not going to ruin his entire career and reputation to throw a game he’s worked so hard to get.