World Cup 2022

[surfer]

Other than the England match, which I didnt watch, pretty underwhelming so far. The opening match had the joint fewest shots on target of any WC match in history, Netherlands Senegal was dull, US Wales wasnt too bad. US played surprisingly well in the first half, some very energetic pressing combined with pace and some technical skill (great goal and finish by Weah), but the second half flipped once they brought on Kieffer Moore, his hold up play and aerial threat gave the US big problems. Tomorrow's menu looks pretty unappetizing, at least three look like one-sided blowouts.

[DarkAttraktor]

i honestly thought there is going to be an unspoken forum-wide moratorium on Qatar WC 2022 activities

on the general tone surf just established - SEN - NL was such a masochistic piece of football to watch. the dismal sight of the Senegalese running down the flanks, launching a counterattack for the 20th time in the game after yet another sloppy Dutch possession in the midfield only to just cluelessly hand right it over to Dutch, miscommunicate with one another, without a faintest idea how to finish off in a typical situation.

Senegal lost the game around 30 meters from Dutch goal after it was made apparent to everyone watching that they wouldn't have scored even if they played 2 days with the Dutch. having Mane in there doesn't change things too much. the communication upfront is just shambolic.

[Wombatz]

i honestly thought there is going to be an unspoken forum-wide moratorium on Qatar WC 2022 activities

personally i'm not into that holier than thou isolationist boycot thing (and for strictly moral reasons would have to boycot anything with u.s. involvement too) ... it was worth it already for the iran protest ... now wear them fucking armbands, bring down fifa ... and if only there were some real surprises, but, as you say, senegal (while probably the most positive african team, i thought) were depressing (though really they only conceded because mendy is a shadow of his tüchel self). where's the really dark horses if making it out of the group stage is the limit anyway ... maybe enlargening it all to 48 mostly shambolic teams and having ever more league games for the players to cope with could help?

edit: ahaha, as soon as i write this, saudi arabia beat argentina

[DarkAttraktor]

what a defensive clinic by the Saudis !

ARG all of a sudden looks like they haven't progressed one inch from 2018.

[Wombatz]

ah, another nice result. this was even funnier since japan had to be coaxed into the game.

[DarkAttraktor]

didn't watch the game but i am so happy for longtime Partizan striker Asano to seal the deal for Japan.

always wondered how did our front office managed to nab a guy that good. that first touch, so velvet soft but also direct, functional and opportunistic. criminally underrated player

[Wombatz]

i didn't see richie do anything like that for spurs yet

so, one game in and it looks like only spain or brasil could rightfully win this ... which might very well mean no sleep till the semis for harry ...

[surfer]

The Richarlison goal was nice but perhaps easier than it looked imo. He mis-touch popped it straight up perfectly and then a bit of improvisation but it was on a tee for him and probably for most strikers not too difficult to get a good strike when it is chest high and hanging like a ripe peach to be plucked out of the air. The goal that impressed me the most was the Asano goal DA mentions. I think if you have played at all you know that bringing that ball out of the stratosphere in stride and holding off the physical challenge and then beating Neuer at that tight angle by roofing it was absolutely sublime, real class.

Other than that, some random thoughts:

US played one of the most impressive matches Ive ever seen the USMNT play. They will be, and possibly are already, the best US mens team ever. They lack a real clinical goal scorer, and probably need a better CB pairing (Zimmerman is sub-par), but the sophistication of the passing and pressing and movement is well beyond anything I have seen Americans do at this level. Very impressed and it will be interesting to see what they do on Tuesday, I expect them to win against a good and motivated Iranian side.

Very impressed with Ecuador, although if Valencia is out for the tournament, they may not progress far. But they have a fluidity and energy that will be hard to match in the knockout rounds, if they get there. Another young side! Great midfielders!

The Dutch are really underwhelming, will do nothing, Hard to believe Janssen is a conceivable option for them at this point. Although Gakpo looks the real deal, what a strike with his weaker foot!

It'll be interesting to see what Spain do tomorrow, I think their stock is a bit inflated by playing a shockingly poor Costa Rican side. I cant believe Bryan Ruiz is still playing. The Ticos didnt even seem to be running, they were almost playing walking game with no closeouts, and no pressure on the the ball. And at about the 85' they just gave up. I dont use this term lightly but it was a disgraceful effort. I dont fancy Spain as one of the favorites although most teams are flawed, so maybe they progress by process of elimination of the more flawed.

France v Denmark was probably one of the most entertaining matches I've watch so far. Denmark dont offer a lot going forward but seem cohesive enough to take care of Australia and get through the group. Despite the injuries, France look like semi-finalists to me.

Darwin Nunez seems like a really low IQ footballer and poor passer, kind of a brutalist striker in the mold of Fernando Torres. Not sure why Liverpool were so keen to sign him, he doesnt seem to fit what Klopp does, but then again neither does Haaland vis a vis Pep.

Portugal look like a mess to me. I thought Serbia played well in the first half, although they had no touches in the Brazilian half they did a fair job of keeping them at arms length until half. Second half they werent as sharp defensively and started to tire but I still they Serbia are going through and could get to the quarters.

Croatia's group is the most wide-open and evenly matched of them all I think. Croatia's defense is definitely better than 2018, but Kramaric is definitely not the answer and Livaja looks a little leaden for this level.

[surfer]

The player who has impressed me the most that I had not seen before is Musiala, best player in the German squad and absolutely electric will the ball at his feet. What a talent, and Gakpo has impressed too.

Riots in the streets of Brussels!

[Wombatz]

The player who has impressed me the most that I had not seen before is Musiala, best player in the German squad and absolutely electric will the ball at his feet.

it's a pity werner is injured, him and musiala would be utter delightful chaos

[Wombatz]

so so funny about germany going out ... especially if the winning japan goal indeed was some var goof-up

[surfer]

Gvardiol was immense today, man of the match, what a rock he is going to be for Croatia for years to come. Petković was excellent when he came on. Livaja was invisible today. Was expecting a Spain matchup but we get a spunky Japan. Not sure there's too much of a difference either way, they have similar way of playing although I think Japan plays a 3-4-3 which would suit us as we would control the midfield. Perišić is quite useful in tracking back to help contain the wingbacks. I think our styles might cancel each other out and this will be a low scoring single goal affair or PKs.

The second goal for Japan, the ball clearly went over the end line, the commentators thought it was a done deal that VAR would overturn. Not sure what those officials saw differently. Too bad. VAR has been quite all over the map this round of fixtures, in the Croatia / Belgium match, they had the on field official go to the monitor to review an offside ruling. I thought offside calls were fully automated now. Very confusing and he also didnt appear offside.

[surfer]

Its possible I dont know the rules on this, but I assume a part of the bottom of the ball needs to be physically touching the line, and that there isnt some "plane" extending upwards from the end of the line that the farthest edge of the ball is still touching? Anyway, seems pretty definitive but perhaps we're in a grey area where the official deemed "not enough evidence to overturn" the ruling on the field, or something.

[surfer]

Probably still touching "the invisible plane", who knows. Japan probably deserved chance to go through, beating Germany and Spain and losing to Costa Rica is some feat.

[Wombatz]

[it was called out on the field but var overturned it and let the goal stand. yeah any part of the ball still touching the air-line is enough, but there was no official photo/computer diagram/whatever so they probably went with in-ball sensors or some such nonsense that shouldn't allow for millimetre decisions.] edit: no it wasn't though tv people said so ... refs on the field had ruled the ball in and var just couldn't prove otherwise ... fun call. yeah that croatia offside was totally silly, still i think var ruling by itself is the way to go. we are used to giving in to our machine overlords, all the geumbling about decisions would then become heart-warmingly revolutionary talk against vague fears of the future. anyway, you're very lucky lukaku focuses on being in the right place at the right time instead of doing the right thing.

and, lo and behold: the world cup works so well, it's a perfect product even if in qatar, such drama ... and now they're gonna change it for groups of three. this is not even really gonna make them more money. nobody hates the game like a football functionary.

[Wombatz]

boring results. only portugal switzerland looks hard to predict.

[surfer]

Croatia not setting the pitch on fire but are probably the mentally strongest team in the tournament, and lucky/tactically flexible/physical/experienced at tournament football. Brazil looks ready to steamroll to the quarters into a South American derby though. They are always a bad matchup for us with the speed on the wings and Richarlison's height and workrate. They are also deep and rested. Gvardiol has been player of the tournament for Croatia. Perišić's header had more velocity than all the Japanese penalty kicks combined. I dont understand why England - France are the late Saturday match with 5 days rest, and Brazil - Croatia the early Friday game on 3 days rest. Makes no sense, so unfair.

[surfer]

What can I say they are just the real Mentality Monsters. Amazing what a privilege to be a supporter of this team.

[Wombatz]

congrats! xcept for the goal awful finishing from brazil, they didn't dare enjoy themselves

[surfer]

"Pep" Gvardiol the player of the tournament (at least on the defensive side) for me. Will be the best CB in the world in a year or two. What a player.