Russia 2018

[Galfon]

FT: Arg 2 - 1 Nga
Next up la Fraance.

[rowan]

Argentina back from the dead, and Germany likely to follow them into the round of 16 tomorrow. Sad for Nigeria, just 6 or 7 minutes away from a spot, but they really didn't deserve it in the end.

So far we've got Spain v Russia, Uruguay v Portugal, Croatia v Denmark, France v Argentina. That's a pretty mouthwatering lineup.

[rowan]

So at most we are going to have just one representative from each of the 'minor' confederations in the round of 16 - but none of them are confirmed, and the only thing that is certain is there will be either an African or Asian qualifier from group H - if not both. Basically the situation is as follows:

CONCACAF: Mexico must avoid defeat to Sweden, unless Germany fails to beat SKorea.

Africa: Senegal must avoid defeat to Colombia, unless Japan loses to Poland.

Asia: Japan must avoid defeat to Poland, unless Senegal loses to Colombia.

Mexico are in action this afternoon, of course, while we'll have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to learn the fate of Senegal and Japan.

[rowan]

I guess the story with Africa is pretty simple. They exploded onto the scene in the 1980s because they suddenly had so many players competing in Europe that they were able to field fully professional teams for the first time. But they have never been able to provide a similarly professional environment for the national team, so that the players are drawn together from different clubs and have limited opportunities to develop as a team. So I'm not sure we're really going to see the African nations move forward in the foreseeable future, let alone win the tournament, and will just have to be content with the fact that they are at least competitive.

[rowan]

What a sensational exit by the Germans. We have to go back to 1938 to find the last time they failed to get out of their group. In fact, the only time. They didn't enter in 1930 and were banned in 1950. Since then they've progressed every time and made 8 finals - winning 4. They've also been in the last 4 semis, and won the last tournament, of course. They are tied with Italy in second place behind Brazil (5) with 4 trophies. So that's one thing Brazil don't have to worry about now; as well as the prospect of facing their 2014 nemesis in the round of 16. They'll likely get Mexico now, which should be a romp in the park, given today's results. It's a shame we won't see more of the Asians and Africans at this tournament. They really showed us their best in the final round of games, with this stunning result following on from the 2 draws in group A - where Portugal actually came close to getting knocked out by a late strike. Nigeria also had a late chance against Argentina, which would have tied the game and sent them through. So the tournament may be a little light on teams from Africa and Asia in the KO rounds, with only Japan and Senegal remaining in contention (Japan looks likely, Senegal not so much), but they certainly made their mark here

[Galfon]

What an F 'in turnaround...Sweden top the group, mighty Ger bottom after 3 - 0 win v Mexico & 2 - 0 loss v S Korea.
respectively.Champs to Chumps in just 2 weeks!

[rowan]

Chumps to Champs and back to Chumps in Germany's case. Still pinching myself. When I saw that second Swedish goal I gave up on Mexico, who were crap tbh. But from what I saw, SKorea were full value for their win, creating the majority of opportunities. This really does make a statement for the non-European/South American teams. & who is actually playing well right now? Belgium & England (in a soft group), Croatia, France, maybe Brazil...

Should've seen it coming, really:

1998 France wins
2002 France out first round
2006 Italy wins
2010 Italy out first round
2010 Spain wins
2014 Spain out first round
2014 Germany wins
2018

[cashead]

Germany were absolute shit, and South Korea very much deserved to win that. The Germans were complacent, lacking in urgency and casual, like they expected a win just by turning up, and seemed befuddled that the Koreans hadn't apparently read the script.

They were just so bereft of ideas and watching them repeatedly just kick the ball around, and then boot it back to their defenders rather than press on was just frustrating. You'd have thought the news that the Swedes were a goal up on the Mexicans would've lit a fire under their asses when they got the news, but nope. Fucking pathetic.

[rowan]

A joyous day of football, for sure. Nothing bores me more than lack of variety, and seeing the Germans crash out to Korea made my day. Mexico's progress is a bitter-sweet, because they appear to have no chance against a Brazilian side on top of its game. The 5-time winners were a genuine pleasure to watch this evening, outclassing a dangerous Serbian team but also withstanding periods of intense pressure. Whether they can go all the way and atone for the disaster of 2014 is another question entirely. & a nice little touch to finish it all off was Costa Rica's injury time equalizer, so they won't go home empty-handed. Very few teams will. Egypt, of course, the loser of Tunisia v Panama if there is one, and Poland if they go down to Japan. All will be revealed tomorrow as the group stages come to a close...

[rowan]

Well, enough of the schadenfruede (sorry, couldn't resist ) and onto today's final round of group games. Unfortunately it's all a bit of an anti-climax with the only question being which 2 out of Japan, Senegal and Colombia will progress. The former two need only draw, the latter needs to win. Frankly I'll be sorry to see any of them miss out. I suspect it will be Colombia with Senegal hanging on for a nervous draw. But that's by no means certain. The South Americans are a dangerous outfit, as we saw in their last encounter. England only need a draw against Belgium to top the group, and will likely meet Senegal or Portugal in the round of 16. But some are suggesting the path might be easier for the runner-up in group G, so let's hope we don't see another half-hearted encounter like the latter stages of France v Denmark.

[rowan]

So no African team goes through for the first time since 1982. Senegal didn't take their chances and ultimately didn't deserve to win. Not sure Colombia did either, but they took advantage of a moment of tactical naivety on the part of the Africans and slipped through in top place. They'll be a good opponent for Belgium or England and probably stand a better chance of upsetting one of the European sides. Japan are apparently through in second place, but I'm still not sure how. Their record is identical to Senegal's in every conceivable way.

Ok, just found out: Japan are through because of less yellow cards! How harsh is that?!

[rowan]

Big wake-up call for the Africans. They sent 5 good teams to the World Cup and failed to get a team into the round of 16 for the first time in 9 tournaments. The video replays had a bit to do with that, denying both Nigeria and Senegal crucial penalties, and that needs to be looked at before the next World Cup. Still, that's football, and in the final analysis none of the African teams were really good enough to progress. The North Africans made a tame start and didn't wake up till it was too late, and the West Africans showed a bit of tactical naivety and inability to capitalize on their chances. Senegal's finishing might have been about the worst I've seen.

Meanwhile, Poland go home with a win, leaving Egypt as the only team so far to go home empty-handed. Panama will probably join them this evening, but I wouldn't write them off against Tunisia, especially with nothing riding on it.

[Galfon]

No yellae's for Eng. & no injury time after Eng - Bel stalemate at half-time, & few boos as they go off.
Steady if not spectacular showing by the second stringers (mostly).
Rose, Delph & Loftus-Cheek most prominent.

[Stom]

I tell you what, tonight gives me sympathy for Mourinho...Rashford has been utter gash.

[Stom]

Sorry for the double post, but absolutely terrible. Truly. If that had been Sterling, the press would have a field day on him...

No Kane, no goals. Less balance with Delph and Dier than with Henderson and Lingard.

[Galfon]

Bel 1 - 0 Eng
Columbia in R16, Moscow on Tue.
Huff-and-Puff with not enough quality.
A bit jigsaw ..going to pieces in box. ..

[WaspInWales]

Disappointing, but not at all surprising considering the changes. Beyond first choice, the cupboard is a bit bare for some positions. It was a flat performance and we lost the early control of the game, and didn't look like getting it back.

Thought AAT was mixed. A lot of energy but some very poor deliveries.

Dier and Loftus-Cheek were poor.

Back 3 looked a bit shaky at times and it wasn't Pickford's best performance.

Rashford really should've scored. Clean through with just Courtois to beat. I know he got a glove to the ball, but I'm not 100% it was on target anyway.

Commentator said Delph is flying home to be with his wife as she is in late stages on pregnancy...so why did he start tonight??? He may not get another chance if we're knocked out. Ok, it may have saved the legs of someone else, but I would've at least replaced him with at least 30 minutes remaining.

It wasn't all bad...there were a few moments, but Belgium were the better team and deserved the 3 points.

All that 'It's coming home' bollocks is coming home to roost now.

Need to regroup and kick on. First choice XI has to do better, and hope Kane doesn't get injured!

[cashead]

Japan gambled on Colombia winning. That's why they put on a second-string team, with the intention of resting their key players for the Belgium/England game. As it is, they've ended up with Belgium. Akira Nishino admitted as much post-match, that when he put squad captain Makoto Hasebe on, with instructions to the team to "maintain discipline, don't take risks, go to a 4-1-4-1 formation, play defensively, and stay put." Hasebe, the captain of the Japanese team has been quoted in the Yoimiuri papers as stating "We live in a world of competition."

It's not an ideal way to do it, sure, and watching the game as a supporter of the Japanese side was frustrating, but at the end of the day, there are times where nice guys finish last, and you need to be ruthless. Nothing they did broke any rules, they'd maintained better discipline than the Senegalese throughout pool play, and they took a gamble that paid off in the end.

[rowan]

So the cool, suave, sophisticated Japanese had everything under control and made a scientific calculation by resting their best players against a team they should have beaten hands down? I don't think so. They only needed to draw with Poland to secure their spot, and a win would have seen them finish first and get an easier playoff (as well as the easier side of the playoffs draw). The Japanese always make these kind of 'rock star' statements at World Cups, and I should probably add that to the Cringeworthy thread. If they really did gamble on Colombia winning that was plain stupid. & remember, if Senegal's penalty had stood, it would have taken 3 goals to knock them out, as they would've scored more goals than Japan. So that's an incredibly implausible statement the Japanese have come out with.

[cashead]

Yes, Japan went in to the game with the intention of losing 1-0 because they knew Colombia would win. Well done, Hercule.

Or they figured Colombia would win, and counted on it instead of chasing a draw, so they adapted while Poland were 1-0 ahead, and counted on getting past Senegal on the Fair Play rule, which is what ended up happening. Like, did you actually watch the game? It was blatantly obvious that was exactly what they were doing as they closed out the game, with zero intention of even going for a goal in the last 15 minutes or so. Hasebe came on in the 82nd minute, with those instructions from the coach. If you actually watched the game, you'd actually have seen this play out.

You are such a dense motherfucker, it's mindboggling at times and it doesn't help that you're so fucking smug and self-satisfied. Why do you think you're a fucking joke, and every thread you post in ends up with people either ignoring you, or going out of their way to make fun of you? It's because of cuntish posts like the one you just made, where you're so eager to try to prove your intellectual superiority over everyone, when all you're doing is confirming your reputation as a stupid fucking smug cuntrag who doesn't even understand the vaguest notion of self-awareness.

[rowan]

So the cool, suave, sophisticated Japanese had everything under control and made a scientific calculation by resting their best players against a team they should have beaten hands down? I don't think so. They only needed to draw with Poland to secure their spot, and a win would have seen them finish first and get an easier playoff (as well as the easier side of the playoffs draw). The Japanese always make these kind of 'rock star' statements at World Cups, and I should probably add that to the Cringeworthy thread. If they really did gamble on Colombia winning that was plain stupid. & remember, if Senegal's penalty had stood, it would have taken 3 goals to knock them out, as they would've scored more goals than Japan. So that's an incredibly implausible statement the Japanese have come out with.

You'd have to be extremely hapless to be sucked in by a team claiming to have basically thrown a match when they were on the brink of being knocked out themselves. That is either straight up BS or extraordinary stupidity.

Truth hurts sometimes, doesn't it.

[rowan]

How's this for a class comment from the Japanese rock stars:

Japan's coach Akira Nishino said "[Against Senegal] rather than physicality, we have to use our brain to come up with some tactics and strategies." https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opini ... 43810.html

Actually, I think they selected a team not to lose against Poland, rather than one that would definitely win, because a draw was always going to be enough, regardless the result of the other fixture. That very nearly backfired, as the defensively-selected Japanese team fell a goal behind. It would've been disastrous even if Senegal had got their early penalty, as mentioned earlier, as Colombia would've needed 3 goals to eliminate them. & I think I'll come back to this after their round of 16 tie with Belgium, because they're going to lose that one for sure. Against England they stood an outsider's chance - perhaps a draw and win on penalties (England never win shoot-outs) & I would love them to go through, because I support the non-European teams, as I've said all along. But, realistically, Japan won't go the distance against this talented Belgian side.

[cashead]

You dense fuck.

They picked a team to win, but with key players rested like Hasebe, Kagawa, etc. Poland went ahead 1-0. News then eventually gets to Nishino that Colombia is winning as well. It doesn't look like they'll score a goal, so he sends Hasebe on in the 80th to forgo scoring goals, to defend and not get penalised, counting on the Colombia v. Senegal result to hold - basically the same tactics employed in the Mexico v. Portugal fixture played in Springfield in the US (forgot which state), back in 1997 (although that game resulted in a riot, whereas this one just made the crowd boo). It does, they qualify.

How is that so hard to understand? You do realise what "adapt" means, right?

Christ, this is you screaming about how an eatery that serves primarily Italian food isn't an Italian restaurant because the owners are English, isn't it? You might want to have a closer look at which end of the stick you've got. One of the reasons no one likes you is because you talk down to everyone and are so desperate to prove yourself to be the smartest guy on the forums, making you look like a massive cunt in the process. Try reflecting on that.

[rowan]

They didn't rest anybody. They picked a defense-oriented team. You don't rest players in your most crucial game of the World Cup so far; a game that could very easily result in your elimination from the tournament. That is an utterly stupid idea and you'd have to be very naive to believe it. They did slow down to a walk toward the end of the match, which itself provided evidence of their surprising limitations. Japan had evidently come to the conclusion by that time that they could not score against Poland and their best bet was to just hang on and not risk conceding another goal or getting any cards. If Senegal had equalized it would have knocked Colombia out, not Japan, but if Colombia had made it 2-1 that would've knocked Japan out, interestingly enough, as would have another goal to Poland. I wrote earlier that Japan should have beaten Poland hands down. On reflection I'd say I am probably guilty of buying into a little of their press myself. Their only win so far was against a 10-man Colombia. They had to come from behind twice to hold Senegal to a draw in a game where the Africans had twice as many shots. & they were the only team in the group that couldn't overcome the Poles. I watched all three of their games and the only time they looked good was in the second half against a strangely subdued Colombia, who were perhaps simply tiring due to the numerical disadvantage incurred early in the game. So I think Japan are in for a rude awakening against Belgium. I'll be backing them nonetheless; just not buying into any of these absurd rock star comments they come out with after every game.

[cashead]

They didn’t rest anybody other than Shoji, Hasebe, Kagawa, Haraguchi, Inui, Honda and Osako, although some of the preferred starters were brought off the bench.

Poland caught them on the hop, they weren’t going to break down the Polish defence on the day and when Hasebe was brought on, he was given team instructions to just kick the ball around gambling on the other result. I don’t see how this seems so astonishing to you. They adapted based on the information about the other game at hand, and opted for the easiest option, even if it came with some risks.