FIFA World Cup Thread

MrHMSH · Tue Jun 12, 2018 2:30 pm

The FIFA World Cup is nearly upon us, so now is the time to get hyped, ready for the inevitable disappointment. I'm really looking forward to it personally, and I think we should have a thread for developments, discussion and updates.

First match is a political onlooker's wet dream: Russia vs Saudi Arabia. Not going to be the best match ever but the buildup and jokes around it probably will make it great for the armchair viewer.

JJJ · Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:10 pm

MrHMSH wrote:
The FIFA World Cup is nearly upon us, so now is the time to get hyped, ready for the inevitable disappointment.

Italians beat you to that.

2122M · Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:23 pm

As the good 'ole US of A decided (totally by choice) to sit this one out, I need a team to get behind. My instinct is England as I lived there for a little while many years ago, but I'm open to suggestions. Any ideas?

af773atmsp · Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:26 pm

I'll cheer on Denmark, England, Poland, Sweden, Iceland, and Germany.

scbriml · Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:39 pm

MrHMSH wrote:
The FIFA World Cup is nearly upon us, so now is the time to get hyped, ready for the inevitable disappointment.

Ah, a fellow Englishman! :duck:

2122M wrote:
My instinct is England as I lived there for a little while many years ago, but I'm open to suggestions. Any ideas?

Your instinct might need recalibrating. I don't expect England to get beyond the first knock-out round.

af773atmsp wrote:
I'll cheer on Denmark, England, Poland, Sweden, Iceland, and Germany.

Forget the rest and go with Germany. You'd be pretty much guaranteed of a team in the final.

einsteinboricua · Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:50 pm

Los geht's Deutschland, kämpfen und siegen!

I need to buy a jersey.

Dutchy · Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:53 pm

JJJ wrote:
MrHMSH wrote:
The FIFA World Cup is nearly upon us, so now is the time to get hyped, ready for the inevitable disappointment.

Italians beat you to that.

And the Dutch.....

A friend of mine is Belgium, so he adopted me for the time being. Go Red Devils!

Dutchy · Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:56 pm

scbriml wrote:
Forget the rest and go with Germany. You'd be pretty much guaranteed of a team in the final.

'Football is a simple game: 22 men walk behind a ball for 90 minutes and in the end the Germans win.' :lol:

seahawk · Tue Jun 12, 2018 4:02 pm

Germans won´t make it to the knock-out round.

MrHMSH · Tue Jun 12, 2018 4:41 pm

2122M wrote:
As the good 'ole US of A decided (totally by choice) to sit this one out, I need a team to get behind. My instinct is England as I lived there for a little while many years ago, but I'm open to suggestions. Any ideas?

Do not under any circumstances root for England. They will not be exciting and will not be good. The media storm over the hooligans will be the most exciting part. And that's still going to be depressing.

scbriml wrote:

Ah, a fellow Englishman!

Even on the internet something about our manner and demeanour gives us away. I'm kind of Asian though so at least I can distance myself from the shame.

mke717spotter · Tue Jun 12, 2018 5:25 pm

Poland stopped their streak of flopping in big tournaments two years ago in France, so it'd be nice if they can make it out of the group but I don't see them going further than that. They give up too many goals.

2122M wrote:
As the good 'ole US of A decided (totally by choice) to sit this one out

Here's to hoping we get a consolation prize of sorts when they vote on the 2026 hosts tomorrow.

jetwet1 · Tue Jun 12, 2018 5:54 pm

England will disappoint of course, though I am happy to see a team that has a lot of fresh blood in it, of course with Alli, Dier and Kane you have 3 players that know each other and of course Alli and Kane can turn a game around by themselves.

Other than that, I have to route for Iceland, if only because they do bring fun back to the whole thing.

Gonzalo · Tue Jun 12, 2018 5:55 pm

Ok, as dreaming is ( still ) free of charge, I will say my born country is my election. We already twisted destiny a couple of times in 1930 and 1950 ( Maracanazo!! )
Vamos URUGUAY !!!!

ltbewr · Tue Jun 12, 2018 6:13 pm

Here in the USA, most games will be played during working hours. Guess some will come in late, have a long lunch, or sneak steaming on their computers or smartphones, arrange meetings so not to interfere with their wanting to follow matches. Where I work, in a group of 100 or so people, we must have 20 who are fans of Football (Soccer), root for teams like Poland and Argentina. The last time of the World Cup, a restaurant on the ground floor was showing matches and you could follow the flow of the game just by their cheers there.

lugie · Tue Jun 12, 2018 6:20 pm

As a German, I'm somewhat surprised at how convinced forum members from different countries are that Germany is going to take this one again.

Don't get me wrong, I support them and I'm ready to scream until I'm mute watching a nailbiter game with them in it, but their recent performance hasn't exactly awoken the optimist within me.
The qualifier round was impressive but out of all the friendlies in the run-up to the World Cup they won one, a breathtaking 2:1 against Saudi-Arabia.

That being said, I can't quite make out one team among the favorites that hasn't had some sort of crisis over the last year, missing players or something like that. The tournament seems really open to me which is why I can't wait for it to start.

fidelito · Tue Jun 12, 2018 7:03 pm

I hope my country(Peru) has a good performance

2122M · Tue Jun 12, 2018 7:04 pm

scbriml wrote:
Your instinct might need recalibrating. I don't expect England to get beyond the first knock-out round.

You see Belgium and Panama both outdoing England? Certainly not Tunisia, right?

Dutchy · Tue Jun 12, 2018 8:45 pm

fidelito wrote:
I hope my country(Peru) has a good performance

Welcome and good luck for Peru. :bigthumbsup:

2122M · Tue Jun 12, 2018 8:57 pm

2122M wrote:
scbriml wrote:
Your instinct might need recalibrating. I don't expect England to get beyond the first knock-out round.

You see Belgium and Panama both outdoing England? Certainly not Tunisia, right?

Mis-read that.

But if they can win their group (possible), and you assume Colombia wins their group (likely), that means England gets a relative softball in the 1st knockout stage (Senegal/Poland/Japan). It's the quarter-finals that would then have them against Brazil if things go according to their plans.

Freakysh · Tue Jun 12, 2018 9:57 pm

lugie wrote:
As a German, I'm somewhat surprised at how convinced forum members from different countries are that Germany is going to take this one again.

Don't get me wrong, I support them and I'm ready to scream until I'm mute watching a nailbiter game with them in it, but their recent performance hasn't exactly awoken the optimist within me.
The qualifier round was impressive but out of all the friendlies in the run-up to the World Cup they won one, a breathtaking 2:1 against Saudi-Arabia.

That being said, I can't quite make out one team among the favorites that hasn't had some sort of crisis over the last year, missing players or something like that. The tournament seems really open to me which is why I can't wait for it to start.

Lead up friendlies mean nothing, you'll be fine.

England will make the semis along with France and Portugal

NIKV69 · Wed Jun 13, 2018 2:29 am

Since Italy didn't qualify I am pulling for Croatia!

Freakysh · Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:32 am

NIKV69 wrote:
Since Italy didn't qualify I am pulling for Croatia!

On paper, a great squad.

Croats have a knack of imploding when it's the business end.

Also half the team likes to party, the other half despises this lack of professionalism. We will see what happens.

Could be ok if the coach is allowed to pick the best team

alberchico · Wed Jun 13, 2018 11:54 am

http://www.espn.com/soccer/spain/story/ ... madrid-job

Spain just fired their coach a day before the WC begins :shock:

mad99 · Wed Jun 13, 2018 12:28 pm

fidelito wrote:
I hope my country(Peru) has a good performance

it won’t

you’ll be back to eating guinea pigs in no time!

mad99 · Wed Jun 13, 2018 12:33 pm

alberchico wrote:
http://www.espn.com/soccer/spain/story/3524002/spain-sack-julen-lopetegui-as-coach-before-world-cup-after-taking-real-madrid-job

Spain just fired their coach a day before the WC begins

the coach took the real madrid job

Scorpius · Wed Jun 13, 2018 1:25 pm

MrHMSH wrote:
The FIFA World Cup is nearly upon us, so now is the time to get hyped, ready for the inevitable disappointment. I'm really looking forward to it personally, and I think we should have a thread for developments, discussion and updates.

First match is a political onlooker's wet dream: Russia vs Saudi Arabia. Not going to be the best match ever but the buildup and jokes around it probably will make it great for the armchair viewer.

Of course, we are waiting for the championship. But the Russian national football team on it frankly not a place. Actually, in Russia there are no normal players, all they are good for is to act in advertising and for photo shoots of ladies ' magazines.
In fact, about the jokes - for the football team of Russia in this championship serves to make the official mascot of this souvenir:

(a red object is a referee whistle)

I'm planning to be at the Sparrow hills (lol, so he translated the name "Воробьёвы горы" http://s3.msmap.ru/original/44.jpg) tomorrow, maybe take a photo from the opening ceremony.

Derico · Thu Jun 14, 2018 10:14 am

Oh! It takes a huge news event to wipe the World Cup from the map in Argentina, which is exactly what is happening .

That and the fact Messi will play three games this time around.

Dutchy · Thu Jun 14, 2018 2:54 pm

Such a shame, the man whom is mr. Bribe from FIFA and whom gave to the WC to his pale Putin, will not attend the opening match tonight.

In Dutch: https://www.nu.nl/voetbal/5310449/blatt ... -gaan.html

apodino · Thu Jun 14, 2018 4:32 pm

So whats the over/under on number of Red Cards handed out?

scbriml · Thu Jun 14, 2018 6:18 pm

Dutchy wrote:
Such a shame, the man whom is mr. Bribe from FIFA and whom gave to the WC to his pale Putin, will not attend the opening match tonight.

In Dutch: https://www.nu.nl/voetbal/5310449/blatt ... -gaan.html

Blatter won't leave Switzerland because he's scared he'll be arrested.

Meanwhile, on the pitch, an ordinary looking Russia team thrashed the footballing giants that are Saudi Arabia 5-0.

MrHMSH · Thu Jun 14, 2018 6:33 pm

A high-scoring game of football where both teams were pretty poor. scbriml is pretty much spot on.

Tomorrow we have Egypt vs Uruguay, Morocco vs Iran and one of the only real blockbuster games in this group stage: Portugal vs Spain. I'm very excited for the latter, but it has all the hallmarks of a 0-0, a la Portugal vs Brazil in 2010. I really hope I'm wrong.

SOBHI51 · Thu Jun 14, 2018 7:52 pm

scbriml wrote:
Dutchy wrote:
Such a shame, the man whom is mr. Bribe from FIFA and whom gave to the WC to his pale Putin, will not attend the opening match tonight.

In Dutch: https://www.nu.nl/voetbal/5310449/blatt ... -gaan.html

Blatter won't leave Switzerland because he's scared he'll be arrested.

Meanwhile, on the pitch, an ordinary looking Russia team thrashed the footballing giants that are Saudi Arabia 5-0.

Aesma · Thu Jun 14, 2018 8:30 pm

Putin has probably promised something to Saudi Arabia to be sure Russia would win that one.

Dutchy · Thu Jun 14, 2018 9:04 pm

MrHMSH wrote:
Morocco vs Iran and one of the only real blockbuster games in this group stage: Portugal vs Spain. I'm very excited for the latter, but it has all the hallmarks of a 0-0, a la Portugal vs Brazil in 2010. I really hope I'm wrong.

Most probable indeed a 0-0 game, this will benefit both Portugal and Spain to move to the next round. They are playing the tournament not a single game 8-)

jordanh · Fri Jun 15, 2018 3:43 am

scbriml wrote:
Dutchy wrote:
Such a shame, the man whom is mr. Bribe from FIFA and whom gave to the WC to his pale Putin, will not attend the opening match tonight.
In Dutch: https://www.nu.nl/voetbal/5310449/blatt ... -gaan.html

Blatter won't leave Switzerland because he's scared he'll be arrested.
Meanwhile, on the pitch, an ordinary looking Russia team thrashed the footballing giants that are Saudi Arabia 5-0.

Interestingly, six of Saudi's best players were reported to have suffered from unexpected plutonium poisoning the night before the game... such a sad coincidence...

vrbarreto · Fri Jun 15, 2018 5:21 pm

jordanh wrote:
scbriml wrote:
Dutchy wrote:
Such a shame, the man whom is mr. Bribe from FIFA and whom gave to the WC to his pale Putin, will not attend the opening match tonight.
In Dutch: https://www.nu.nl/voetbal/5310449/blatt ... -gaan.html

Blatter won't leave Switzerland because he's scared he'll be arrested.
Meanwhile, on the pitch, an ordinary looking Russia team thrashed the footballing giants that are Saudi Arabia 5-0.

Interestingly, six of Saudi's best players were reported to have suffered from unexpected plutonium poisoning the night before the game... such a sad coincidence...

Yeah yeah yeah but in the next game.. The 6 extra legs and 4 extra heads each, helped them to destroy Uruguay. Anyone see the Uruguay VS Egypt today. Did Egypt finish with only 10 players and Suarez was running around picking red cloth out of his teeth?

scbriml · Fri Jun 15, 2018 5:26 pm

Hopefully tonight's Portugal vs Spain game will be a bit more entertaining than the other two borefests we've seen today. :zzz:

At the very least, the quality of the football has to be better. :crossfingers:

StarAC17 · Fri Jun 15, 2018 8:09 pm

Gonzalo wrote:
Ok, as dreaming is ( still ) free of charge, I will say my born country is my election. We already twisted destiny a couple of times in 1930 and 1950 ( Maracanazo!! )
Vamos URUGUAY !!!!

No biting this time :duck:

scbriml wrote:
Hopefully tonight's Portugal vs Spain game will be a bit more entertaining than the other two borefests we've seen today.

At the very least, the quality of the football has to be better.

That was a good match!!

wingman · Fri Jun 15, 2018 8:15 pm

The world cup has officially begun with that match, phoah! I’d say there’s an an even chance Cristiano breaks the goal record in R1. I believe that stands at 6? I do feel better for Spain though knowing that 2 of the goals against came from situations where Cristiano is simply deadly. And the second goal a pretty dismal effort by De Gea. Oh well, sgould be nothing stopping both from advancing out of group play with performances like that.

MrHMSH · Fri Jun 15, 2018 8:25 pm

Well, well, well, what a scintillating match of football, had absolutely everything, and what a series of goals from Costa, Nacho and Ronaldo. The only way from here is down, gentlemen.

I'm very excited for the 4 matches tomorrow even if I'll miss France vs the Aussies.

scbriml · Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:20 pm

scbriml wrote:
At the very least, the quality of the football has to be better.

You read it here first!

What. A. Game. :bouncy:

Simply sensational. Football of the highest quality with two teams determined to win the game. Great stuff. I've already forgotten the two earlier games.

Freakysh · Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:45 pm

StarAC17 wrote:
Gonzalo wrote:
Ok, as dreaming is ( still ) free of charge, I will say my born country is my election. We already twisted destiny a couple of times in 1930 and 1950 ( Maracanazo!! )
Vamos URUGUAY !!!!

No biting this time

https://youtu.be/vPnoLl3N45w

jetwet1 · Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:51 pm

2122M wrote:
You see Belgium and Panama both outdoing England? Certainly not Tunisia, right?

1-0 Belgium
0-0
0-0

And England are out.......Sad, but it is hard to feel positive with them until they prove me wrong.

scbriml wrote:
scbriml wrote:
At the very least, the quality of the football has to be better.

You read it here first!

What. A. Game.

Simply sensational. Football of the highest quality with two teams determined to win the game. Great stuff. I've already forgotten the two earlier games.

Yes indeed, if Spain can get it's act together they will be hard to beat, they really had this game in hand in the second half, then imploded right at the end.

Planeflyer · Sat Jun 16, 2018 12:24 am

Fantastic day one! Spain’s Ronaldo was a great game

Revelation · Sat Jun 16, 2018 12:32 am

ltbewr wrote:
Here in the USA, most games will be played during working hours. Guess some will come in late, have a long lunch, or sneak steaming on their computers or smartphones, arrange meetings so not to interfere with their wanting to follow matches. Where I work, in a group of 100 or so people, we must have 20 who are fans of Football (Soccer), root for teams like Poland and Argentina. The last time of the World Cup, a restaurant on the ground floor was showing matches and you could follow the flow of the game just by their cheers there.

Was walking up the stairs at my place of employ and heard a loud cheer.

I went into our cafeteria and saw a sizeable percentage of the work force watching the World Cup match on a big screen TV.

It was just as CR scored the equalizer.

We have a pretty diverse workforce.

I was the only Caucasian in the room.

fidelito wrote:
I hope my country(Peru) has a good performance

You're already ahead of the USA.

Aesma wrote:
Putin has probably promised something to Saudi Arabia to be sure Russia would win that one.

jordanh wrote:
Interestingly, six of Saudi's best players were reported to have suffered from unexpected plutonium poisoning the night before the game... such a sad coincidence...

Planeflyer · Sat Jun 16, 2018 1:06 am

Sorry, meant Spain v Ronaldo was a great game. Wow!

777Jet · Sat Jun 16, 2018 2:57 am

I don't expect my country, Australia, to do much. I'm just glad that we made it to the World Cup. I would be happy if Tim Cahill scores a goal.

alfa164 · Sat Jun 16, 2018 4:21 am

777Jet wrote:
I don't expect my country, Australia, to do much. I'm just glad that we made it to the World Cup. I would be happy if Tim Cahill scores a goal.

It looks like they won't have a chance: Putin just announced that Russian security agents had discovered a Ukrainian plot to bomb various World Cup venues... therefore, he has cancelled the rest of the competition and, since Russia won its game by the widest margin so far, it will be declared the World Cup Champion. Everybody else must go home.

Sorry, world.

scbriml · Sat Jun 16, 2018 8:05 am

Planeflyer wrote:
Fantastic day one! Spain’s Ronaldo was a great game

Planeflyer wrote:
Sorry, meant Spain v Ronaldo was a great game. Wow!

And it was day two!

Too much falling-down juice?

Dutchy · Sat Jun 16, 2018 8:52 am

alfa164 wrote:
777Jet wrote:
I don't expect my country, Australia, to do much. I'm just glad that we made it to the World Cup. I would be happy if Tim Cahill scores a goal.

It looks like they won't have a chance: Putin just announced that Russian security agents had discovered a Ukrainian plot to bomb various World Cup venues... therefore, he has cancelled the rest of the competition and, since Russia won its game by the widest margin so far, it will be declared the World Cup Champion. Everybody else must go home.

Sorry, world.

haha, somewhere in a dark place in my head I thought, yeah, sure this could happen.

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