Proper striker, Costa.
What a load of shi'ite.
That was like Sterling v Italy all over again from Iran earlier.
Ref is a nonce.
Nooooo.
Fuck this shit.
Iran
Anti-VAR forever.
Ah that sucks.
Benefit of the doubt?
How isn’t that a penalty for handball?
Pique and Costa should have been sent off there.
Clearly taking the opportunity to kick at Iranian players.
I'll join the club. 'The right decision' is not worth these sacrifices.Originally Posted by Pepe
What sacrifices? What if it's 0-0 and Spain score a marginally offside goal in stoppage time?
Then VAR would get all the love it would deserve, of course.
That never happens though.
Tough shit, just like it always was.
That nugmeg.
There is something poetic about illegal goals. Also, if you're offside by an inch, that should be a goal.
If Iran sends Ronnie home.
Why is that better than ruling out goals that break the rules?
Isco’s first touch is orgasmic.
The fuck was that?
That's got to be one of the best things i've ever seen.
What the fuck was that?
What a shit day of football.
I think we watch sport for different reasons so there's no point debating it.
Emotion, immediacy, joy (and seethe), VAR works against them all. My team have been on the end of stuff in the past, that Ovrebo shit for example, would I want that sent upstairs? Would I fuck. Let Ovrebo be a shitcunt. Next time my team will get the call.
That throw in attempt saved the day.
VAR aside (of course it should exist), what are people's thoughts on the quality of play at the WC so far? I'd say it's below 2010 levels, at the moment. Has had 2 or 3 good games though.
It's better than 2010, as there's a usable football and the pitches aren't made of clay. Too many Middle Eastern shitfests, aside from that there's been decent football.
Bingo.
I think it is pretty good so far. A few turds but that is unavoidable. There seems to be less teams parking the bus for 90 minutes, plus the no 0-0 dream is still going.
Also, there are no clearly superior teams, so the knockouts might bring some surprises.
There's been some good games, but no team has looked up to much so far. Spain were the best in the first round of matches, but were shit tonight.
I'm starting to genuinely think England might win it, which is I think the first time that's happened in my life. We are shit at the back but have a golden boot candidate, and our draw is favourable and getting better.
The best performance so far was that of Mexico.
People should read that Why England Lose book for a passable explanation as to why things like 'a level playing field' are things people think they want but don't really want. I think getting the right decision via VAR falls into this sort of thing. It greatly inhibits the chances of an upset as most backs-to-the-wall great stands usually have at least one bit of terrible refereeing in their favour.
On an emotional level, VAR is not very desirable. However, now that it has been installed you'll never get rid of it by appealing to 'emotion, immediacy, and joy.' We just need to get on with it.
The route to glory is wedging Cahill and Dier into the team (say at the cost of Trippier and Sterling) and just go full set piece attack of the giants mode. Assuming someone can cross a ball. Might have to get young Trent in for that.
England actually looking decent from corners can’t last, surely.
Edit: this isn’t England group thread!
I'm a twit
That's not a bad shout at all.
Draw getting better, Jim? Is that because Columbia and Poland both lost or am I missing something else?
Edit: Ze Germans.
Germany losing, and I don't think even we have it in us to lose to Japan.
If Germany finish second in their group, then we'll want to finish second in ours, so Belgium-England could be both teams trying to score own goals and defending the other team's net.
Yeah, just had a look. If Brazil win their group and Germany finish second, they'd play each other in the second round and we'd potentially play the winner in the quarters...if we win our group.
Finish second and we'd end up losing to Mexico or whoever finishes second in Brazil's group in the last eight.
I'm a twit
Taking it one further, if we win the group, in the semis you're looking at one of Uruguay, Spain or Portugal. Second it's France, Argentina or Iceland(!).
Unlikely, but there it is.
That didn't take long.
I reckon the most deflating possible World Cup exit would be going out to Switzerland on penalties in the quarter-finals, so let's do that.
If Spain/Portugal both win by the same score the group winners will be decided by fair play lol.
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