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OT: 2018 World Cup Thread

LionJim

LionJim

Well-Known Member
Oct 8, 2003
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Levittown, PA to Olney, MD
Kicks off at 11am today, Russia vs. Saudi Arabia. Consensus favorite seems to be Brazil with Germany close behind. Uruguay getting some love. Over/under on Luis Suarez bites? I say 1.5.

I guess I’ll be supporting Germany but perhaps another team will make an exciting run, as did Uruguay in 2010 (Diego Forlan had a memorable tournament).
 
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In all seriousness, I will be pulling for Germany. I'd love a repeat of Germany-Brazil in the 2014 final, but it isn't realistic to expect such an easy victory for the Germans this time around.
 
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This could get some debate going. Bleacher Report published a ranking of the 100 best players in the World Cup. It is broken down by position.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...king-the-top-players-heading-to-russia#slide1

Thoughts?

Earlier in the week, Bleacher Report published an overall ranking of the Top 50 players in the World Cup (i.e., all positions combined). I'll post that link if I can find it. (In case I cannot find it, Messi was #1 and Ronaldo was #2.)
 
Der Mannschaft - big Kroos and Muller fan.

Although very interested in watching Belgium. Loads of talent and my favorite current player - Kevin de Bruyne

Got my DVR set
 
Some really talented Euro squads and I expect them to be ok there. Germany is an gimme, but I really like Belgium....so much talent on that squad. France left out 11 that quite frankly could compete in the WC, but the A squad struggled against the baby Yanks last week. Just as long as Mexico doesn't advance past the first round, it will be a good WC.
 
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LaJolla Lion said:
Some really talented Euro squads and I expect them to be ok there. Germany is an gimme, but I really like Belgium....so much talent on that squad. France left out 11 that quite frankly could compete in the WC, but the A squad struggled against the baby Yanks last week. Just as long as Mexico doesn't advance past the first round, it will be a good WC.
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If Mexico and Russia don’t advance, I’m good.
 
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My German colleagues are not very confident.
I'd be surprised if they make the final.
But I am looking forward to watching their match match with SK in Germany (wonder if Rivals will work lol).
 
I really wish this was on NBC. I am not sure if I can take the fox announcers for a month.
 
By the way, it was announced that all goals will be video-reviewed for offsides. The assistant referees have been instructed to keep their flags down unless they’re 100% sure it was offsides. This came up because Russia came close to putting the ball in the net on a clear offsides, and no flag up.
 
LionJim said:
By the way, it was announced that all goals will be video-reviewed for offsides. The assistant referees have been instructed to keep their flags down unless they’re 100% sure it was offsides. This came up because Russia came close to putting the ball in the net on a clear offsides, and no flag up.
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Speaking of off-side, have you ever heard the song sung by ManU fans about Suarez when he was at Liverpool?
“Your teeth are offside, you teeth are offsiiiiide, Luis Suarez, your teeth are offside”

I have to admit it made me chuckle when I found out about it
 
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LionJim said:
The assistant referees have been instructed to keep their flags down unless they’re 100% sure it was offsides.
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that part isn't a change. ARs are never supposed to signal for offsides unless they are 100% certain of the call.
 
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Me and some buddies have a pact to go to Iceland if they make the final 4 and watch with the people. We have great airline deals out of Cincy. It won't happen with them 200/1 but that is who I am rooting for. 2nd would be Germany due to relatives.
 
Tom McAndrew said:
that part isn't a change. ARs are never supposed to signal for offsides unless they are 100% certain of the call.
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Yeah, point taken, but this example was quite egregious, wayyyyy offsides. I had to think that the linesman would have raised his flag if he hadn’t known that there was video backup for him.

Damn, you made me miss a goal, now 3-0.
 
LionJim said:
Yeah, point taken, but this example was quite egregious, wayyyyy offsides. I had to think that the linesman would have raised his flag if he hadn’t known that there was video backup for him.
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I didn't see the play, so I can't say for sure what happened.

US Soccer changed their rules 2 years ago, I believe based on FIFA rule changes, that ARs are to hold their flag UNTIL the player that was offsides actually touches the ball. There were two exceptions to this: 1) if there was a 50-50 ball between the offside player and the keeper, where the flag is to be raised to prevent unnecessary collisions/injuries, 2) if the player in the offside position was actively involved in the play, AND preventing a defender from playing the ball. Long-time players, coaches, and fans have been slow to realize this rule change in the US. I believe that's how the refs are enforcing offsides at the World Cup, but I'll have to check on that/watch more WC games, to know for sure.
 
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Tom McAndrew said:
I didn't see the play, so I can't say for sure what happened.

US Soccer changed their rules 2 years ago, I believe based on FIFA rule changes, that ARs are to hold their flag UNTIL the player that was offsides actually touched the ball. There were two exceptions to this: 1) if there was a 50-50 ball between the offside player and the keeper, where the flag is to be raised to prevent unnecessary collisions/injuries, 2) if the player in the offside position was actively involved in the play, AND preventing a defender from playing the ball. Long-time players, coaches, and fans have been slow to realize this rule change in the US. I believe that's how the refs are enforcing offsides at the World Cup, but I'll have to check on that/watch more WC games, to know for sure.
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I imagine that I may have oversimplified, but I was parroting the announcers. Later there was an offsides call where the flag did go up, much less obvious, so maybe things aren’t as different as I made them out to be. I guess the important part of my post is they DO have video review for offsides when there’s a goal, which is a step in the right direction, IMO.
 
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LaJolla Lion said:
Some really talented Euro squads and I expect them to be ok there. Germany is an gimme, but I really like Belgium....so much talent on that squad. France left out 11 that quite frankly could compete in the WC, but the A squad struggled against the baby Yanks last week. Just as long as Mexico doesn't advance past the first round, it will be a good WC.
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Made my bet on Belgium months ago at 12 to 1. yeah, a ton of talent.
 
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Chickenman Testa said:
Speaking of off-side, have you ever heard the song sung by ManU fans about Suarez when he was at Liverpool?
“Your teeth are offside, you teeth are offsiiiiide, Luis Suarez, your teeth are offside”

I have to admit it made me chuckle when I found out about it
Click to expand...

I dont really follow soccer...

thats the "Canibal"... right? dude is nuts
 
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wow, Uruguay with a header off a corner for a goal at the 89th minute. Egypt, without their star, looked to be about to get the tie, which would have been a surprise in of itself. 5 minutes of stoppage time added, so the game is not yet over.
 
It is really unfortunate for the Egyptians about Salah. I believe fully that Ramos intentionally hurt Salah in the final. No doubt it was on purpose.
 
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Tom McAndrew said:
wow, Uruguay with a header off a corner for a goal at the 89th minute. Egypt, without their star, looked to be about to get the tie, which would have been a surprise in of itself. 5 minutes of stoppage time added, so the game is not yet over.
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Watched the first half and it was clear that Egypt would be lucky to get away with a point. The goal was spectacular, surrounded by red jerseys he was.
 
Tom McAndrew said:
I didn't see the play, so I can't say for sure what happened.

US Soccer changed their rules 2 years ago, I believe based on FIFA rule changes, that ARs are to hold their flag UNTIL the player that was offsides actually touches the ball. There were two exceptions to this: 1) if there was a 50-50 ball between the offside player and the keeper, where the flag is to be raised to prevent unnecessary collisions/injuries, 2) if the player in the offside position was actively involved in the play, AND preventing a defender from playing the ball. Long-time players, coaches, and fans have been slow to realize this rule change in the US. I believe that's how the refs are enforcing offsides at the World Cup, but I'll have to check on that/watch more WC games, to know for sure.
Click to expand...

If the player in an off side position impairs the vision of the GK and it results in a goal I believe the AR would rule him offsides as well. Not sure it is written in the FIFA rule book, but I have seen it called on multiple occasions.
 
Watching the Portuguese national anthem, all players are focused on the flag and singing the anthem as loud as they can.

What a concept.
 
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GreggK said:
It is really unfortunate for the Egyptians about Salah. I believe fully that Ramos intentionally hurt Salah in the final. No doubt it was on purpose.
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No way. I don’t think you realize how fast Salah can run. Ramos is in his thirties and experienced enough at the highest levels to know you have to make contact with players that speed to have any hope of stopping him.

I used to play in a league with a guy who had national teams caps. Despite the fact he is bigger, stronger, faster and pretty much better than me in every quantifiable way, he has never been able to score a goal against me 1v1. We laugh about it every game over beers. I would never intentionally hurt him.
 
SUPERTODD said:
If the player in an off side position impairs the vision of the GK and it results in a goal I believe the AR would rule him offsides as well. Not sure it is written in the FIFA rule book, but I have seen it called on multiple occasions.
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yeah, that's a tough one, especially for matches at levels below where the 3 refs (plus the 4th ref and the goal ref at very high levels) are wired together. At the non-wired level, the AR can raise the flag if they think the attacker in the offside position impaired the vision of the GK. Or, the Center, who usually has the better angle on whether there is impaired vision, can delay signaling the goal, and just run over and check if the AR was in an offside position. Either way, there's all kinds of bitching by players/coaches/fans, as it's not something that can be called quickly. With the wired refs, I don't know what the FIFA protocol is on raising the flag in that situation, but I've been told that they are usually talking about the play, so it's usually called pretty quickly. In either scenario, it's the Center's decision, but they usually need assistance from the AR.
 
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