OT: 2018 World Cup Thread
- Thread starter LionJim
- Start date
It still amazes me that countries with far worse problems than the USA has, their soccer players aren't kneeling and are passionately singing their national anthems
Probably because the consequences for doing so would be much worse than what they are here.
Columbia up 1-0 over Poland at the half. Columbia seems to be dominating the game, though Poland has had some nice counters. Poland has not performed as well as expected in the WC
Columbia's GK with his 2nd terrific save. It appears that he hurt his knee or ankle, in a collision with with his teammate. He hurt the leg very early in the game in a collision with a Polish player.
Not sure why anyone expected anything from Poland. They were good in qualifying against a really weak group. If you can’t qualify out of a group with Romania, Denmark, Montenegro, Armenia, and Kazakhstan you are garbage.
I suppose it is because they are in weak Finals group. Poland has Lewandowski and not much else.
I don't know of anyone except their diehard fans that thought they had a legitimate shot at winning this year's WC. That said, heading into the WC, they were #8 in the FIFA rankings. In addition, most of the betting lines I saw for their pool had Poland as the favorite to win their pool. In the context of those two items, they seem to qualify as one of the bigger under achievers at this year's WC
It’s been a good tournament. Final group matches begin tomorrow. For the uninitiated, each of these two final group matches kicks off at the same time. (So as to eliminate prior-knowledge advantages, for example, sitting a star player when you’ve already clinched first place in group.)
FIFA rankings are as legitimate as Herbie’s “eye test” if the Buckeyes have any chance at a playoff spot
Colombia was favored to win the group, but Poland was favored to advance (I made some $ playing them not to advance at +150).
oh, without a doubt. They rarely seem to align with current reality, so it's not unusual for WC results to differ from FIFA rankings.
I will defer to you on betting lines, as you've established your bona fides. My mistake if Poland was not favored in the betting lines
I actually scored a goal like that once (high volley)--though off a cross and not off the keeper's error. The best part of it was one of my teammates looking at me in disbelief with his hands on his hips saying "where the &^% did that come from?"
Kinda. The video review could have done so at the time. It's one of the reviewable calls (I've seen it a couple of times in Crew matches this season). And, while it's not an "official" red, a player can be suspended for a red-worthy action in a game by the disciplinary committee after the fact. Again, I saw this in a Crew game this season.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
Right. And then there's this. :
FIFA Will Investigate Two Switzerland Players For Controversial Goal Celebrations
Photo: Clive Rose (Getty)
FIFA has announced that it has opened an investigation into Switzerland players Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka in light of both players’ politically charged goal celebrations during Switzerland’s 2-1 win over Serbia yesterday.
Both celebrations, which involved the hand gesture you can see above known as the Albanian eagle, were references to Shaqiri’s and Xhaka’s Kosovar Albanian heritage. Albanians were a persecuted minority of the former Yugoslavia, and the tensions between them and Serbians remain. Kosovo, the national home of many Albanians, only declared independence from Serbia and Montenegro in 2008. The Albanian eagle hand gesture is meant to mirror the two-headed eagle depicted on the Albanian flag.
Shaqiri was born in Kosovo before his family fled for Switzerland. Xhaka was born in Switzerland to Albananian parents, one of whom served time in Yugoslavian prison for protesting against the government. Another of Switzerland’s starters yesterday, Valon Behrami, is also of Kosovar descent.
Because of this fraught sociopolitical history between Albanians and Serbians, yesterday’s Switzerland-Serbia match was always ripe for controversy. Setting things off in typically disgusting soccer fan fashion were some Serbian fans who wore shirts with the face of Ratko Mladić, a genocidal war criminal of the Yugoslavian army. Serbian fans also booed Shaqiri and Xhaka on the pitch.
Shaqiri and Xhaka responded to the tense atmosphere in the best way possible. Xhaka scored a wondergoal to tie the match up early in the second half, and Shaqiri scored the winner in the 90th minute. Both players celebrated their badass goals with the same eagle hand gesture.
When asked to explain their celebrations after the game, both Xhaka and Shaqiri mentioned how the gestures were a reflection of their emotional responses to the events of and surrounding the match. From the Guardian:
“Frankly, my opponents did not interest me at all,” Xhaka said. “It was for my people, who always supported me. For those who did not neglect me, in my homeland, where my parents’ roots are. These were purely emotions.”
Shaqiri, who plays for Stoke City, admitted that he was not allowed to talk about “politics” and insisted the celebration was “just emotion”. As he went through the stadium’s mixed zone he grew irritated at the questioning, replying “let’s not talk about this” and walking out when again asked what the significance of the celebration was.
“It was a fantastic goal, an important goal for my team and I am very proud I was able to score it for them,” Shaqiri said. “I can’t discuss the gesture I’m afraid. We are footballers, not politicians… Emotions sometimes take over footballers and there was a lot of emotion out there.”
You might imagine that a couple guys playing in one of the biggest games of their lives, up against a team representing a country with so much personal and historical baggage for them, all while being antagonized by the opposing fans with boos and the image of a murderous war criminal, and rejoicing in their enormous goals by doing a harmless little thing with their hands would be beneath FIFA’s concern. You’d be wrong.
The gestures themselves are probably fine under FIFA’s rules, as are the Kosovo flags stitched into Shaqiri’s boots, but FIFA does have a provision meant to prevent players from “provoking the general public.” If FIFA hits Shaqiri and/or Xhaka with that, they could be suspended for up to two matches. A suspension for this gesture would be beyond stupid, which if anything makes it all the more likely that the morons at FIFA respond with a suspension.
Shaqiri and Xhaka weren’t the only participants in that match to be placed under investigation, however. Serbia’s manager, Mladen Krstajić, will also be investigated due to these bizarre comments in reference to a penalty he believes his team deserved but didn’t receive:
“We were robbed,” he said. “I wouldn’t give him either a yellow or red card, I would send him to the Hague. Then they could put him on trial, like they did to us.”
Krstajic also posted photographs from the match on his Instagram account, accompanied by the comment: “Unfortunately, it seems that only the Serbs are condemned to a selective justice, once (it was) the damned Hague and today in football the VAR...”
What the World Cup needs is more deep-seated sociopolitical angst, and less FIFA interventions in what are essentially benign gestures that celebrate players’ feats and personal heritages.
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Germans kneeling in support of U.S. football players:
“We wanted to make a stand against racism,” Hertha captain Per Skjelbred said after their 2-0 loss to Schalke.
Hertha’s starting lineup linked arms and took a knee on the pitch, while Pal Dardai’s coaching staff, general manager Michael Preetz, club officials and substitutes took a knee off it before kickoff.
“Hertha BSC stands for tolerance and responsibility! For a tolerant Berlin and an open-minded world, now and forevermore!” the club said on Twitter.
Right. And then there's this. :
FIFA Will Investigate Two Switzerland Players For Controversial Goal Celebrations
Photo: Clive Rose (Getty)
FIFA has announced that it has opened an investigation into Switzerland players Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka in light of both players’ politically charged goal celebrations during Switzerland’s 2-1 win over Serbia yesterday.
Both celebrations, which involved the hand gesture you can see above known as the Albanian eagle, were references to Shaqiri’s and Xhaka’s Kosovar Albanian heritage. Albanians were a persecuted minority of the former Yugoslavia, and the tensions between them and Serbians remain. Kosovo, the national home of many Albanians, only declared independence from Serbia and Montenegro in 2008. The Albanian eagle hand gesture is meant to mirror the two-headed eagle depicted on the Albanian flag.
Shaqiri was born in Kosovo before his family fled for Switzerland. Xhaka was born in Switzerland to Albananian parents, one of whom served time in Yugoslavian prison for protesting against the government. Another of Switzerland’s starters yesterday, Valon Behrami, is also of Kosovar descent.
Because of this fraught sociopolitical history between Albanians and Serbians, yesterday’s Switzerland-Serbia match was always ripe for controversy. Setting things off in typically disgusting soccer fan fashion were some Serbian fans who wore shirts with the face of Ratko Mladić, a genocidal war criminal of the Yugoslavian army. Serbian fans also booed Shaqiri and Xhaka on the pitch.
Shaqiri and Xhaka responded to the tense atmosphere in the best way possible. Xhaka scored a wondergoal to tie the match up early in the second half, and Shaqiri scored the winner in the 90th minute. Both players celebrated their badass goals with the same eagle hand gesture.
When asked to explain their celebrations after the game, both Xhaka and Shaqiri mentioned how the gestures were a reflection of their emotional responses to the events of and surrounding the match. From the Guardian:
“Frankly, my opponents did not interest me at all,” Xhaka said. “It was for my people, who always supported me. For those who did not neglect me, in my homeland, where my parents’ roots are. These were purely emotions.”
Shaqiri, who plays for Stoke City, admitted that he was not allowed to talk about “politics” and insisted the celebration was “just emotion”. As he went through the stadium’s mixed zone he grew irritated at the questioning, replying “let’s not talk about this” and walking out when again asked what the significance of the celebration was.
“It was a fantastic goal, an important goal for my team and I am very proud I was able to score it for them,” Shaqiri said. “I can’t discuss the gesture I’m afraid. We are footballers, not politicians… Emotions sometimes take over footballers and there was a lot of emotion out there.”
You might imagine that a couple guys playing in one of the biggest games of their lives, up against a team representing a country with so much personal and historical baggage for them, all while being antagonized by the opposing fans with boos and the image of a murderous war criminal, and rejoicing in their enormous goals by doing a harmless little thing with their hands would be beneath FIFA’s concern. You’d be wrong.
The gestures themselves are probably fine under FIFA’s rules, as are the Kosovo flags stitched into Shaqiri’s boots, but FIFA does have a provision meant to prevent players from “provoking the general public.” If FIFA hits Shaqiri and/or Xhaka with that, they could be suspended for up to two matches. A suspension for this gesture would be beyond stupid, which if anything makes it all the more likely that the morons at FIFA respond with a suspension.
Shaqiri and Xhaka weren’t the only participants in that match to be placed under investigation, however. Serbia’s manager, Mladen Krstajić, will also be investigated due to these bizarre comments in reference to a penalty he believes his team deserved but didn’t receive:
“We were robbed,” he said. “I wouldn’t give him either a yellow or red card, I would send him to the Hague. Then they could put him on trial, like they did to us.”
Krstajic also posted photographs from the match on his Instagram account, accompanied by the comment: “Unfortunately, it seems that only the Serbs are condemned to a selective justice, once (it was) the damned Hague and today in football the VAR...”
What the World Cup needs is more deep-seated sociopolitical angst, and less FIFA interventions in what are essentially benign gestures that celebrate players’ feats and personal heritages.
---
Germans kneeling in support of U.S. football players:
“We wanted to make a stand against racism,” Hertha captain Per Skjelbred said after their 2-0 loss to Schalke.
Hertha’s starting lineup linked arms and took a knee on the pitch, while Pal Dardai’s coaching staff, general manager Michael Preetz, club officials and substitutes took a knee off it before kickoff.
“Hertha BSC stands for tolerance and responsibility! For a tolerant Berlin and an open-minded world, now and forevermore!” the club said on Twitter.
FUTBOL.
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
@Midnighter -- your sig pic ... I'm blown away. Kidding aside, that's an awesome pic
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anon_xdc8rmuek44eq
Guest
I got away from the ‘hot girl sig pic’ but this one of Frenchie Nabilla Benattia was just too striking to pass on. This was taken in Santorini, Greece. Click right to see another take...
Question for those of you more knowledgeable about soccer than me. I know grabbing the jersey is against the rules but usually only called if it alters the play. Can you attempt to break a defenders grip of your jersey? Or would that player get carded for trying to dislodge the defender?
Grabbing a jersey is all about what a ref can see. I was a 5’9” forward in college playing against much bigger defenders. If a forward got near me I routinely reached back and grabbed the front of their jersey. The defenders would always grab the back of mine. Strength is a huge part of breaking free of a grip. Generally a ref can not see a jersey tug if it occcurs close to the body. If you don’t let go before separation happens it becomes pretty obvious to a ref. It is almost identical to getting off a screen in basketball.
I understand what you're saying. So, if you were to swing your arm like an uppercut or swung down like a swim move with a guys arm attached to your jersey what happens? I'm curious because I was watching the Colombia match earlier and one guy had a hold of the other guys jersey for like 3 seconds. He (the guy on offense) ended up getting flung to the ground (some of which may have been acting) when the defender lost his balance and fell. Is trying to break it against the rules?
First, when trying to understand soccer rules, and how they are called, it helps to look at the play in the bigger picture. For example, grabbing a jersey is against the rules. However, if the player whose jersey is grabbed breaks away and continues with control of the ball, or passes it to a teammate who continues with control/an attack, then it would disadvantage the attacking team to call the foul, so the foul should not be called.
So continue with that bigger picture approach with the scenario you detailed. If a defensive player grabs a jersey, and the offensive player is able to dislodge/break the grip of the hold, and continues on the attack/is able to pass to a teammate on the attack, has the offensive team been impacted in the grand scheme? Has the defensive team been impacted in the grand scheme? In most cases, the answer to both questions would be no, the team has not been impacted, so nothing should be called against the defensive player or the offensive player.
At the same time, notice that I prefaced the last sentence with "in most cases." What if the offensive player dislodged the player holding his jersey by elbowing the player in the face, or in the throat? In essence, the offensive player has committed a foul to overcome the defensive player's foul. That changes the dynamics. There are a few different ways a ref could handle that situation (part of what non-fans/participants find so challenging about soccer).
To return to your last question, just attempting to dislodge a jersey grab would not warrant anything, let alone a yellow. The only way the offensive player could be given a yellow is if the ref felt their attempt to break the hold was especially egregious, like a very violent elbow to the face.
What do you mean by this ?? How bad Panama is or how poor our talent level and options are ?
How poorly prepared we were to play that day against T&T. Embarrassingly unprepared. Arena brought the team in later than normal. When they got to the field they were shocked by the condition of it. How is that possible? Their warmup was pathetic and the players were lethargic. Arena was laughing and joking. The whole mood and attitude was wrong. Arena had a bug up his ass about Geoff Cameron dating back to a personal problem they had years before and froze him out of the team and on and on. Bringing Arena back was a monumental mistake. They needed ONE point! You park the bus and play for it. Throw two defensive MF out there. Don’t try to play pretty soccer on a crappy field.
I'll be going to the first game at the new WHL on 9/15. Wife and I always make a UK trip every other year and I always catch a Spurs match.
Messi vs. Ronaldo on the international stage:
http://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-wor...the-closest-thing-to-diego-maradona-right-now
"Pressure? Ronaldo invites it, drinks it in and uses it to inspire him to the heights we have seen him scale at this World Cup in Russia, with a sensational opening game hat trick against Spain followed by his match-winning diving header against Morocco.
Messi, on the other hand, appears to be a broken man, increasingly crushed by the burden of expectancy that comes with wearing Diego Maradona's old shirt for Argentina. No player has had more attempts on goal in Russia than Messi, with 12, but he has not scored with any of them, and his sharp exit from the pitch following the Croatia defeat was that of a man who wanted to be anywhere else in the world."
http://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-wor...the-closest-thing-to-diego-maradona-right-now
"Pressure? Ronaldo invites it, drinks it in and uses it to inspire him to the heights we have seen him scale at this World Cup in Russia, with a sensational opening game hat trick against Spain followed by his match-winning diving header against Morocco.
Messi, on the other hand, appears to be a broken man, increasingly crushed by the burden of expectancy that comes with wearing Diego Maradona's old shirt for Argentina. No player has had more attempts on goal in Russia than Messi, with 12, but he has not scored with any of them, and his sharp exit from the pitch following the Croatia defeat was that of a man who wanted to be anywhere else in the world."
