OT: World Cup Open Thread (Round of 16 - Day 3)
and he's actually awesome at his job
Interesting first half. France may want to wake up some time soon.
I dont see what the commentators saw - that goal by Nigeria looked fine, he seemed even with the last man from France.
Was definitely offside. Last man fully in front of line in grass. Emenike's leg past. Close but right call.
Rough challenge.
ESPNFC reporting Altidore has been cleared to play tomorrow against Belgium.
I'm curious if he'd be able to go a full 90 (or 120, I suppose). Either way, I want to see him on the pitch for many, many reasons.
Damn, something is for sure broken in that guy's ankle or leg.
I like not giving the red there. Don't want to affect the outcome of the game too much.
Unfortunately a significant majority of the calls (non-calls) have benefited one side. I'd say this one affected the outcome quite a bit so far:
or this:
EDIT: Link to the play. I think it's pretty clearly a RC and Nigeria lost that dude for the rest of the game+. So, how was that not affecting the game too much?
Cleared off the line by Moses. So close for France.
Wow so close
I googled trying to find punchline to the joke.
http://www.worldsoccer.com/news/laurent-koscielny-donates-e600000-donat…
Turns out this is a real thing.
Yeah, but they are doomed anyhow:
What a blast - so close again
...et le but!!!!
Massive fail by Nigeria's keeper there.
France finally get the goal after a great save and then terrible goalkeeping by Enyeama
And that will do it.
Its too bad the Super Eagles couldn't fly high enough. Needz moar steroids.
Nice last 15 minutes from France. The first 75 minutes will get them destroyed by Germany though.
France will go up against one or the other of its two principal military adversaries of the twentieth century (I exclude Greenpeace, which is not a country and not a member of FIFA. Also, they were pacifists so it was a bit of an unfair battle).
The Vietnamese might disagree with you. They actually defeated France; De Gaulle simply gave up on Algeria after a referendum.
Do recall that the Nazis actually conquered France.
I wasn't talking about Germany.
French fans have an interesting dilemma here. Normally, they would obviously want Germany to be upset, given how strong their team is. But Algerians are the largest immigrant group in France and in soccer terms anyway, tend not to be very assimilated - they generally root for their country of origin (similar to a lot of Mexican Americans, I suppose). Algerian victories are often followed by rowdy street celebrations that sometimes turn violent. When Algeria qualified for the second round, 20 cars were burned in the city of Lille. That was against Russia. If Algeria is playing against France, it could get pretty ugly in the streets. French skinheads may also choose to join in the "fun" and battle Algerian fans. French policemen and firefighters (and probably the government) are going to be pulling for Germany.
Definitely the government, too. An Algerian victory over France would be the end of Hollande's government.
Their appears to be quite a bit of discussion as to what the Algerian coach told his Muslim players regarding drinking water today. It was first reported that he said they should drink water but it was their final choice. Then that story was changed and "no advice was given".
For Germany,Ozil, has already said he will take water today.
I can't imagine those who don't take water won't suffer greatly in reduced efficiency and increased risk of severe cramping.
This just in: France-Germany match to be played in Belgium!
Will the French be allowed call in American substitutes after the 80th minute?
overwhelm the Germans.
The Bosnian team and the Croatian team get to play together.
55 degrees and raining at match time. I suppose the heat will not be a factor. Haven't seen the field conditions but this could be a sloppy game.
This game already has more bitchiness than the earlier one.
They better wake up or this could be an early exit for Germany.