World Cup Day 5 Thread
Looking forward to watching Belgium and hoping England choke, as usual. That being said, I expect them to dismantle Tunisia.
The only dismantling that's taken place so far has been Russia over Saudi Arabia, so I don't expect that. On paper it should be an absolute murderfest, but I expect Tunisia to play with 11 men behind the ball, keep their D very compact and force England to play down the channels. If Trippier has a big day bombing down the right, I think England win by a 2. If They try and play through the middle then anything could happen.
Belgium should tear Panama apart.
I wouldn't sell Tunisia short. It's not that easy to qualify out of Africa (only 5 spots for 50-some teams) and, like Algeria and Morocco, they have a number of players who went through the French development system.
Sweden - South Korea 0-0 at half, Sweden got some decent chances at the end of the first half. I'm hoping this one ends in a draw for Germany's sake. I'm expecting England to choke, per usual, at some point in this tournament, but they should be able to take care of Tunisia.
GOAL!!!!
just kidding
I'm excited to see how Belgium and England look today. Got the games streaming on half of my 3rd monitor. Who needs to do work anyway?
STOP THROWING YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR AND GO PLAY THE BALL
Oh shit, he doesn't get the ball at all. Definitely a penalty. Good call.
GOOOOOOOOOOAL!
Sweden 1 - 0
That should have been Sweden's 2nd penalty kick. Refs got it right this time, they missed the one right before half time.
Since the USMNT didn't make it, my rooting interest is for everyone to loose and every fanbase to have a terrible time. Especially Mexico. They're the Ohio State of the soccer world, in that their fan base is terrible and they are terrible and should cease to exist. Can't believe they beat Germany.
I could do without their overuse of Lucha Libre masks for sure, but in general I only dislike Mexico b/c their our biggest rival. On the global stage, I hope they beat the establishment.
IMO, Mexico is not like Ohio State b/c Ohio State is the establishment. Maybe more like MSU.
But I can't lie and say I wasn't rooting for Mexico yesterday, b/c I was, and I never root for MSU or OSU.
I mean, of course, the only reason to dislike Mexico is because they're the US's main rival. I mean otherwise, they're just a bunch of regular ol' people from a fine country. But this is sports. I need no other reason than that they're a rival to hate them with the fire of the sun. I see them as OSU because they're the main regional power that stands in the US's way from dominance of the conference if only the US could get out of it's own way. Just like UM. But either way, all that matter is that Mexico lose so bad they decide to dismantle the whole program and all the dual nationals declare to play for the US.
Wow that is certainly a position to take!! I love your passion, I just can't get it in me to have Mexico like I do OSU/MSU or for that matter Liverpool and Man City.
Don't get me wrong, when they play the US, I am 100% against them, but otherwise whatever.
my rooting interest is for everyone to loose
So your favorite part is the pre-game stretching?
I agree. Never go full Landy-cakes.
Must be selling alot of underwear on this site.
Belgium putting pressure on Panama early but shots are not on target at all.
This 3 5 2, 3 4 3 or whatever formation Martinez has them in is not working. Harzard and Mertens are too narrow and occupying all the space that De Bruyne should be operating in.
Playing De Bruyne in a CDM is terrible and really under-utilizes his skill set. Martinez already screwed himself when he left Nainggolan off the roster. He would have been perfect to put in the MF freeing De Bruyne to play more like he does for Man City.
I really have no clue what Belgium is attempting to do here. What a weak first half.
For all the talent they have on the field, they looked very uninspired. Hazzard is the only guy pressing the CBs and even that has been few and far between.
Hasn't that been pretty much the story with Belgium in recent years though? On paper as much talent to seemingly go toe to toe on the biggest stages with the global powers, but just never can seem to put it together. I feel like they're the perennial 'dark horse' to win at every big tournament since I've been watching soccer.
At least they still make great beer.
Have you been watching soccer for four years? Belgium didn't qualify for the 2010 WC or 2012 Euro.
It is a false narrative that people latch onto and think it's been like this for much longer.
The "golden generation" for Belgium started around 2013-2014. Before that they were good, but never had the talent like they did starting in 2013.
And in 2014, they made the quarters of the WC and lost 1-0 to Argentina - a decent enough tournament.
The 2016 Euro (when they lost to Wales in the quarters) is the only real basis for this reputation.
I mean, yes, I've been watching soccer since like 2012 closely. Hence why I qualified it with recent years. But even in the early part of this decade, Belgium had some really nice players on the roster used for Euro qualifying; Hazard, Kompany, De Bruyne, Dembele, Mertens, Fillaini, Benteke, Lukaku. Granted, they were all younger and not in current form, but still, that's a lot of talent to lose to not qualify for Euros over Turkey. Kind of fits the narrative that they have a lot of talent, but the national team can't quite put it together.
Wow. I guess that is one way to do it.
What a great one touch strike. It's fun rooting for the underdog and all, but when talent produces a moment of brilliance like that. Wow.
Courtois really bailed out Carrasco there.
Much better shape from Belgium this half. KDB allowed to do more KDB things.
Finally a favored team is playing like it. Great second half from the Belgians.
It's strange to see Henry coaching for Belgium.
My pick for golden boot (Lukaku) is off to a strong start eh
My rooting interest is in direct proportion to my 23andMe report. Haha!
Walker what are you thinking? Just head it out of the box. Why give them a freebie you lazy ass? England is going to draw this thing.
In attack, I think they miss the likes of Loftus-Cheek and Marcus Rashford. Now, I'm watching this about 25 min behind so if they are on the pitch now, sorry.
Yeah, that penalty was awful, but I feel like England is just not sharp enough in front of goal right now. They're creating chances, but nothing comes of it. Interesting to see if Rashford makes an impact.
England looks like Tottenham on an off day against a relegation club!
England bailed out by a goal in stoppage time. I’ll take it. Rashford and Loftus Cheek need to play more.
Tunisia defended pretty well most of the day, but wow did they blow it there. Left him totally unmarked.
I thought England played okay. The gap between the nations is closing. Nobody can expect to wipe the floor with “smaller” nations every time out anymore.