OT: World Cup Day 1 Open Thread
I completely understand - wait until the Spain-Netherlands game tomorrow to really piss you off.
Holy crap Ian DArke is the british Gus Johnson
I nearly blew up there
Soccer officiating is literally the worst thing this side of figure skating judging.
FIFA refs
NBA refs
PAC 12 Refs
MLB umpires
NFL refs
Neymar is obviously brilliant, but Brazil's defense is lacking. Croatia has had numerous chances. Neymar's health is also a concern.
Croatia played Brasil tough but Brasil got the win. Big goal there by Oscar to seal it.
OSCAR!!!!
Another blatant Brazil foul just ignored by the official prior to that goal.
So its clear you hate Brazil.
Ramires just clobbered the Croat midfielder that led to the toe poke goal.
Many bad key calls going against Croatia decided the outcome. Both keepers look like MLS quality (oh yeah one is,lol) with slow reactions and mishandling of balls. Very laxed defending by Brazil. Hoping for better play and reffing tomorrow.
Many bad calls against Croatie did not decide the outcome. Brazil outplaying Croatia decided the outcome. Croatia's goal was an own goal by Brazil. Nothing lucky about that??
No, there wasn't much luck in that at all--it was abysmal, even comical, defending by Brazil, with both defenders letting their marks get ball side of them by yards.
That back four was awful today. They can'r really be that bad, can they? I thought they'd at least get to the semis but if they keep playing like this they won't survive the round of 16.
The ref directly caused the second Brazil goal which should have been a caution and IFK going the other way. It was a tied game at that point and Brazil had little momentum and was being outplayed . It was the turning point of the match.
Minutes later Cesar misplayed yet another ball challenging a header and a quick whistle against Coatia, that should have been a no call, took away what would have been the tying goal. Then there were two successive bad OOB calls to add insult to injury. I think this 15 minute stretch where Croatia got no calls did decide the outcome.
I'm not into lucky or not, just capable reffing, and this Japanese crew was not up to the level of the game. Would be very surprised if they work another WC match.
but the guy used both hands to impede him and flat grabbed him with the left hand. If he doesn't do that Fred doesn't dive and there's no call. You guys are acting like it was a complete phantom, as if he didnt touch him at all. Frankly to me it was just like a lot of charge calls you see in college basketball, guy flopped and fooled the ref. The problem is the magnitude of the missed call. In hoops its a turnover, usually no big deal, in soccer it can easily be the difference in the game.
But the way Fred threw his legs out, it was an obvious flop. By the way, defenders are allowed to touch in soccer. Just an awful, awful call that changed the game.
It's been great to watch him develop from a solid player for Spurs to an elite midfielder. I think when Croatia gets their red carded players back they will finish second inhtis group, provided the goalkeeping gets better.
As for Brazil, not sure why Hulk starts. Oscar has been their rising star. Everyone likes Neymar's flash. Scoreboard watchers will 2 goals but it wasn't an impressive day for a suposed superstar. Danny Alves continues to show that he is a striker playing defense.
Can't wait for the Kings and Spurs to end all the other sport's nonsense on TV ; )
and Marcelo is a winger playing left back.
They'll be OK in the group stage but in the knockout rounds they'll be facing teams designed to rip defenses apart down the wings and they're going to try to defend with fullbacks that can't tackle, are slower than the players they'll be marking and don't have any positional sense. How's that going to be work? Is the extra firepower they get from them offensively really worth it? Seems like they already have enough of that--it's the back end that needs firming up.
Dante for Marcelo, maybe?