🇷🇺 FIFA World Cup 2018 🇷🇺

[Jason]

All that matters is they win, style becomes a problem when you lose. I'm not really one who despises anything that isn't free flowing beautiful football personally, I enjoy watching teams that are tactically drilled to perfection just as much. Defensive masterclasses are a joy to watch as well and France have delivered some this tournament. That French back four have been brilliant.

[Eutyphro]

Sure, defence is important and a great part of the game. But how France started against Belgium was ridiculous, and they were purely lucky to win that game. They brought no redeeming quality to that game. But it's not surprising that anti football wins in a tournament decided by set piece goals. The dominance of set piece goals is a strange development though. I hope it ends after this tournament.

It's cool that you're on team anti football, cause Mourinho coaches United. But really, nobody is interested in watching matches where teams stand 10 yards behind the middle line when the opponent has the ball, and it gets decided by a corner kick. Football in the end is entertainment.

I have great respect for defensive tactical team like Atletico who are vicious in the counter though. So after the Arsenal loss to Atletico you wouldn't hear this rant from me, because that was tactical quality and efficiency, whereas France vs Belgium was f*cking ridiculous.

Edited July 15, 2018 by Eutyphro

[TheRipperOfLagoZancudo]

Look on the bright side France/Africa dislikers, they'd have to fight the champions curse. 

[Diego.]

For me, France was my favourite to be world champion. However, Still disappoint me that Argentina lost against France but anyways, That's how football is. France deserved it.

[Jason]

25 minutes ago, Eutyphro said:

It's cool that you're on team anti football, cause Mourinho coaches United. But really, nobody is interested in watching matches where teams stand 10 yards behind the middle line when the opponent has the ball, and it gets decided by a corner kick. Football in the end is entertainment.

Not really lol that's not what I said. The day every team plays the same is the day football becomes boring, the fact that there's so many ways to win makes the sport interesting and exciting to watch.

 

Also re: set piece goals, I don't have the stats my self but Gareth Southgate stated a few times that a lot of knockout goals in international tournaments are scored from set pieces, which is one of the reasons why we (England) focused on it. So I don't think it's a one off thing.

[Miro]

Ugly as hell this World Cup, so glad it's over. It just seems like everyone gave no more than two craps about this tournament, and most of the big players have under-performed. Either that or perhaps they are all just tired after an extremely hard season, like all seasons anyway. Next World Cup to be held in November will f*ck up not only the whole tournament in terms of history, but also all the big championships and international competitions. Well, seems like all in all this tournament is going downhill for awhile. 

 

Congratulations to France for being the most serious from all the top teams expected to perform. No one will care in years from now that they played sh*t the entire tournament. But props to Croatia for getting there, even if they had the favorable route, no one will remember that either. All in all, bad luck in terms of organizing the teams, one half was too crowded with top teams while the other with lower teams. Hope this month will pass quick and we can return to the good football, as long as they don't plan on changing that have an seasons kick-off in January.

[Eutyphro]

46 minutes ago, Jason said:

Also re: set piece goals, I don't have the stats my self but Gareth Southgate stated a few times that a lot of knockout goals in international tournaments are scored from set pieces, which is one of the reasons why we (England) focused on it. So I don't think it's a one off thing.

It's especially prominent this tournament though. There seem relatively few non set piece goals. I also think other tournaments had more beautiful goals.

[Jason]

It has been a strange world cup for the types of goals scored for sure. Twelve own goals, which is double the amount of the previous record (1998), tons of penalties (we have VAR to thank for that I guess) and some very important set piece goals. There has been some great goals, Nacho, Pavard, Lingard, the Belgian counter vs Japan and a few others, but no all time great goals really.

 

I do like how this World Cup was ref'd for the most part as well. Some challenges went in that should probably have been yellows if not reds but the games have had a good flow to them, not much stop and start stuff.

[Evil empire]

Oh yes! They did it once again! We are the champions!

[Crokey]

Gutted for Croatia, first two goals were just wrong, first was a dive, the second not a pen.  Not the first time I've not rated France in the final, 98 they weren't great and Euro 2000 likewise.

[Miro]

Umm the penalty was fair since he moved his hand towards the ball and enlarged his body width.

[Guest]

The penalty IMO was fair, the referee checked for 2 minutes with VAR if Perisic's move was a fault or not. This has been definetely a weird WC, Italy ( ), Chile and Netherlands didn't qualify, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Portugal have been knocked out early considering their potential, Russia and Sweden arrived in the Quarter Finals, England could had a chance and Croatia (a nation with only 4.5 million people) reached the final. VAR has helped a lot but, since the first matches of Serie A and Bundesliga (the only championships that adopted this technology already in the previous season) I noticed that it could be improved in some aspects, for example stopping the time of the match while there's a check or extending its use to more situations.

 

Please let's not talk about the luck that France has had, because football is also based on luck, especially in these tournaments with only 1 leg in the knock-out stage. But if we want to talk of luck, I think we should say something on Croatia too: Croatia-Denmark (won on penalties), Croatia-Russia (won on penalties) and Croatia-England (won after extra time). If I have to analize only the match of yesterday, I would say that Croatia deserved to win, but if I have to consider the whole tournament I'd say that France has shown something more and deserved to be World Champions.

[Doc Rikowski]

It was pretty much a robbery. France had to win. They would never let Croatia win a WC.

[Guest]

A robbery? For what? Referees made a good job yesterday IMO and with VAR it's basically impossible helping a team. France deserved to win and, for me, VAR should be adopted also in the UCL (from the group stage) and in the majority of the biggest european championships.

[Doc Rikowski]

No foul on Griezman on the free kick that caused the own goal (and Pogba in offside on the own goal). No penalty. VAR handed over the title to France cause that is how it was supposed to be. And FIY the press is quite unanimous on these two "mistakes". Nothing new to be honest. They robbed it in 98 too when somehow Ronaldo had a mysterious seizure and when, as Platini publicly admitted, they rigged the group phase draw to favour France. Unfortunately countries like France who have a long history of being sh*t at the game need to win anyhow otherwise the'd never make it. Not even mentioning the fact that there was only one French guy in the line up cause that is already beyond ridiculous.

[Brutal Trout]

9 minutes ago, Doc Rikowski said:

No foul on Griezman on the free kick that caused the own goal (and Pogba in offside on the own goal). No penalty. VAR handed over the title to France cause that is how it was supposed to be. And FIY the press is quite unanimous on these two "mistakes". Nothing new to be honest. They robbed it in 98 too when somehow Ronaldo had a mysterious seizure and when, as Platini publicly admitted, they rigged the group phase draw to favour France. Unfortunately countries like France who have a long history of being sh*t at the game need to win anyhow otherwise the'd never make it. Not even mentioning the fact that there was only one French guy in the line up cause that is already beyond ridiculous.

lol

[Laker23]

I mean, I get people are mad at France winning. The football they played for the most part wasn't fantastic to watch. However, it's funny to see the 'Croatia weren't supposed to win' comments.

 

I guess it's also FIFA's fault that Croatia missed an abundance of chances in the first half, too.

 

Anyway, I enjoyed the WC as a whole. I felt the group stages were a bit weird with the lack of goals, especially in the first half of matches. You could almost predict a first half would end 0-0 or 1-0.

I enjoy seeing the big dogs get knocked out by underdogs, so that wasn't a problem for me. Something that I did wish for is England to play better opposition. A lot of England fans wanted the easy route, of course, but I would have loved to have seen them against Brazil, possibly France, etc.

[Guest]

I don't remember if there was a foul or not on Griezmann's free kick, anyway the VAR couldn't have been used for that case. The penalty was more than clear, for sure Perisic didn't want to touch the ball with his hand, but his arm enlarged his body...

Technically the French line up was 100% French, we can discuss about the fact that 90% of them haven't French origins, but as long there's written "Nationality: French" on their passport I don't have any problems, also because nowadays every national team has someone who has foreign origins (Dele Alli - England, Lukaku - Belgium, Khedira - Germany).

 

P.S. When it comes to football Italians and French haven't a good relationship, honestly I was hoping in Croatia, but I have to admit (and I'm not very happy to say this ) that France deserved to win! GG France! GG Croatia for the good result!

[Doc Rikowski]

And that's why the World Cup lost its magic. They might as well allow national teams to actually hire foreign players just for the tourney. Quite sure that's the future.

 

Tbh most of the line up was as French as I am...

Edited July 16, 2018 by Doc Rikowski

[Brutal Trout]

 

9 minutes ago, Doc Rikowski said:

And that's why the World Cup lost its magic. They might as well allow national teams to actually hire foreign players just for the tourney. Quite sure that's the future.

 

Tbh most of the line up was as French as I am...

So you really are from Mars.  You should pay a visit to planet Earth sometime.

[Doc Rikowski]

Truth is always uncomfortable or alien.

[Eutyphro]

I'm sure almost all of those players are more culturally French than the country their parents are from, but they didn't grow up in. Mbappe is half Algerian and half Cameroonian, probably isn't integrated into either of these societies. Who should he play for according to you? I think the fact that players like Ziyech who grew up in the Netherlands choosing Morocco is often more unnatural than the reverse. Dutch Moroccans are also often considered foreign by native Moroccans. So they are considered foreign in the country they grew up in, and the country their parents are from simultaneously.

But now this topic has become D & D..

Edited July 16, 2018 by Eutyphro

[Doc Rikowski]

As Maradona said there's a Mafia that imports young players to Europe from Africa that goes hand by the hand with the new economical colonialism that reduced African countries to a place nobody wants to live in. It is OT and would need a deeper debate but it's a fact that what is sold by the media as multiculturalism is indeed the result of the exploitation of Africa's resources, being material or human. The France line up is like an ode to this exploitation. Of course the actual players are happy and live a rich life but the number of their countrymen that suffer for them to be at the top is not a price I'd pay for, if I were in them. Big respect for those like Weah that chose the hard path.

[Brutal Trout]

So this how you justify your racism ?

 

Yep, props to Weah who was elected President of Liberia, because.... he's Liberian, born there. If Kanté or M'Bappé were to run for president one day, it would be for France (where they were born, like most of the French players), elected by their "countrymen", you know, the French people. 

Maybe you can have your friend Maradonna enlighten us, between two rails of coke and a heart attack, about how many players of the actual French team (and the '98 too, that was "sh*t at the game" lol) have been imported by the Mafia ? 

 

 

[Tchuck]

Thing is, they are French when they are victorious: they become French-born Cameroonian, French-born Algerian, French-born Congolese whenever they perform badly.

 

Just ask Lukaku. When he's a star, he's the pride of Belgium; when he's not doing well, he's a Belgian-born Congolese footballer. 

 

So it's ridiculous that on one hand France et al are becoming more immigrant unfriendly, but on the other hand are still reaping the benefits of it when it suits them.

 

But yes, this is a D&D topic.

[Doc Rikowski]

18 hours ago, Brutal Trout said:

So this how you justify your racism ?

 

 

Never justified racism. I said that immigration from Africa is the result of exploitation. The more a western country exploited a poor african one, the more you will see african players in their line up. It is a direct consequence. The media use this as a positive example of multiculturalism when in reality it is portrayed like this to cover the colonial crimes of the past and the economical ones of the present. Then of course it is normal that an immigrant, born poor, will try his luck with football which is the most democratic sport ever cause everyone can play it. And it is normal that a lot of immigrants will succeed at it. For them is the only chance to have a decent life and job in the "marvellous multicultural society" fake dream sold by the power. Their anger and hunger are their fuel.  The reality though, for the vast majority of them, will continue to be a banlieu one with no perspectives in a society that will allow you to rise from the dust only if you can shoot a ball and win "pour la France!".

[Brutal Trout]

2 minutes ago, Doc Rikowski said:

Never justified racism. I said that immigration from Africa is the result of exploitation. 

And you also said most of the team's line up is not French, which I have to admit is more of a form of xenophobia than racism.

 

Anyway let's leave it at that and enjoy victory and the load of hate it carries.

 

here's an article in french, but I think you can easily understand what it's about

 

https://www.bfmtv.com/international/italie-deferlement-de-haine-raciste-contre-les-bleus-apres-leur-victoire-1490728.html

[Guest]

I understand a little of French and, for me, it's just sad reading these comments. The example with Mario Balotelli is just perfect: when he scored 2 goals against Germany in Euro 2012 he was basically a national hero. But the saddest thing is that these comments full of envy were also made by our biggest magazines such as "La Gazzetta dello Sport" and "Il corriere della Sera" only because one of our biggest rivals in football have won the WC...

Our ex president of the Italian Football Federation Carlo Tavecchio (sacked after the defeat against Sweden) talked about this topic a few years ago saying basically what @Doc Rikowski wrote. He also made a lot of bunders regarding women, homosexuals and Jews and, at the time, all the medias were against him. Now it's just hilarious seeing all these comments made by "journalists" who were against Tavecchio a few years ago 

 

Anyway I think that this discussion is going a bit off-topic, we were talking about the WC in general and now we're discussing about immigrants and politics. Let's all accept that France won this WC! 

[Doctor Holliday]

Look I'm happy for France and stuff, and it was a good game, but we need to admit that - without Africa - the French don't even have a team.

 

 

hashtag Open Borders

hashtag Immigration

hashtag Cultural Appropriation

 

[Evil empire]

If it really happens "France would never win the world cup without Africa" how come no african country never won this competition?

 

The players of the french team were born and grew up in France apart for 2 of them (Umtiti and Mandanda). These players where trained in France, which maybe also explains why they won.

 

Many national teams have a largely higher nuber of members who were born in another country like Spain (3), Croatia (3), Serbia (4), Portugal (7), Switzerland (7) or Morocco (19).

 

By the way France is the country where 50 world cup players were born. The number of world cup footballers born in my country is more than twice superior to the number of those who played in the national team so this point of view about France stealing talents from the rest of the world doesn't match the reality.

 

 

These declarations about Africa having won the world cup with french shirts looks more like a piece of badly placed pride from frustrated racists than anything else.

Edited July 22, 2018 by Evil empire