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Sports FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
- Thread starter awyp
- Start date
Close one imo, now Morocco next
Today was a reminder of the gap that’s still there between Korea and the top teams, but there were a lot of good things to take away from this World Cup. Getting to R16 was an honor itself, and I look forward to the days where it is considered an expectation and not just something we are hoping for.
For tomorrow's games:
I'm going with the Moroccan upset over Spain, I think it can happen plus I've been saying since my first post on this thread that I think Morocco will be the dark horse of this World Cup, so we'll see.
It would be a disaster if Portugal loses to the Swiss, they are a very formidable team but I think Portugal's expectation of this World Cup was to go to the finals and win or being fine with getting knocked out by a very good team (like Spain, France, and Brazil).
I'm going with the Moroccan upset over Spain, I think it can happen plus I've been saying since my first post on this thread that I think Morocco will be the dark horse of this World Cup, so we'll see.
It would be a disaster if Portugal loses to the Swiss, they are a very formidable team but I think Portugal's expectation of this World Cup was to go to the finals and win or being fine with getting knocked out by a very good team (like Spain, France, and Brazil).
all 3 of Brazil's goals from open play were pretty tbh (and Richarlison's effort to earn the penalty I guess, is better than most penalties at least)
The 3rd one was nuts though. Richarlison's juggle, turn, and vision to make the run. Then of course the pace on the assist. Between this and his earlier bicycle against Serbia, he's having a fantastic tournament.
The 3rd one was nuts though. Richarlison's juggle, turn, and vision to make the run. Then of course the pace on the assist. Between this and his earlier bicycle against Serbia, he's having a fantastic tournament.
To be honest I’m more of a Gabriel Jesus type of guy but I got to see why Richarlison starts. So far he’s had 2 goals this World Cup which could go down as goals of the tournament. I’m going to make a wild claim but what I’ve seen from Richarlison this tournament reminds me of Brazilian Ronaldo. He is so good! I didn’t see that when he used to play for Everton but hey!
Ronaldo and his generation are the main inspiration for the current team, no doubt about that. These players were children in 2002 and watched that underrated and discredit team beat all its tough rivals (in my opinion, the most difficult was England). So despite a huge difference in skills between the number 9 of 2002 and the current number 9, I agree that Richarlison reminds Ronaldo! I hope that this similarity leads to the title again after two decades.
LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO VIVA MOROCCO!!!!! IVE BEEN SAYING THEY'RE THE DARK HORSE OF THIS WORLD CUP
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Literally called it :yawn:
fair play to morocco defensively but spain ran circles around them for practically the entire game (77% possession over 120 mins, over 3x the passes, 8 corners to 0 but just. couldn't. convert.) stats don't tell the full tale a lot of the time but, watching it, these feel justified. spain, however, were insisting upon dribbling the ball into the back of the net instead of taking potshots from afar. given that morocco had 10 men behind the ball at any one point, you'd expect them to at least try it. idk why coach subbed gavi off after an hour either, dude was looking like the most alive spaniard on the ball and drew some fouls in good positions. almost felt like spain wanted it to go to pens just as much as morocco did, and let me remind you spain got knocked out of euro 2020 by italy on pens and wc 2018 by RUSSIA on pens lmao.
neither team looked great in all honesty, so portugal will be feeling energised going into tonight and knowing that a beatable team lies beyond the swiss. argentina vs portugal final copium
neither team looked great in all honesty, so portugal will be feeling energised going into tonight and knowing that a beatable team lies beyond the swiss. argentina vs portugal final copium
my friend put it to me that everyone on this spain team grew up watching peak barcelona (e.g. 2010-2011 season) and wanted to be xavi or iniesta, but no one wanted to be david villa.
heck no one even wanted to be pique or puyol with their headers.
heck no one even wanted to be pique or puyol with their headers.
Whether he likes it or not, I truly think Ronaldo's best role at this point of his international career is being a second half substitute. With the team's performance today, Santos would be insane to not put out the same front three, regardless of any external pressure. I do think a lot of the fans share the same sentiment that the team right now performs better without him starting as the main focal point, but any Portuguese fans in the thread can feel free to correct me.
Yeah I'm a fan of Portugal, I'm very conflicted. I cannot deny someone a start over Ronaldo as striker if he scores a hat-trick he needs to at least start next game and continue form until they face France / England. But they might not get passed Morocco :o
Ronaldo needs to score a goal that's not a penalty for I think the coach to consider to start him, or they could play two strikers which is possible.
Spain lost where they had to lose. They were not candidates, the game against Costa Rica confused some people, but it was just an accident and the games vs. Germany and Japan confirmed that Spain had a lot of problems unsolved (and ignored, so they didn't try to fix them) Gavi and Pedri had a bad world cup, specially the last two games, but Spain's main problem is that they don't have good attackers, since Villa retired they have not produced a single top talent in attack, or a player that can appear and score in big games despite his club level (like Shaquiri for example)
Tiki taka is obsolete, even Pep noticed it and evolved his game (without leaving the possesion idea), but Spain did not. The good things of this 'tragic' loss for Spain is that:
1. They noticed they must change something in their playstyle, only 3 Ws in the last 11 WC games for them shows they have a lot to do to be at the top again.
2. Their best players are still too young, their moment to shine is 2026, not now, and that has to be the light of hope for Spain.
About Morocco: Amrabat was the MVP of the game, he did EVERYTHING well, excellent. Boufal was super fun to watch too, i don't remember the last time I saw a non-Southamerican player dribbling like him in a WC. Spain had the possesion, but Morocco dominated the game, it was played like they wanted it to be played, and their defence was just too good. Bono was excellent in the pens too.
Tiki taka is obsolete, even Pep noticed it and evolved his game (without leaving the possesion idea), but Spain did not. The good things of this 'tragic' loss for Spain is that:
1. They noticed they must change something in their playstyle, only 3 Ws in the last 11 WC games for them shows they have a lot to do to be at the top again.
2. Their best players are still too young, their moment to shine is 2026, not now, and that has to be the light of hope for Spain.
About Morocco: Amrabat was the MVP of the game, he did EVERYTHING well, excellent. Boufal was super fun to watch too, i don't remember the last time I saw a non-Southamerican player dribbling like him in a WC. Spain had the possesion, but Morocco dominated the game, it was played like they wanted it to be played, and their defence was just too good. Bono was excellent in the pens too.
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QFs already, who ppl got?
Netherlands > Argentina
Not really confident in this prediction, changed it to Netherlands and then back to Argentina as I started writing lol. Should be a close game either way and while Messi, De Paul and L. Martinez played very well against Australia last game, the goals just aren't really there a lot of the time and that game somehow managed to be close, with Martinez saving thr Argentines at the death. Netherlands weren't particularly impressive against USA and had less possession, passes, and corners, but could convert key chances. It's going to take some Messi magic, magic which hasn't really been there for a while but traces of which showed themselves last game, and Argentina can take it. Eh, I'm not a believer guys sorry. Back to Netherlands it is.
Brazil > Croatia
Should be a one-sided bloodbath tbh. Croatia looked thoroughly unimpressive last game while Brazil scored a team goal so disgusting I was shouting at my tv. Crostia prefer to play the passing game as they don't have the legs on key players (subbed modric and some other lad off before ET in the japan game). How are you gonna play the possession game against Brazil? You're not; Croatia will tire and Brazil will tear them apart.
France > England
Big potential for game of the tournament. France win games by simply scoring more than they concede - their backline is far from great but the talent up front more than makes up for it. England are on fire and you can make a case for these being two of the three best teams in the tournament so far - think it'll all come down to 1) whether Walker can keep up with Mbappe despite all his recent injuries and 2) whether Southgate plays the right team. France WILL score - their talent is undeniable even against world cup maguire who's been absurdly good, so England will need enough offensive power to do the same. Was a mistake not starting Rashford last game after his two goals the game before as that momentum will be gone now. No Sterling either as he had to fly home. England always falter when it matters most so I'll go with France here, but what a fucking match this one could be!
Portugal > Morocco
Morocco beat a very sub-par Spain today in what was only really an upset because of Spain's history. They're not the same team they were a decade ago and lack any finishing. Dominated the game today in all aspects but couldn't get things done despite knowing their shaky record with recent penalties. Morocco played the game well strategically but I don't think they have the starpower to beat Portugal, especially given their thrashing of the Swiss today. If Portugal don't start Ronaldo I think they have a big advantage as he's squandered a lot of chances this WC yet is ultimately the man of the hour and could serve as a super sub. Same issue with him at United though - many will argue he's too big of a name to be benched, regardless of the reason.
Netherlands > Argentina
Not really confident in this prediction, changed it to Netherlands and then back to Argentina as I started writing lol. Should be a close game either way and while Messi, De Paul and L. Martinez played very well against Australia last game, the goals just aren't really there a lot of the time and that game somehow managed to be close, with Martinez saving thr Argentines at the death. Netherlands weren't particularly impressive against USA and had less possession, passes, and corners, but could convert key chances. It's going to take some Messi magic, magic which hasn't really been there for a while but traces of which showed themselves last game, and Argentina can take it. Eh, I'm not a believer guys sorry. Back to Netherlands it is.
Brazil > Croatia
Should be a one-sided bloodbath tbh. Croatia looked thoroughly unimpressive last game while Brazil scored a team goal so disgusting I was shouting at my tv. Crostia prefer to play the passing game as they don't have the legs on key players (subbed modric and some other lad off before ET in the japan game). How are you gonna play the possession game against Brazil? You're not; Croatia will tire and Brazil will tear them apart.
France > England
Big potential for game of the tournament. France win games by simply scoring more than they concede - their backline is far from great but the talent up front more than makes up for it. England are on fire and you can make a case for these being two of the three best teams in the tournament so far - think it'll all come down to 1) whether Walker can keep up with Mbappe despite all his recent injuries and 2) whether Southgate plays the right team. France WILL score - their talent is undeniable even against world cup maguire who's been absurdly good, so England will need enough offensive power to do the same. Was a mistake not starting Rashford last game after his two goals the game before as that momentum will be gone now. No Sterling either as he had to fly home. England always falter when it matters most so I'll go with France here, but what a fucking match this one could be!
Portugal > Morocco
Morocco beat a very sub-par Spain today in what was only really an upset because of Spain's history. They're not the same team they were a decade ago and lack any finishing. Dominated the game today in all aspects but couldn't get things done despite knowing their shaky record with recent penalties. Morocco played the game well strategically but I don't think they have the starpower to beat Portugal, especially given their thrashing of the Swiss today. If Portugal don't start Ronaldo I think they have a big advantage as he's squandered a lot of chances this WC yet is ultimately the man of the hour and could serve as a super sub. Same issue with him at United though - many will argue he's too big of a name to be benched, regardless of the reason.
Jeong
Banned deucer.
Iago Aspas, Borja Iglesias, Gerard Moreno?
The problem is really our coach, who has taken his group of friends and not those who really deserved it.
I respect his style or idea of play, but you can't try to play like 2010 because you don't have players like that. That cycle is over.
Ferrán Torres is very bad, but of course, he goes out with the coach's daughter, for example. Luis Enrique showed from the beginning that this tournament did not matter to him. Then you look at player statements and more of the same.
It is ironic that an 18-year-old boy and a Frenchman who is active in our ranks are the only ones to be saved from this new failure. Same feeling as in 2018 vs Russia.
I don't consider Borja Iglesias a top talent, maybe Gerard Moreno, but Spain had the same problem in the Euros and Gerard was in the squad. Iago Aspas is good, my fav from those of your land, but he is too old to be relevant in the next years for Spain.
Something I didn't comment in my post: Nico Williams was good when he was on the pitch, fresh air for the attack. The last 10 minutes were when Morocco had more problems and Nico was one of the reasons.
England vs France 
2 teams with the most valuable players in this WC
I wish this match was a semi-final, not a quarter-final
2 teams with the most valuable players in this WC
I wish this match was a semi-final, not a quarter-final
Jeong
Banned deucer.
Luis Enrique also liked Nico, who replaced him with Sarabia thinking about the penalties. What happens next is history.