A Beautiful Thread for the Beautiful Game

Jefferson Farfan had a collision with Kvist. The former went with one knee held high, iirc.

Why, if I may ask?

Their attack also sorely lacks a proper goalstriker. Neither Urena nor Campbell seem to cut it, apart from a few runs the former had.

edited 17th Jun '18 7:43:39 AM by Quag15

Brazil is kind of in a very complicated political crisis at the moment. Our government has been plummeting toward the ground for the last three years, and elections are this year. You see, elections here are always in the world cup year, because Brazil's performance changes the population's mood quite strongly, and ends up affecting the election. The basic thing is that, if Brazil gets a really big success, people will end up being a lot more forgiving of the government when the elections come, and given there was a strike that almost broke the country last month, right now is not the time for things to be calmed down. We've been a bit too passive for far too long.

But that's boring, negative political crisis talk. Let's go back to the footbal celebration.

Seriously though, was the Denmark guy hit by a truck? That's no regular injury. Is the guy who hit him getting penalized in some way?

edited 17th Jun '18 8:06:01 AM by TheLovecraftian

I'm aware of the situtation with you guys right now, but I'm not sure if having a disappointing performance will help things (it might add to the current climate of discontent, imo, and further polarize things). Let's see what will happen.

No, because it wasn't intentional (both of them were trying to get the ball).

edited 17th Jun '18 8:09:20 AM by Quag15

My wish is mostly because with Brazil losing, the candidates for the election won't have much to hide behind. I don't really want the massive riots of a few years ago back, what I want is to see our politicians sweat and have to work to get people to vote for them.

But as you said, we'll see. Win or lose, Brazil could do with learning a thing or two and being forced to improve our game. Our team has been very lax recently. They need a wake-up call.

Oooh, yeah, that was an accident alright, but it still looks like a pretty sharp hit.

edited 17th Jun '18 8:26:05 AM by TheLovecraftian

Germany 0-1 Mexico

Now here's the first big shock of the tournament. Germany looked really sloppy in defense, and they weren't efficient in their finishing. Yeah, really.

More importantly, in spite of how frustratringly poor the passing and finishing in the final third was, Mexico still got to to win convincingly. Super quick counter-attacks and a well studied lesson were key to disrupting Germany's backline. Hirving "Chucky" Lozano scored the goal in the first half. As noted by Sean above, it's obvious that Ochoa was in his WC form with a couple of key reflex saves.

The pressure is now on Germany's side, while Mexico will celebrate till tomorrow.

In about an hour, we'll have Brazil x Switzerland. Watch this space.

edited 17th Jun '18 9:57:05 AM by Quag15

See, this is why I root for the less famous nations. It was so cute to see Mexico celebrating this! They're so happy!

And yeah, I don't think anyone called that one. Good for Mexico.

Yeah, I noticed. The hundreds of people with horns outside of my window noticed it too. (I live beside a park. They set up a huge screen there yesterday to show the game.)

edited 17th Jun '18 10:00:13 AM by TheLovecraftian

Brazil 1-1 Switzerland

A slightly surprising result (except for the people who believed in the Swiss' ability to frustrate stronger opponents). A mixture of Brazil playing in second gear, missed chances, and a super tight Swiss block meant that Brazil's only goal - a banger scored by Coutinho - came from outside the area and hit the post before going in. Switzerland's goal was scored shortly after the second half began, by Zuber after a corner.

There will be a lot of focus on Coutinho's goal, but kudos should also be given to Swiss GK Yann Sömmer. He was really focused and defended a fair few shots.

On the other hand, Neymar was underwhelming tonight.

This is the first time since 1978 that Brazil did not win its opening match of the World Cup.

edited 17th Jun '18 1:02:44 PM by Quag15

Alright, that was a decent game. The Swiss had a very good defense. Kinda made up for their offense, who were missing chances left and right. But they rarely let Brazil come close.

Not by lack of trying to make him relevant from the team. I swear, people focus too much on Neymar.

Looking at facebook right now, you can see just what's wrong with Brazilian football culture: the whole place is just flaring up around here with people accusing the judge of being corrupt in Switzerland's favor, saying that their goal wasn't fair, and throwing all sorts of mean comments around. This country is too obsessed with football for it's own good.

edited 17th Jun '18 1:16:01 PM by TheLovecraftian

Oh boy, I'm really liking this World Cup so far. So many surprises...

Unfortunatley, with the possible exception of Colombia vs. Japan, I don't really see any intersting match out of the remaining two groups. Kind of a "six in one hand and half a dozen in the other" thing. Maybe Belgium will offer something unusual?

I'd rate Poland x Senegal. It'll certainly be more exciting than Tunisia x England.

Well, he is the star player. It's obvious that there's a lot of focus on him.

Croatian NT manager Dalic kicks Nikola Kalinic from NT team because Kalinic did not want to play VS Nigeria. Kalinic seems to have a bit of a slacker reputation. Some Milan fans suspect he's having this attitude in order to stay at Milan (by not showing anything that could lead to a team buying him).

Sinisa MIhajlovic is Sporting CP's new coach.

edited 18th Jun '18 1:59:20 AM by Quag15

Personally, I'm interested in Belgium Vs Panama, if only because I have no idea how either team will behave.

It's not just that. Around here, Neymar is the pet footbal player of one of our biggest celebrities/sports commentators. The guy has major shares in Brazil's biggest corporations, so he's a major deal, and because of that, whoever he likes becomes the current football messiah in the country, irrespective of actual ability. Not that Neymar isn't a good player, but he got picked by this guy early in his career, and hasn't really earned half of the attention he gets as much as been handed it by this commentator. It's annoying and it interferes with the team. Last World Cup, for example, you could see the difference in the team's play style when Neymar wasn't in the game, as they weren't being told to favor giving him the ball over anyone else.

edited 18th Jun '18 4:19:23 AM by TheLovecraftian

Belgium are the clear favourites and will be seeking to put the pressure on an aging Panama side. Tunisia x England looks a bit more unpredictable.

Sweden 1-0 Rep. Korea

A mostly scrappy battle between two sides that were focused more on defending. The South Korean GK made some lovely saves, but a penalty scored by Granqvist (VAR decision here) gave the Swedes the much-needed 3 points (they'll face a Germany that will seek to put all concerns to rest next).

This is the first time that Sweden has won its opening World Cup match since 1958 (they had hosted that year).

edited 18th Jun '18 7:03:36 AM by Quag15

All of a sudden, the German press shits on Löw and his team after their defeat to Mexico. Way to throw the still current title holders into the Death Star's compactor! So much for "support your team no matter what"....

Man, I kinda pity Sweden. They now have to go into the next game with the pressure of possibly winning their classification and also of facing a German team that will not be holding back. They have their work cut out for them.

Also, congrats to the South Korean GK. He was doing some really good work today.

edited 18th Jun '18 9:11:10 AM by TheLovecraftian

Belgium 3-0 Panama (goals here)

In the first half, Belgium looked a bit devoid of ideas and Panama's GK was making some good saves.

But, in the second half, Panama crumbled. Merterns scored a decent banger shortly after the second half began, and, later on, Lukaku scored a brace in just 5 minutes. Courtois denied the Canal Men a chance of scoring a consolation goal.

Decent opener by Belgium, but they'll probably have to step up a bit more against England and Tunisia in the next days.

Speaking of which, Tunisia x England will begin in an hour.

A lovely shot of Fidel Escobar (yes, that's his name and it's awesome) and Lukaku praying at the end of the match for posterity.◊

Here's the statement by the Croatian side on Kalinic's departure from the camp.

Wolves have signed Rui Patrício on a free. Might as well call them Lobos right now, in terms of the sheer amount of Portuguese players that are there.

Or simply Jorge Mendes FC.

edited 18th Jun '18 10:13:22 AM by Quag15

England finally won a tournament opening game again.

Quite that it took so long to get a second goal...

Goals here

Between the rough fouls by the Tunisian defense (Kane was dropped to the ground with a quasi-wrestling move that should have given England a penalty), the unlucky moments Lingard had (a ball that hit the post, for example), and a Tunisia that held for quite a while, the second goal by Kane must be a relief.

In any case, England seem to be showing a sort of clear identity. Not all aspects are finely tuned yet, but it's a good win to start off their campaign.

In other news, Saudi Arabia team plane caught fire in mid air - before landing in Rostov. That scare will cause the Saudi team to feel even less of what's left of their morale.

edited 18th Jun '18 1:05:16 PM by Quag15

I was so confused at the start of the match. I expected England to come out in white and Tunisia to come out in red, and since I was watching on mute, it took me a while to understand which team was which...

Not directly pertaining to the World Cup, but THAT Cristiano Ronaldo bust has been discreetly replaced.

Say, do you guys know a good streaming service for the world cup? I've been watching a stream from a local broadcaster on mute (because the guy who narrates is insufferable), and I'd like a bit of a better service.

I happened to catch England vs. Tunisia while I was in my apartment's workout room. It was fun. :)

Colombia 1-2 Japan

This result is simultaneously surprising and not so surprising. Here's what happened:

• James was on the bench before the match began, due to a light calf injury he had picked up during training a day or two before;
• At the '3 or 4', Carlos Sanchez stopped a Japan shot with his arm. Red for him^note second fastest red in the history of the World Cup; the fastest one continues to belong to Uruguayan player Jose Batista - 55 seconds - back in 1986, penalty scored by Kagawa;
• Colombia equalized near the 40' with a free-kick by Quintero after a foul on Falcao. However, Falcao seems to have exaggerated/dived.
• In the second half, as Japan began to mount more and more pressure, Osako scored a header after a corner.

From there on towards the end, Colombia tried to recover (James had been subbed on when it was still 1-1), but the team was not focused nor organized. Now, Colombia is under massive pressure, while Japan has overcome the 4-0 trauma they suffered 4 years ago. Heroic Rematch, anyone?

This is the very first time an Asian nation has beaten a South American nation at the World Cup. Goals here.

In an hour, it's Poland x Senegal. This group will definitely be very open.

edited 19th Jun '18 7:04:20 AM by Quag15

Japan absolutely deserved the win. Falcao dived for the free kick that Colombia scored, so it should have been 2-0, as well.

If I'm not wrong, that was the first red card of this cup, wasn't it?