World Cup 2018 Discussions
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English want to be in the final and this time is their best chance of getting there. England so far haven't faced any country that won a WC. Not been tested yet. If they beat Croatia then France will be their test but i expect Croatia to put up a stiff resistance, unlike the swedes. What gives me doubts is they weren't that convincing against Russia who played very well. One missed and one saved penalty was all that separated the two. I was expecting a win of two goals from Croatia in ful time not to see two all at the end of extra time. Some key Croat players appeared injured too
ENG vs SWE was a surprising game where the swedes just defend and aren't able to attack much. Moment they went two down they should have just gone all out against the english. They appeared subdued. Russia were better than Sweden and this from the lowest ranked team at 70 of the tournament
ENG vs SWE was a surprising game where the swedes just defend and aren't able to attack much. Moment they went two down they should have just gone all out against the english. They appeared subdued. Russia were better than Sweden and this from the lowest ranked team at 70 of the tournament
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NotMyRealName
England and sweden were so pathetic, i think belgium will win the wc against croatia. Then again, england broke their penalty shootout jinx so anything can happen really.
aok
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Hmm.. IMO England has been showing sparks of brilliance occasionally. But they are not consistent. On their day, england can be disruptive.
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NotMyRealName
Exactly. This last game with sweden, it wasn't just kane that was off, the entire team was. Other times they just flow. I guess it could also be the late night parties, booze, drugs, russian (pee pee tape) hookers and hangovers 
aok
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Haha.. could beExactly. This last game with sweden, it wasn't just kane that was off, the entire team was. Other times they just flow. I guess it could also be the late night parties, booze, drugs, russian (pee pee tape) hookers and hangovers
. Anyway Belgium has bowed out. So my prediction of final is already down the drains!! Let's watch England's match tonight and see how well those Russian drugs kicks in
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Oracle
England won 2 -0 against sweden. It was sweden that was offExactly. This last game with sweden, it wasn't just kane that was off, the entire team was. Other times they just flow. I guess it could also be the late night parties, booze, drugs, russian (pee pee tape) hookers and hangovers
As far as incnsistent goes realise that they used their B team against belgium who also used their B team
France v england in the final now. I expect croatia to lose against england. Their last two performances against denmark & russia didn't distinguish them.[DOUBLEPOST=1531303244][/DOUBLEPOST]
The belgium manager changed the team formation for the France game. I don't know why. They've used 3-4-3 for 5 games and then suddenly shifted to 3-5-2 for the france game. And lost (!)Haha.. could be
3-5-2 is england's formation. Also unchanged since the start. Let's see if it stays tonight
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NotMyRealName
Belgium was playing very poorly compared to their better performances. Hazard was exceptional but the rest of the team lacked especially in passing quality. Lukaku barely touched the ball. Almost seemed like they were fixed to lose. But forget the conspiracy theory. France's defence was exemplary. Almost every cross into the box was swiftly cleared away. This was a game where france clearly dominated belgium unlike the eng - swe game where england played pretty poorly but only won because sweden were even worse. one of the worst performances by england. if they play like that against croatia it's not gonna be as easy. but my prediction is they will up the ante, and win, maybe not easily, but win nonetheless. An england france final would be quite a bitter battle.
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Oracle
I didn't think Belgium were playing poorly, against France both teams were very good. France had twice the shots on target. Belgium have every reason to play for the 3rd spot and go home heads held high
Why was the formation changed just for that game ? Only martinez and henry can answer. Whether that helped or not. Both de Bruyne & Fellaini were playing on the left when their usual place is on the right. So i didn't see too much of them unlike earlier. Lukaku couldn't do much because the quality of passes wasn't good enough. Goalkeeping and defense on both sides stood out and its no surprise in a way that a defender scored the winning goal, his only one of the tournament. Score for France would have been higher if not for Courtois
It was impossible to predict who would win this game
Why was the formation changed just for that game ? Only martinez and henry can answer. Whether that helped or not. Both de Bruyne & Fellaini were playing on the left when their usual place is on the right. So i didn't see too much of them unlike earlier. Lukaku couldn't do much because the quality of passes wasn't good enough. Goalkeeping and defense on both sides stood out and its no surprise in a way that a defender scored the winning goal, his only one of the tournament. Score for France would have been higher if not for Courtois
It was impossible to predict who would win this game
aok
Discoverer
aok
Discoverer
French defense effectively cut off the Belgian trio from each other. Only Hazard shone as a lone withering beam.[DOUBLEPOST=1531373891][/DOUBLEPOST]My predictions proved to be completely wrong.. yet again
England went a bit cozy after scoring that early lead imo.. they could've sealed the game had they pressed on for a second!
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Oracle
Yes well i figured England were going to win it going by their previous performance and the first half seemed to confirm it. Then the equaliser came and England looked wobbly for the first time in the tournament. Some questionable substitutions. Should Stirling have been taken off, then whether it should have been done earlier. Rashford never seemed to impress when he came on. When the second came in, England were down to ten with no subs left. Playing one man short, in a wc semi-final, in extra time, trying to equalise with only ten minutes left is a death march.
Had England gone two up the game would have been theirs, so close yet so far. Kane missed an easy one there. He'll get the golden boot
Imagine if Croatia win the cup. Only 4 million population. Been through two penalty shootouts and won, third extra time round. They have put in the work and going by the second half performance against England can fight back. Thing is this was not apparent with Denmark & Russia where they should have won.
Who knows there might be extra time again in the finals.
Had England gone two up the game would have been theirs, so close yet so far. Kane missed an easy one there. He'll get the golden boot
Imagine if Croatia win the cup. Only 4 million population. Been through two penalty shootouts and won, third extra time round. They have put in the work and going by the second half performance against England can fight back. Thing is this was not apparent with Denmark & Russia where they should have won.
Who knows there might be extra time again in the finals.
aok
Discoverer
Be it any sport in the country.. there is no effort to identify and nurture talents from a young age. We have a good cricket team just because kids play cricket and if they feel they are good at it they themselves goes for pro coaching. Nobody bothers to encourage/persuade kids to be active in sports or to provide professional training from a younger age. For Indians kids, if its not school then it will be extra classes, tuition or other competitive exam coaching.. if someone spots a bit of free time somewhere during the week, then more classes
Just look at Australia.. they have a great Cricket team, World Cup playing football team, World Champions in Hockey, Terrific Volleyball and Basketball teams, 2nd place in the last Rugby WorldCup. And in Olympics they will be among the top 10 (if not among the top 5) in medals tally.
And we have Cricket..
Indiaa.. Indiaa..
Sachinn.. Sachinn..
Dhonii.. Dhonii..
Kohli.. Kohli..
Piyush Chawlaa.. Piyush Chawla.. and so on..
Ohh.. dont be a prick! that's all we have
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Oracle
How did we win the cricket WC, twice ? why do we have a good cricket team. Because they play. T20 only started recently, so there is a viable living to be had in cricket. When it started people were slamming the format but i was for it because I knew it would nurture more talent. In fact we have foreigners playing in the leagues. So the business has developed, that is key. If there is a professional path to follow then it will happen. Brazil is like us except they play football thereBe it any sport in the country.. there is no effort to identify and nurture talents from a young age. We have a good cricket team just because kids play cricket and if they feel they are good at it they themselves goes for pro coaching. Nobody bothers to encourage/persuade kids to be active in sports or to provide professional training from a younger age. For Indians kids, if its not school then it will be extra classes, tuition or other competitive exam coaching.. if someone spots a bit of free time somewhere during the week, then more classes
Football isn't that common and it will take time to encourage. Paper shows we were good enough at one point but others went ahead. When sports turned pro we couldn't keep up. Similar story with hockey because the game got faster and we didn't invest in it.
Maradona came from a slum, Pele was also poor and from the country. Dele Ally grew up in a foster home at age 13. Fellaini's dad was a bus driver. We have plenty of people like this. Football is a working class sport. Cricket is upper class. Moment Indians started to beat English in the 70s, everybody became interested. Because we were beating them at their own game.
Kids in Australia dream of becoming sports stars. Not doctors or engineers. England for all its leagues still isn't a force in world cup football. This time they reached the semis, like in 1990. But the people this time were under dogs. England were never finalists away from home ever. I can't remember the last time the other countries in the UK qualified, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland. Over twenty years back. US didn't qualify this time but their women have already won the cup . Lots of people play football in the US but not at the pro level. See the ethnic makeup of teams like France & Belgium. Lots of immigrants.Just look at Australia.. they have a great Cricket team, World Cup playing football team, World Champions in Hockey, Terrific Volleyball and Basketball teams, 2nd place in the last Rugby WorldCup. And in Olympics they will be among the top 10 (if not among the top 5) in medals tally.
And we have Cricket..
Indiaa.. Indiaa..
Sachinn.. Sachinn..
Dhonii.. Dhonii..
Kohli.. Kohli..
Piyush Chawlaa.. Piyush Chawla.. and so on..
Ohh.. dont be a prick! that's all we have
What i noticed with this WC is it turned into a Euro cup by the semis. Asia only gets four slots. This is hugely underrepresented. China can't get in. They have to expand the pool for Asia and it will happen. Next cup there will be four more teams and again in the next.
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aok
Discoverer
They play because they started playing young and were guided well.
We invest in nothing.. our sports achievements can all be credited to those individuals an their coaches for their hardwork and struggle. The country cant take credit for anything. Sachin became the Sachin we know because he was born in Bombay and his bro took him to Acharaekar at a young age. Had he from our town, attending the school I went, he probably would've been spending his life sitting in some dilapidated Govt. office taking extended tea breaks and guffawing at lewd jokes.
They still had good teams.. even if they didn't win any WorldCup. You doesn't necessarily have to win, its about having a good team and putting up a good show.
No kids "dream" of becoming Gynecologists or Cardiac Surgeons. Maybe there will be a few who actually Dream about joining Civil services, but thats it! Kids dream of becoming Sports stars, rock stars or Movie stars.. They'll just 'contemplate' about the profession they are gonna chase. Unlike us, kids in Australia know they have a decent chance to live their dreams.
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