Croats likely to advance to Round of 16, Argentina not so much. What about Serbia? Is it possible they advance and Brazil doesn't? What would that be like, Argentina and Brazil home and Croatia and Serbia moving on.
On the stat sheet, it would appear Brazil stole a hard earned tie with 2 last minute goals against Costa Rica, but the reality is that Brazil carried the play and just barely missed on several scoring chances all game. It just so happened that in the 90th and 92nd minute, they stopped missing. Neymar cried on the field, some dude on ESPN mocked him and called him a diva. Maybe, but it's no different than Lebron or Jordan or (insert American athlete here) who have had moments where they break down after big wins. If you wanna know why Brazil is Brazil in this sport, and we are sitting home rooting for our ancestor's countries, that's why. Nigeria is really young and really talented. They looked outclassed by Croatia, but is that such a bad thing now that Croatia kicked Argentina in the gouchos? Anyway, talent and youth were both on display for all to see in a solid 2-0 win over a very tactically sound Iceland, who also had their chances but just didn't make it happen. The third game was almost painful to watch, but in a good way. It was a great game in which Serbia came out and jumped all over Switzerland to a quick 1-0 score while controlling tempo and carrying the day at a rather high level.. but then, they ran out of legs and were holding on for dear life. Alas, the Swiss were not to be denied and scored 2 beautiful 2nd half goals to carry the day. This group is a total cluster bomb now.
:!: :!: :!: :!: The real Brazil showed up today. Costa Rica made no attempt to win this game. They just covered up in their foxholes and dodged bullets all day. In the second half they were outshot 15-1. Neymar established himself as the new #2 player in the world and Brazil reestablished itself as the tournament favorite. Germany and Mexico are back in action today. I have a lot of questions about both of them...
:shock: :shock: :shock: Germany 2 Sweden 1 I don't believe Corey. Everything in his analysis of Germany was correct, In one of the greatest games ever played, Germany scored with only 12 seconds left in stoppage time to pull the wabbit out of the hat with only 10 men on the field! I've never seen anything like this. Tony Kroos scored on a direct kick that touched off a wild celebration. Just as Corey said, the Germans started Marco Rues and they had so much offense, that it was like a shooting gallery, even with only ten men. When they put in Corey's other demand (Gomez) they immediately tied the game to begin the 2nd half. All bets are off now; the Germans are back! BTW- Argentina's players have staged a coup against their manager. He's no longer in control of the team...
:shock: :shock: :shock: Germany 2 Sweden 1 I don't believe Corey. Everything in his analysis of Germany was correct, In one of the greatest games ever played, Germany scored with only 12 seconds left in stoppage time to pull the wabbit out of the hat with only 10 men on the field! I've never seen anything like this. Tony Kroos scored on a direct kick that touched off a wild celebration. Just as Corey said, the Germans started Marco Rues and they had so much offense, that it was like a shooting gallery, even with only ten men. When they put in Corey's other demand (Gomez) they immediately tied the game to begin the 2nd half. All bets are off now; the Germans are back! BTW- Argentina's players have staged a coup against their manager. He's no longer in control of the team...
Marco is the offensive cog that opens it all up. They don't even have him playing his natural position but he is still generating offense. The lineup that finished the match should be the lineup that starts against South Korea. Tough break (no pun intended) about Rudy's nose. He was playing well in the early going until he got kicked in the face. Sweden was no joke. They were the team that kept Italy and Holland out of the World Cup and I can see how. They have a world class defense and they sit back with 8 guys parked around the box. They give no space and close quickly, playing to counter on offense. Still, the Germans with Marco Reus in the lineup are an offensive anaconda. They just keep squeezing you and squeezing you until you're left out of breath. Mexico beat South Korea 2-1 in a game that basically put them thru to the knockout round. The game was sickening. Mexican cliff divers all over the place rolling around on the ground, setting the sport back 30 years. Still, Mexico went up 2-0 and almost blew it. They gave up an incredible goal to some South Korean kid and the Koreans carried the play down the stretch, but it was too little too late. The first match, Belgium showed why they are one of the 'dark horse' teams to win it all. They look fantastic Romelu Lukaku looks like Jim Brown out there on the pitch. I was too busy celebrating to notice the Argentine rebellion, but it appears that it is pretty serious stuff. Tomorrow's line up is England and Panama in a game that England should win, but it will probably be closer than it should be and after the win, English fans will still be talking about 'football finally coming back home.' (it's not) Japan and Senegal in what should be a flat out track meet. Japan is small, quick and tactically sound. Senegal looks like a lineup of 11 NFL Wide Receivers and they are REALLY fast with skill to match. Senegal should win, it probably won't be close, but the Japanese don't give up easily. This game is for 1st place in the group, but either Poland or Colombia could crawl back into this thing. The last match of the day is Poland and Colombia. This should be a fist fight and I'm looking forward to every punch. James Rodriguez will have to start this game for Colombia. I have no idea why he didn't start their first match. Anyway, Lewandowski for Poland is a master class goal scorer and if Colombia gives him too much room, he'll bury them and their hopes in the Russian mud. The loser of this match is done so don't expect either team to play for a tie.
So there is a new replay system that being used in the WC. Apparently it allows reviews of infractions that may result in a penalty kick. It wasn't used today as Sweden got hosed twice. Once when a penalty on a breakaway wasn't called and again when the replay official said "nein."
I think the replay system was also turned off during the game between Serbia and Albania err... I mean Switzerland. Great gif of the Kroos goal. https://mobile.twitter.com/FIFAWCGoals/status/1010613720584740864/photo/1
Three Lions looked pretty tough against a pretty bad Panama. We'll learn more about the English in their next match.
:idea: :arrow: My daughter came over yesterday and told me something that I did not know. Her daughter, Megan, knows the goalie of the Mexican national futbol team Guillermo Ochoa. They used to train together when she was a goalie at St. Lucy's HS. In fact, she knows several of Mexico's national team players. They used to blast away at her and Ochoa as part of their training. So am I going to start rooting for Mexico? No.... :twisted:
I knew Korea had great womens golfers, they dominate...never figured that they had bupkus for men's soccer. I know it was a big upset, but in the global scheme of things was it an epic one for the ages upset. Kind of like UMBC beating Virginia in the NCAA's last year, or App State going to Ann Arbor and beating Michigan?
The brackets for the knockout rounds really turned out unbalanced. Given Spain's vulnerability, it seems like a country that is not thought of as a traditional power like Croatia, Switzerland, Sweeden, or Colombia has a real shot of getting to the finals. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/soccer-insider/wp/2018/06/25/the-world-cup-knockout-round-is-taking-shape-heres-the-bracket-and-schedule/?utm_term=.4c961a072293
Madonna..on the loss by Argentina! <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XYymFWsBxk0?rel=0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media"></iframe>