Russia 2018

[Galfon]

Wtf ?.

[Galfon]

Fra 2 - 1 Cro
Griezman pen. after 38 min.

[Galfon]

he should have moved his hand the other way & was in dangerous area, but very harsh.

[rowan]

Already the highest scoring final this century and we got a long ways to go...

The French defense has been a bit loose. That's the only thing that's surprised me so far.

[rowan]

Some idiots invaded the field. Quickly dealt with.

Croatia looking far hungrier in the 2nd 1/2. France need to wake up.

[rowan]

France score against the run of play. 1 more to meet my prediction

[Galfon]

Tough now for Cro..to get 3 goals when under the cosh for an hour is a good sign.

[rowan]

4-1. That's my prediction - but this is becoming a massacre!

Highest scoring final since 1986, I believe, and there's plenty of time left...

[rowan]

Prediction blown on a goalie error! 4-2 and a glimmer of hope for the Croats!

The pace of the Croatians has surprised their opponents throughout this tournament, and the goal-keeper was caught out there. Fortunately it probably won't matter, but the French need to be careful.

Highest scoring final since 66 - and that went to extra time.

[Galfon]

Incredible fluff from Lloris.
4 - 2 after 68 mins.
Something to play for, Cro.

[rowan]

Croatia have played the better football generally, except for the finishing. On fresh legs they could've won this. But attrition is all part of the tournament concept, and they are looking a little fatigued right now. French happy to defend and wind down the clock...

[Galfon]

FT Fra 4 - 2 Cro
The record books will show the result & score and not the total dominance of Cro.
Fra looked just a bit less average than Eng against them.
However, Deschamps brings home the prize congrats. to les Bleus - they worked a way through a tough draw and 3 finals / 2 wins in last 6 is a great record.

[rowan]

Well done, France. They join Argentina and Uruguay as two-time champions.

Croatia were a worthy finalist and I'm glad the scoreline didn't get away from them.

[rowan]

Congratulations to Russia on staging a magnificent tournament too. Everything appeared to run smoothly with none of the problems which have beset major football tournaments in Western Europe.

[Adder]

Congratulations to Russia on staging a magnificent tournament too. Everything appeared to run smoothly with none of the problems which have beset major football tournaments in Western Europe.

Who controls the Russian holigans?

Sent from my Moto G (5S) using Tapatalk

[rowan]

Somebody obviously did. & the Western European hooligans as well - although they probably never made it through customs

[rowan]

Meanwhile, Croatia became just the 13th team to compete in the final after 21 tournaments. Aside from the 8 winners, Holland has been runner up on 3 occasions and both Hungary and Czechoslovakia twice in its early years. Sweden finished runner up as host in 1958. 10 of the finalists have been European; the remaining 3 South American. However, the latter trio have accounted for a collective 14 appearances, with both the inaugural tournament in 1930 and the 4th installment 20 years later featuring an all-South American finale.

[rowan]

[rowan]

On reflection I would say that the overall quality of the play was disappointing, and particularly so from the non-European brigade, who collectively had just about their worst showing since 82. None of the African teams got through for the first time since 82, while only one Asian team and one North American team made it to the second round, there to be eliminated. Brazil and Argentina crashed again, while Colombia were a little unfortunate but never looked like tournament winners. Uruguay were the pick of the non-Europeans but, like Argentina, had the misfortune to encounter the subsequent champions in the playoffs. Costa Rica had their worst tournament to date, while Mexico went out with a whimper in the second round. Among the Europeans, I'd expected much more of 2010 winners Spain and Euro champs Portugal after their epic opening clash, while Germany's elimination at the group stages was the biggest shock of the tournament. & while it was a real treat to see a high-scoring final, the match lacked the tight structure of previous affairs, most of the goals were opportunist (a couple also dubious), and the Croatians simply appeared out on their feet in the final stages with the result pretty much beyond doubt following Mbappe's 4th goal for France in the 65th minute.

On the positive side, from my perspective, only Egypt and Panama went home with 3 straight losses, Mexico and Korea defeated the mighty Germans, Iran and Morocco proved highly competitive against the Iberians in the final round of group play, the West Africans certainly didn't disgrace themselves (and were perhaps a little unlucky with the VAR rulings), and Japan gave the high-flying Belgians a real fright in the 2nd round.

[rowan]

Game of the tournament - so far as I saw - was a toss-up between Spain v Portugal and France v Argentina. Uruguay v Portugal was also a cracker, while the Brazilians finally came out and played football against Belgium, only to get caught out on the counterattack.

Surprise team of the tournament: Some might say England, given their low-key build up, or the host nation itself, but for me it was tiny Uruguay, who were the pick of the non-European teams, played with real skill and tenacity, and for the most part did not make a habit of diving for penalties or faking injuries to wind down the clock. Still my least favorite non-European team after 2010, but credit where it's due.

Most disappointing: Won't go over what I've already written in the previous post, but Egypt going home without a win was sad to see. They were far more competitive in their last appearance 28 years ago and were expected to do better this year with star Premiership striker Mohamed Salah up front. But he was rested due to injury for their first game against Uruguay (I said beforehand it was the most vital), while his goal against Russia came too late and the one against Saudi was scant consolation in an unexpected loss.

Upsets (not many this year), in order of surprise factor: Korea v Germany, Mexico v Germany, Croatia v Argentina, Japan v Colombia, Russia v Spain, Uruguay v Portugal, Saudi v Egypt.

[Numbers]

On reflection I would say that the overall quality of the play was disappointing, and particularly so from the non-European brigade, who collectively had just about their worst showing since 82. None of the African teams got through for the first time since 82, while only one Asian team and one North American team made it to the second round, there to be eliminated. Brazil and Argentina crashed again, while Colombia were a little unfortunate but never looked like tournament winners. Uruguay were the pick of the non-Europeans but, like Argentina, had the misfortune to encounter the subsequent champions in the playoffs. Costa Rica had their worst tournament to date, while Mexico went out with a whimper in the second round. Among the Europeans, I'd expected much more of 2010 winners Spain and Euro champs Portugal after their epic opening clash, while Germany's elimination at the group stages was the biggest shock of the tournament. & while it was a real treat to see a high-scoring final, the match lacked the tight structure of previous affairs, most of the goals were opportunist (a couple also dubious), and the Croatians simply appeared out on their feet in the final stages with the result pretty much beyond doubt following Mbappe's 4th goal for France in the 65th minute.

On the positive side, from my perspective, only Egypt and Panama went home with 3 straight losses, Mexico and Korea defeated the mighty Germans, Iran and Morocco proved highly competitive against the Iberians in the final round of group play, the West Africans certainly didn't disgrace themselves (and were perhaps a little unlucky with the VAR rulings), and Japan gave the high-flying Belgians a real fright in the 2nd round.

Spain should have played Iniesta from the start against Russia, he's their best player ffs.

[rowan]

On reflection I would say that the overall quality of the play was disappointing, and particularly so from the non-European brigade, who collectively had just about their worst showing since 82. None of the African teams got through for the first time since 82, while only one Asian team and one North American team made it to the second round, there to be eliminated. Brazil and Argentina crashed again, while Colombia were a little unfortunate but never looked like tournament winners. Uruguay were the pick of the non-Europeans but, like Argentina, had the misfortune to encounter the subsequent champions in the playoffs. Costa Rica had their worst tournament to date, while Mexico went out with a whimper in the second round. Among the Europeans, I'd expected much more of 2010 winners Spain and Euro champs Portugal after their epic opening clash, while Germany's elimination at the group stages was the biggest shock of the tournament. & while it was a real treat to see a high-scoring final, the match lacked the tight structure of previous affairs, most of the goals were opportunist (a couple also dubious), and the Croatians simply appeared out on their feet in the final stages with the result pretty much beyond doubt following Mbappe's 4th goal for France in the 65th minute.

On the positive side, from my perspective, only Egypt and Panama went home with 3 straight losses, Mexico and Korea defeated the mighty Germans, Iran and Morocco proved highly competitive against the Iberians in the final round of group play, the West Africans certainly didn't disgrace themselves (and were perhaps a little unlucky with the VAR rulings), and Japan gave the high-flying Belgians a real fright in the 2nd round.

Spain should have played Iniesta from the start against Russia, he's their best player ffs.

Indeed.

[rowan]

I'd rate this year's the 3rd best World Cup I've seen, in spite of the collective failure of the non-European teams.

1 2002: Only time Brazil have won in style since 1970 (which I don't recall and wasn't televised in NZ anyway), Turkey and SKorea in the semis, Senegal going to extra time in the quarters, US also reaching that stage, China just being there, defending champs France dipping out at the group stages, and the list of upsets goes on . . .

2 1986: Epic final, probably the best I've seen, with Maradona at the peak of his powers. Morocco winning its group to become the first African team to get to the knock-out stages.

3 2018: Winners who also entertained with high-scoring encounters from start to finish, notably the 4-2 final and 4-3 win over Argentina. Germany eliminated at the group stage for the first time since 1938 - and by Skorea!

[kk67]

That Pavard goal was sweet.

[rowan]

The French do score some crackers. Remember the winner in the Euros 2000 final? The French been over the past 20 years what the Brazilians were with Pele - not just winners but great entertainers! That's an all too rare combination.