FIFA World Cup 2018

[Lineker]

1-1!

[Meacon Keaton]

We are Swiss!

[Chris2K]

I for one am stunned that Brazil have conceded a goal due to disorganised defending.

[Monkey D. Lars]

Brazil needs to wake up

[9 to 5]

3 minutes ago, Meacxico said:

We are Swiss!

No, Mexico. 

[MDK]

brb name change

[Bobfoc]

What were the odds on Argentina, Germany and Brazil all failing to win their opening games?

[Chris2K]

None of the favourites looking good so far. If that's the case then it's a good omen for England tomorrow night.

[TCO]

That Swiss goal definitely shouldn't have stood, blatant push in the back.

[MDK]

If this is any judge of the rest of the World Cup this is the best chance we have of winning it ala Leicester. Hope the bigger teams fuck up and take advantage.

[Liam]

16 minutes ago, TCO said:

That Swiss goal definitely shouldn't have stood, blatant push in the back.

My problem with VAR - as someone who doesn't mind it - is that it probably will only work if you go back to the drawing board on what a foul is. That push into the back happens at every corner in every game ever. It is a foul, but has so rarely been called a foul that is effectively is no longer a foul. It is just an accepted part of what happens in sport. With the ability to know look back in game at a foul or a sequence of play, it is easy enough to suggest that is a foul, but it is unsurprising as to why it wasn't given because they never are.

[TCO]

There's always tussling in the box etc but a push in the back right before the defender leaves the ground, followed by a free header and a goal just can't be allowed.

As a defender going up, a nudge in the back completely fucks up your timing and makes it impossible to attack the ball. There's incidental contact and there's a flat palm into the back. This was as blatant as anything. Nobody seems to care because it was an underdog benefiting. 

[Liam]

27 minutes ago, TCO said:

There's always tussling in the box etc but a push in the back right before the defender leaves the ground, followed by a free header and a goal just can't be allowed.

As a defender going up, a nudge in the back completely fucks up your timing and makes it impossible to attack the ball. There's incidental contact and there's a flat palm into the back. This was as blatant as anything. Nobody seems to care because it was an underdog benefiting. 

That's all true, but that kind of push off has been pretty much an accepted element of football in recent years. A nudge to offset the defender before you attack the ball often goes unpunished. It is too often seen as gamesmanship than anything else. Doesn't make it right, but does explain the ref and his decision.

[Colly]

That's a foul. Defenders tussling with forwards happens every game and they get away with it, just as inexplicably obstruction stops being a thing when a defender is "shepherding" out for a goal kick, but a striker shoving a defender to get a free header will always be a foul if seen. VA Shite more like.

[TCO]

41 minutes ago, Liam said:

That's all true, but that kind of push off has been pretty much an accepted element of football in recent years. A nudge to offset the defender before you attack the ball often goes unpunished. It is too often seen as gamesmanship than anything else. Doesn't make it right, but does explain the ref and his decision.

Nah I don't think that's ever been accepted. As Colly said, there's tussling and grabbing going on all the time and there's exceptions but a push in the back isn't really allowed anywhere on the pitch.

The lad literally had a free header 6 yards out after stopping the defender from jumping by strong arming him in the back. Ref/VAR lads bottled it. I mean even in Gaelic football, where you're allowed hit each other with your shoulder in any which way, any push or contact into the back is a foul immediately! It's too much of an advantage.

[Arjen Robben]

 

[Adam]

6 hours ago, Chris2K said:

None of the favourites looking good so far. If that's the case then it's a good omen for England tomorrow night.

I thought Spain were excellent against Portugal and in a parallel universe won that game 3-0. Otherwise I agree, all of the favourites off to slow starts.

I really enjoyed today's games thanks to the heroics of Mexico and the staunch style of Switzerland. Tomorrow is the big one for us though!

Also find it funny that people everywhere are trying to plot an 'easier' path for England by coming 2nd due to Germany losing. That'd be like in Euro 2016 then when a late goal meant we got Iceland in the 2nd Round instead of the mighty Portugal? Hmmm.

[TCO]

That's what I keep saying about Spain. They conceeded to 2 set pieces and a De Gea howler and all were to Ronaldo. That shit won't happen again and they won't have to play against a football god in every game.

If Ronaldo wasn't so ridiculously good and De Gea plays to his normal level, that's 3-0.

[LUKIE]

We have two nationally funded television stations, ABC and SBS. SBS is the multicultural station and have always had the World Cup rights. Due to major funding cuts by our right wing government they had to sell most of those rights off to Optus, a major mobile network carrier. Optus haven't been able to keep up with the demand on their service for the World Cup and their servers keep crashing meaning people who have paid their monthly subscriptions have missed out on games. Our Prime Minister has now stepped in and had a meeting with the CEO of Optus to basically tell him it's not good enough, and so Optus have handed the rights back to SBS for the next 48 hours.

At least I get to watch Sweden play tonight, because I wasn't able to before!

[Gazz]

I hope Son gets a goal today, might cheer the miserable South Korean fuck up.