The elites are taking it on the chin. 'nother one bites the dust.
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The elites are taking it on the chin. 'nother one bites the dust.
This will be great since all three of those teams want have a competitive WCQ schedule
Diego Montalvan @DMontalvan: The 2024 Copa América is looking like it will be in the USA!! This, after the resignation of Ecuador as host country.
United States, Mexico and Canada have agreed to play. There will be invites to 3 other nations from CONCACAF. Info via @FOXSportsMX
We need to play some tough friendlies leading up to the WC '26. As brutal a schedule we can get.Originally Posted by sportdawg
There was nothing boring about the two WC QFs played Friday. More high-stakes, high-profile matches will do the trick very nicely, thank you.
Two and done would not be a good look for group play in the World Cup. 12 groups of 4 is a much better option.
Glad the arrogant Dutchies were sent packing. Especially their POS coach.
Croatia, who lost to France in the 2018 final, is making hay again. I love their game, their tactics. It is solid, fundamental TEAM defense. They move in total unison. Very, very, very rarely do any of them get caught out of position. For the "entertain me with goals" crowd, Croatia goes unappreciated. For those of us who exist on a higher plain of "the beautiful game" I marvel how well-coached they are and how disciplined they are. You have to beat them; they don't beat themselves. They controlled the highly explosive Brazilians to a tee. Great goal by Neymar though, but he is a world class striker for a reason.
Would be awesome to see Morocco win today. Not a fan of Portugal/Ronaldo. But the match of the quarters will be England-France. Mbappe is the best player in the world, right now, the way he is playing. The Lions have to stop him if they hope to win.
Portugal is out! Well done Morocco.
England bites the dust.
Final Four:
Argentina vs. Croatia
France vs. Morocco
Argentina 3 Croatia 0
Not surprised Arg won, but how they won. They dominated.
France 2 Morocco 0
Argentina vs. France for the World Cup
Croatia vs. Morocco today
I like Croatia to win this match, if they bring their "A" game which they clearly did not bring vs. Argentina.
Croatia 2 Morocco 1
Both sides played better soccer in the 2nd half, which is why there was no more scoring. Croatia went through 3 halves of inferior play (for them) and surrendered 4 goals. Finally stepped up their vaunted team defense in the final 45 minutes today. Morocco also plays quality team defense, and they were better in the 2nd half as well.
Now it's France vs. Argentina for all the marbles tomorrow. Gonna be fun watching the battle of greats, Messi vs. Mbappe.
I like the computer-driven system they have been using to track all the players and record data. You will see a graphic on a player showing how many miles he has run in a match, and in the whole tournament. Midfielders tend to log the most milage, averaging over 7 miles/game. Also, they clocked Mbappe sprinting 24 yards in one burst and projecting it out to a full 40 yards, that would be a 3.74 second 40-time. That's close to what the speedy Hogdawg could run, rarified air! Anyway, shows the tremendous athleticism possessed by Mbappe. He is quick!
Spectacular doesn't come close to describing that match. It had everything and then some.
A routine World Cup Final is 5 times any Super Bowl. Today was at least 10 times the best Super Bowl.
Hard for any team to lose by penalties, but Argentina was the better team for more of the match and is a most deserving world champion.
And the best players get their deserved hardware.
Martinez 100% deserved the Golden Glove with that fantastic save at the close of extra time without even factoring in the penalty kick shootout.
Mbappe earned the Golden Boot as he was by far the most dynamic player in the tournament.
And Messi absolutely deserved the Golden Ball.
THE BEAUTIFUL GAME!
Love it...
After reflecting on the whole tournament, Argentina was the best team and very deserving of lifting the cup. Their demolition of Croatia was their single best performance and speaks to the quality of their team. They were better than France yesterday too.
I will note too, Messi dropping back on defense to help out in the knockout games. Usually he hangs up top waiting for an attack to develop. But, he helped in the midfield and sometimes, like yesterday, was all the way back in the defending 1/3. It takes all 11 players working together and the "super stars" have to get down in the trenches and do some of the heavy lifting too.
Now the Washington Post is accusing Argentina of being racist due to the lack of black players. The author is a professor at UNCC. Moron.
Well, seems to me, Argentina put together a winning side without worrying about filling roster spots to please some ditzy race-baiter, and the proof is.... they won the frickin' World Cup! Hello!
Now a few facts. Argentina has a less than 1% black population. It's like .06%. I am 100% certain if there is a black, Argentinian citizen who is really, really good playing soccer, like world-class quality, he would be on their roster. It is true, some of the better soccer players in the world happen to be black...France's Mbappe comes to mind. It is also true in the highly competitive world of international soccer any team, any club, any nation is going to recruit the best players they can, without regard to race.
Some people are just stupid, and you can't fix stupid. UNCC should fire that idiotic professor. What an embarrassment!
No different than some of our fans thinking we should have more white basketball players - Just put the most talented side out there regardless of color!
''Don't be a bad dagh..."
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