mjazzg Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 Terrific match. Well played France. Great to see Mbappe in the final Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwbol Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 Belgium - England Saturday night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 Just now, erwbol said: Belgium - England Saturday night. One can only hope... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 We'll see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 I thought it was an odd match. France has the ball only 36% but outshot Belgium something like 19-9. Belgium can’t be happy with themselves, obviously. Lukaku seemed out of sorts or didn’t anticipate the ball in certain situations.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwbol Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 6 minutes ago, Dmitry said: One can only hope... Brexit means Exit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 Breathtaking match from the two best teams of this World Cup! France deserved to win in the end...  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwbol Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 France played awful but effective football. Ugly. I hope Croatia wins the final. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulpope Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 1 minute ago, erwbol said: France played awful but effective football. Ugly.  Spot on .... and what a waste of talent .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwbol Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 What good is football if it is not aesthetically pleasing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 Football's a sport not an art. We fans romantically talk about artists on the pitch and the aesthetics but we're only the fans. For the players it's a win or lose competition, not art. I really appreciated both sides' displays tonight. France defended marvellously and also created chances. Belgium failed to take their chances but created some good ones. If you can't appreciate the skills on display tonight from Hazard, De Bruyne, Mbappe, Varane, Pogba, Matuidi, Lloris then you're watching the wrong sport. The fact that there are more French names, and defenders at that, in that list goes some way to explain why they won Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwbol Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 (edited) 10 minutes ago, mjazzg said: Football's a sport not an art. We fans romantically talk about artists on the pitch and the aesthetics but we're only the fans. For the players it's a win or lose competition, not art. From the spectators' side, football is mostly a money drain for hate-filled knuckle-draggers. Edited July 10, 2018 by erwbol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 4 minutes ago, erwbol said: hate-filled knuckle-draggers Not too sure who you're referring to here but no-one's making you watch it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwbol Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 The players' side: WTF? Have cake and eat it? Who knows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 1 hour ago, erwbol said: Brexit means Exit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 1 hour ago, erwbol said: France played awful but effective football. Ugly.  1 hour ago, mjazzg said: Football's a sport not an art. We fans romantically talk about artists on the pitch and the aesthetics but we're only the fans. For the players it's a win or lose competition, not art. I really appreciated both sides' displays tonight. France defended marvellously and also created chances. Belgium failed to take their chances but created some good ones. If you can't appreciate the skills on display tonight from Hazard, De Bruyne, Mbappe, Varane, Pogba, Matuidi, Lloris then you're watching the wrong sport. The fact that there are more French names, and defenders at that, in that list goes some way to explain why they won I think there is truth to both of the above. The way Brasil played years ago and I mean years ago was artistic — o jogo bonito — but that’s not the way it’s played any more. It’s more of a European game, which is not always pretty, but effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 Here's why soccer isn't popular in the USA [and may never be]. What are these people doing commenting on soccer for the worldwide internet news giant YAhoo?! https://www.yahoo.com/news/ronaldo-leaving-real-madrid-join-italian-club-juventus-155916649--spt.html Also, why stress the "Italian club Juventus". Anywhere else in the world it would be just Juventus. Paris, France...Berlin, Germany,,,London, England. Is this a distinctly American thing to inform the other parties where a city is located? Used to annoy me when I heard it said like that, now I just don't care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 17 minutes ago, Dmitry said: Here's why soccer isn't popular in the USA [and may never be]. What are these people doing commenting on soccer for the worldwide internet news giant YAhoo?! https://www.yahoo.com/news/ronaldo-leaving-real-madrid-join-italian-club-juventus-155916649--spt.html Also, why stress the "Italian club Juventus". Anywhere else in the world it would be just Juventus. Paris, France...Berlin, Germany,,,London, England. Is this a distinctly American thing to inform the other parties where a city is located? Used to annoy me when I heard it said like that, now I just don't care. Are you talking about the comments section? I find that where comments aren’t moderated, the comments tend to be useless and not worth reading.  Certain parts of Twitter are worse.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandrill Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 (edited) 29 minutes ago, Dmitry said: Paris, France...Berlin, Germany,,,London, England. Is this a distinctly American thing to inform the other parties where a city is located? Used to annoy me when I heard it said like that, now I just don't care. Perhaps just so that Americans won't mistake those for Paris, TX, Berlin, NH or London, OH, etc Edited July 10, 2018 by mandrill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim R Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 7 hours ago, brownie said: Breathtaking match from the two best teams of this World Cup! France deserved to win in the end...  Congratulations, brownie!  France did indeed deserve to win, as they defended very well, and were smart and disciplined in managing the game until the final whistle.  I also agree that these were the two best teams remaining, which is why I was very excited to watch this match today.  Even though I've been watching the World Cup since 1974, I still find it difficult to remind myself that the high stakes so often cause these later matches to be disappointing (no, I'm afraid I didn't find this match to be "breathtaking"... but then I'm not French! ).  The nerves take their toll on most players, and the tactics can become so conservative as to virtually destroy the potential for appealing play with teams willing to take risks and attack and create excitement.  In this match, it wasn't surprising to see a scoreless first half.  What surprised me (and that's an understatement) was the way Belgium failed to assert themselves after they went down a goal.  These Belgian players are experienced and battle-tested, and it appeared to me that they lost their courage and confidence. I've since watched several analysis programs on youtube with various experts commenting (Jose Mourinho did a very good interview, for example), and they all agree with what I've stated above.  The one thing that really surprises me is that even the experts seem to overlook some of the details.  The one that stands out to me is the notion that Hazard and De Bruyne (and Lukaku) were somehow all equal in their "failures".  A few analysts are recognizing that Hazard was in fact quite good today (at least he seemed to sense the urgency, created some danger, and didn't often lose the ball), but I've heard very little criticism of De Bruyne specifically, and to my eyes he was dreadful.  Gave the ball away cheaply time after time.  Anyway, even if he had been decent, I think (as many people are saying) that no matter how long that match lasted, Belgium simply weren't going to find the net today. Credit to the French defensive mentality and team spirit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 7 hours ago, Brad said: Are you talking about the comments section? I find that where comments aren’t moderated, the comments tend to be useless and not worth reading.  Certain parts of Twitter are worse.  No, I was raving about the video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 I just watched the video.  To describe their patter as idiotic would be an insult to idiots. Now, you know why Yahoo stock cratered and the company was sold for next to nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwbol Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 9 hours ago, Jim R said: What surprised me (and that's an understatement) was the way Belgium failed to assert themselves after they went down a goal.  These Belgian players are experienced and battle-tested, and it appeared to me that they lost their courage and confidence. This sadly did not surprise me at all. I think a fail of nerves and lack of believe in oneself at crucial moments is very Belgian. It's no coincidence the Flemish had two Dutch analysts on their panel, even if these former Dutch footballers, father and son Mulder, have connections to Flanders. Mulder senior always gets the first word in at half and end time. 9 hours ago, Jim R said: I've since watched several analysis programs on youtube with various experts commenting (Jose Mourinho did a very good interview, for example), and they all agree with what I've stated above.  The one thing that really surprises me is that even the experts seem to overlook some of the details.  The one that stands out to me is the notion that Hazard and De Bruyne (and Lukaku) were somehow all equal in their "failures".  A few analysts are recognizing that Hazard was in fact quite good today (at least he seemed to sense the urgency, created some danger, and didn't often lose the ball), but I've heard very little criticism of De Bruyne specifically, and to my eyes he was dreadful.  Gave the ball away cheaply time after time.  Anyway, even if he had been decent, I think (as many people are saying) that no matter how long that match lasted, Belgium simply weren't going to find the net today. Credit to the French defensive mentality and team spirit. I'm sure Mourinho had a ball last night. On most English language media (e.g. Gary Lineker and his BBC team) that narcissistic asshole and his brand of repulsive football can do no wrong. Once again this is a case of the language barrier. On the VRT it was immediately and clearly acknowledged both De Bruyne and Hazard had off nights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 The French team did not play exciting soccer against Belgium. Blame this on coach Deschamps who never got over France's undeserved defeat against Portugal in the 2016 final of the European Cup and stuck to his principles to have a win this time and make France happy. It's Vive Deschamps now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted July 11, 2018 Report Share Posted July 11, 2018 53 minutes ago, erwbol said:  I'm sure Mourinho had a ball last night. On most English language media (e.g. Gary Lineker and his BBC team) that narcissistic asshole and his brand of repulsive football can do no wrong. He has a lot to back his banter, don't you agree? Debruyne laid a couple of beautiful long distance balls into France's penalty box, but the recipients didn't do them justice. Who wasn't 100% yesterday is Lukaku. The spear of the Belgians was not sharp, much to France's relief. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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