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2018 Semi Finals - FRA vs BEL & ENG vs CRO


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1 hour ago, Tijgy said:

Because in general Belgium is more offensive then they were in the game against Brazil. Dries Mertens was swapped for Fellaini who is more defensive.



That's not really how it played out though is it. Mertens had been completely ineffective in attack, so the reshuffle made them much more threatening going forward as well as somewhat shoring up the defence. They were considerably more effective, especially in the first half but even in the second when they did get breaks, going forward than in any previous game.

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5 hours ago, La Albearceleste said:

Also, I hate to be a negative nelly, but I do want to say this now because if England do win the thing (and they very well might) I'd be accused of sour grapes if I waited to say it when the tournament's over.

I said before this began (on the footy thread) that I wasn't nearly as excited as normal for this WC and as a neutral, it's frankly not been a great tournament.

I know. I'm wrong for a dozen reasons. This goal. That performance. The other team going out. But I just haven't seen a team that, as a neutral, I've been excited to watch. Belgium are the closest thing, with Brazil and France behind them. Everything else... eh. There were exciting moments, thrills along the way, but they were fleeting. I'm going to miss the final on Saturday and I find that I don't really mind.

Except if England win it, because I'll be in England at the time. :p

The other thing that's been missing is huge match ups between the really big teams.

Let's see... out of Brazil, Spain, Argentina, France, Germany... and Italy - we got to see France face off against Argentina. That's it. Next best was probably the opening round game between Spain and Portugal.

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6 hours ago, La Albearceleste said:

Also, I hate to be a negative nelly, but I do want to say this now because if England do win the thing (and they very well might) I'd be accused of sour grapes if I waited to say it when the tournament's over.

I said before this began (on the footy thread) that I wasn't nearly as excited as normal for this WC and as a neutral, it's frankly not been a great tournament.

I know. I'm wrong for a dozen reasons. This goal. That performance. The other team going out. But I just haven't seen a team that, as a neutral, I've been excited to watch. Belgium are the closest thing, with Brazil and France behind them. Everything else... eh. There were exciting moments, thrills along the way, but they were fleeting. I'm going to miss the final on Saturday and I find that I don't really mind.

Except if England win it, because I'll be in England at the time. :p

As an old man whose first World Cup was Espana '82 I kind of get where you're coming from, but then for me there hasn't been a massively thrilling international team of the type you seem to be alluding to since the Brazil of Ronaldo, Cafu, Roberto Carlos et al at the start of the millennium.

That said, as a neutral, so far I consider this to be the most entertaining World Cup overall since France '98.

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5 hours ago, AndrewJsonsen said:

The other thing that's been missing is huge match ups between the really big teams.

Let's see... out of Brazil, Spain, Argentina, France, Germany... and Italy - we got to see France face off against Argentina. That's it. Next best was probably the opening round game between Spain and Portugal.

I *like* that about this World Cup. It's so unpredictable.

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10 hours ago, Eusebio da Silva ljkeane said:

The final's on Sunday.

See? That's how little I care! I don't even know what day it is! :p

I meant Sunday, but it's all one - I'll be in the same field in England doing the same thing (a medieval reenactment show, so NO TECH, though I have no doubt some of the English guys will find ways to keep up with the score).

3 hours ago, Davrum said:

As an old man whose first World Cup was Espana '82 I kind of get where you're coming from, but then for me there hasn't been a massively thrilling international team of the type you seem to be alluding to since the Brazil of Ronaldo, Cafu, Roberto Carlos et al at the start of the millennium.

That said, as a neutral, so far I consider this to be the most entertaining World Cup overall since France '98.

The first WC I can remember (bits of) is Argentina '78. I was 6. Ally's Army and all that. I had a sticker album for Espana 82.

But anyway, I would disagree. The French, Spanish and German teams we've had over those years were, for me, maybe not quite up to the standard of Real Ronaldo's Brazil, but still amazing to watch as a neutral. Nothing in this WC has come close. This has been one of those events where the interest has largely lain in the results, rather than the actual football. And it's produced a final four that is more interesting for its novelty than anything else. But novelty's not a lasting merit, by definition, and I think we'll look back on this WC as disappointing.

 

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To be honest, I have also been surprised how little I care about this World Cup. Usually, when the World Cup comes around I'd try to watch as many matches as I could (to the point of nearly blowing my entrance exam for university back in 2002) but now I don't really care. I mean, I've intentionally missed France vs Argentina match, choosing to spend time with my friends and my godson instead.

The good news is that it won't be nearly as hard for me to boycott next World Cup in Qatar if they move it to December as I initially thought.

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13 hours ago, La Albearceleste said:

Also, I hate to be a negative nelly, but I do want to say this now because if England do win the thing (and they very well might) I'd be accused of sour grapes if I waited to say it when the tournament's over.

I said before this began (on the footy thread) that I wasn't nearly as excited as normal for this WC and as a neutral, it's frankly not been a great tournament.

Same. I've watched some matches, but I swear the most pressed I got about this entire tournament is when it looked possible that Russia would make it past Croatia on Saturday. The only thing I cared about was that talent-poor side finally crashing out. So thank you Croatia for at least that small mercy.

Also agree that most of the sides have been lackluster, and there has been a lot of poor football on display. This World Cup is simply not one for the ages.

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I think the symbol for this tournament will be that the Golden Boot winner got half his goals from penalties.

But enough negativity. My predictions for the semis: I think England beat Croatia, but it will be close. France to sneak past Belgium on penalties. Belgium to win the third place playoff by a mile. France to win the final 2-0.

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3 hours ago, La Albearceleste said:

The first WC I can remember (bits of) is Argentina '78. I was 6. Ally's Army and all that. I had a sticker album for Espana 82.

But anyway, I would disagree. The French, Spanish and German teams we've had over those years were, for me, maybe not quite up to the standard of Real Ronaldo's Brazil, but still amazing to watch as a neutral. Nothing in this WC has come close. This has been one of those events where the interest has largely lain in the results, rather than the actual football. And it's produced a final four that is more interesting for its novelty than anything else. But novelty's not a lasting merit, by definition, and I think we'll look back on this WC as disappointing.

Heh, I was only 4 for 1978, and living in New Zealand, so have no memory of it.

Zidane's France were right up there, but I consider them a pre-Ronaldo's Brazil side. Even though a few were still around all the way through till 2006 their true glory days were before Ronaldo won the World Cup for Brazil. The Spanish and Germans played some very neat football in more recent times but had not even a quarter of the charisma of Ronaldo's Brazil and Zidane's France, or even Bergkamp's Netherlands, and, as such, not the same type of thrill for me. Aside from the borefest of Italia '90 we had record low numbers of goals in 2006 and 2010, with notable uptick in scoring in 2014 and 2018.

All that said, I mostly get where you're coming from. There've been goals aplenty but 2018 has kind of lacked in sex appeal.

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3 hours ago, La Albearceleste said:

I had a sticker album for Espana 82.

But anyway, I would disagree. The French, Spanish and German teams we've had over those years were, for me, maybe not quite up to the standard of Real Ronaldo's Brazil, but still amazing to watch as a neutral. Nothing in this WC has come close. This has been one of those events where the interest has largely lain in the results, rather than the actual football. And it's produced a final four that is more interesting for its novelty than anything else. But novelty's not a lasting merit, by definition, and I think we'll look back on this WC as disappointing.

I still do remember that Orange mascot from 1982 and the extremely exciting match Germany vs. France. The rest of that WC was rather disappointing and overall lackluster.

Tournaments can be exciting for different reasons. The oddest WC in my recollection must have been 2002 with Germany (and they were quite bad at the time), Brazil, Turkey and Corea in the semis.

I think we were somewhat spoiled by the last two or three WC all of which had several strong teams as well as exciting matches and surprises.

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I'm actually enjoying this WC more than the last two. Belgium have been fun to watch - just as much fun as Germany were in the last two WCs. 2014 had loads of goals during the group stages but the knockouts were a snoozefest aside from the first half of the Brazil/Germany semi. Spain were a bore to watch in 2010 - they played in a similar manner to how they played against Russia except they won so you had the press fawning over the 800 or 900+ passes. 

The standard of international football is certainly lower compared to top level club football. These days top level club football is much more accessible to the global masses than at any point prior to the early 2000s. With most football fans all around the world having regular and plentiful access to the best club football has to offer, international football can't help but look substandard in comparison.

I'm not looking forward to the 2022 WC at all. Qatar made promises about air-conditioned stadiums and all that shit but failed to deliver. Combined with the exploitation of migrant workers, almost certain bribery to get the tournament and moving the tournament to November/December, kills all my enthusiasm. Way to disrupt the entire footballing calendar just to pander to a nation with zero footballing history. 

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4 hours ago, La Albearceleste said:

I think the symbol for this tournament will be that the Golden Boot winner got half his goals from penalties.

See Harry Kane... Anyway I am prouder of the fact that the :devil::devil::devil: have nine players who made a goal (and of course Fernandinho ^_^). I think the current record of having the most different players making a goal is Italy (10). 

For the Belgians this has been the most exciting World Cup since 1986. The last two games were really nerve racking to us. I actually think the :devil::devil: does try to make it exciting. 

There are a lot of bad signs for them today :crying:. For the first time in weeks it is (finally) raining again; some Belgian flags became due the sun sort of black/blue-white-red and currently at Tour de France the first four cyclists are two Belgians and two French...

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I can’t speak for the rest of the world, but here in the U.S. it’s been a drag. Having the games on during the middle of the work day is a bummer. I can usually only catch 25-30 minutes of the second half of the second game. That said, I feel like what I have seen has been really entertaining. There have been a lot of late goals for ties or wins, and I’m always here for extra time.

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This World Cup has definitely been a better watch for me than 2010 or 2014. So many Bangers, late goals, and upsets. 

I don’t think the big countries doing good = exciting tourney either. Spain’s tiki taka in 2010 was actually boring as shit. 

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49 minutes ago, Tijgy said:

and currently at Tour de France the first four cyclists are two Belgians and two French...

Never mind of those four guys... anyway the Columbian from the Belgian Team Quickstepi won and the Greg Van Avermaet has still yellow! :wub: Good signs!

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Assuming Dembele starts in midfield in a 4-3-3 rather than Martinez doing something crazy like having him directly replace Meunier in his position, that increases Belgium's chances significantly I reckon. What they'll miss in Meunier, they'll more than make up for in the extra control of midfield Dembele brings, for this particular game.

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2 minutes ago, Fellaining Da Bruyne said:

Assuming Dembele starts in midfield in a 4-3-3 rather than Martinez doing something crazy like having him directly replace Meunier in his position, that increases Belgium's chances significantly I reckon. What they'll miss in Meunier, they'll more than make up for in the extra control of midfield Dembele brings, for this particular game.

I don't know anything about the Premier League but I read somewhere that the only one who can really take Kante is Dembele. 

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