World Cup - who are you pulling for?

joanne said:

Speaking of Wales, Ridski, I believe commiserations are in order as we beat them in the UK? Or am I confused again? There’s too much Big Sport on at the moment for me to handle in the untimely heat (expecting yet another day over 90°F and it’s not yet full summer)

Looks like Aussies beat Wales at home in rugby today, in a massive comeback after being 21 points down. I do have connections to Wales, especially the south, as Swansea was the first place my family moved to after leaving Glasgow but that was long before my time. 


Another shocking upset, Morocco beats Belgium 2-0.

This gives Canada a chance to get back in contention for the knockout rounds.


Brazil actually plays better without this guy…


Neymar is a brilliant player but his diving and theatrics are ridiculous.  They diminish his reputation, IMHO.


Spoiler alert:


England and USA through to the next round! Going up against Senegal and the Netherlands respectively. Both will be tough matches. I was rooting for both teams today, and I'm happy USA made it after not qualifying for 2018. Today's was a hard-fought match against Iran who really wanted it but played really dirty football, so I'm glad to see them lose frankly.


I think the US has an outside chance against the Netherlands.  They are not as loaded as previous WC squads.  The US will have to play a very good match and some of that will hinge on whether Pulisic can play.


Why do both goalies where yellow? I'm not familiar enough with the game to be able to easily tell whose goal it is based on what the players are doing and I find it confusing.


drummerboy said:

Why do both goalies where yellow? I'm not familiar enough with the game to be able to easily tell whose goal it is based on what the players are doing and I find it confusing.

Ideally, they should be wearing different colors from each other.  But I think it's up to the discretion of the referee, but don't quote me on that.


drummerboy said:

Why do both goalies where yellow? I'm not familiar enough with the game to be able to easily tell whose goal it is based on what the players are doing and I find it confusing.

In cases like this, the key is to focus on the color of the jerseys of the players attacking the goal. Yesterday, USA was blue, Iran white.


drummerboy said:

Why do both goalies where yellow?

When a scrum of players are going for the ball in front of the goal, like on a corner kick, it helps if the referee can instantly spot the only one — in a flashy color, which doesn’t have to be yellow — who’s allowed to touch the ball with his hands. (And it’s just useful in general for everyone on the pitch, and in the stands, to be able to distinguish the keeper, with his unique role, from the rest.)


DaveSchmidt said:

drummerboy said:

Why do both goalies where yellow?

When a scrum of players are going for the ball in front of the goal, like on a corner kick, it helps if the referee can instantly spot the only one — in a flashy color, which doesn’t have to be yellow — who’s allowed to touch the ball with his hands. (And it’s just useful in general for everyone on the pitch, and in the stands, to be able to distinguish the keeper, with his unique role, from the rest.)

The question is why do both wear the same color. It goes against centuries of uniform philosophy.

Seems dumb.


drummerboy said:

The question is why do both wear the same color. It goes against centuries of uniform philosophy.

Seems dumb.

It’s coincidental. 


drummerboy said:

The question is why do both wear the same color. It goes against centuries of uniform philosophy.

Seems dumb.

“I’m not familiar, but it seems dumb.”

Tell it to the liberos.


The thing I'm not a big fan of with the U.S. is if they get the lead they seem to stop being aggressive and just hope they can hold on for the win. They were fortunate Iran didn't score. 


jfinnegan said:

The thing I'm not a big fan of with the U.S. is if they get the lead they seem to stop being aggressive and just hope they can hold on for the win. They were fortunate Iran didn't score. 

Very. They need to shed this plan for the Netherlands, or it's gonna bite them in the ****.


DaveSchmidt said:

drummerboy said:

The question is why do both wear the same color. It goes against centuries of uniform philosophy.

Seems dumb.

“I’m not familiar, but it seems dumb.”

Tell it to the liberos.

I assume you can see that the two people with the white tops are still wearing different colored uniforms.

Try again.

(anyway, uniforms don't really mean much when the two sides are always physically separated)


drummerboy said:

Try again.

Nah, you picked me apart. Like I’m a Danish defense.


I’m certain goalies must have three different color uniforms at every game, but it’s basically up to the referee to ask them to change their goalie uniform. If either team has no alternative colors he will still allow them to play. Maybe it’s because the game was between two enemy nations that the referee just decided to let it go? It’s not a big deal.


DaveSchmidt said:

Wake up, joanne!

I’m pretty sure her neighbors already did that… now she’s gone back to sleep. She’ll be on tonight.


To be honest I thought the goalies had a certain color they liked and just went with it. The yellow seems to be popular. As mentioned above once you know the jersey colors of the teams it shouldn't be too difficult to differentiate the goalies other than maybe in that final couple of minutes when they run up on corner kicks. I bet the Costa Rican goalie wishes he was wearing the same color outfit as the Spanish goalie.  


They just showed the speech the Saudi Arabian coach gave at halftime during their match against Argentina. Brilliant. I love the part where he tells the one player to take his phone so he can take a picture of Messi instead of defending him.


jfinnegan said:

They just showed the speech the Saudi Arabian coach gave at halftime during their match against Argentina. Brilliant. I love the part where he tells the one player to take his phone so he can take a picture of Messi instead of defending him.

The translator was the MVP of that match.


Sadly there was a thunderstorm here for most of the night, and what with Darth Vader’s CPAP  it was mighty difficult to hear neighbours  oh oh I’ve caught up with the excitement now!!!

The live blog caught it like this:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-01/world-cup-thursday-socceroos-vs-denmark-live-blog/101715538  It’s notable for some excellent smoky red pix of Melbourne’s central square full of eerie celebrations, Aussies in Qatar trying to restrain their joy, and recycled clips of Bob Hawke declaring a national holiday when we took the America’s Cup yacht race from you. 
And how about Tunisia?? Gosh they played well!


Even though Tunisia won today they won’t advance to the next round. France is struggling.


Yeah I know Tunisia won’t play in the next round - but for a few minutes (until our goal) they thought they might. cheese

I’m finding it really interesting how many teams we usually expect to see in the finals have lost out to rising nations, usually just kept for recruiting talented young players. I’m glad there’s a shake-up in expectations and invisible sporting racism. 


Netherlands vs USA on Saturday will be an exciting match. 


I wanted Mexico to get through. I watched two of Poland's matches and they don't even bother trying to score. 


jfinnegan said:

I wanted Mexico to get through. I watched two of Poland's matches and they don't even bother trying to score.

Also, I’ve grown accustomed to Ochoa’s face.


Massive upset today with Japan beating Spain 2-1, knocking Germany out of the tournament even though they beat Costa Rica 4-2. Thrilling stuff!


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