World Cup Russia 2018 Thread

Well, which ever way the penalty shoot-out goes, you have to give Russia great credit for the spirit that the team shows. They have done justice to the fantastic home support.

As an American that is not a soccer fan that was a very entertaining match. Maybe one day the US wil be worth a damn and I'll watch more than a match or 2 every 4 years. 

You have NFL.

Congratulations to Croatia, what an excellent game.

I didn’t think I would ever say this but I feel for the Russian fans, after equalising with a few minutes to go, I thought it might just go their way...

Russia's team can feel proud at how far they got and the effort they showed. They repaid the support they were given.

Now we have a semi-final line up of four European Union member states. 

Interesting I thought the UK was an EU member state rather than England...

But tense exhausting football game Croatia vs Russia... next Wednesday should be a fun one to watch...

spurrier sucks posted:

As an American that is not a soccer fan that was a very entertaining match. Maybe one day the US wil be worth a damn and I'll watch more than a match or 2 every 4 years. 

Football, or soccer as you call it, seems to be gradually getting better in the USA.  One day the USA will be a football power. Not sure it will ever get Test cricket, though. 

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

Interesting I thought the UK was an EU member state rather than England...

It's time to start decolonization!

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

Interesting I thought the UK was an EU member state rather than England...

But tense exhausting football game Croatia vs Russia... next Wednesday should be a fun one to watch...

Ah, you spotted my lame attempt to provoke the Brexiteers in another thread, Simon. 

thebigfredc posted:

You have NFL.

True and football will always be #1 here unless the whackios kill it, and they are trying. I do see soccer gaining popularity and baseball slipping a bit so there is a chance some better athletes will participate in the sport for longer than their very young years.  I have some friends now that have children and their #1 sport is soccer. Times are changing I suppose but that was also being said in the early 90's here as well. 

spurrier sucks posted:

thebigfredc posted:

Times are changing I suppose but that was also being said in the early 90's here as well. 

And in the ‘60s. [/Dylan] 

MDS posted:

spurrier sucks posted:

As an American that is not a soccer fan that was a very entertaining match. Maybe one day the US wil be worth a damn and I'll watch more than a match or 2 every 4 years. 

Football, or soccer as you call it, seems to be gradually getting better in the USA.  One day the USA will be a football power. Not sure it will ever get Test cricket, though. 

I think the professional soccer league here will need to grow for the sport to really thrive here. Hell I don't even know what it is called and there is a team 2 hours from me. That said I'm in my early 40s so they are not trying to turn me into a fan. They want my children and their children as fans. If that league can get the best players and pay the big money then I think you'll see more athletes take to the sport. Until then it will stay an after thought here for most. I did enjoy the passion shown by the crowd today. It kept me entertained this afternoon while it's rainy outside. 

The Croatia win was a good result for England. After back to back 120 minute games, and with the Croatian keeper now nursing a bad hamstring, England's chances of making it to the final just increased.

So far, this been a hugely entertaining World Cup!  Really looking forward to the semis!

spurrier sucks posted:

thebigfredc posted:

You have NFL.

True and football will always be #1 here unless the whackios kill it, and they are trying. I do see soccer gaining popularity and baseball slipping a bit so there is a chance some better athletes will participate in the sport for longer than their very young years.  I have some friends now that have children and their #1 sport is soccer. Times are changing I suppose but that was also being said in the early 90's here as well. 

Just as an aside - a daft but genuine question. Why is American Football' called 'football'?

I can understand why Football (sorry, soccer) is called football. It's very obvious.   

A number of Americans who have plied their trade in the Scottish Football League. Two of them in particular - Claudia Reyna and Carlos Bocanegra were very good indeed.

Now back on topic, my congratulations to England and the 3 other semi-finalists. It's anyone's cup to win now.      

spurrier sucks posted:

thebigfredc posted:

You have NFL.

True and football will always be #1 here unless the whackios kill it, and they are trying. I do see soccer gaining popularity and baseball slipping a bit so there is a chance some better athletes will participate in the sport for longer than their very young years.  I have some friends now that have children and their #1 sport is soccer. Times are changing I suppose but that was also being said in the early 90's here as well. 

Meanwhile NFL is getting bigger and bigger in the UK. My son has become quite a fan and has been to several games at Wembley.

I watch and like the NFL, but I usually record it though. The commercial stoppages are insane, they ruin it for me if I have to watch live for some reason. I like watching soccer (I'm Canadian, we call it that) because the game plays on uninterrupted.

I prefer NFL to the Premier League these days. I too mostly watch it on record because of the advert interruptions except for the Play-offs. Jets, jets, jets.

Hook posted:

 

So far, this been a hugely entertaining World Cup!  Really looking forward to the semis!

Yes agree completely, it’s probably been one of the best tournaments I have watched for many many years. 

My expectations were very low so it’s been a terrific surprise....

Hmack posted:

spurrier sucks posted:

thebigfredc posted:

You have NFL.

True and football will always be #1 here unless the whackios kill it, and they are trying. I do see soccer gaining popularity and baseball slipping a bit so there is a chance some better athletes will participate in the sport for longer than their very young years.  I have some friends now that have children and their #1 sport is soccer. Times are changing I suppose but that was also being said in the early 90's here as well. 

Just as an aside - a daft but genuine question. Why is American Football' called 'football'?

I can understand why Football (sorry, soccer) is called football. It's very obvious.   

A number of Americans who have plied their trade in the Scottish Football League. Two of them in particular - Claudia Reyna and Carlos Bocanegra were very good indeed.

Now back on topic, my congratulations to England and the 3 other semi-finalists. It's anyone's cup to win now.      

I read somewhere that "soccer" used to be the English name for the sport. Originally, you guys called "rugby football" either rugby or rugger, and you called "association football" soccer.  At some point, you started saying football instead of soccer. 

The two sports spread to the US. We then invented our own variant of "rugby football" and called it simply "football". I assume we maintained the name soccer to avoid confusion.

So we are playing Croatia and France are playing Belgium in two semi finals few would have predicted well perhaps  France and Belgium but certainly not Croatia and England.

We have a history with Croatia and they are with all due respect to the countries we have played so far the best team we have come up against in this tournament but they have not played well in the knockout stages and have needed both extra time and penalties to proceed.

I would say both matches are 50-50 and lets hope they are played with a great spirit.

wenger2015 posted:

Hook posted:

 

So far, this been a hugely entertaining World Cup!  Really looking forward to the semis!

Yes agree completely, it’s probably been one of the best tournaments I have watched for many many years. 

My expectations were very low so it’s been a terrific surprise....

I agree with this, and I wonder if it’s because for many of us the hype and circus around the World Cup was been a little subdued this time because of it being in Russia... and this has allowed the football to genuinely shine through... and I say Russia so far have put on a first class show, and the feedback from many of the football fans there apparently is that it’s been a fantastic experience and they have been made to feel very welcome by their hosts. 

Hook posted: .............. 

The two sports spread to the US. We then invented our own variant of "rugby football" and called it simply "football". I assume we maintained the name soccer to avoid confusion.

This makes sense, and the fact that an NFL score is called a 'touchdown', of course without actually having to touch the ball down as in a rugby try. A bit of sporting poetic licence.

Back on the World Cup - what an amazing competition it has been and so pleased to see England in the semis. Lee Dixon mentioned it in last night's commmentary - the incredible high and low experienced by the Russian chap who scored the equalizer in extra time and then missed his penalty - amazing.

MDS posted:

Of course I'm delighted for England to get to the semi-finals and to see the team deliver such a professional and controlled performance.  What I was also pleased to see was the way in which the game was played: energetic with strong and robust challenges but free of theatrics, rolling, simulation, off-the-ball stuff, getting in the ref's face, regular 'appeals' for VAR.  The trainers were hardly needed.  Sweden, as expected, played with great spirit and sportsmanship. They will feel very disappointed to lose and that Pickford foiled them but they can return to Sweden with great credit and their heads held high. Well done.         

I thought the ref had a good game too, which helped. He wasn't interested in debates. In both games yesterday, there appeared to be a number of incidents where I think yellow cards would have been given in the PL but the refs let them go - which I think was fair enough given both games were played hard but fair. 

Hmack posted:

Just as an aside - a daft but genuine question. Why is American Football' called 'football'?

 

There are many codes of football, including association football, rugby football, American football, Australian rules football and Gaelic football. Wherever one particular code predominates, including the rugby strongholds of the UK, it is usually referred to simply as "football." 

I love the way that when England are doing well people tend to post 'we' when writing about them, and when not so well it becomes 'they'.

I saw some of the game as we engineered a long tea interval in our cricket match. It did not seem a classic. I do wonder what will happen when they play a truly decent team that actually has more possession and positive intentions. Since you asked we won: last over thriller by 6 runs.

Cheers

Bruce