World Cup Qatar

[Tamworthram]

2 hours ago, PistoldPete said:

We are ranked fifth. Behind Argentina. And Belgium who are out. So I repeat I don't know why we are playing France in the quarters. 

Surely it's just the luck of the draw. It's not like Wimbledon where the draw can be engineered.

I guess they could organise the draw so that the top ranked team would end up playing the 8th ranked team (if results went according to rankings) but I prefer an element of randomness.

[Van der MoodHoover]

7 minutes ago, Rammy03 said:

They haven't played anyone yet...

Tbf there's so much space it's like they aren't playing anyone this evening..... ?

[Gritstone Ram]

Some poor defending from South Korea 

[Van der MoodHoover]

1 minute ago, Gritstone Ram said:

Some poor defending from South Korea 

Is Kevin keegan managing them? 

"don't bother with this defending nonsense lads, everyone charge forwards..... Tell you what, I'll bring another couple of forwards on"..... ?

[AndyinLiverpool]

South Korea are a shambles

[angieram]

This made me smile! 

 

[SKRam]

Agree with Keane re celebrating each goal like that.

 
 

[Alph]

1 hour ago, Stive Pesley said:

I'm surprised that the commentators mikes worked by the end of the France game, there was so much cream on them from whenever Mbappe touched the ball

Yeah, it's been the same for every single "star" player. 

Even if they lose the ball it's a lucky escape for the other team. And of course we still pretend Ronaldo is a free kick master. 

They were so happy for Lewandowski to get a deserved goal. Why? He did a stupid run up penalty and got to retake it. Poland were horrible to watch and he was just as disappointing as the rest of them. 

[kevinhectoring]

1 hour ago, Bris Vegas said:

think high and hard is better than low and hard. 

Well fair enough.  the best advice the Japan coach could have given today was surely ‘hit it hard. And don’t miss the goal ‘ 

[Alph]

Brazil have had it easy. The hype around them and of course cult leader Neymar has been so ott. Everyone has let them play. The few times Switzerland and Serbia didn't fall over their own feet coming forward then Brazil looked ordinary.

I think if they were to face a top European side they'd be gone. Including the ones that have gone out like Belgium and Germany. 

 

[kevinhectoring]

20 hours ago, Andicis said:

I'm also saying that Foden is certainly not an automatic starter for England as he hasn't got a great body of work to back up such a position. 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2022/dec/05/phil-foden-england-senegal-world-cup-qatar

[AndyinLiverpool]

24 minutes ago, Alpha said:

Brazil have had it easy. The hype around them and of course cult leader Neymar has been so ott. Everyone has let them play. The few times Switzerland and Serbia didn't fall over their own feet coming forward then Brazil looked ordinary.

I think if they were to face a top European side they'd be gone. Including the ones that have gone out like Belgium and Germany. 

 

Brazil beat teams before they make it out on the pitch. The opposition buy into the hype and either freeze or do something preposterous. Or in the case of South Korea, both.

[ariotofmyown]

5 hours ago, Bris Vegas said:

I think in Belgium’s case a golden generation is fair. I think between 96 and 2012 they didn’t even qualify for any major tournaments from memory. And then suddenly between 2014 and 2020 they had a generation of players who were capable of winning

Fair enough, for Belguim it was a relitavely golden generation. For us, it was perhaps slightly better on paper than the previous one and behind today's team.

[therealhantsram]

5 hours ago, Bris Vegas said:

This was posted on the BBC regarding penalties at World Cups. Green scored, purple missed.

If you draw an imaginary horizontal line half way up the goal, you can see the ratio of scored to missed is higher when aiming high.

I’ve always wondered why players don’t aim high when taking penalties. Yeah you could hit it over or hit the bar, but they are pretty a guaranteed goal when you hit the target.

Compare that to low shots and look how many are saved.  

I think it also shows how most keepers are right handed and you have a better chance if you hit the ball to their left.

[kevinhectoring]

5 hours ago, Bris Vegas said:

This was posted on the BBC regarding penalties at World Cups. Green scored, purple missed.

If you draw an imaginary horizontal line half way up the goal, you can see the ratio of scored to missed is higher when aiming high.

I’ve always wondered why players don’t aim high when taking penalties. Yeah you could hit it over or hit the bar, but they are pretty a guaranteed goal when you hit the target.

Compare that to low shots and look how many are saved.  

Where is that pen that Zidane dinked and which hit the bar and went in? 

[Bris Vegas]

37 minutes ago, therealhantsram said:

I think it also shows how most keepers are right handed and you have a better chance if you hit the ball to their left.

Always thought that as well. Japan’s penalties earlier were awful. 

Nani was another who always scored high penalties. Gave the keeper no chance.

[Bris Vegas]

2 minutes ago, kevinhectoring said:

Where is that pen that Zidane dinked and which hit the bar and went in? 

Assuming it’s when the ball crosses the line, it’s likely the green middle one right at the bottom.

 

[Carl Sagan]

8 hours ago, Bris Vegas said:

This was posted on the BBC regarding penalties at World Cups. Green scored, purple missed.

If you draw an imaginary horizontal line half way up the goal, you can see the ratio of scored to missed is higher when aiming high.

I’ve always wondered why players don’t aim high when taking penalties. Yeah you could hit it over or hit the bar, but they are pretty a guaranteed goal when you hit the target.

Compare that to low shots and look how many are saved.  

Agree it should be blasted high (and into the corner). Into the "unsaveable zone". I've posted this on here before:

 

[Andicis]

11 hours ago, kevinhectoring said:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2022/dec/05/phil-foden-england-senegal-world-cup-qatar

One game is not a body of work. The fact that's all you had in the way to show for him in an England shirt backs the point that he hasn't been great for England. 

[Dean (hick) Saunders]

One of the advantages of hitting peno higher up means you don’t have to blast it.

Surely to some extent it’s a little like golf where you are never coached to blast the absolute fork out of it. Nice even, but powerful shot, aimed a metre under the bar..