World Cup 2022

[Brewcrew82]

4 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

Most international teams aren't capable of doing what Brazil is doing to South Korea at the start of their match even if they were playing on a field with no defenders.

When Brazil gets cooking it's incredibly entertaining to watch.

Vinicius Jr. and Neymar is simply unfair in attack. 

[owbc]

18 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Vinicius Jr. and Neymar is simply unfair in attack. 

Just checked the score, I was like "Wow, Brazil won 4-0, impressive."

Then I saw it's halftime ?

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Today's QF matches were incredible. So much drama and emotion. That Dutch free kick? Incredible. Messi's pass? Wow.

Hope tomorrow's games are just as good.

 

[Brewcrew82]

40 minutes ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

Today's QF matches were incredible. So much drama and emotion. That Dutch free kick? Incredible. Messi's pass? Wow.

Hope tomorrow's games are just as good.

 

Agreed. Really excited for France-England. Of course, given England's WC history, they'll probably lose 5-0 tomorrow...

[Brewcrew82]

England at the World Cup since 1966 is so sad.

[Samurai Bucky]

13 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

England at the World Cup since 1966 is so sad.

England had enough chances and choked.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

What Messi and Alvarez did was a complete clinic. What an incredible performance from Argentina. Just absolutely shredded an incredible, cohesive team.

Whatever matchup we get in the final will be completely epic. Either it's Argentina-France in a real heavyweight battle (Messi vs. Mbappe, France going for a repeat, etc.) or Argentina-Morocco in a battle of emotional favorites.

I'd like to see Morocco-Argentina just for the atmosphere. Those two teams appear to have drawn the most crowd support, so that atmosphere would be incredible.

[Brewcrew82]

2 hours ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

What Messi and Alvarez did was a complete clinic. What an incredible performance from Argentina. Just absolutely shredded an incredible, cohesive team.

Whatever matchup we get in the final will be completely epic. Either it's Argentina-France in a real heavyweight battle (Messi vs. Mbappe, France going for a repeat, etc.) or Argentina-Morocco in a battle of emotional favorites.

I'd like to see Morocco-Argentina just for the atmosphere. Those two teams appear to have drawn the most crowd support, so that atmosphere would be incredible.

Yep. I predicted Argentina to win it all at the beginning of the tournament based on how they did the same thing this past summer to the reigning European champs in Italy. Plus there's the whole nostalgic aspect with Messi potentially getting the only (and biggest) trophy that's eluded him in his illustrious career. Judging by today's performance, I'm not even sure France's juggernaut squad can stop them, especially in the absence of players like Benzema, Kanté, and Pogba. 

But, man, Messi has been incredible in this tournament. He's playing at just as high of a level as he did at his peak. Difference is he finally has help. 

[Samurai Bucky]

What... an... incredible... game!

[OldHeidelberg]

3 hours ago, Samurai Bucky said:

What... an... incredible... game!

That was just nuts, probably because it cut into FOX NFL pregame I had friends who could care less about soccer texting me asking if I was watching it. Messi almost won it at the end of regulation and France came oh so close at the end of extra time as well. Messi finally winning it is the big story but Mbappe came oh so close to winning his second at age 23 in dramatic fashion.  A clash of young and old titans, I didn't tune in until the second half but soccer is not always boring, that was edge of your seat excitement.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

28 minutes ago, OldHeidelberg said:

That was just nuts, probably because it cut into FOX NFL pregame I had friends who could care less about soccer texting me asking if I was watching it. Messi almost won it at the end of regulation and France came oh so close at the end of extra time as well. Messi finally winning it is the big story but Mbappe came oh so close to winning his second at age 23 in dramatic fashion.  A clash of young and old titans, I didn't tune in until the second half but soccer is not always boring, that was edge of your seat excitement.

I haven't stopped thinking about this Final since it ended. Literally spacing out while my wife and kid look at me quizzically. Unreal. 

Has there ever been a better sporting event? I realize I sound hyperbolic, but I cannot think of anything that was played a) at such a high level, b) with so much at stake for individual players, and c) in front of a massive global audience and with such significant social and cultural implications.

That was rare. That was beautiful. That was a moment when sport became sublime art, and I feel lucky to have seen it.

[Jimbo]

Anyone who thinks this match was boring just because it was soccer has a low Sports IQ.

 

I've watched each WC since 1986 and unfortunately this year was the least amount I was able to follow it.  Had my Sunday morning cleared out just for this and am glad.

 

[homer]

[Brewcrew82]

Greatest World Cup final of my lifetime. That's for sure. Unable to say anything about the pre-2000 iterations...Happy for Messi and Argentina. They are beyond a doubt the best national team in the world right now. 

Going forward for the USMNT, it looks like it will be the Gold Cup and Nations League final in 2023, followed by the Copa America in 2024 and then the World Cup on home soil in 2026. I'm personally really looking forward to the Copa America as I think this team could be good enough by then to make a Confederations Cup 2009-style run.

The big question right now, obviously, is whether Gregg Berhalter returns as manager. I personally don't see how he can after the Gio Reyna debacle, but we shall see...

[owbc]

 

22 hours ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

I haven't stopped thinking about this Final since it ended. Literally spacing out while my wife and kid look at me quizzically. Unreal. 

Has there ever been a better sporting event? I realize I sound hyperbolic, but I cannot think of anything that was played a) at such a high level, b) with so much at stake for individual players, and c) in front of a massive global audience and with such significant social and cultural implications.

That was rare. That was beautiful. That was a moment when sport became sublime art, and I feel lucky to have seen it.

Yeah that was a top-5 game in my lifetime I think, any sport. I can't say it any better than you did. 

[Fear The Chorizo]

I just wish they had a better format to end a game like that than penalty kicks...I get the reasoning, I mean some of the players who went the full 120+ minutes yesterday probably ran 10+ miles and injury is a real concern - but game 7 of a Stanley Cup finals doesn't get decided on penalty shots.

The extra time period was wide open, with both teams having fantastic chances for multiple goals - I think I'd prefer sudden death extra time periods after the current extra time format to decide a championship game in soccer.