They did get an invite from Trump for the next UFC event at the Whitehouse…….as headliners.
Soccer/football thread 2022
- Thread starter Priller
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They did get an invite from Trump for the next UFC event at the Whitehouse…….as headliners.
Priller
Well-known member
What a relief. That game was such agony to watch I actually turned it off at halftime when a bag of Botox that vaguely resembled Madonna appeared, and didn't come back until extra time.
What I don't understand about that embarrassing display is it looked similar to the England game, where Argentina basically did nothing except kill the game and kick the other team until they went behind, after which they actually played pretty well. Only this time Spain scored so late that Argentina didn't have enough time once they decided to actually play. Not having a single shot until 112' and having more fouls than passes in the final third is extraordinary from a finalist. It's like they soaked up all the global hatred and decided to lean fully into the villain role. The refs certainly didn't do anything to quell the impression that Argentina was getting favourable calls. I've never seen 5 minutes added in extra time unless there's a major stoppage and that first goal was called off way too quick. At least Enzo Fernandez is such a sh*thouse that not even this ref could avoid handing out a second yellow. Add Paredes' ridiculous display of poor sportsmanship after the final whistle, and Argentina have done their damnedest to be as disliked as possible.
Still, it was all worth it to see the Fanta Menace make the usual fool of himself at the end. Watching Infantino desperately try to get him off the podium for the trophy lift made me laugh harder than I have in a long time. They tried hard to mute the booing on TV, but they couldn't completely hide it.
All in all, not a great World Cup. Had some moments, mostly provided by Cabo Verde, but few upsets past the first knockouts. Spain v France was the game of the tournament, though, and full credit to Spain for being so cohesive and organised. I've had my fill of the naked corruption of FIFA, looking forward to the subtler versions practiced by the European leagues. Preseason is just around the corner with many clubs kicking off their friendlies on Saturday.
What I don't understand about that embarrassing display is it looked similar to the England game, where Argentina basically did nothing except kill the game and kick the other team until they went behind, after which they actually played pretty well. Only this time Spain scored so late that Argentina didn't have enough time once they decided to actually play. Not having a single shot until 112' and having more fouls than passes in the final third is extraordinary from a finalist. It's like they soaked up all the global hatred and decided to lean fully into the villain role. The refs certainly didn't do anything to quell the impression that Argentina was getting favourable calls. I've never seen 5 minutes added in extra time unless there's a major stoppage and that first goal was called off way too quick. At least Enzo Fernandez is such a sh*thouse that not even this ref could avoid handing out a second yellow. Add Paredes' ridiculous display of poor sportsmanship after the final whistle, and Argentina have done their damnedest to be as disliked as possible.
Still, it was all worth it to see the Fanta Menace make the usual fool of himself at the end. Watching Infantino desperately try to get him off the podium for the trophy lift made me laugh harder than I have in a long time. They tried hard to mute the booing on TV, but they couldn't completely hide it.
All in all, not a great World Cup. Had some moments, mostly provided by Cabo Verde, but few upsets past the first knockouts. Spain v France was the game of the tournament, though, and full credit to Spain for being so cohesive and organised. I've had my fill of the naked corruption of FIFA, looking forward to the subtler versions practiced by the European leagues. Preseason is just around the corner with many clubs kicking off their friendlies on Saturday.
The Argentine goaltender looked almost bullet proof , stopped eleven? shots . Played so well despite having no defenders in front of him . Waiting for the miracle of Messi was painful. I could not watch the trophy handout knowing how stupid that presentation would be .
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I didn’t watch the halftime bollocks and didn’t watch a fair amount of the second. Managed to catch the Spanish goal.
Trump trying to hog the limelight was sadly predictable.
Agreed on this World Cup. Some bright spots but some low ones and a fair few rancidly annoying ones. It shouldn’t go back to the US for a long time and one can only hope that Infantino fucks right off, they rescind the dumb ad breaks and bin the NFL style halftime show. Apparently they also gave the players “winners rings”. Oh, that sounds familiar, what sport do they do that in?
Trump trying to hog the limelight was sadly predictable.
Agreed on this World Cup. Some bright spots but some low ones and a fair few rancidly annoying ones. It shouldn’t go back to the US for a long time and one can only hope that Infantino fucks right off, they rescind the dumb ad breaks and bin the NFL style halftime show. Apparently they also gave the players “winners rings”. Oh, that sounds familiar, what sport do they do that in?
Priller
Well-known member
Not World Cup, but soccer related, sadly. RIP Kevin Keegan.
He was before my time, but his shadow was a long one. The first true English league superstar, and by all accounts a gent. He was never the King to me, that crown is Kenny's, but a huge figure in both Liverpool and Newcastle.
He was before my time, but his shadow was a long one. The first true English league superstar, and by all accounts a gent. He was never the King to me, that crown is Kenny's, but a huge figure in both Liverpool and Newcastle.
Keegan is often forgotten when talking about England's greatest players. He won two ballon d'or's, and take a look at the players he beat in 78 and 79 to win.
74 and 78 England national team never made it to the world cup so maybe his star would have shined brighter, also he won those trophies when playing in Germany another factor maybe. Well loved by fans everywhere he played and coached.
Good move by Norway
www.theguardian.com
Norway considers filing Fifa ethics complaint over Trump role in World Cup red card saga
The president of the Norwegian federation decried the process to overturn Folarin Balogun’s red card as being ‘influenced by external forces’ and ‘an error’
www.theguardian.com
First game of the season in the books, Arsenal odds on fav to repeat me thinks.
Don't really see anyone challenging them, they have more depth than last season, City losing Pep, Rodri and Silva will not be the same force, and i think Liverpool and Chelsea are still missing pieces. Wildcards Manure and Spurs(big time spending from them) could cause a surprise.
The three teams promoted look like they could be the ones relegated this season.
Don't really see anyone challenging them, they have more depth than last season, City losing Pep, Rodri and Silva will not be the same force, and i think Liverpool and Chelsea are still missing pieces. Wildcards Manure and Spurs(big time spending from them) could cause a surprise.
The three teams promoted look like they could be the ones relegated this season.
So much for my wildcard predictions so far, Spurs doing Spurs things and Utd losing to Hull. Arsenal looking very comfortable, i think Liverpool will be stronger when Ekitike and Bradley come back, but Kerkez pace or lack of it got exposed on defense today, i think i could run faster lol.
These 114 charges should have been dealt with a long time ago.
Looking forward to Oct11th with City have to play at Anfield, I'm sure the crowd will let their feelings about the matter be heard.
Priller
Well-known member
I have to admit, for a thousand reasons, I thought the Premier League would sweep this under the rug. Massive credit to them for not only dealing with this head on, but coming out swinging. The report is incredible, simultaneously brutal and verging on sarcastic. The word 'sham' is really having its time in the limelight.
City constantly claiming 'irrefutable evidence' is getting more and more surreal as it becomes clear they have no such thing. Public sentiment in the UK seems to be pretty united in condemnation, so it'll be interesting to see how Burnham navigates the international fallout, with the UAE threatening to withdraw funding for all sorts.
My understanding is the appeal process can't question the verdict, only the people or process that came to it. Lord knows, City has hundreds of lawyers on the case (some earning £5000+/hr, according to the files), so they may yet find one loophole or another. But the report was so scathing in its conclusions, I can't see City skating by. 30 days for the appeal, 12 weeks for the verdict of the appeal, so this shouldn't drag out as long as the initial investigation (which they apologise for in the report, blaming City for being so difficult). What could really drag things out is City taking things to civil court to claim the PL itself is unlawful, or some other process to defang the league. I have to ask myself why, though. If they force their way back in, it will ultimately destroy the league, and by extension City, so it would be a scorched earth approach. Public sentiment is so one-sided here, I could see the government passing legislation to support the PL as a cultural institution if it were to go that far.
Unprecedented stuff, and really shocking in its scale, even for those paying close attention already. Nearly £1B is falsified revenue is a mind-blowing amount.
City constantly claiming 'irrefutable evidence' is getting more and more surreal as it becomes clear they have no such thing. Public sentiment in the UK seems to be pretty united in condemnation, so it'll be interesting to see how Burnham navigates the international fallout, with the UAE threatening to withdraw funding for all sorts.
My understanding is the appeal process can't question the verdict, only the people or process that came to it. Lord knows, City has hundreds of lawyers on the case (some earning £5000+/hr, according to the files), so they may yet find one loophole or another. But the report was so scathing in its conclusions, I can't see City skating by. 30 days for the appeal, 12 weeks for the verdict of the appeal, so this shouldn't drag out as long as the initial investigation (which they apologise for in the report, blaming City for being so difficult). What could really drag things out is City taking things to civil court to claim the PL itself is unlawful, or some other process to defang the league. I have to ask myself why, though. If they force their way back in, it will ultimately destroy the league, and by extension City, so it would be a scorched earth approach. Public sentiment is so one-sided here, I could see the government passing legislation to support the PL as a cultural institution if it were to go that far.
Unprecedented stuff, and really shocking in its scale, even for those paying close attention already. Nearly £1B is falsified revenue is a mind-blowing amount.
Billionaire playboys who think the rules don’t apply to them while they try to purchase a top flight team rather than do the work to develop one are suddenly about to find out those rules very much do apply. Hopefully.
If City aren’t punished severely for this now then there’s no hope.
I'd laugh harder at ManU if I didn’t think Liverpool were capable of going down the same road again. The first 30 minutes of the Villarreal game looked like a schoolboy 11 vs a men’s pro team game. I’m glad they woke up eventually.
Get McAllister signed up again pronto. He wants to play and he took control for a while.
Wirtz had his switch flipped finally and looked worth his price tag.
Watching Liverpool games these days leaves me very much on edge.
Priller
Well-known member
There were rumours of a punishment in short order, but they fizzled. Those rumours were a 128 point deduction, and no possibility of promotion next year, so some like two enforced years in the championship. If that's accurate, it's woefully inadequate. If the UAE threats to pull funding etc show anything, it's that state owned clubs should be illegal and they should be forced to sell, along with Newcastle. The new independent panel has the authority to make that happen, they already did with Chelsea, though under very different circumstances.
My entire youth was spent listening to those pricks gloat about winning the league over and over (thank God SAF was mostly terrible in Europe), so I'm enjoying this as long as it drags on. Carrick repeating the Ole Gunnar-Solskjaer process was very predictable. ManU spend enough cash that it's only a matter of time before things start working again, but until then, the schadenfreude is glorious. It's bad enough that all the ex players clog up the pundit roles, Rio Ferdinand in particular is atrocious, but watching mopey Scholes and apoplectic Neville is always fun.
Entirely possible. Depends heavily on them getting the suits in order. Far too much turmoil since Klopp left in the head office, need to find a vision and stability. Still think Alonso would have been a better hire, but I can see what Iraola is trying to do and he's more pragmatic than expected.
I'm mixed on this. He's good at getting stuck in and has played well recently, but the side is also stuck with Gravenberch and Szoboszlai (who I am very much not sold on despite his thunderous boot), and Mac Allister doesn't bring out the best in either of them. I think they either need to shift one of the other lads or move on from Mac Allister and pick up more of a defensive minded mid who can plug the gaps left by the others. Nyoni may be that guy, but he's still super young. Lots of noises about Camara from Monaco, too.
To me the measure of Wirtz's value is in how much worse the side looks when he's not on the pitch. It's a marked drop off, really obvious, and it tells me that he's doing a lot of things that may not result in direct goals, but make everyone around him better. Sort of the polar opposite to Bruno Fernandes.
It's still early with Iraola's system. Took nine (league only) games with Bournemouth for things to start clicking, and we're only there now including Europe. He's also figuring out the players he has and what he can do with them. I'd love to see them pick up Alex Scott to fill in a deep mid role who can make long passes, but I have a feeling he'll be insanely expensive and may go to ManU or Arsenal. Liverpool still need numbers, one or two injuries and the side looks thin very quickly.
