Soccer

[HANZO]

^ I hope. If football actually 'comes home' it will be insufferable. English fans are already unbearable as usual once we get any sniff of getting into knockout stages.

They wreaked an Ikea store after they beat Sweden and have been damaging ambulances in the streets celebrating after the win. Its Sweden ffs. They lost against the only good team they played. Go Croatia.

England in general becomes unbearable during such tournaments. It's because of the smugness from the the media, fans and football pundits. All the other teams are full of divers, cheats who don't know the game but no not England they play with the physicality of the premiership and apparently are too honest. I won't be surprised if England win it though, with tournaments you need a load of luck and this tournament England have had plenty but fuck do I hope Croatia just destroy them on Wednesday.

In other news Ronaldo is officially at Juventus. 100million euro transfer fee and he will be earning a shitload. Who will replace him at Madrid is the question.

[Rev Jones]

Damn.

[HANZO]

Unlucky man. I don't think there was much in that game, France scored from a set play. Both teams had their chances. De Bruyne was quite poor and Belgium just couldn't get Lukaku in a position to score. Apart from that Belgium defended well, the midfield was solid to. Same with France, Varane and Umtiti were excellent.

But this was a golden opportunity for Belgium. Their golden generation and they end up in a tournament where the powerhouses of international football are all gone. This was their tournament for the taking and they bottled it.

Overall a poor semi-final though. I dunno but it just lacked fire. Even in the last minutes Belgium didn't show that urge to get a goal back, they just got frustrated instead.

[Durag]

England in general becomes unbearable during such tournaments. It's because of the smugness from the the media, fans and football pundits. All the other teams are full of divers, cheats who don't know the game but no not England they play with the physicality of the premiership and apparently are too honest. I won't be surprised if England win it though, with tournaments you need a load of luck and this tournament England have had plenty but fuck do I hope Croatia just destroy them on Wednesday.

In other news Ronaldo is officially at Juventus. 100million euro transfer fee and he will be earning a shitload. Who will replace him at Madrid is the question.

If England win I am done. Done. Irish people on social media have been very vocal about our support for whoever England are playing and they will rub it in our faces if they win along with English football fans general unpleasantness. They cannot understand why we wouldn't support them and I continuously hear the usual 'get over history, it was in the past etc' coming from the same people who would never support Germany or France for the exact same reason. Plus its the only fun we get out of the WC when we arent in it.

Feel bad for Belgium. If they had lost against England they would have been playing the shitty teams England have faced so far instead of Brazil and France. Hazard was excellent but Lukaku and Fellini were poor, not sure why Fellini was starting. France still dont look like the greatest team ever to me. They dont look much different to the Euros' team that lost against Portugal and just about bet us 2-1 two years ago.

GO CROATIA! Níl sé ag teacht abhaile

[Rame]

It would've been cool to see Belgium make it to the final. Maybe even win it. But I can't hate on a France - England final.

I agree with Hanzo. There was no fire in either team. Maybe they got tired.

[Rev Jones]

Unlucky man. I don't think there was much in that game, France scored from a set play. Both teams had their chances. De Bruyne was quite poor and Belgium just couldn't get Lukaku in a position to score. Apart from that Belgium defended well, the midfield was solid to. Same with France, Varane and Umtiti were excellent.

But this was a golden opportunity for Belgium. Their golden generation and they end up in a tournament where the powerhouses of international football are all gone. This was their tournament for the taking and they bottled it.

Overall a poor semi-final though. I dunno but it just lacked fire. Even in the last minutes Belgium didn't show that urge to get a goal back, they just got frustrated instead.

I agree 100% with your analysis.

There's this big "Belgium lost against an 'anti-football' team, France's playing was a disgrace" shouting contest on local social media right now. Well, they're wrong. It's efficient football playing on France's part and that counts for something, counts for a lot actually. France didn't get here with lovely football playing but at least it GOT here. Belgium DID win games with better football though.

Kevin DB and Dembélé were weak, lots of bad passing. Hazard was very good on the other hand. Lukaku (sorry, Frank) went between the lines well enough but it was still hard for the team to reach him. Mertens did well as soon as he was on the pitch.

I hope Croatia makes it to the final, those midfielders especially deserve it

[Frank Drebin]

Belgium outplayed France pure and simple. I dont like the French style of play at all. Was hoping we would play belgium in the final but I guess we need to smash the English and wreck France. If England beat us tomorrow I cant even watch the final I think

[Rame]

This "anti-football" talk will always be a thing.

All I can say is why not, if it wins you games. It's not like France had 11 men on their own half the entire game.

[HANZO]

When you look at the French team and see all that attacking talent you automatically expect them to play free flowing attacking football. Deschamps has a different mentality though. Is it negative football? It's efficient and effective. This is the style of football that wins you tournaments. Everyone is praising Mbappe but the real key for France is the 4 man block in the skeleton of the team. Umtiti, Varane, Pogba and Kante. An incredibly solid team who has grown from 2 years ago where they got beat by another team who was deemed to be playing negative football in Portugal. Lessons learned i guess.

I don't think it's an excuse for Belgium. In the first half they actually had a gameplan and Hazard was ripping Pavard to shreds on the flank. They had their chances and blew it. Like i said they lacked any fire. You didn't see that last 10 minutes siege you see in games like this. France defended well yes but Belgium didn't put the kind of pressure you expected them to put on the French. It was only 1-0 you would expect Kompany to head up the pitch and stay their to head on balls. Hazard and Courtois are calling out the French attitude but where was this anger in the game? This is the thing when Euro teams face each other, the players are all friends they all play on the same teams. Sometimes you need a dick like Pepe or Sergio Ramos on your team to pour fuel over the game and light it up.

[chiba]

Agree with everyone on Belgium
Really sad to see them lose like that.
Was really hoping for Belgium to make the final and maybe win it.

England and France just flew under the radar.
I think England will scrape through with a win.
I wouldnt be surprised if the game came down to penalties.

This has been an odd world cup
All the big teams are at home.
I dont think anyone predicted France England and Croatia tto make it this far.
Belgium looked good in qualifying and in the tourney.
Really sucks to see Belgium play for 3rd

[Frank Drebin]

Omfg! Omfg! Omfg! Oh my God!!!!!! World cup fucking final. World omg l! 4million people come on!!!!!! Za Dom!!!!!! Spremni!!!!!

[HANZO]

Fucking well done CROATIA!!!! Well deserved. They played shit in the first half but got their act together in the 2nd. Everyone thought they would get tired but they didn't. Brilliant stuff. Country of 4million and in a world cup final and I hope they fucking win it because they deserve it.

As for England. They scored 12 goals and 9 of them came from set plays. They only had 1 shot on target this game.

[SL33]

Za Dom!!!!!! Spremni!!!!!

You realize that's a nazi salute?

[chiba]

Well at this point im convinced croatia will win this world cup.
They are a team that grinds out the win.

[Frank Drebin]

You realize that's a nazi salute?

Ustase fighting for Croatia in WW2 yes I understand.