PBP Thread: Match #9, Brazil vs Switzerland, 17 June 2018 [R]

Jesus pk call should have been a penalty if both the Portugal and France penalties could be used as thresholds to determine penalties- those were very soft. So, there needs to be a little bit of consistency in refereeing to be honest. As for the foul on Miranda, that was a foul but it seemed more like Miranda slipped because the push wasnt really hard. There are way harder pushes amd pulls in the penalty box- so I can see why that goal was given.

I dont see any conspiracy. Two things however needs to be noted. Brazil does lack finishing in the final third - Brazil is allround very strong and looked very good but the lack of a striker like Romario or Ronaldo is showing. And also, Switzerland is a very good team. A draw with them is not ideal but its not a bad result. I would say it should serve as a wakeup call for Brazil to tighten up things at the back and improve finishing.

 

It’s true. It’s the same with any home field advantage. Do the Cavs magically play better at home? Did the Celtics magically obtain some skill at home?

No

The only difference is the refereeing.
The NBA ref who got caught fixing games said they are told how to call a specific game on a game per game basis and that
Professional sports are not real games they are a form of entertainment and should not be compared to the Olympics where for the most part everyone is judged evenly (minus figure skating lol).

The World Cup is just a male soap opera. Game of Thrones for sporty men. Otherwise they would have a better penalty system than giving subjective yellow cards and red cards that are not clearly defined and a video review system they would actually use. Their not reviewing the Swiss goal proves they are not interested in verifying the truth. Unfortunately we all try to make it out to be a real competition which it is not.

 

All good stuff except the part where you said Miranda slipped lol

 

I was actually surprised that Brazil drew despite starting well. Imagine if they faced tank Iceland. Douglas Costa and Firmino should’ve started the game. Why the hell did Tite pick Gabriel Jesus over a UCL finalist?

 

Because Jesus has been the better #9 under Tite.

 

1008463055544569856 is not a valid tweet id

 

Ref debates aside, Switzerland beat Spain in the group stages in 2010 in which Spain won the WC (the only team to beat Spain). Portugal lost away to Switzerland (2-0, our only defeat or draw) in qualifing for this world cup after winning Euro 2016, we had to win 8 games in a row and then beat Switzerland at Home (2-0) to win the qualifing group by goal difference over Switzerland. Now they draw against the favourites Brazil, this should not be too much of a surprise.

 

Did Russia and Qatar cleanly win their bids to host the World Cup? Do you hate that conspiracy theory?

Let me clarify in that I'm not accusing FIFA of rigging matches. They are however influencing results to project more desirable outcomes. Neither the Brazilian nor German FA will want to play a team so soon that could knock them out of the World Cup. They will will apply pressure behind the scenes to avoid it. More importantly, the bottom line is fewer people want to watch a semi-final with Mexico and Switzerland. Fans want to see heavyweight bouts between the likes of Brazil and Germany. That's what FIFA wants. It's consumer demand. It's simple economics.

This is now an open secret--true not just of football, but in most major sports. It's like Harvey Weinstein trading sex with women for movie roles. He didn't exactly invent the casting couch.

No matter how you look at it, the fact is the referee's decision was to manage the game in a way that gave Switzerland an advantage. He allowed them to play in a very rough way against Brazil. That's not a mistake. It was a deliberate choice. Neymar alone was fouled 10 times. A few times, OK. By the tenth time you think the referee would already have had more of a handle on things and would have made sure Neymar was able to put on a show. No one watches football to see Neymar wince and roll on the floor.

And the ref had VAR. There's no excuse for not awarding the penalty claim for Gabriel Jesus. He was literally manhandled to the ground. It was a clear penalty. The referee claims there wasn't enough in the challenge. That's absurd. And it certainly wasn't consistent of him. The same type of fouls were awarded elsewhere on the pitch, but not that one time. It doesn't make any sense, but it would make sense if the referee was trying to sway the game a certain way, which he did as a direct result of failing to make calls like that very blatant penalty foul.

This doesn't mean the match would necessarily have ended in a draw or even a win for Switzerland. Brazil could still have won, but they were playing against 12 men. The referee did enough to affect the outcome that it gave Switzerland, a very physical side, a better chance to get something out of this match against a side that was technically superior them.

Disagree with me as you please. I'm sure others will too. I made an extraordinary claim and that requires a higher burden of proof. I can appreciate why you or others may hold a higher burden of proof. But there's no denying this referee made a conscience decision to manage the game in a way that was ultimately favorable to the kind of tactics employed by the Swiss. Why he did is anyone's guess, but it's there for everyone to see. And it seems pretty obvious to me why he did. I don't think the referee miscalculated. He prevented Brazil from playing their game and allowed Switzerland to play very cynically. The Swiss were very smart about how they did it and it certainly helped that this referee played right into their hands.

 

Thank you.

 

Thanks buddy!

I think he misunderstood meI or i explained wrong.
I meant Jonas Eriksson just explained from the refeeres view why he didnt used var.

 

Maybe, (another conspiracy theory), happens that ultimately his top boss at FIFA (Infantino), is Swiss....., and all the referee is doing is following orders.

Was pretty strange, considering the availability to use technology as the VAR in this WC, and this referee simply didn't want to use it, for everyones satisfaction in clarifying something, gives the feeling that despite FIFA's intentions to do things more "open" to avoid corruption, there still are a few things that they prefer to keep in "secret"......

It is lots more annoying, when you consider that in the match between Croatia and Nigeria, the penalty kick which gave Croatia their second goal, was sanctioned after it was seen by the VAR, and was exactly the same type of action that lead to it.

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In any case, whatever explanation there may be, in the past Brazil has received so many bad calls that "help" them, causing a great damage to their eventual opponents, that for this time, maybe the referee just wanted to level up "things", on regards to them.

 

How is Neymar doing? He took some serious lumps today.

 

The nfl got it right. The coach of each team should have two challenges. With a chance for a third. It should not be just at the discretion of the ref. That makes VAR quite meaningless and actually creates an Avenue for external forces to influence the game. Possibly allowing people to reap rewards in betting. Review should not be at the subjective whim of the ref.

Transparency is needed. Refs should also have to go through a question and answer period following the game not to reverse their decisions, but to understand why those decisions were made. The mystery of their decisions makes it exciting and captivating though so it will never happen.

 

Good game by Swiss, they were a young side last time and now are in their prime. Brazil needs to improve the finishing, just like Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.

 

Why not just hand out wooden bats so guys can take turns hitting Neymar. Ref needs to start handing out some reds or he won't make it more than a single match more.

 

The obvious question is how often is a call made on rough play in the box in a major championship, goal scoring situation? If the answer is almost never, then you shouldn't have a huge problem with the call. If the answer is all the time, you should be livid.
I would have made the call on a technical basis but the reality of the situation is a call probably isn't going to be made.

 

I wasn't so far sighted

 

now, yes. But he's been diving ever since he was playing for santos and in his 1st year at barca. People weren't harsh on him back then and he was still writhing in pain and agony after each small contact. The guy is a miserable character, and it's a pity, because he's very good, and could become a true leader if he stopped doing this shit. If he was mature like pirlo, totti, raul, lampard, lahm, and the alikes he would win so many more fans (me included), but... I don't see it happening.

 

guys.... guys? I'm telling you, this group will be hella interesting. After watching these 2 games I will make some predictions. Please save this comment and come back to it after games are played to see if I was right. Here it goes...

Round 2:

3-0 Brazil v Costa Rica
0-0 Serbia v Switzerland

Round 3

1-2 Serbia v Brazil
1-1 Switzerland v Costa Rica

After 3 rounds Brazil will top the group with 7 pts, followed by Serbia with 4 pts, Switzerland 3 pts, and CR 1 pt.

There! I've called it here, just so you know

 

It was Elvis speaking from the moon landing video area in Nevada who decided that Brazil couldn't win against Switzerland because this was in his plans from the beginning.

 

lol??? NO WAY these 2 teams go past the quarter finals .... I'd say Brazil and Argentina will play the final (unless they meet in the semis)

 

IMO jesus is better than firmino. Personally, I like firmino more, but Jesus scares me more because he's more technical and creative

 

I'd say this is true for warmer fans. After what we've seen so far I'd say it's good for the show if Mexicans stayed longer, not the Russians

 

you're not. This has been my feeling, too, for the last 4-5 WCs, albeit I had no proof to back this up. But now that you've mentioned what Platini had said it's all clear to me, and I will go with my gut instinct more from now on

 

in all fairness, jesus is more creative (therefore more unpredictable) than firmino. Defenders have tougher times marking jesus