Alot of comments in Google (whom are France supporters) but even dislike Mbappe playacting. Seriously, there was no touch, and he just roll on the grass himself, one roll, and flip another roll himself. Even if there was a slightest touch on his chest, that doesn't mean he throw himself on the ground, and then 'continue' make another roll to the grass while there was no one near him. I'm waiting for the replay so I can watch it again. Such a disgrace. And I don't see anything wrong with you cry, at least it real emotion. Better than that Mbappe playacting. I hope he learn from this first time try playacting of his, don't do it a second time, it just make him looks bad and people will lost respect for him (regardless how good of a player he is).
I really hope Mbappe becomes a humble world class player instead of an arrogant diving world class player
Again, I am specifically talking about underhanded tactics that results from instructions from the coach and rehearsing. As a defender I always avoid useful fouls, or rough action purposely aimed at hurting opponents when possible ( even when instructed to do so ). I am not saying that Uruguayan players are better or worse than french on a individual level. But I am convinced you could notice a rather pernicious behavior especially during the first 30 minutes of the game that was reminiscent of what Italy was able to do ( and get away with ) at the height of the catenaccio . It seems that the rather "physical" response and at time overplaying by the french was enough to calm down the Uruguayan but it could have degenerate. I would have prefer the Uruguayan and french not to have to do this or to put emphasis on fouls in order to catch the referee attention. I really hope this will not be the referee for the final. We need someone strong and clear from the get go. If not, teams will (over)compensate or more readily commit fouls to the detriment of the game quality. I would rather have a referee that sanction too many fouls rather than one who would disregard ill intended actions because the victim was lucky or strong enough to avoid falling or being injured. A couple of early yellow cards for the most aggressive Uruguayan actions would have avoided such a high number of fouls overall. In retrospect, it seems that somehow the Uruguayans may have underestimate their own chance and potential. They played OK but not to the best of their ability ( and so did France but it is now an habit for them ). It was an OK game and a logical result but it could have been more open and downright better with a more strict referee and a little more confidence from both team ( especially Uruguay) . It is not really surprising since in the final stages it is often more about not making any mistakes and taking any risks rather than sizing the game and the win. Sill, I hope to see a couple of crazy or very close games before the final. Lets watch Brazil-Belgium and hope for the best.
Best game for France in the Deschamps era. Totally controlled to the very last minute. We granted Uruguay nothing except Lloris' save. They missed Cavani to an interstellar point. GO BELGIUM ! Playing against them would be such a joy !
I expressed many times that I don’t understand it either but perhaps Europeans will never fully grasp why people from other continents often have a continental solidarity. Perhaps we simply were running the world (and football, at least from an organisational point of view) for too long to get why the rest of the world doesn’t want to see the WC turning into the European Championships.
I get that bit. I don't really want all four semi finalists to be European. However, if there was ever a final without a European team I'd still want to watch it.
The "problem" is that outside of Brazil and to a lesser extent Argentina (given its record since 1990), are there any other teams outside UEFA who can realistically challenge the best European sides for the title? For a long time people thought Africa would have a breakthrough and yet in 2018 with so many African players in the Premiership, for example, not a single African team made it to the round of 16. South Korea had an odd (and to many observers, unfair) run to the 2002 semifinals. It's done little since and Japan nearly upset Belgium days ago. Australia? Nope. Other teams from South America who have been tough in the past - Chile and Paraguay - didn't even make it to 2018. Colombia crashed out in the round of 16 as did Argentina. So, however much it'd be nice to see variety, given today's soccer circumstances, will the World Cup ever be anything other than a European Championship plus Brazil and Argentina? (And as in 2010, Uruguay)
I'm sorry Sir Steve Page, I didn't mean it like that, it just a bummer to me that my all time favorite team Italy (which is a European team btw) not even make it to this World Cup. And I'm a die hard fan of Buffon and Italy team. And now the South America side are basically out, except Brazil. I guess to me it just suck and it make me lost the interest of glue my eyes to the TV. ----------------------------------------------------------------- oh, and you guys probably see this already, as this has been retweet so many times since yesterday. But look, I know this is just a coincident. But man, from reading this, I'm afraid Brazil will lost in the next match. Nuuuuuuuuuu!! I hope this won't come true. What do you think of this, this is just a coincident right? Hic. If it must be 13 letters like this, France won, then that mean Belgium win next then.
I have just learned that Muslera's maternal grandmother passed away this past Monday and that one of his maternal uncles died this past Wednesday from an auto accident. Not that this serves as an excuse, but arguably Muslera was not in his best mental state.
Good game France. Well done. I thought we'd do much better but... mamá said there would be days like this. We lost the midfield battle. Vecino and Bentancur were nowhere to be found when it came to creation. Not even Suarez. There was no spark anywhere. But France probably had something to do with that. Not sure. I can't even blame Tabarez this time(as I usually do). He had a great tournament. The only mistake he made I think was leaving Valverde home. He could've been that spark, maybe, but he'll get his chance. And I don't think Tabarez is going anywhere so we'll be back. We've got plenty of players coming up. We'll be ok. Oh I forgot just to point out the difference between Mbappe's behavior and Griezman not celebrating his goal(either out of respect for his Atletico teammates or because of Muslera's error). You learn a lot about people by the way they win. Chapeau Mr.Griezman, you can come and play for Peñarol any time you wish
Any player can cry as much as he wants during a game, as long as he does his work and doesn't commit mistakes. Giménez did his part.
In the seventies/Eigthies/Nineties the WC certainly was not much more than Europe plus Brazil/Argentina. But recent years have really seen other Conmebol nations step up in quality at the expense of Europe. This was especially evident in 2016 when watching the Euros in France, a tournament of quite frankly embarrassing quality, and comparing it with the Copa that was held at around the same time where the matches were of much higher quality. So I think Conmebol fans had every reason to feel optimistic about Russia 18 in the hope that South America could have a more dominant showing