With the USMNT out I was rooting for the my Grandpa's country, Sweden. Plus today is the most import Swedish holiday. Sweden you are killing why commit a faul so close to goal in stoppage time, and why not play with more pressure up a man. Sweden let them take that from them. Also it was a missed PK that Sweden should have awarded It was an entertaining match.
Sweden was on the attack about a minute before the goal, and the player took the shot when a rolled ball across the 18 would have resulted in an easy tap-in and a Sweden win.
Yeah, that play was killer for Sweden - but they have to play to win too. They were up a man - this is the World Cup, go for the throat. Sweden and Costa Rica got punished for pursuing a draw.
My favorite line so far was in the Portugal/Iran game. Quaresma did a pretty harsh tackle on Exatolahi - kind of nicked him in the berries - and Aly Wagner says, “Quaresma comes in and retaliates and doesn’t even come close to the ball. The soccer ball.” Made me chuckle.
the ending of those two games was wild even if it did end up with the way we all thought it would - spain first and portugal second
Both of them were shaky and I don’t think they go the semi finals. Portugal is very fortunate that Ronaldo didn’t get the red card he deserved.
Nice analysis! So far I have been pleased with VAR in the WC. Yes it has caused some delays, but the resulting changes in calls/non-calls have made the delays bearable. There have been weaknesses in the system too. In the game today Pique had a clear handball that was not called by VAR. I would like to see two more advances in its use and in officiating in general. First, the “bear-hug” defense on set pieces needs to be officiated out of the game. I think this would result in more goals, which is good for the fans. Personally, I like the fact that VAR has resulted in more set piece goals. More set pieces means more goals. It’s one of the first things I learned about soccer. Both the 1978 book Richtige Fussballspielen by Gerhard Bauer and the 1975 book Winning Soccer by Al Miller and Norm Wingert (Chris’ dad) brought out the importance of tactics which result in set pieces. That said, the other officiating improvement needs to be more penalizing of flopping. This might result in fewer set pieces, but flopping reduces the integrity of the game and, to me, the enjoyment of watching games.
What I don't understand is when a player dives and the ref waves it off, why does the player not get a yellow? If it's not a foul, isn't the dive punishable ? Or has that rule changed recently?
Yes, it was a rule change requested by CONCACAF because some Central American teams would have no players on the field by the end of the game.
I think often players come together and one or both fall due to that. But, just because there was collision and falling doesn't mean that a foul occurred, nor does it mean a flop occurred. Some contact is part of the game, is not infringing, can result in a fall, therefore is not a 'dive', nor is it a foul. When the official is waving it off, he/she is simply saying, 'soccer happens, play on.'
embellishment is a punishable offense, too. Like the waived off Neymar penalty. Is he touched? Sure, but come the ******** on. That should have been a yellow card. I pray for the day that a ref hands out yellows to both players on a tackle. One for the guy who committed the foul, one for the guy rolling 15 times to let him know.
that along with whistles towards the other team having possession are things I wish we did more at the RioT
Gotta love modern technology. Using split screen on my phone so I can watch both games at once. I miss being on vacation where we could just watch on TV. Also, I find it a little amusing that a lot of TV's don't do picture in picture anymore. We're in an era where you could have 2 programs going side by side in a TV big enough to still see the action clearly, and it's rarely a feature now.
It drives me nuts how few tv companies do pip now. I LOVE PIP. Oh well Kudos to Argentina. It sure as hell wasn't pretty, but they're through. That match up with France is going to be something else. Feel bad for Iceland but they just couldn't convert. Nigeria probably feels the most hard done.
I was hoping Iceland or Nigeria could pull it off. I'd use it so often when it comes to sports that are on at the same time. It's also fun looking back at how we somehow dealt with stuff like 4 way split screen for multiplayer games, and now that it could be done a lot better, it's barely a thing anymore thanks to the internet.
I also like at Azteca (and other places) when a visiting team out performs the national team, and the crowd flips and starts chanting ole for completed visitor passes, and whistles for home possession
Man that Argentina game had the best ending. Rojo had a disappointing year at ManU but to come in and save the day for Argentina, and then Messi jumping on his back to create the perfect metaphor for Argentina's world cup thus far. Then cut to Maradona's celebration and that's... two middle fingers up for Nigeria and a "put..."- whoa cut back to the celebration cuz apparently he's coked out of his mind. So glad I'm able to watch while at work, it was a good day.
I'll be the first to say Argentina is not playing as a team, but if they had gone out on that weak Nigeria PK call, it would have been disappointing. Although, it might have been worth it to see Maradona's meltdown. And before you respond and say FIFA is cracking down on bear hugs on set pieces, to which I agree is a ridiculous flouting of the rules and needs to be curtailed, Mascherano was in no way the worst offender in the game, let alone the tournament. To choose that moment to be the strict enforcement rule guy was bad judgment on the refs part. If 4 or 5 of these were called during the course of the game, I would believe they really want the bear hugs to end, but one game-changing PK?
In such a large tournament it’s difficult to get consistency throughout the officiating cadre. According to that Match Commissioner guy the referees were given video to study prior to the tournament. In that video bear-hugging on set pieces was specifically highlighted for them to call as fouls. That’s going to be inconsistently applied because the officials operate typically in an environment where it is basically ignored and, most likely, they don’t even look for it. Also it’s easy for one or more other players to block the official’s view of the bear-hugs. But, when they see it they should call it.
LOL. Had to chuckle at the play by play announcer during the Mexico game, “It’s not the best time to die”, as the camera caught Osorio possibly choking on a piece of gum.