No he 1st celebrated with the players shook their hands the Swiss players and refs then he left while the team stayed longer on the pitch
Even Croatia is probably the weakest of the quarterfinalists so you guys got luck as well as talent on your side. Only the semis and finals will be hard. Easiest path to the cup since 2002.
I have zero idea who wins this competition ! Any out of the last 8 other than Croatia I’d say … Holland and Morocco are real dark horses as well . The other five all have an equal chance .. guess it’s gonna come down to a bit of luck judging by Spain hitting the post with the last kick of extra time .. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Wow, bookies have it now close to 50:50 regarding who of UEFA or CONMEBOL lifts the trophy. That just doesn't add up in my calculation. There is only one CONMEBOL team left who has a shot at winning while UEFA has four. Bookies got it again damn wrong!
I don't understand this lack of faith in Croatia. As a team, I think they are greater than the sum of the individual parts. There are four undefeated teams left in the world cup and Croatia is one of them. They were down a goal against Canada (I was at the stadium that night) and Japan, and then came back to beat both of them. It's a fairly old team, but they still have players that can make a difference. This, in addition to their never-die attitude, makes them a formidable opponent. Brazil is the favorite, but this game will be closer than people think.
Paddy Power bookies just on the radio and confirmed that two punters won big .. correctly betting on a 6:1 Portugal victory over Morocco at odds of 200:1 !!
Brazil vs. Switzerland & South Korea: 6 points, 5-1 GD Portugal vs. Switzerland & South Korea: 3 points, 7-3 GD
• Do you realize that when you eliminate Messi, you don't just put Argentina in mourning, but the whole world?Dumfries: "I think there are 16 million people in The Netherlands who we don't put into mourning."• That's the exception.Dumfries: "That's who we play for right?" pic.twitter.com/x6TDzcKaBS— 𝐀𝐅𝐂 𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐗 💎 (@TheEuropeanLad) December 6, 2022
But three of those four are on one side of the draw. Only one can reach the final. And that one CONMEBOL team you feel has a shot is picked my many to reach the final. So 50/50 doesn't sound all that crazy. What would you rate the odds between UEFA and CONMEBOL winning it all?
I'd say it's still at least 60:40 for UEFA. Argentina imo doesn't stand a chance against the Netherlands. Brazil will still in all likelyhood have to beat two 1st tier UEFA sides in order to lift the trophy. I could see Brazil beating maybe one but I have a tough time seeing them beating two. The last time Brazil beat an UEFA powerhouse in a koncokout stage match was in 2002. I feel beating two on a bounce might be too much to ask for them.
I can’t see Argentina getting past the Dutch, it’s a really bad matchup for them and Van Gaal tactics will minimise Messi’s influence so the question will be are the others good enough to make a difference, im not so sure. We saw an insight into how Argentina deals with adversity in the Saudi game and also when they conceded a goal against Australia. They have a soft underbelly snf very Messi centric and football in recent times is more so about the collective than the individual
Holland should be favoured, but Argentina have a goal or two in them. As usual the first goal will set up the game.
Mmm,bookies don't care about what's right or wrong. They hedge against the bets made by people and if those bets are strongly tilting towards a stupid outcome the bookies will follow that as when they don't and the stupity comes true, they're toast.
cool tell that to Japan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia the level of disrespect of opponents is at times is extraordinary.
Everything is possible of course, but the last team to score more than 3 goals against the Orange Squad was France with 4-0. However Argentina hasnot got the firepower of the other blue team.
You don't understand football, mate. In a World Cup semi-final it's not about club form of players anymore. It's about who has better tactics, the form on that given day and who wants it more.
Brazil would be favourites for that clash without a doubt. My hope is that Brazil enter that clash overly confident underestimating the Netherlands in a way. It would be the first clash against an European powerhouse since the 2018 quarterfinals against Belgium. And assuming they'll beat Croatia beating the likes of Serbia, Switzerland, South Korea and Croatia will tell us little how they would fare against the Netherlands. I still think Brazil are far from invincible. What it takes to in order to beat them? It takes a team that has a skillset comparable to Brazil. It takes a team that defends well and doesn't give them space for their play. It takes a team who is very direct going forward when retaining possession and it takes a team that doesn't need a whole lot chances to score. The Netherlands on a good day could be the team to fulfill these attributes.
I've never bought into the "who wants it more" argument. Every player busting their butt on the pitch wants it as much as the next person does. I fully agree with tactics and form. I'd also add talent and adjustments to situations during the course of the game. That's where the coach plays a key role. And there's that old adage "it's better to be lucky than good". Every team needs some luck, however my-nute it can be. Whether it's a key injury to the opposition, a deflection off a teammate or defender, a player sitting on a yellow and fearful that another booking would cause him being suspended for the next game, or even a wrong call by an official that VAR is unable to correct (e.g. a foul outside the box not being whistled) can turn the match one way. Mourinho once said that the best team doesn't always win the Champions League. I feel it's moreso in national team tournaments where "on that given day" one-offs decide who ultimately wins the trophy. I'm not saying that whoever wins on December 18 is not the best team in the world. After all, they got the job done against the teams they had to. But just because finalist 1 defeated finalist 2 doesn't mean finalist 1 would have defeated the team that finalist 2 defeated in the semifinals. Unfortunately, tournament play doesn't allow for such matchups. Anyway, too much rambling from me just to say that the phrase "who wants it more" is ridiculous, especially regarding the World Cup.
Agree with almost everything except with Portugal having a 51% chance of beating France. WTF? I'd say that's a 60-40 for France.
Every Single World Cup, people always say Brazil is the favorite, they are unbeatable, nobody can beat them. BLABLABLA. Seriously: 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and now 2022, everyone says that Brazil will win the world cup, nobody can beat them, and they get shocked once Brazil actually goes out. Can we just accept that the media is highly bias towards Brazil? I only remember that in 2014, it was even between Brazil vs Germany, but that was only after Neymar and Silva being out, and after the quarterfinals happened. Before the quarters, everyone said Brazil is strong favorite against Germany even, and look what happened.