I'm not sure if I completely buy into that. Football is evolving. Europeans did not win Cups outside of Europe prior to 2010. Now they have done it in two straight editions. We can certainly win the Cup here. I'd like to think the officiating would not hinder our chances.
Feel bad for Uruguay. That save was the key moment of the match, that would have tied it up, followed by a Frango from the Uruguayan goalie. Too bad.
The continental advantage IMO has largely disappeared as everything has gotten more standardized including the stadiums and fields.
I don’t buy this narrative. This was true in the past, not anymore. Besides, Russia is more Asia than Europe.
Uruguay gave it their all. Good showing from them overall in this WC. Cavani could have made a difference but they still played well enough.
I'm going to wait until after our match to get more in depth about France but they are hitting their stride at the perfect time.
The Mexican ref robbed us against Switzerland, even though he was Latin-American. I'm talking about an adversarial *environment*, not one specific ref. Even one specific ref can be influenced by what is sort of expected of him, in this place where South Americans are stereotyped as cheaters. Then, there is the psychological mechanism called "identification with the aggressor" in which even a South American ref might want to show that he is not willing to let the South Americans get away with embellishing, something this same ref might not do if the game was being played in South America. I stand behind what I said. It's not impossible to win in Europe (Brazil has already proved the point) but it is not easy. It's an uphill battle.
What??? Russia is more Asia than Europe??? Virtually ALL Russian major cities are in Europe (only exceptions, Novosibirsk and Vladivostok). Russia has the most landmass in Europe of ALL other European countries. Who cares about scarcely populated Siberia? Russia's culture is decisively European. St. Peterburg is one of the most Europeans of all European cities, and Moscow is in Europe too. Think of the great classical composers, the symphonies, the operas, the ballets... Russia is definitely European. Even the dominant race in Europe, Caucasians (another name for white people), originated from where, do you suppose? The Caucasus Mountains... which are in Russia. All the Slavs are in Europe (the Russians, Ukrainians, Croats, etc. What exactly is not European about Russia? The fact that they *also* have a vast and mostly desert and empty landmass in Asia? It doesn't make them any less European. 77% of Russians live in the European part of Russia, with a population density of 27 people per square kilometer. Guess what's the density of the Asian side: 2.5 people per square kilometer.
Maestro Tabárez should get a medal for making Uruguay a serious contender again, although today France was too good and just too much. Cavani being out just made it that much harder. Brazil stands alone representing the rest of the world vs. Europe.
Concur. Also, it was an Uruguay type pace until they suffered the first goal. In the end France looked very comfortable.
And there it is, didn't take long. The British woman commentator on Fox after the game ... "Maybe Mbappe has been looking at Neymar too much". Despicable. Didn't say anything about Henderson. @Mengão86
Unfortunately I have work to do and will miss the first 30 minutes of Brazil vs. Belgium. See you later.
That's a bit harsh. The squatting half-twisting forward summersault didn't put him in medal position, but he's not far off the leaders.
Lalas: "If diving and embelishment is cheating, so are tactical fouls, so are studded tackles, so is making the VAR sign" At least somebody is making that point.
I'm going to watch this game at a nearby pub, but if it's packed, I'll have no choice but to return to the office.
I want this Seleção to win more than I wanted the 2006, 2010, or 2014 editions to win. It will send the right signal about Tite's impressive work and complicate a lot of pre-written hot takes.
There is something about Brazil World Cup games where I just simply can't watch at a bar. I honestly prefer to watch it in the cave, or if I am in Brazil, I'm fine with watching with family. It just has something to do with having to hear remarks from casual fans. No offense to actual fans who have suggested this, but the one casual fan remark I've been hearing a lot is benching GJ for Firmino.