That conviction landed almost exactly a full year ago, but it seems in the court of public opinion the French are OK with him. Same thing for Ronaldo, who by his own admission to his lawyers, is a rapist still not convicted.
Could be Australia v Saudi Arabia in round of 16. That is shaping up to be a very soft quadrant, because it also includes US and arguably the worst Netherlands WC team ever. Which makes tonight's Argentina v Poland match quite huge. Whoever wins will have a solid chance at reaching the semis!
Knowing Argentina, they will make it incredibly hard on themselves and somehow finish 2nd in the group if that's at all possible mathematically. Or just crash out. Somebody keep an eye on Pablo Aimar during the Poland game today and keep the defibrillator handy.
Yes, definitely possible. If they tie Poland they will most likely finish second (unless Saudi beat Mexico or Mexico win by a bunch of goals). Argentina were in almost the exact same situation 4 years ago (I was at the match in St. Petersburg ). Indeed, they made it as stressful as possible, scoring the winner late in the match.
Yep, this is the least productive week ever for me. It's bad enough that there are 4 games per day, but its also my last week of work before a 2-week vacation which doesn't help the motivation factor whatsoever.
It's a bummer that my top three rooting interests in Brazil, Argentina, and Spain are all likely to end up on the same side of the bracket. That makes it more likely that at least one of them makes the final but also means that I won't have a "care free" final where I'm fine with either team winning. My personal dream final would have been Brazil vs. Argentina where I would be able to either see Brazil win the Sexta or Messi finally win
So without any upsets the quarters will be : Argentina vs Netherlands Brazil vs Spain France vs England Germany vs Portugal
Argentina has actually looked quite good the last two games. And they have a winnable game against Australia to make the QF. Messi with a good all-around game despite the PK save.
Not sure about Germany being favorites. Who do you have them playing in the R16? I guess there's a chance they get Morocco, but Croatia seems more likely. But after a World Cup of upsets, the last 2 days have gone totally according to plan. And that was enough to have all the favorites win groups A to D.
I can't really see either Croatia , Belgium or Morocco beating Germany despite how bad they look Not sure I can say the same for Portugal who will face either Switzerland or Serbia
According to the plan for the top traditional teams. Denmark, one of the two pre-WC dark horses, not so much.
Denmark was massively overrated as it turned out. I must admit, I drank the syrup with the others. Not sure why I fell for it. They were smoked by England in the Euros last year, after advancing from the group stage with only 3 points! Nothing to warrant the hype.
I got a bit fooled too. But even if I doubted them, I still would have thought they'd get out of this group. I was actually considering placing them above France in the group given France's injuries. Australia I had them finishing 4th. That's the WC for you.
That Griezmann goal that was called off due to offsides is interesting and a new interpretation to the offsides rule. Probably due to the France x Spain Nations League final. Might create some confusion among fans in the KO round if it happens again.
With Argentina being top of their group, we may witness the super clasico in semi final if everything goes well.