USA vs SLV is in progress. Turner with a slight injury scare early but seemed to be just a knock to his hip or ribs and he kept playing. Not a particularly great game. We had Daryl Dike up top, which tells you something about the depth & quality of our CF's. So yes, we could REALLY use someone like Balogun if there's any chance of him doing something remotely similar for USMNT that he's doing for Reims. p.s. Dike was replaced at 60' by Pepe who on his first touch scored the first goal of the game.
Yeah, that was probably the weirdest (and cringiest?) post-match celebrations of all time. All the players gathered with Matt, his wife and his little boy, waiting for the PA announcer in his over-the-top voice explain what was going on, then count down for him to kick a little soccerball which exploded on impact revealing somehow that they're expecting... A GIRL! Happy for them, but that was 2-3 mins of my life that I wish I could get back.
Sure, with 20/20 hindsight, I coulda turned it off then, but there's no way I would've ever expected the odd focus on Matt and his newly growing family. Maybe I stuck with it because he's a nice likeable guy. And since I did that, their post-game coverage did come back to something a little more normal. But still when they interviewed Matt at the pitch-side desk, it was while he held his squirmy son, next to his silent/subservient looking wife. I don't know if this cringey/clunky stuff was more USSF's doing or TNT's. TNT had an earlier awkward thing where they interviewed Dike while he was warming up, and it really didn't work. He was way too active and seemed annoyed that he couldn't focus on his warm-up. Anyway, time to move on!!!!
Odegaard v. Georgia on FS2 for the Americans. The amount of respect and space Georgia is giving him when he's on the ball is insane. Man is cooking.
Kiwior rating for Poland’s game against Albania, curtesy of Sport Wprost: Jakub Kiwior (5) - Santos trusted him after a disastrous performance in the first game in March and this time the Arsenal player did not disappoint. He played a strange left-back position, which had virtually no offensive tasks. However, he did well with the basic work - interceptions or securing his colleagues. Sound familiar.
Supposedly Chris Hughton's post-match presser revealed that Partey wasn't used in Ghana's match yesterday (Mon) as "precaution" due to him carrying some sort of injury/knock. He was an unused sub. However he played full 90 in the prior match (Thurs) which makes one wonder a bit. Is this a new thing or something he's been carrying for a while? Perhaps why Arsenal sent a physio along with him on Int'l duty? If it's a minor, short-term thing, then I'm not too worried. BUT with his terrible history of soft-tissue (re)injuries, there is certainly a lot of potential dread. When he's fit and in our XI, he's been so good for us and the way we play. Can we beat Leeds without him? I'd say so. Plus Tyler Adams has been ruled out for some time after hamstring surgery(?!) which IMHO helps considerably if we're without TP5. Can we win the league without him? That's less clear. But I very much want to believe that Mikel and the boys could rise to the occasion, if we find ourselves without our best DM.
Very happy for Tierney in getting to play a big part of Scotland's historic 2-0 win* over Spain at Hampden Park tonight. I didn't watch any of it, but heard a report. And in looking at the stats, Kieran came off after 75' which hopefully was only to give him a well-deserved breather, rather than any sort of injury concern. *First victory over them since 1984!!
Injury concern but caused by contact, and he went to the bench rather than down the tunnel. Should be fine.
Patarici banned for two years by FIFA. Jesus how long is Kane going to rot there. Also Amazon Prime were foolish to not enquire about recording another season when Conte was given the job.
Football - the industry where you are revealed to be a complete criminal yet Spurs were happy for him to keep on working there
This 'Pool supporter has Spuds pegged far better than any other footy-fan I've ever read. Tottenham and their shiny stadium have fooled us all. Spurs don't merit Big Six membership... (football365.com)
For lack of better place... The latest episode of Ted Lasso is hilarious (while poignant too). No spoilers, except to say if you dig Zlatan...
Spuds are becoming almost a daily laugh track. What is the benefit of openly supporting Paratici after his FIFA ban for clear and obvious violations at Juve? If the man substantially turned around the trajectory of the club, I *might* see some kind words about his Spuds tenure upon his departure, but Paratici has done nothing to improve their club, and arguably left them worse. Levy seems to be denying any sensibility or reality to praise him.
why would you want a fraudster working at your club? Wouldn't that scare the crap out of you from a governance and risk perspective? Football is such a joke