Give me Portugal v Croatia final - first time champion and I'll be happy.... Or I'll take Netherlands v Morocco or any of that combination. Actually, kind of cool to think half our final 8 are never been champions, and 2 of them never finalists... was going to say 3, but then remembered Croatia lol....
With Saka making the winning penalty kick? He's apparently already volunteered to take one if things go to PKs. Has been taking them for Arsenal too and hasn't missed all season.
That’s the first time Croatian keeper got passed by…Brazil is trying to avoid unpredictable PK shootouts
It's hard not to feel a little bad for Croatia here, they've been stout at the back (and lacking in the front)... no one made a mistake there, just something special from a very special player.
And that's Brazil's big problem There was no reason to have 6 players forward with a one goal lead in a knock out game with high stakes.
That was going to be saved. It was struck right at the keeper. Why can't we hit the trailer more on the break? And when we do, is the pass not more controlled? That's where a lot of goals are coming from because the initial line of defense has to dive deep to cover the area in front of net. Opens the space behind.
Also, did anyone else catch the Croatian fan celebrating and then hitting a dab pen / weed vape on camera? I know that it's possibly a tobacco cartridge, but a 510 threaded battery with a plastic mouthpiece? I mean... lmao...
We rarely have enough bodies in the box, and frequently rush the cross or just hit it somewhere and hope, instead of picking someone out. And when we do pick someone out, they frequently get beaten to it or we hit the pass inaccurately.
Not having enough bodies in the box has always been my diagnosis. It's like we get the ball to zone 16/18 and then no one knows what to do anywhere on the field. No runners even look like they're moving to get on the end of a cross, it's usually just McKennie crashing in by himself.
Yeah, easier to find more bodies when you have extra numbers to try and tie a game and are on the break. And yes, at some point it's just that our players aren't good enough to consistently pull it off - not yet at least.
Yeah, there's some rightful questions about the system and personnel creating a disconnect from the front 3. Then, it's just bad decision-making and lack of poise. We get into so many of those situations, only to squander them. Hopefully our players mature so they show calmness and the game slows down for them to rain in goal productions. It's not like they're doing it for their clubs either. We have a collection of danger-adjacent players, and arguably not even enough of them on the field. The result is 3 goals in 4 games, 1 of which was a total accident.