In his last five games for Argentina, he started 4 games and played 342 of a possible 360 minutes, and was subbed on for 33 minutes in the 5th game (was dealing with a nagging injury). At the last WC, he played in all 7 games, played in 690 of a possible 690 minutes, and I recall a lot of walking in those minutes, even the final. Not saying it should be that way, but who is gonna haul off the GOAT in his final WC when he's defending the title?
1) Pele is the GOAT 2) There are more games this time 3) There are more minnows this time 4) 75% of 3rd place teams qualify 5) They had to go all out to get out of group last time because they lost the first game to the Saudi's. 6) He is 4 years older. 7) He'll likely sit in any game they are up comfortably in the heat. Or if they win the first 2. Or if they need to defend a narrow lead late. Wanna make it interesting?
Messi seems to be a guy for whom Father Time is lollygagging in terms of catching up to. But it's got to happen sometime. My guess is that he starts against Algeria, even though they could most likely handle them without Messi, because he's not going to sit out the opener. Austria is probably the toughest test, so he'll play that game. Against Jordan? Unless they had a shock loss in one of the first two, I can't imagine he'll even be on the gameday roster for that one.
Not really. Like I said, he shouldn't play every minute, but literally his entire career points to it happening (or very very close to it). Until it happens, I'm assuming Messi is always playing.
The world cup with have breaks each half exactly three minutes long https://bsky.app/profile/henrybushnell.bsky.social/post/3m7i3ed232k2b
Sure, they are also playing games in Mexico and Texas in the afternoon in June. Not exactly like the east coast or south will be a breeze either. Commercials suck, but most of these games would have hydration breaks anyway. It's whatever.
It does bring a moment of fairness, but let's be real: Commercial breaks during games are here to stay. Nothing is off-limits. Even RedZone has commercials now.
It's an outdoor tournament, in the summer, on a continent where temperatures are starting to get extreme. If they want to decide, in the name of uniformity, that all games are going to have hydration breaks, I'm not completely opposed to it. That said, it's going to be weird when a hydration break occurs in a driving rainstorm, which will probably happen at some point. And let's not pretend that this isn't also a gimmick to allow a little more advertising to creep in. And my favorite pet peeve has reared its head here: The article specifically says that the stadium clock will not start, and three minutes of stoppage time will be added on. For the love of god, why? If you know well in advance that every match is going to have pre-planned, three-minute stoppages in each half, what is so goddamned tough about pausing the stadium clock so that it can reflect reality?
Watch it eventually be all games in all leagues. Including EPL games on Boxing Day. Because, as we agree, commercials. (Why they don't just display logos during the game like MLS used to do is anyone's guess.) Considering the official time is kept by the referee and the time on the clock is unofficial, I couldn't agree more. It already looks stupid when there's three minutes of stoppage in the first half and 7-8 in the second, but we all know FIFA and the IFAB sometimes do nonsensical things. Heck, they could even have the fourth official somehow display a running countdown clock like what happens in college football.
Somewhat amusingly, but seeing as how its FIFA, not at all surprisingly , where the heads of state of the three host countries -Mexico,Canada and the US - were invited to make one draw, each one pulled out their own country. Quelle suprise! Its an Infantino miracle. Which only adds to the level of ridiculousness after the announcement that the June 26* match in Seattle will be designated as the Gay Pride Match. The teams scheduled are Iran and Egypt. The former executes homosexuals while the latter more humanely only tosses them in prison. FIFA. You just wouldnt dare write.the script. Edit per @KCbus
Crew is trying to host a team during the Cup and will probably be successful. Complaints that our partner hotel is too small though.
I haven't found it yet, but I could have sworn that when the U.S. played Iran in 1998, FIFA declared that day World Peace Day, or Fair Play Day, Kiss and Make Up Day or something along those lines. Something to encourage the whole "Let's All Get Along" idea. I remember the announcers talking about how it wasn't a coincidence that those teams were playing on that specific day. I haven't been able to pin it down.
Ive heard that complaint before. And transit/walkability, but doubt a team would allow them out too often
With something this important, countries book multiple floors and try to create a quiet bubble around the players.
If I recall correctly, the US players and the Iranian players lined up together for the pregame anthems. As in alternating US-Iran-US-Iran. Maybe my memory is flawed. “Kiss and Make Up Day” LOL!
I believe the partner hotel is The Joseph in the Short North. Walkability is no issue at all at that location. The hotel is a bit small though. The Downtown Renaissance could be a good option, but the location isn't quite as good.
A boutique hotel like Le Meridian (The Joseph) isn't at all suitable. They'd likely need literally the whole place.
Correct. It has 135 rooms. Suitable for a standard MLS travelling party, but a WC base would likely be at least twice the number of people. I see a lot of visiting teams use the Renaissance downtown, which has 400+ rooms and is full service. Oddly enough, when West Virginia played OU in Athens a couple months ago they actually stayed in downtown Columbus at the Renaissance. I'm guessing there was nothing suitable enough for them in Athens. The Hilton towers at the convention center should be more than adequate for a team base though. The complex has 1,000 rooms and certainly has the infrastructure needed.
I went through the convention schedule, and the origins gaming convention is June 17-21. There are gonna be a lot people here for that. All my coworkers either go to it or know people who do. I walked through their last event, and it was packed. There are a few other events around that time, which are not publicly listed yet. Teams will need to sort this all out soon. And going back to my first post, the walkability/transit thing was a larger critique about columbus from people visiting.
Curious, by "host a team" is the concept that they use the OhioHealth facility? That would seem a lot more logical than, say, the downtown stadium. Also, why would they even want to stay downtown if their goal is to "create a bubble" around the team? Why not something like the Hilton at Easton (345 rooms). Not to mention, any team based on Columbus will need to travel to other cities to play. Meaning easy access to the airport matters. Anyway, I hope they manage to work something out. We knew we'd never be in the running to host actual WC games here. But our facilities should make us desirable as a possible base.