Argentina : World cup 2018 Russia discussion

OMG what? Have you seen that run and Di Maria alone next to the goal? Omg

 

Yeah that's the most annoying thing about this match. Thought we were going to see more of that.

 

You think you might go to Russia?

 

Probably not, lol. If I was going to spend that much money to travel for a World Cup it wouldn't be to Russia (or Qatar for that matter). Japan or Australia on the other hand...

 

A bit of a sad day seeing the Italians miss out. Seeing Gigi's post-match interview was heartwrenching. The man gave it his all for his national team and he was denied going to a sixth World Cup. Again, I am not sure if we will ever see that again. But honestly, they have been an awful side for over a decade. Sure, they reached a European Championship final but they got hammered in that final. They simply do not produce world-class forwards anymore. It's no wonder they were trying to poach away the likes of Icardi and Dybala from us.

 

But Osvaldo would've rather played in a friendly for us than play at a World Cup for the tanos.

But that's the thing with Italy, why did they stop producing great forwards? They've got their hope on this 16 year old kid, Pellegri out of Genoa to be their savior or something.

 

Given how dire the situation was it's incredible they absolutely refused to look at a guy like Giovinco who is shredding MLS to pieces. Yes a weak league but dominating as you would expect and couldn't possibly be worse than the guys they were running out there.

 

Their manager was clueless, he left Insigne on the bench. Apparently, Ventura had asked DDR to warm-up, he said "Why the #### should I go on? We don't need a draw, we need to win." And he pointed towards Insigne, to get him on and he never did. I think Ventura is probably related to Bauza in someway or another.

Yes, Giovinco wouldn't have hurt but the Ventura, if I am not mistaken said that he needed to play in a better league for him to be called-up. Ironically enough, the Swedes brought on a player who plays for the Seattle Sounders and helped close out the match.

 

Italy has been bad for a while....but I believe they will come back. They have Federico Chiesa, along with Insigne.

Also, check out wonderkid Pietro Tomaselli. Just Youtube him. In terms of wonderkids, he is the closest thing to Messi.

Obviously, whether he pans out or not is a different story.

Other than Argentina, I really don't have anyone to cheer for now, as a secondary team. Probably the African nations.

 

Yep I was thinking about Germany too. Their path just got easier. As far as second teams go, Italy was always one, but now I guess maybe Spain for me, but since they already won recently, meh. I'd go for almost anyone new if it's not Argentina. Belgium are a fun team sometimes.

 

I started lurking due to the friendly today, but this post made me wonder about Argentineans. Despite being a Spanish speaking country, you have a huge Italian ancestry, so I often wondered if Argentineans pull for Italy as their second team. A bit like a lot of Nigerians pull for England due to so many kids of Nigerian descent who play for the national team there. Just a bit of cultural curiosity...

 

Actually I have the italian citizenship due to my grandfather's roots (I have even voted on a couple elections), but i don't really pull for Italy (nor against it).

I do admire players like Pirlo, Buffon, Totti, and many more one grew up watching, but I could say the same for other countries.

Also, I wasn't alive back then but they did booed our anthem on the 1990's WC final as well and were generally rooting against us (except in Nápoles, of course).

In any case, i respect them the same way i do Germany, as one of the greatest football nations, but will generally root for the underdog if they're playing against one (like Costa Rica a few years ago). I did want them to go to the WC though (Holland too), because i want the best to be there... But what you're gonna do...

 

I have italian citizenship too, and when i was little, i remember clearly my grandpa (italian) rooted for Italy as his first team, even more than Argentina. I was a little girl in Italia 90 but i remember her rooting for Italy over Argentina.

I guess many people are like this.

My teams have always been Argentina-Colombia-Italy

But last couple of years Peru has taken over Italy and now i like them to win if Argentina does not.

 

POT 1: Russia, Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland, France

POT 2: Spain, Peru, Switzerland, England, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Croatia

POT 3: Denmark, Iceland, Costa Rica, Sweden, Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal, Iran

POT 4: Serbia, Nigeria, Australia, Japan, Morocco, Panama, S. Korea, Saudi Arabia

We theoretically could have a repeat of our group in 2002, lol.

 

I really love the World Cup draw. It's a feeling that we are almost there and it gives us something to talk about until to the tournament itself. It's kinda like Christmas, what are you going to get?

So, let's see. What teams would I like to face?

I'd rather not face another CONMEBOL foe in the group stages because we just finished playing a long tournament and saw them twice. But there is a 3 out of 8 chances of getting one of them.

Also, no more Sub-Saharan African teams, seriously. 1990,1994, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 we faced a side from sub-Sahara Africa; if we do face an African side, let it be Morocco, Tunisia or Egypt.

Pot 2-. As I stated earlier, I do not want to play a CONMEBOL side, so that eliminates, Peru, Colombia, and Uruguay.

That leaves us with Switzerland, Mexico Croatia, Spain and England*. I really disliked the negativity that is Switzerland. Not only from our last World Cup meeting but the way they are so happy going home drawing 0-0 games. For a country that is progressive thinking, has so much beauty and makes delicious chocolates can't they play some attractive football? I'd say pass.

Mexico... I can only imagine the nauseating coverage I will have to bear to witness on the networks here in the States. Next.

Now we are left with the remaining European sides in Pot 2, Spain, Croatia and England*. Spain would be possibly the match-up of the KO stages of the entire tournament. I wouldn't mind seeing them. I believe it will be important to get a tough match in the group stages. Not tough in the sense we have to break down a wall of defense but to play against a side that can challenge us and Spain will surely do that.

But I think the most intriguing match will be Croatia. They have a side that comes out to play and have a very good midfield.

So, my vote for pot 2 will be Croatia.

*I totally forgot to do England. Playing England is always interesting. They have some hyped up players with the likes of Kane and Alli but I'll be honest, I don't know much else about the England team. But at the end of the day, an Argentina-England game is always something both sides would relish. This game could easily see a few cards and perhaps if it's our last game in the group stages, it could be dangerous.

But as I stated earlier, my vote would still go to Croatia.

Pot 3 and 4 I will try to do it tomorrow.

 

There is a draw when we will play the team from pot 2,3 and 4. They have a set of balls that say in which order.

 

Interestingly Russia is the worst ranked team in WC18. Has this ever happened for host before?

 

From Pot 2 I would like Croatia or Mexico
Pot 3 anyone really
Pot 4 anyone BUT Nigeria


Could we get something like

Argentina
Croatia
Egypt
Panama??

Nice!!