Messi is magic, but France is a dang buzzsaw. If I was forced to put down money on this final I'd have to go with France. I think they've clearly been the class of this tourney, which is scary when you consider they had 2 no-questions-asked-starters lost with injuries just before this thing started.
I thought the ref was allowing for flow of game and I kinda liked it. France besides having a good coach, great teamwork, good to great players and solid tactics has that patience. The way as you say they allowed Morocco to have the ball for stretches and didn't press but instead became patient and defended, moved the ball having the other team chase and run, chase and run and then when they decided, got on their horse and there they were off! and God help you if you aren't ready for them or get caught watching the play because they are lethal and they will kill you like that. Now there is even talk that Real Madrid is allowing Benzema to travel to Qatar to join the team as he may be ready to play limited minutes. As if they need the Golden Ball winner. Argentina has got a tiger by the tail.
This makes me sound like an employee of the Berhalter Crime Family, but oh well: Having the same coach for two World Cup cycles doesn't seem to have hurt France, but technically they have one more game to have a worse performance than last time so I guess the jury's still out on Didi
I didn't realize Morocco were missing so many starting defenders, I guess that would explain some of the mistakes they were making that I didn't see during the previous matches. They were so close to scoring so many times, I really wanted them to score! Now that my hopes of an underdog to root for in the final are dashed I guess I'm on the Messi train! But I have to admit I have enjoyed watching Giroud & Griezmann. I feel like Giroud has always been underrated. I haven't really watched Griezmann much since I don't really follow La Liga. I always thought of him as a striker but he's been great as a number 10 for France.
It's interesting because France didn't seem to get out of 1st gear against Morocco, which could be even more impressive on one hand. But they'll have to bring everything against Argentina, I believe. They've set in and been sloppy on defense at times, which Argentina will punish. Additionally, Argentina may have the best individual defender in the tournament remaining in Otamendi. I don't think Rabiot played at all against Morocco, who's been great on both sides of the ball. He'll have to be great in the final to shore up the midfield much more so than against Morocoo.
Rabiot was left at the hotel ill. Both Rabiot and Upamecano were isolated at practice from the rest of the team. There is a third player I forgot that Didi said was also feverish.
Early Argentina pen + a counter has Argentina winning 2-0 at half. Argentina has been VERY good; I’d almost say as perfect as you can be for a final of this caliber. France? Not sure what happened. Maybe that flu thing was worse than we thought? They’ve been AWFUL. No energy. No ideas. No effort. Terrible. Giroud and Dembele subbed before the half.
Best final I've ever seen. Probably the best in history; of course I haven't seen them all. Fitting drama to crown Messi as greatest ever. Unfortunately I can never be happy about Argentina winning. Thought it was done and dusted for France at half-time, but I told the friend I was watching with that France's only hope was if Argentina faded late from the sheer physical and emotional intensity, which they did. Also told them if it went to PKs, France would lose. Not enough experienced PK takers left on the field for them.
You guys stated my main thoughts about the final - France was nonchalant, which they carried over from some previous games. When Argentina was overrunning them in the first half, their only possible excuse was that they were waiting for them to wear themselves out. The overloading the midfield and press was really brilliant and took Greizmann and others out of the game. This pressure and the collapse by Dembele and others resulted in 2 goals by halftime. The early subs for France hamstringed them later in OT because Argentina was fresher and could sub for PK takers. France was right, and Argentina did fade, but they also committed two boneheaded fouls in the box, which was pretty lucky for France. I thought Mbappé could have done a lot more in that game. I know, hat trick, but two of his scores were on the somewhat gift PK's. The other goal was magical. He was invisible along with the rest of his team in the first half. Looking forward to seeing more of him in the future. Argentina had a huge advantage for PK's on paper, and they converted. Tough, tough way to lose, and France looked gutted. But De Maria, on the other hand, I thought was going die of stress while the game was still on, and ascend into heaven on joy and emotion afterwards. Fun game, fun World Cup. Argentina el campeon del mundo! (credit: Andrés Cantor)
I tuned in at the end, which apparently was the best part! Great 40 minutes I watched. Sad it's over. Having the World Cup plus American Football was glorious. SO MUCH SPORTS.
Well this Reyna/Berhalter imbroglio is getting ugly. Everyone will have different takes, but for me this adds weight to Gio Reyna and now his parents being in the wrong. Very disappointing behavior.
Are you f’ing serious??! I just googled their names and found out it was mom Reyna who is trying to poison the well/blackmail with this non-story from when Berhalter was 18. No wonder the kid has messed up values. What a disappointment- I had always looked up to Claudio.
This takes nightmare sports parents to a whole new level. What were they thinking? These are two people who should know much, much better, and they've only hurt their son.
They also appear to be throwing McBride and Stewart under the bus by saying they “vented to their friends in Qatar, but didn’t make any blackmail call” and naming those two as the friends.
I feel bad for Rosalind Berhalter, she is the real victim in this farce, her personal trauma is now out there for the world to see because her narcissist friend had to use Rosalind's trauma to make herself seem like the victim. despite the opinions on Berhalter and his managing skills, he made his decisions on what he thought was best for the team. the Reynas, made it personal and have made life much more difficult for everyone because of their ego trip. Gio is now toxic and whoever replaces Berhalter is going to be wary of including him in any USMNT games and opposing teams fans are going to have a field day mocking him with momma's boy quips and other worse things. whoever is running this clown show, should clean house, Berhalter should be gone and Reyna should be banned from anything that has to do with the USMNT going forward. Danielle Reyna's statement: “To set the record straight, I did call (U.S. Soccer sporting director) Earnie Stewart on December 11, just after the news broke that Gregg had made negative statements about my son Gio at a leadership conference,” Danielle Reyna said in a statement. “I have known Earnie for years and consider him to be a close friend. I wanted to let him know that I was absolutely outraged and devasted that Gio had been put in such a terrible position, and that I felt very personally betrayed by the actions of someone my family had considered a friend for decades. As part of that conversation, I told Earnie that I thought it was especially unfair that Gio, who had apologized for acting immaturely about his playing time, was still being dragged through the mud when Gregg had asked for and received forgiveness for doing something so much worse at the same age. Without going into detail, the statements from yesterday significantly minimize the abuse on the night in question. Rosalind Berhalter was my roommate, teammate and best friend, and I supported her through the trauma that followed. It took a long time for me to forgive and accept Gregg afterward, but I worked hard to give him grace, and ultimately made both of them and their kids a huge part of my family’s life. I would have wanted and expected him to give the same grace to Gio. This is why the current situation is so very hurtful and hard.” Danielle Reyna’s statement continues: “At the time I called Earnie, many people were trashing Gio on social media due to Gregg’s comments, and I didn’t know when or if this would stop. I just wanted Earnie to help make sure that there would be no further unwarranted attacks on my son. I thought our conversation would remain in confidence, and it didn’t occur to me at the time that anything I said could lead to an investigation. I’m not criticizing Earnie here. I very much commend the recent efforts by U.S. Soccer to address abuse of women players, and I understand now he had an obligation to investigate what I shared. But I want to be very clear that I did not ask for Gregg to be fired, I did not make any threats, and I don’t know anything about any blackmail attempts, nor have I ever had any discussions about anyone else on Gregg’s staff—I don’t know any of the other coaches. I did not communicate with anyone in U.S. Soccer about this matter before December 11, and no one else in my family has made any statements to U.S. Soccer regarding Gregg’s past at all. “I’m sorry that this information became public, and I regret that I played a role in something that could reopen wounds from the past.” Claudio's Statement: "I support my wife, Danielle, and her statement. I too was upset by Gregg's comments about Gio after the US was out of the World Cup, and I also appealed to Earnie Stewart on December 11 asking him to prevent any additional comments. "While in Qatar, I shared my frustrations about my son's World Cup experience with a number of close friends, Earnie and Brian McBride among them. "However, at no time did I ever threaten anyone, nor would I ever do so." what a toxic family and now we know why Gio is how he is, he was brought up to be a little shit, What is interesting to me is he is an adult that has to be defended by his narcissistic parents and it makes it seem like he needs to be coddled every step of the way, I'm sure big clubs will be wary of all the baggage he brings with him, if he is a lights out talent, team will overlook all the BS but as of right now he is an injury prone player with a lot of potential that has not shown consistency.
I very much agree with this. Her and her kids are the ones I feel terrible for. Imagine reading this about your dad. As for the rest of Danielle Reyna's commentary, it's disgusting. It's helicopter parenting at its absolute worst. She is comparing her son being dragged on social media to A WOMAN WHO SUFFERED A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INCIDENT. Not only that, but she says the violence was minimized. Why do this???? Why???? To throw Rosalind under the bus? Cause that's who she's throwing under the bus. And she admits that her son acted immaturely. ADMITS IT. He admitted it. So he suffered on social media. Guess what? It's full of trolls Danielle. And as for his time on the USMNT? See: Weston McKennie. Dragged even worse than Gio was, got sent home, and came back to the USMNT a better person after speaking with his parents and coach offline. Good lord. I'm not a card carrying Gregg fan, but the behavior by the Reynas is gross and features entitlement at it's very best.
No Berhalter for January camp: https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/ex-colorado-rapids-boss-anthony-hudson-to-lead-usmnt-at-january-camp
I’m starting to wonder if Gregg’s “leaked” comments about Gio were to get out in front of this. What’s been said now is this all happened because Gregg’s comments were made public, but it’s definitely possible the blackmail was thrown onto the table prior to the leadership conference. I’ve gotten messages from our London office asking about this. It’s pretty absurd. I can’t remember ever hearing about anything like this happening in any professional sport.
Lol, where do you get your sports news from, Good Housekeeping?* Off the top of my head I can think of a half dozen MUCH worse conflicts in professional sports. Rooney wife, et al anyone? Tanya? Need I go on? This was unfortunate but it is a 5 out of 10 on a sports scandle scale. *Going for humor here, not meanness.
Yeah, I'm not even sure this is worse than '98, to be honest. Which is the weird thing; I think the stuff about Giovani would've probably just blown over harmlessly. Sounds like he was being a huge dickhead, but it mostly go resolved among the team in camp. I think the Reynas adding fuel to the fire and trying to smear Berhalter add a level of nastiness that'll give this some staying power.