Less than 2 weeks to the first game. Let's discuss all things World Cup here, Spurs related or not. Our players there are: Cristian Romero: Argentina Micky van de Ven: Netherlands Pedro Porro: Spain Djed Spence: England Luka Vuskovic: Croatia Lucas Bergvall: Sweden Pape Matar Sarr: Senegal Rodrigo Bentancur: Uruguay
If we're going to have another World Cup winner in our squad, I reckon Porro has the best chance. Can't see beyond Spain or France winning it IMO... so much strength in those squads. Not convinced by Tuchel's England yet, but we shall see.
That Dutch statistician who has predicted the last 4 winners has predicted the Dutch will win. I'm not sure how they'll win it without the mighty Simons
Just like Allan Lichtman, the famous history professor from American University, who had successfully predicted the winner in 9 of the previous 10 US presidential elections, but got it wrong last time. He told everyone who would listen that his 14-key method was fail-safe and did not rely on polls or the people to make his predictions. Then, when questioned about his formula after the results were in, he claimed it had nothing to do with his methodology but was instead the fault of a volatile electorate.
It's still only a 1% chance of getting 9 out 10 right. So his method probably still has value, but if he did indeed claim it was "fail safe" he doesn't understand probability. Just like anyone who claims to know for sure the outcome of a football game/tournament.
I just found it funny that he was quick to dismiss the role of polls and the voters, and then blamed the voters when he got egg on his face, as though he was saying 'my model was correct, it was just the idiot voters who ruined it...'
Precisely. Regardless, if you want to claim that you have a superior methodology, you can't blame any external factor without implicating your methodology for failing to have factored it in.
Are you sure he's Dutch? The one I know is German. Joachim Klement bases this Dutch title on his model, with which he also correctly predicted the winner in 2014, 2018 and 2022. The German researcher from a British investment bank bases his predictions on a model that takes into account the Gross Domestic Product per capita (after all, this says something about the country's infrastructure), the size of the population (the more people, the more talent), the (football) weather and of course the FIFA ranking. He also takes the coincidence factor into account. He's a German economist, who made that model to prove economist can't predict things, they have no knowledge about. That mission went rather well... Anyway, we're the perfect candidates to prove he's right after all.
Makes sense - Germans are economists, and the Dutch are bankers. What is that old joke? In heaven, the bankers are Swiss, the civil servants are English, the lovers are Italian, and the cooks are French. In hell, the bankers are Italian, the civil servants are French, the lovers are Swiss, and the cooks are English.
The Dutch love being mistaken for Germans. *Love* it. Sincere apologies to my Dutch family for my mistake. Now, where is my bicycle?
The Fox Network's coverage of Mexico v South Africa actually went to an advertisement after Mexico's second goal. They showed one action replay of the goal and the next thing I knew, it went to a commercial. No footy coverage for at least three minutes, and when it came back, the game was already back in progress (as you would expect). I've come into this tournament expecting to hate a lot of shit - as I do - but I didn't see that coming. That is so, so shit. Thanks FOX. Thanks FIFA (for selling the rights without prohibitions of such).
Maybe it was during the 3-minute drinks break. But still, commercials during a football match. Madness.
It gets me to thinking of all the odd-ball proposals Fifa was seriously considering for the first USA WC in 1994, like 4 quarters, stopped time, an offside line like the hockey blueline...
You can add Marcos Senesi to that list, he has been called up to Argentina to replace and injured player.
And here's how it happened: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dQpBkKD4Qh4 His gf Kelci Rose Bowers is also a professional footballer who plays for Bournemouth ladies. Pretty cool.
I was thinking the same initially. Did they have a hydration break right after Mexico's second goal? I hadn't immediately noticed that they'd gone to a commercial; it took a couple of seconds for it to register. But it seemed to keep going and going (just one ad), and what I'm certain of is that the game was already in progress when they finally cut back to it. So some action was definitely missed - though I can't say how much. But the goal came at '67 and I believe it was already at '70 when coverage came back. It usually doesn't take three minutes for play to resume after a goal, but it certainly takes one or two. At any rate, missing any match coverage is too much.
I know the drinks break came at around the 70-minute mark in the Spurs-Everton game, it is supposed to be midway through the half. Wonder what Cloughie would have said about some of this stuff...
Our feed for the Korea-Czechia game had an American play-by-play guy. You know I love the Yanks (well, most of them anyway), but if it's one thing I can't stand, it's an American (or Canadian) doing football play-by-play. It just doesn't work for me. Just like it irks me to have a Brit do hockey play-by-play (and then call it 'ice hockey'). End of rant (for now).