One question: What's with the ridiculously long stoppage times this world cup? 9 minutes is 20% of a half.
Crew CB Milos Degenek came on as an 85th sub for the Socceroos in their 4-1 loss to France. By the time he came on, France was already up 4-1. So Milos’ +/- is 0.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/nov/22/world-cup-qatar-fifa-new-directive-stoppage-time Ifab, football’s law-making body, rejected a proposal for games to be reduced to 60min of “effective playing time” with the clock stopped when the ball goes out of play. Last season the ball was in play on average in the Premier League for just over 55min but in some leagues it can drop as low as 45min.
Freaking amazing. Earlier I said to Markus, “Anything can happen at the World Cup.” I love that he is seeing that in action. He said to me during this game, “I like rooting for the team that is less likely to win.” “That is the underdog.” “Yeah. I like rooting for the underdog.” What an amazing kid.
Here's a decent piece explaining it: https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-are-world-cup-games-so-long-stoppage-time-11669169393
My son & I both predicted this. He actually played against a team from Japan at a tournament in Orlando years ago - a J-league academy All star team. Basically equivalent of their youth national team. 1-1 at half. 10-1 final. Most technical team I ever saw. They were a clinical machine moving the ball around. Their #10 was best 16 y.o. player I ever saw live. In fact he went on to play in U20 WC. Those kids are now 21-22. Japan has been methodically developing the sport. More and More players playing in Europe at big clubs. Further evident with success of their women's team.
FYI https://menafn.com/1105220612/World-Cup-Postage-Stamps-Exhibition-Teaches-Fans-History-Of-Tournament That's *my* exhibit on display in the photo.
Many years ago I got to see one of the first (if not the first) Japanese player to feature at a major European club, Yasuhiko Okudera, playing for 1 FC Cologne in their championship season in 1978. His goal vs Stuttgart (which game I attended--and which can be seen on a youtube clip) late in the season probably won the championship for Cologne. He played over 250 games in Germany.