ReiseReise Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 (edited) Croatia looks out on their feet right now. They are really paying the price for two extra-times, it seems. Edit: ReiseReise, football-expert. Edited July 11, 2018 by ReiseReise German autocorrect.
NikoBaltimore Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 Here's @The Natural right now (and me too for that matter): 1
ReiseReise Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 If I ever had to draw an English an, he would look like Pickford.
NikoBaltimore Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 Okay, now it's time to worry. If anything this guarantees I'm firmly behind France come Sunday but man this is going to suck if it holds.
ReiseReise Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 Emphatic performance by Croatia. England's loss is heartbreaking, but this team might be big if they handle this defeat well. 1
Fuzzy Dunlop Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 But...but...but...I thought it's coming home, lads? I mean, everyone was convinced about it, they all kept banging on about it, you had a hashtag and everything and then... Better luck next tournament. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. Or the one after that.
NikoBaltimore Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 Well, fucking hell that sucks. Looking on the positive side of things this is the furthest they've gone in awhile. And if you want to give Croatia credit it is neat that the second smallest country made it to the finals. But considering I didn't see much of them last game I don't have a favorable impression when it comes to how they played. I'm just hoping France makes them humb come Sunday. On top of that I was really hoping to go to an England-centric pub to see the game Sunday and it just won't be the same now. I feel for folks like @The Natural though. 1
Fuzzy Dunlop Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 Being realistic, did the English overestimate themselves and get overexcited again? I dunno, they needed a last minute goal to beat Tunisia, they beat the worst team I've ever seen in a World Cup in Panama, they lost to Belgium in a nothing match, they beat Colombia on penalties when Colombia's best player wasn't playing, they beat a bang average Sweden team and then all of a sudden they were in the semis. And then they lost. Obviously, you can't deny they got to the semis, I mean, it just happened, we all literally just watched them in the semis and obviously they can only beat whatever team's put in front of them but it was a piss easy route to the semis. Xenophobic little Englander Clive Tyldesley commentating at the final whistle like he was commentating on a funeral was hilarious.
Pete Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 Feel sorry for the players but zero sympathy for the fans' collective IT'S COMING HOME@#_!11111eleventy! razzmatazz that started in the fucking group stage. 2
odessasteps Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 I was trying to listen to the talksport alternate commentary and they seemed to describing a different match based on everyone on Twitter.
ReiseReise Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 3 minutes ago, NikoBaltimore said: But considering I didn't see much of them last game I don't have a favorable impression when it comes to how they played. I'm just hoping France makes them humb come Sunday. @The Natural Sorry in advance for quote-tagging you, Natural. I can't seem to Edit you out. I'm definetly sorry for all the Three Lions Supporters, but I honestly didn't think this was England's time. The team is really young and mostly inexperienced, but they still have tomorrow and they will have U20 World Champions joining their rank. Remember where you were two to four years ago. I have to say I disagree with you, @NikoBaltimore , about the Russia-game. Russia were outplayed at almost every instance. The game against Denmark, Croatia didn't look good. Against Russia, they were a superior and more mature Team. They conceeded a screamer and made one mistake. The group stage I didn't see, but 3 out of 3 with a big win against Argentina is nothing to sneeze at. I'm 100% sure France are the heavy favourites to take the Cup, and that you'll get part of your wish. 2
NikoBaltimore Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 1 minute ago, ReiseReise said: Sorry in advance for quote-tagging you, Natural. I can't seem to Edit you out. I'm definetly sorry for all the Three Lions Supporters, but I honestly didn't think this was England's time. The team is really young and mostly inexperienced, but they still have tomorrow and they will have U20 World Champions joining their rank. Remember where you were two to four years ago. I have to say I disagree with you, @NikoBaltimore , about the Russia-game. Russia were outplayed at almost every instance. The game against Denmark, Croatia didn't look good. Against Russia, they were a superior and more mature Team. They conceeded a screamer and made one mistake. The group stage I didn't see, but 3 out of 3 with a big win against Argentina is nothing to sneeze at. I'm 100% sure France are the heavy favourites to take the Cup, and that you'll get part of your wish. I'll admit to not seeing them play much at all until today so I didn't get a sense of how they were. I only saw the second half of extra time against Russia and while they looked good there wasn't much for me to go off of (was focused much more on teams like Japan during the Cup than teams like Croatia)
Fuzzy Dunlop Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 IT'S COMING HOME THOUGH! I MEAN, CROATIA IS A BYE INTO THE FINAL AND THEN IT'S COMING HOME! Nope.
jaedmc Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 17 minutes ago, Fuzzy Dunlop said: IT'S COMING HOME THOUGH! I MEAN, CROATIA IS A BYE INTO THE FINAL AND THEN IT'S COMING HOME! Nope. Did a gang of chavs mug you or something? 4
ReiseReise Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 I'll give you that the second et wasn't really sth special. Croatia seemed way too content with coasting home. Today they were way better, trying to play proper counter attacks. Croatia's first major final. I'm trying to think which was the last time one of the World Cup finalists wasn't at least part of another final before. Spain (2010) and France (1998) played and won their first WC finals, but both had already played three and one EUROs final respectively. The finals 2014, 2006, 2002, 1994, 1990, 1986, 1982 had Germany (5x), Brazil (3x), Argentina (3x), Italy (3x) and France in them. 1978 had the Argentines, who appeared for their second World Cup final (and already had shitloads of Copa Americas won) pitted vs Holland, who had their first major final appearance four years Prior. So yeah, first time in 44 years we have a complete "final virgin" in the finals. To add another meaningless statistic: when was the last you didn't have either Brazil or Germany among the final four / top four? Since f'n 1930, when the top four looked like this: 1. Uruguay 2. Argentina 3. USA 4. Jugoslavia
jaedmc Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 9 minutes ago, Fuzzy Dunlop said: Yes. Make sure to let 'em know it's not coming home then. 1
Wyld Samurai Posted July 12, 2018 Posted July 12, 2018 6 hours ago, ReiseReise said: I'll give you that the second et wasn't really sth special. Croatia seemed way too content with coasting home. Today they were way better, trying to play proper counter attacks. Croatia's first major final. I'm trying to think which was the last time one of the World Cup finalists wasn't at least part of another final before. Spain (2010) and France (1998) played and won their first WC finals, but both had already played three and one EUROs final respectively. The finals 2014, 2006, 2002, 1994, 1990, 1986, 1982 had Germany (5x), Brazil (3x), Argentina (3x), Italy (3x) and France in them. 1978 had the Argentines, who appeared for their second World Cup final (and already had shitloads of Copa Americas won) pitted vs Holland, who had their first major final appearance four years Prior. So yeah, first time in 44 years we have a complete "final virgin" in the finals. To add another meaningless statistic: when was the last you didn't have either Brazil or Germany among the final four / top four? Since f'n 1930, when the top four looked like this: 1. Uruguay 2. Argentina 3. USA 4. Jugoslavia Could you imagine how badass Yugoslavia would be today if they combined Croatia and Serbia National Teams?
The Natural Posted July 12, 2018 Posted July 12, 2018 Cheers, @NikoBaltimore, @ReiseReise and @MarcosLoura. Gutted by the result and how the draw opened up for England. What a chance. I was hoping Russia would beat Croatia in their quarter-final. Still, England's best tournament in a long time led by an articulate likeable Gareth Southgate and a team of young'uns. Nice to see as we've really shit the bed in recent tournaments: World Cup 2010 (the worst I've seen), 2014 World Cup and the European Championships in 2016. 4
ReiseReise Posted July 12, 2018 Posted July 12, 2018 11 hours ago, Fuzzy Dunlop said: Being realistic, did the English overestimate themselves and get overexcited again? I dunno, they needed a last minute goal to beat Tunisia, they beat the worst team I've ever seen in a World Cup in Panama, they lost to Belgium in a nothing match, they beat Colombia on penalties when Colombia's best player wasn't playing, they beat a bang average Sweden team and then all of a sudden they were in the semis. And then they lost. I think it is important to keep perspective and you are right about the opposition not turning them into worldbeaters. To be fair, nobody has been 100% convincing. But since 2006, England have been disastrous. They had big trouble winning matches they were supposed to win and hadn't won a knockout-round since then. Keep in mind they had a young and inexperienced team and enthusiasm is understandable. Xenophobia and arrogance is not, but it is football after all. @Wyld Samurai I'd imagine some real trouble between Serbs and Croatians. It would be a lot like co-joining Germans and Polish. There's lots of bad blood between them, some of it going down less than 30 years ago. Even if the players were okay with it, fans would not be. Judging by pure player Material, the team would be amazing. 3
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