Brilliant scenes!!
Printable View
Brilliant scenes!!
Amazing stuff. Three dreadful efforts from Spain. I like the evolution of the penalty kick - pure one v one - but this fad of walking up to take one is crap.
Blast it in and be done with it
Great scenes.
Not sure how good Morocco really are, but it's great to see upsets like that, good for football.
Miserable display from Spain, eerily like that against Russia in 2018. How can you play like that for two hours and not get the hint? A thousand penalties per person doesn't get you much it seems.
Portugal drop Ronaldo.
The end of a legend surely. It'll be interesting to see how they get on without him
Portugal not missing Ronaldo much so far,he’s heading to play in Saudi Arabia for a reason I guess…..
It's been clear for a while now that Ronaldo no longer improves teams, and in a very strange way this game is an enormous humiliation for him. He'll be lucky to be an impact sub against Morocco.
And I don't want to come off as too harsh against him mind, he's old for a striker and has had an awful year on a personal level. If he'd packed in the career in the Summer it would have been understandable. But his on-field manner just makes him so easy to think less of right now.
Edit: First hat-trick of the World Cup too. Ronaldo got one of the two scored in 2018.
Jeez, this is a serious statement. The Swiss beat Portugal in June!
I'd fancy Portugal to have a better chance of unlocking Morocco than Spain had. The Costa Rica game aside, they just look so much more capable with possession.
Edit: Mixed up my Nations League ties
Most of Portugal’s team having a weeks rest obviously helped but the Swiss were abject,thought it would be much more competitive than that….
The last 16 wasn’t a memorable one for the most part,really looking forward to the rest of the tournament though….
I think Brazil and Portugal should win through to the semis fairly handy. Croatia haven't looked great (one win in four) and I can't see Morocco repeating today's trick against Portugal.
Fancy France against England, and Holland v Argentina could go either way. Wouldn't write off this Argentina side.
It's an interesting, if relatively predictable, last 8. Always nice to have more upsets at this stage. Brazil v France the most likely final? Arguably Portugal the only other side who look like potential champions.
It's nailed on for Argentina/Portugal lads. It fits the narrative so perfectly. Messi and Ronaldo, one last time. I can already see the RTE highlights package.
I can see it too, and what a 3rd/4th place playoff it’ll be ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by NeverFeltBetter
Finely balanced game at HT between Croatia and Brazil. Croatia with more of the ball, or so it seemed, which I did not expect. Brazil aren't playing badly exactly, but I'd say they didn't expect this level for pace from Croatia, Juranovic' runs alone have been causing them panic.
I don't know who is responsible for conditioning in the Croatian set-up but whomever it is deserves a lot of credit. This must be the 6th time I've started watching a game where they are coming off a 120 minute slog a few days previously but they look like they've been on a beach for a week.
Neymar equals Pele's goalscoring record for Brazil, but it's been a poor game overall. I think Croatia have played above themselves in keeping Brazil scoreless as long as they did, but at the cost of not a single shot on target in 105 minutes and counting.
To penos so.
At least Alisson has plenty of experience in penalty shoot-outs at club level lately.
Oh no - his understudy has the experience. This'll be interesting!
Brilliant Croatia,delighted for them!!
After the heat death of the universe, Luka Modric will still be looking to receive the ball and burst forward. The man does not stop. What a result.
The footage is already massive on Twitter. A Friday night with this? What a party. What a place to be....baby boom coming in 9 months judging by some of the outfits.
The Argentina crowds are really tempting fate. Never touch the money!!!
Everyone of the players that made it on the field for Croatia today apart from Ante Budimir have come through or play for 2 clubs ,Dinamo Zagreb and Hadjuk Split,amazing…….
Looking at the game tonight - the Dutch keeper is making his 50th career appearance between senior league and international games.
That's not this season - that's in his career. He's 28.
34 of those games have been this calendar year. He made his international debut in the opening group game and has kept his place. Before this year, 13 of his 16 senior games were in the Dutch or Italian second divisions.
That's amazing stuff. Gives Kelleher hope!
Absolutely Stu, never stop keepering hope.
Fairly dull affair in the next quarter. Amusing myself by keeping an eye on Messi and seeing how he measures his movements to avoid burning out. Neat moment just now where he started making a matching run with the ball on the flank, then you could see him check himself and go back to a walking pace. The guy could play for a while yet.
Anyway, that's all I got.
What a Messi for Holland a loss would be.
Argentina look a more solid side than in previous tournaments. And the defeat to the Saudis may have been that best way to start.
Wouldn't rule them out. Modric v Messi in the semis?
(Says I just as Holland pull one back with their first shot on target I think)
This ref has lost control of this one big time. Paredes should have got a yellow for that challenge, then another for kicking the ball at the Dutch bench, and van Djik could have got a red for body blocking him after if the rules were applied strictly.
He also booked Moreno for deliberate handball in the first half but chickened out of booking Messi for the exact same thing in the second
But he booked three guys on the bench, one for leaving the technical area I think
It's also interesting to see how well Holland have done since sticking the big centre-half up front and going route 1.
Certainly created more than Spain with their tiki taka.
You wonder if it's due a comeback as a legitimate 90-minute strategy?
I'm not sure what it is exactly the Argentinians are mobbing the ref for? If anything he's been incompetently lenient with them.
Timber, already booked, gets a final warning, or so it looks like, for fouling Messi. A few minutes later he's deemed to have fouled someone else, and gets a super duper serial final warning.
Paredes was on a yellow too when he clattered into the back of a Dutch player. Free kick, but no booking
Just the 12 bookings so far, though it should be more. And some were soft too
Edit - 13 yellows now. Isn't 14 the record? Portugal v Holland?
Edit edit - we have 14 yellows, but 16 is the record from that Portugal v Holland game. Time yet though!
Is Tim Krul available for a late call-up?
A 15th yellow during the shootout
A 140-minute marathon - the first 70 weren't great, but then second 70 was super entertainment. Cracking game. Delighted for Messi, but the Dutch really made a great battle out of it
Two unexpected results arguably. More upsets tomorrow?
The amount of yellows Argentina have amassed will be a big problem for them in the semi. Croatia will be looking forward to running at them, and provoking them as much as possible.
Two yellows in the shoot-out actually, so it does equal the record
Isn't there something about yellows getting scrubbed after the quarters? Or before it?
Edit - wiki reporting Acuna and Montiel suspended for the semi but everyone else now has the slate rubbed clean
Incredible drama,Argentina fortunate to get out after thinking they had it won,still wouldn’t trust them to win it,France or Portugal I would trust more….
I thought the amnesty was at the quarter final stage, but maybe I'm wrong?
A denied bit of trivia, if the Dutch had won they would have beaten four continental champions at this tournament.
Seems Dumfries - booked in the shoot-out - was booked again after the final whistle. So that's 17 yellows and a new record.
Great stat - and the European champions didn't qualify of course, so they couldn't have beaten themQuote:
Originally Posted by NeverFeltBetter