World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
Kung Fu movies are like porn. There's 1 on 1, then 2 on 1, then a group scene..
Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
Pretty goal by Nigeria there.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
Group D last match day is gonna be nuts.
Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
Yeah, I like this result if for nothing else than that. Nothing is worse than a set of two matches for which the result doesn't matter.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
Even if setting aside their long history of committing war crimes and genocide, the Serbians are damn hard to root for.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
Nice screamer from the Swiss. Telling you all the Swiss are hella underrated (even at 6th in the "world rankings").
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
This World Cup seems to be only goals from penalties, free kicks or screamers from 30 yards.
Kung Fu movies are like porn. There's 1 on 1, then 2 on 1, then a group scene..
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
That Shaqiri almost goal was gorgeous.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
I'm strictly neutral in this Switzerland match
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
goalie was partially screened, but also took a very bad first step in the wrong direction. Would've taken a wonderful effort, but he had a shot at that if he doesn't take a full chop step the wrong way.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
Haha, fuck the Serbs.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
Fuckin Shaqiri. Deserved it.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
Dude's hips don't lie. That was baller.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
He's a fire hydrant.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
So, 5 groups have played 2 games... Let's waste the end of the work day looking at how things are shaking out.
Group A
Russia and Uruguay are through, Egypt and the Saudis are done.
Group B
Spain and Portugal tied on 4 with +1 GD, Iran with 3pts, 0 GD.
Spain play Morocco (eliminated), Portugal play Iran.
All sorts of shit could happen here, but you give an edge to Spain and you would think Portugal would play for a draw. Could be risky, because we saw Iran can go forward and they have to play for the win because a draw does them no good (GD is not in their favor.)
Group C
France on 6, Denmark on 4, Australia on 1, (Peru done).
France and Denmark play each other and it would be shocking if this was anything other than a rather tepid affair. Australia will need to beat Peru by 2 goals just to tie on GD and hope Denmark lose. I would also say this is a trap game for AUS because Peru is actually very good and playing for nothing but pride at this point.
Group D
Croatia with 6, Nigeria 3, Iceland and Argentina with 1s.
B-A-N-A-N-A-S
Croatia to play a desperate Iceland team that needs to win, Argentina in the same boat facing Nigeria. This shit WILL be bonkers. My money is on Croatia (obvi) and Nigeria. I don't think ARG can handle Nigeria's speed... like, at all.
Group E
Brazil and the Swiss with 4, Serbia with 3, CRC out with 0.
Another one with lots of potential mayhem. Brazil playing a Serb side that pretty much needs a W, because they are on the wrong side of GD with the Swiss. Swiss playing a CRC team that, if they play to their level, should actually be out to just score and have a little fun... Trap game just like Peru-Australia. Assume Brazil rests a bunch of guys... Thinking Serbia backdoors their way into the second round here.
Group A
Russia and Uruguay are through, Egypt and the Saudis are done.
Group B
Spain and Portugal tied on 4 with +1 GD, Iran with 3pts, 0 GD.
Spain play Morocco (eliminated), Portugal play Iran.
All sorts of shit could happen here, but you give an edge to Spain and you would think Portugal would play for a draw. Could be risky, because we saw Iran can go forward and they have to play for the win because a draw does them no good (GD is not in their favor.)
Group C
France on 6, Denmark on 4, Australia on 1, (Peru done).
France and Denmark play each other and it would be shocking if this was anything other than a rather tepid affair. Australia will need to beat Peru by 2 goals just to tie on GD and hope Denmark lose. I would also say this is a trap game for AUS because Peru is actually very good and playing for nothing but pride at this point.
Group D
Croatia with 6, Nigeria 3, Iceland and Argentina with 1s.
B-A-N-A-N-A-S
Croatia to play a desperate Iceland team that needs to win, Argentina in the same boat facing Nigeria. This shit WILL be bonkers. My money is on Croatia (obvi) and Nigeria. I don't think ARG can handle Nigeria's speed... like, at all.
Group E
Brazil and the Swiss with 4, Serbia with 3, CRC out with 0.
Another one with lots of potential mayhem. Brazil playing a Serb side that pretty much needs a W, because they are on the wrong side of GD with the Swiss. Swiss playing a CRC team that, if they play to their level, should actually be out to just score and have a little fun... Trap game just like Peru-Australia. Assume Brazil rests a bunch of guys... Thinking Serbia backdoors their way into the second round here.
You can lead a horse to fish, but you can't fish out a horse.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
I wonder what lineup Croatia will play.. They have basically clinched first. They are +5 on Nigeria.
Kung Fu movies are like porn. There's 1 on 1, then 2 on 1, then a group scene..
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
Lots of discussions about both Morocco and Peru possibly being the best ever teams to get zero points in the group stage. Both have played well, and Spain has played well in a draw, and iffy in a win. They need to be up for their Gilbrartari neighbors, or Iran could sneak past them with a result. Who am I kidding, that's not happening. I wouldn't be surprised to see Peru get a result against the Aussies, thereby making the France/Denmark match meaningless.Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Fri Jun 22, 2018 3:31 pm So, 5 groups have played 2 games... Let's waste the end of the work day looking at how things are shaking out.
Group A
Russia and Uruguay are through, Egypt and the Saudis are done.
Group B
Spain and Portugal tied on 4 with +1 GD, Iran with 3pts, 0 GD.
Spain play Morocco (eliminated), Portugal play Iran.
All sorts of shit could happen here, but you give an edge to Spain and you would think Portugal would play for a draw. Could be risky, because we saw Iran can go forward and they have to play for the win because a draw does them no good (GD is not in their favor.)
Group C
France on 6, Denmark on 4, Australia on 1, (Peru done).
France and Denmark play each other and it would be shocking if this was anything other than a rather tepid affair. Australia will need to beat Peru by 2 goals just to tie on GD and hope Denmark lose. I would also say this is a trap game for AUS because Peru is actually very good and playing for nothing but pride at this point.
Group D
Croatia with 6, Nigeria 3, Iceland and Argentina with 1s.
B-A-N-A-N-A-S
Croatia to play a desperate Iceland team that needs to win, Argentina in the same boat facing Nigeria. This shit WILL be bonkers. My money is on Croatia (obvi) and Nigeria. I don't think ARG can handle Nigeria's speed... like, at all.
Group E
Brazil and the Swiss with 4, Serbia with 3, CRC out with 0.
Another one with lots of potential mayhem. Brazil playing a Serb side that pretty much needs a W, because they are on the wrong side of GD with the Swiss. Swiss playing a CRC team that, if they play to their level, should actually be out to just score and have a little fun... Trap game just like Peru-Australia. Assume Brazil rests a bunch of guys... Thinking Serbia backdoors their way into the second round here.
I think Croatia will have no issues with Iceland, and that they'd be happy with a draw at worst. Argentina Nigeria will be a cracker, and I wonder if Sampaoli can get his shit straight to avoid having his citizenship revoked.
Brazil could have issues with the bullying Serbs. I can't see them getting knocked out, but it's certainly within reason. I'd be surprised to see Brazil rest players. It'd be dangerous to count on the draw.
Until everything is less insane, I'm mixing weed with wine.
Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
I'm struggling to see how Costa Rica beats the Swiss.
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- Nonlinear FC
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
I agree. Only thing is that CRC isn't as bad as their bunkering bullshit style would lead you to believe. That said, I agree with you that the Swiss are MASSIVELY under-rated. Today showed what they are made of, coming all the way back after being down.
But I said before the game with Brazil, I don't think most people understand how tough of an out they are. To be fair to Brazil in that game, could've easily been 2 or 3 nil at half... But it wasn't. And we saw again today how gritty they are.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
I've been avoiding this thread because I've been recording/watching games at night. So when is Nonlinear GK camp? I packed the kids stuff and he's ready to go.Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Thu Jun 21, 2018 1:17 pm So, the bottom line with goal keeping in any sport is that you want to be in a position where you are only as far off your goal line so that you can reasonably expect to cover your near post and far post. It's called cutting down the angle. Think about an arc that starts about a yard outside of each post and then extends about 5-6 yards away from the center line of the goal. Wherever the shot is coming from, you are sliding along this imaginary arc. Yu want to be squared up with the shooter taking away BOTH posts. The sharper the angle and the closer the shooter, the more you can take away the near post, because as shot from a sharp angle at the farpost is much easier to save... no real angle.
Positioning gets much more complicated when the player with the ball can shoot from distance, but could also cross the ball. In that instance, yes, a goalie should be inviting a distance shot at the nearpost by cheating more towards the middle of the goal. A) That's a very low percentage shot, even from the best players. B) You want to be in a position to come off your line in a forward trajectory, not backpedaling... Backpedaling is the worst for a soccer goalie. Gives us the hives. And I will amend that to say at the highest levels, they have to be very careful cheating too much when they have the ball on their feet 30 yards out. One more dribble and a good shot and the goalie is fucked. But if they see you constantly guarding the near post from 35 yards out? They're going to backdoor you all day.
Finally, where I will say that a lot of goalies DO cheat one way or another, mainly to invite a shot to a certain said and to play mindgames is on PKs. You give the guy a look at a more open side and hope he goes for it, then you start sliding to cover that while he's in his run-up. There's a LOT more cat and mouse that goes on, but I don't feel like typing it all out.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
I've been missing coaching a lot this last year.testuser2 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 22, 2018 4:23 pmI've been avoiding this thread because I've been recording/watching games at night. So when is Nonlinear GK camp? I packed the kids stuff and he's ready to go.Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Thu Jun 21, 2018 1:17 pm So, the bottom line with goal keeping in any sport is that you want to be in a position where you are only as far off your goal line so that you can reasonably expect to cover your near post and far post. It's called cutting down the angle. Think about an arc that starts about a yard outside of each post and then extends about 5-6 yards away from the center line of the goal. Wherever the shot is coming from, you are sliding along this imaginary arc. Yu want to be squared up with the shooter taking away BOTH posts. The sharper the angle and the closer the shooter, the more you can take away the near post, because as shot from a sharp angle at the farpost is much easier to save... no real angle.
Positioning gets much more complicated when the player with the ball can shoot from distance, but could also cross the ball. In that instance, yes, a goalie should be inviting a distance shot at the nearpost by cheating more towards the middle of the goal. A) That's a very low percentage shot, even from the best players. B) You want to be in a position to come off your line in a forward trajectory, not backpedaling... Backpedaling is the worst for a soccer goalie. Gives us the hives. And I will amend that to say at the highest levels, they have to be very careful cheating too much when they have the ball on their feet 30 yards out. One more dribble and a good shot and the goalie is fucked. But if they see you constantly guarding the near post from 35 yards out? They're going to backdoor you all day.
Finally, where I will say that a lot of goalies DO cheat one way or another, mainly to invite a shot to a certain said and to play mindgames is on PKs. You give the guy a look at a more open side and hope he goes for it, then you start sliding to cover that while he's in his run-up. There's a LOT more cat and mouse that goes on, but I don't feel like typing it all out.
Reading this... Apologies to the thread for taking that out on all of you. :D
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
I had a conversation with a guy who played goalkeeper at Indiana a while back(he’s probably around fifty these days). He left program when they recruited over him and ended up winning a title one or two years later.
Anyway, he said high level keeping is all positioning because everyone can stop shots.
Anyway, he said high level keeping is all positioning because everyone can stop shots.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
I gave my daughter a little history lesson before kickoff. She was screaming when Shaqiri scored.
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
It he maintained that was more because of their positioning than hand work was the point I think.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
I mean, it was collegiate level and not world class, but it made a lot of sense to me. You’re definitely gonna stop more shots if you’re in the right place. Navas was unbelievable for 85 minutes.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
Belgium gonna run up the score today.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
Or maybe not.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
Going back to my question about Argentina the other day, Belgium is playing how my very basic soccer fan mind thinks Argentina should. This game has had a bunch of quality chances both ways, but you’ve gotta assume Belgium’s talent wins out 9/10 times in an open game like this.
Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
This quote from the Swiss coach pissed me off when I read it, but at the same time he is a Bosnian Croat from Sarajevo, so I probably should give him some slack on his comments here:Pruitt wrote: ↑Fri Jun 22, 2018 5:41 pm Swiss now my favourite team at the tournament...
Goal Celebrations a "Fuck You" to Serbia
Petkovic was unimpressed with his players’ celebrations.
“You should never mix politics and football, it’s good to be a fan and important to show respect,” he told reporters after the game.
“It’s clear that emotions surface. I think on and off the pitch we need to steer away from politics in football and we should focus on this as a sport that brings people together.”
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
At the collegiate and pro level, I would absolutely agree with this. It's what the casual fan doesn't quite see watching the game, the fact that the keeper was already "cheating" and moving before the shot is off the foot, knowing that is the only real spot the shooter has a window. Is he as far out as possible to cut the angle, while not allowing for the shooter to loop it over his head. Knowing who on the other team is/isn't even capable of a lofted shot. Etcetera and so on.
But there are also guys like Howard (see the Belgium game), Keller (against Brazil), etc etc where they have a higher level of quick nerve reflexes and save shit with a finger tip (literally) that other guys dont'. When you get to "world class" you put the positioning in the "given" column and add in amazing instincts and superb shot stopping at a different level.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
I agree with the coach.Joe K wrote: ↑Sat Jun 23, 2018 7:43 amThis quote from the Swiss coach pissed me off when I read it, but at the same time he is a Bosnian Croat from Sarajevo, so I probably should give him some slack on his comments here:Pruitt wrote: ↑Fri Jun 22, 2018 5:41 pm Swiss now my favourite team at the tournament...
Goal Celebrations a "Fuck You" to Serbia
Petkovic was unimpressed with his players’ celebrations.
“You should never mix politics and football, it’s good to be a fan and important to show respect,” he told reporters after the game.
“It’s clear that emotions surface. I think on and off the pitch we need to steer away from politics in football and we should focus on this as a sport that brings people together.”
And his one problem is he didn’t go to Russia that night because he had extracurricular activities, and they froze to death.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
(Not for nothing, but IU is one of the top 2 or 3 programs in the country. And given the lack of a real path to the pros, your friend was probably one of the top 10 best goalies in the country at the time. Tony Meola went to UVA and starred on the 94 team, for example.)
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
I love that Fox is using an announcer with a Mexican accent for this Mexico game.
And his one problem is he didn’t go to Russia that night because he had extracurricular activities, and they froze to death.
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Re: World Cup 2018 --Pre and Group Stages
Short corners are stupid. Why does anyone do them?
Kung Fu movies are like porn. There's 1 on 1, then 2 on 1, then a group scene..