True, and the the French Ligue 1 dropping to 18 teams (like the Bundesliga) has probably contributed to their CL success. 4 fewer games and an extended mid-season holiday has to be an advantage in May vs. EPL, La Liga and Serie A teams.
Until I checked, I didn’t realize just how good is Spain’s performance in this world cup:
- Matches: W 6 / L 0 / T 1 (scoreless tie vs Cape Verde)
- Goals: 13 - 1 (one goal allowed vs Belgium)
Bah! Now, I’m down to only one of my teams still in the tournament. I hope Argentina makes it or the final I will just be me trying to decide which team I want to lose more (probably England).
//i\\
Pretty sure Messi will get a brace in the second half tomorrow.
Hey, has Stu Holden stopped talking yet? No? sigh… Well you know what they say: it’s not over 'til the skinny dude shuts up.
He’s quite the little Energizer Bunny, isn’t he?
Going back to this, as others have said, it’s clearly a penalty under the laws of the game. Kicking another player is a foul, it’s a foul inside the box, and the consequence of such is a penalty kick. That said, I feel there are situations where “the punishment doesn’t fit the crime”, typically fouls at the edge of the box like this where the attacker isn’t really all that close to scoring a goal. If nothing else, I think they should round the corners of the penalty area.
I really see it as a 50/50 game. Nightmare scenario for me is England lose on penalties. Please… no. I’ve seen us do that so…many…times…
Vs German teams. 2 losses
Vs Portugal. 2 losses
Vs Italy. 2 losses
Vs Argentina. 1 loss.
It seems inevitable.
The only thing I had doubts about was whether Yamal handballed it. The referee they’ve got on ITV in the UK didn’t even hesitate when asked and said penalty, and that the ball hit his ‘sleeve’ and therefore not a handball. Didn’t look like it to me though, clearly hit his arm further down than that, certainly low enough down that it would count as part of the body excluded from the offside animation graphic things they use for offside (ergo, liable for handball). In which case I guess VAR deemed it completely unintentional (fair enough) and also not making his body outline bigger (ok… it was by his side). It just feels a little dodgy because he led with his arm and the contact is obviously material to the outcome (Digne kicking Yamal).
Have we moaned about the ridiculous ‘half time show’ set for the final yet? I have a feeling we may have covered that pre-tournament but I had forgotten about it until reading a BBC article on it this morning, so it probably deserves another moan…
TWENTY FIVE minutes at half time?
(Sorry, it just feels a little cathartic).
Just got back home from Spain-France game. French never seemed to mount a single effective attack. Also, the response of fans was a lot more muted than I expected. The French fans didn’t seem fazed by the loss and the Spaniards weren’t all that celebratory.
That’s decided than. Neither of them deserve it. At least England and Argentina fans would kill for it
It’s got to be pulled back. We already have hydration breaks in each half making the game stop and start but a long half time show is ridiculous. The whole point of a 15 minute break is it’s long enough for players to get their breath back, get any treatment if needed, gather together with the coaches and make their thoughts known/make changes before heading back out again. Making HT twice as long will just lead to a lot of sitting around, not good for the muscles after exerting them so intensely, any messaging from the coach loses impact when you are made to think about it too long without action.
I’d also add there’s probably a strong likelihood the performers of the HT show will be booed by the fans of both teams in the final just because football/soccer fan culture is like that. People pay to watch the game and hope that’s the spectacle. Not the paid entertainment. Reminds me when UEFA hired a pop star to perform before kick off for the Champions League final a few years ago and she got booed by the fans. Kick off time wasn’t moved to accommodate her, everything still ran to the traditional time slot but fans don’t want to see it.
There’s also a bit of talk about Jennifer Hudson singing the US national anthem before kick off which has sparked some controversy because this seems the first time ever where a country which isn’t one of the two teams playing for the trophy has their anthem sung along with that of the two countries playing. On this score I think the fans of Spain and Argentina/England will be respectful enough to not boo Jennifer Hudson but it is weird.
It’s not healthy for players two have such a long break between two halves of football. Expect a lot of pulled muscles in the second half.
Be against halftime shows if you want to be, but this seems silly. NBA halftimes last about 20 minutes once you include commercials and wasted time. NFL halftime shows during the Super Bowl last 25-30 minutes.
I’m so nervous I can barely type, no idea how they expect me to work today.
deep breaths I guess.
If we get that far, and it’s a big if, I may return to this comment 
I don’t watch NFL (I’d rather watch paint dry) but isn’t it way more stop-start than (association) football? So a longer break is less detrimental?
I’ve got this horrible feeling of dread. It’s going to penalties.
Just in case, I was not disparaging Spain’s team, is just that their strength seems to me to be in the midfield and not in their attack, which is good because Argentina’s defense sucks.
I’ve a gig at 3:15 today so I’ll only be able to watch the match after the fact.
NOBODY TELL ME WHO WON!
Yes. NFL involves going at full effort for about 30 seconds and then standing around drinking water for an equal amount of time.