Probably a naive question but is there any reason why the dugouts can’t have plastic pint glasses full of water constantly available that players can just grab in natural breaks of play?
Well now, not only the more athletic team last night but also the technically superior one and I haven’t said that about many previous USMNT teams at the WC. Pulisic and Dest just abused Paraguayan outside defenders.
Poch surprised me with the lineup, pushing Dest and McKennie up front and starting Tillman and Freeman but all four were energetic and productive. Balogun dominated the box in a manner I hadn’t seen from him before.
Poch is a sad reminder of my first wonderful years as a Southampton fan, when they hit a string of home runs by signing him and a host of great on field talents.
One thing I’d love to happen would be for an unlikely team to win the whole thing. Someone like South Korea or the United States. .
It gets predictable to have: France, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Argentina.
They do. In the US game, the broadcast showed players getting water during an injury break. But those don’t always happen.
One win since 1990 hardly feels like part of the predictability…
The US looked superb today. Lots of energy, positivity and quality. It will be interesting to see how their defence holds up against the better teams. But attack is the best form of defence so keep trying to do that.
That match goes down with some of the best in USMNT history - Spain in 2009, or dos a cero in the 2002 WC - but instead of parking the bus, the US were on the front foot from the start, dictating the terms of play, and just took Paraguay to the cleaners - they made them look like some Caribbean minnows from a CONCACAF WC qualification stage.
It’s odd to think of a 38-year-old centerback as being key to your offense, but so many of the USMNT’s best attacking moves were started by Tim Ream’s left foot that I think he’s going to be in the lineup no matter how much of a defensive liability he is - and he was that a couple of times last night.
I have no idea if they’re going to be able to keep it up, but if they do, the ceiling for this team has gone up dramatically.
You can easily look at this in another way: who has won two WCs since and including 1990? Only Germany, Brazil and France. And Brazil’s last title was in 2002, while Germany won in 2014.
Sure goals are hard to come by in soccer but Canada scored one against Croatia (1-4) and one against Morocco (1-2) in Qatar 2022.
I think it was a misunderstanding. Canada scored their first point in a WC game yesterday.
That is unarguably true. But I quoted Dr_Paprika. Just a small nitpick but this is the Dope after all.
eta: Ah I see, gotcha.
Yeah, I meant that it was @Dr_Paprika’s misunderstanding.
I was looking at FanDuel just now, as I was thinking about placing a bet on the Brazil/Morocco game.
FD (FanDuel) offers a bet called ‘Moneyline (3-way)’. Which means there are 3 outcomes to the game: Brazil wins, Morocco wins, or it ends in a draw. If you bet on either team to win, and the game ends in a draw, you lose your bet. Also, you can bet on the the game to end in a draw, and will win that bet should that outcome occur. The odds listed are
Brazil to win -155
Morocco to win - +470
Draw +270
So far, so good.
FD also offers a bet called ‘Moneyline (3-way) 2-up Early Payout’. This bet is similar to the above, except that if you bet on either team to win, and that team goes ahead by 2 goals at any point in the game, you win the bet, regardless of the final score. The odds are similar to the above bet:
Brazil to win -155
Morocco to win +430
Draw +260
But…if I bet on a Draw in the latter bet (2-up Early Payout), what does that mean? Do I lose the bet if either team goes up by 2 goals, no matter what the outcome is? I’m confused. Can anybody explain this to me?
Just got back from the Trader Joe’s at Gillette, er, Boston Stadium; I’ve found these are the best times to shop (or see movies) at Patriot Place because locals are scared of the crowds there.
Other than the setup for the upcoming match it was a ghost town, but I did see two guys in kilts sweating their balls off as they crossed the parking lot.
I don’t think the draw is impacted.
The two win options pay out (I think) if a team wins or is ahead at any point by two goals.
The overround is 2.5% higher which I assume reflects the possibility that they have to pay out on two outcomes. A team goes ahead by two but the game ends in a draw or even a loss.
Well I really hope that neither South Korea nor the USA win this. South Korea because I still hold a grudge against them since they cheated in 2002 against Italy and against Spain. And the USA because that would be a boost for President Ineptstein and Chief Mafiantino, and I don’t want them gloating about successfully cheating into winning a World Cup.
As for the predictablitiy of
France has only won twice: 1998 and 2018. Brazil haven’t won in 24 years. Germany has only won three times in my lifetime (I am over 60 years old) with 16 and 24 year gaps. Spain has only ever won once. And Argentina, the current champions, had not won in 36 years. If you base your betting on what you call predictability I see a bleak financial future for you.
And football is not fair. Has never been, never will be. That is not the point.
Still I want South Korea to lose and the USA to be humiliated.
Not in football it isn’t.
With the 48 teams funneling to a 32-team KO round, I didn’t think I’d have much interest in this World Cup until the knockouts. But then I thought about how travel across North America impacts our continental league teams. It can affect teams substantially, and not just due to travel distance, but also changes in climate/temperature, humidity and air.
So I decided to review the travel and schedules of the top teams with championship odds of 20-1 or less, just to see who might be vulnerable. While I suspect each of these teams will make the final 32, 2nd or 3rd place finishes by them could impact other teams in their brackets. So here are my thoughts on each of them:
France- easy as pie
Spain- potential tough game after travel from Atlanta to Guadalajara, but should have 6 points racked up in Atlanta
England- Vulnerable. Tough 1st game in Dallas vs Croatia, then travel to the US northeast vs Ghana, both opponents have proven historical WC success.
Portugal- pretty easy. Last game in Miami vs. Colombia could be problematic, but should get 6 points in Dallas
Brazil- about as easy as you can get. Travel to Miami for 3rd game, but it’s Scotland
Argentina- very easy in KC/Dallas
Germany- moderate. Should get easy 3 points in first game in Houston. Then travel to Toronto, which could be big change, and then NJ, which could be very similar to Houston this time of year
Netherlands- pretty easy. 3 cities with similar climates all close to each other
I’d pick England and Germany as the 2 teams that I’d watch for in terms of underperformance in the group stage. I haven’t checked on the repercussions further down the bracket if either team were to finish 2nd or 3rd in their groups.
I just want a non-European, non-South-American team to win the trophy for once.
Maybe Italy should revive catenaccio?
Come on, you know you want to support England. It’s 60 years and counting.