# World Cup 2018 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 7, 2018, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615 "2018-06-07T18:09:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/221 "2018-06-15T19:39:48Z")
Aw noooooo aw nooooo! Come on ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/222 "2018-06-15T19:41:18Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > 😃 > > I did hear a tale of a Man U. fan, he was a driver and was listening to the 1999 Champions League final on the radio as he entered the Blackwall Tunnel with Man. U. 1-0 down and looking like a busted flush…he lost the signal and regained it 90 seconds later with final whistle having gone and Man u. having scored twice and won! There are apparently numerous anecdotes of what Brazilian and German fans were doing during the nine minutes of the 2014 World Cup semifinal where Germany went from leading 1-0 to 5-0. One Brazilian anecdote was apparently that someone took a bathroom break and came back to 5-0 while someone else bought a soda, and/or did something else, and the score went to 5-0. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/223 "2018-06-15T19:45:40Z")
Is there really any doubt who is the greatest player ever? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/224 "2018-06-15T19:45:59Z")
I started composing an e-mail to my German friend at 2-0 and ended up re-writing it so much that I gave up and did it at half time instead. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/225 "2018-06-15T19:46:45Z")
Heh, the commentator in Telemundo said that It **was** going to be a goal from Ronaldo with that free kick. And it was. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/226 "2018-06-15T19:47:48Z")
Oh I say! That’s him in a nutshell though. Spain have given them a masterclass but Ronaldo can be the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/227 "2018-06-15T19:55:13Z")
And that, boys and girls, is why the tournament does not need to be expanded. Get a limited group of the top teams together and enjoy. That was worth 20 Russia/Saudi Arabia, Morocco/Iran or Uruguay/Egypt games. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/228 "2018-06-15T19:56:08Z")
Jolly decent game that! ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/229 "2018-06-15T19:56:53Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Is Messi really on Ronaldos level? I don’t think so. CR7 scored a hatrick playing out of position, as a CF. Messi cries when pushed out of his favourite Right Forward or False 9 place. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/230 "2018-06-15T19:57:11Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > And that, boys and girls, is why the tournament does not need to be expanded. > > Get a limited group of the top teams together and enjoy. That was worth 20 Russia/Saudi Arabia, Morocco/Iran or Uruguay/Egypt games. Please sir, can we have it expanded enough so that we get another go? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/231 "2018-06-15T20:07:49Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I started composing an e-mail to my German friend at 2-0 and ended up re-writing it so much that I gave up and did it at half time instead. Just look at the WC2014 thread on the Dope. We could not keep up. [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=722766&page=57](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=722766&page=57) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/232 "2018-06-15T20:28:39Z")
Well, Spain blew that one, giving up a PK in the first 4 minutes, a goalkeeping howler, and a stupid foul right in front of the goal for Ronaldo to take; should have been 3-1 Spain at the worst. The Spanish papers and TV folks are going to have fun dissecting this one when it’s combined with the change of coach… Anybody else getting up at 4AM (CST in the US) to watch France? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/233 "2018-06-15T20:43:20Z")
Meh, Spain dominated as expected. Two dives and a de Gea howler to equalize. Makes the rest of the matches in this group very interesting though. Instead of knowing who would win the group after one game we now get to see four games where Spain and Portugal try to outdo each other in smashing the hapless Morocco and Iran teams. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/234 "2018-06-15T20:46:58Z")
The meh is to the Ronaldo love. That was a fantastically entertaining game. If we get one half as entertaining as that every day for the rest of the tournament I’ll be in heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/235 "2018-06-15T21:02:23Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Just look at the WC2014 thread on the Dope. We could not keep up. > [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=722766&page=57](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=722766&page=57) A general request: please don’t link to page numbers of long threads. People change page size from the default. Please either link to a post or link to the thread and say the number of the post that the interesting thing happens at. ---
**Author:** ![nachtmusick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@nachtmusick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nachtmusick)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/236 "2018-06-15T21:13:25Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > And that, boys and girls, is why the tournament does not need to be expanded. > > Get a limited group of the top teams together and enjoy. That was worth 20 Russia/Saudi Arabia, Morocco/Iran or Uruguay/Egypt games. The only soccer I watch is the WC every four years, plus an occasional US qualifier, so I’m no expert on what constitutes a well-played match. But even I had no trouble seeing the stark difference between Russia/SA yesterday and Spain/Portugal today. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/237 "2018-06-15T21:20:53Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > A general request: please don’t link to page numbers of long threads. People change page size from the default. Please either link to a post or link to the thread and say the number of the post that the interesting thing happens at. This is the first post about that game, I think [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17530366&postcount=2823](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17530366&postcount=2823) ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2018, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/238 "2018-06-16T11:22:53Z")
VAR penalty for France. Not sure why the card was only yellow. Seems like a textbook example of Denial of and Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2018, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/239 "2018-06-16T11:35:19Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > VAR penalty for France. Not sure why the card was only yellow. Seems like a textbook example of Denial of and Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity. Excellent point. Australia and the USA this last week perhaps have exposed France as overrated. I thought France would get 2 or 3 against the Aussies. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2018, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/240 "2018-06-16T11:37:43Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Excellent point. > > Australia and the USA this last week perhaps have exposed France as overrated. I thought France would get 2 or 3 against the Aussies. Spoke to soon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615.md?page=13)