Watch it again. Griezmann clearly throws himself to the ground without contact. He gets lightly touched after he’s almost on the ground already. Should have had a yellow for simulation.
A title is a title. By all rights Messi should not even have reached the final of his first two CL, where he needed egregious officiating to even get there in 2009 and 2011. But no one disputes it. If Higuain had made three chances in three games in '14, '15 and '16 then Messi is currently considered the greatest of all time, rather than not even the greatest of his time. Those calls in CL go correctly, and Lionel’s trophy cabinet looks rather bare.
Agreed.
Any link? Did not record the game, watched it at my parents and just got back.
Maybe its FIFA refs apologising for the Zidane sending off in 2006?
If Mbappe’s body type stays the same, and he can maintain that first step and speed, I think he will be an all-time great. We already know he can shoot, and create his own shot. In fact, that save by Subasic was a bit under-appreciated by the Fox announcers on the US broadcast. That ball was headed into the goal and would have been a highlight. The problem with 19-year olds is that their bodies are still changing. He will have to adjust his game if he gets thicker.
The 2022 odds are out:
Your opinions are noted. They are rejected as being out of touch with reality. :dubious:
The penalty was clear. It was decidedly deliberate handling. He moves his arm down to contact the ball, and his outstretched hand is what he contacts it with. It wasn’t a natural position for his arm to be in, given his attempt to jump up. It was a penalty every day of the week, if spotted. This of course highlights the importance of VAR, because at speed, it’s not an easily spotted occurrence; the referee wouldn’t have seen it and the assistant might well have been blocked by the French player who was in front of Perišič.
As for Griezman’s dive, it’s what I call a “half-dive”. Yes, no one actually makes contact. But, that’s because he’s jumped up to avoid the contact that most likely would have occurred, had he not tried to avoid it. As Alexi Lalas pointed out in the studio, it’s not necessary for contact to occur for there to be a foul; one of the direct free kick fouls under Law XII is carelessly challenging for the ball. But the “dive” part comes in when, having avoided the contact, the player proceeds to act as if there really was contact, by grabbing legs, feet, ankles, or something similar. That’s simulation, and that should be cautioned, yes.
Only by a vocal minority apparently not qualified to reject them. Others in this thread have agreed that Brazil played better than Belgium and Croatia better than France. Pretty much every thing I’ve said in this thread was either stated later by the experts on Fox. You know, people who actually played the game. Lalas agreed with me on the Kane penalty and on Brazil. Guus Hiddink in Croatia. The world’s betting markets did as well. So the :dubious: smiley is facing the wrong direction.
I dunno. I think his arm came down because that’s where something moves after it goes up. Not deliberately hitting the ball.
Your opinion. Seems a very natural position to me given his jump.
Which is why I hate the wording of the handball (sorry! handling!) rule. Soo damn subjective.
No one said otherwise. It may be a footballing skill, but it’s not the same as play on the field. Still a crappy way to decide who advances. Not sure what your point is about great players missing PKs.
Point being that after 120 minutes the body is breaking down and even one of the worlds best strikers can’t put the ball on goal. As mentioned above penalties use footballing skills to decide the match. Its also really exciting. How is it crappy when the alternative puts players health at risk?
Ok. So? Not sure why this is relevant.
It’s crappy because it isn’t football. It’s a skill contest. Just because the alternatives are worse doesn’t mean it’s a good way to determine who advances. It’s just the least horrible way to do it.
I still like the approach of having the penalties prior to the match rather than after.
So, remember what I said about World Cup final ratings a bit ago (when I was savaged for it) - oh and yes I was talking more about US ratings
This is the lowest rated combined (English and Spanish) US World Cup final rating since 2002. Almost 10 million less viewers than 2014. Almost 7 million less viewers than, 2010.
Yes, it began before noon Eastern Time (11am for the record, so 8am Western, but I was told that it wouldn’t matter due to it being the World Cup final, and of course about 50% of the US population does live in EST), but I still believe Croatia, not really a soccer power, being one of the two teams hurt interest.
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Were there any changes to style of play in this world cup? I felt that teams pressed more aggressively for the ball, even strikers, so no-one had much time on the ball. But also, and perhaps because of this, there was more passing and fewer attempts to dribble round players. Teams would often pass the ball back from the attacking third right back to the defending third just to keep possession.
“Route one”: long balls into the penalty area were rare.
However…maybe I’m imagining things and none of this is actually any different from recent tournaments.
And how play style might (unfortunately) change in the future:
I think the VAR performed well actually, and made many important and correct decisions. However there were many false positive hand ball decisions.
If it stays like this, players might start to take advantage. For example, if I’m in the penalty area but I can’t get a good shot and my teammates are either absent or surrounded, then why not chip the ball at one of the defenders’ torsos? Maybe I get a penalty.
That already happens now. Hell, I did that as a kid in the playground.
The point is, until recently it would be rare as a deliberate tactic in professional football.
If I chip the ball up at your arm, what’s supposed to happen is the referee waves play on.
What usually happens is that somebody points at their arm, the ref just waves them to continue, everybody finishes the play, and maybe the captain of the aggravated team complains afterwards. Or the whole team sometimes, because football. What I’ve seen happening with the VAR, at least in the final, is exactly the same, only the ref can check afterwards and give the foul or the penalty if needed.
I don’t remember seeing the referee giving any false handballs after checking, to be honest. Of course, I haven’t watched even half the matches.
I saw a case, it may have even been in the final, where the ball was kicked, at fairly close range, right at one player’s face. (I don’t mean to say it was deliberate; just that one player was attempting a lofted pass to a teammate just as a defender was coming to guard him.) He moved his arm slightly, just to prevent the ball from hitting his face, and got called for it.
Is that as specified in the rules? The ball was going to hit him. I suppose it ricocheted in a different direction off his forearm than it would have off his face, but it still seems a bit harsh.