Huh? Their flags didn’t go up. Or did I miss that?
So VAR made no difference to the outcome and did not, in fact, fuck Croatia. If anything, it gave them an opportunity to have an error corrected if the call had been wrong, but it wasn’t.
Before VAR, they would’ve raised their flags (or they wouldn’t have) and then we’d have ten minutes of, “ooh, that was close,” and we’d have moved on. That’s the way I prefer it. I also hate all the replay officiating in American sports, by the way.
He’s always been a fuckwit commentator, but this is new heights for him.
Meanwhile, the USSF removed the symbol of the Islamic Republic from the Iranian flag in social media posts to “show support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights”, and then deleted those posts.
I’m sure the Iranian national team needs no additional motivation, but they’re certainly getting it anyway.
Does that guy have a tampon up his nose?
The Iranian team (and many fans) have been staging their own little protests against the Islamic Republic during the playing of the national anthem, so I’m not sure that particular action by the US would infuriate them. That said, it was a poor choice by the US to dive into the controversy in the way they did.
This Croat team could go far again.
They didn’t impress me in their Morocco game, but this was a solid effort.
Rodri starting in central defense for Spain again. Pretty interesting. I agree that Eric Garcia sucks, but I thought Pau Torres was pretty well regarded.
Probably the two most well regarded midfields going at it in this one?
Interestingly, Germany has Kimmich, Goretzka, and Gundogan starting. Not sure if that’s 4-3-3 or what, but definitely offensively-minded.
ETA: looks definitely 4-3-3. Flick acknowledgment of no real striker, I think.
My son guessed…he has a bloody nose? What was that?
The Canadians did well to qualify and played some decent soccer. They are good at winning balls in the midfield and have a good short passing game to advance the ball. Their goalie too often deflects the ball rather than collects it, in part since the Croatian attackers were a little faster today than Canada’s fullbacks. Canada’s offence improved versus Croatia (compared to Belgium) but still relies too heavily on short passes with too little aggression, few long balls and give-and-go plays, clumping in the middle rather than getting open and spreading the defence and going into the corners, and a strange desire to slow things down and be methodical rather than use the quick momentum that usually advanced the ball near the eighteen yard line in the first place.
Belgium losing was a gift, and Canada opened strong and looked better for half an hour. But there is a reason Croatia finished second in 2018. They look like they could possibly do that again. Herdman is a great coach but has more work to do over the next four years. I am confident he can do it.
Technically, it is a nasal tampon. It acts like any tampon but is slightly flatter and designed to fit into the nares. Ninety percent of nosebleeds are anterior, on the wall of the septum at the front of the nose, where some blood vessels meet. This blood causes the tampon to expand, putting pressure on the area to staunch the bleeding. Squeezing the soft part for fifteen minutes or more in sniffing position does the same thing but makes it hard to run and use the flag or whistle.
You guys have really missed Klose upfront haven’t you?
Maybe play Mueller centrally? He is tall and can at least give something else to the attack.
I think with these three in the mid-field, there’s also an aspect of securing the defense, with their defensive qualities. Flick subs a mid-field allrounder for a striker with Goretzka for Havertz.
Hoping for an exciting Spain Germany game.
Yeah, I was thinking about it more after I posted. In the typical double-pivot Kimmich holds (kinda) where Goretzka makes runs in the middle to clear space, or Gundogan attacks with the ball on the left, but I suspect you’re right…given the Costa Rica result, Flick is likely going to want more holding play from the two non-6s.
Something I’d look for in this match is Germany getting after Busquets physically.
Literally just said something similar to my co watchers
Spain’s moving the ball really well.