What a stunning upset! Brazilian fans are hysterical I’m sure. Maybe the team should land home in the middle of the night and quietly scatter without any fanfare.
I thought you were Argentine?
Did you triumph like Die Mannschaft.
Nobody is gong home. They will fly to their clubs individually.
Not that stunning really, I’d have had Brazil as perhaps 60/40 favourites but the general opinon was that Croatia were going to be a big step up from previous opponents. They got to the final last time on absolute merit and were always going to be a tough nut.
I don’t think it was very close either. If someone described it as dominant, I wouldn’t argue too much. Fotmob has the xG as 0.66 - 2.63.
If Neymar never gets a WC, how much does that stain his legacy? He has the skills of an all-time great, but maybe people will think of his as just another skilled winger without it.
This is my favorite thing about the Dope /s
What even is a midfielder this century? Messi and Ronaldo are technically midfielders. As is Mueller.
That said as a classic CM/CAM I can’t think of many better this century.
My top 3 are Xavi, Iniesta and Modric and if he wins the WC, he has to be spoken in the same level as they are.
Wow, right back to work, hey? I guess it’s for the best.
Yes, it’s right back to work this time, because we’re in mid-season (at least in most European leagues). There’ll be a short Christmas break for most, but the leagues continue in January.
Modric? well he’s held down a pivotal midfield position at one the greatest ever clubs for a decade. That doesn’t happen if you aren’t one of the best of the best.
Messi and Ronaldo (Robben, RIbery, etc) were wide forwards/inverted wingers. Messi is sort of a midfielder now while Ronaldo is a standard striker.
Other candidates for me would be: Xabi Alonso, N’golo Kante, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Pirlo, Claude Makelele, Kevin de Bruyne, Toni Kroos, Arturo Vidal, Michael Ballack.
Vieira, Keans, and Nedved are probably last century guys if Zidane is.
Interesting to hear FOX pronounce it as “van Hall” when you’d think they might just go the typical van Gogh pronunciation route, with a hard G.
I mean, I know they have to pick something, they’re not going to say “v’n Ckhchall” without requiring a medical intervention.
His legacy? 
Neymar will forever be remembered as the Justin Bieber of football. He has the moral rectitude of Elisabeth Holmes and is a staunch supporter of Jair Bolsonaro, therefore I salute the football Gods for once. Schadenfreude swelling up here!
Yeah, but depending on how strict you are about how good a club is, this describes most of my list. He’s definitely one of the best of his generation, very few would argue against that. Sports fans tend to like rankings so I was curious where other people put him. Looks like AK84 and I rate him about the same.
I don’t disagree, he is up there with the very best of his generation. Definitely up there with the list you gave and I’d personally put him in the top ten midfielders of the century so far.
I said before that the FOX announcers were terrible, but it turns out I really like Aly Wagner…she keeps throwing in tactical analysis. I didn’t know a thing about her before this.
That shot of the Brazilian player on the ground while the Croatia team runs around him on the field to celebrate is a great sports moment. In terms of capturing “the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat”, I’ve hardly seen a better captured moment.
Here it is if you want to see it:
5 mins.
Is anyone thinking Messi looks a bit pale?
Is this a reference to something?
Wishful thinking from a Hollander.
Can’t work out who I want to win this. Normally I would side with the Netherlands but an all-European set of semi finals wouldn’t make this feel like a World Cup anymore! (I know Morocco are still in it and I’ll be routing for them against Portugal)
6 CBs out there. Hmm.