World Cup Odds
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Some great upsets today. Mexico beating Germany was amazing. Mexico looked like the better team. Their offense was electric consistently getting downfield faster than the Germans. The Swiss tying Brazil was also a surprise. Neymar seemed to feel the pressure as much as Messi did yesterday.
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@approxinfinity My 5 year old nephew just got back from a couple year stint in Germany. Little guy can dribble the ball
️ quite well now. It’s impressive what he picked up on recess while over seas.
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approxinfinity said:
Some great upsets today. Mexico beating Germany was amazing. Mexico looked like the better team. Their offense was electric consistently getting downfield faster than the Germans. The Swiss tying Brazil was also a surprise. Neymar seemed to feel the pressure as much as Messi did yesterday.
Yeah Mexico shredded German’y midfield. It’s Low’s own fault really for playing Khedira…
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Japan has stunned Colombia 2-1.
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When you start the game 1 goal and one man down it is uphill the rest of the way, even more so at a World Cup level. Colombia still was the better team but they seemed to be happy with a tie and stopped attacking and cost them the game.
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@JayHawkFanToo Well, the red card was very deserved. That guy lost his mind.
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Judgment call for the ref and if he determines the hand was intentional then it is an automatic red card. If the player is facing the ball and the arm is not tight against the body it will always be called, although apparently there was an almost identical play in the previous World Cup (by a Netherlands player???) that was not called.
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Senegal takes the lead against Poland 1-0! A win or tie against Poland would be huge for Colombia (same pod)
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James started that Colombia game on the sideline with an injury, then played second half but did not do much. I wonder if they will regret not starting him with 20/20 hindsight. Quintero played in his place and did score the penalty (under the wall) so there is that…
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With James healthy, Colombia is a very different team with a top notch finisher.
Lots of surprising results so far. With Germany losing, Argentina, Portugal, Spain and Brazil tying, France and Belgium appear to be the favorites now. Of course it is way too early and even a loss in the first game does not eliminate a team.
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@JayHawkFanToo thus far, I believe in Belgium, Spain, and Mexico.
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Belgium is so good. Lukaku is a beast! Not only are they timing their passes perfectly going downfield, they’re avoiding offsides, then getting 5 steps past their defender and then breaking down the goalie 1v1.
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approxinfinity said:
Belgium is so good. Lukaku is a beast! Not only are they timing their passes perfectly going downfield, they’re avoiding offsides, then getting 5 steps past their defender and then breaking down the goalie 1v1.
They could have legitimately scored 8 or 9 goals today. I can appreciate that neither team camped in that game.
Belgium are firmly my 2nd choice team, just love how they play. Plus the whole country is barely more populated than the NYC area which makes their depth of talent quite remarkable.
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Interesting game. Tunisia dominated the first part of the second half and with a little luck the score could have been 3-2 or even 3-3. After Belgium settled it missed at least 3 more point blank goals. It would not have surprised me if the final score was 7-3.
Next, Mexico to prove if it is a contender or just another team with a lucky win over a powerhouse.
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Mexico should absolutely beat South Korea.
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goooooooooooolllllllll
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Mexico needs to stop settling for haymakers outside the box. 2 for Chucky 1 for Chicharito
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They’re faster than this team. Do them like they did Germany
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S Korea getting nice opportunities here. Mexico looks tired. Could be a comeback brewing.
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Nevermind
Gooooooooooollllllllllllllllll
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Uruguay wins big over Russia; I though the game would be closer. Past the stage where the crowd is a big help and now contender move ahead of the pretenders.
Interesting factoid: Out of 23 players for the Iceland team 22 players (except for the backup goalie) have last names that end in “son.”
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@BShark this was a fun read.
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MOROCCO!!!
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approxinfinity said:
@BShark this was a fun read.
Yeah it was quite good. I think @mayjay would appreciate it.
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@BShark I have saved it and will check it out soon!
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@approxinfinity What is this World Cup you speak of??
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@Barney Only the best international sporting spectacle by far. You’re not missing everything.
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approxinfinity said:
@Barney Only the best international sporting spectacle by far. You’re not missing everything.
The drama today was pretty damn good.
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@BShark it really was. I was pulling hard for Iran.
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@approxinfinity I enjoyed it when my son played in HS but there is way too much flopping for me to watch on TV. Actually being satisfied with and playing for the tie does not sit well with my competitive nature. I am glad others enjoy it though.
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@BShark Excellent article. There is definitely a different mindset to world-class athletes.
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Playing for a tie in the World Cup happens occasionally in the first stage when the object is to finish in the top two and advance but it is certainly not the norm. No more ties after that, you win and advance.
3.2. billion people tuned in for the 2014 World Cup and over 1billion watched the final. This edition of the cup is expected to draw 3.6 billion people or half the world’s population and the Final will be watched by ~1.5 billion people.
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@Barney I agree that the flopping is annoying but so many things are great about soccer that it doesn’t spoil the game for me. The uninterrupted play (no commercials!), the creativite ways one can score, the level of difficulty that some of these things they do takes, the passion of the fanbase, the national pride, the fact that these guys play with many of their rivals in professional play… Yes, sometimes people get rooked on flops. But that’s just one thing.
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Talk about trying to lose…
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I was surprised by all the flopping by Sweden against Mexico and the ref did not do Mexico any favors either. it was almost comical to see a 5’6" Mexican player jumps against a 6’4", 40 pound heavier Swede and almost every time the Swedish player ended up on the floor holding a part of his body that was not even involved in the collision; Swedes made Argentinian players look like amateurs.
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Both Belgium and England have the best teams they have had in a while and both have the potential to get far. Both have already booked a place in the knock out stage but their upcoming game will tell which has the better chance to go farther.
A Brazil-Spain clash could be a likely final.
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@JayHawkFanToo Those line-ups are trying to lose for bracket positioning lol.
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That is literally the Belgian back-up 11 with their current roster.
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The winner gets the easier next opponent, Japan, and then the winner of Brazil-Mexico. The loser gets the much harder Colombia and then the winner of Sweden-Switzerland.
England should be ahead instead Belgium is…
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I know I said it was for bracket positioning. :p
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Would much rather play against Japan. Colombia has the potential to be a tough out. Brazil is good but would you take the harder opponent now to avoid Brazil the subsequent round?
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Exactly. Which is the more desirable bracket? Six one way, half a dozen the other.
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Now, this is pretty funny…
https://twitter.com/NBCSportsSoccer/status/1012414685176446976/video/1
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Who let the goats out???
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Japan ahead of Belgium 2-1. Germany, Spain and Italy (did not even make it to the Cup) the 3 more recent champion and powerhouses from Western Europe already out as well as Current European champion Portugal; only France has advanced so far.
Belgium ties Japan 2-2 with 15 minutes left…
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Belgium pulls a miracle and wins 3-2.
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Eh they were huge favorites. Great game though.
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Columbia in the 93’ to stay alive. Now in 2OT. Both teams look gassed. Expect to see this go to PKs.
