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Soccer

 
 
 
Watching some of the World Cup soccer. Two thoughts, the penalty for mugging another player is not severe enough to stop it, on the other hand, it is just severe enough to bring on acting worthy of professional wrestling.
 
France, Morocco, Croatia, and Argentina. Not exactly the first choice for possible final fours. This is Messi's last ride, has to be. So I think that'll be a heavy thumb on the scale for the title. France just needs to stop being dumb. Lloris is awesome in net, but making him deal with multiple PKs? Don't want to go to that well too often.
 
Poor scheduling on my part - will miss the 2nd half of Argentina v Croatia. One would normally expect a team to hold on to win when up 2 goals at half. But Argentina has shown its vulnerability vs the Netherlands and Croatia are the comeback kids of the World Cup. Should be awesome.
 
Was able to get to the game without spoilers. Interesting outcome. You never know how Argentina will perform in the World Cup at this point. They usually have the talent, but they often fail to make it happen.

Today's semi-final will be interesting as Morocco has managed to continue to surprise. They face a team who if they won the World Cup this year, no one would be surprised. Morocco has a tall order, but the way they have been playing, so do France. Just hoping for a regular time finish.
 
Man, what a semi-final between Morocco and France! Morocco were awesome, they just lacked the finesse to finish off opportunities. It was a brilliant showing.

The final is looking to be potentially awesome, except this is World Cup football, so the whole play not to lose thing might pop up.
 
The World Cup final had everything. Argentina managed to take a two goal lead in the first half against a France team that looked completely out of sorts. But they roared back in the second half and looked brilliant and clawed their way back to 2-2. Extra time was fantastic, end to end stuff. Mbappe out shone Messi, he was immense.
 
The superstars played like superstars. I thought the second PK for France was weak, but that game was quite something else. It looked like France was on the verge at the very end of extra time of extra time, when they broke through, but the Argentina keeper made a miraculous save, which then saw it to PKs... after Messi's first touch with the remaining time on fumes was off and it couldn't be controlled for one last chance at goal.

The game had everything, including two teams that tried to win the game. A classic that'll be hard to beat.
 
Messi was wonderful. Messi's passing was sublime at times. Mbappe was not much of factor until the 75th minute or so. the firs Messi's OT goal was breath-taking. I was hoping it would be clincher.
 
This really was Messi's World Cup. He was a difference maker for Argentina throughout the tournament. Having followed him for his entire professional career I would have been sick if they didn't win it yesterday.

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I'd like a replay of the Argentinian reaction right after the win happened, players breaking down into tears.
 
My wife does the books for one of the shareholders of the company she works for. He does real estate and has a tiling company. He's an Italian immigrant.

She was doing his books in his home office and heard all kinds of caterwauling going on in his den. She thought there were several people yelling but looked. It was only him watching the soccer tournament.
 
I wish the game calling could have been a bit better. I needed to look up back passing, because an Argentine defender, on his knees, kneed the ball to the keeper who covered it up. That isn't a backpass, but I don't recall it coming up at all by the announcers.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
I wish the game calling could have been a bit better. I needed to look up back passing, because an Argentine defender, on his knees, kneed the ball to the keeper who covered it up. That isn't a backpass, but I don't recall it coming up at all by the announcers.
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Neither the play-by-play or color announcers have much of clue on how referees are taught or act or told what to look for. Former players are the worst of all. More than half the time, they have it wrong. They have little appreciation on how a play looks from different angles or the pressures that the referees have at that level to keep the game entertaining (which means keeping as many players on the pitch as feasible).

Mark Clattenberg (a former high level EPL and FIFA referee) is pretty good at giving the POV of a field official. Why he wasn't around for the quarterfinals, semifinals or final is interesting because Dr. Joe may know the letter of the law, but he really doesn't seem to have a clue about actual officiating.

I am a former soccer referee. I did not reach the professional level but up to college. I've met and talked with NASL and MLS referees, so I think I have a bit of a clue. Certainly not the entire picture, but some of it.
 
What a strange story;

Danielle Reyna, wife of former United States men's national team captain Claudio and mother of current international player Gio, says she told U.S. Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart about USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter's past domestic violence incident because she was frustrated by comments made about her son after the team's elimination from the 2022 World Cup. U.S. Soccer did not receive any details about the claims against Berhalter until Dec. 11, when an executive was informed in a call with Claudio and Danielle Reyna that Berhalter, 49, had a past domestic violence incident, sources told ESPN. On Tuesday, Berhalter, whose contract as U.S. coach expired Dec. 31, revealed details of the incident with his wife in a lengthy statement posted to Twitter. "During the World Cup an individual contacted U.S. Soccer, saying that they had information about me that would 'take me down' - an apparent effort to leverage something very personal from long ago to bring about the end of my relationship with U.S. Soccer," Berhalter said.
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ESPN

The Reyna's appear to have tried to blackmail Berhalter into giving their son more game time and then tattle-tale about a fight Berhalter had with his wife decades ago.
 
19 years ago, George Best passed away.



Regarded by many, including Pele to be one of the best football players ever. A different type of player to the modern player of today for sure.
 
Liverpool shock and awe Man City at Anfield, with a much larger victory than the 2-0 score line indicates. There was a bit of anxiety before the season where the Klopp-less Reds would end up, but at the moment, they are on top of the world, 9 points up on 2nd place Arsenal, 11 pts on Man City. This is after solidly handling Real Madrid as well. This ties the biggest table lead after week 13 with two other teams since the Premier League started. Both of those teams went on to win the title. Obviously, injuries matter.

Arne Slot obviously inherited a great squad, but he has definitely helped with the tactics that have popped Liverpool to the top of the table by 9 full points. Seeing signs in the stands about FSG being told to pay Mo Salah what he deserves. I fully agree. Just give him the money! Give Van Dykt the money. Maybe give Allison the money, though Kelleher has been insanely good recently... blocking two PKs and keeping one out entirely.
 
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