World Cup 2022 - Qatar

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Poland was already going through thanks to the "fair play" (read: fewer red/yellow card points) tiebreaker. That goal just pushed it back to the goal differential tiebreaker, which Poland also won.

Got it. Thanks.

[Kdogg]

Mexico allowed a late goal to take the heat off. But man it would have been fun for them to be eliminated on "fair play" tiebreaker.

I want to see drawing of lots. Better yet, have the captains play rochambeau at middle field.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I want to see drawing of lots. Better yet, have the captains play rochambeau at middle field.

Hot dog eating contest. How all civilized disputes are settled. Also because you can’t have something like a dance-off where judge bias could factor in.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Hot dog eating contest. How all civilized disputes are settled. Also because you can’t have something like a dance-off where judge bias could factor in.

And beer drinking competition.

Nothing says 'eff you' like pork products and alcohol in a Muslim country...

[OldPhiKap]

I hate it for Tata, but not sorry to see Mexico go home.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I hate it for Tata, but not sorry to see Mexico go home.

Ahhhhhhhhhdios! (Spanish Cameron chant)

[burnspbesq]

According to the Liverpool Echo, Juventus (whose entire board of directors resigned yesterday) has decided it wants the young Belgian midfielder Amadou Onana, and is prepared to offer Weston McKennie in exchange.

As an Everton supporter, as much as I like Wes, there is no way on God’s green earth I make that deal unless I also get at least EUR 10 million. Onana is far from a finished product, but his ceiling is so high you can barely imagine it.

[ClemmonsDevil]

Hot dog eating contest. How all civilized disputes are settled. Also because you can’t have something like a dance-off where judge bias could factor in.

I always wanted to date a hotdog eating champion. "I will have the pecan encrusted trout. And she will have 38 hotdogs please".

[CDu]

According to the Liverpool Echo, Juventus (whose entire board of directors resigned yesterday) has decided it wants the young Belgian midfielder Amadou Onana, and is prepared to offer Weston McKennie in exchange.

As an Everton supporter, as much as I like Wes, there is no way on God’s green earth I make that deal unless I also get at least EUR 10 million. Onana is far from a finished product, but his ceiling is so high you can barely imagine it.

Semi-related, my club team of choice (Milan) is potentially going to lose Rafa Leao to a Premier League club (or maybe Real/Barca). If they do, I'd be thrilled to see Pulisic join Dest in the Rossoneri and take over the left wing role. The new owner is a US-based businessman with global interest, and I'm sure he would love to draw more of the burgeoning US fanship. Landing 2 of the 3 or 4 most marketable US players would be a great start.

That said, as much as I love McKennie (his work rate is phenomenal and his productivity is impressive, especially given his somewhat low technical quality), I agree on Onana vs McKennie. There is a ton of upside in Onana. He's got a lot of the same attributes as McKennie at that age, but in a bigger body. But McKennie has not made the technical leap (essentially he remains the same guy he was at 21), whereas there is still plenty of hope for Onana to make the leap.

[Skydog]

I always wanted to date a hotdog eating champion. "I will have the pecan encrusted trout. And she will have 38 hotdogs please".

I was wondering what the stated reason was going to be.

[Bluedog]

For those that want to watch the trickler towards the US goal in the final stoppage minute, wowza!
https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status...97671715774465

On another note, I found this chart from FiveThirtyEight interesting:
The U.S. Played To Win Against Iran — And It Worked _ FiveThirtyEight.jpg
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...and-it-worked/

It definitely demonstrates that a team can outplay another one by the standard "stats" (basically, shots on goal and how well they target is the variable, I believe), and still lose. The variability in winning/losing a football match are huge because a single goal is such an enormous difference but the difference between scoring and not can be mere inches. Interesting that the U.S. BEST performance by these stats was against Ghana in 2010, where they'd be expected to win by 1.25 goals and they LOST 2-1.

This chart also shows that the U.S. apparently doesn't outplay its opponents all that much and in the 10 times they are expected to score more, they actually only did so in actuality TWICE (20% of the time)! Five losses and three ties. That's not a great percentage although three of the games were so close to not really mean much (goal differential 0.06 or less). So, if you remove those, U.S. victory % on games where they are expected to have more goals moves up to (still a paltry) 29%.

[Phredd3]

As of halftime this morning, Belgium is going home. They've still got 45 minutes to change that, of course.

[75Crazie]

Belgium is one of those teams that appears to be much less than the sum of its parts. And just as I type that, Lukaku has an open shot from 10 yards that hits the post and caroms off.

[robed deity]

Belgium is one of those teams that appears to be much less than the sum of its parts. And just as I type that, Lukaku has an open shot from 10 yards that hits the post and caroms off.

And another header that he inexplicably misses. Probably would have been disallowed, but still.

[AGDukesky]

Belgium is one of those teams that appears to be much less than the sum of its parts. And just as I type that, Lukaku has an open shot from 10 yards that hits the post and caroms off.

I agree- been really unimpressed with Belgium both times I’ve see then this World Cup

[75Crazie]

Lukaku with a third point-blank shot, and nothing to show for it. I feel sorry for de Bruyne, one of my favorite players, but he looks like the only one invested in this match. I'm guessing Belgium as a whole is gassed.

[75Crazie]

Lukaku with a third point-blank shot, and nothing to show for it.

And now a fourth ... just crazy.

[75Crazie]

OK, gotta ask now ... Who had Morocco winning Group F and Belgium going home? Can't say I did.

[flyingdutchdevil]

OK, gotta ask now ... Who had Morocco winning Group F and Belgium going home? Can't say I did.

No one. But Belgium not winning the group isn't surprising. The team is Kevin de Bruyne and...who?

Belgium experienced a ton of infighting, a ton of age, and a ton of poor play.

The golden era of Belgium is done. Thank goodness.

[flyingdutchdevil]

No one. But Belgium not winning the group isn't surprising. The team is Kevin de Bruyne and...who?

Belgium experienced a ton of infighting, a ton of age, and a ton of poor play.

The golden era of Belgium is done. Thank goodness.

Also, this is what I wrote about Belgium a few weeks ago:

Why They'll Lose: Because their defense is slow. Vertonghen and Alderweireld are talented players. Both played at Tottenham for a long period of time. Both are tall and physical. They are also both older (mid-30s). And they are slow. They cannot stop fast moving and creative attacks. They let in a lot of goals. Belgium can manufacture goals; they can also let a lot in.

The Impact Player Who You May Not Know: Thomas Meunier. It's tough to choose a player here, because everyone is either old and underperforming and too young and irrelevant. Enter Thomas Meunier, who plays for Dortmund and seems to be on everyone's wish list yet no one wants to pay for him. He's a right back but versatile enough to play in midfield. He can defend, he can pass, and he can score if in the right place at the right time. He's the kind of player you need to advance because he doesn't mind doing the dirty work.

De Bruyne couldn't do it alone. And he's the main reason for the epic infighting over the last few weeks.