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Russia World Cup 2018 Thread

Chuny

Chuny

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11 December 2007
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I'm surprised this thread hasn't been created ages ago already.
Considering how much we all love football in this Forums, we don't talk that much about real football...

So, 9 days to go:
Which team do you think will win this time?
Who'll be the best player?
Who'll be the unexpected hero?
 
I'm still shocked that Sané has been left out of Germany. I was betting it all on him as the new superstar.
 
Shouldn't this be under the National teams forum?

My biggest bummer yet is that Nainggolan won't be playing for Belgium.

...Fellaini... Jesus
 
Leaving Sane out will be biggest mistake for Germany, at least from our perspective. Great player, great technique, fast etc. but who can say something to coach like Low? He deserves all the respect for his job with Germany. All of us know that the team had army discipline and that`s why results are great, no superstars in the the team either. His philosophy is proven but we will see.
From my perspective Spain will be biggest dissapoiment in this world cup, many good players but without striker they are useless at least for reaching quarter finals. I watched them last time against Swiss and all they do is keeping the ball without creating chances, useless possesion.
I bet on France or Brazil to win the world cup.
Biggest sensation will be Croatia or Serbia IF with big IF balkan mentality doesn`t strike in the most important moment. They have very talented and squads, trully deserve to go far.
And last, I expect Belgium to play in semi final :)
 
England have not lost a game in a year, according to Sky Sports Boobs, so how are they not favourites for the World Cup ? :CONFUSE::CONFUSE::CONFUSE:
 
@mattmid , can you not sense the change in the mood in "the England Camp". No JT to mess around with all the WAGs, no WR to get injured, no JH to look dopey in goal.

I can feel a tabloid anti-German WW II rant coming on and then we really are at the races. :WASTED:
 
WhoAteMeDinner said:
@mattmid , can you not sense the change in the mood in "the England Camp". No JT to mess around with all the WAGs, no WR to get injured, no JH to look dopey in goal.

I can feel a tabloid anti-German WW II rant coming on and then we really are at the races. :WASTED:
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I can but I still think we'll get opened up easily at the back against the better teams. I hope I'm wrong. Costa Rica would have lost to Costa Coffee last night :D
 
mattmid said:
I can but I still think we'll get opened up easily at the back against the better teams. I hope I'm wrong. Costa Rica would have lost to Costa Coffee last night :D
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Yeh, they do tend to pick the football version of the glass-jawed journeyman boxer for friendlies and how they always get cannon fodder in every qualifying group is somewhat astounding.

Plus, it is Sky Sports News doing the hype and they are just Premier League Pravda, so something fishy there. :THINK::THINK::THINK:
 
mattmid said:
Don't milk it.

Yes I saw that! Did you see the Russian stadium with the tacked on seats, looks ridiculous. Ektarinerberg or something.

I wonder how it's all going to go if Russia get knocked out in the group stage, which with their recent form is quite likely.
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Hmmmm, I know, seats will fly. When they were the old CCCP, they had some team, mind you, Lev Yashin (The Black Panther) between the sticks and a host of Dynamo Kiev players (now in Ukraine) always helped.

I have always long suspected that football always does best in countries with a true sense of freedom, joy and openess. Look at Chinese football. :SHAKE::SHAKE::SHAKE::SHAKE:
 
Yeah that has made a big difference in recent years, missing the best players from the likes of Ukraine and Georgia and so on. Likewise Yugoslavia. They used to have a hell of a side as indeed they would now if you take the best from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and so on.

I think the international team that has constantly punched above their weight compared to population size has to be Uruguay. Hardest qualifying section and invariably make the world cup and do well.
 
England is finally looking serious as a team after, what? 16 years?.
If they do perform fairly well in this WC, I think the 2022 WC could be the one for England.

Right now Brasil are unbeatable, and it's been that way for the past year and a half. They are my #1 candidates unfortunately. Spain right behind them.
 
Chuny said:
England is finally looking serious as a team after, what? 16 years?.
If they do perform fairly well in this WC, I think the 2022 WC could be the one for England.

Right now Brasil are unbeatable, and it's been that way for the past year and a half. They are my #1 candidates unfortunately. Spain right behind them.
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Errr, check out the weather in Qatar, even in Novermber, and you may rethink that, given that most players will be omelettes on the pitch surface by half time. :SHOCK::SHOCK::SHOCK:
 
Absolutely ridiculous venue for the world cup and yet another tradition being undermined.

We have some really promising young players but (and I hope I am very wrong) excuse me a minute for being pessimistic about our chances as we have been down this road a lot of times. I honestly believe our players get hyped ridiculously because they look good at club level surrounded by top quality foreign play makers. Who wouldn't look good in a side where you have De Bruyne and Silva putting the ball on a plate for you. You only have to look at the Nigeria game to see that despite 20 odd goals this season Sterling is more often than not a poor finisher. I think when it's all instinctive he is at his best but the minute he has to think about it he seems to be indecisive and doesn't have a clue what to do. Stones likewise, for me he is a mistake waiting to happen every single game he plays and playing out from the back like Southgate wants is a recipe for disaster.

All in all I do think this is the best squad we've had in a while and who knows if we get to the knockout stages it's all on the day, but I also think we'll be undone by the better teams when it matters.

It's hard to look past the usual suspects like Brazil, Spain and despite looking iffy, Germany, who always perform in tournaments. Player for player Belgium have to be up there too but they are yet to prove they are a great 'team'.

I think we should apply to FIFA to see if we can borrow Sane, Fabregas and Alonso seeing as they play in the English Premier and their countries don't appear to need them. They'd all get in our team, let alone squad!
 
mattmid said:
Absolutely ridiculous venue for the world cup and yet another tradition being undermined.

We have some really promising young players but (and I hope I am very wrong) excuse me a minute for being pessimistic about our chances as we have been down this road a lot of times. I honestly believe our players get hyped ridiculously because they look good at club level surrounded by top quality foreign play makers. Who wouldn't look good in a side where you have De Bruyne and Silva putting the ball on a plate for you. You only have to look at the Nigeria game to see that despite 20 odd goals this season Sterling is more often than not a poor finisher. I think when it's all instinctive he is at his best but the minute he has to think about it he seems to be indecisive and doesn't have a clue what to do. Stones likewise, for me he is a mistake waiting to happen every single game he plays and playing out from the back like Southgate wants is a recipe for disaster.

All in all I do think this is the best squad we've had in a while and who knows if we get to the knockout stages it's all on the day, but I also think we'll be undone by the better teams when it matters.

It's hard to look past the usual suspects like Brazil, Spain and despite looking iffy, Germany, who always perform in tournaments. Player for player Belgium have to be up there too but they are yet to prove they are a great 'team'.

I think we should apply to FIFA to see if we can borrow Sane, Fabregas and Alonso seeing as they play in the English Premier and their countries don't appear to need them. They'd all get in our team, let alone squad!
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@mattmid . send the FIFA boys club a bung for each one, and they will have an English passport the next day. :!
 
How about we share our predictions for each WC matchday?

I'll go first:
Matchday 1 - Russia 1-1 Saudi Arabia
 
FIFA are like a swarm of locusts really. They force every World Cup bidder to agree to spend tens of billions on stadiums of 40,000 to 80,000 capacity, that will only be used for a month and then they arrive in town and take all the operating revenue for the event and then fly off to another victim.

:R1:R1:R1:R1:R1:R1
 
I once read a great book by David Yallop called How They Stole The Game. Highly reccommend it, you'll find it on amazon. Eye opening to say the least, it was written in 1999 and is largely about FIFA and then president Joao Havelange (the one before Blatter, who was his understudy at the time and gets lots of mentions too) and the corruption, even down to which sponsors get official approval and so on.

If you think how long it was from then until all the stuff hit the papers years later it makes you wonder how it didn't come out before.
 
mattmid said:
I once read a great book by David Yallop called How They Stole The Game. Highly reccommend it, you'll find it on amazon. Eye opening to say the least, it was written in 1999 and is largely about FIFA and then president Joao Havelange (the one before Blatter, who was his understudy at the time and gets lots of mentions too) and the corruption, even down to which sponsors get official approval and so on.

If you think how long it was from then until all the stuff hit the papers years later it makes you wonder how it didn't come out before.
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Yep, read it, fantastic investigative journalism. Expanding football to more countries and increasing the size of the World Cup all oils the gears of kickbacks and bribes.

Infantino is no better than his predecessors. :SHAKE::SHAKE::SHAKE:
 
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