rgk_lfc

You cant rate a team just based on talent. This Argentina team had the intangible, grit, the desire to get over the line which is unquantifiable. Dropping a two goal lead in the 80th minute, then regrouping taking the lead, losing that lead again. Then having the clarity of mind to win it in the penalties - that mentality is immense. Also not easy winning the Copa America in Brazil in 2021. Not a lot of teams have managed to win the continental championship and the world cup in a few years time span.

Will be interesting to see where his managerial career goes from here.

Please PM me the lottery numbers.

Will Alvarez be ok being the second striker at City after this tournament. He will probably be the main striker in most of Europe's top clubs

10/10 for Scaloni for that first half. Excellent team selection. Inspired move to start De Maria after giving him limited play time throughout the tournament. Tactics, formation spot on. Completely blunted the French midfield and attack. No space for Griezmann to operate. Great tactician.

There is different degrees of poor. Van Dijk and Robbo have been below their usual standards. Fabinho has been really poor. Thiago and Henderson have been carrying him when fit the last few months.

Fabinho has been poor for us the last six months or so. Either this is a temporary loss in form which has now start to go one for some time or the beginning of a physical decline. If it is the latter, you might need another CM to partner Bruno in the next world cup.

Reports that a big part of the 25 million in add ons will be triggered if a high bar like Balon d'or is reached. Anyways, Madrid seem confident with their Brazilian youth scouting. Vini Jr, Rodrygo are big success stories for them. Reinier Jesus - still up in the air. We will see if Endrick is worth the wait.

France's second goal showcased the teams outstanding technical ability, by the way. Tchouameni's pass excellent pass to some player (dont remember who) who drove forward passed to Mbappe who played a clever pass to Thuram who took on defenders, passed to Mbappe who took on like three defenders and passed. Mbappe got a lucky break from the deflection on the assist but that entire sequence was excellent football under pressure from defenders. Deschamps deserves credit for deploying Griezmann in the Pogba role. Griezmann has been brilliant in that role linking midfield to attack, driving the ball forward, taking the ball to the wings and providing dangerous crosses.

His performance in the PL is going under the radar a bit. He has been our best defender since he joined whenever he plays. Has pace, comfortable on the ball, can handle the PL physicality. Overall a quality signing for us.

Upamecano and Hernandez had to resort to physical challenges to handle Saka and Mount. Now imagine Messi driving at them. I also don't think the French defense has had to handle a dual threat like Messi and Alvarez in the penalty box yet. Argentinian midfield will more than match the French midfield. Of course, Mbappe and Griezmann against the Argentinian defense is another intriguing battle. But I expect Scaloni to find a solution for that as he has at every challenge thrown at him since the first game.

Morocco winning the world cup would move the game forward by two decades in the next five years in Africa and Asia. It would potentially have claim to be one of the most important moment in football history. A moment which would completely transcend sports. One of the negative impacts of colonialism which is not talked about is how it slowly degrades the sense of self worth of the colonized nations. Every aspect of life - infrastructure, trains, hospitals, schools, local administrative governance are so dependent on the colonial master's system that it sort of drains the confidence of the society to accomplish something on their own. Lot of Indians my dads age point to Kapil Dev's team winning the 1983 world cup as an important moment in their life. Not just the joy, but the shot of confidence that team gave them that they could also compete on the world stage in their field. It created a new generation of Indians who now thought anything was possible. With all due respects to the respective posters, I don't think they even begin to realize the significance of Morocco winning the world cup by comparing it to Leicester winning the premier league and Greece winning the Euros. They were all great and lovely sporting moments. But Morocco winning the world cup would be a seismic event, sending shockwaves through the societies of Asia and Africa, the reverberations of which will be felt for decades.

The issue with him is slightly more serious. I don't think he is moving to any club any time soon.

Argentina always had great strikers but Alvarez complements Messi much better than Crespo, Tevez, Higuain, or Aguero. Credit to Scaloni for putting this system together.

Most probably not. Might explain why Man United have not shown a lot of interest in Bellingham.

Looks like Rice is on the move too. From England's perspective, I hope Bellingham and Rice end up in the same club. Bellingham and Rice getting used to playing together coached by one of Howe, Klopp, Ten Hag, Pep, Potter (if he lasts), Conte will be very good for England in the Euros.

Ok fine, you win. Kobe was a bad example. I am sure through the annals of sports there will be plenty of examples of players who showed overwhelming desire to win but a modicum of grace when they were disappointed or stepping away. The original point still stands. One can admire Ronaldo for his footballing prowess, commitment to fitness, craft and laugh at him and make fun of him at his lack of grace when he loses.

That is precisely the point. They were huge egos, bullies even, but when they stepped away, did it more graciously. I understand the pain of dream being broken. But whatever be the case, however big your ego is, you can show a basic level of grace. One can admire his absolute desire to win and at the same time criticize him for being a twat for the way he behaves when he loses. You talk as if they are mutually exclusive emotions.

I don't think anyone is denying what a great player he was. But when you are dislikable, people do tend to laugh at you when you are down. Michael Owen, Suarez being other examples. I find the "his ego is what propelled him to greatness and caused him to walk away at the end of the game" excuse also weird. Plenty of great players had a not so perfect end to their career - Tendulkar, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan at the Wizards. In the end, they did step of the court gracefully. Morocco reaching the semi finals was an epic achievement. He could have stayed back congratulated all of them and then thanked the fans and left. Instead he tried to make the moment about him. I wouldn't be surprised if the camera guy following him down the tunnel was orchestrated by his PR team as a weird way to generate sympathy.

He was an explosive dribbler when he broke out at Man United. When he transitioned to a fantastic goal scorer during the later stages of his Man United career he cut down on his dribbling. Made him less exciting but far more effective.

Not saying that. But FIFA could ensure from quarter finals onwards, avoid referees from the eight countries still in the competition. It should be reasonably easy to implement.

I see that several of the Portugal players have complained about cup being handed to Argentina. Definitely they are being salty and not a good sport, but there is an underlying point there. Atleast from the quarter finals onwards, cant we have referees from countries with no stake left in the world cup. Avoid referees from the eight countries playing the quarter final. I did find it weird that Michael Oliver was refereeing the Brazil Croatia game with England playing the next day. Then we have a Brazilian referee in charge of the England game. I am not saying the Brazil result influenced todays referee but why even take the chance?