2018 Football World Cup
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Quality match - feel for the Croats big time, what a stage to be on, but ultimately Big game players win big games.
Lots of parallels to the champions league final. Underdogs took it to them, but top class players had top class moments.
Fantastic World Cup
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@mikethesnow said in 2018 Football World Cup:
Are the 10 other English players that much better than their Welsh counterparts?
I don't think so.
Are you serious or taking the piss?
I’m no expert on Welsh football, so let’s say Kane and Bale cancel each other out.
Who are the 10 Welsh equivalents?
Genuinely interested!
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@majorrage I'll leave to @MiketheSnow to give you comparisons but Ramsey is better than any of the English midfielders. For a start, he can actually pass the ball!
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@majorrage said in 2018 Football World Cup:
@mikethesnow said in 2018 Football World Cup:
Are the 10 other English players that much better than their Welsh counterparts?
I don't think so.
Are you serious or taking the piss?
I’m no expert on Welsh football, so let’s say Kane and Bale cancel each other out.
Who are the 10 Welsh equivalents?
Genuinely interested!
Serious.
Wales and England were in the same group for Euro 2016.
England beat Wales 2-1 in the group stages, but Wales advanced to the knockout stages and England crashed out after losing to Iceland.
Wales beat Belgium 3-1 in the QF and lost to eventual winners Portugal in the SF.
Wales have a few marquee players like Bale, Ramsey, Joe Allen and Ashley Williams with the rest solid Premiership and Championship players who fly under the radar in comparison with the English rank & file because they're not playing for England.
Collectively England and Wales are quite evenly matched despite the enormous gulf in player numbers to select from.
England's run in this WC was very reminiscent of Wales' run in the Euros. Neither team expected to do much, both overachieving and reaching the SF stage.
And before you jump back and say one was Europe and the other the World, the class of opponent was very similar.
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@mikethesnow ok I’m not comparing tournament runs - im well aware if those and not going to devalue the euros.
Your claim was that Wales had 10 players as good as their English counterparts - not thst the team was as good.
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@majorrage said in 2018 Football World Cup:
@mikethesnow ok I’m not comparing tournament runs - im well aware if those and not going to devalue the euros.
Your claim was that Wales had 10 players as good as their English counterparts - not thst the team was as good.
Surely that's where England and other international and club sides have gone wrong in the past and not so recent past.
On paper if you compared this WC England '10' with the Euro 16 Wales '10' then the majority of English players would be ranked better, paid more and playing for better club sides than their Welsh counterparts.
But the game is played on grass not paper.
As recent results head to head have shown they're not significantly better as a team than Wales despite the above and the massive difference in talent pool from which to choose from.
I would argue that if you swapped Bale, Ramsey, Allen and Williams with their English counterparts then that revamped England side would thump Wales.
So some better, some the same, and some worse to give an overall picture of parity with either side able to beat each other on the day.
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Better post some thoughts before this is ancient history
As a lover of quizzes, this was a great final for potential quiz questions.
Scorer of a goal at both ends.
Score a goal and give away a handball penalty
VAR decision in a finalSlightly chaotic game which didn't really have a pattern. Croatia were excellent in the first half, bullied France off the ball and created most of the chances. To go in 2-1 down was a little cruel although at that point you still thought they could come back.
Pogba's goal was illuminated by his pass that set Mbappe away, it was a cracker. Mbappe's goal was a lot down to the excellent Hernandez.
Was Subasic still struggling with the injury he picked up in the quarter-final? The 3 goals that went to his right hand he didn't dive for and none of them looked beyond his reach, they weren't going into the corner.
France were deserved winners though, their combination of flair and pragmatism was just what is required to win a competition where you can't afford a bad day in the knockout stages. With most of the first team relatively young and with so much talent floating around in their 2nd, 3rd and 4th teams they could become a dynasty. And Deschamps deserves a lot of credit - it isn't easy to take a team with abundant talent and make them winners.
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@cyclops said in 2018 Football World Cup:
Modric winning the golden ball keeps the streak going for the eventual champions not having the best player. Six tournaments in a row now.
You sure? Didn't Cannavaro for e.g. win it in 2006. Let alone some Spaniard (probably Xavi?) in 2010, was it Ronaldinho in 2002 ?
Are you confusing golden boot with golden ball?
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@rapido said in 2018 Football World Cup:
@cyclops said in 2018 Football World Cup:
Modric winning the golden ball keeps the streak going for the eventual champions not having the best player. Six tournaments in a row now.
You sure? Didn't Cannavaro for e.g. win it in 2006. Let alone some Spaniard (probably Xavi?) in 2010, was it Ronaldinho in 2002 ?
Are you confusing golden boot with golden ball?
nah he's right, heaps of articles about it. Going backwards:
Messi-Forlan-Zidane-Kahn-Ronaldo
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@mariner4life said in 2018 Football World Cup:
@rapido said in 2018 Football World Cup:
@cyclops said in 2018 Football World Cup:
Modric winning the golden ball keeps the streak going for the eventual champions not having the best player. Six tournaments in a row now.
You sure? Didn't Cannavaro for e.g. win it in 2006. Let alone some Spaniard (probably Xavi?) in 2010, was it Ronaldinho in 2002 ?
Are you confusing golden boot with golden ball?
nah he's right, heaps of articles about it. Going backwards:
Messi-Forlan-Zidane-Kahn-Ronaldo
Wow, even Zidane in 98 didn't win it.
Although original Ronaldo was amazing in 98 until whatever the heck happened before the final.
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Its about to be made official, Heraf is not coming back from suspension
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12098283
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@virgil A lot.
I can't post it here but this guy is a crook and has no shame about it at all.
Seriously considering passing on some info to his erstwhile employers and / or press but also don't want to get dragged into the controversy that would ensue
