FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Group Stage

[Shaazzam]

No one picked their nose better than Low.

[CalamityX12]

From what I've seen, I will say the Saudis and Japanese played with a lot of energy and looked really athletic. While Argentina and Germany looked very lethargic to me.

So maybe the quick pace threw them off?

I feel lot of these 5 star teams are used to the other team showing them a lot of respect, which slows down the game. But in these upsets, Japan and Saudi Arabia did not give a fvk. They went at them hard and played their hearts out.

as they should....

this cup does not have an unbeatable side at all.. even 2 of my 3 favorites aren't unbeatable....

Uruguay will win the cup!

[CalamityX12]

Japan has always been a very skilled team, imo. So while an upset, I don't think it's THAT big of an upset. I have to give them the respect they deserve. They are fully capable of getting these kind of results.

Now with these next two games, if Spain and Belgium don't win.... that would be a HUGE upset.

Japan is a dangerous side to contend with.... always been a competitor and getting better by the cycle....

lets not forget the dramatic finish vs Belgium last WC, instant classic!

[fbalmeida]

Watch on YouTube

[Dirk]

2040 World Cup

Joel Campbell and Bryan Ruiz will still be playing for Costa Rica.

[Hipster Doofus]

I absolutely love when a "5 Star" team gets humbled lol.

I'm Albanian, and when I watch Albania play a team like Italy/England/Germany etc, they never press. They play scared. They show too much respect. And bunker like hell just hoping for a draw.

So it's nice to see the underdogs go at another team hard on the world's stage. And play for the W.

You only live once!

Ueeee, me se fundi pash nje tjeter shqiptar ne RealGm

[Mamba81p]

What is it with all these damn upsets.

Teams didn't have time to prepare. Usually there is a 3 week gap in which they can train together and play some friendly games. Now they had less than a week. Something similar happened in 2002, but then they at least had 2 weeks. I expect more of this in the group stage.

Basically they had no preseason.

[Foye]

To the Germans posting in the forum, do you think the problem lies with Hansi Flick? Do you think Joachim Low was a better manager for you guys? Or do you think it’s on the players?

Flick is the least of the problems.

Loss was all individual mistakes. Nothing you could fix with better tactics. I hope he adjusts and changes the defense for the next game, though. Especially Süle has no business playing RB.

German team has 3 major flaws:

1) Defenders not good besides Rüdiger
2) The defensive midfield is everywhere but not actually on defense and in duels when they are supposed to - Kimmich and Goretzka —> Big reason why Bayern has struggled to come far in UCL in recent years. It‘s a lack of discipline there.
3) No consistent goalscorer.


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[G R E Y]

"Another One Bites the Dust" looks to be the theme song for this World Cup. Would it be played?

[Stannis]

I absolutely love when a "5 Star" team gets humbled lol.

I'm Albanian, and when I watch Albania play a team like Italy/England/Germany etc, they never press. They play scared. They show too much respect. And bunker like hell just hoping for a draw.

So it's nice to see the underdogs go at another team hard on the world's stage. And play for the W.

You only live once!

Ueeee, me se fundi pash nje tjeter shqiptar ne RealGm

There's quite a few of us here

There's a couple on the Knicks board.

I made this thread a long time ago:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1216668&hilit=albania&start=40

And there was some people that were Albanian that I never knew were.

[Hipster Doofus]

Quality of players and teams around the world has increased, and the results are starting to show. A lot of these guys from "these other teams" play in good leagues.

One thing I've noticed is that the Arab teams are playing well. Maybe because the tournament is being held in Qatar, I don't know. It's like they're playing with a certain pride.

Remove Iran from the equation, and you have Saudi Arabia yesterday beating Argentina, Tunisia holding off Denmark in a draw, and Morocco doing the same to Croatia (world cup runners up).

[Blame Rasho]

Unai Simón; Azpilicueta, Rodrigo, Laporte, Jordi Alba; Gavi, Busquets, Pedri; Ferran Torres, Asensio y Dani Olmo.

Spain, like Germany, has various 'average' players. It's strange how fast their quality dropped.

Alba and Busquets are semi-retired Barcelona players and Torres and Asensio are bench warmers. And more.

Oh and off topic… why would you leave and cheat on Shakira? Spain deserve to lose just because of that. How can you let teammate do that?

[Foye]

To the Germans posting in the forum, do you think the problem lies with Hansi Flick? Do you think Joachim Low was a better manager for you guys? Or do you think it’s on the players?

Flick is the least of the problems.

Loss was all individual mistakes. Nothing you could fix with better tactics. I hope he adjusts and changes the defense for the next game, though. Especially Süle has no business playing RB.

German team has 3 major flaws:

1) Defenders not good besides Rüdiger
2) The defensive midfield is everywhere but not actually on defense and in duels when they are supposed to - Kimmich and Goretzka —> Big reason why Bayern has struggled to come far in UCL in recent years. It‘s a lack of discipline there.
3) No consistent goalscorer.


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The same could probably be said about this Spain team, too, btw.


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[Shaazzam]

that was pretty from spain
dayum

[Blame Rasho]

Quality of players and teams around the world has increased, and the results are starting to show. A lot of these guys from "these other teams" play in good leagues.

One thing I've noticed is that the Arab teams are playing well. Maybe because the tournament is being held in Qatar, I don't know. It's like they're playing with a certain pride.

Remove Iran from the equation, and you have Saudi Arabia yesterday beating Argentina, Tunisia holding off Denmark in a draw, and Morocco doing the same to Croatia (world cup runners up).

I think it was mentioned that the Saudi team had 8 players that played on the same domestic team. Continuity is underrated. You can be more talented but if you don’t play together enough it might not be enough. In 2014, Germany won because most of them played together in the same team in the same league.

[LDNMagic90]

12 mins in and Spain are looking good to be fair.

[LDNMagic90]

On paper do Spain have the best midfield in the competition?

[fbalmeida]

Read on Twitter

Mexican children reacting to Ochoa stopping Lewandowski's penalty.

Read on Twitter

Tears of joy.

This sport.

[Evenacus]

Damn, I hoped that Costa Rica would be able to resist a bit more but there is still plenty of time left.

Can't wait for the memes of Ruddiger running and smiling on that one time when he closed down that Japanese striker 5 minutes or so before the goal.

[LDNMagic90]

Another good goal for Spain, these guys look locked in for this competition.