Official 2018 World Cup/Soccer/Futbol Thread

[wootah]

well, mbappe is the breakout star of this cup, he dominated today

Breakout star? If you don't know the qualities of Mbappé you haven't really been paying attention, Red. Helped Monaco get the French title when he was 17-18, got transferred to PSG for €175mil afterwards, which is the 2nd highest transfer fee OF ALL TIME Still only 19 right now. With his blistering speed and dribbles, he reminds me of Ronaldo. The real ronaldo, obviously.

[Joemailman]

I think maybe Red meant the public perception. Casual fans of the sport know who Messi and Ronaldo and a few other superstars are may not have seen Mbappe before. They'll know now.

[red]

yup, to the eyes of the casual fans

i play fifa, i know who mbappe is

just like james rodriguez was the breakout star of the last one

[red]

Breakout star? If you don't know the qualities of Mbappé you haven't really been paying attention, Red. Helped Monaco get the French title when he was 17-18, got transferred to PSG for €175mil afterwards, which is the 2nd highest transfer fee OF ALL TIME Still only 19 right now. With his blistering speed and dribbles, he reminds me of Ronaldo. The real ronaldo, obviously.

i'm glad you mentioned the real ronaldo. my favorite player of all time

[Joemailman]

Them darn Russkies are well coached. Not much star power, but they've stuck to a plan so far.

[red]

Them darn Russkies are well coached. Not much star power, but they've stuck to a plan so far.

suffocating defense

[red]

fuck neymar

guy barely steps on his ankle, and he acts like he just got shot in the foot

FIFA needs to start red carding guys that flop and act like that. get it out of the game, its the main thing i can't stand

and of course afting rolling around on the ground screaming in pain for 5 minutes, they just spray some magic spray ON HIS SOCK and he gets up and is just fine

and within a couple minutes neymar gets "shot" again. what a disgrace for what of the top players in a sport to act like such a little pussy

i use to not be able to watch any games with Steven Pienaar in them, cause that guy was just a flop machine. neymar might be worse

[wootah]

Fuck, this game was too close. Extatic during that last counter attack as soon as de bruyne crossed the middle of the pitch. If you have the chance, look at the sprint chadli makes from his own penalty area to cross the field: impressive!

Fully agree with you, Red. Neymar represents the best and the worst in the game.

[Joemailman]

fuck neymar

guy barely steps on his ankle, and he acts like he just got shot in the foot

FIFA needs to start red carding guys that flop and act like that. get it out of the game, its the main thing i can't stand

and of course afting rolling around on the ground screaming in pain for 5 minutes, they just spray some magic spray ON HIS SOCK and he gets up and is just fine

and within a couple minutes neymar gets "shot" again. what a disgrace for what of the top players in a sport to act like such a little pussy

i use to not be able to watch any games with Steven Pienaar in them, cause that guy was just a flop machine. neymar might be worse

NHL used to have this problem until they started penalizing players for "Embellishment". Otherwise known as taking a dive. FIFA should consider it. I don't know if it should be a red card though, unless you use replay to make sure official got the call right.
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[Joemailman]

Quarterfinal games on the left side of the bracket should be great.

[red]

that late game today was damn good, i was just waiting for all that talent from belgium to explode

[wootah]

Nice view on the last goal/counter attack:

https://streamable.com/ox2iz

I just hope Belgium doesn't make the same mistake they did 4 years ago against Argentina: sit back, take no risks, put the focus on the opponent not scoring any goals, only to be eliminated with a dull 1-0. For the size of our country vs the amount of talented players, they have a once in a lifetime chance to actually go for it and stand a chance. I hope they just go for it.

NHL used to have this problem until they started penalizing players for "Embellishment". Otherwise known as taking a dive. FIFA should consider it. I don't know if it should be a red card though, unless you use replay to make sure official got the call right.

A dive is a yellow card according to the current rulebook, but I see this more as a football culture problem. Simulating injuries, pretending to get hit in the head when someone touches your ankle, trying to milk the clock, these are all things that need to be kicked out: I think the VAR is a first step in that direction, but it should be combined with a fixed playing time/a stopped clock and possible in-game time punishments for players who do not follow the fair play rules.

[Joemailman]

Cavani likely out for Friday's match vs. France.

[red]

belgium owning brazil right now

[wootah]

Insanity