The Official 2018 FIFA World Cup Thread

#376
#376
mad4vols said:
Monday's Matches

Uruguay vs Russia 10 AM FOX
Saudi Arabia vs Egypt 10 AM FS1
Iran vs Portugal 2:00 PM FOX
Spain vs Morocco 2:00 PM FS1
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Portugal Spain, the other two games I have no real interest in who wins but will watch for a good game
 
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#381
#381
Panama commentators reaction off air while they listen to the Panama anthem being played at the World Cup for the first time ever.
Wow, you see how much it means.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iOxpwX3Xtg[/youtube]
 
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#382
#382
Third times a charm for Cavani, he had 2 early opportunities and couldn’t untangle his feet. However the third chance he got he took advantage

3-0 Uruguay
 
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#387
#387
NorCalVol67 said:
The Tunisia goal aside, has anyone looked better than Belgium? I know they haven't played the best competition, but they look so well organized.
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They're basically an EPL all-star team. You can't be too hard on them because they are such a small country, but given their talent level you can say they've underachieved the last few years. A totally mediocre US team very easily could have beaten them in 2014 in the first knockout game.

They've had a couple of "golden ages" where they happen to have a group of great players peaking all at the game time - one in the 80s to early 90s and a current one that started in about 2010 - but very little success outside of those periods. They were even #1 in the world at one point in 2015.

They might have more raw athletic talent than any other team in the tournament, including Germany or Brazil, and have elite talent at every position. There isn't a single position group you look at and say "yeah, they're kinda vulnerable there."
 
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#388
#388
05_never_again said:
They're basically an EPL all-star team. You can't be too hard on them because they are such a small country, but given their talent level you can say they've underachieved the last few years. A totally mediocre US team very easily could have beaten them in 2014 in the first knockout game.

They've had a couple of "golden ages" where they happen to have a group of great players peaking all at the game time - one in the 80s to early 90s and a current one that started in about 2010 - but very little success outside of those periods. They were even #1 in the world at one point in 2015.

They might have more raw athletic talent than any other team in the tournament, including Germany or Brazil, and have elite talent at every position. There isn't a single position group you look at and say "yeah, they're kinda vulnerable there."
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If I had to pick a vulernability I would pick defense. They only play 3 at the back and their midfielders are not defensive minded. A quality team shouldn’t have a problem scoring on them.
 
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#389
#389
Persian Vol said:
If I had to pick a vulernability I would pick defense. They only play 3 at the back and their midfielders are not defensive minded. A quality team shouldn’t have a problem scoring on them.
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They are certainly offensive-minded, but their defenders and GK are solid. It seems like if they wanted/needed to they could play 4 defenders (Alderweireld, Vermaelen, Kompany, Vertonghen), but maybe not - maybe the individual skillsets of those guys aren't well suited for 2 central defenders and 2 on the outside. Seems like Vermaelen and Kompany could play interior and the other 2 on the outside.
 
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#400
#400
n_huffhines said:
Was group B considered GoD?
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It seems like there wasn't as much talk about a GoD this WC, but hard to argue that it isn't Group B. Groups F and G are pretty solid too.

Lots of times a GoD has 2 really great teams and then a solid 3rd team, meaning a team with at least some sort of expectation of advancement is going to be eliminated before the knockout round. Like Group G in 2014; we knew going in that either Germany, Portugal, or the United States weren't going to make it out of the group stage.

If you have 2 really good teams and 2 mediocre/scrub teams, the 2 great teams can both still make it.
 
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