World Cup 2018 - Rossiya

[Darkness_Fish]

Good point!

[KeithPratt]

Missed the entire match as it was my son's birthday party.

England look deadly at set pieces. The way VAR is going, it's going to be a case of just how quickly defenders can shed old habits at corners and free kicks, because some of them simply haven't read the brief.

[Jimbo]

Japan just tied with Senegal 2-2.

[Geezee]

Japan just tied with Senegal 2-2.

Fact.

[KeithPratt]

Could do with Poland drawing with Colombia. I'm sure England will favour either Japan or Senegal, but in truth none of the sides in that look at all comfortable defending.

[Jimbo]

Japan just tied with Senegal 2-2.

Fact.

Another fact is that it's the first soccer game I ever watched from start to finish.

[Penk!]

Poland on their way home then. Some people seemed to be tipping them to do well but they’re old and crap.

They’re ranked number 10 in the world bizarrely.

[KeithPratt]

I can't see Senegal holding out for a draw. Japan I imagine will draw too.

[Diamond Dog]

Well that was fun, wasn't it?!

Let's not get carried away but this team is coming together nicely.... some cracking goals (Stones' brilliant header, both penalties from Kane and Lingard's rocket) must have raised eyebrows around the world. There's still lots to work on (sorry, I just cannot see how Young continues to get picked in front of Rose or Delph, Henderson was wasteful yesterday too) but Southgate isn't a manager to go with popular opinion - he'll continue to pick the team the way he thinks it ill operate best, and so he should.

By the way, all this nonsense about whether we want to finish top or second is just that -nonsense. Try to win the game Thursday to keep the momentum going, it's as simple as that.

[Rayge]

double post

[Rayge]

Southgate was quite clever in making sure the Spurs quotant didn't run too high.

And got the Gooner 'quotant' exactly right. As did Low

[Diamond Dog]

Nice double post there.

[Penk!]

The dark side is coming out now: Xhaka and Shaqiri facing bans for their political gestures in the game against Serbia, Germany ”under investigation” for their behaviour after the Sweden game.

And back in Sweden Jimmy Durmaz, who gave away that late free-kick, has released a video statement backed by the rest of the squad after suffering racial abuse and threats to him and his family on social media.

[Geezee]

And back in Sweden Jimmy Durmaz, who gave away that late free-kick, has released a video statement backed by the rest of the squad after suffering racial abuse and threats to him and his family on social media.

As a Swede, I find it utterly embarrassing that it comes to this.

[Geezee]

The dark side is coming out now: Xhaka and Shaqiri facing bans for their political gestures in the game against Serbia, Germany ”under investigation” for their behaviour after the Sweden game.

And back in Sweden Jimmy Durmaz, who gave away that late free-kick, has released a video statement backed by the rest of the squad after suffering racial abuse and threats to him and his family on social media.

In general, it seems to have been a remarkably calm tournament so far otherwise - the fears of hooliganism/racism and the like fortunately doesn't seem to have reared their heads yet. I was also expecting some potential protests over Russia's LBGTQ laws as there have been at other events.

Seems a bit strange that Shaqiri and Xhaka are in trouble, but Egypt being used as a propaganda tool for Chechnya is no problem - but it is a really fine and difficult line to draw.

[Penk!]

I expect there are police and security heavies all over the place to keep things in check and make sure there are no awkward incidents during Putin’s big showcase.

FIFA have always been inconsistent and hypocritcal about political things. I don’t know enough about the Albania-Serbia-Kosovo situation to comment on how offensive/right-on/provocative the players’ gesture was but I do always wonder whether the platform is the appropriate one. Sure it’s not as offensive as Nicklas Bendtner’s pants of course.

[The Modernist]

Southgate was quite clever in makin! sure the Spurs quotant didn't run too high.

And got the Gooner 'quotant' exactly right. As did Low

I watched the game with a Spurs mate. At half time I said to him "if only we'd taken Jack, we'd be winning this 10-0". He didn't agree!

[Diamond Dog]

I expect there are police and security heavies all over the place to keep things in check

Oddly from fans and press comments the policing has been remarkably low key, apparently.

I just think the idea of 30 years in the Gulag doesn't really appeal too much, comrade.

[Geezee]

I expect there are police and security heavies all over the place to keep things in check and make sure there are no awkward incidents during Putin’s big showcase.

FIFA have always been inconsistent and hypocritcal about political things. I don’t know enough about the Albania-Serbia-Kosovo situation to comment on how offensive/right-on/provocative the players’ gesture was but I do always wonder whether the platform is the appropriate one. Sure it’s not as offensive as Nicklas Bendtner’s pants of course.

It does seem they are pretty zero tolerance on personal protests (eg. Guardiola's Catalan protest, goal celebrations etc). God knows how they'd react if something similar to the NFL kneeling protest came to football. One thing which I learned quite recently is that FIFA apparently knew about the black bands on the goalposts in Argentina 1978, and tacitly went along with the "oh these are part of tradition" line that fooled the military junta. If that's true, it's quite a ballsy move - although of course yes you can argue that it should never have been awarded to them in the first place.

Either way, the sense that I get from friends of mine who are over in Rusisa right now is that the security isn't too heavy or heavy-handed. Seem pretty relaxed, most people having a good time, fan zones are bubbling etc. A bit of apprehension - but so was I when I went to a couple of games at Euro '16 in France.

[Rayge]

Fine article in the Guardian today by Jorge Valdano (ex-footballer in literary ability shocker!) about Argentina:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... i-football