2022 World Cup

[Frayed Knot]

I liked Red Smith's comment better: I'd give you the final score of today's soccer game ... but there wasn't one.


Current standings in the group
England - 4 pts
Iran - 3
USA - 2
Wales - 1

So it's win vs Iran and they're moving ahead to the knockout round, but another draw or a loss and they're not.
England and Iran both will move ahead with a win OR a draw.
Wales needs a win by multiple goals (like 6 or 7) vs their eastern border neighbor.

[kcmets]

Another boring game. I was with some guys that were on the edge of
their sofa-seats throughout. Once I yelled, "Shoot the puck, Barry!" One
guy got it, the rest looked at me like it was time for my meds.

I mean, geez. Iran? How are they even in this tournament?

Send in the drones.

[Fman99]

A two hour scoreless game that ends. So great. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go jerk off but not to completion.

[kcmets]

Kick the ball lower, not five feet over the goal.

Rinse. Repeat.

[Frayed Knot]

Not sure who the color guy for the U.S. games is; Stu something-er-other who I assume is a former player.
But, unlike most televised sporting events, these games don't show the announcers every few minutes (or at all) so all I can do
is hear his voice and, while he sounds knowledgable about the sport and all, to my ears he also sounds exactly like former tennis
star and current sports media voice Mary Carillo. I know it's NOT Mary Carillo but without the visual I have to keep reminding
myself that it's not. Not sure if I'm insulting Carillo or this guy more by conflating the two, but I can't help it.


The French sounding trio of Hernandez, Greizmann, and Mbappe pulled out a win over Denmark earlier today.
The Danish goalie looks like he was recruited directly off a Viking ship ... or maybe like Syndergaard's cousin.
And then Messi broke a scoreless draw late to save Argentina's tournament (and his own skin?) in their 2 - 0
win over Mexico.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

We win -- 1-0!

[A Boy Named Seo]

hoooleeeeee shiiiiit that was a nervy match. Pulisic scores and gets hurt. Sargent gets hurt and has to leave. But somehow the US scraped past. On to face the Dutch *gulp*.

[MFS62]

hoooleeeeee shiiiiit that was a nervy match. Pulisic scores and gets hurt. Sargent gets hurt and has to leave. But somehow the US scraped past. On to face the Dutch *gulp*.

Are those soccer injuries (looking for a yellow card)or real injuries that are serious enough to keep them out of the next match ?

Later

[Edgy MD]

I hate the offsides rule, but Dest sure looked offsides on the setup.

[MFS62]

I hate the offsides rule, but Dest sure looked offsides on the setup.

Close call. From the replay, it looked like he was ok when the ball was kicked but beyond the defense when he touched it.
Don't know much about soccer rules to know if that is ok.

Later

[A Boy Named Seo]

I hate the offsides rule, but Dest sure looked offsides on the setup.

Close call. From the replay, it looked like he was ok when the ball was kicked but beyond the defense when he touched it.
Don't know much about soccer rules to know if that is ok.

Later

That's how the rule works. Ok when the ball is kicked = OK.

It was really close. The VAR interpretations with elbows dangling over imaginary lines make it all the more difficult to call (and IMO not in the spirit of the offside rule).

I hate the offsides rule, but Dest sure looked offsides on the setup.

I would've loved a replay of the Weah goal called back right before the half. That looked super close, too.

[A Boy Named Seo]

hoooleeeeee shiiiiit that was a nervy match. Pulisic scores and gets hurt. Sargent gets hurt and has to leave. But somehow the US scraped past. On to face the Dutch *gulp*.

Are those soccer injuries (looking for a yellow card)or real injuries that are serious enough to keep them out of the next match ?

Later

Pulisic said from the hospital after the match that he'll be good to go on Saturday, but who the hell knows. Most times when players embellish to draw a foul, they don't leave the game.

[MFS62]

Pulisic said from the hospital after the match that he'll be good to go on Saturday, but who the hell knows. Most times when players embellish to draw a foul, they don't leave the game.

It was a rib cage/ abdominal injury and those can be tricky.
I hope he makes it.
Thanks for the rule clarification.
Later

[kcmets]

Lotta time off to have to wait until Saturday.

[Frayed Knot]

[just finished watching via DVR]Yeah, that was entirely too exciting[/whew!]

On the offsides rule, and having nothing to do with this game specifically:
While I'm not one of those Americans who think soccer would be a better watch if a typical game were more like 8 - 7*, I've long thought the best way to 'open up' the
game a wee bit would be a slight liberalization of the offsides rule. In hockey the offensive player is considered Onsides if any part of him is on the correct side of
the line while soccer goes to the far extreme where it seems that if the left toenail is Offsides then the play is whistled dead (it may not be quite that drastic but it's
close ... and, yes, I realize that one is a physical line vs a moving one so not a perfect analogy here.
Not sure how the wording of the rule actually reads but, jeez, when a player is leaning ahead of the defenseman or even just has an elbow sticking out it gives the impression
that the lords of the game are trying their best to intentionally stifle scoring chances at every possible opportunity. 'When in doubt blow the whistle' doesn't make for a very
good marketing slogan.






* I once examined the EPL standings table a few years back and added up the total goals scored at that point of the season.
By chance there happened to have been exactly 100 league games played to that point so it made the math easy, and the total goals came in at just a hair under 300
which was a big enough sample size to say that they were averaging three combined goals per game. Personally, I'd be happy to see that number creep up a bit closer
to, say, five (iow, a typical game would be more like 3 - 2 rather than 2 - 1) which I think would benefit the game while still retaining the importance that each actual
score represents and do so without fundamentally changing the game.

[A Boy Named Seo]

[just finished watching via DVR]Yeah, that was entirely too exciting[/whew!]

On the offsides rule, and having nothing to do with this game specifically:
While I'm not one of those Americans who think soccer would be a better watch if a typical game were more like 8 - 7*, I've long thought the best way to 'open up' the
game a wee bit would be a slight liberalization of the offsides rule. In hockey the offensive player is considered Onsides if any part of him is on the correct side of
the line while soccer goes to the far extreme where it seems that if the left toenail is Offsides then the play is whistled dead (it may not be quite that drastic but it's
close ... and, yes, I realize that one is a physical line vs a moving one so not a perfect analogy here.
Not sure how the wording of the rule actually reads but, jeez, when a player is leaning ahead of the defenseman or even just has an elbow sticking out it gives the impression
that the lords of the game are trying their best to intentionally stifle scoring chances at every possible opportunity. 'When in doubt blow the whistle' doesn't make for a very
good marketing slogan.






* I once examined the EPL standings table a few years back and added up the total goals scored at that point of the season.
By chance there happened to have been exactly 100 league games played to that point so it made the math easy, and the total goals came in at just a hair under 300
which was a big enough sample size to say that they were averaging three combined goals per game. Personally, I'd be happy to see that number creep up a bit closer
to, say, five (iow, a typical game would be more like 3 - 2 rather than 2 - 1) which I think would benefit the game while still retaining the importance that each actual
score represents and do so without fundamentally changing the game.

If GKR were calling futbol, the VAR interpretations for offside would drive them fucking nuts. An interpretation of offside that's more in line with what officials really tried to enforce before VAR would be great. That said, I watch a ton of the game and don't think people are calling offside more now and don't think the game necessarily needs any 'opening up'.

[MFS62]

'When in doubt blow the whistle' doesn't make for a very
good marketing slogan.

WOW! That gave me a flashback. The first time I saw my daughter play field hockey, I told her it looked like there was only one rule in that game- when it looks like a team will score, blow the whistle and go the other way.
I agree with you. Low scoring has been one reason Americans have given for not loving soccer as much as the rest of the world. If relaxing the off sides rule would increase scoring, I wonder if the US soccer league might experiment with it for some games to determine if it would really help.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

I don't necessarily think that offsides is being called more often in the VAR era either. But I have long thought that the sport leans somewhat too much in the direction of 'when in doubt, blow it dead' school of thinking.

[Edgy MD]

The NASL did experiment with the offsides rule, not enforcing the rule unless the offense had advanced the ball past the equivalent of the 35-yard-line, rather than mid-field as is the international standard. It was a long time ago.

FIFA pointedly refused the league membership in their federation until they brought the rule back in line with everybody else.

I think offsides rules are silly in in futbol and silly in hockey. If a guy wants to goal-hang, let him goal-hang. If that makes him a selfish gloryboy, then let him show himself as such.

It's just so much exercise in policing nuances in positioning. I feel the same way, clearly, about the shift in baseball. The solution is take advantage of the extreme positioning and counterattack, not to to point to the referees and complain about where the guy is standing, while viewers watch 20 angles to determine to the inch whether the man was standing in legal space or illegal space.

While I'm at it, I might as well argue for the tossing of basketball's three-second rule, too. I'm not sure that's a very good idea, but I'm not letting a little foolish consistency stop me.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Edgy 4 Commish of all the sports balls

[Edgy MD]

As long as I can just decree stuff and I get a staff to do the real work.

Check out the USMNT members consoling the heartbroken Iranian team. "Sensitive content," indeed.

[metirish]

Amazing drama again today, Uruguay I'm sure didn't think South Korea would beat Portugal, they did, and now Uruguay even though they beat Ghana are out, incredible

[Centerfield]

Every other Korean: woohoo!!!!!! GO NUTS!!!!

Me: What happened? Did we sign deGrom?

[MFS62]

Every other Korean: woohoo!!!!!! GO NUTS!!!!

Me: What happened? Did we sign deGrom?

That was funny. :)

Later

[metirish]

Let's go USA

I absolutely can't stand FOX , their coverage is awful, so much so that I've been watching the games on Telemundo channel or through Peacock app