The Official Football/Soccer Thread: 2017-2018 Season
-
Warning: Kind of philosophical post, not exactly about football and what's the fuss about this if it's only football? it's not only football... let me tell you about it before the final match Spain ("Spain's pain")... has traditionally been a country of "losers", with a loser's attitude, and lack of confidence... Here, if someone is confident is often seen as vain, wrong, crazy... but in places like the USA being confident is something that people encourages each other to be. That has been slowly fading away lately... but the change it's not really done... Sometimes it's hard to tell who is a "winner", but in sports is very easy... and lately Spain has generated some "winners" (Indurain, Nadal, Contador, Alonso, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid in Europe, Gasol and the basketball's World Champions...) but somehow everyone knew that the attitude would be proven to be changed the day Spain would win the World Cup Never! said some... "we'll never pass quarterfinals"... in spite of all the talent of the team... it seems Spanish's old attitude always spoiled any talent they could have. But not now.... again we have the best players... the best XI and substitutes, why are we not gonna win?... Bad luck? "eternal bad luck"? then is not "luck" really... Well, they say the World Cup's winner country increases his GDP in 0.7 % because of that... and the loser of the final decreases a 0.3 % So it's even about money now, not just football.
-
Standings of "our world cup" before the last round 1 my team 531 (94 this round) 2 daniel's team 493 (75) 3 unclesox 428 (72) the thing is that the 3rd-4th place match can be a little crazy... so even with that 38 points anything can happen. I'm ranking in the top 1%, daniel's in the top 4% and unclesox in the top 16%
-
-
-
feact:
Paul the Octopus (I can't help of thinking in Paul and Ringo when I write that)... has done it again. Live in Spanish TVs . 3rd Germany and champion Spain. Paul needed only one minute to choose Spain. Well, he was wrong in one match in 2008, he's only human... well, he's only octopus... Well, I'm not the octopus but I think it will be the same match again. Netherlands defending in catenaccio style, and Spain scoring "I don't know how" and 1-0
-
I was saying today I have a feeling Spain will win it. I like Holland too, but I don't know...it seems to be Spain's time, perhaps.
-
21st Century Paul:
Paul the Octopus (I can't help of thinking in Paul and Ringo when I write that)... has done it again. Live in Spanish TVs . 3rd Germany and champion Spain. Paul needed only one minute to choose Spain. Well, he was wrong in one match in 2008, he's only human... well, he's only octopus...
Luckily for the Dutch he predicted the finals wrong last time Seriously, who on earth believes this story? I trust the Dutch team, not an octopus (who reminds me of Paul all the time as well, lol). We'll see, 50% chance the Dutch win, 50% the Spaniards win
-
[quote="milcon1998"]
21st Century Paul:
Luckily for the Dutch he predicted the finals wrong last time Seriously, who on earth believes this story? I trust the Dutch team, not an octopus (who reminds me of Paul all the time as well, lol). We'll see, 50% chance the Dutch win, 50% the Spaniards win
I don't care much about the octopus but I agree with him. In my mind is something like 100 % chance Spain wins 0% Netherlands wins. It would be funny to know if the octopus thing has some effect on the internet bets over the matches. Giant screens are everywhere here, ready for the match of a lifetime. For instance, in Madrid there was a screen in the Real Madrid stadium in some past matches, but now... there is no room there for the people expected. If 100000 people can be on this stadium, I guess they are expecting much more than that...
-
Here is a poll about the World Cup 1. Who has been the best player, in your opinion? 2. The biggest positive surprise, player, teams or anything... 3. The worst surprise... player, team or anything.. 4. Your fav XI 5. Your fav moment, goal... or match 6. Your prediction for the final match my answers... 1 In spite of it all.. Messi 2 Spain? I don't know if I can call it a surprise. Also Ghana, I think they played really well. Also many German players... 3 The defensive teams... Italy, France, Capello's England... even Argentina and Brazil. The "offensive ones", trying to play the ball have had better results than expected (Chile, Spain, Ghana...). 4 you can choose it in the fifa website... Casillas Maicon Pique Puyol Lahm Iniesta Xavi Schweisteinger Sneijder Messi Villa Rajevac (coach from Ghana) 5 I hope is yet to come 6 1-0 scored by... Fabregas
-
Congrats Spain! World cup champs! Good Job Netherlands and Spain
-
Congrats to Spain! It was a brilliant game! Too bad they had to win from an off-side goal But well done anyway. I prefer losing from Spain over losing from Germany again Lots of parties going on here anyway. It's been a while since we did so well (32 years to be exactly).
-
milcon1998:
I prefer losing from Spain over losing from Germany again
Agree Back to the game I didnt like the The referee at all, he gave alot of yellow cards for Holland, with or without reason...and I had a feeling he will give the red card to one of the holland team...he did... in a very bad time.... and Spain scored because of that the two teams were equal on the field, very good defense, great goalkeepers, the two teams wasted alot of goals... Robben could have finished the match earlier, but bad luck.... By the way this is the second time A referee effects a final match alot in 2006 they did the same to Zidan , giving Italy a greater chance to win and tonight , Holland player didn't make a foul to deserve such a decision , and of course it effected the team alot. I wished any of the teams win in a clean match without referee's errors any of the teams could have won.... but I wished Holland to win, it is unfair not to win World Cup in their third final. congratulation Spain
-
There has always been..."A Spaniard In The Works" //oo\\ http://www.the-beatles-history.com/image-files/yoko-ono-wedding.jpg http://www.sweetgibraltarweddings.com/images/yoko.jpg
-
Sometimes, I think these soccer games are just an excuse to get drunk. I saw the last minutes of the game, and the announcers on Univision who are obviously from Latin America, were making comments like: "Hooray for the Mother Land!" "Good thing one of our teams won!" "What an honor for our people!" Ha! Ha! Ha! I'm with them! I agree! Let's celebrate "our victory"!
-
gorda:
Sometimes, I think these soccer games are just an excuse to get drunk.
Stupid comment.
-
congratulations Spain! xXx
-
Exciting game...Congratulations Spain!
-
milcon1998:
they had to win from an off-side goal But well done anyway.
uhum... offside goal? what offside goal? Iniesta was not offside for a lot...
-
warning: long long post (split in 3), it just has to be... I'll start with the worst of it all... the referee... well... he missed lots of penalties and not gave lots of cards (yellow, red and even black ones ) Sometimes it seemed "Van Damme" was in the Netherlands team. And every time a Netherland player did some karate thing, they even complain to the referee for given the free kick. It looks like Argentina's Bilardo style. Well, it's not me, the world press (and Johan Cruyff...) is saying that if Spain would not have know it would have been a shame for football and for sport... It was the ugliest match of all the tournament, Iniesta is back with lots of big bloods sings in his legs, because of the agressions... of course the referee influenced... he saved Netherlands a lot of time because of not showing lots of red cards... Dedicating the goal to Jarque, a player who died this year in a heart-attack, a friend of Iniesta since they were kids... this is what I call a black card... if this is not a red card we could think every player can do it receiving only a yellow one well... the match... Holland was defensive at the beginning and then became simply agressive and violent, the referee allowed it so there was not much football played... In the end the Holland players got tired of so much pressing and there was space for Spanish midfielders to play, so the goal came. Spain played risky. They knew Robben is faster than Pique and Puyol and than Sneijder can give him a great pass... but also they know Casillas is the best in one to one actions. Spain missed lots of chances trying to score shooting with skill and in the end the goal was a shoot done with the heart. Iniesta, the guy living in my town since 10 years ago. From this town to the world. He's not the star-kind of player at all, he's not in buying lots of cars and such... he's so simple that he simply lives in the town where he is working instead of a great mansion. Half of the players of the XI train here... maybe this polluted air is not so bad... The thing is Spain overcomed it all. Its history, its loser attitude, its defeat with Switzerland, all the things the referee allowed... Football is like life, often is not fair and the referee not gives what he should give but like in life... you must cope with it and keep playing instead of complaining, and Spain did this time. My fav moment was when Xavi (the brains of the team) shouted at Van Bommel: "And now you're gonna press!". That was when Villa was on the floor after some agression and the ball was throw as out as usual... But Van Bommel gave the ball in the worst possible place, planning to press and steal the ball. But Xavi stepped in and the violence and all that dissappeared. Also Sneijder tried to score while "returning the ball"... :
-
I'm very happy cause that's (the pass-around style) is the style I've liked to play since I was kid. And that was built very much here in Barcelona. I think is the most beautiful way and the smartest way to play football. There's 3 people not on the team that have had a big influence in all this... 1) Michael Laudrup Barça signed him in the 90s and his magic passes captivated people here 2) Guardiola Laudrup's admirer and the icon for always trying to play the ball, both him and Laudrup were the beginning of this kind of playing school here. 3) Raul He was Spanish biggest star for a long time and yet he defended and fighted liked the best defenders, always playing for the team. And that's how all the players of this team play, not for any kind of individual show-off but for the team... kind of like The Beatles did as rock and roll band. And they are being received as The Beatles today.