2018 World Cup

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by SebC

If you're neutral, you aren't cheering for a team. That's what makes you neutral. You can still enjoy the sport itself.


... I'm surprised I'm telling you this.

That's the point. As Frequitude said, he doesn't enjoy it much. Most of us casuals don't, or we wouldn't be casuals.
So having a team to cheer for and a team to hate might help keep interest.

[Frequitude]

Germany and Belgium it is. Feels as close to the Netherlands as I’ll get. Loved them as a kid because of the orange. What happened to them anyway?

[FireGilbert]

Wow the Spain Portugal game was amazing. I’m still thinking of how that free kick was even physically possible. If all games were like this soccer would be one of my favourite sports.

[GirlySports]

Soccer is about the struggle to score and the struggle to defend.

Belgium is great choice.
I suggest cheering for Nigeria tomorrow afternoon.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

That's the point. As Frequitude said, he doesn't enjoy it much. Most of us casuals don't, or we wouldn't be casuals.
So having a team to cheer for and a team to hate might help keep interest.

What's to keep a casual from learning to appreciate the sport? I'd interpret the question to have that as its intent, as most people don't need help deciding which countries they like/dislike.

Originally Posted by Frequitude

Germany and Belgium it is. Feels as close to the Netherlands as I’ll get. Loved them as a kid because of the orange. What happened to them anyway?

Didn't qualify. They're ranked 17th, but Europe is tough to qualify from. They'll be back.

[FireGilbert]

Go Aussies!

[Party Elephant]

Oh boy, this one's a snoozer. Those of you who decided to stay in bed made the right choice.

[Party Elephant]

Well I'll be, a penalty awarded from a video review and France are up 1-0.

[FireGilbert]

I guess he made the slightest contact but wow are the French ever going down easy.

[FireGilbert]

OMG! Handball! 1-1!

[Party Elephant]

That was unexpected!

[SebC]

FIFA should cut the World Cup down to four teams so we don't have to watch boring teams like France.

[FireGilbert]

No!

[SebC]

I'm not convinced that was actually in. The orthogonal cam showed it was a very close call.


Edit: zoomed in, good goal

[FireGilbert]

The review showed it was in by millimeters. Such a fluke goal, Australia has played well and deserves better.

[FireGilbert]

I’m both happy at the effort and heartbroken at the result. Damn the stupid flukey diving French. I hope they are quickly eliminated.

[EldrickOnIce]

Did I hear that right?
Yearly contracts totalled on the French team are 800M pounds, or 1 Billion USD?
Wow

[devo22]

man, if I were a France fan, I'm not sure I'd be overly disappointed with an early exit. Deschamps to me remains by far the biggest problem, and the sooner they get rid of this fraud the better. Playing Pogba/Kante/Tolisso in midfield is a freaking joke, they all pretty much play the same position and then they wonder that there's no speed and fluidity going forward. Extremely lucky to get the 3 points today.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Party Elephant

Oh boy, this one's a snoozer. Those of you who decided to stay in bed made the right choice.

Well that's good to know. I said it about France, but I will not even be slightly shocked if they crash out in the group stage. Now I did predict them to win the group, but obviously that was in spite of Deschamps. For a team this talented to look so lost going forward is pathetic. I like Giroud more than most, but you shouldn't need him to be a good attack with the talent they have.

[CliffFletcher]

So just got the TSN Go/Direct app to watch the World Cup on my Apple TV. I want to watch yesterday's Spain vs Portugal Match, but this app doesn't seem to allow you to go back and watch a game from an earlier date, unlike the NHL and NBA apps. Or maybe I'm just struggling with the crappy interface. Has anyone been able to go back and watch a game from yesterday using this app?