FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

[Locke]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

haha, its' why I prefer the lush 7's turf. Except for the Macron's Soviet atco trailers.

Like I said....when you're 16 you can get prepped and dressed anywhere. When you're 36 you want a little comfort so you can agonizingly ponder why you're still doing this at all with some degree of self respect.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Locke

I just think the odds have to be evened in some capacity in regards to penalties.

For starters I'd like it if they really got it down to: "Was a scoring opportunity denied?"

Not whether a shirt was grabbed, a toe was stepped on, the cheap stuff. Did the ball hit the arm? Did that stop the ball from going into the net?

Was it a real scoring opportunity that was illegally prevented?

Because whats the conversion percentage of a penalty? 85%+?

Does someone deserve an almost free goal because his toe got trodden on at the outer edge of the 18-yard box?

The punishment/reward doesnt fit the transgression.

The argument is that if penalties weren't punitive, the sport would just become a foul fest in the box. You would see some really negative tactics from some teams (cough, Uruguay). It's hard enough to score as it is.

How about making the box smaller or moving the penalty spot back?

[Senator Clay Davis]

So after getting around the watching the end....well big thanks to Otamendi for the insane finish. Amazed he made all the way to the end of the tournament before doing something stupid. Dumb penalty to give away when it was pretty much the only way back. But full credit to France using that opening to nearly steal it, Mbappe's second was brilliant work from Coman before a genius finish from Mbappe.

And full credit to both teams in extra time, could have gone into a shell as we so often see in some of these added times (like the Netherlands against Argentina earlier), but they both made a go of it. And given the circumstance, that save by Martinez at the end on Kolo Muani has to be one of the best saves ever, no shootout without that save.

And while it didn't happen how you wanted Girly, someone finally just blasted a shot into the goalies face, and they scored! On the rebound, but still!

[Scrambler]

Good bye Qatar, great memories to remember for years to come. Most enjoyable and memorable for me since France '98.

Though I wish CANMNT had done better and Sweden qualified, but from a neutral stance the games were very entertaining.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by flylock shox

Atco fields baby.

If you didn't leave at least a cubic foot of knee and shin skin there, you have no Calgary indoor soccer cred.

Lol, what a throw back!
Cool story bro time; I scored the first ever goal in the Calgary Soccer Centre.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

The argument is that if penalties weren't punitive, the sport would just become a foul fest in the box. You would see some really negative tactics from some teams (cough, Uruguay). It's hard enough to score as it is.

How about making the box smaller or moving the penalty spot back?

Or having the player that was fouled take the penalty?

[#22]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Lol

Spoiler!

What an idiot

I guess the World Cup doesn’t buy you class

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Locke

I would posit that the only thing England had on them was squad depth.

Which didnt become a factor and Southgate failed to use.

France almost repeated as World Champs. They are a damned good team.

England had the advantage in: possession, shots, shots on goal, passes, tackles, corners, crosses, and fewer fouls conceded. They got PDO'd.

[icarus]

They call it a winter World Cup but I guess for Argentinians and a couple other countries it was a summer World Cup. Nice for their fans to enjoy the victory in summer.

I was in Qatar for the first couple weeks and the weather was perfect at match time. Much was made about the air conditioned stadiums but I think those designs had already been made before they changed the dates. I'm not sure if they even turned the A/C on since the ambient temperature was so nice.

Anyway I have many fond memories of attending, two that stand out (besides watching Canada of course): being amongst the Morocco fans and the crazy Arab support; the other, my girlfriend getting on tv during two out of three Canada matches (and repeated SportsCentre replays) and having our phones immediately blow up from friends and family in Calgary, Singapore, Dubai, Toronto etc when that happened. I got interviewed as a random fan on the street for French radio and Arab tv so I guess that's all I'm good for!

[Ozy_Flame]

Yeah but did you pump the tires of CP as the source for all things Calgary Flames-related? That's what we really want to know.

[GirlySports]

Alexis Mac Allister's next game is Charlton away on Wednesday. Don't think he'll make it sober

[chemgear]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1604536476108083203

[Sylvanfan]

Yeah I was going to say that I hope the IMF garnishes any bonuses the Argentine government attempts to pay the players. Or at least makes sure they pay them in Argentina Pesos and nor US$

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by Locke

Like I said....when you're 16 you can get prepped and dressed anywhere. When you're 36 you want a little comfort so you can agonizingly ponder why you're still doing this at all with some degree of self respect.

I mean I don’t wanna brag, but I’ve been fortunate to both, own and been dressed in places with a toilet.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by troutman

Or having the player that was fouled take the penalty?

This.

And I feel like the box probably could be a little smaller too.

[lazypucker]

An excellent piece of penalty kick psychology analysis of the final shootout:

https://twitter.com/GeirJordet/statu...20622047150082

[CroFlames]

Now that it's wrapped up, this has been such a memorable World Cup, and I hate saying that because of the abysmal human rights record of the host and the wastefulness.

Matchday 3 for the group stage was such a rollercoaster with some amazing matches, and some coming down to the death. Absolutely terrific.

Some riveting heavyweight matchups along the way - France vs England, Argentina vs Netherlands, with some great upsets to too. Argentina vs Saudi, Brazil vs Cameroon, Japan vs Spain & Germany. That Final was something to behold with the best individual performance I have ever seen in a WC Final from Mbappe (how did he not with MotM?), and drama right till the end. I'm still debating if going to penalties was a good or bad thing for the occasion. Reffing is always bitched about at WCs and this one was no different. I guess it's a feature at this point.

Now what of the stadiums? I know they built one of them to be dismantled easily, but the rest of them? So much waste and environmental damage for 64 matches of entertainment.

Can we just all agree to rotate the WC between the USA and Germany in the future?

[Mccree]

Originally Posted by Locke

First of all, I like it. Once the keeper is allowed to come out you showcase some talent and grit.



Oh man...I dont know where you are, but I remember the early days of indoor Soccer in Calgary.

That was just RV carpet on top of plywood sprinkled with salt.

It was awful.

It was the worst but it isn't much better at the Calgary Soccer Centre for boarded games. Still basically carpet on cement but without the salt.

Now those black beads on the turfs fields get every where and I mean every where.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

That Final was something to behold with the best individual performance I have ever seen in a WC Final from Mbappe

Explain to me what it was about his performance that would lead you to say that?
Yes he had a very good extra time and last 10 minutes of the game but he was basically invisible up to that. The whole team was.

Then, he scored a great goal... sure. And a couple of penalties. And a couple of runs.

Personally I thought Messi and MacAllister had far better games overall than Mbappe. And Di Maria in his 60 minutes was as effective.

To completely change the subject. Wondering what the story was with Beckham and his so called ambassador role? Unavailable for interviews and the only time I saw him on TV was a couple England games. A very invisible ambassador.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Bagor

Explain to me what it was about his performance that would lead you to say that?
Yes he had a very good extra time and last 10 minutes of the game but he was basically invisible up to that. The whole team was.

Then, he scored a great goal... sure. And a couple of penalties. And a couple of runs.

Personally I thought Messi and MacAllister had far better games overall than Mbappe. And Di Maria in his 60 minutes was as effective.

To completely change the subject. Wondering what the story was with Beckham and his so called ambassador role? Unavailable for interviews and the only time I saw him on TV was a couple England games. A very invisible ambassador.

The guy scored a hat trick and dragged a tired and listless France team to penalties against an Argentina team that was firing on all cylinders. I wouldn't say he was 'invisible' for 60 minutes, rather that France couldn't give him any service under the constant Argentina aggressiveness. He scored three PKs under insane pressure. I needn't remind you what Kane did with his 2nd PK in comparison.

Beckham has disgraced himself as far as I am concerned. And I am a huge Beckham guy.