The 2018 FIFA World Cup

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I just had a premonition. England doesn’t even make it to the semi finals.
 
They haven’t even played their first match yet! I’m willing to give the English the benefit of the doubt at least until half-time 😉
 
I am recording England’s match. I have to avoid all media until tonight. Including this thread.
 
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FollowChrist34 said:
Hockey is basically the same game with sticks and a puck. But it is just so fast, you can’t always see the puck or the goals as they happen.
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As a major hockey fan, I tend to find soccer difficult to follow when I make the shift. To me, hockey is pretty easy to follow. Soccer just feels too slow, to the point that it generally takes a game or two before I’ve really adjusted to the pace.

And it isn’t like I don’t understand the game. It was my favorite to play growing up, and I even reffed it for a few years. It’s just that watching it requires an adjustment period for me.
 
One thing many Americans may have a problem with is the running clock with additional minutes set as the refs see fit. IOW the game ends when they feel it should end.
 
My little son loves Italian soccer.

He’s got a poster of Gianluigi Buffon (the Italian goalie) he’s studied statistics of past players and past games.

When Italy failed to qualify, he was in tears.
 
Based on the people I talk to, that’s actually something most Americans like about it.

Most of the complaints I hear are about the way it is played. Soccer is sport that’s constantly in motion, but there isn’t a near-constant threat. Compared to basketball, the main constantly-moving sport here, soccer can feel like a game of waiting. There’s not the a constantly-imminent time limt like there is in basketball, which often leads to strategies I’ve heard described as “keep away”.

Personally, once I can get adjusted to the pace, I’m fine. It’s not a sport I watch frequently throughout the year (though my family does), but I do occasionally watch it and always enjoy the World Cup when it comes around.
 
I’ll bet he was. Poor little fella… 🙁

I felt terrible for Buffon. This World Cup was to have been his swan song, the culmination of a 23-year professional career that was nothing less than brilliant. I will miss him. In a sport riddled with arrogance and extreme egoism, Buffon is a class act.
 
I think an Eastern European country might win. Russia should get pretty far as the home team, but others too might make it to the end. The world spotlight is on that region, so I think those teams will play with focus, determination, slight advantage. I include Poland here though I think they lost their first match.

England was so lucky to win I don’t know if we can trust them but I was happy to see them actually put a win up. They seem a little shaky and hesitant though, but they always look shaky. Dare I hope…not yet, few more matches - if they make it to the semifinals. Still watching France, Germany might stabilize too. They play Sweden next; that might be just what they need to refocus, settle in.
 
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No country has been totally convincing so far. This, of course, makes things more interesting than they would otherwise be. 🙂 Sure beats knowing who will reach the semis even before the competition begins…
FollowChrist34 said:
The world spotlight is on that region, so I think those teams will play with focus, determination, slight advantage.
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Or they might crack under the pressure of being in that spotlight. It could go either way, really.
 
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Totally agree. Also I have not watched the EPL regularly for around 10 years now so I don’t know any of the players for England or anywhere really (I don’t watch the Champions League matches either regularly anymore). Everyone is a complete stranger to me. It is kind of refreshing. England just looked really young and inexperienced to me - but by inexperience it may just be that awkwardness of coalescing on a national team when you are so used to your regular team. I wondered if they could pick up a spark and really make a run for it - but then we all know what happens when you start to invest emotionally in England…😪:cry:😥😭

Another dark horse to watch is Mexico. As a country, they are huge soccer fans, they are well represented by fans in Russia, tons of energy, enthusiasm. The real deal.
 
Poland was a disappointment in their game against Senegal. The winning goal was scored on a breakaway by a player who had been talking to the referee on the sideline.
 
Rob2 said:
I think the host nations qualify automatically .
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ProVobis said:
They shouldn’t. Otherwise the whole event becomes a farce.
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In that case, the current World Cup is the twentieth farce in a long series. It’s the twenty-first World Cup, and with the single exception of 1934, when the host country Italy was required to compete in the qualifying rounds, every host country has been exempt, beginning with France in 1938.
 
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I know absolutely nothing about the teams playing – who’s strong, who’s an underdog, who any of the players are – but I absolutely love watching the games and choosing a team to cheer for. 😄

That being said, I would be thrilled to see Mexico do well! Whenever we have a “jersey day” at school (where the kids can wear a sports jersey instead of their uniform), we see a LOT of Denver Broncos orange. But there’s probably an equal number of jerseys representing Mexican soccer. :+1:t4:

Carry on. 👵🚬
 
…okay, the England squad has convinced me. 😀 At least the one that’s playing today…

As unlikely as this is, based on performances so far I would love to see a Belgium-Mexico final. Unless I’ve made a mistake in perusing the tournament schedule this is technically possible, but a lot of unexpected scenarios would have to come to pass in order for these two to end up opposing each other in the final, starting with neither of them winning their respective group.

Belgium—Tunisia was, IMO, the best match of the tournament so far.
 
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