[Simeon_Strangelight]

Mexico and Costa Rica should both be analyzed today.

Brasil vs Switzerland is where it might get interesting. The Swiss will fight like lions in a well-disciplined team while being far inferior in quality. We shall see how good Brazil will really be this time around.

[StrikeBack]

Australia almost tripped France up, as I predicted... That was one lucky goal for them right at the end. France not gonna get very far playing like that.

Might see England and Brazil choke again as usual.

[Teedub]

(06-16-2018 04:01 AM)Psygnosis89 Wrote:  

I thought Ronaldo had been somewhat disappointing the last couple of seasons (by his standards), but definitely back to 2010 form last night. Incredible.

If three champion league wins in a row, and being top scorer in the competition in each of those years is disappointing, sign me up! Haha, I know you said by his standards, but still.

(06-16-2018 06:13 PM)RedPillUK Wrote:  

Both Ronaldo and Messi are all time great players but they have different strengths and weaknesses partly due to their physical attributes.

Messi is much faster, quicker dribbler than Ronaldo. Ronaldo has great ball control and tricks but can't run and turn with the ball at speed past defenders like Messi. However Ronaldo is stronger and better at headers and free kicks.

To be fair, Ronaldo used to be able to take players on at speed, look at his last two years at United and his first few years at Madrid. He was very close to Messi at that time. For me, I'm a United fan so I love Ronaldo - though I concede that Messi (in his prime years under Guardiola) has a shout to be the best of all time, with Ronaldo second. People talk about Brazilian Ronaldo, Zidane, etc... but R and M's consistency is what, for me puts them at the top. Zidane and Brazilian Ronaldo has a few seasons of greatness... but R and M have shared the World Player Award consistently for a decade! It's literally unheard of.

I think Ronaldo will carry on longer than Messi, despite being 2 years older. He's a genetic freak of nature who would have excelled in a range of sports, but he chose football. He'd have been an all time great tennis player, for example, in my opinion, due to said genetics and his obsessive regime. Regarding Maradona, Pele, I'm with Mike Tyson - I think it's unfair to compare eras and as he said "athletes get better in time", meaning players/boxers now have better science, better nutrition etc. Would Pele be amazing if he was born in 1986? Most likely, but we'll never know. So, therefore I put Messi and Ronaldo as the best ever.

[LeightonBlackstock]

Was impressed with Uruguay the other day

[Beirut]

Khedira is tilting me. So slow

[Spectrumwalker]

[LEMONed IScream]

Phenomenal game by Mexico! Beat a very complacent Germany that seemed to think victory was pre-determined. Congratulations!

[Labienus]

Mexico should have scored 4-5 goals. They were incredibly wasteful.

Good to see the Germans lose. Arrogant fucks.

[Simeon_Strangelight]

The Serbs won easily despite not stressing themselves and the Germans - they really played a shitty, too confident and tired game.

Mexico played well.

Ah well - they are cucks after all lying down to be gang-raped.

Reminds me why I don't watch soccer or any sport.

[TigerMandingo]

What a game! This is shaping up to be an awesome WC.

^^^ edit: you've already been told to keep politics out of this thread. It's clear you don't enjoy sports or anything else for that matter, except race and IQ debates. This is a thread for soccer fans.

[Zimbuc]

I reckon Germany will struggle to get out of the group. It seems also a problem with motivation with some of the senior players, having won the world cup already.

[JohnKreese]

Mexico cared a lot. Germany played like they were entitled. Story of the match.

[LeightonBlackstock]

WHAT. A. GAME.

That reminded me of why I love football

Just kept opening up that German defense with counter attacks

Was on the edge of my seat the whole match

Ochoa was cool as a cucumber in goal during that German Blitzkrieg

[rudebwoy]

Mexico should have scored 3 goals, but I am happy they won.

Germany will advance, I cannot remember the last time they didn't advance out of the group stage.

I don't think Switzerland has a chance against Brazil, they will be hungry for the win.

[YoungBlade]

I'm going to be drinking to forget this.

Deutschland hasn't lost an opener since '82.

That was when there was two of them.

[Vienna]

Great game, was rooting for Mexico since they were underdogs.

Sweden wins with 1-0 late in second half against South Korea tomorrow.

Practically a new Swedish team, will be interesting to see them make a proper debut in a WC.

Not very hopeful about their chances if they make it beyond the group games though.

[Frank Rook]

Mexico played a fine counter attacking game. Covered the spaces well when not in possession. Didn't panic. Controlled the passing tempo when they had possession, though wasn't too thrilled with the tendency to back pass to the goalkeeper in the second half.
Wish they'd taken at least two of the chances they had in the second half.

Makes me wonder if Leroy Sane might have been a good option for Germany late in the game as they were hunting that equalizer. I'm sure the media will have Joachim Low address that decision to leave him out of Russia now. That short passing around the box without penetration reminded me of Argentina trying to circle their way around that Icelandic wall yesterday though Mexico were a greater threat when recycling possession and countering Germany.

[Pancho]

I want to give a shout out to my favorite team Mexico for defeating Germany. It was a historic game for them. I also want to give a shout out to Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio for masterfully and tactically calling a great game. Osorio took so much shit by the Mexican media last year for losing 4-1 against Germany's B team at the Confederations Cup and they almost sacked him. This is sweet revenge for him to say the least.

I still remember the World Cup drawing about 6 months ago. Osorio's reaction when he knew that Mexico was facing Germany in their first game in the WC was troubling at the time. His reaction was not of worry, or fear. He had a great big fucking smile on his face. He knew then and there that Mexico had a great opportunity to make history if they beat the best team in the world in the grandest stage of them all in the first game. He wanted to face Germany.

No one gave this team a chance. According to simulations, Mexico had an 11% chance of winning. People were talking about Germany beating Mexico by 5 or 6 goals.

Ochoa played great.

Herrera played great

Chuky Lozano played great.

They all played great.

The games get easier for Mexico in the rest of the group stage. Mexico on paper should be able to beat both Sweden and South Korea and they have a good chance now to top their group.

As a soccer fan, I love underdog stories. So great to see and so great to be alive.

[Labienus]

Neymar is way too selfish, as is the whole Brazil team. They play as individuals, not as a team.

Brazil needed Douglas Costa out there, should have subbed Willian for him.

[balybary]

A good YouTube channel to see the World cup highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/user/FIFATV/playlists

[Simeon_Strangelight]

Well deserved win for Mexico - they fought well and could have won 3:0 totally humiliating the static German team.

Switzerland also played well as an underdog - I think they used 50% of their chances for the one goal while Brazil had many, but lacked killer instinct and the final resolve. The Brazilian boys did not play badly, but it seemed as if something was lacking. As for the Swiss - that was roughly the limit of their abilities so kudos to them.

Currently no team that played was overly dazzling. Mexico so far has played the best game relative to their raw potential. They share that honor with Iceland, though unfortunately both are not good enough to win the tournament.

[mulatto]

Mexico will win the tournament

[John Silva]

Fantastic World Cup so far.

Congrats to all Mexico fans, that was a great result! Never thought they could pull it. That said, the stint in Madrid hasn't done no good to Kross. Haven't seen a german player so preoccupied with his hairdo apart from Gomez.

Was expecting that Neymar would finally deliver, Switzerland its not an easy team, but Brazil should have done it easily.

Servia... Crazy guys, great team. Stojkovic still plays?! The man is crazy! Great goalkeeper thought. Matic, imperial in the middle and of course, a little agressive. I'm sure he would take the entire Costa Rica by himself.

Great tournament so far!

[Barron]

Pretty crazy that France is the only powerhouse team to win their first match, and by millimeters off the cross bar:
Portugal - draw
Spain - draw
Argentina - draw
Germany - loss
Brazil - draw

The rest of the world is catching up!
Edit - fuck Mexico and their shitty fans, have some class putas

[John Silva]

Funny... Of all of that teams 'Powerhouses'... Portugal has never been a World Champion, maybe this is it... Let's see...