World Cup: Group H: Japan vs. Poland, Senegal vs. Colombia; 6/28/2018

[Dr Pepper]

Agreed, I'd much rather see this as a decider than flipping a coin. Leave SOMETHING up to the players.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Rwandan genocide? Boko Haram?

 

[Savi]

I hope Barça keep Mina just because this guy is unguardable on cornerkicks/FK's

 

[canuckster19]

Yes it's literally top ten of my favourite songs of all time, I don't care about the straw grasping racial undertones people claim there are.

 

[Speyer]

 

[IamNotADancer]

I agree, but you have to use something. It's the very last tie breaker.

It would have been flipping a coin 4 years ago... this is way better.

I think this is a very rare circumstance too.

I honestly prefer a coin, or heck arrange a shootout. Crossbar challenges, keepie upsies, anything else but "fair play". Put it in the hands of the actual players, not the referee.

Here, throw a coin in the air and the goalie needs to hit the coin with a kick off.

Can you imagine if a hockey game would be decided by how many penalty minutes a team gets or doesn't get.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Yes it's literally top ten of my favourite songs of all time, I don't care about the straw grasping racial undertones people claim there are.

It's just a joke

 

[Evilo]

So it's fair play that gives Japan the edge even though they never tried to play in the last 10 minutes and thus were extremely poor examples of fair play.

Makes sense.

 

[Havre]

He clearly got the ball first then cluttered into the defender... it's never a penalty.

Tough, brutal for Senegal to go out like that though. Deserved much better.

If that is not excessive force I don’t know what is. Getting the ball has nothing to do with it (I know the old school thinking is that as long as you get the ball anything goes, but that stopped being true 20 years ago).

 

[Corto]

So it's fair play that gives Japan the edge even though they never tried to play in the last 10 minutes and thus were extremely poor examples of fair play.

Makes sense.

Senegal never tried to play for 75 minutes, to be fair.
And Colombia just lucked into a goal, did nothing for 60 minutes even though the other game was tied and they needed a goal.

Awful group, awful last round... And whoever went through was going to be a heavy underdog vs Belgium / England.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Why not look at shots on goal/differential before resorting to cards? Bloody hell, rock-paper-scissors would be preferable to this. At least a team has control over which one they choose. Cards is largely subjective.

 

[illpucks]

Colombia should be first but Japan should gtfo of the World Cup. Senegal got shafted hard.

 

[Chloraflora]

Senegal didn't get shafted at all, good grief. Them's the rules, and if you finish third after three games, buh bye.

 

[illpucks]

Senegal didn't get shafted at all, good grief. Them's the rules, and if you finish third after three games, buh bye.

Senegal is way better team than Japan and should have moved on. Obviously the England fans will be happy with a Japan matchup because they are easiest opponent

 

[Dr Pepper]

Senegal should've handled their games better, i.e. actually won vs. Japan, if they wanted to advance over them.

But they didn't, so it's homeward bound.

 

[les Habs]

I hope Barça keep Mina just because this guy is unguardable on cornerkicks/FK's

He's remembered for the match the team lost, but he didn't get enough appearances. It's hard to get him a match, but Valverde could have started him more than he did. For me the jury is still out on him as regards Barça, but at the price we paid it was a no-brainer.

 

[illpucks]

Senegal should've handled their games better, i.e. actually won vs. Japan, if they wanted to advance over them.

But they didn't, so it's homeward bound.

Ya but Japan is the only team in the group who lost to the worst team at the wc, Poland

 

[Corto]

Senegal is way better team than Japan and should have moved on. Obviously the England fans will be happy with a Japan matchup because they are easiest opponent

Well, Germany is clearly better than Sweden or Mexico. Shall we write FIFA and have them re-play the games?

Senegal didn't go through because they finished 3rd.
And they played a cowardly game of football today, though Colombia wasn't better at all.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Ya but Japan is the only team in the group who lost to the worst team at the wc, Poland

Yep, Japan's roster of subs couldn't get past a desperate Polish side that was playing only for pride.

They did, however, manage to beat 10-man Colombia, the team that just finished ahead of them in the standings. That win sure was beneficial in how today played out.

 

[illpucks]

Well, Germany is clearly better than Sweden or Mexico. Shall we write FIFA and have them re-play the games?

Senegal didn't go through because they finished 3rd.
And they played a cowardly game of football today, though Colombia wasn't better at all.

Germany is a powerhouse and superpower. Senegal is a tiny African country. It's quite garbage that no African teams will be in round of 16.

 

[MXD]

Germany is a powerhouse and superpower. Senegal is a tiny African country. It's quite garbage that no African teams will be in round of 16.

What are you suggesting to fix this?

 

[Moncherry]

Germany is a powerhouse and superpower. Senegal is a tiny African country. It's quite garbage that no African teams will be in round of 16.

So? Whose fault is that?

 

[East Coast Bias]

Germany is a powerhouse and superpower. Senegal is a tiny African country. It's quite garbage that no African teams will be in round of 16.

It's the usual. Since the WC moved to 32 teams (1998), CAF has had 6 of 31 teams coming out of the group. Senegal made a QF run in 02, and Ghana in 2010.

There's been quite the heat on CONCACAF lately, mostly b/c Panama is awful, and also because of the 2026 bid. I hate to break it to everyone, but CONCACAF has historically been far more successful at WCs than CAF.
Over the same period of time as above, CONCACAF has had 10 of 20 move on.

 

[Suiteness]

Senegal is way better team than Japan.

Not from what I saw when they played each other.