OT: World Cup

[booyakasha]

KJ and Stephen are better than the Sportsnet guys Craig Forrest and Danny Dichio IMO. Though the absolute best was when KJ and James Sharman were on The Score together.

I disagree, as I love James Sharman Craig forrest and Dicchio for Sportsnet better than TSN.
I'm not a fan of KJ...don't know why, but just never really caught me as a viewer, even though he's great at what he does.

 

[booyakasha]

A little let down the tournament is over, as this was IMO, one of the best WC to watch (and not just saying that because Croatia made the final)

oh well Congrats France.

 

[EchoesoftheEighties]

I disagree, as I love James Sharman Craig forrest and Dicchio for Sportsnet better than TSN.
I'm not a fan of KJ...don't know why, but just never really caught me as a viewer, even though he's great at what he does.

Totally fair man.

Tough loss but you should be proud of your boys they did great.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Belgium-France was the real final in my mind.

Wins over Croatia, Belgium, Uruguay, Argentina, Australia, and Peru (along with the meaningless draw with Denmark). That's a very solid resume, certainly no freebies there. It's too bad the controversial handball call will cast a shadow over their run. I thought it was a 50/50 call based on what else I've seen called over the years. Seems the majority opinion is that it probably shouldn't have been awarded though.

I don't really get the griping over the first goal though. That foul gets called every time, whether the man went down easily or not. There didn't seem to be any sort of protest from the Croatians on the pitch. Mandzukic did not impress me much in this tournament and that own goal cemented it.

Not in that area it doesn't. That was a direct shot area for a free kick, dangerous location and a call there needs to be a higher threshold of sure foul then a spot kick in a relatively harmless spot on the field. Of course it resulted in a goal that had the slightest of redirections by the Croatian. Basically if he doesn't make contact it probably still goes in, was a pretty good shot but Subovic was still hurting and not up to par today.

It was a garbage call. Also as soon as the ref reversed his on field decision and went to VAR you knew that one going to be a PK as well.

 

[Bangers]

I was evaluating the commentary on its own; player preferences not accounted for.

Mbappe is scary. A taller, faster Messi with the ball skills of Cristiano Ronaldo but with far better vision and soccer IQ on the pitch.

He reminds me a lot of Brazilian Ronaldo.

 

[Cloned]

He reminds me a lot of Brazilian Ronaldo.

Ronaldo was unique and we may never see another like him. He was basically Lindros on the soccer field - complete with Lindros’ injury history too.

Mbappe might be closer to McDavid to be honest.

 

[harpoon]

Congratulations to France. They pretty much ripped through this tournament.
I think the best team won.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Congratulations to France. They pretty much ripped through this tournament.
I think the best team won.

For sure. They beat so many premium squads to get here. Argentina, Uruguay, Belgium. No other team had that difficult a series of knockouts. They deserved to win in every one of those games. Croatia did get unfortunate calls yesterday though that really influenced the outcome.

But having watched France play, and even being down to Argentina and coming from behind to win one gets the impression that France might win even if they didn't get the first half breaks. So much talent on this side. The scary thing is this is a youngish squad. France could actually be better in 2022.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Ronaldo was unique and we may never see another like him. He was basically Lindros on the soccer field - complete with Lindros’ injury history too.

Mbappe might be closer to McDavid to be honest.

You really should watch some game film of Pele. The ability to stop and start and create separation, time and space is uncanny. They just do magic with the ball and could get open shots where others can't.

Even Pele himself see's this kid as more like himself than any other player.

The scariest thing is the kid is a teenager and is now clearly heir apparent in Football royalty. Like Pele, Mbappe could conceivably be on 3 world cup winners. Something only Pele has ever done.

 

[AM]

You really should watch some game film of Pele. The ability to stop and start and create separation, time and space is uncanny. They just do magic with the ball and could get open shots where others can't.

Even Pele himself see's this kid as more like himself than any other player.

The scariest thing is the kid is a teenager and is now clearly heir apparent in Football royalty. Like Pele, Mbappe could conceivably be on 3 world cup winners. Something only Pele has ever done.

Well see how fast he is after his first injury.

 

[Bob Stauffer]

France deserved it.
At any time they had the ability to ramp it up another gear that every other country had challenges matching.
Very similar to Canada in 2010/2014 Olympics.
Stylistically Mbappe is far closer to Pele than either Messi or Ronaldo.
Feel for Messi 'cause he has been better for longer than Maradona.
Belgium was very good too.
TSN's coverage was terrific, especially Kristian Jack.

 

[Frank the Tank]

France deserved it.
At any time they had the ability to ramp it up another gear that every other country had challenges matching.
Very similar to Canada in 2010/2014 Olympics.
Stylistically Mbappe is far closer to Pele than either Messi or Ronaldo.
Feel for Messi 'cause he has been better for longer than Maradona.
Belgium was very good too.
TSN's coverage was terrific, especially Kristian Jack.

France reminded me more of Canada at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. That team was defensively looser than the 2014 Olympic team, but they could also outscore their mistakes.

 

[Canovin]

Well see how fast he is after his first injury.

Why would you wish injury upon anyone?

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Not in that area it doesn't. That was a direct shot area for a free kick, dangerous location and a call there needs to be a higher threshold of sure foul then a spot kick in a relatively harmless spot on the field. Of course it resulted in a goal that had the slightest of redirections by the Croatian. Basically if he doesn't make contact it probably still goes in, was a pretty good shot but Subovic was still hurting and not up to par today.

It was a garbage call. Also as soon as the ref reversed his on field decision and went to VAR you knew that one going to be a PK as well.

It would be nice if there was a higher threshold for penalties and fouls, but this has never really been the case in the soccer. If you're contacted and go down, it's getting whistled 9 times out of 10.

It's also a shame that the handball rules can be so Draconian. No reason for a hand ball in the box to be punished with a nearly automatic goal unless it prevented a goal or at least a high quality chance. But that's the way it is, and this is a sport that has never been eager to adjust the rules.

 

[Drivesaitl]

It would be nice if there was a higher threshold for penalties and fouls, but this has never really been the case in the soccer. If you're contacted and go down, it's getting whistled 9 times out of 10.

It's also a shame that the handball rules can be so Draconian. No reason for a hand ball in the box to be punished with a nearly automatic goal unless it prevented a goal or at least a high quality chance. But that's the way it is, and this is a sport that has never been eager to adjust the rules.

Calls around the box almost always require a more egregious foul than "no contact" It was a very suspicious dive, and a suspicious call. It directly resulted in a goal. From a dangerous area. It was one of the worst free kick calls awarded in the tournament.

AS for FIFA rules the VAR review DOES change things as it makes the handball call more draconian by allowing replay footage to reverse a call that was not made on the pitch in real time. The combination of a less than ideal rule and video review often combine to magnify problems with a rule. This happened in hockey too with skate in the crease rules.

 

[AM]

Why would you wish injury upon anyone?

Its not about wishing injury on players.

Initially players tend to take more chances on the ball. This can look appealing until they spend 6 months rehabbing a knee injury.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Its not about wishing injury on players.

Initially players tend to take more chances on the ball. This can look appealing until they spend 6 months rehabbing a knee injury.

Its actually fair comment in that it occurs often enough. You don't really know what a players career long resolve is until they've faced and had to come back from serious injury. Its really only after that you know what the commitment and resiliency is like. Some players are all in, others learn not to take the same chances on the ball.