Desperately dull, or just desperate? FRAARG!

[Patrick Thistle]

Just seen the goals. Pavane's is probably the best overall but France's fourth reminded me of that Brazil goal from 1970 that always gets replayed in work cup retrospectives.

[E10 Rifle]

The fourth is the best one of the whole day

[Janik]

And no VAR controversy today, either. Or at least not in Football, there was quite a bizarre one today in an international Hockey tournament that changed the identity of one of the sides who will play in a World level final. If you want details, ask a Dutchman.

[nmrfox]

At least that's the last we'll see of Otomendi hoofing the ball into a prone opponent again. Twat.

[ursus arctos]

He really deserved a red for that

[Janik]

Fazio should also have walked for the pull on Griezmann when he had wrong-footed his own 'keeper. And that is so even though Griezmann still got a piece of the ball at the far post. The tug on his shirt slowed him and probably prevented a goal. Should have been a pen as there was no advantage in trying to play on through it.
Tugs like that one by defenders who 'have to do something' even though there is nothing legal they can possibly do are the most normalised bit of cheating in the game. I genuinely believe they are a bigger, more serious problem with cheating the game has, above diving. In part because defensive cheating of this type is one of the drivers that prompts diving, as if Griezman had flopped rather than trying to play on either the ref or VAR would have got to the right call. But as he did what we want forwards to do, tried to play on despite being fouled, he loses out and the defender benefits from his cheating.

[Janik]

I've been watching the full replay of the game. It's staggering that no Argentine was sent-off. By my count all of the following ought to have walked;

Mascherano - seemingly in possession of the van Bommel invisibility cloak, deserved about four yellows, arguably one worth a straight red
Fazio - DOGSO
Mercardo - repeated violent foul play and general shithousery
Otamendi - injury-time shithousery

Any I've missed?

It was almost like the ref was having a Clatenberg Chelsea-Spurs moment.

[tee rex]

I missed the game and managed to Likely Lads for a few hours (Sunday morning, NZ winter, you'd be unlucky to get tipped off by street renditions of the Marseillaise). Everyone knows that a whole lotta fun in the group stages leads to knockout tedium, so this seemed a good one to sacrifice for overdue sleep. Memo: ignore OTF thread titles in future.

But ... yeah. Wow. Jeez. Other inarticulate ejaculations. 1998 Michael Owen meets 2006 Arg-Ger meets a bit of 80's Denmark. World Cup Classic, as I'm sure nobody has said.

Merci.

[Simon G]

I have even more admiration for Kylian Mbappe now.

https://twitter.com/DrAlakbarov/status/1013083962481233923?s=19

Gary Lineker pointing out that the England players have been doing this for some time now:

https://twitter.com/GaryLineker/stat...52181111939075

According to this - http://englandfootballersfoundation.com/ - since 2007.

[Sean of the Shed]

I didn't know that. I presume the media choose not to mention that otherwise it undermines their racist hate pieces on certain footballers spending habits and body art.

[Simon G]

I'd heard about it some time ago, but didn't realise they were still doing it.

[anton pulisov]

O'Neill would have had France lumping it up to Mbappe, to be fair.

Don't be silly. O'Neill wouldn't start a 19 year old at the World Cup.

[Tactical Genius]

Fazio should also have walked for the pull on Griezmann when he had wrong-footed his own 'keeper. And that is so even though Griezmann still got a piece of the ball at the far post. The tug on his shirt slowed him and probably prevented a goal. Should have been a pen as there was no advantage in trying to play on through it.
Tugs like that one by defenders who 'have to do something' even though there is nothing legal they can possibly do are the most normalised bit of cheating in the game. I genuinely believe they are a bigger, more serious problem with cheating the game has, above diving. In part because defensive cheating of this type is one of the drivers that prompts diving, as if Griezman had flopped rather than trying to play on either the ref or VAR would have got to the right call. But as he did what we want forwards to do, tried to play on despite being fouled, he loses out and the defender benefits from his cheating.

Excellent point Janik

[Duncan Gardner]

Don't be silly. O'Neill wouldn't start a 19 year old at the World Cup.

He played in the same team as a 16 yo in one

[ad hoc]

If Griezmann had got a penalty for Fazio's tug (as he should have) wouldn’t Fazio have only got a yellow under this newish double jeopardy rule?

[Ray de Galles]

No, he’d get a red as it wasn’t a genuine attempt to play the ball but a deliberate foul.

[Janik]

No. The double jeopardy rule only applies to misjudged tackles that the ref believes are genuine attempts to play the ball. A shirt tug or a handball of a goalbound shot (cf Japan vs Colombia) is still a pen and a straight red.

[Janik]

And, to reiterate my point, we really need refs to go back and give these penalties. Because then it puts defenders in a different double jeopardy - pull the shirt and the forward either shrugs it off and scores anyway, or doesn't and gets a pen and you are sent off. Therefore it becomes an awful desicion to pull the shirt as you will lose either way, and defenders will stop doing things like that in similar positions because it really harms their team. And there you go, a better, fairer game.

[Ray de Galles]

I’m particularly surprised it wasn’t highlighted for review given the focus there has been on fouls like holding at corners during the tournament.

[tuckwat]

I found it strange how the incident was glossed over and why VAR didn't alert the ref. Agree with all of the above .I am still bitter about Kuyt on Hleb 10 years ago. Anyway what a great day of football.