For Croatia against Argentina. For France against England. For Morocco against anybody who advances because it's a nice underdog story. I'll always root against Argentina due to the rivalry with Brazil. If Morocco do not advance, France will be my team if they get past England. So the order is: Morocco above all for the underdog factor; it's nice to see Africa getting their first semi, and maybe their first Cup. France after that because of AC Milan's players Giroud and Theo Hernández, both players I simply love and I'd like to see them lift the Cup. Croatia in third place because I have 7 Croatian friends, one of them being my best friend. It's not that I am particularly against England. I tease you here but my allegiances above are what they are because of factors that have nothing to do with England. If the final is England vs. Argentina I will root for England.
Most likely. He's headed for a lucrative end-of-career in a Saudi team. 200 million Euro per season, contract for 2 and a half years. After that ends I'm sure he'll retire. I'm sure he is upset at being benched and will probably only play again for Portugal if the current head coach is fired.
Haha, after all you're not being generous. Re-reading your post you said you *almost* felt sorry for him, which means, you didn't! Hahahaha
It was a foul but the explanation on the American TV was that if inside the box, VAR intervenes and it's a penalty. If it is outside the box, the FIFA rule is that since the game continued and there is no penalty, VAR does not intervene and the initial decision of no foul prevails. This is so that the game is not stopped every time for reviews of regular fouls. Sucks for you guys because a foul there would have been very dangerous, but it's the rule. The ref made a no-foul mistake but it isn't changeable because it was outside the box.
It was a very entertaining game. Morocco is for real. They do belong. Best defense of the tournament.
I'll tell you what, the results didn't go the way I wanted but these quarterfinals have been some of the very best quarterfinals I've ever seen in the WC. All four games were thrilling. What a Cup! I hate that it's being hosted by a shitty country but it's been one of the best WCs ever.
Like I said, VAR looked at it. It was determined that it was outside the box. At that point, it becomes unchangeable. The initial decision of the ref prevails. That's the rule. A VAR decision cannot change a foul / no-foul call that is not a penalty.
@Montegriffo Decisions from VAR are just for goal-scoring plays. Like the cross in the Japan game that resulted in a goal and the ball did not entirely cross the end line. Like whether or not a ball crossed into the goal. Like offsides called or not called that result in a goal. Like PKs that are 80% converted into goals by stats. But NOT for offsides that do not result in goals, crosses with balls going off field that do not result in goals, or fouls outside the box. That's the rule, to preserve the flow of the game. It sucks when it affects a play for a team we root for, but it is the correct attitude otherwise soccer would become American Football with 300 stops for reviews per game and a game would take 4 hours, ruining the flow of the game.
@Montegriffo VAR can also be used to show a red card to a player for egregious offenses missed by the ref. Like, to see if a disabling elbow to the face was intentional or accidental. Given that playing with 10 men often affects the end result of a game, VAR is admissible. The rule of thumb is, VAR is for plays/fouls that affect the result of a game; not for regular fouls or regular offsides.
Giroud and Mbappe need to take of their walking boots, walking around without the is only permitted for Messi CRexit7
@Montegriffo so the process for the Kane foul (and yes, it was a foul) starts by establishing - was this possible foul inside or outside the box? Once it is established that it was outside the box (and yes, it was indeed outside) then the check is over and VAR does not have a further say on whether or not it was a foul. Got it?
Someone needs to buy the bloody ref a pair of glasses. It was a clear foul. I think he's seen the criticism of the ref in the Dutch game and has gone to far the other way. Saka has had 3 fouls on him that have gone uncalled including the one just before France scored. I'm not happy.
Just seen a replay of the foul on Saka just before the goal. He had his leg kicked away from him. Clear foul which led to France's goal. VAR is ****ing useless.
VAR is not useless. VAR has made refereeing decisions more precise in MOST goal-scoring plays. But not all. There is still an element of human error. It's a balance between improving accuracy and hindering the flow of the sport. Soccer is a flowing sport, unlike American Football. So, VAR has improved things but did NOT, by design and by well-thought decision, go as far as eliminating ALL refereeing mistakes, which would be nice for fairness but would ruin the beauty and flow of the sport. It's a compromise but is way better than not having it.
