Sublime to the ridiculous! Game on? Shame that penalty will take the headlines as it's been a good game .
A penalty is just any foul offence in the box, however seemingly trivial. No one would be surprised with a handball given for that block outside of the box.
Never, ever, ever, in a million years, ever, never, ever, should that have been handball. Ridiculous that a referee can look at that and think yeah, that was absolutely deliberate. Nonsense. Add to that the first goal came from a free kick that never, ever, ever should have been given, Croatia can count themselves very unlucky. Having said that, they didn't really create much, and clearly tired in the second half. France the most organised team at the tournament, with a very solid defence and pace on the counter, and with players capable of individual moments of brilliance. It is normally the most solid team that wins these things
Richard Keys says the game should be replayed due to the penalty incident .. Can he ask Andy Gray if the 1984 final should be replayed ?!
I see that as on par with players demanding cards be issued to opponents, which annoys the hell out of me on field.
It was an excellent world cup. Very well organised. Whatever the merits of the goals today a two goal win by France was a deserved result and I have really enjoyed it. Almost a shame to get back to thinking about the horns.
From the replay the referee kept looking at, a couple of seconds before the incident, it looked like a deliberate handball. If you look at the whole replay, you can see his hand went up through balance, and he then was bringing his arm down and towards his body when it was hit by the ball. France deserve the win but their victory was made a lot easier by a soft VAR decision.
One of the best. High quality football, goals and the usual drama. Maybe a bit too much acting at times but then if players are allowed to get away with it they'll never stop sadly.
The refereeing has probably been the least good thing about the World Cup. Players allowed to shout in the faces of referees, refs giving in to shouts for VAR reviews, players allowed to block short free kicks and dive with no repercussion. It's time to use the technology to crack down on this behaviour. If you shout at the referee, it should be an instant yellow.
The VAR petitions from the players are an ugly intrusion. Ferguson’s Man U would have had 5 pens a match. Either a team should be given one VAR appeal a game (a la cricket) or the weirdly garbed 7th & 8th assistants in Stockley Park need to be much more proactive in helping the ref.
There is a Frenchman who will be missing a medal: https://twitter.com/TheRealCosbo/st...cussion/82033/2018-fifa-world-cup-thread/p202
Cricket has got it right. Translated to football, it could be one appeal per team per half and refs able to consult the VAR. Decisions to be based on what's right rather than on whether the ref has made a clear and obvious error. Soft signal by ref to apply if VAR inconclusive
Southgate grooming the successor to his job! It's gonna happen, folks. I actually hope it does, as it's sure to pissoff Tim Vickery
Aid will just be expected to follow how the FA want our kids to play style wise . They might find his cryptic chat and motivation rather different !
A couple of upsets on day 1 - a very good England side (England captain Alex Danson had an excellent game) managed to draw 1-1 against an extremely defensive Indian squad* (Pool B) whilst the much liked USA were surprisingly beaten by the "minnows" of Ireland 1-3 (Pool B). The very good Germans, unsurprisingly, beat South Africa 3-1 (Pool C) and Japan scored two late goals, on the break, to pull back the score to 3-2 against Australia - quite an important result as Australia and New Zealand are in the same group D (for Death) and GD could decide who gets the automatic 1/4 place from this group (the teams in 2nd and 3rd go into play-off for the other QF place). Day 2 Saw the first matches from Pool A with two of the weaker teams (China a supposedly and up and coming team, against Italy) with Italy winning 3-0. The other teams in Pool A played and saw the favourites (and European champions) the Netherlands thrash South Korea 7-0. Also in Pool A the highly rated Argentina beat a, usually strong, Spanish team 6-2. Game of the weekend though was in Pool D where the Commonwealth Champions New Zealand beat the European runners-up Belgium 4-2. *Very interesting goal as it was the result of a tactical substitution - India had a player sin-binned so England temporarily subbed their goalie for an outfield player (or rush goalie) - swapping back once the equalizer was scored.
Aidy is the reason England got to the semis, not stupid Southgate. They should rename Watford Junction to Aidy Boothroyd's Difficult Second Season.
The Under 19s are not quite following on from the excitement of the Senior teams effort in Russia. 5-0 down to France and heading out of the European Championships. Do we have a full strength squad out there as I know sometimes the aged squads get diluted by some of the bigger names staying with their clubs for Pre-season?
I guess they're not the same team anymore since the genius Aidy Boothroyd was asked to step up to the under 20's and then under 21's!!
Was there to see the action on Day 4 (Day 3 was a rest day) both games from Pool D(eath - no "duff" sides). First match (in a "cosy" 30 oC at Lea Valley) was New Zealand vs Japan. NZ (with their one win) just needed another to pretty much guarantee a place in the QF's and came out and started playing a very defensive game - unfortunately the Japanese have become masters of the quick counter-attack and spent most of the first half in the NZ circle and ended up winning 2-1 a shock result. Second match of the day was the strong Ozzies vs the recently beaten Belgium (really odd because of the multilingual nature of the country and team their fans chanting in English). A gruelling match (lots of green and yellow cards) that ended goalless. This makes Friday's matches between Oz and NZ an important grudge match for moving automatically to the QF's and between Japan and Belgium for a the play-offs. The lionesses are playing tonight (20h00) against the US.
The draw between the Lionesses and the US was frantic end-to-end stuff with Danson's stunning goal advantage was nullified by a combination of a pretty good US shot coupled with a frozen English 'keeper. The "other" day 5 match was a a battle between the teams ranked 3 and 6 in the world (and so far that world ranking system this world cup have proven a pretty useless indicator of match results) Germany and Argentina. Two of Germany's three goals came from unbelievably well-hit strikes (the GK had no chance) whilst the pair from Argentina showed their skill levels but it doesn't make any difference if it's beautiful or jammy a goal's a goal. Day 6: Ireland became the first team to qualify directly for the QF's (from Pool B) beating an extremely defensive Indian team by a single "extremely skilful" (aka "lucky") deflection. Both the two "lame ducks" in the tournament (according to the rankings), Ireland and Italy, have soundly beaten "elite teams" (USA and China respectively) showing that it's all up for grabs. Spain finally "switched-on" and demolished, a frankly terrible, South African side 7-1. Day 7: Tonight, in Pool A the Netherlands should beat China (18h00) and going on their past performance, Italy should be looking to beat South Korea (20h00) - the results tonight may show who's favourite to get the Pool A automatic QF place with the Dutch and their +7 GD being an indicator of who that's likely to be. All games live (with highlights of all the matches on BT sport). I urge all forumeers to catch at least one game to see what use of "green card" penalties and rolling substitutions look like in an elite level, fast paced ball/goal sport (two things FIFA are rumoured to be looking at). I like the green card /sin bin and I also really like the referral system - the hockey version of VAR. Each team has the right to refer any "umpire's" (refs - there are two the pitch) decision to the VAR: if the VAR agrees with the referral/appeal the decision's overturned and the team "keep" their right for future referrals - if wrong, and the umpires' original "call" was right they lose their referral rights.
It's in the correct forum and it's in the correct thread. And who'd'a thunk it: someone who's a hockey coach, interested in the widening the sport's participation and has knowledge of how the sports's rules have evolved to produce the exceptionally fast paced spectator friendly game of today would wish to communicate his enthusiasm?
The standard is terrible and the stadiums are empty or filled with free school tickets. Constant irritation on BBC and wobby pages when a new signing is headlined and it turns out to be a ladies team not highlighted in the heading !
No. Members of hockey Clubs had the option to buy tickets for some matches (not England) at discounted rates (I seem to remember the basic cost of a seat at a Lioness was about £80 - take up for them has been fantastic). Those of us involved in running the FLYERZ teams were offered 4 tickets (not England matches) and last month this offer was extended to FLYERZ players. Also: so what about offering tickets to schools (which I'm certain hasn't happened as it would have to be done through local clubs), part of the remit for the extra funding it (Women's hockey) "won" because of the results the Lionesses have been getting is that a the effects of "outreach" and "increasing participation" are monitored very closely/thoroughly. At present there's a lot of discomfort amongst the "grown-ups" over the, ahem, "paleness" of the national team particularly seeing the "high" English/British South Asian participation at youth levels . Last night, as expected the Dutch thrashed the Chinese 7-1 (and China's lone goal should be a candidate for game of the competition). The South Koreans and Italians (very stylish kit) had a reasonably tough game, but the Italians suddenly "upped their game" in the dying minutes of the game missing a "sitter" an then scoring the winning goal. There still another round of Pool A matches to go and we still don't know if the Netherlands have won the automatic QF spot, although both they and Italy are at least guaranteed a "Cross Over" (play off) spot. Today sees Pool C sorted, with Germany requiring just a draw to book their place in the QFs against a very "hot 'n' cold" Spanish team - if they lose and Argentina beat the woeful South Africa (as expected) - Las Leonas will get the top spot. The Pool of D(eath) is still unclear - the only certainty is that bottom of the group Belgium can't top the table - they're playing for a crossover place against Japan (at 18h00) whilst the Kiwis and Ozzies battle it out in a grudge match at 20h00. Both of these matches should be good as everyone's got something to play for.
If it was you'd be seeing mass coverage on the BBC ! With everyone telling you how wonderful they all are compered to those "nasty overpaid and arrogant male counterparts " Rather than stuck on BT with no FTA highlights which is a shame for those trying to develop the game I guess. Anyway looks like England just go into the knock out stages with a late win v Ireland .