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who knows maybe their small black population have better things to do than kick a football? I get your point though, but it's hard to say. It's the other way for Brazil (blacks are overrepresented in the NT), and I don't think that's a good thing; they are underrepresented in congress for ex. --- All in all, I think Argentina deserved the win and outplayed France for most of the game. Had Pogba, Kante, and Bezema been available and fit, things could've been different. Kante would have helped in that first half, for ex. I thought Giroud's age showed big time in the final. It was a game for different energy levels. And Dembele for me, what a stupid player. 🙂 Was a reminder why I don't like him as a player. Younger players always struggle in decisive penalty kicks -- it's not very complicated. 🙄

Best I’ve ever watched for sure.

We are talking about different things here: we are not really questioning his skill here (also fair game), as in goal scoring, but rather his level of dedication when playing for Chelsea vs playing for Morocco. That's all.

That's indeed the impression I get from him when he plays for us. On the other hand, it seems the guy does a lot socially, esp helping the poor, but I guess that's really not that connected to the his on-pitch persona. Sometimes a player simply lacks aggression, which can more or less be a detriment depending where he plays; it's usually more of a problem in the PL eh. And then again we saw what we saw at the World Cup... so, Ziyech, what the fuck?! 😆

Morocco is all motivation and physicality--refs have been allowing a lot of that in this WC--but they just lack overall quality esp near the opposition goal. You can see that they are powerful athletes who rarely lose 50/50s and that makes a difference in volume of play. With that out of the way, the game could've been made easier had Giroud been, well either Giroud of the past or Benzema, and put one of those sitters away. It did feel that Mbappe was always one run away from connecting a counter though. Happened late, but you could see how much easier it is for France to score a goal. For Sunday, it's just too close to call for me. Finals are usually tight games, and both teams have players who one their day can make a difference. Like I said before, I think Messi has he edge in tight spaces, but Mbappe is just as dangerous when he gets going. hoping for a great game on Sunday! 🎉 BTW, how to we get ziyech to run like that for us?! 😉

wow what a play by Morocco -- this is a good game actually. Though that Giroud sitter was quite a miss.

they have to push forward which breaks their strategy which has been all out defense eh.

Looks like Morocco isn't missing a lot of players. Reckon (fairly obvious too) not conceding in the first half will be key for them; even if they do concede a goal, they should never move to attack until very late in the game. Of course a second goal would change that posture immediately, but that's the game.

OK now you just want to pick up a fight... 😅! Brazilian girls >>> Argentinian girls! 🤭 (jk they are indeed pretty in their own right 😉)

I could not disagree more. I think this Portugal team is EXTREMELY overrated. Don't think there is a single Portuguese player who *would significantly improve Argentina* perhaps R. Dias and Bernardo Silva, but latter is a player who may not fit the way Argentina play. They have trouble competing physically as they showed against Morocco. Don't be surprised by a blowout tomorrow, btw. I honestly believe this Argentina team would beat Portugal 7-9 times out of 10. They just play at a different tempo... it's like one is a team from Brazil and the other is from the PL.

That's a bit harsh... perhaps fair for a team like Argentina, but he never got a good group around him. CR7 has no shot at winning the WC and that does not diminish him as a player, because it's hard to control how good a WC team can be... too many variables. So, for me a goat he is... best player since Maradona. R9 > CR7 esp before R9's exploding knees. However, for Argentina, yeah Messi won't be as big as Maradona without a WC win. Pele == Maradona == Messi. Ah duh! good point totally forgot that... makes total sense. Even if fitness is improved players are high pressing and that takes a toll as well.

yeah which kante tho. Still, not sure how much a lock there is in a WC final, but yeah France would be much clearer favorites without the absences -- even if I would still give them the edge against Argentina right now. It's going to be tight though, so any detail would be enough to settle it. 60-40... France? 🤷‍♂️ One thing I've learned from several Brazil WC campaigns is that, depth is nice to have (evidently), but only XI play and it takes a very good coach to fully utilize that extra depth. On the other hand, I'm not seeing the need to rotate players as much as before. Perhaps fitness is so more advanced that players are coping with the accumulation of physical matches better than before.

Agreed. It's easier to look at the names in a list and say who plays where and who should be the better side -- that's what the media does every time with Brazil. Like I said before, aside from defense (and Reece), England is also missing someone else in midfield for me, perhaps that someone could've been mount if the coach had tried that. 🤷‍♂️ This is the best England team I've seen in many WCs to be honest. I think it's at lot better than the one Brazil beat in 2002. When we talk about single-elimination WC games--and not long championships--this grit that the Argentines show can go a long way. They are not particularly powerful athletes, so they have to physically compete via aggression. Besides... there is Messi. Messi atm is the hardest player to handle with Mbappe a close second. Mbappe still requires some space to operate, while Messi does not. Brazil had a real problem high pressing. They could only do that for very short periods of time, which was a big problem against a possession team like Croatia. I think Brazil's inability to high press would've make Spain a nightmare for them. Now we only need France to do their job to get the dream final. All fair game to Morocco, they've done a brilliant job, but I know which team the Argentines would much rather face.

well we will see... I think (very likely) France will have an extremely hard time against Argentina. I hope you did not include Portugal in there. 😉

heh never thought it was even close tbh. Been warning about Argentina for a while here... heh just the way they beat Brazil in Brazilian soil was a big warning flag to me. Brazil play them again and my money is on them. Brazil was overrated by the media, as usual.

At this moment Southgate compared to Brazil's Tite is looking like a fucking genius tbh. (it's pronounced TchiChe just to be clear 🙂). Southgate wouldn't have gone with a midfield duo (with one being an adapted CAM) against a trio of Brozovic, Kovacic, and Modric. Or sub defenders (apparently tired) needing to hold to the lead... leaving Fabinho on the bench.... Having useless retiree D. Alves on the bench... I mean we can scrutinize every decision forever (Pedro for Rychrlison, Rodrygo too soon etc). Not to mention the callup which had too many attackers and not enough defenders made by Tite. In Brazil we have name for what Tite built: "um time faceiro." To be fair, coaches are never perfect esp at WC; they make concessions to hold to the group and being able to compete. It's all so very physical and demanding (as we've been seeing) that I suspect the "convincing" part is far more important than we fans deem it to be. Think I've posted before, but I've heard Neymar is genuinely a nice guy and super approachable esp with kids. Don't think he's as competitive as Brazil fans would like him to be, but we only work with what we got.

indeed saka was englands best for me. Btw as a regular critic I thought rice had a good game. France did not block him to be fair, so he had time on the ball other players weren’t allowed, but he did pick up nice passes and was good defensively. england did nullify mbappe which was one good thing the headcoach did tho.

The subs were very late indeed. Even when I thought England was playing well, there was a point where the subs should have been made to freshen up legs and push forward. I think mount was already warming up before the goal btw. not enough time for mount and sterling Tbf.

I think the ref effect was less than what you think, but I take your point. Some of England new stars are a bit young at this stage. They will become stronger players at euros and then next wc. Experience plays a huge part in WC finals … it’s very rare to see young sides in the final.

Thought Argentina and Netherlands was even more physical. Personally I dislike players who look for contact on every play—that’s not what mount did or does, but Kane does that a lot.

Yeah agree to disagree. Game is just like every other wc game so far… lots of contact allowed. just the way football should be played imo. But no, the ref isn’t great eh.

Bellingham tackle was a bad one should’ve been a yellow. Nowhere near the ball.

Pk was soft for me sorry. Thought the first half one was clearer. perhaps England could score a goal not from a pk?

This side of the bracket yes, but against Argentina? Not so sure. The difference between the favs vs no favs is getting smaller by the game. they are all teammates in the clubs they play for eh.

It’s hard to make changes when your team is playing well. No guarantees that whatever you do will improve the team.