The World Cup

[prescotblade]

Think he will get better offers than us. Especially if he shines at the World Cup.
Which he most certainly has.
It’s a shame that we are mentioned with so many players. Knowing it will probably never happen , doesn’t seem to have the money to compete

 

[Richeee]

Just noticed the graphics on todays Germany Curacao game ..they are GER and CUW..am wondering if the graphics man thinks Curacao is spelt at the end with a W

 

[UTB Blade]

The Netherlands players in that kit:

 

[JT89]

Just noticed the graphics on todays Germany Curacao game ..they are GER and CUW..am wondering if the graphics man thinks Curacao is spelt at the end with a W

No, the country codes are defined by the ISO, not just made up randomly by broadcasters.

The 2 digit code assigned to Curacao by the ISO in 2010 is CW, therefore the 3 digit code (used by broadcasters) CUW is an extension of that.

 

[The Crab]

No, he played a really good pass that went straight to its intended recipient.

Edit: Also, commentator just now:

"He's been their best player, Chong. He's been really dangerous, especially in that first half."

He’s been dangerously many times for the Blades, usually to his teammates…

What can’t speak can’t lie though. He’s playing at a World Cup

 

[The Crab]

The Netherlands players in that kit:

I’m sort of relieved that everyone else is seeing this.

Just got a new telly and genuinely thought it was fucked already

 

[The Fox]

Despite the predictions those stadiums look pretty full and officially over 95% occupied,
decent atmosphere too.
Surprised at both given the reports on the weeks leading up to it

I know the popular narrative was to slate this world cup , but its actually so far so good .

Bit like Qatar was I suppose , all turned out ok .

 

[Dkc]

I know the popular narrative was to slate this world cup , but its actually so far so good .

Too many teams that don't stand a chance, too many games and too many 3am kick off times. That's what happens when you spread a tournament over multiple time zones.

It will only start getting good at the knockout stage. Some final group games might provide a bit of excitement but some games will also involve two teams that have both already qualified.

 

[Lord Eddard Muir]

Don't think they are but if England have a game at 3am will I be watching - not a chance.

If Blades had a knockout game at 3am would I be watching - 100%

Would love England to win it but nothing would top Blades winning a proper domestic cup or Premier League title imo

I'd take us winning the Championship over England winning World Cup to be honest.

 

[The Fox]

Too many teams that don't stand a chance, too many games and too many 3am kick off times. That's what happens when you spread a tournament over multiple time zones.

It will only start getting good at the knockout stage. Some final group games might provide a bit of excitement but some games will also involve two teams that have both already qualified.

Not sure how anyone solves the time zone thing but its never going to suit everyone .

I get that there may be some effectively dead rubbers in the group stages , suppose we'll see how that pans out .

Im in 2 minds over the minnows playing , its not always a contest but then again the joy of curacao scoring against Germany or the equaliser for Qatar is part of it too.

Its a bit like a non league side getting dubbed against a PL outfit in the FA cup , when it happens its predictable but the supporters at least get to see thier team at old Trafford or Arsenal for perhaps only once and remember a 5-1 hammering for the rest of their lives .

As a spectacle , despite the kick off times its been a good watch, more than I expected thats all .

My only gripe is hydration breaks.

 

[biggiesablade]

Not sure how anyone solves the time zone thing but its never going to suit everyone .

I get that there may be some effectively dead rubbers in the group stages , suppose we'll see how that pans out .

Im in 2 minds over the minnows playing , its not always a contest but then again the joy of curacao scoring against Germany or the equaliser for Qatar is part of it too.

Its a bit like a non league side getting dubbed against a PL outfit in the FA cup , when it happens its predictable but the supporters at least get to see thier team at old Trafford or Arsenal for perhaps only once and remember a 5-1 hammering for the rest of their lives .

As a spectacle , despite the kick off times its been a good watch, more than I expected thats all .

My only gripe is hydration breaks.

The spectacle to me is much same as any other world cup, theres lots of football but with stupid kick off times for my part of world which makes it a bit shit for me.

 

[ATL Recs]

Chong had one good game for us, the last home game of the season. Wouldn't really describe him as a legend.

Not sure how anyone solves the time zone thing but its never going to suit everyone .

I get that there may be some effectively dead rubbers in the group stages , suppose we'll see how that pans out .

Im in 2 minds over the minnows playing , its not always a contest but then again the joy of curacao scoring against Germany or the equaliser for Qatar is part of it too.

Its a bit like a non league side getting dubbed against a PL outfit in the FA cup , when it happens its predictable but the supporters at least get to see thier team at old Trafford or Arsenal for perhaps only once and remember a 5-1 hammering for the rest of their lives .

As a spectacle , despite the kick off times its been a good watch, more than I expected thats all .

My only gripe is hydration breaks.

Actually they are called CAHB
commercial advertising hydration breaks

 

[SwissBlade]

Not sure how anyone solves the time zone thing but its never going to suit everyone .

I get that there may be some effectively dead rubbers in the group stages , suppose we'll see how that pans out .

Im in 2 minds over the minnows playing , its not always a contest but then again the joy of curacao scoring against Germany or the equaliser for Qatar is part of it too.

Its a bit like a non league side getting dubbed against a PL outfit in the FA cup , when it happens its predictable but the supporters at least get to see thier team at old Trafford or Arsenal for perhaps only once and remember a 5-1 hammering for the rest of their lives .

As a spectacle , despite the kick off times its been a good watch, more than I expected thats all .

My only gripe is hydration breaks.

All the games have been poor which I’ve watched but only watched about half of the games.

These breaks are terrible. Ruins the momentum and feels like basketball

Japan 2-2 Netherlands with a late equaliser for Japan you’d expect it had been a decent game but it was still pretty poor to watch

And the Curacao game, despite the build up and the pundits trying to say that curacao were never out of it, it was nothing more than a friendly.

It’s great for some of these nations to be at the World Cup, no issue with it, but the level so far has been so poor

 

[Lord Eddard Muir]

The spectacle to me is much same as any other world cup, theres lots of football but with stupid kick off times for my part of world which makes it a bit shit for me.

I'm finding the weird KO times easier to deal with than Japan/Korea though, as now you can just turn off notifications to avoid spoilers and stream the whole matches as-live when you wake up in the morning

 

[Uganda Blade]

Not sure how anyone solves the time zone thing but its never going to suit everyone .

I get that there may be some effectively dead rubbers in the group stages , suppose we'll see how that pans out .

Im in 2 minds over the minnows playing , its not always a contest but then again the joy of curacao scoring against Germany or the equaliser for Qatar is part of it too.

Its a bit like a non league side getting dubbed against a PL outfit in the FA cup , when it happens its predictable but the supporters at least get to see thier team at old Trafford or Arsenal for perhaps only once and remember a 5-1 hammering for the rest of their lives .

As a spectacle , despite the kick off times its been a good watch, more than I expected thats all .

My only gripe is hydration breaks.

And hydration breaks in air-conditioned stadia

 

[Varkanoid]

Just noticed the graphics on todays Germany Curacao game ..they are GER and CUW..am wondering if the graphics man thinks Curacao is spelt at the end with a W

Or he hates them and is spelling initials of swear words.

 

[Varkanoid]

And hydration breaks in air-conditioned stadia

AC makes the air quite dry the poor loves.

 

[Antonb]

The water breaks are definitely killing the games stone dead , the yanks are used to it though , there sports have breaks through em

 

[Cheeky Blade]

Not watched one game yet…

 

[The Fox]

I remember playing 7 a side for an hour on hot summer evenings with no subs , no water breaks and 2 mins for half time .

If a load of unfit, old blokes can do it after a day at work , sweat thier knackers off and rehydrate in the pub why cant these so called athletes

 

[Rochdaleblade]

The number of qualified countries has made this a bit like the cricket world cup for me, where the first couple of weeks are largely pointless. Only one third of the sides will be going home after the group stage and you can predict who they may be. Even Scotland could qualify

 

[LBA_Blade]

The water breaks are definitely killing the games stone dead , the yanks are used to it though , there sports have breaks through em

It is the worst thing about this tournament so far, the football in general has been good but I can't understand the need for mandatory drinks breaks unless the temperature is +35C and 90%+ humidity even then they are allowing 5 subs, yes they have brought the law in to speed that up a little bit but in theory there is 2 x 3 minute per half breaks a 15 minute half time break then anywhere up to 10 additional breaks in play for substitutions and that's before the is he or isn't he injured up to a minute stuff that is going on. I would scrap the drinks breaks as mandatory only allowing them based on heat stress indicators (similar to how the armed forces work on exercise). I would reduce outfield substitutions to 3 and have 1 x mandatory GK substitution (doesn't have to be used but needs to be available)

 

[3Cheers4Ramirez]

It's going to be the worst World Cup of all time

Nothing about it is right

 

[Edgar Allan Poo]

It is the worst thing about this tournament so far, the football in general has been good but I can't understand the need for mandatory drinks breaks unless the temperature is +35C and 90%+ humidity even then they are allowing 5 subs, yes they have brought the law in to speed that up a little bit but in theory there is 2 x 3 minute per half breaks a 15 minute half time break then anywhere up to 10 additional breaks in play for substitutions and that's before the is he or isn't he injured up to a minute stuff that is going on. I would scrap the drinks breaks as mandatory only allowing them based on heat stress indicators (similar to how the armed forces work on exercise). I would reduce outfield substitutions to 3 and have 1 x mandatory GK substitution (doesn't have to be used but needs to be available)

Is it so that US tv companies can have more words from their sponsors/more advert breaks like they do with their more established sports?

 

[LBA_Blade]

Is it so that US tv companies can have more words from their sponsors/more advert breaks like they do with their more established sports?

100% for the Fox sports empire although problem here we can't have adverts so have the joys of the commentators and pointless videos from the crowd dancing.

 

[baulko]

The drinks breaks are so obviously no more than Americanisation/money grabbing exercise of the otherwise free flowing game.
Far too many teams and getting bored already. World Cup ruined.
Aussie TV showed replay of 1970 final over the weekend. No drinks breaks necessary in Mexico 70. Much better viewing than the current offering.
Thank heaven we have State of Origin rugby league to divert attention this week. Now, there's a game.

 

[Ndiayewillalwaysloveyou]

Actually been a good world cup so far. No boring slow football with no goals apart from Spain game.

 

[Gimli]

Can I just shock you… I like something that FIFA have done.

The new anti-time wasting rules have worked really well. Amazing how miraculously nobody gets injured anymore.

And would you look at how quickly subs can happen when you have the threat of losing a player for a minute if you take too long.

And of course there must be something magical in the water because I don’t think there have been any goalkeeper injuries at all…

You could argue that the ‘hydration breaks’ negate the need for the keepers to do their fake injuries now as managers get the chance to give players a mid-half team talk but it’s still good to see that there is definitely ways to stop time wasting even if it’s not exactly perfect at the moment.

 

[Edgar Allan Poo]

Can I just shock you… I like something that FIFA have done.

The new anti-time wasting rules have worked really well. Amazing how miraculously nobody gets injured anymore.

And would you look at how quickly subs can happen when you have the threat of losing a player for a minute if you take too long.

And of course there must be something magical in the water because I don’t think there have been any goalkeeper injuries at all…

You could argue that the ‘hydration breaks’ negate the need for the keepers to do their fake injuries now as managers get the chance to give players a mid-half team talk but it’s still good to see that there is definitely ways to stop time wasting even if it’s not exactly perfect at the moment.

Matches divided into four quarters for American sports fans.

Might work for English crowds.We could divide matches into sixths so that our fans can get fag, vape, ale, betting, phone game, cocaine breaks.

 

[ATL Recs]

It is the worst thing about this tournament so far, the football in general has been good but I can't understand the need for mandatory drinks breaks unless the temperature is +35C and 90%+ humidity even then they are allowing 5 subs, yes they have brought the law in to speed that up a little bit but in theory there is 2 x 3 minute per half breaks a 15 minute half time break then anywhere up to 10 additional breaks in play for substitutions and that's before the is he or isn't he injured up to a minute stuff that is going on. I would scrap the drinks breaks as mandatory only allowing them based on heat stress indicators (similar to how the armed forces work on exercise). I would reduce outfield substitutions to 3 and have 1 x mandatory GK substitution (doesn't have to be used but needs to be available)

You forgot bucket of water and a sponge