2018 World Cup

[SHAQATTACK]

im on pins and needles

[SparzWizard]

Croatia flopping left and right. Ugh.

I guess go France!

[gouki88]

Croatia flopping left and right. Ugh.

I guess go France!

Lol, seriously? You’re not really trying to say the Croats flopped any more than any other team are you?

It’s quite hypocritical to be cheering on France with Mbappé flopping all over the place, lol

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Too bad for England—they should've been up 2-0, maybe even 3-0, in the first half; blew some really good chances.

And it seemed to me like the officials really didn't want to give England many calls; numerous fouls by Croatia in the second half and extra time that weren't called.

[Androslav]

Croatian seismological service recorded unusually strong signals.
Forget about those noise-o-meters.
I present you: the seismic-o-activity:

https://imgur.com/gallery/vdgZCjh

The legend:
22:20 Mandžukić scores for the lead
22:37 The Final whistle

[ederson]

Too bad for England—they should've been up 2-0, maybe even 3-0, in the first half; blew some really good chances.

And it seemed to me like the officials really didn't want to give England many calls; numerous fouls by Croatia in the second half and extra time that weren't called.

They have only themselves to blame. Throughtout the tournament staying in the back and lettingthe ball to the opponent  in order to preserve a 1 goal lead was a recipe to failure.

I have some issues with the ref too (lovren did his best the get a red card for example) but i think the result was fair 

[Androslav]

England thought it could win a game in first 10 minutes.
And the game lasted 120 minutes.
They were satisfied with the result, defending and relying on their 100+ year tactic - cross the ball from our own half and hope to hit the target man, and then somehow miraculously ball goes in. They have nice young players, but there are no maestros in the midfield with experience. England rarely has those.
Once we scored and it became apparent that they need to change their game plan, they just folded. Not showing any resilience or versatility. I don't think there is a question who deserved a win, it was plain to see. Their midfield was non-existent, especially since 45th minute and they couldn't even connect 3 passes a row.
I have to give them credit, they were the gentlemen in defeat, their selector taught them well, respect for that.

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

England thought it could win a game in first 10 minutes.
And the game lasted 120 minutes.
They were satisfied with the result, defending and relying on their 100+ year tactic - cross the ball from our own half and hope to hit the target man, and then somehow miraculously ball goes in. They have nice young players, but there are no maestros in the midfield with experience. England rarely has those.
Once we scored and it became apparent that they need to change their game plan, they just folded. Not showing any resilience or versatility. I don't think there is a question who deserved a win, it was plain to see. Their midfield was non-existent, especially since 45th minute and they couldn't even connect 3 passes a row.
I have to give them credit, they were the gentlemen in defeat, their selector taught them well, respect for that.

Well done Croatia. Good resilience and physicality to work your way back into the game and then win it after that 5th minute sucker punch.

[ederson]

For the 33 year old Modric the final will be the 69th game of the season being the creative midfielder for Real Madrid and not a central defender for some average team.  Impressive!

[Androslav]

For the 33 year old Modric the final will be the 69th game of the season being the creative midfielder for Real Madrid and not a central defender for some average team.  Impressive!

You bet he is impressive!
Turning 33 in September.
He is no ordinary MF.
Midfielder, Americans

When you are as skilled, you can prolongue your career. Basically in any sport.
He is also close to a tireless marathon runner, conditioning wise.

You also got me thinking, what would be his NBA equivalent?
And I am leaning to Jason Kidd.
Makes all of his team's and teammates better.
Will play 20 years.
Spacial understanding - thru the roof.
Sports IQ and experience - legendary.
Durable, consistent.
Can score, but not his forte.
Excellent defender, demon in the passing lanes.

He is more laid back kind of a guy the Kidd was. Easier to get along with.
Who, in his book, Bill Simmons described him as a beautiful chick with extra small tits (scoring). Witty and can be pasted to Luka to an extent.
Modrić is not a natural scorer, nor is his long range shoot very powerful. But he, as Kidd (3pt shot), became decent to good at it with years.
As it was evident against Argentina couple of weeks ago.
https://youtu.be/h59FWlvfi5s

His 5 minutes life story:
https://youtu.be/F5I9HsWfd5I

[Who]

Belgium's lack of killer instinct is costing them. They should have finished off England earlier. They were on top and creating chances but lacked focus at the finish. Their lax attitude has invited all this second half pressure from England. They deserve to concede and for this to go to extra time. Maybe even lose if they do not get their act together soon.

[Ogaju]

Croatia  presses and France gets the set piece own goal after a questionable free kick award.

[Who]

Croatia  presses and France gets the set piece own goal after a questionable free kick award.

Sucks. Not looking forward to France defending all game now.

Edit: Oh thank god. Perisic scores! 1-1!

[Who]

I hate to see teams as talented as France be so defensive.

I understand it for smaller teams who do not have the talent of the bigger teams but France has the greatest collection of talent from top to bottom in World Football right now. They should be trying to play better football than they have done in this World Cup.

[Who]

No way is that a penalty.

The France player was blocking his view. Not intentionally. Not at all.

There was no time to move his arm out of the way.