2018 World Football Cup - discussion

[bonzo]

Far from it when he plays like he can it's a thing of beauty. But in my eyes the guy is playacting to gain advantage therefore a cheat, look at him to long and he's doon like a Saturday coupon.

[bonzo]

Unlucky Japan but what a goal to win a match

[michaelm]

Neymar, Suarez & Ronaldo are never going to win any popularity votes for their constant diving/ playacting etc, & it does drive you nuts, but surely your not subscribing to these guys that they aren’t world class footballers? Unbelievably talented players who , even with all their baggage, you gladly pay to see

Leaving Ronaldo and Suarez aside for now. How any sane person could even attempt to defend a cheating scumbag like Neymar after seeing that today - and cite his 'ability' as a defence - is beyond me.

[creamolafoam]

Neymar, Suarez & Ronaldo are never going to win any popularity votes for their constant diving/ playacting etc, & it does drive you nuts, but surely your not subscribing to these guys that they aren’t world class footballers? Unbelievably talented players who , even with all their baggage, you gladly pay to see

Leaving Ronaldo and Suarez aside for now. How any sane person could even attempt to defend a cheating scumbag like Neymar after seeing that today - and cite his 'ability' as a defence - is beyond me.

Where does this hatred of one of the worlds greatest players come from?

[michaelm]

Where does this hatred of one of the worlds greatest players come from?

Surely you must have been on the sauce last night creamolafoam - as neither of the utube videos you've posted there have anything at all to do with the World Cup.
I could post the highlight's of a certain fairly recent 5-0 football result myself, but even I wouldn't be daft enough to wander that far off topic simply as a 'point scoring' exercise.

[michaelm]

Had a really horrible dream last night. I dreamt England had won a penalty shootout against Colombia to make it through to the quarter-final's.

Oh wait ........

[bonzo]

Yes Michael a country ravaged by gun crime and cocaine beat Colombia last night

[exile]

I found myself in the uncomfortable position last night of eventually rooting for England, just because of the s****y South American tactics we know of old but hoped had gone.
Seeing Colombians runnning past the English halfs/backs WITHOUT being scythed down, and knowing the reverse would happen, I was glad that stuff isn't in the nature of players in these home countries, nor in the manager's instructions - their trainer deliberately barged an England player as he walked off at half-time, for God's sake.
Glad they're going back to their benighted country, no matter who beat them.

[bonzo]

If Belgium don't win this now they might never. Their play on the counter attack has been brilliant although they did wain a little towards the end last night.

[Penny Tray]

There's surely something wrong with World football when a Brazilian can play for Russia on account of a decree from President Putin, and within FIFA rules it's still alright .

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/278 ... ak-russian

[bonzo]

PT different sport I know but is that not the same as we did with zola budd in the 80s. As for the irish football team in the 80s and 90s you only had to drink a pint of Guinness to get in.

[Penny Tray]

Bonzo,

I'm old enough to remember when to represent a country you had to be born within its boundaries, and recall families travelling 'home' from wherever they were to preserve that sporting status or, indeed, to avoid the child being eligible to represent another country, particularly one which might cause friction in the wider family .

Personally, I'm uneasy about the "Granny/Grampa" rule but it exists and so be it, and it's widely used in the football world, as you know, particularly by Ireland, and now, sadly, not unknown to Scotland. In these cases however, there is at least a blood-line which traces back to the adopted country.

Fernandes seems to have no connection with Russia other than living in Moscow since 2012, and since he can only speak two words in his adopted country's language after six years, it doesn't look like he'll hang about much longer now that Russia are out of the World Cup.

Zola Budd is a very complex case, involving sporting boycotts and apartheid in South Africa, and to the best of my knowledge she applied to the UK for citizenship on the basis that her grandfather was British. I don't think she was head-hunted.