The 2018 World Cup Superthread

Adamocovic

murpho999 wrote: »

Lopetegui sacked by Spain is now doing the rounds.

Press conference incoming.

Apparently they are fuming about the Madrid announcement. Weren't informed about it until he had touched down in Russia and he called them on the phone.

We will wait in see. Madness. Could be a sign of an entertaining WC!

Adamocovic

Now reports saying players have saved his job. Spanish bosses want to sack him but the players have come to his defence. If reports are true.

The Talking Bread

Adamcp898 wrote: »

The Talking Bread wrote: »

What's it to do with Trump or the FBI and he will be long gone by time 2026 comes along ?? Even if he gets second term

Tweeted a not so subtle threat last week that any nation that doesn't support the NA bid may have any US aid or support they receive reviewed. That's what it has to do with him.

Forgot about that. Still a load of nonsense. Idle threats, just a publicity stunt. I'm pretty sure he knows that the WC is heading their way

Adamocovic

Spanish Press conference still delayed. Talk they are having an emergency meeting to sort out what to do. Players don't want the coach to get the sack but president of football wants him out the door.

We will wait and see. I reckon he will be staying. Money on Spain to win now!

Adamocovic

Well f*** me!

I was completely wrong. Spain have just gone and done it!
Sacking their manager the day before the world cup starts. Outrageous start to the tournament!

s3rtvdbwfj81ch

amazing scenes

players wanted him kept seemingly

Adamocovic

Director of Football's Statement for Spain.

“We have to decided to fire the national coach. What we have achieved in getting here is due in great part to him, and we must thank him and wish him luck. The Spanish national team is the team of all the Spaniards. We only found out just five minutes before that he was leaving for Madrid. “There is a way that you must act, Julen has worked in a great way with the team, but we cannot accept how he has acted in this case.”

Cotts72

I presume the Assistant manager will assume managerial duty?? No way someone can just come in and take over

mickmackey1

Scenes.

Adamocovic

Cotts72 wrote: »

I presume the Assistant manager will assume managerial duty?? No way someone can just come in and take over

Ramos?

pjohnson

Cotts72 wrote: »

I presume the Assistant manager will assume managerial duty?? No way someone can just come in and take over

Surely he'd follow the manager to assist at Real no?

Gbear

Go do a cheeky bet on Spain now. Their odds are going to go ape**** presumably but the squad is still brilliant and may well have a bit of fire in their belly.

namloc1980

Love the World Cup!

pjohnson

Gbear wrote: »

Go do a cheeky bet on Spain now. Their odds are going to go ape**** presumably but the squad is still brilliant and may well have a bit of fire in their belly.

Or they might melt like the French in 2010!

DJIMI TRARORE

I'm pissed off now because I've gone all in on Spain outright,isco pott & top goalscorer. Can see a France(2010?) Situation,in b4 me:)

fyfe79

Finally something crazier than Saipan!

I could understand the reaction if it were two club teams involved, but a spat between their FA and one of their top clubs? Very strange. The president must have it in for him, as it can only damage their WC chances. Presumably the players wouldn't care about him joining Madrid after the tournament, why would they? They'd understand how modern football works and would be just focusing on winning the tournament. Without the manager that brought them there, surely their chances have now been affected?

DJIMI TRARORE

Imagine Iniesta as player coach/manager,Saipan might be down to no.2 in WC **** ups

StringerBell

Bit silly for Spain to sack the manager on the eve of the WC regardless of what will happen after the WC?

murpho999

fyfe79 wrote: »

Finally something crazier than Saipan!

I could understand the reaction if it were two club teams involved, but a spat between their FA and one of their top clubs? Very strange. The president must have it in for him, as it can only damage their WC chances. Presumably the players wouldn't care about him joining Madrid after the tournament, why would they? They'd understand how modern football works and would be just focusing on winning the tournament. Without the manager that brought them there, surely their chances have now been affected?

Sapain is an anagram of A Spain, so it was already forecast in 2002.

Benimar

The United bid of USA, Mexico and Canada win the 2026 vote.

murpho999

Benimar wrote: »

The United bid of USA, Mexico and Canada win the 2026 vote.

SlickRic

Benimar wrote: »

The United bid of USA, Mexico and Canada win the 2026 vote.

i wonder why?

Adamocovic

fyfe79 wrote: »

Finally something crazier than Saipan!

I could understand the reaction if it were two club teams involved, but a spat between their FA and one of their top clubs? Very strange. The president must have it in for him, as it can only damage their WC chances. Presumably the players wouldn't care about him joining Madrid after the tournament, why would they? They'd understand how modern football works and would be just focusing on winning the tournament. Without the manager that brought them there, surely their chances have now been affected?

It seems to be largely to do with the Presidents ego and pride being bruised.

Poor form by Madrid and Lopetegui but sacking him at this point is madness, considering the players didn't want it to happen too.

I understand he's annoyed, Lopetegui just signed an extension like 3/4 weeks ago. And apparently went behind his back and only informed him of the move to Madrid 5 minutes before the Real announcement with a phone call. But you have to look at the bigger picture here. It has created a circus around the team and has made things a lot more difficult.

Paully D

Linesmen told to keep flags down during tight offside calls in order to allow VAR to make the decision, per Collina.

Adamocovic

SlickRic wrote: »

i wonder why?

I'm not bad mouthing Morocco, or not intentionally but if it was to win the vote over USA/Canada/Mexico the reaction would not have been great.

We've seen the negative reaction to having a Russian World Cup, followed by Qatar, and then if you followed that with a Country which follows Islamic laws the reaction or backlash would have been very big.

Morocco isn't a terribly dangerous place and can be a lovely country, it's a popular tourist destination. But given the world cup to yet another country with outdated laws would have kicked up a stink for FIFA again.

Another country where they recommend you limit any public display of affection, homosexuality is seen as a criminal offence, and as little as it's enforced sex outside of marriage is against the law.

I reckon the fact they knew what reaction would stem from choosing Morocco. Even with Trump and the waning opinion of USA it would still be regarded as the more popular choice. And apparently their bid was a lot better, which makes sense since they have the infrastructure in place.

LuckyLloyd

SlickRic wrote: »

i wonder why?

Nah, not this time. An appropriate bid won.

Laois_Man

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Nah, not this time. An appropriate bid won.

Can't understand why the USA didn't go it alone!

Mad that Mexico are getting it for a 3rd time since only 1970.

loyatemu

48 teams in 2026 - assume the 3 hosts will qualify automatically, will they remove a couple of places from the Concacaf federation?

also, Spain, bloody hell!

Drumpot

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Nah, not this time. An appropriate bid won.

Do you really believe that? When Fifa are choosing you can never say that. Also, for all The slagging about Russia and quatar didn’t pretty much every candidate try some Sort of “technique” to win votes. Only difference is we all presume the likes of mainstream countries like England are above all that stuff.

And at the end of the day, the candidates for this bid saw how candidates for last 2 bids won. It’s human nature to do whatever you think will get you the result you want.

The most surprising thing for me would be if there wasn’t some sort of questionable incentive involved... FIFA have done nothing to warrant trust. Remember It was the FBI that forced them to change!!!....

SlickRic

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Nah, not this time. An appropriate bid won.

perhaps; but only by default.

Adamocovic

So Spain have not only fired Lopetegui, but have now appointed a new manager Fernando Hierro, rather than caretaker if I'm reading this right. My word. It's all gone mad over there!

Edit: They have said it will be for the duration of the world cup. He was the Spanish National Side's Sporting Director. Wonder if the coaching staff are staying put, would have expected one of the coaches to make the leap.

fyfe79

Laois_Man wrote: »

Can't understand why the USA didn't go it alone!

Mad that Mexico are getting it for a 3rd time since only 1970.

To be fair, Mexico were never awarded the 1986 WC. Columbia had it but had to forfeit because of economic reasons, and Mexico were awarded it because they still had the infrastruture and know-how in place since 1970.

grumpymunster

Paully D wrote: »

Linesmen told to keep flags down during tight offside calls in order to allow VAR to make the decision, per Collina.

Yea read that it makes sense really as players will stop otherwise and there would be total confusion.
The referee's adjudicating VAR will be fully attired as the guys on the pitch as well - que JT comparisons

ArmaniJeanss

Paully D wrote: »

Linesmen told to keep flags down during tight offside calls in order to allow VAR to make the decision, per Collina.

A problem is that VAR only makes the decision if a goal is scored.
If you concede a corner or a freekick from a 'should have been offside but linesman kept his flag down under this new directive' situation then you don't get any redress if a goal gets scored from that subsequent phase.
It definitely changes the dynamic of how you should both defend and attack, though it's arguably easier for attacks to adapt.

upandcumming

loyatemu wrote: »

48 teams in 2026

Bad decision.

grumpymunster

I wonder how much latitude they will allow, from the FIFA website it says

GOALS
The role of the VAR is to assist the referee to determine whether there was an infringement that means a goal should not be awarded. As the ball has crossed the line, play is interrupted so there is no direct impact on the game.

So if a corner is awarded from an offside phase of play can it then be ruled out after the corner has been taken, there is a certain ambiguity in the wording. This then leads to the question what is the time line if an offside player wins a corner almost straight away or 20 / 30 seconds later?

Certainly does change the dynamic of defending but I suppose a line must be drawn somewhere unless they have referees reviewing in real time pretty much everything (which in fairness FIFA do allude to in their world cup VAR website).

NIMAN

upandcumming wrote: »

loyatemu wrote: »

48 teams in 2026

Bad decision.

It is in terms of quality. But gives muck like us more chance of qualifying

the whole year inn

NIMAN wrote: »

It is in terms of quality. But gives muck like us more chance of qualifying

Thats the spirit !!

NIMAN

1 in 4 countries in the world will be at that tournament, bit of a joke.

Trigger

grumpymunster wrote: »

I wonder how much latitude they will allow, from the FIFA website it says

GOALS
The role of the VAR is to assist the referee to determine whether there was an infringement that means a goal should not be awarded. As the ball has crossed the line, play is interrupted so there is no direct impact on the game.

So if a corner is awarded from an offside phase of play can it then be ruled out after the corner has been taken, there is a certain ambiguity in the wording. This then leads to the question what is the time line if an offside player wins a corner almost straight away or 20 / 30 seconds later?

Certainly does change the dynamic of defending but I suppose a line must be drawn somewhere unless they have referees reviewing in real time pretty much everything (which in fairness FIFA do allude to in their world cup VAR website).

I always thought they would look back to the lead up to the goal. The last 2/3 passages of play.

It’s still an incorrectly awarded goal, so if an offside player took a shot saved/blocked for a corner, and the team scored from the resulting corner, surely the VAR would already have enough time to pass on their decision and it could be made immediately.

citytillidie

NIMAN wrote: »

It is in terms of quality. But gives muck like us more chance of qualifying

Not really Europe gets 3 more spots

grumpymunster

astradave wrote: »

I always thought they would look back to the lead up to the goal. The last 2/3 passages of play.

It’s still an incorrectly awarded goal, so if an offside player took a shot saved/blocked for a corner, and the team scored from the resulting corner, surely the VAR would already have enough time to pass on their decision and it could be made immediately.

You would sort of hope so, there has always been these bland statements that the benefit of the doubt should be given to the attacker. Fair enough but that could also punish the good defender so if VAR is implemented well its always best to come to the correct decision. As offside is a clear decision it should be possible to get the right decision - if it comes down to a matter of microns then fair enough give it to the attacker.

ERG89

NIMAN wrote:

1 in 4 countries in the world will be at that tournament, bit of a joke.

Even then Canada are nowhere near that level.

jay0109

Any papers still to put out a wallchart? Never even crossed my mind to get one until the young lad asked me yesterday eve!

citytillidie

jay0109 wrote: »

Any papers still to put out a wallchart? Never even crossed my mind to get one until the young lad asked me yesterday eve!

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/44445097

jay0109

Thanks, I downloaded that 1 earlier but couldn't get it to print in A3 format. It'll do him I suppose.

Am actually looking for the more plasticky type ones that come in the papers, it's more likely to take rough treatment from a 7yo.

citytillidie

jay0109 wrote: »

Thanks, I downloaded that 1 earlier but couldn't get it to print in A3 format. It'll do him I suppose.

Am actually looking for the more plasticky type ones that come in the papers, it's more likely to take rough treatment from a 7yo.

Think most have given them out now, someone said Paddy Power have them in betting shops or you may have to look for football magazines like Match or something to see if they have one

The Talking Bread

Drumpot wrote: »

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Nah, not this time. An appropriate bid won.

Do you really believe that? When Fifa are choosing you can never say that. Also, for all The slagging about Russia and quatar didn’t pretty much every candidate try some Sort of “technique” to win votes. Only difference is we all presume the likes of mainstream countries like England are above all that stuff.

And at the end of the day, the candidates for this bid saw how candidates for last 2 bids won. It’s human nature to do whatever you think will get you the result you want.

The most surprising thing for me would be if there wasn’t some sort of questionable incentive involved... FIFA have done nothing to warrant trust. Remember It was the FBI that forced them to change!!!....

So what if there was. The best and most appropriate and infrastructure ready bid won. That's the point the poster was making. I doubt many bribes were required to ensure that they got it.

There is a huge difference between Qatar' s victory and this one.

eh i dunno

jay0109 wrote: »

Thanks, I downloaded that 1 earlier but couldn't get it to print in A3 format. It'll do him I suppose.

Am actually looking for the more plasticky type ones that come in the papers, it's more likely to take rough treatment from a 7yo.

Free mag and wall chart in tomorrow's herald.

Will I Am Not

Anyone else think the Nigeria kit is horrible looking? Everyone seems to be going on like it’s the best kit ever made.