Day 5: Switzerland vs Cameroon | Uruguay vs South Korea | Portugal vs Ghana | Brazil vs Serbia

villain said:
It’s easy to say that, but African nations don’t have the luxury of playing openly without fear. Not only is the opportunity to go to a World Cup a rare one, but the money is absolutely necessary - and often times it’s the best chance for a young & undiscovered player to be put in the shop window and get in a major European league.
Also the fact that all African teams get lumped together is strange in the first place and never happens with any other region or continent.
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Once they're at the tournament, what have the African teams got to lose ? Who expects them to get out of the group stages ? Maybe 1 or 2 teams at max every world cup. I feel like these cagey displays help no one, they're never gonna break the status quo. They're never getting past the QF with a mentality similar to what they display at every tournament. Of course it's easier said than done but it frustrates me to see the same shit, every world cup
 
Sara125 said:
I was screaming at my TV when Ghana almost grabbed one there towards the end. Defo showing they’ve not come to mess around this tournament, not that I expected anything less.
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I was gutted when Kudus came off, at different stages of the game he shrugged off the press from Bruno, Neves and Bernardo Silva and allowed Ghana to transition from the second to the third and fourth phase. And with Ayew coming off that was a major blow in terms of seniority. Going forward, I would like to think Kofi Kyereh, Gideon Mensah get starts in the next two games
 
Phil said:
Has Raphinha been better than Anthony, really?
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I think he's picking what he knows, Antony has been out a few games too.

Jesus is on the bench and he's been great for Arsenal, they'll both have minutes.

Imagine coming up against Brazil, you're getting a bit tired. It's 0-0, and in the 70th minute Antony and Jesus come on.
 
mu4c_20le said:
I wanted him so bad when he was available but for some reason we went for Schneiderlin instead
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Amazing you've spotted him before he's City's.

But Schneiderlin was my wet dream. Didn't know he'd turn so shite.
 
Rasendori said:
I was gutted when Kudus came off, at different stages of the game he shrugged off the press from Bruno, Neves and Bernardo Silva and allowed Ghana to transition from the second to the third and fourth phase. And with Ayew coming off that was a major blow in terms of seniority. Going forward, I would like to think Kofi Kyereh, Gideon Mensah get starts in the next two games
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Andre Ayew is really, he is an old head but he is clearly done starting games. Off the bench would be better for him
 
kouroux said:
Once they're at the tournament, what have the African teams got to lose ? Who expects them to get out of the group stages ? Maybe 1 or 2 teams at max every world cup. I feel like these cagey displays help no one, they're never gonna break the status quo. They're never getting past the QF with a mentality similar to what they display at every tournament. Of course it's easier said than done but it frustrates me to see the same shit, every world cup
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Well Portugal carved us open with 2 goals in quick succession as soon as we shifted the mindset of just going for it.
Also keep in mind that African players are often playing in every corner of the world, very rarely will you see two Ghanaian nationals playing at the same team for example, unlike Portugal, Spain, Brazil, England etc - the only times we really get a chance to build team chemistry is at qualifying matches and training camp.
so it’s no surprise that things like passing, momentum, & chance creation isn’t as slick.
 
Sly said:
2/3 of the team was bad. Bruno was one of the few shining lights. Realistically we go out after group stage and that's it. We need a proper manager and a FA reset that get us rid of Mendes influence
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Otávio and Bernardo did a lot of defensive cover which made our team look a bit better than it actually looked. When Octávio and later Bernardo were replaced (they were both exausted) you could see the team feeling the lack of defensive cover from the front players.

And João Palhinha needs to start ahead of Ruben Neves.
 
Pink Moon said:
More nonsense :lol: Scotland just got promoted to the same league as Portugal in the Nations League. Once again though, since it seems you didn't take it in when I said it before, I do not support Scotland's national team. I don't support any international team.

But congratulations, you have one more honour than Scotland does. You've only got double the population and had some of the best players in the world and that's all you've got to show for it. Pretty poor.

But if you want to talk about honours and irrelevant teams; let's talk about Sporting. How many major European trophies have you guys won? How many European finals have you personally watched your team in? I don't know what age you are but it's likely you've seen your club win only three league titles at most in your life. You're the third biggest club in your own country and you want to talk about irrelevance? Have some shame ffs!
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Conveniently you don't root for Scotland since they are irrelevant losers. I'd root for my country even if they were as irrelevant as Scotland. But it's telling regarding you.

I've seen as many European finals as you unless you are ancient who saw the Lisbon Lions finals. I've seen Sporting reach the Uefa cup final and lost as you lost to Porto. Also saw Sporting eliminate Celtic live at the stadium. We also won the cup winners cup. I'm proud of my clubs history. I would root for them even if they did nothing in Europe. Something you should know since you also root for a club which isn't anywhere near a top European club.

A pity it's not the same regarding rooting for Scotland but you should have your reasons.
 
TheGame said:
He dived, there was little contact at all. It was never a pen and I’m surprised it wasn’t overturned.
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It probably wouldn’t have been called if it wasn’t for the ruled out goal in the first half and the penalty on Felix not being given.

Ref was atrocious all game. The amount of bullshit fouls and forgiven yellows was crazy, 2 minutes added time in the first half and 11 in the second was funny and Seidu not being sent off was a miracle.
 
Isotope said:
Amazing you've spotted him before he's City's.

But Schneiderlin was my wet dream. Didn't know he'd turn so shite.
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When he was at Wolfsburg? Yeah he always seemed class but people still regarded him as a Chelsea reject or PL failure, etc.
 
It never ceases to amaze and amuse me just how upset some people get when other people talk shit about Ronaldo. It's so pathetic.
 
mu4c_20le said:
When he was at Wolfsburg? Yeah he always seemed class but people still regarded him as a Chelsea reject or PL failure, etc.
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Kagawa (and then Mkytharian, probably Sancho also) gave a bad name for attacking player from Bundesliga.
 
villain said:
Well Portugal carved us open with 2 goals in quick succession as soon as we shifted the mindset of just going for it.
Also keep in mind that African players are often playing in every corner of the world, very rarely will you see two Ghanaian nationals playing at the same team for example, unlike Portugal, Spain, Brazil, England etc - the only times we really get a chance to build team chemistry is at qualifying matches and training camp.
so it’s no surprise that things like passing, momentum, & chance creation isn’t as slick.
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All good points. Portugal's third goal could have been easily avoided, that was a bad mistake. I don't see what parking the bus like Ghana did was supposed to achieve. There is playing on the counter and there is what Ghana did in the first half.
 
That's a pretty cowardly lineup from Serbia tbh. Surely you gotta start Kostic and Vlahovic?
 
mu4c_20le said:
How about the part where the hate here is more than someone like Di Maria, who actually loathed the fans and gave it to us at OT?
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What happened with Di Maria is completely irrelevant to any of this. Ronaldo's actions shows he doesn't give a feck about the club or the fans so the reaction towards him is more than justified.
 
The difference in size between Serbians and Brazilians. Serbia should bet on setpieces
 
Got home just in time! :)

Proper nervous. Always have a soft spot for Brazil so hope there is no upset here..
 
Isotope said:
Mkhitaryan
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Thats because everyone assumed he’d be great because of stats and accolades but the people who watched him play knew he would be a solid and serviceable option but not the world beater he was being touted as. It was being said as much all throughout his transfer thread but no one would listen.
 
You could argue Brazil's bench is more balanced and could beat their starting 11:
Ederson
Alves - Militao - Bremer - Telles
Fabinho - Guimaraes
Antony - Rodrygo - Martinelli
Jesus​
 
Think it'll be a 4231 for Brazil instead of 433.
 
Ha, they changed the part of the national anthem that gets played so that the fans can't continue singing it a cappella
 
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