2018 World Cup Great 8 Knockout
Following up on World Cup 2018 Group Stage, Gameday 3 and Round of 16 Knockout...
Portugal failed to show initiative or follow through, allowing Uruguay to hang around like a bad habit and paid the price in the end 2-1. Meanwhile...
A dominant Spain could not close, and subsequently was victimized by an unintentional handball being converted into a penalty kick.
We had predicted to a friend that 4 of the 8 matches would go to penalty kicks. A record three did, with Belgium's 94' winner making us one short.
Hopefully Croatia can put Mother Russia out of our collective misery? Speaking of which, Croatia's Kockasti, with 3 Group D monster wins, struggled against Kasper Schmeichel's Dane's, so one must wonder???
Despite winning 1-1 (3-2), as their goal keeper Subasich outdueled son of Peter with 3 stops, the lackluster showing on both sides of the ball, with 9 fresh starters who rested in the last group match, was anything but impressive. Speaking of which...
Well, it is a woman's sport too. Right? Ah, but the Nattering One is not alone on this. Above, even the ESPN soccer crew are disenchanted with Neymar and FIFA's favorite sons antics. Anyone else care to join in?
Neymar and Brazil just keep rolling??
This is how Neymar rolls or does things??
And finally, young soccer players practicing to be like their "roll model"?
In one of the most rousing matches, Belgium came from down 2-0 vs the Samurai Blue to win 3-2 on a 94' minute goal, earning a quarter final matchup with Brazil.
Question of the quarter finals? If Japan got up 2-0 on a well rested Red Devils defense, what could Brazil do against a tired one?
Certainly not wriggle around the ground acting like little girls pretending to have been kicked in the shins? Hopefully the Red Devils can put these clowns dressed in canary yellow out of our misery?
Somehow we feel that honor will fall to the French foreign legion in the semis. Speaking of which...
Speaking of back or shoulder lines, Uruguay and Hannibal Suarez wearing his officially issued FIFA mouthpiece await France. Moving West...
England had Los Cafeteros tagged but let the coffee out of the bag at 93' by allowing Mina's header to equalize 1-1. Winning 4-3 in the shoot out put some old shoot out ghosts to bed, and also earned the Three Lions a date with the most defensive side in this cup.
Despite having an eye on the Iberian sides, we've been paying close attention to Shhh, don't tell anyone...
As of June 13th, Blue Swede were 200 to 1 to hoist the cup; June 28th falling to 70 to 1 for knockout; then just prior to cleaning out the watch makers, down to 41 to 1 (that's when we finally bought in). Now falling in the quarter finals to 25 to 1, but still the longest shot on the board. Odds courtesy of Oddsshark.
In qualifying Sweden beat France, eliminated the Netherlands, out defensed the Italians in a playoff, and had seven clean sheets. All of this with Zlatan Ibrahimovic having retired in 2016.
In Group play Sweden posted a clean sheet vs S. Korea, Mexico and Germany (until the 2nd half). Shhh, Switzerland is now the 10th victim to be smothered by the Blue Swede clean sheet. All of this without injured star mid fielder Jakob Johansson. England next? TBD.
After going 12 of 16 or 75% in Group play; we managed 5 of 8 or 63% in the Round of 16, as Russia's gift penalty kick win knocked us off our 75% mark.
As for penalty kicks in the quarters? It is quite possible that all four matches go to penalty kicks. If I had to bet on only one, it would be host Mother Russia playing like Maradona's pathetic 1990 Argentine side, by staying in a shell and praying for their only chance in hell of winning, the lottery known as penalty kicks.
And now our predictions, winners in bold, in parenthesis suspended players, after the colon: players playing with a yellow who will not want to miss the semis, pay attention...
1A Uruguay (:Bentancur)
vs.
1C France (MF Matuidi :Pogba, Tolisso, Giroud, Pavard)
vs
1E Brazil (MF Casemiro :Coutinho, Neymar, Luis)
vs
1G Belgium (:De Bruyne, Meunier, Vertonghen, Tielemans, Dendoncker)
---------------------------------------
2A Russia (:Golovin, Smolov, Gazinskiy, Kutepov, Zobnin)
vs
1D Croatia (:Mandzukic, Rakitic, Rebic, Vrsaljko, Jedvaj, Pjaca)
vs
1F Sweden (DB Lustig :Claesson, Ekdal)
vs
2G England (:Walker, Loftus-Cheek, Henderson, Lingard)
As for the semi's and final, more to come, stay tuned, no flippin.
At this point, who do we think will make the final? Hint: think jambon, manchego, vino tinto, tapas, UEFA Champions League and Iberian. TBD.
Das Quinas and La Roja muddling along to advance (Morocco, Iran). Expect Portugal and Spain to step it up in the knock out round.Not gonna happen, as neither Iberian team could side step their predilection for too many touches, nor could they take it to the next level.
Portugal failed to show initiative or follow through, allowing Uruguay to hang around like a bad habit and paid the price in the end 2-1. Meanwhile...
A dominant Spain could not close, and subsequently was victimized by an unintentional handball being converted into a penalty kick.
We had predicted to a friend that 4 of the 8 matches would go to penalty kicks. A record three did, with Belgium's 94' winner making us one short.
We suspect that many of the underdogs in this knockout round of 16, who are outmatched, will be playing for overtime and penalty kicks viz. 1990 Argentina - Round of 16 KnockoutIndeed, the host did so blatantly and was rewarded with a gift goal by FIFA to even the score (1-1). This set up the lottery known as penalty kicks, so that Big Red had a 50-50 chance of advancing (4-3) against a far superior Spanish side.
Hopefully Croatia can put Mother Russia out of our collective misery? Speaking of which, Croatia's Kockasti, with 3 Group D monster wins, struggled against Kasper Schmeichel's Dane's, so one must wonder???
Despite winning 1-1 (3-2), as their goal keeper Subasich outdueled son of Peter with 3 stops, the lackluster showing on both sides of the ball, with 9 fresh starters who rested in the last group match, was anything but impressive. Speaking of which...
Legitimate challenges and the slightest of nudges are penalized with yellow cards and penalty kicks. Hard but honest play is discouraged viz. if you breathe on a Brazilian it's a yellow card.... Brazil benefited from some unique officiating.Despite being dominated in the 1st half, Brazil seemingly handled Mexico 2-0 with a late goal. However, the Mexican coach Osario agreed with our previous assessment, and had some choice words for the officials, which FIFA have attempted to ban. (Full video in Spanish courtesy of Deportes)
"I think the officiating totally favored the Brazilians...It looked to me like their forwards were always looking for the contact and the foul and the referee always protected them. I think the officiating got too involved. "There was a situation where there was a four-minute stoppage and that's a poor example for the world of football and all the children. It's a strong sport, a man's sport and I think there shouldn't be so much acting."
Well, it is a woman's sport too. Right? Ah, but the Nattering One is not alone on this. Above, even the ESPN soccer crew are disenchanted with Neymar and FIFA's favorite sons antics. Anyone else care to join in?
"Absolutely pathetic. But it really is pathetic when he is rolling around as if he is in agony.” - Former England striker Alan ShearerA bar in Rio (Brazil) invented a new drinking game around Neymar’s theatrics, offering free shots every time Neymar falls down. The number of nemes and Neymar rolling videos are countless, with FIFA blocking many on copyright grounds. Can't block this video gif of Neymar's family reunion...
Neymar and Brazil just keep rolling??
This is how Neymar rolls or does things??
And finally, young soccer players practicing to be like their "roll model"?
We find Neymar's acting performances to be less than rousing. On a related note...Jajajajajajajaja pic.twitter.com/0fDyY5maJd— LaGrondona (@LaGrondonaTwitt) July 4, 2018
In one of the most rousing matches, Belgium came from down 2-0 vs the Samurai Blue to win 3-2 on a 94' minute goal, earning a quarter final matchup with Brazil.
Question of the quarter finals? If Japan got up 2-0 on a well rested Red Devils defense, what could Brazil do against a tired one?
Certainly not wriggle around the ground acting like little girls pretending to have been kicked in the shins? Hopefully the Red Devils can put these clowns dressed in canary yellow out of our misery?
Somehow we feel that honor will fall to the French foreign legion in the semis. Speaking of which...
Les Bleus could be dangerousIndeed they can be on both sides of the ball, up 1-0, only to fall behind 2-1, then throttling Argentina for three straight goals 4-2. Having conceded three goals in their 4-3 victory, one wonders about the French back line??
Speaking of back or shoulder lines, Uruguay and Hannibal Suarez wearing his officially issued FIFA mouthpiece await France. Moving West...
England had Los Cafeteros tagged but let the coffee out of the bag at 93' by allowing Mina's header to equalize 1-1. Winning 4-3 in the shoot out put some old shoot out ghosts to bed, and also earned the Three Lions a date with the most defensive side in this cup.
Despite having an eye on the Iberian sides, we've been paying close attention to Shhh, don't tell anyone...
As of June 13th, Blue Swede were 200 to 1 to hoist the cup; June 28th falling to 70 to 1 for knockout; then just prior to cleaning out the watch makers, down to 41 to 1 (that's when we finally bought in). Now falling in the quarter finals to 25 to 1, but still the longest shot on the board. Odds courtesy of Oddsshark.
In qualifying Sweden beat France, eliminated the Netherlands, out defensed the Italians in a playoff, and had seven clean sheets. All of this with Zlatan Ibrahimovic having retired in 2016.
In Group play Sweden posted a clean sheet vs S. Korea, Mexico and Germany (until the 2nd half). Shhh, Switzerland is now the 10th victim to be smothered by the Blue Swede clean sheet. All of this without injured star mid fielder Jakob Johansson. England next? TBD.
After going 12 of 16 or 75% in Group play; we managed 5 of 8 or 63% in the Round of 16, as Russia's gift penalty kick win knocked us off our 75% mark.
As for penalty kicks in the quarters? It is quite possible that all four matches go to penalty kicks. If I had to bet on only one, it would be host Mother Russia playing like Maradona's pathetic 1990 Argentine side, by staying in a shell and praying for their only chance in hell of winning, the lottery known as penalty kicks.
And now our predictions, winners in bold, in parenthesis suspended players, after the colon: players playing with a yellow who will not want to miss the semis, pay attention...
1A Uruguay (:Bentancur)
vs.
1C France (MF Matuidi :Pogba, Tolisso, Giroud, Pavard)
vs
1E Brazil (MF Casemiro :Coutinho, Neymar, Luis)
vs
1G Belgium (:De Bruyne, Meunier, Vertonghen, Tielemans, Dendoncker)
---------------------------------------
2A Russia (:Golovin, Smolov, Gazinskiy, Kutepov, Zobnin)
vs
1D Croatia (:Mandzukic, Rakitic, Rebic, Vrsaljko, Jedvaj, Pjaca)
vs
1F Sweden (DB Lustig :Claesson, Ekdal)
vs
2G England (:Walker, Loftus-Cheek, Henderson, Lingard)
As for the semi's and final, more to come, stay tuned, no flippin.
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