Messi is still just so good. Even if he isn't as quick anymore they constantly need at least two players on him.

Argentina missing a few chances now, first Messi then Alvarez misses a 1v1. Mexico fans must be in agony.

Fuck me Molina is atrocious. Guy has turned down every single crossing opportunity to cut back inside and pass back.

Laturo missed huge chance

Argentina have missed about 5 1v1s ffs.

Saudi score

Funny thing is Mexico still need the same goal to go through. Nothings changed for them

Hate that Poland went through , so negative in that last game. Hope France thump them

Just seen that Mexico freekick. What a fucking hit.

Poland without fail always end up being the worst team to watch in internationals.

Claudius wrote:

Denmark are awful mate. Have you watched them this tournament. Might as well have been an OMIT 11 with Jones in goal

Why you trying to throw shade big man

Btw considering the soft penalties given to Messi tonight and for Portugal the other day, how was that Mexico player being manhandled or a penalty? Wtf?

Reckon I doomed Australia to its greatest success ever when I decided to boycott this World Cup.

jones wrote:

Claudius wrote:

Denmark are awful mate. Have you watched them this tournament. Might as well have been an OMIT 11 with Jones in goal

Why you trying to throw shade big man

Don't give him an opportunity to respond with "so you admit I'm the bigger man?"

Burnwinter wrote:

Reckon I doomed Australia to its greatest success ever when I decided to boycott this World Cup.

Come to think of it, aren’t you fed up with the Premier League too?

Burnwinter wrote:

Reckon I doomed Australia to its greatest success ever when I decided to boycott this World Cup.

Yeah same here Burnsy. Though it's gonna be a real test of my ethical convictions when we reach the final.

Mirth wrote:

Come to think of it, aren’t you fed up with the Premier League too?

Nah, comes and goes but I'm pretty obsessed with it last couple of years, although I'll rarely watch non-Arsenal matches. The argument money's ruined it has never resonated with me, I find that aspect morbidly fascinating and we've always been a rich club.

Even this "boycott", although I do think it's an atrocity what Qatar does to migrant workers, is half because I was getting so obsessed with Arsenal's progress I thought it'd be sensible to take a breather from footy during the Cup.

Daz wrote:

Yeah same here Burnsy. Though it's gonna be a real test of my ethical convictions when we reach the final.

Australia actually winning it would disgust humanity for years.

Big Willie wrote:

jones wrote:

Why you trying to throw shade big man

Don't give him an opportunity to respond with "so you admit I'm the bigger man?"

I mean, he basically did
I’m so pissed off by Denmark, chaps. We should have two African teams through already. But Tunisia needed to pull themselves up their bootstraps. You can’t depend on handouts.

MistaT wrote:

Clrnc wrote:

In terms of players that impressed/surprised me the most so far:

Turner
Saud Kim MJ Gavrdiol Talbi Estupinan
Mitoma Eustaqio Enzo Buchanan
Gakpo

Kudos, Aguerd, Taremi, Alexis Vega deserves a mention too.
Hope Chelsea don't get Gavrdiol, that guy is phenomenal in defence absolutely unbeatable 1v1

Odd that you saw something in Eustaqio. I thought he was bang on average, and a huge part of the reason Canada's midfield was found missing. He could be tidy in a 3 man midfield, but is completely lacking for a 2 man midfield. 

Gakpo has certainly broken out, and it's been coming. If Martinelli's contract talks ever broke down he'd be a great buy, think there's a little more to him than Mudyrk. 

Perhaps you were already impressed by him Clrnc, but Tyler Adams has been an absolute stud. In terms of overall impact on a team, he's up there with the true world class players....note, not saying he's world class, but his impact has been. 

Yeah I do agree on your point about him in a 2 man mid, but I thought that was more of a structural problem by Canada than his own fault as he was certainly very impressive against Belgium and I have never actually heard of him before this.

Adams is a known quantity so didn't surprise me much but he's easily the best of the US trio

Gakpo being converted to a CF by LVG is a masterstroke. Think he will be a better CF than a LW

Big Willie wrote:

Funny thing is Mexico still need the same goal to go through. Nothings changed for them

The players didn't know that. They gave up after the Saudi goal. Insane how many chances or open areas to score and fluffed their lines, could easily be 4 or 5 goals for Mexico. Lozano too selfish.

Martino got to go. Worst Mexico team of the last 20 years

Yeah, Federation Square is a weirdly successful concept at these times!

I feel like the space cops a lot of shit, but if you go to any city that has an "agora" it's empty 99% of the time.

The Tony Armstrong video reacting to the penalties against Peru to qualify is iconic (skip to about 1:40, the OMITT YouTube embedder doesn't respect timestamps)

I like how Armstrong pretty much creates the riot himself

Don't think I've ever been physically at a legendary Australian sporting success. I've seen utterly insane stuff in Ho Chi Minh and Cappadocia in the past, hundreds of kids surfing on scooters, 44 gallon drums being set on fire etc …

Asterix wrote:

Daz wrote:

Yeah same here Burnsy. Though it's gonna be a real test of my ethical convictions when we reach the final.

So amazing for Aussie football. Just wonderful. Even with the French being surrender monkeys and trying to get their language brothers through. We don't do it the pretty way but who cares. 

Amazing scenes in Melbourne too - we need a public square in Sydney.

Gonna be a good match against Argentina.

Harry Souttar has been incredible. Where did he come from?

[Twitter]

Looking great for us.

Claudius wrote:

Incredible for Saliba that he was the very last outfield player to get a run out.

Good for him (us) I think. Should keep him humble and hungry.

flobaba wrote:

Claudius wrote:

Incredible for Saliba that he was the very last outfield player to get a run out.

Good for him (us) I think. Should keep him humble and hungry.

There is a bit of a coming down to earth from all that early season hype where some basically figured we had peak Maldini. I’m glad he got his minutes. He’s so far down the pecking order, i imagine these are his last minutes. But France will do well and he would’ve been a part of that.

Based on the last two years, one can only expect he will put his head down and keep pushing to get better. Upamecano has been great this season, but there’s no reason why he can’t jump ahead of the other chaps.

Claudius wrote:

flobaba wrote:

Good for him (us) I think. Should keep him humble and hungry.

There is a bit of a coming down to earth from all that early season hype where some basically figured we had peak Maldini. I’m glad he got his minutes. He’s so far down the pecking order, i imagine these are his last minutes. But France will do well and he would’ve been a part of that.

Based on the last two years, one can only expect he will put his head down and keep pushing to get better. Upamecano has been great this season, but there’s no reason why he can’t jump ahead of the other chaps.

Poor chap gets mismanaged wherever he goes.

Seriously though, Saliba is only 21 and I'm guessing is the youngest CB in the squad? It's normal for managers to be a little restrained with young defenders, regardless of talent.

He'll secure a spot soon enough.

Exactly. National team managers have a shit job. This conservatism is not unusual. See how players like Reyna, Martinelli, etc are all sitting down despite their abundant talent. It's nothing to worry about.

Belgium benching Eden Hazard when they need a win, that's how far he's fallen. He was overrated in the PL in my opinion, but he was still a very good player.

Belgium looking to Trossard as their saviour in time of need. Golden generation my dick

Lol. I was just writing about how brainless Carrasco is and he gives away a penalty 

What a shithouse team.

Lukaku still shit at finishing I see

Canada unlucky not to be tied 2-2

Lukaku bottling it when it matters once again

Mirth wrote:

Lukaku bottling it when it matters once again

and again.