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Post by DiBiase is Good on May 31, 2018 20:04:52 GMT -5
It’s that time again where the biggest sporting event on the Planet takes over our lives for a month. As the title says, this is for International discussion only. So any warm-up games can be discussed here. Any domestic discussion (transfers, Manager changes, the usual summer bullshit) goes in the 2017-18 thread.
As is the norm with these threads, please keep it friendly. Pride in your country is fine, a bit of gentle teasing about other teams is ok, flat-out xenophobia is not. And just to add a point which hopefully won’t happen (but given the host nation’s less than perfect record in this department it needs addressing), but if there are any racist/homophobic chants by “fans” then please don’t go too far into Politics/Religion when discussing it.
So with two weeks to go until the first match, let’s get started with some predictions. I think if they actually function as a team, France could win it as they certainly have the talent. But it’s hard to see past Brazil or Germany (really sticking my neck out there). My pick for top scorer is Griezmann (again, not exactly sticking my neck out there). Surprise team? Peru.
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on May 31, 2018 23:42:21 GMT -5
I just hope Australia put up a solid effort like they did in Brazil 2014. If we get out of the group, I’d be very surprised.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2018 6:23:56 GMT -5
Both my teams are not in this year, so I won't be watching as much of it as I have the last few times.
Having said that, I'm hoping Iceland does well in their run, and I'd bet on Germany winning their second-straight World Cup.
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Post by The Lach is very tired on Jun 1, 2018 6:40:07 GMT -5
Australia up 1-0 against Czech Republic just before half time. Interesting first 30 mins with the Czechs defending high & Australia hitting them on the break.
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Jun 1, 2018 7:14:36 GMT -5
A second goal for Australia, a first in international play for Nabbout. A stellar season for Newcastle in the A-League brought him a transfer to Japan and one foot into a World Cup squad.
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Eunös ✈
Dalek
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Post by Eunös ✈ on Jun 1, 2018 7:33:52 GMT -5
Teams I think could surprise in the World Cup this year
Egypt - Mohamed Salah has been an absolute star for Liverpool this Season, hopefully he is not to hurt from that Champions League Final... I think Egypt should be able to advance to the Knockout Stages, the 2nd Round might be tough with either Portugal or Spain as potential opponents, but neither team is unbeatable.. So yeah Egypt is my first team to keep an eye on.
Iceland - Rule them out at your own peril, A team that has sky rocketed up the rankings over the past few years, They ofcourse knocked us (England) out of Euro 2016, They finished ahead of eventual champions Portugal.. They have Argentina who came dangerously close to not even qualifying for this World Cup and Croatia who they have beaten before.. Yeah, not a team to look down on.
There may be more but for now these are the 2 that I think could be the surprise hits.
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Jun 1, 2018 7:35:17 GMT -5
Australia up 3-0 now, with a second goal for Leckie. I don’t know if it will make a lick of difference in two weeks time, but a strong, confidence-boosting win here can only be a good thing.
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Jun 1, 2018 7:40:30 GMT -5
Make it 4-0, a cross deflected in by a Czech defender. Australia putting the Czech Republic to the sword today.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2018 8:31:31 GMT -5
Great! Time for a game then. Anyone can do a standard sweep where you pick or get a team drawn. I do it a bit differently. In this each team scores 2 points for every goal scored and loses 1 point for every goal conceded. Pick the team you think will do the best! If the guys you wanted are gone, then pick your next choice, you never know how you'll do. I recall when I did this in the 2010 thread, a few members picked just the last few teams available and did very well with them.
Russia Brazil Iran Japan Mexico Belgium South Korea Saudi Arabia Germany England Spain Nigeria Costa Rica Poland Egypt Iceland Serbia Portugal France Uruguay Argentina Colombia Panama– Senegal Morocco Tunisia Switzerland Croatia Sweden Denmark Australia Peru
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Post by Famous Rocking Chimes on Jun 1, 2018 9:44:37 GMT -5
I just hope Australia put up a solid effort like they did in Brazil 2014. If we get out of the group, I’d be very surprised. What's your thoughts on Tom Rogic mate? Us Celtic fans are in absolute love with the guy, and we're very happy he's signed a new deal with us a couple of weeks ago. Especially since it looked like he was going to wait until after the World Cup and see what happened from there. Always has a moment of magic in him, so I'm personally looking forward to seeing Rogic at the World Cup.
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Jun 1, 2018 9:53:21 GMT -5
Hoping he’s going to carry over that Celtic form and be one of our main strike weapons for this tournament and tournaments going forward, because I can’t imagine Tim Cahill’s got another World Cup in him after this one.
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AdamAFL was sooooo wrong
Hank Scorpio
note to all: he's a pants-less heathen
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Post by AdamAFL was sooooo wrong on Jun 1, 2018 10:27:28 GMT -5
I hate to tempt fate, especially since you rule out Germany at your peril when it comes to the World Cup, but I will be absolutely blown away if anyone other than Brazil win this. Even without Neymar they are just on a whole different level.
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msc
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Post by msc on Jun 1, 2018 10:43:38 GMT -5
Let's go Scotland! Oh, wait. Let's go Chile! Oh...damn. Let's go Italy! You've got to be kidding me! Despite the loss of all the teams I usually cheer on (also read: when Scotland inevitably fail to qualify), looking forward to this one. Will be rooting for Uruguay and all the African sides.
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Post by Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie on Jun 1, 2018 16:27:36 GMT -5
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armbar
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Post by armbar on Jun 1, 2018 17:20:15 GMT -5
Serbia is my team to watch. I don't see any real weaknesses in them, apart of not having a top tier goalie. They have a good solid midfield of Matic, Milivojevic, Milinkovic-Savic and Tadic plus in form Mitrovic up top (yeah yeah, Championship and all. He's been good for them at international level).
Think they'll qualify from their group above Switzerland and Costa Rica. After that everything is possible.
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Post by sshfof on Jun 2, 2018 17:02:45 GMT -5
I picked Brazil out a few months ago as my team to win the World Cup and I'm sticking to it. I think Egypt could go far if Mo Salah is fit in time, so I'll go with them to be my suprise team. Part of me feels England are going out at the group stage to Belgium and Tunisia.
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Post by G✇JI☈A on Jun 2, 2018 17:16:40 GMT -5
One upsetting thing for the Australian coverage is that more then half the matches for the event will be behind a pay wall.
Free to air channel SBS will only show 25 matches all up (including all Socceroos matches, the opener, all semis and the final, plus a selection of other group and knock out stage matches) but they do get the great Martin Tyler to call the matches.
If you want all matches you have to subscribe to Optus Sports. I don’t know how much it is. I don’t think it’s like Seven’s Olympic app where you pay a one off $20 and get access to everything during the event. Quick research: it’s 14.99 a month, free if you already have Optus a phone or internet plan.
Since I love this event I many consider it. May give it a look during a week off I’ve got coming up.
But I’m surprised no one has made a big fuss over this here. I guess cause of the Socceroos deal, and that nations with large communities here like Italy and The Netherlands did not make it.
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Post by Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie on Jun 2, 2018 19:17:14 GMT -5
and the scotland give another soft-ish goal against the mexicans, nicely placed though 1-0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2018 19:49:39 GMT -5
I'm gonna finalize how I think the tournament will go down in the next week (a quick glance has me saying Germany over Brazil in the finals), but right now part of me thinks Saudi Arabia is gonna play spoiler in Group A. Like they'll wind up tying one of the teams and that'll be the difference between making the round of 16 and going home.
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Post by Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie on Jun 2, 2018 20:56:33 GMT -5
and that's how we finish in the azteca mexico 1-0 scotland
could have been more, they hit the woodwork twice and a goal chopped off, plenty of shots over the bar and our goalie saved twice right at the start of the second half!
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