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International Soccer/Football & UEFA Champions League

Athena

By Athena
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AimingforYoko
AimingforYoko

Take that, colonizers!

AimingforYoko
AimingforYoko

In sad news: Pele no longer responding to chemotherapy, moved to palliative care.

AimingforYoko
AimingforYoko

American soccer reporter Grant Wahl dies in Qatar. Man, 48 is way too young. I remember his work for SI. R.I.P.

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EverCat

EverCat

I missed both those matches but yesterday I did watch one of the strangest games I ever saw.  Croatia v Italy in an empty stadium (for sanctions against Croatia):

First half - Croatia awarded penalty...Buffon parries.  The Pharoah scores for Italy, which is unrightly ruled offside.  While the players are celebrating/arguing with the officials, Croatia resume play and score a goal at the other end...where Mandszukic, slid into Buffon who had to be substituted at half-time for 10 stitches to his knee.   Also at half-time it was discovered that a swastika had been etched into the field.

 

How was the Aremenia v Portual match?  

 

Anyone watching Copa América?

wanderingstar

wanderingstar

(edited)

Neymar needed to have an epic performance because at the back? Hoo boy - Brazil (or should I say David Luiz) was having issues*

How was the Aremenia v Portual match?

Depends on your preferences. Do you like underdog stories (Armenia took a shock lead in the first half), or do you like one-man shows from Cristiano Ronaldo (he had a second half hat trick)?

The England v. Slovenia game had two great goals from Jack Wilshere, so I'm sorry to have missed that.

As for the Copa America - Chile and Mexico are playing the best game of the tournament so far. Mexico twice had the lead, and now it's tied 3-3 with about 4 minutes left.

*and I say this as an unabashed David Luiz fangirl.

Edited by Gillian Rosh
Dandesun

Dandesun

I'm pretty much always happy when Brazil loses. I always feel like 'well, everyone in the world is rooting for them already, I don't need to!' I'm usually pretty meh about them.

 

And, yesterday, having Colombia beat them was particularly delightful. I enjoyed them so much in the World Cup and that game against Brazil was brutal. And having David Luiz grab a crying James Rodriguez after the game, pointing at him all 'acknowledge this star that we just spent 90 minutes kicking the shit out of! Yay! Sportsmanship!' Ugh. (Okay. I do not like David Luiz, either.) So getting a little bit back in the Copa America felt good to me.

 

Plus, Neymar getting all petulant was a bonus.

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wanderingstar

wanderingstar

The UCL group stage draw.

 

Group A
PSG
Real Madrid
Shakhtar Donetsk
Malmo

 

Group B
PSV
Man. United
CSKA Moscow
Wolfsburg

 

Group C
Benfica
Atletico Madrid
Galatasary
Astana

 

Group D
Juventus
Man. City
Sevilla
Monchengladbach

 

Group E
Barcelona
Leverkusen
Roma
BATE Borisov

 

Group F
Bayern
Arsenal
Olympiacos
Dinamo Zagreb

 

Group G
Chelsea
Porto
Dynamo Kyiv
M. Tel Aviv

 

Group H
Zenit St. Petersburg
Valencia
Lyon
Gent

proserpina65

proserpina65

Who the hell knows dude...genuinely not sure what to feel right now. Disappointment that Bayern lost, or happy that Arsenal won? Guess it should be Arsenal winning since that'll probably be their high point in the CL this season. XD

I'd give you hell for saying that, but I've been an Arsenal fan for a long time now.  I've refused to get my hopes up ever since 2011 when Arsenal won the first leg against Barcelona only to completely fall at Nou Camp.  That was the season when everything fell apart in March.  I hate March.

JustaPerson

JustaPerson

(edited)

 

I'd give you hell for saying that, but I've been an Arsenal fan for a long time now.  I've refused to get my hopes up ever since 2011 when Arsenal won the first leg against Barcelona only to completely fall at Nou Camp.  That was the season when everything fell apart in March.  I hate March.

I haven't even been a fan for very long, but my optimism for Arsenal is pretty much gone by now. I love them, I really do, but hope and...confidence....is dangerous lol. I always assume the worst when it comes to them XD

 

ETA: But excited for the confidence this win will give them! Bayern will be fine -- they don't have the same mental fragility that Arsenal seems to have. 

Edited by JustaPerson
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kdm07

kdm07

kdm07, I don't know how to feel about my Real Madrid this season. They're winning, but I can't say they've been enjoyable to watch.

 

I just feel...frustrated. Take last weekend's game. They were cruising at 2-0 and then for some reason he made them fall back and defend. Why? I have no idea. They could've really killed the game off by pushing for more goals instead he made them drop back and it invited Celta back into the game. Something's got to give here.

xaxat

xaxat

(edited)

I don't know much about the sport, so can anyone tell me what the international reaction to the US efforts to prosecute FIFA officials?

 

As a casual observer, it seems like the US has a legitimate case, but is there any perception (outside of Sepp's) that it's sour grapes from a country that has trouble fielding a internationally competitive team/league?

Edited by xaxat
Athena

Athena

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As a casual observer, it seems like the US has a legitimate case, but is there any perception (outside of Sepp's) that it's sour grapes from a country that has trouble fielding a internationally competitive team/league?

 

As a general fan of the sport and without much other research, I'd like to say this feeling is not the a prevailing one. FIFA has had a lot of critics over the years and the corruption scandal does not seem shocking in light of the recent decisions with Qatar as host. I'm personally glad this  is happening and hope that good things can come out of it. The fact that the USA is doing this does not bother me really, and they are one of the few powerful to really shed light on it and do something about the prosecution.

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ganesh

ganesh

Given that there's only a few other nations who have qualified consecutively for the WC since 1990, and that the USAMNT advanced out of the group stages for 2 WCs in a row for the first time ever, *and* lost in the round of 16 in extra time both times, not to mention one of the top tier teams in the world needed effectively a hail mary from literally the best player in the world just to salvage a draw, I'd say 'trouble' is a little too much. Not for nothing, Mexico hasn't gotten out of the round of 16 since 1986. 

 

I'm a little over trashing the USAMNT. Considering the best athletes in the country are playing NFL, NBA, or MLB, being one of the top teams in the second tier of nations is ok. They haven't done as well as they should recently, but losing to the other regional power with 2 minutes left in extra time isn't catastrophic. They also have 4 points and no losses in the WC qualifying stage, and should advance into the hex without too much of a problem. 

So, I don't think that the USA would launch a major international corruption sting based on sour grapes. 

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