The players that would take England to the next level and be genuinely one of the top teams are not of English nationality.
England did well with the playing resources available to them but would need 2 or 3 real world class types to make a difference-say a Hazard/De Bruyne
type combo.
I'd have to agree with the above. It looked like Trippier was the only one with an idea how to get the ball inside the box. If you had a proper quarterback floating around the centre it'd be a whole different game.
All in all an excellent result and some good potential. For instance Sterling. Some very nice plays, but all too often he froze when he had the ball in a good position. At the top level you need to react instantly. Think for a second like he did and opportunity is lost. There seems to be some sort of a psychological barrier he needs to break through. When he does he'll be great. Be interesting to see the Euros in two years.
Well, that sucks. One goal from a fault that did not exist and then an offside and another from a dubious penalty.
France winning but they don’t deserve to be?
Clear dive led to a free kick and surely handball by accident?
Shame
I reckon England could have beaten France
Avez Les Blues!! Common froggies!
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Some hope
Keeper did a Karius!
The final this excellent tournament deserved.
Cant believe Croatia losing this.
Their keeper could of done better for sure but they have played the French off the park and the scoreline suggests a hammering
Small teams are not supposed to win. You screw them once, you screw them twice, you make sure that they're broken so that the chosen ones will prevail.
Putin under an umbrella, while Macron and Grabar-Kitarović are left standing in the pouring rain.
Someone who lies about the little things will lie about the big things too.
Super final
Penalty decision swung it in France's favour and their quality is such that they don't need gifts like that.
Croatia can hold their heads so high for such a small nation.
A good world cup with no real outstanding team for me but I wonder with the physicality of todays game will we ever see a team like Brazil(82) again-I know they didn't win it but will live long in the memory.
Argentina 1986 another outstanding team for me.
Spain 2010 were the best international team I've ever seen.
Hard to argue against the final placing of the top four teams.
France have been entertaining pretty much throughout, Croatia have had a superb World Cup, Belgium looked threatening all the way through, and England played well above expectations.
Well that’s it. I’m so sad and melancholic now it’s all over.
What the fc@k am I going to do with my life now.
@ noTAGlve - Try left hand?
Anyhoooo.. Viva la France! Well done guys, wholehearted congrats! Please do not dance on ambulances that's an affliction of people with no class and no manners..
Last edited by VDG; 15th July 2018 at 19:11.
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Fully European semifinals is good too. Rest assure that if you look at the bigger picture, football has come home. 3 of the last 4 share a border.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Glad that's done for another few years.
Congrats to France. Better overall.
Might be (crap, that is). I got really pissed off at how both first goals just 'happened'.
As for conspiracies, I don't believe there're dark people in dark rooms, etc. But I do believe that, when it could go either way, it usually goes towards the first class citizens.
Connard.
Monsieur Connard pour toi.
Et Monsieur Connard est champion du monde.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Tempers gentlemen, tempers.. 'We' love you all
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Good to see that the thread has escalated nicely with some name calling.
I did not watch the game (for that is what it is), but my congratulations to France who really did bring the World Cup home https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA...s_Rimet_Trophy.
Well done
Last edited by Andyg; 16th July 2018 at 20:42.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
It's only a game.
Paris celebrations turn violent on the Champs Elysees - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-44844447
There's idiots in every country, it doesn't mean they represent the majority.
Link
No doubt someone will find this a reason to have a pop at the London's mayor.
ICYMI
LINKHow Croatia's World Cup party highlighted 'fascist nostalgia'
In jubilant scenes last month, 550,000 Croatians celebrated on the streets of Zagreb after their team won second place in the FIFA World Cup.
Croatia's performance was considered an outstanding achievement for an underdog team from a small Balkan country with a population of four million.
But in less than 24 hours after their final match in Moscow, Croatia found itself divided over the country's past.
The euphoric atmosphere turned sour for some as nationalist singer Marko Perkovic "Thompson" performed on stage during the parade in Zagreb, invited by Croatia's football team.
Thompson, nicknamed after the submachine gun he was given when he joined the Croatian National Guard in 1991, has been a divisive figure for years.
Many of his songs glorify Croatia's Ustasha regime, one of which opens with "Za dom spremni!", translated as "Ready for homeland!", the Ustasha equivalent of the "Sieg Heil" Nazi salute.
The Ustasha were Croatian fascist nationalists who fought alongside Nazi Germany under the leadership of Ante Pavelic, who governed the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) from 1941 to 1945.
During this time the Ustasha set up death camps for Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti-fascist Croatians, including the notorious Jasenovac concentration camp, the largest in the Balkans, in which around 100,000 were believed to have died.
Lest we forget.
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