World Cup 2018 - No Match Discussions

[triggercut]

If Germany loses tomorrow and fails to advance to the knockout stage, the hive mind is dead in the water. :)

[Rod_Humble]

Its Germany. They wont lose and they will advance.

[Rock8man]

If any of you haven’t seen today’s matches yet, be sure to watch the second halves of both the Iceland-Nigeria match and the second half of the Switzerland-Serbia match. Both are just really exciting football, and incredible displays. Even if you know the result, they’re worth watching anyway.

It was just a fantastic day of football today.

[Lloyd_Heilbrunn]

I have never seen a fall off in quality quite as great as from Mike Tirico and Bob Ley hosting the World Cup review shows to Fernando Fiore hosting them…

[ineffablebob]

Half-time flushing sends Japan's water use soaring | The Citizen

Armchair Japan fans following their team’s 2-1 World Cup win over Colombia risked triggering a plumbing disaster of biblical proportions when millions rushed to the toilet at half-time.

It was a case of squeaky bum time when fans finally tore themselves away from the television earlier this week after a nail-biting first 45 minutes, with water use jumping 24 percent in Tokyo during the break, the city’s waterworks bureau said on Friday.
…
Flushed with joy after watching Yuya Osako bag a second-half winner for Japan against 10-man Colombia in Russia on Tuesday, jubilant fans made another dash for the loo at the final whistle, causing another spike of 50 percent in water use.

[Chappers]

I blame @Left_Empty

[marquac]

Standings have been updated to the end of Saturday’s games. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1upheBSjU4W-yQajry_p6LBWX_2MGMupDDnx8oi7mbVU/edit#gid=917689857

[Rock8man]

After today’s matches, every team will have played twice. The last round of simultaneous group matches start tomorrow. Both the Group A matches at 9am CT, both Group B matches at 1pm CT.

[triggercut]

Michael Mulvihill (mulvihill79)

[BellaConfusione]

That’s a bit surprising, isn’t it? I mean it’s a group game that nobody could have predicted to end with this kind of a bang.

I can understand the English, Brazilians, Argentinians and pretty much all other nations with a bone to pick with Germany in terms of football to watch the match for the possibility of Germany humiliating themselves and getting eliminated, but why do Americans care about this match?

[triggercut]

@BellaConfusione

That’s a bit surprising, isn’t it? I mean it’s a group game that nobody could have predicted to end with this kind of a bang.

I can understand the English, Brazilians, Argentinians and pretty much all other nations with a bone to pick with Germany in terms of football to watch the match for the possibility of Germany humiliating themselves and getting eliminated, but why do Americans care about this match?

There are a bunch of people in the US who follow the Bundesliga in general, and Bayern in particular. Plus…Germany are a marquee team in the World Cup, and there could’ve been plenty of fans tuning in–especially in the second half, with Sweden up a goal–to see if the defending champs were to be dealt a comeuppance.

[Dissensus]

In addition to the above, Germans are one of the largest ethnic groups in the country (they were the largest ethnic group and still might be, but I’m not sure if that’s the case anymore) and it is common practice among Americans to adopt whichever nation’s team their family immigrated from as a secondary team. Plus, it was on during the afternoon on a Saturday when nothing else of much interest airs and well before people go out for dinner or drinks.

I am surprised it outdrew all of Mexico’s matches, however.

[marquac]

So the Swiss might have a problem on their hands with the goal celebrations from Xhaka and Shaqiri. BBC Article

[Rod_Humble]

Rightfully so imho.

I mean I have sympathy for their cause but just about every country in the world cup can claim some kind of injustice done to them by another country also playing. Its best to just leave it and let the football hopefully be a way to heal, not aggravate such wounds.

[rho21]

Here are the prediction contest standings as I reckon them at the end of the second round of group matches:

Pool 1

Player	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Dissensus	30	18	4	8	51	28	58
CraigM	30	14	2	14	42	33	44
Ex-Swoo	30	13	5	12	44	44	44
Clay	30	12	5	13	36	37	41

Pool 2

Player	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Dave Perkins	30	17	4	9	49	30	55
Madmarcus	30	17	2	11	48	29	53
Thraeg	30	15	4	11	37	31	49
BellaConfusione	30	15	4	11	48	35	49

Pool 3

Player	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Seppey	30	17	6	7	52	34	57
ddtibbs	30	13	2	15	40	43	41
Chappers	30	12	4	14	41	35	40
ineffablebob	30	11	4	15	44	53	37

Pool 4

Player	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
The Murawskis	30	18	3	9	52	32	57
scottagibson	30	17	4	9	46	28	55
Armando Penblade	30	16	5	9	48	28	53
rho21	30	14	4	12	40	36	46

Pool 5

Player	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
triggercut	30	18	3	9	51	30	57
Lantz	30	16	4	10	49	39	52
Rock8man	30	14	4	12	42	39	46
rowe33	30	12	3	15	38	46	39

Others

Player	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Best possible	30	21	4	5	58	27	67
Qt3 Hive Mind	30	16	3	11	47	33	51
Worst possible	30	4	4	22	20	54	16

[ineffablebob]

Prince William Commands Press Not To Tell Him Soccer Score

Bet he was happy once he finally sat down to watch.

[Dave_Perkins]

Aw man, no sub-dropdowns so we can see what teams each player has?

;) jay kay, great work!

[Ex-SWoo]

I’m not last anymore! Woohoo!

[CraigM]

Yes, but our troubles are all Poland’s fault.

You heard me Poland, I blame you for everything.

[Rock8man]

One thing that’s perplexing to me is the commentator’s and panelists’ repeatedly pointing out how many goals there have been on set pieces in the World Cup so far. But that’s just how it should be, right? Set pieces are something you can practice over and over and over. The rest of the game, you can practice bits and pieces, but it might never quite come together as you practiced. But with set pieces, you can really hammer home every little element and practice it to death beforehand.