I think a combination of slow but very large goalkeeper, and smaller but very nimble Martinez.
Like how Martinez saved the 1st penalty of the shoot out. Beautiful.
A buddy texted to remind me that for some reason the Argentines didnāt bring on Dybala with a couple of minutes before PKs. But hey, it worked out ok for el Albiceleste.
Man watching the after match commentaryā¦ I think Holland could have won this.
Anyway, I think tomorrow England start strong against France, the game gets into a stalemate, Englandās centre gets exposed and France win 2 - 1.
Then again, I expected Brazil to win, and I think I predicted Holland to win ā¦
So maybe my prediction of an England loss will also be wrong.
I was also pessimistic against Senegal, and we thrashed that.
Petey
1687
My wife hates sportsā¦hates that I like, watch, play sports. Until her home country Croatia made the semisā¦now I never hear anything elseā¦so Iām trying to ignore her as much as possibleā¦payback.
Iām hoping for a 1982 repeat where England score after 20 seconds and then win 3-1.
Kinda dickish celebration from Argentina at the end of the shootout.
What a majestic pass. Messi in the MLS is going to be insane:
Holy shit. Grant Wahl died today in Qatar covering the Argentina - Netherlands match.
This was his last story, yesterday:
His brother believes Wahl was murdered.
āI am the reason he wore the rainbow shirt to the World Cup,ā Eric Wahl said in his post, noting he is gay. āMy brother was healthy. He told me he received death threats. I do not believe my brother just died. I believe he was killed.ā
Yeahā¦but.
His brother wasnāt with Wahl when he died, and is speculating.
And I can (sadly) tell you from firsthand experience, twice, that sometimes men in their late 40s and early 50s who appear to be robustly healthy and in fantastic shape can simply collapse and die of a massive heart attack.
I will say this: if foul play is found to have happened, Qatar just got themselves into a whole world of shit. Wahlās wife is Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist who has been a special advisor to the Biden White House on Covid. She has already been talking to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain.
Agree on all points. Itāll be fascinating to see how this plays out. Itāll be a shit storm.
Gotta imagine the FBI will be involved. They are tasked with investigating deaths of American citizens overseas.
Canuck
1698
Sounds like he had a heart attack at a very exciting World Cup game. I can certainly see it happening. Very scary because heās only five years older than me. I would guess that anyone with the means to make someone suddenly collapse and die would be smart enough to not use them on a mere sports journalist and risk the wrath of a world super power during a spectacle hosted by their own country.
So far, the most thorough story, and contains the detail that he died of an apparent heart attack.
I donāt think there was anyone in footie coverage who didnāt have enormous affection for Wahl.
Heart attack during a match that doesnāt involve his national team? For a pro that should have covered hundreds or thousands of games? Sure itās possible, but Iād imagine heād be pretty cool, although being there in person is sure to change the equation, and it was an exciting match.
Bummer.
You do realize many thousands of people have heart attacks every day doing the most mundane of things? They arenāt always brought on during extreme excitement.
Grant himself wrote on monday that he had gone to the medical clinic in the media centre, that it was suspected he had bronchitis and that he felt his āupper chest take on a new level of pressure and discomfort.ā
I always hate to see stories like that. He likely had something in his airways from the infection, so doctors didnāt think to check the heart. Poor guy.
