What an absolutely amazing World Cup we've had! Let's annoy burgers a little more with it!..
I've watched a lot of finals. Some were kind of unexpected (98 demolition of Brazil comes to mind), some were kind of lame (2002, 2014), some were dramatic af for the wrong reasons (2006, 2010), but none were as insane as this one. Idk if it's the best one ever, I'm not that old, but it sure as shit was the best match of high-stakes international football I've ever seen. It had everything!..
When Deschamps substituted Giroud, DembΓ©lΓ©, and Griezmann away, I thought he had lost his fricking mind. Turns out he hadn't. A team full of "pacy Ngubus" worked even better at confusing mayofaces than Dutch approach of just filling the box with tall motherlovers. But, of course, the real star of the comeback was MbappΓ©. He's truly the only person I actually feel bad about. He had beaten Martinez four times, including three penalties. In two of these pens, Martinez guessed the direction correctly, but still couldn't reach it. Incredible. Kylian has truly done everything he possibly could for his country - it just wasn't enough due to his opposition being Messi's Argentina.
And what fricking opposition it was! Their first goal aside (it was a weak penalty, but a penalty nonetheless), the other two were phenomenal goals. Both the insane team play with like 6 direct passes into the running teammate on the second goal, and the absolutely r-slurred third goal (Messi's extra time one), cleared before it could actually hit the net, but well inside the goal line. Oh, and it was like 2cm from being offside on a pass before the first shot, too.
And, of course, that Martinez leg save right before the final whistle, holy shit. If not for that, we'd have an entirely different world champion now.
My thoughts on the rest of the World Cup you guys already know, as I've been sending them out as the tournament progressed. I'd just like to note that I'd have gotten 4/4 from semifinal on, but that's not that much of an accomplishment. I did sneak in a final bet anyway, lol. Just couldn't help myself.
PS. Am I this good at football analysis, or are you lot just this bad at it? It wasn't even close, lmao 
](/images/16714898912006915.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Some of us bet with our heart instead of our brain
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I did that a lot too. But generally speaking I didn't have "my" team at the start of the WC (due to UEFA corruption). I bet on the Dutch before the start almost out of habit (I became an Ajax fan in mid-90s and, by extension, kind of a Holland fan by 98 WC), but I've switched my allegiances by the time they had to play Argentina.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
whats your true team? Russia? or Belarus? maybe even cuckraine
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I mean Belarus above all, but that's kind of pointless in football (we're only decent at hockey), so I use surrogates in all the other ex-USSR teams at major competitions. Was rooting like crazy for Russia at the previous WC, and beating Spain was an insane moment. But then Croats had to ruin it via their own pens
.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
is there a reason why ex USSR nations are not good at football? I thought it was the biggest sport over there
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
The money just isn't there, goes all the way from youth coaching to senior coaching to the actual leagues which just don't do as well, lot of corruption too - in my country a developer bought, then fricked over two clubs so he could demolish their stadiums and build more lucrative property (houses and malls) on the land. He also somehow convinced the state to help him fund a new stadium (for the third club he now owns) which was giga overpriced and has a shopping centre and apartments right next to the stadium, owned by this guy obviously.
Also plenty of nations are kinda small, sure Russia/Poland/Ukraine are exceptions but like Hungary/Czechia/Slovakia/Bulgaria are all between 5-10m, can't really consistently compete with bigger nations.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Because being "good at football" as in "you get international recognition" is super fricking hard.
Look at teams reaching the top4 ever. If you look at the last 22 years (lets be honest the only time we really have memories of) it's down to 15 teams.
The only nation that is an outlier are the
People think they are good, but they are shit. And sadly that changed in the last 4 years and they're decent now. But their perceived & projected image was not on par with their skill for decades.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
I mean... Define not good? Ukros made it to quarters a year ago, Russia qualifies pretty much every time (if UEFA doesn't cheat them out of the spot) and made it to WC quarters last and Euros semis a little while ago. As in not prime contender level? That is pretty much the case with all countries which have a bit of a split between top sports. Nothing comes close to football in any of the countries that have ever actually won the WC, while Russians are split between football and hockey, with some even preferring basketball (weirdos), and others being only into combat sports (mostly in the Caucasus).
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Come on now, we all know the sport in Russia that the real men are into.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Thom Yorke if he was real
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
fair enough, I never noticed Russia very much internationally but thats probably my fault, but at club level its prettu grim no?
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Is it?
I mean it's not competing with Premier League or La Liga, but it's definitely in the continental top-10, sometimes within top-5. And it's not as fricking predetermined as Bundesliga...
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I never see any Russian clubs in UCL knock outs where even there are portuguese and belgium clubs every year.
Or maybe im salty sporting cp lost UEFA Cup final to CSKA Moscow... btw whats your club?
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context