World Cup 2018 Russia

[SkyEdge]

England finally recorded their first ever penalty shootout victory in WC history. LOL.

I share a same feeling with many here. I was rooting for Colombia to go through at first, but with game progressing, both sides started to disgust me. Too bad both can't be out.

The Japan that went out played so much better football than either Colombia or England.. in fact.. i would dare say even with the best players from both, im sure Japan would have still been game..

[frhuangshuhong2015]

France preparing for Cavani to play in World Cup quarter-finals

France coach Didier Deschamps is preparing his side to face Uruguay's Edinson Cavani in the World Cup quarter-finals on Friday despite doubts over the striker's fitness.

Deschamps also warned that France should not expect a similar type of match to that against Argentina in the last 16, a free-scoring, exhilarating 4-3 victory.

Cavani was Uruguay's hero in the 2-1 victory over Portugal in the last round, scoring both goals.

But he limped off with a calf injury towards the end of the game and the Paris Saint-Germain star is in a race against time to be fit for Friday's clash.

Cavani trained alone at Uruguay's camp in Bor, close to Nizhny Novgorod, on Thursday, and it is still unclear whether he will start or be on the bench against France.

French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris said Cavani and strike partner Luis Suarez were among the "most beautiful attacking partners in football".

[nefremo]

Hazard proving to the whole world that he is twice the player Neymar is. 

As a matter of fact, Neymar isn't even the best player for his own country....but as long as people buy into the hype and bullshit, players like Neymar will be hailed as greats or something.

[Jay Crisp]

Hazard proving to the whole world that he is twice the player Neymar is. 

As a matter of fact, Neymar isn't even the best player for his own country....but as long as people buy into the hype and bullshit, players like Neymar will be hailed as greats or something.

Someone on FB was berating me yesterday on how Neymar sooooo much better than R9 Rivaldo and Ronaldinho , because ..he has a better goals to games ratio and even FIFA give him a huge rating.This is the measuring stick nowadays.Lots care more about a players looks hair and overall image and what they rate on the swag meter than they do about actual ability and I mean ability and effectiveness when the going gets tough or its a hard game.

[reza]

Martinez genius use of De Bruyne, Hazard, Lukaku...wide and pulling defenders on counters.

[nefremo]

So much for Brazil's compactness in that 1st half. Went a goal down and totally lost their discipline.

[xudong]

Martinez genius use of De Bruyne, Hazard, Lukaku...wide and pulling defenders on counters.

[xudong]

The foul by Kompany on Jesus should have been a penalty. I was surprised that Belgium even survived the VAR review. BBC commentators believe that Neymar's previous despicable diving attempts ruined it for Brazil. Is it possible?

[Jay Crisp]

The foul by Kompany on Jesus should have been a penalty. I was surprised that Belgium even survived the VAR review. BBC commentators believe that Neymar's previous despicable diving attempts ruined it for Brazil. Is it possible?

Opinion I guess , Kompany fully pulled out of the tackle.They collided but I wouldnt of given it.Brazils theatrics didnt help them either.Saw Neymar spent near 20 full minutes rolling around on the pitch in this world cup.Talented player but no bottle.

[ACMILAN1983]

Brazil can only blame themselves. They had plenty of chances to equalise or win and they never took them. I found it strange Tite didn't play Renato Augusto much this competition, he's been vital to them in the qualifiers and just seemed to get dropped. Casemiro was also missed today, Fernandinho was dreadful. Brazil were simply careless in the first half, they went down to a somewhat unlucky goal (not sure why Gabriel Jesus went to cover where Fernandinho already was), but after that left themselves open to the counter against the best counter attacking side in the tournament. I think Tite made the right changes during half time and in the second half, but Brazil wasted their chances.

There's something about France that I can't put my finger on, but they seem to be getting more and more dangerous this tournament. I didn't expect them to beat Uruaguay today and while they were far from brilliant they just seem to grind out results. I'm looking forward to seeing them against Belgium.

Someone on FB was berating me yesterday on how Neymar sooooo much better than R9 Rivaldo and Ronaldinho , because ..he has a better goals to games ratio and even FIFA give him a huge rating.This is the measuring stick nowadays.Lots care more about a players looks hair and overall image and what they rate on the swag meter than they do about actual ability and I mean ability and effectiveness when the going gets tough or its a hard game.

Neymar's no where near close to those guys or Kaka (who I'm adding as he's a more recent star). Neymar's an outstanding talent, but his attitude is his biggest issue. First and foremost he needs to get out of PSG, he needs to play in a club where he's not just the star and allowed to do what he wants.

I'm also going to go a step further and say the hype around Messi and Ronaldo is also too much. Messi's an incredible player and undoubtedly one of the greatest ever, but I don't think he's comparable to Maradona as some try to say he is. Likewise, I think Ronaldo goes down in history as one of the greatest, but again I'm not sure we're talking about him being the level he's hyped to be.

I think part of it also comes down to the fact that I think the modern game tends to skew the qualities of individuals. The attacking players today are so well protected that they're given an advantage over defenders that players in the past haven't had. Likewise, I feel fundamentally the art of defending now plays second fiddle when developing talents. It's great that teams have quality ball playing defenders, but then when those players still make the most basic of defensive mistakes it only serves to further give the advantage to attackers.

I'm not saying the modern game is poor or terrible, but I think that there are flaws to how the game has evolved in the modern era meaning teams have lost qualities and the stability from previous generations. This is particularly evident when you see how unpredictable cup competitions are these days, like we saw in the past year's CL games or even in this world cup so far. Even Brazil, who were up till today arguably the most solid looking side in the competition, completely lost their head in the first half and gave up the stupidest of goals or opportunities to Belgium.