OT: 2022 World Cup Thread
- Thread starter cshelley
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And yet they’re still ranked #2 in the world in the 2022 FIFA rankings only behind Brazil.
Our team speed is a lot more competitive than it once was. We're less defenseless against elite speed forwards than we have been in prior WCs.
In the recent past, our biggest problem with speed was at the back where most of our defenders were too slow, particularly against teams with very quick forwards. But I think this latest iteration of the team is pretty fast everywhere, even on D, with the starters, at least.
In this world cup, my concerns are inexperience and fitness. A lot of key players for us were injured in the not-too-distant past. That impacted the amount of playing time they got with their club teams as they recovered. Perhaps due to that, we appear to not be quite as fit in this WC as in prior WCs.
I was thinking has the "spread offense/air raid" come to soccer to equalize talent disparity lol.
More than well aware of both our injury issues from the past season and our experience level. Thanks.
Agree with this. One world class player nowadays besides the goalie. Soccer can age you quick.
The round is considered the Group Stage. The entire tournament is considered the Finals, of which the Group Stage is a part.
Morrocco fans tore the roof off the place, and sucked the energy out of these Europeans. But we should tell those Morroccans how to spell their country's name right, right? The one dude Zayich played for Chelsea, didn't he?
More surprises today - seems like more than in most WC's although maybe that's just recency bias. Nice win by Costa Rica over Japan, after CR was destroyed by Spain.
And while, on paper, Morocco over Belgium is a sizable upset, Belgium's effort was, in a word, desultory and Morrocco's was effervescent. They deserved that win. Rooting for Canada and they got that awesome early goal, but Croatia has pretty much dominated since 10-15 minutes in - would be nice to see Canada at least tie, so they have a shot at going through. Can't wait for Spain-Germany, especially with this being almost a must win for Germany.
Edit: Croatia now up 3-1, so this one is basically over...
And while, on paper, Morocco over Belgium is a sizable upset, Belgium's effort was, in a word, desultory and Morrocco's was effervescent. They deserved that win. Rooting for Canada and they got that awesome early goal, but Croatia has pretty much dominated since 10-15 minutes in - would be nice to see Canada at least tie, so they have a shot at going through. Can't wait for Spain-Germany, especially with this being almost a must win for Germany.
Edit: Croatia now up 3-1, so this one is basically over...
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Uh, on a Moroccan fans hat it was spelled Marocco, in fact on the scoreboards it's MAR, No?
Canada kicked our *** in Toronto although on a very wet field, but I fear Iran more now. We're not as fast as Canada let alone Croatia. Going with dark horse Denmark for the odds.
The answer is complicated, as per the Wiki entry below. My only point in correcting you was that nobody currently spells it with 2 r's and since this is 'Merica, I suggest you spell it "Morocco."
Morocco's modern official Arabic name al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyyah (المملكة المغربية) may best be transliterated as 'The Kingdom of the Western Place'.
Historically, the territory has been part of what the Muslim geographers referred to as al-Maghrib al-Aqṣā [ar] (المغرب الأقصى, 'the Farthest West [of the Islamic world]' designating roughly the area from Tiaret to the Atlantic) in contrast with neighbouring regions of al-Maghrib al-Awsaṭ [ar] (المغرب الأوسط, 'the Middle West': Tripoli to Béjaïa) and al-Maghrib al-Adná [ar] (المغرب الأدنى, 'the Nearest West': Alexandria to Tripoli).[23] Morocco has also been referred to politically with a variety of terms denoting the Sharifi heritage of the Alawi dynasty, such as al-īyāla ash-sharīfa (الإيالة الشريفة) or al-imbrātōrīya ash-sharīfa (الإمبراطورية الشريفة), rendered in French as l'Empire chérifien and in English as the 'Sharifian Empire'.[24][25]
The word Morocco is derived from the name of the city of Marrakesh, which was its capital under the Almoravid dynasty and the Almohad Caliphate.[26] The origin of the name Marrakesh is disputed,[27] but it most likely comes from the Berber phrase amur n Yakuš, where amur can have the meanings "part, lot, promise, protection"[28] and Yakuš (and its variants Yuš and Akuš) means "God".[29] The expression amur n Ṛebbi where Ṛebbi is another word for God (borrowed from arabic رَبِّي (rabbī) "My Lord") means "divine protection".[30] The modern Berber name for Marrakesh is Mṛṛakc (in the Berber Latin script). In Turkish, Morocco is known as Fas, a name derived from its ancient capital of Fes. However, in other parts of the Islamic world, for example in Egyptian and Middle Eastern Arabic literature before the mid-20th century, the name commonly used to refer to Morocco was Murrakush (مراكش).[31]
That name is still used for the nation today in some languages, including Persian, Urdu, and Punjabi. The English name Morocco is an anglicisation of the Spanish name for the country, Marruecos. That Spanish name was also the basis for the old Tuscan word for the country, Morrocco, from which the modern Italian word for the country, Marocco, is derived.
geez, you must not be talking to your wife much either, huh? Good work, but if Morocco is derived from Marrakesh, what happened to the two "r"s, and in Spanish it's Marruecos, thereby the "A" after the "M". I believe that the World Cup group points board shows "MAR", but don't correct me if I'm wrong. Talk to your wife.
And where the hell is Rococo?
And where the hell is Rococo?
Talk of Messi coming to MLS in Miami after his PSG contract expires
They played poorly most of the game. Some inexplicably bad defending by a team that had a very solid defense during qualifying.
Well, after 3 days together, 24/7 in DC for Thanksgiving, visiting her grumpy, spinster sister, can you blame me, lol? FWIW, below is ironclad proof of the spelling, since it's on the internet. And it's Rowquoquo, with the alternate Chilean spelling, Rococoa.
Poor shape, but even poorer effort - they looked out of shape relative to the Croatians. There were plenty of promising Canadian attacks that started out about 3 on 3 or 4 on 4 that quickly became 3 or 4 on 6 or 7. And the opposite was true in the Canadian end, where Serbia often not only had numbers, but roamed freely without being challenged.
Germany mids are lethargic. They need to become much more active in support play as a response to Spains defensive pressure. Instead, they are effectively ceding the center of the field to Spain.
Yep, the effort was really awful, and that always leads to a cascading effect on shape as late first defenders force second defenders into compromised positioning.
I don’t know how this World Cup will end but Spain fans have a lot to look forward to. This young midfield of Gavi and Pedri are good. If they develop a few more pieces this team could be almost as good as the previous golden generation with Xavi and Iniesta
I screwed up and scheduled my latest COVID vaccine for now. And cellular data strength sucks at this pharmacy, so can‘t watch on iPad.
Guess the anti-vaxxers were right; vaccines are problematic.
Guess the anti-vaxxers were right; vaccines are problematic.
I can't see how these guys get hit with rocket balls like these in the chest, thigh, knee, get up and keep running. Players holding their family jewels in front of penalty kicks can be excused, but professionally you're supposed to offer your face to deflect the ball? Contact sport.
Seems like I didn’t miss much while getting vaxxed. Back home and watching, while hoping I get that mutant third arm side-effect so as to improve my love life options by 50%.
:WooHoo:
:WooHoo:
Less frequent and not involving your face but try taking a 90-100 mph lacrosse ball to your body.
Those guys are wusses with the helmets and pads. And they need sticks.
Soccer players: no helmet, no pads, no sticks, hands effectively tied behind their backs. Real men.