They remind me of Ghana....always dangerous, can make some noise early in the tourney, but never deep enough to make a run against the big boys.

France hasn't look crisp either. That Argentina V. France game might be a close one.

Non-PK call screwed Nigeria.

my God I love futbol...there is no other sport that can bring that kind of drama, that kind of passion....holy hell I am spent

Nigeria could have had one called against them too, when they took down the shooter in the box late in the game.

Good Aggie Hunting said:

---

Round of 16 already looks awesome so far.

Uruguay vs Portugal
France vs Argentina

Argentina vs Portugal in the Quarterfinals?

---

Uruguay hasn't been scored on yet have they? Will be interesting to see if the Ronaldo's can crack that defense

PJYoung said:

---

---

Love the contrast with the woman to his right.

I take it you're rooting for Argentina in the absence of Venezuela?

Good Aggie Hunting said:

---

Round of 16 already looks awesome so far.

Uruguay vs Portugal
France vs Argentina

Argentina vs Portugal Uruguay in the Quarterfinals?

---

FIFY

Brian Earl Spilner said:

---

If Mexico doesn't make it through I'm gonna bathe in Tecate.

---

FIFme

AgGrad99 said:

---

Nigeria could have had one called against them too, when they took down the shooter in the box late in the game.

---

If you wanna play that game, Argentina could have had another called against them when the defender KICKED THE GUY IN THE FACE late in first half.

Sooo, non-PKs called: Argentina 2, Nigeria 1.

I dont want to "play that game"

Just pointing out that it wasnt like they were the only side to not get a call. It happens. The ref wasn't the reason they didnt win.

(and i think they got that incidental hand ball correct)

AgGrad99 said:

---

I dont want to "play that game"

Just pointing out that it wasnt like they were the only side to not get a call. It happens. The ref wasn't the reason they didnt win.

(and i think they got that incidental hand ball correct)

---

Eh, he played a big role. Two nice goals by Argentina, though.

If you guys were not watching telemundo and did not hear Cantor's call on Rojo's goal, you have no idea what you missed

i'm surprised the dude didnt die

Why anyone would pick Argentina over France, I have no idea. Arg may get lucky against France's struggling attack, but Group C looked way better in every way than Group D IMO, except possibly that Croatia looked better than France. Any positive happenings for teams in Group D almost solely came because of teams making Argentina look bad.

Dude's voice was absolutely wrecked by the time the final whistle blew.

Gotta love Cantor.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

---

---

That's really sad

PatAg said:

---

OregonAggie said:

---

mathguy86 said:

---

This color commentator chick has no idea what a foul is. For all three ganes she has done from her couch in LA (Fox only has 2 live crews, the rest are calling games remotely from LA) all she has said is "I don't know if anything is there". I do know. It's a foul

---

I find this funny because I really like her commentary. I noticed she constantly says that and I agree with her 90% of the time.

Aly is a former US Women's national team player and women don't dive and act like they're shot every time someone touches them, so she knows what a real challenge looks like.

Nothing in soccer irritates me more than diving.

---

that's just not a true statement

that being said, I hate diving.

---

"Women Don't Dive" was an exaggeration. How about we go with "Dive a lot less". Apparently Wake Forest actually studied this and concluded that women Dive 1/2 as much as men.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/the18.com/soccer-news/female-soccer-players-dont-dive-flop%3famp

Soooo....I told a half truth

Brian Earl Spilner said:

---

Dude's voice was absolutely wrecked by the time the final whistle blew.

Gotta love Cantor.

---

Best in the biz

Good Gosh Diego.

That was my immediate response too. I wonder how many people over the years have tried to help him.

After I saw the double barrel 1 finger salutes, I immediately thought he was on coke again.

To be fair I probably look like that after A&M football games from time to time.

I wonder what Messi will do after he retires. I hope it's not end up like Maradonna. I understand he has no desire to coach or anything like that. Just sitting there with nothing else to do with your life seems to be a recipe for disaster for many people. Though it seems he has a better head on his shoulders than Maradonna ever had.

aTmAg said:

---

I wonder what Messi will do after he retires. I hope it's not end up like Maradonna. I understand he has no desire to coach or anything like that. Just sitting there with nothing else to do with your life seems to be a recipe for disaster for many people. Though it seems he has a better head on his shoulders than Maradonna ever had.

---

Have you seen Antonella? If I was him what I would do is her as much as possible

Didn't maradona get busted for cocaine at 94 World Cup? It's been a longstanding problem for him. I wouldn't assume that Messi will have the same fate when he retires.

gambochaman said:

---

aTmAg said:

---

I wonder what Messi will do after he retires. I hope it's not end up like Maradonna. I understand he has no desire to coach or anything like that. Just sitting there with nothing else to do with your life seems to be a recipe for disaster for many people. Though it seems he has a better head on his shoulders than Maradonna ever had.

---

Have you seen Antonella? If I was him what I would do is her as much as possible

---

I have seen Antonella. I too would do her as much as possible. That would be perfectly fine for me.

But I'm not sure that would be enough for him. My understanding is that he is so fixated on soccer, that he is practically a soccer savant. I heard a story that when he was a kid, he didn't want to talk to anybody. He just wanted to go to practice and play soccer. So he stuck a plastic spoon in his mouth and practiced the whole time like that, and didn't say a word to anybody. Like he was using the spoon as his excuse to not have to speak. He seems to me to be like those rain man savants who can do nothing but play piano (amazingly). If you took their pianos away, what would they do? Get depressed? Commit suicide?

I can't walk in his shoes, obviously, so I have no idea what's going through his head. If I had to guess, he will keep playing in Japan, US, or wherever until his body cannot do it any more. They he will seclude himself and end up with 3 inch long toenails and 3 foot long hair like Howard Hughes.

OregonAggie said:

---

PatAg said:

---

OregonAggie said:

---

mathguy86 said:

---

This color commentator chick has no idea what a foul is. For all three ganes she has done from her couch in LA (Fox only has 2 live crews, the rest are calling games remotely from LA) all she has said is "I don't know if anything is there". I do know. It's a foul

---

I find this funny because I really like her commentary. I noticed she constantly says that and I agree with her 90% of the time.

Aly is a former US Women's national team player and women don't dive and act like they're shot every time someone touches them, so she knows what a real challenge looks like.

Nothing in soccer irritates me more than diving.

---

that's just not a true statement

that being said, I hate diving.

---

"Women Don't Dive" was an exaggeration. How about we go with "Dive a lot less". Apparently Wake Forest actually studied this and concluded that women Dive 1/2 as much as men.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/the18.com/soccer-news/female-soccer-players-dont-dive-flop%3famp

Soooo....I told a half truth

---

Real scientific research was done in that article.

PatAg said:

---

OregonAggie said:

---

PatAg said:

---

OregonAggie said:

---

mathguy86 said:

---

This color commentator chick has no idea what a foul is. For all three ganes she has done from her couch in LA (Fox only has 2 live crews, the rest are calling games remotely from LA) all she has said is "I don't know if anything is there". I do know. It's a foul

---

I find this funny because I really like her commentary. I noticed she constantly says that and I agree with her 90% of the time.

Aly is a former US Women's national team player and women don't dive and act like they're shot every time someone touches them, so she knows what a real challenge looks like.

Nothing in soccer irritates me more than diving.

---

that's just not a true statement

that being said, I hate diving.

---

"Women Don't Dive" was an exaggeration. How about we go with "Dive a lot less". Apparently Wake Forest actually studied this and concluded that women Dive 1/2 as much as men.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/the18.com/soccer-news/female-soccer-players-dont-dive-flop%3famp

Soooo....I told a half truth

---

Real scientific research was done in that article.

---

While not scientific either, my family has noticed that men flop much more then women, and that American men flop much less then those of other nations. I think the reason why is both groups are trying to win over fans. Women soccer in general and men's USNT are trying to gain a following. They know that flopping would turn away viewers in droves to a sport that doesn't have many to lose (women in comparison to men, an USNT in compared to other American sports).

In other countries, soccer is king and there is no fear of losing their fans. So they do what tends to be the most successful tactic. Often, if you get in the box and don't have a great chance to score, then falling at the slightest foul is the best tactic. I've wondered why Messi goes out of his way to not flop and I think that is because he has a knack of staying on his feet and that the fouling defender usually stops when they foul (and raise their hands in the air). That gives Messi a pretty damned good change to get a good shot off anyway. Also, maybe he is self-conscious about PKs.

I think soccer needs to go out of it's way to make flopping not beneficial. Now that they have video review, every fall where a person is not touched should be a guaranteed yellow card. Embellishment should be called more often during games, and players should be fined after the fact if video shows they were flopping.

PatAg said:

---

OregonAggie said:

---

PatAg said:

---

OregonAggie said:

---

mathguy86 said:

---

This color commentator chick has no idea what a foul is. For all three ganes she has done from her couch in LA (Fox only has 2 live crews, the rest are calling games remotely from LA) all she has said is "I don't know if anything is there". I do know. It's a foul

---

I find this funny because I really like her commentary. I noticed she constantly says that and I agree with her 90% of the time.

Aly is a former US Women's national team player and women don't dive and act like they're shot every time someone touches them, so she knows what a real challenge looks like.

Nothing in soccer irritates me more than diving.

---

that's just not a true statement

that being said, I hate diving.

---

"Women Don't Dive" was an exaggeration. How about we go with "Dive a lot less". Apparently Wake Forest actually studied this and concluded that women Dive 1/2 as much as men.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/the18.com/soccer-news/female-soccer-players-dont-dive-flop%3famp

Soooo....I told a half truth

---

Real scientific research was done in that article.

---

Well technically there was no scientific research done in the article. The research was done in the study that was cited in the article.

If you can't see the difference in diving when it comes to the men's versus the women's game then I can't really help you.

OregonAggie said:

---

Didn't maradona get busted for cocaine at 94 World Cup? It's been a longstanding problem for him. I wouldn't assume that Messi will have the same fate when he retires.

---

Ephedrine, which is a stimulant and bronchial dilator, so a PED which makes sense because it was late in his career and he probably didn't have the conditioning he needed.

Decent chance he was also on coke though. By decent I mean 100%.

aTmAg said:

---

gambochaman said:

---

aTmAg said:

---

I wonder what Messi will do after he retires. I hope it's not end up like Maradonna. I understand he has no desire to coach or anything like that. Just sitting there with nothing else to do with your life seems to be a recipe for disaster for many people. Though it seems he has a better head on his shoulders than Maradonna ever had.

---

Have you seen Antonella? If I was him what I would do is her as much as possible

---

I have seen Antonella. I too would do her as much as possible. That would be perfectly fine for me.

But I'm not sure that would be enough for him. My understanding is that he is so fixated on soccer, that he is practically a soccer savant. I heard a story that when he was a kid, he didn't want to talk to anybody. He just wanted to go to practice and play soccer. So he stuck a plastic spoon in his mouth and practiced the whole time like that, and didn't say a word to anybody. Like he was using the spoon as his excuse to not have to speak. He seems to me to be like those rain man savants who can do nothing but play piano (amazingly). If you took their pianos away, what would they do? Get depressed? Commit suicide?

I can't walk in his shoes, obviously, so I have no idea what's going through his head. If I had to guess, he will keep playing in Japan, US, or wherever until his body cannot do it any more. They he will seclude himself and end up with 3 inch long toenails and 3 foot long hair like Howard Hughes.

---

from the little that is known about him (he is an incredibly private person), I am going to assume that he will probably go work in the background on some kind of advisory role, staying close to the game without needing to be a figure head attracting a lot of attention and criticism

gambochaman said:

---

aTmAg said:

---

gambochaman said:

---

aTmAg said:

---

I wonder what Messi will do after he retires. I hope it's not end up like Maradonna. I understand he has no desire to coach or anything like that. Just sitting there with nothing else to do with your life seems to be a recipe for disaster for many people. Though it seems he has a better head on his shoulders than Maradonna ever had.

---

Have you seen Antonella? If I was him what I would do is her as much as possible

---

I have seen Antonella. I too would do her as much as possible. That would be perfectly fine for me.

But I'm not sure that would be enough for him. My understanding is that he is so fixated on soccer, that he is practically a soccer savant. I heard a story that when he was a kid, he didn't want to talk to anybody. He just wanted to go to practice and play soccer. So he stuck a plastic spoon in his mouth and practiced the whole time like that, and didn't say a word to anybody. Like he was using the spoon as his excuse to not have to speak. He seems to me to be like those rain man savants who can do nothing but play piano (amazingly). If you took their pianos away, what would they do? Get depressed? Commit suicide?

I can't walk in his shoes, obviously, so I have no idea what's going through his head. If I had to guess, he will keep playing in Japan, US, or wherever until his body cannot do it any more. They he will seclude himself and end up with 3 inch long toenails and 3 foot long hair like Howard Hughes.

---

from the little that is known about him (he is an incredibly private person), I am going to assume that he will probably go work in the background on some kind of advisory role, staying close to the game without needing to be a figure head attracting a lot of attention and criticism

---

I think he would rather play in a lower league than advise. I don't see him as a "go out on top" kind of person. He just wants to play. So I think he will go the Iniesta route. Maybe go play in an Argentina league or something since he doesn't really need the money. It would be awesome if he played in MLS, but I don't see that ever happening.