MookieBlaylock said:

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Costa Rica jumping into the race for last place and they may be the new betting favorites

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CR in race against Iran for biggest loss in first match ever at a WC.

Ian Darke rules.

We have rules around here!

https://instagr.am/p/CfXJtAGt8nn

akm91 said:

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MookieBlaylock said:

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Costa Rica jumping into the race for last place and they may be the new betting favorites

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CR in race against Iran for biggest loss in first match ever at a WC.

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Nah, 'Murica lost 7-1 in the opening game against Italy in 1934. (There may have been worse defeats but this is the one that I found the quickest.)

akm91 said:

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texagbeliever said:

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deadbq03 said:

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texagbeliever said:

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I think they are also missing a maestro like an Odegaard, griezman. The player who plays people open and takes up dangerous space.

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Theoretically that's Muller, but he's getting a bit long in the tooth now.

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It should be Goetze if Bayern would have let the kid develop at Dortmund instead of adding him to ride their bench.

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Goetze also had serious health issue in 2017 that took a few years to get under control.

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Goetze had all kinds of medical issues that they could not figure out.

YokelRidesAgain said:

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akm91 said:

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MookieBlaylock said:

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Costa Rica jumping into the race for last place and they may be the new betting favorites

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CR in race against Iran for biggest loss in first match ever at a WC.

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Nah, 'Murica lost 7-1 in the opening game against Italy in 1934. (There may have been worse defeats but this is the one that I found the quickest.)

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All right, I found them: the worst defeats in an opening game in World Cup history were both inflicted by Hungary, of all places, against hapless opponents:

1) 1954 Hungary 9-0 South Korea

2) 1982 Hungary 10-1 El Salvador (hilariously, Hungary failed to advance from the group stage despite this win)

Spain does what I wish we could do up front. No real 9, but they rotate their AM's/Wingers all over the place and create beautiful chances.

akm91 said:

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MookieBlaylock said:

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Costa Rica jumping into the race for last place and they may be the new betting favorites

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CR in race against Iran for biggest loss in first match ever at a WC.

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2002

Germany v. Saudi Arabia 8-0

Well, the important thing for Germany is they were good social justice warriors by covering their mouths for their national anthem in support of LGBTQXYZ123. So brave, so very brave...............

F'ing losers and a total shell of the excellent and tough footballers that won the WC in 2014.

snowdog90 said:

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akm91 said:

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MookieBlaylock said:

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Costa Rica jumping into the race for last place and they may be the new betting favorites

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CR in race against Iran for biggest loss in first match ever at a WC.

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2002

Germany v. Saudi Arabia 8-0

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See above:

Hungary 1954 9-0 South Korea

Hungary 1982 10-1 El Salvador

Jarrin' Jay said:

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Well, the important thing for Germany is they were good social justice warriors by covering their mouths for their national anthem in support of LGBTQXYZ123. So brave, so very brave...............

F'ing losers and a total shell of the excellent and tough footballers that won the WC in 2014.

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If any of the federations or major national squads want FIFA to stop selling World Cup rights to the highest bribe, they need to do what Carter did in 1980 with the Olympics and not show up. Let Brazil and Lesotho contest World Cup 2034 North Korea. Virtue signaling about how mad you are about an event you are PARTICIPATING IN is pointless.

Spain had 84% of possession in 1st half.

YokelRidesAgain said:

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snowdog90 said:

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akm91 said:

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MookieBlaylock said:

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Costa Rica jumping into the race for last place and they may be the new betting favorites

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CR in race against Iran for biggest loss in first match ever at a WC.

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2002

Germany v. Saudi Arabia 8-0

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See above:

Hungary 1954 9-0 South Korea

Hungary 1982 10-1 El Salvador

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Yes, sorry. I posted before seeing yours. I didn't look for the worst. I remembered watching this game. I remembered 8-0 but didn't remember the year.

Japan's fwd fighting through all that arm tugging to bury the shot near post... wow... that was great.

German defense got really soft on that one, I couldn't believe the defender gave him a 10-15 yard cushion to receive the ball.

Huh, Spain scored. That was unexpected.

Germany is in trouble. They will beat Costa Rica, but Spain might carve them up.

What's interesting is the Ticos aren't CONCACAFing it up. Part of it is Spain is giving them no chance. They possess and move the ball so fast CR can't foul them. Part of it is CR doesn't have the ball to flop. And part of it is that strategy is less effective here.

My thoughts on this group.

This is the worst Costa Rica team I've ever seen. They had no shot coming in. Some ESPN commentator (maybe Frank Lebouf, old French player) picked them to win the group. Joke.

I had my doubts about Germany coming in, and it showed today. They don't instill fear in their opponents like they used to. Maybe that's a dropoff from them or maybe a rise in other countries. They always used to have a great number 9, which they have lacked recently. There's nobody close to a Klose, a Voller, a Klinnsman, finishing half-chances for them.

Japan is good. I thought they would have a good chance to advance out of this group, and they are well on their way. Japan, South Korea, and Mexico are always tough. They may not have a squad of elite talent, but they always seem to excel together for their country.

Spain looks great, but again, this CR team is horrible. The next 2 games with Germany and Japan will be fun.

First real CONCACAFY foul and accompanying CONCACAFY complaint about the resulting card.

La Bamba said:

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Hey guys not sure if you know, but Ferran Torres is dating Luis Enrique's daughter. In case you haven't heard…

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Who are these people?

Spain is keeping one foot on the accelerator pegged to the floor and the other on the throat of the Ticos.

snowdog90 said:

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This is the worst Costa Rica team I've ever seen. They had no shot coming in.

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I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: the next World Cup, we will get "treated" to at least two, and possibly three, CONCACRAP teams that are worse than Costa Rica. Joke.

5-0

And here we go. 5-0 handbags.

If I'm not mistaken CR sent an "old" team to the tournament.

YokelRidesAgain said:

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snowdog90 said:

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This is the worst Costa Rica team I've ever seen. They had no shot coming in.

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I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: the next World Cup, we will get "treated" to at least two, and possibly three, CONCACRAP teams that are worse than Costa Rica. Joke.

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So stupid adding teams. The good, I guess, is that future WC's probably won't be missing teams like Italy and players like Haaland, but there will be lots of howler games, for sure.

Ken Scarborough said:

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La Bamba said:

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Hey guys not sure if you know, but Ferran Torres is dating Luis Enrique's daughter. In case you haven't heard…

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Who are these people?

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Torres is one of Spain's attackers (plays at Barcelona) and Enrique is the Spanish national team manager.

Costa Rica is usually a competitive squad, this WC team barely qualified is not nearly as good as the last few Costa Rica teams in the WC.

Having said that, generally CONCACAF teams do OK at the WC. Regardless, it is more difficult for the top CONCACAF teams to qualify for the WC than many Euro teams, which not many people realize.

To qualify for the WC, here is who several Euro teams had to compete against in their groups:

England: Poland, Albania, Hungary, Andorra, San Marino
Germany: North Macedonia, Romania, Armenia, Iceland, Lichtenstein
Netherlands: Turkey, Norway, Montenegro, Latvia, Gibraltar
Denmark: Scotland, Israel, Austria, Faroe Islands, Moldova
France: Ukraine, Finland, Bosnia & Herz., Kazakhstan

Those are all an absolute and complete joke. Name me ONE of those groups that US or Mexico would not win and qualify out of. There aren't any. Looking at the reverse, sure those teams that won those groups are good, but the away games to all those spare teams/countries are MUCH easier than playing @ Mexico, @ Costa Rica, @ Panama, @ Honduras, @ Jamaica. If Germany had to play a CONCACAF qualifying campaign I don't think they would be in the WC at all, and I say that as a Germany fan.

This will be the first real test of added extra time. In the past 1 minute. Now it may be 5.

8! This is glorious madness.

This is an absolute stomping. Will the Tico Federation fire the manager in a couple of minutes?

Damn, they didn't even get Fati on the pitch!