OT: Soccer World Cup 2018 with spoilers

[echappist]

Originally Posted by martl

No idea about the match in question, but i doubt this point very, very much.

WCs history has a plethora of comical refereeing, starting in 1930 (Gilberto Leonel de Almeida Rego - he ended the Arg-Fra match 6min early, just in the very second a french player was about to score the equalizer; in the HF URU-YUG he disallowed a regular YUG goal, but allowed one for URU where the ball had been out and kicked back in by a policeman before - YUG had eliminated his BRA team earlier).
Also, the accusations of refereeing in favor of the WC home team is as old as the tournament itself; afaik, there has never been proof in form of a late confession or the like.
I'm not saying i think it impossible; even in modern times, countries like GER or ITA had their refereeing scandals and the fact no such thing is known about other top leagues like ESP or UK doesn't automatically mean it didn't happen, it could also mean no one is looking very closely. Its about money and fame, sometimes even politics, and people will cheat for that.

Before the WC system was changed to its current state, there were referees from very minor leagues without any pro experience used, and those were the ones refereeing in the kickout phase because refs from countries still in the tournament had to be sent home.
At some point, there were mixed refereeing teams who couldn't even talk to each other for language reasons (see Wembley 1966).

So, Moreno may not have been a stellar example, but he is far from being the only candidate for that title.

He may not be the only one, but he's in pole position, by a long margin. One thing Cadence90 and I did agree on even with our disagreement is that Moreno was incredibly inept and made some inexplicable decisions. For example, one doesn't call diving in the attacking third when one is 40 yards from the action... you really ought to have seen that game to realize how inept he was. I'm of the opinion that he got bought off, too. Moreno's subsequent actions were also horrible, with numerous questionable calls in what was left of his officiating career.

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also @wc1934, good points you made the other day. LA never injured me in any way, and I didn't even follow cycling that much back then, but while I could overlook your Bassos, Contadors, and Hamiltons, I just don't have an ounce of sympathy for LA (or rider #15), for that matter

also, your boy Mertens opened the score line with a screamer

[Jaybee]

Is the USMNT really worse than Panama?

Wait, don’t answer that.

[echappist]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

Is the USMNT really worse than Panama?

Wait, don’t answer that.

you don't have to be better than the U.S., (Panama tied at home and lost away), just need to have a whole host of other reasons line up to aid your effort. I still believe that even the order in which the games were played had a role

[wc1934]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

Is the USMNT really worse than Panama?

Wait, don’t answer that.

No - in the CONCACAF qualifying matches USA was better than Panama.
They drew the first game and USA won 4-0 in the second match.

[cadence90]

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[cadence90]

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[martl]

Originally Posted by cadence90

Well, then, how can you comment at all, especially with such certainty about all of your doubt, if you do not know even the rudiments of the story?

That's very odd, to make statements like yours here below while simultaneously admitting to having "no idea" regarding the match and referee being discussed here. What is the point?

If you've read my post, i wasn't commenting on the game in question. At all. I was elaborating on your statement about Moreno possibly being the worst ever, and giving my thoughts about the general level of refereeing at WCs.

We got to realize that superlatives are quick at hand in an era where every incident in every match is on 12 different camera angles and commented upon in the media ad nauseam. Just because its on 6 different slomo shots it doesnt mean its the worst/best that ever happened. This goes for positive superlatives as well (apparently we are watching 10 different GOATs in one league alone, and 10 new ones every season, too - lucky us).

[cadence90]

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[R3awak3n]

I mean, I thought England was going to destroy Tun after the first 15 minutes but that PK came at the wrong time. TUN has has no chances though

[cadence90]

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[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by cadence90

Yes, but closer than we thought, right? Even without the PK, 1-0 is not great.

Such a weird tournament so far. Not a single focused, clear, consistent, dominant team in evidence yet.
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yeah, 1-0 was not enough. They are playing better. I think they will win this one.

An agree, out of the top 4 teams only 1 won... Not a single team is standing out like old world cups which is great. It is going to be a good one.

[cadence90]

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[ltwtsculler91]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

yeah, 1-0 was not enough. They are playing better. I think they will win this one.

An agree, out of the top 4 teams only 1 won... Not a single team is standing out like old world cups which is great. It is going to be a good one.

I think so far the standout teams played each other: Spain and Portugal both looked very good playing their own respective styles and crafting chances against difficult opponents.

Granted I'm slightly biased (as are you) but I think that the "top 4" stat is getting thrown around too much without considering that one of them played what is in my mind the #5 team going in.

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by wc1934

No - in the CONCACAF qualifying matches USA was better than Panama.
They drew the first game and USA won 4-0 in the second match.

Understood, I watched both matches.

More a comment of how badly PAN got trucked by BEL. Then again, USA is in for a similar beating by BEL 4 years ago without a nuclear performance from Howard.

[cadence90]

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