FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for Qatar 2022 (soccer)

Discussion in 'Sports' started by CenterField, Aug 9, 2021.

  1. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Edited
    -------------------

    While I was irritated at the Brazilians, reading more about what went on, I now realize that they were entirely right and the Argentine delegation was wrong.

    Brazil since mid-June has established, in order to try to avoid/limit the Delta variant of the Coronavirus, that people entering the country who have been to the UK, Ireland, South Africa, and India, need to show proof that they quarantined for 14 days after leaving such countries, before being admitted to Brazil..

    According to the director of the Brazilian FDA (ANVISA), they have the immigration forms filled by the Argentine players, lying about not having been to England over the last 14 days in other to circumvent the quarantine, when they played games for the EPL there on August 28 and 29. So, on Saturday, the ANVISA issued an ultimatum to the lying players, telling them to stay confined to their hotel, awaiting deportation, given that they had illegally entered the country and constituted a risk of spread of the Delta variant.

    They got the FBI-equivalent in Brazil, the Polícia Federal, and went to the hotel where the 4 Argentine players were supposed to be isolated and supposed to be obeying the quarantine order and awaiting transportation under escort, to be deported. Upon arriving there, they learned that the players did not respect the order, and boarded the bus to the stadium together with the other players who were in good standing.

    So, ANVISA and the Feds had no other remedy than going to the stadium. They tried their best to get there before starting time, but arrived when the game was already on for 5 minutes. Since they did have a mandate to notify the players that they were in violation of sanitary law, and had been ordered to be immediately deported, they correctly interrupted the game, to take custody of the players.

    So, 3 of the players had started. Argentina had the option of simply subbing them out and continuing the game. They opted to abandon the game and go back to the lockers.

    After half an hour, with the Argentines not coming back to play (why the Brazilians remained on the pitch), the ref declared the game abandoned.

    ---------------

    So it seems like it's 100% the fault of the Argentine delegation, and 0% the fault of the Brazilians.

    Of course the biased media are trying to depict this as an abuse of power from the Brazilian authorities or some publicity stunt. Actually the Brazilian authorities acted within the law, and the lawbreakers were the Argentines.

    ------------

    I hope that FIFA punishes them, and awards the victory to Brazil on grounds of abandonment. However FIFA is a corrupt organization and I don't trust them to do the right thing.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 6, 2021
  2. gnoib

    gnoib Well-Known Member

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    Road Runner
    Larin
    The US could not handle the speed of those 2 guys
     
  3. gnoib

    gnoib Well-Known Member

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    Yes Argentine screwed up and Brazil should get the 3 points
     
  4. gnoib

    gnoib Well-Known Member

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    Since I know how @Center Field likes his football staristics.
    Goals vs Lichtenstein, Timo Werner with a lovely assist from Musaila, Sane,
    Goals vs Armenia, Gnarbie with a double pack, Timo Wener, Newbe Jonas Hofmann, Reus,with a greate assist from Werner
    newbe U21 Karim Adeyemi, with a great assist of newbe U21 Florian Wirtz.

    Karin Adeyemi, U21, striker, had The # 13, Gerd Muellers number, 18 years, plays for RB Salzburg, 6 games, 6 goals.
    He could become the central striker in the future. Replaced Gnarbi for the last 20 minutes.
    Florian Wirtz, newbe, offensive midfielder, U21, 18 years, Bayer Leverkusen, replaced ! Kimmich ! for the last 20 mins. being substitude for Kimmich at 18 and than assist the final goal, not to shabby.
    David Raum, replaced Jonas Hofmann, newbe for newbe, U21, 20 years old, left defender. Interesting guy, played 2. Bundesliga with Fuert, the club advanced this year to the first. Has only 3 times played in the 1. Bundesliga and already has a A-team appearance and a U21 championship.
    Jamal Musaila, played U21 for England, age 18, before he went to Bayern Munich, double nationality. Flick convinced Loew that he was needed for the future and laid the ground as trainer of Bayern Munich. So there was not much talking him into it for Loew and he was locked in by nominating him for the A Team.
    There are a few more U21, who were nominated for this 3 game round, but till they play no reason to talk about them, jet.

    just for the names I left out and the new names we will have to get used to.
     
    Last edited: Sep 6, 2021
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  5. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    The USMNT played better against Canada, mainly on account of Christian Pulisic's return but they did disappoint again and the crowd in Nashville made its displeasure known. Pulisic gutted out a full 90+ minutes and played very well despite being incessantly fouled, but the absence of Reyna and McKennie showed. With the Canucks sandbagging it with five defenders Pulisic needed more help up front and he only got it once from Brendon Aaronson. Once again, they lacked creativity in the box and what one of the announcers described as "patient" play out of the backfield and midfield would be better described as passive play. When they played more aggressive and pushed the ball up the field they looked good and created opportunities, but when they played "patient"/passive and gave Canada time to close spaces they couldn't generate any offense and pressure on goal. That was extremely frustrating to watch and their passive play is probably what got them booed at the end of the game. People expect more effort out of that team and they didn't get it, and that's why I have no plans on staying up late tomorrow to watch the match against Honduras. If Gregg Berhalter doesn't light a fire under that team's ass and they stop squandering games at home and away against weaker competition (e.g., El Salvador) they're not going to make it to Qatar next year.

    Incidentally, Reyna is still out with a strained hamstring and McKennie got shipped back to Italy after letting down the team and getting suspended, so neither one of them will be playing against Honduras. Sergiño Dest is out, too. Matt Turner is likely to start in goal.
     
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  6. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Hansi Flick made a Bayern Munich fan out of me. Germany couldn't have picked a better coach. :beer:
     
  7. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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  8. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Italy 5-0 Lithuania. Mancini experimented with young players and it paid off big time, with Kean scoring two goals, and Raspadori scoring one and another one on a deflection that was officially called an own goal. Di Lorenzo scored the fifth one. No Insigne, Immobile, and Chiesa today. We had a bunch of young guys including Calabria, Pessina...
    Sure, it's just Lithuania, but the Swiss only beat them 1-0. So, this result pushed up our advantage over the Swiss in goal differential. We have 8 more.
    Also, Switzerland drew with Northern Ireland today.
    So now we're back in control of this group.
    Basically if we beat Switzerland at home next, we're in, but we can even afford to draw with them as long as we beat Northern Ireland in our last game.
     
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  9. gnoib

    gnoib Well-Known Member

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    Island - Germany 0:4.
    What a crappy weather they had 9C and rain. Starting 11 same as against Armenia. 6 minutes in and Gnarbi had his goal. Than Germany slowed down which gave Island a very nice chance, wake up call.
    Germany has for the first time a coach for resting balls, corners and free kiks. That starts to pay of. Kimmich chiped a corner to the far post and Ruediger had a nice run and headed in the goal. There were a few more good chances, several goal post hits in the first half.
    Second half Sane again, 0:3 and than Flick substituted his starters. The Bundesliga coaches must have thought finally.
    89. minuted Werner with 0:4. Again a very dominant game.
    Overall the starting 11 is the same as in the Euros, were they were hardly able to score, or show any offensive force. Neither Gnarbi, Sane and Werner scored in the Euros and now they do it every game. Those 3 "old hands " are the actual winners, individually from the change in the coaching. They now have a offensive team behind them, which puts them into the position to score and it takes the pressure of the defense. 12:0 says it all in 3 games.
    Yes, they were all 2. rank teams. But lets not forget Germany lost at home against North Macedonia in the spring.
    Good start by Flick and his coaching team.
    What a turn around, one can watch the team playing without crinching. Must be fun for the players, too.
    Next round in October
     
  10. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    @gnoib It seems like Germany is solidly on the mend.
    --------
    Italy after two games in poor form, was completely different today and played very well.
    --------
    For us (Italy), next it's the Nations' League Semifinal against Spain on October 6. If we win, we get 4 days later the winner of France v. Belgium for the final. If we lose the semi, we do have the third place match 3 days later.
    --------
    By the time we go back to the WC Qualifiers in November the other teams in our group will be caught up with us in terms of matches played. We played two more than they did already, in order to free the early October slots for the Nations' League Semifinals and 3rdplace/Final.
    --------
    Seems like England drew with Poland today but they remain in full control of their group, 4 points ahead of the second-placed team, with 2 more games to go.
    I watched France-Finland yesterday and the French played very well, very elegantly (2-0), in part erasing the bad impression from their poor form in the Euro 2020. The French are also in full control of their group and should qualify easily.
    Belgium are practically in already, way ahead of group opponents although a couple of the opponents have games in hand.
    Portugal are in first place but not as comfortably given that they are only two points ahead of the second-placed team (Serbia).
    Spain also not too comfortable; four points ahead of Sweden but the Swedes have two games in hand so could potentially get ahead of Spain.
    Denmark is the first team to book its place in Qatar. They are 7 points ahead of the second-placed team, with 2 games to go, and nobody has games in hand, so the Danish are in.
    The Netherlands and Norway are in a dog fight, level in everything except that the Netherlands have better goal differential. Turkey in points is only two points behind but they are very behind in goal differential, having lost today by the incredible score of 1-6 to the Netherlands.
    Russia and Croatia are also in a dog fight, level in everything, Croatia being ahead by just 1 in goal differential.
    Germany has a comfortable 4-points lead with two games to go and a huge goal differential in their favor.
    ----------
    So the group stage should yield the following teams with direct spots versus play-offs:

    Denmark already in (either Scotland or Israel to go to the playoffs)
    Belgium practically in (Czech Republic or Wales to make the playoffs)
    England very likely (Albania, Poland, or Hungary could go to the playoffs)
    France very likely (Ukraine or Finland to go to the playoffs)
    Germany very likely (Armenia, Romania, and Northern Macedonia trying for the playoff spot)
    Portugal ahead but not by much (Serbia is second)
    Spain ahead but not by much (Sweden could catch up, Greece with an outside playoff chance)
    Italy ahead but the Swiss can catch up in points due to games in hand; Italy with a big goal differential advantage
    Either the Netherlands or Norway but Turkey not out of it yet.
    Either Russia or Croatia
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2021
  11. gnoib

    gnoib Well-Known Member

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    I was not to impressed by France. Finland is not one of the top teams in Europe and they made France work very hard for the win.
    Same with Spain that was hard work against a lesser opponent.

    Germany on the mend is the correct expression, but there is still a long way to go, to be world class again. The last 8 Years have been damaging. But considering that Flicks team had just over a week, with 3 games, to work with the team, it is already quiet a change into the right direction.
    Now Flick has 4 weeks to sort things out. I was very pleased how he used the young players.

    An other very, very young player to be watched Youssoufa Moukoko, that guy is just 16 and plays in the Bundesliga for Dortmund, U21, and just scored in his first U21 game. Youngest scorer in the Bundesliga and U21.
     
  12. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    At 37 minutes, the US are losing 0-1 to Honduras.
    It's starting to look like the #10 country in the FIFA rankings will not be in Qatar.
    Pity. I had high hopes for this team with young talent and several players playing in top European clubs.
    But I guess not. I guess the #10 ranking was over-estimated after all, and this team is worse than the sum of its parts.
     
  13. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    The US have had 4 shots on goal in 2.5 games so far. Against El Salvador, Canada, and Honduras. Good lord!

    What a disappointment this team is. A team with no plan; they don't know what to do. It's a team that is worse than the sum of its parts, which is indisputable proof that the coaching staff is the main culprit. Berhalter needs to be fired.

    Sands and Brooks are simply awful in midfield, so there is a huge gap between defense and offense. Sargent and Pepi also horrible.

    Pulisic is trying but he's left alone with 5 Hondurans.
     
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  14. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    USMNT made 3 half-time subs, team came back much better, 1-1 now, and Pulisic almost scored the go-ahead goal, saved by their goalie.
     
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  15. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    LOL, talk about speaking prematurely! After the much better second half, the United States ended up winning the game 4-1!
    So there is hope, after all.
     
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  16. Montegriffo

    Montegriffo Well-Known Member

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    It's a game of two halves.
    :)
     
  17. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I was pretty pissed off at McKennie, too, but I'm going to give him a chance to redeem himself next month...
     
  18. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I was thinking the same thing at the half, especially about the midfielders. This old center-half was beyond disappointed with their play...
     
  19. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Ricardo Pepi was a revelation last night - keep that kid in the lineup!

    What did he have, a goal and 2 assists? And the subs finally delivered with 3 goals (Aaronson's second goal in two games, too). Ya gotta give Berhalter credit for getting Brooks, Sargent and Bello off the field at the half - they all performed poorly.

    It's hard to measure our team against Honduras, but it looks like they're finally getting the lineup worked out, which hasn't been easy in the absence of McKennie, Reyna and Pulisic. It was great to see the team playing with more aggression in the second half and I wish they would keep that up from here out. They're a much better team when they press the attack and push the ball up the field and they've got a great goalkeeper to back them up so why play passively like they did against El Salvador and Canada? The difference and results speak for themselves.

    They've got some tough matches coming up next month and hopefully Pulisic and Reyna will be healthy and McKennie will have remedied his rectal-cranial inversion. The USMNT needs to be firing on all cylinders in October...
     
  20. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Perhaps, the most significant match last night turned out to be the one between Panama and Mexico which resulted in a 1-1 tie. Had Mexico won they would be running away from the group right now and since Panama only tied they left the USMNT in a better position after this first round of games in the Octagon.

    I don't know if Mexico had a bad night or Panama had a great night, but the Panamanians couldn't have done a better job of disrupting Mexico's usually potent attack. El Tri looked out of sorts all night, and Panama did just enough on offense to earn the draw. Very gutsy and scrappy performance on their part. :beer:
     
  21. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    And here are your standings after the first round of play in the WCQ Octagon:

    Screen Shot 2021-09-09 at 12.45.00 PM.png

    Play resumes Thursday October 7th, and the USMNT will be playing a desperate Jamaica team that plays us tough...
     
  22. gnoib

    gnoib Well-Known Member

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    Canada, they had a good game, a nice and solid 3:0. Don't count out Canada, They got the Road Runner and some other guys who play in top clubs in Europe, they to have 5 points and a GD of +3.
    Mexico, one day hui and one day pfui, not a stable team. Canada can beat them.
    Would like to see Canada at the WM.

    So next is Champion Chips League, looking forward to Bayern vs Barca. Before that against Leipzig. The first real test for Nagelsman as Bayern trainer.
    So nor rest for us poor ol' Football fans.
     
  23. gnoib

    gnoib Well-Known Member

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    I just watched a review of the Island game and I am not happy.
    Yes the Team did the trick, but honestly they should have won 8:0
    At least.
    The chances missed are just horrific. Werner got his goal, but it was a joke, Havertz just walked with the ball till he saw it was rolling behind the line. Seriously. I t bounced of the post landed and than just barely past the other post, across the line. The guy is standing there and watching it. Instead of nailing the sucker in. Walked with it till it rolled past the post.
    They had so many chances in the second half and they blew them. Standing in front of the keeper no one around and manages to get the ball 6 feet above the goal from 5 feet.
    Since Klose Germany has had no central scorer, it was always the offensive midfield, which scored, they are very good. Who would ever question a guy like Gnarbi, he is just sensational.
    But if you have a striker like Werner, they have to deliver, from the chances your offensive midfield produces.
    3 goals in 3 games is very good, but if you had 100% chances for 6 goals at least and you can not deliver, score, than there is a problem.
    If Germany can develop out of its very good central scorer youth, a central scorer and have the same scoring quality of the midfield as today.
    Ooooooooh boy
    If I where Werner, I would find me a club in the Netherlands, or Belgium and start all over. He ain't gone do duddly in the UK.
     
  24. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Brazil beat Peru 2-0. Some of their plays were very attractive, very beautiful. They did suffer from trying just one last dribble and then losing the ball. It happened many times. Well, when they didn't lose the ball they became very dangerous; both goals came out of that; pressing pressing dribbling through until a space presents, then finish. They could have scored a few more using the same style.

    Brazil continues to have a perfect record, despite missing 11 players, many of them starters, thanks to English and Russian clubs not releasing them.

    All games played, a victory.

    Except for the abandoned game against Argentina, scoreless at 7 minutes, when abandoned. I think Argentina is culprit for what happened, and if FIFA were fair, we'd see Brazil granted the 3 points and Argentina disciplined. But FIFA is not fair and is corrupt. I expect that they will somehow manage to punish Brazil too, although the Brazilian team and confederation were 100% innocent in what happened.

    It's very simple. 4 Argentines lied in their entry forms at the border, pretending they didn't visit England over the last 14 days before entering Brazil, when they obviously did; they play for English teams and played for them in late August, in England.

    The Brazilian sanitary authorities ordered them quarantined at the hotel while they waited to be deported.

    Instead, the 4 players went to the stadium to play in the game. The authorities then interrupted the game and detained the four players (3 were starters, 1 a sub).

    At this point Argentina had the option of subbing the 3 starters and continuing the game. Instead, Argentina went to the locker room and never returned. Brazil waited on the pitch, ready and willing to play, for more than 30 minutes, until the ref declared the game abandoned.

    Argentina broke Brazilian laws, lied at the border, and when called out, abandoned the game.

    Brazil should collect no sanction, and should be granted the three points. Argentina should be fined/suspended.

    But mark my words, that's not what FIFA will do.
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2021
  25. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Brazil have been so dominant in the CONMEBOL WC Qualifiers! 8 games, all wins, 24 points. Goals for, 19. Goals allowed, 2.
    --------
    If the tournament ended today, the four directly qualified teams would be Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Ecuador, and Colombia would go to the play-in contest.
     

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