Croatia v Belgium is going to be an interesting match up this afternoon. Can the perennial underachievers put on a good show against the below the radar over achievers or will their weaknesses and aging team be exposed by the so far impressive World Cup runners up?
Thank you, Talon, and after visiting with my German friends, I'm planning now to see the match between Germany and Costa Rica. As they explain it to me, it should provide a good display of the "Central and South American" version of soccer versus the "European" kind that the Germans play. I don't know what I'm talking about but I think they do. Where soccer is concerned, I'm "a stranger in a strange land", but considering what a neutered, "nanny"-officiated thing American football has become over the past few years, soccer may be more interesting than I have thought before.
Your last statement is true of a lot of things we don't fully understand. I, for example, in the past have unkindly drawn parallels between baseball and the simple children's game in the UK that it is derived from. After being informed by people I have a lot of respect for that it is a complex game of skill and strategy I am far more likely to watch it if it ever becomes popular enough to appear on British TV.
I shall be rooting hard for Germany tonight but their recent poor results in World Cups doesn't give me great confidence. Something has gone seriously wrong with German football and I wonder if it has been the relative shortage of international players in their domestic leagues. The opposite effect seems to be evident in England's improved results in recent international competitions. If English players have to work harder to get a place in the top Premier League teams that can only be a good thing IMO.
Baseball in the US is horribly not popular on TV.. They are hours long snooze fests.... But I digress. One of the things I still don't understand is this concept of being "offsides".... It seems to undermine the speed of the game, and the seems to artificially limit the game and reduce the need for real defense. The ability to outpace your opponents defense seems to artificially be stopped because of this rule.
You're right! Indeed, the whole thing about "offsides" is something that puzzles me -- not only in soccer, but also in ice hockey, too. In American football, you can see how it's terribly important that everybody 'toes the line' (since everything about the 'action' is so "start-and-stop"). I dunno... I guess contemplating these things gives us something to think about besides the sad, sorry state of the world, so -- let's get some pizza and beer and watch Germany and Costa Rica go at it!
The point of the offside rule is to stop players simply hanging around the goal waiting for a long ball to hustle into the net resulting in packed boxes and boring football. Similar to the offside rule in Hockey I suppose. It encourages players to bring the ball forward through a series of deft touches and passes and perfectly timed runs. VAR (video refereeing) has taken away the choice to award it from the ref on the pitch and resulted in some petty decisions measured in fractions of an inch at times. It is fairer but not necessarily better for the game.
For better or worse, I understand the "offsides" concept in both sports. The idea is to not have a player perpetually hanging out behind the defender just waiting for a long pass. Edit; I see Monte beat me to it.
Oh my god that was appalling. Belgium's first real chance of the game absolutely ruined by some terrible finishing. Should be 1-0. ...and now Croatia have a penalty from some dreadful defending.
One thing I don't understand is why they even bother with linesmen any more if they are only going to check everything by VAR now anyway. Just for throw ins? They could do that by VAR too if they want to be so reliant on it.
Not sure if Costa Rica is the best representative of "Central and South American" version of soccer. They aren't that good, and there is a HUGE difference between Central American squads and South American squads, the latter being generally MUCH better. Brazil and Argentina are light years ahead of any Central America squad.
Linesmen don't only spot offsides. They are the main ref's assistants, flagging fouls that happen close to their station, advising the ref on matters that include yellow and red cards, seeing who had the last touch before a ball went off the field, etc. It would be unpracticable and time consuming to divert ALL of these decisions to VAR. The game would have no flow and would be stopped every few minutes for VAR reviews. I'm actually surprised that a true fan of the sport like you would make this suggestion of abolishing linesmen in favor of more VAR reviews. Similarly, American Football has a ton of cameras and video reviews but still, has several officials all over the field. The more ability to get decisions correct, the better. But yes, for the offside part of their jobs, technology is taking over, which is ultimately a good thing for accuracy, as long as it doesn't result in unemployment for these officials.
There's been experiences done by FIFA of running games without the offsides rule just to see what would happen. They were a disaster. Players would simply pack the box waiting for long passes, destroying the beautiful nature of the game in terms of build up for attacking plays. This comment is typical of someone who hasn't watched a lot of soccer, and one that comes back over and over from such casual spectators (whether you qualify as one of those I don't know, but your comment does qualify as such). The offsides rule is essential to the nature of this sport.
No, he's not right; three of us here have supplied the correct explanation for why the offsides rule is important.
I wasn't. It was more a complaint about the over reliance on VAR than a call for linemen to be abolished. Even when the linesman has flagged for a clear offside they still stop the game to go to check VAR.
Aha! Thank you... I'm learning more about soccer already, thanks to you and others. This might actually be fun!
OK. I got your "They could do that by VAR too" as an advocacy for that, but it seems like I misunderstood you; my apologies. But no. They don't stop the game every time there is a clear offside flagged by the linesman. Only if the play results in a score.
I was using exaggeration for effect so no worries for misunderstanding me and no need for an apology. I'm guessing you have been spending a lot of time recently defending the beautiful game from your disinterested fellow countrymen so I can understand your irritation.
I think a draw was a fair result in the end, Both sides deserved to lose after the amount of missed opportunities in this game. I'm more disappointed in Croatia as they came into this game looking the much better team.
Perennial underachiever Belgium delivers again... I missed today's game but their effort against Morocco was abominable. Croatia and Morocco are much more deserving...
I know how you feel. Last Sunday I watched soccer instead of football. The NFL has been boring as hell this year....
