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Post by Helmut83 on Jul 15, 2018 15:56:47 GMT
I predict a 2-1 win for France. Mystic Horace getting it right so far. Just one thing: Griezmann dived badly (in the foul that gave origin to the first goal).
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Post by Helmut83 on Jul 15, 2018 17:05:57 GMT
In spite of the commonplace of "the best team won", in my opinion the best team didn't win today.
I think France was extremely lucky, they shot 4 times on goal and got 4 goals. On the first half, all they did was put 2 balls inside the box and got an own goal (again, it hadn't been a foul against Griezmann) and a penalty (which, if it had been the other way round, I'm not sure they would have called). On the third goal, the rebound fell twice at Pogba's feet and Modric could find the ball. That's luck. Croatia played better, with 61% posession and twice as many shots on goal, but the planets had aligned for France today: for one reason or the other each time they crossed the midfield it ended up in a goal.
Congrats France, you've got to salute the champions, but I do it without the feeling that they were a good and clear champion.
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Post by dillwyn on Jul 15, 2018 17:17:52 GMT
I agree Helmut ... Croatia can hold their heads high. Griezmann's was a dive and never a foul, the penalty was not a penalty.
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Post by Helmut83 on Jul 15, 2018 17:50:20 GMT
Yeah, I also forgot to say Croatia deserves congrats too. I'm sure they have the bitter taste of knowing they were better than France but a lot of bad luck, a couple of dubious decisions by the referee and a few chances missed costed them. But also, they have to be extremely proud of themselves. They are a small country with no imports and they played with a lot of heart and love for their colours, and a lot of quality too.
Well done Croatia.
PS: their prime minister got a little touchy during the ceremony, she was giving away hugs everywhere! Even the referees received a few.
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Post by Buttler on Jul 17, 2018 8:53:38 GMT
Ugly and lucky, but they won, so congrats to France.
I love her...
A few memes I found on FB. lol
Hooligans in Europe, and hooligans in Russia.
Olivier Giroud WC stats lol
"World Cup winner Olivier Giroud has ended his campaign without a single shot on target in 546 minutes of action".
World Champion.
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Post by Helmut83 on Jul 17, 2018 17:16:06 GMT
Buttler : the Croatian president is a bit too old for me, but my uncle is in love with her too. To give you an idea on how used to corruption we are in Argentina, the news here was that Grabar-Kitarovic had gone to Russia... and she had paid for her ticket with her own money!!!
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Post by Helmut83 on Jul 17, 2018 17:44:23 GMT
Now that all is said and done, let's revisit the predictions and see how they went: a) Champion: dillwyn hit the nail in the head there. Even though we all mentioned France, the list was in order of preponderance, and Dillwyn was the only one to put France first: a) France, Brazil, Belgium, Germany and Uruguay The others he mentioned did well too, except for Germany. b) Underdog: I'd say Horacewimp won here. Croatia, normally not an underdog in my opinion, turns to be an underdog when we are talking about making it as far as the final. And also, Japan -a true underdog, as no one gave a dime for them- did quite well too. dillwyn and I jinxed our underdogs, all of them were eliminated in group stages: b) Iceland, Peru and Poland b) Senegal, Australia, Costa Rica c) Best player: even though no one said Luka Modric, I'd say Buttler was the closest, as Eden Hazard was outstanding and could easily have won it. c)I really don't know. Let me see... ok, I'll say Hazard (Belgium). I wasn't too far off either: Kyllian Mbappe had a great world cup and turned out to be a decisive player for the champions. d) Goalscorer: there's a clear winner here and it's myself. I can brag about even having hit the details as to how Harry Kane would score, as he scored 5 against the weak group stage opponents (2 against Tunisia and 3 against Panama) and from then one he only scored once more on a PK against Colombia. d) Harry Kane (he'll make the most of the weak opponents in the group stage) e) How will your team do? Both Buttler (having adopted his mother's team, Belgium) and myself hit it exactly: e) I think that Belgium will reach the semifinal. e) We will lose in round of 16 against France I would say I have a bonus point here, as I even predicted correctly the opponent against which we were going to lose, but I may be biased. Special mention to the participant who did worse: BSJ, as Damey wasn't world Cup champion, nor underdog who did well, nor best player, nor goalscorer, and she didn't guess when Damey would lose.
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