Page 3 of 5

Re: World Cup

PostPosted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 6:33 pm
by KEND
England has easier route to final, looks like France as I predicted shoul be a strong contender. Curious that Ronaldo and Messi arguably the two best players in the world failed to score in the world cup

Re: World Cup

PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 11:04 am
by everything
Definitely easier now with Spain out!

2014 champs, 2010 champs, 2016 Euro champs, 2014 runners up all out!

Re: World Cup

PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 6:52 pm
by grzegorz
Glad Crotia won because they worked harder.

Re: World Cup

PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 7:44 pm
by everything
same here.

it's either a cinderella story, or a bit unfair, because the better teams can crash out. my favorite sport, but hate the PK endings. if you are the lesser team, you should love it.

Re: World Cup

PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 12:12 pm
by vadaga
I have Japan and Belgium left to root for...so either way I am winning today!

Re: World Cup

PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 12:55 pm
by Steve James
Wow, that was some game. This has become one of the best WCs that I've watched. Every game has been interesting and exciting.

Re: World Cup

PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2018 7:58 am
by KEND
Eng vs COL rough game, I felt COL had a slight edge but ENG made it through, lots of yellow cards, surprised there weren't some red cards ENG will have to up its game to get to the final, not enough passion at the moment

Re: World Cup

PostPosted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 11:10 am
by vadaga
all my English friends have taken up the familiar refrain of 'this is our year!' I'd say it could actually be the case this time

Re: World Cup

PostPosted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 3:09 pm
by everything
very good odds that Croatia or England from the weaker side of the bracket will be in the final!

lower odds that either could defeat Brazil or France, but you never know!

Re: World Cup

PostPosted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:51 pm
by Steve James
All the remaining teams are pretty good. Don't count Uruguay out. And Russia is a big question mark because they are the home team and the crowd support will be tangible. They're not better than any of the remaining teams, but ya never know, especially if it comes down to a shootout.

Re: World Cup

PostPosted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 7:33 pm
by everything
Definitely.

The number crunchers at five thirty eight predict the four favored teams to have 64ish% chance to progress to semis. Not that their predictions have been coming so true.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/20 ... edictions/

Re: World Cup

PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2018 9:38 am
by KEND
England should get past Sweden but I don't see them beating Brazil or France either of which should be the eventual winner

Re: World Cup

PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2018 2:28 pm
by everything
Yow!!!

Can't believe the Brazil Belgium game. Just one somewhat random deflection can be so game changing. That is one thing that irritates me about soccer. It seems to have more randomness than other top team sports.

Re: World Cup

PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2018 5:19 pm
by Steve James
Brazil had chances, but blew 'em. Luck was not on their side; Belgium had a good defense, and kept Brazil chasing.

Re: World Cup

PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2018 7:50 pm
by everything
I still can't believe it. Brazil had something like 40 shots. Courtois did well to deflect Neymar's good shot. Coutinho should've hit the target when Neymar cut it back. Perhaps Marcelo should've gotten a tiny bit closer to De Bruyne. It's hard to say because he could blow by you if you close the space too much or with bad timing.

Now France looks like the "best" team, but it doesn't seem likely the "best" team will win (normally). Still, France is ranked #2, and Belgium #3 in Elo ratings (nevermind the stupid FIFA rankings which will change to Elo soon), so these are the top two teams in the world, about to play a semi-final. Hopefully the best team wins, and the final is as dramatic and exciting as it should be, and not some kind of letdown.