roy11

went up to Sydney for the Uruguay game, forever one of the greatest moments of my life.

94 my earliest but more moments than in detail as I was in Primary School. 2006 wasn't our fault. the final was on a Saturday (early Sunday Morning). Was in my more social days so I had been out drinking and came home for the match, I did indeed pass out during the match. But back then you could get Spirits at clubs extremely cheap so not entirely my fault (It was entirely my fault).

EFL Cup action tomorrow, World Cup was nice, but keen to get back to Erik ten Hag's red army

What happened in Argentina involved millions of people and wasn't safe for the bus to continue. Don't think soccer is alone with celebrations going a bit haywire from time to time though. When Richmond won the flag police had to block off traffic to Swan Street. There were brawls, property damage, people dancing on cars, flares being lit, people climbing buildings, people lighting stuff on fire - people smashing bottles. Plenty of examples in America of teams winning the Superbowl, World Series, NBA finals etc and acting up as well.

Hope this isn't the case, seen Clarry and Salem at a few games over the years.

Smarter people than me have written books and academic papers on true football hooliganism that we see around the world. Supporter groups (viewed as extremist groups) want to win on and off the pitch, and they want to be acknowledged as being the best/toughest. So they have occasional pre-arranged scraps, try to steal opponents flags etc. So you get some fan on fan violence for bragging rights, as strange as that may sound to some. Your average football fan is not about that life, it is a fringe element. What we have here is a watered down version (if you remove the incident against the player on Saturday). There are some elements of the above but also just young men on the drink. If you're looking at the game in general, I wouldn't say it's a lack of scoring - football (soccer) on a whole is built on moments and explosions of emotions. It does spill over sometimes, not going to deny that. As I said I've witnessed plenty of punch-ons at multiple sporting codes (and pubs) over my life, biggest crowd incident I saw was at a Dees vs Swans game and started off with some mild comments. Last year at the Dees v Hawks game a Hawks player ducked out of a challenge on the boundary and I yelled out "He didn't want it" which I thought was a harmless enough comment, a Hawks fan took umbrage to this and started having a right go at me, security intervened. Not saying it would have become violent but these days all you need to do is say the wrong thing around the wrong person for something to escalate. At the end of the day some people punch on over parking spots!

The severe bans extend from international games through to registering to play Sunday League football. Even if you’re banned you can find a way into games though, the infrastructure and lack of technology makes it difficult to enforce.

This is something I didn't quite understand on the night, the tension was palpable, fan discontent the week leading up to the game etc and on the night security/police presence was lacking. Not that you can stop (expletives) acting like (expletives).

It's a tough one to consider, but the right course of action. I think there are 9 home games left this season. I'm not expecting to go to a game any time soon. At a bare minimum I expect it'll be 3-5 games with no fans and they will suspend the 'active area' for the remainder of the season. Active Area being the originating source of the chanting/flags/flares. The Club will be fined, which they'll have to take on the chin, the powers to be will be need to see as taking a strong stance. The result of the game on Saturday will probably be awarded to Melbourne City. There's a strong chance the team could be docked points as well. It's not really fair on the playing group, but what can you do, The club has 20,000 or so members, the majority of which are decent, law abiding sport loving individuals. I'm not going to deny there is an element of football culture who are up for a scrap. All the members I know are passionate lovers of the game, we've gone together since the inception of the A-League. Some are brining their kids now. They're all saddened/horrified by what occurred on the weekend - and they'll all be punished due to other people's actions. They all understand the sport has been brought into disrepute and some punishment is required. It's been alleged that a number of individuals that stormed the pitch on the weekend are already serving life bans from the game. Due to lack of technology and ease of buying tickets, it's difficult to maintain and police this. Hard to comment on refunds without knowing what the punishment may be. We're all going through a cost of living crisis and having paid for something and not being able to use it due to the actions of some (expletives) is frustrating. If the club offers refunds/credit for next year it won't help their financials - A League clubs aren't exactly flush with cash post COVID. Melbourne Victory actually secured major investment a few months ago and now seemingly will be used to plug some holes. Don't envy the decision makers here, the club rightly need to be punished and members accept this, but ultimately everyone will suffer as a result. Sorry for the waffling.

I'm a Melbourne Victory member and a Melbourne Demons member. Not going to enter the "soccer is boring" discourse, it's a subjective topic, i love it, some don't. I was at the game on the weekend, what happened was appalling and is rightly being condemned and MV will be punished as they should. I've witnessed violence in the stands at multiple sporting codes (A-League, AFL, Tennis etc) but this was different and it's heartbreaking as a lover of the game and sport in general to be honest.

Think he'll struggle to get there, but may get nursed to it with sub appearances. Maybe some greater squad rotation in 2023 will assist too

Related/Unrelated - What are the chances of Melk getting to 100 Games (Sub or otherwise) to get Father-Son eligibility? ticks it off for Essendon but currently on 94 appearances for Melbourne

The first France goal could have gone either way with the VAR intervention, can imagine some frustration from the English but they can't have any other VAR complaints in that loss. Kane was fouled outside of the box so VAR looked and could do nothing. The on-field referees were poor missing the incident.

Once @Macca gave the clue away the answer jumped out very quick. First WC I can remember was 1994 and I knew all the 3rd place winners for that were all on the list. I've also read a fair bit about the 1930 WC (which was the inaugural WC) so the USA part gave it away. To summarize, have a wiki copy/paste Third and fourth place The now-traditional third place play-off was not established until 1934, so the format of the 1930 World Cup is unique in not distinguishing between the third and fourth placed teams. Occasional sources, notably a FIFA Bulletin from 1984, incorrectly imply that a third-place match occurred and was won 3–1 by Yugoslavia. Accounts differ as to whether a third-place match was originally scheduled. According to a 2009 book by Hyder Jawad, Yugoslavia refused to play a third-place match because they were upset with the refereeing in their semi-final against Uruguay. At the end of the championship, the captains of the United States team (Tom Florie) and Yugoslavia (Milutin Ivković) both received bronze medals. Yet a FIFA technical committee report on the 1986 World Cup included full retrospective rankings of all teams at all previous World Cup finals; this report ranked the United States third and Yugoslavia fourth, due to a better goal difference on otherwise identical records, a practice since continued by FIFA. In 2010, the son of Kosta Hadži, the chief of Yugoslav delegation at the 1930 World Cup and the vice-president of the Football Association of Yugoslavia at the time, claimed that Yugoslavia, as a team, has been awarded one bronze medal, which has been kept by Hadži himself and his family for the following 80 years. According to this source, Yugoslavia was placed third because of the semi-finals loss to the eventual champions, Uruguay. The official recording however shows the United States team claiming third place.

3rd Place "winners" as such. I say that as 1930 WC did not have a play off.

Recruited a lot of height this off-season. Given Bedford's departure seems a wise depth option?

Not that I endorse Gambling, but there was a multi which was Both there was a mutli with France and Brazil to make the final, Switzerland to make the R16 and Mbappe to win the Goldenboot at $81. Told people to get on it, but i didn't. So i am actively barracking for Portugal/England/Argentina/Netherlands to avoid me being sad.

Langdon has shaved his head. Lost Jackson, Hunt and now this. At least Kozzie is still team headband

Cavani tried this overnight, just sticking the leg in front for contact. Ref and VAR not moved.

Had Germany in a sweep, spewing, think they made a look overlooking Hummels, I know he's not the future but they looked a bit sloppy at at times in the back

I'm very critical of Arnie, especially his tactical inflexibility. He coached the last 2 games well i will give him that. Tournament football is a unique beast. You can afford to play a low block and rely on on occasional transition and try steal a goal which we have done the last 2 games. Just wish he had reacted sooner vs France. Definitely helps Denmark weren't at the their best, but can only beat who is front of you.

I guess with 23 rotating, if there is an injury they are disadvantaged, but at at the end of the day injuries happen so teams will always benefit/suffer as a result and you cant really create a perfect system here. i'm sure they will tinker with it until the day i die aha At least the Tactical sub won't be as manipulated as much as the medical one was.

Jefferson, Jefferson, Jefferson Forward