hardtack

Agree… we had gone for so long with barely scoring any goals in the course of play (just via penalties), so to score three goals in four games in this World Cup, is a fantastic effort.

Well, they eventually did… https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/20631085/fifa-goal-line-footage-japan-germany-goal/amp/

Nonsense! ALL of the ball needs to be over the line, NOT just the area that makes contact with the ground. At first I thought that it was a wrong decision, but if you look at the shot from directly above the ball, it is clear that the ball has not completely crossed the line. And how is that cheating? Do you think the Japanese player looked at the ball and thought to himself “that ball is out, but I’m going to take a shot anyway, with intent to trick the referee and fool VAR”?

An astounding result considering the fact that for the first twenty or so minutes we were lucky not to have been scored against at least twice. I think the occasion possibly got to the players as they seemed to be doing uncharacteristic things such is running into each other and clearing the ball in a fairly haphazard way. After that, something clicked and we started to put together longer strings of possession. Our defence was magnificent. The goal was a thing of beauty… it was strange to watch as there was very little pace on the ball, and it seemed to pass the keeper in slow motion. I haven’t seen all of the goals scored in the event, but apart from Richalison’s bicycle kick, my favourite has been Guesung’s header to get S Korea’s second goal… incredible.

plus…

You didn’t have to go to that much trouble!

My son and I are just up the road in Sydney and are yet to receive our packs.

You seem to have taken my comments a little too much to heart. I’m watching and enjoying the game.

You failed to read the part where I said I had been watching the sport for over 50 years? Saying that I’m not a fanatical follower of the sport (as you obviously are) does not equate to me not watching or me hating the sport. Is it not possible to find the games in a particular event (the World Cup) uninspiring and still enjoy watching the sport generally? It’s hardly whinging to state my opinion of the games I’ve watched… I note you’ve conveniently ignored the fact that I stated that I enjoyed the Japan v Germany and S Korea v Uruguay games. Perhaps you need to accept the fact that you’re not the only one whose opinion matters. I found some games uninspiring, you didn’t… fine.

Absolutely wrong about that as I NEVER whine about umpiring decisions in AFL. However, being the low scoring game that football is, penalties can have a much bigger bearing on the outcome of a game than AFL umpiring decisions could ever have. So, the likes of Rooney and Figo are out of touch?

I’m not on the wrong thread at all. This is a thread about the World Cup which is watched by both dedicated and merely interested football watchers, all of who are entitled to an opinion and have the right to express that opinion. Sure, I’m not exactly a fanatic when it comes to the round ball game, but I have watched and followed it for over 50 years, so I’m not exactly totally lacking knowledge of the game. If VAR is so successful in eliminating diving and human error (ref’s decisions) from the game, then how on earth did Ronaldo earn a penalty kick in the game against Ghana? Even Rooney and Figo believed that wasn’t a penalty and that Ronaldo had milked it, so why didn’t it go to a full review? Why isn’t a full VAR review made for any penalty awarded (it’s not as if it will use up too much match time)?

I didn’t see either of those games, but of the games I’ve see, yep, uninspiring. I’m afraid that for me, soccer ceased to be the ‘beautiful game’ years ago when diving became a blight on the game and totally ruined it for me; so maybe my view of these games is tainted.

With my family having one foot in the Australian camp and the other in the Japanese camp, we still have hope of at least one of the two getting beyond the group stage. Japan were absolutely magnificent against Germany and so should be in the box seat to progress. My oldest son even bought himself a Japan guernsey for the occasion 😁 Apart from that game and the Korea v Uruguay game, I’ve found most games to be pretty uninspiring.

The ‘castle defence’ 😉

The team sheets would have to be produced in landscape format!

I would have thought that a basket case like Essendon should have been given Qatar.

Of the warriors on D’land, there are some, Who take issue with young Jacko’s mum, Family loyalty it seems, is seen as a weakness, Their gnashing of teeth, and the onset of bleakness, Say this transgression will haunt them for years to come.

Surely having opinions and insights from someone like Healy, who has not aligned himself with the club for some time, is going to be more valuable than having insights from someone who still identifies themself as connected to the club?

Or, perhaps, Frank Spencer?

Must have been one hell of a horse to win carrying both Childs and yourself!!

Ok, mine came from an episode of the Beverly Hillbillies.

Fritsch to kick 60+ and lock down an AA spot.

I never got into their albums, but my “awful band” comment was referring to their live performance that I saw at London’s Roundhouse. Maybe my opinion was a result of all of the mandied out ‘husks’ that I had to keep dodging as they were falling over themselves throughout the show, but I just couldn’t get into them at all.

Me too… it’s on their early album Gorilla. ”Hearing from you later Casanova, on horn... yeah! Digging General de Gaulle on accordion... really wild, General! Thank you, sir Roy Rogers on Trigger”

Viv Stanshall was a genius!! I was fortunate enough to see him a few times when he had a residency at a pub in London’s Fulham in 1975. 50p entry and he had musicians like Steve Winwood and the sax player from the Dark Side of the Moon album (can’t recall his name), playing with him. He would begin his show by opening a French horn case full of bottles of cider, that he would consume over the course of the evening at which point he’d be on the verge of collapse. Sadly, a few years later in 1995, he died in a fire aged just 51. There is a movie in which he appears, that is based on one of his writings that had been serialised on radio, called Sir Henry At Rawlinson End… it’s a brilliant piece of absurdist humour. The Bonzos also appeared briefly in the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour movie, performing their song Death Cab For Cutie.