Thanks. I didn’t see the Netherlands game, so that was news to me. They sure looked impressive yesterday against Croatia, and I was rooting for Croatia.A couple things I think.
1) it’s not a star studded team. They have the best player of a generation and he might be the best player of all time, but outside of him I’m not sure they’re very relatable to the average fan because they don’t have a roster overflowing with well known players. All they see are Futbol players named Martinez, Alvarez and Fernandez.
2) secondly, they didn’t come off very well the previous game vs Netherlands. There was plenty of poor sportsmanship. I’d argue Netherlands has a lot to do with that but plenty of people thought Argentina was plain nasty. This image will be one that soccer/football/Futbol fans will see for years and years.
Knockout rounds thread
- Thread starter Fk_Pitt
- Start date
Pep Guardiola was a genius when he played for Barcelona, then when he coached the youth teams there, and again when he coached the men. He lost his first match as coach, but didn’t lose many more.
But, signing Haarland and Alvarez in the same transfer window might be his best move ever. Especially since he got most of the money need to do it by selling Ferran Torres to Barcelona. Torres is nowhere near either of them in ability.
But, signing Haarland and Alvarez in the same transfer window might be his best move ever. Especially since he got most of the money need to do it by selling Ferran Torres to Barcelona. Torres is nowhere near either of them in ability.
Yeah well don’t forget raking Chelsea over the coals too— selling that bum Sterling for 50-60 million. And he also offloaded Gabriel Jesus too. I don’t think that was on a free but I can’t remember. So I’m guessing he got good financial return for him too.
I’ve been a fan of the Netherlands since the 1974 World Cup. The “total futbol” concept they played was revolutionary, and they had the greatest futbol player of that generation, Johan Cryuff, orchestrating it. In international tournaments, I always have rooted for them.
But, Cryuff transferred from Ajax in Amsterdam to Barcelona in 1975, and that made me a Barca fan. Which means I have followed Messi since he came up to the Barca A team when he was 17. I still remember his first goal, 10 minutes after he entered his first match, off of a pass from Ronaldhino. And, he is my favorite player and in my opinion the GOAT.
So, I didn’t know which side I would be rooting for when the match started. I quickly discovered it was Argentina. I think that regardless of the opinions on this Board, the majority of viewers also rooted for Argentina. They played a more positive brand of futbol and they had Messi. Around the world, a lot of fans want Messi to win the one trophy that has eluded him.
For me, the referee seriously degraded the level of play. He is IMO the worst official in La Liga — and there are some really bad ones there. He followed his usual pattern: He failed to get control of the match early, allowing some very bad fouls to go uncalled and not issuing any early yellow cards. Then, when he started issuing yellows, he issued them by the bushel. Those two acts, taken together, disrupted any flow to the match.
Messi, of course, was the victim of a large number of the Dutch fouls, and because he played so long in La Liga was familiar with how poor a referee he was. I think that raised his anger level significantly.
In the first half, Argentina was able to play periods of flowing futbol. But, in the second half, the game disintegrated into the Dutch fouling every time Argentina tried to get into the final third and an offense, as Messi rightly described it, of long balls to tall players. The shame is that the Dutch have a midfielder, Frenkie DeJong, who is capable of orchestrating attacking football, but didn’t use him to do it.
But, I think what really got the Argentines angry was the foul call in the 100th minute which set up the tying goal. The set piece for the goal was brilliantly conceived and brilliantly executed. It also was illegal as one Dutch player stood too close to the Argentinian wall and blocked it from getting after the pass. But, the foul called by the referee to award the free kick was an absolutely horrible call. To call it at that spot at that moment of the match was totally incompetent. But it is something that referee does a lot. This is a referee who once awarded Real Madrid two PKs in 2 minutes of added time to win a match. The fact that they were awarded in the 11th and 13th minute of what was supposed to be 6 minutes of added time made it worse. The fact that one was an absolute dive by CR7 when he was untouched and the other was Pepe grabbing an Elche player from behind on a corner and pulling the defender down on top of him made it even worse.
What Argentina did after they won the shootout was IMO more directed towards the referee than the Dutch team, but it looked bad on TV and worse in that photo. Still, I suspect that a large majority of the people watching the finals will be supporting Argentina.
Messi has gotten Argentina to the final before. In 2014, against Germany in Brazil. In that match, Messi routinely took 3 German defenders with him and setup Aguero and Higuan, two experienced strikers, for good chances, none of which they converted. He set up Higuan for a shot at an empty net from 5 meters in the last minute of added time. The shot went wide right. Germany won in double OT.
Messi really deserves this one.
But, Cryuff transferred from Ajax in Amsterdam to Barcelona in 1975, and that made me a Barca fan. Which means I have followed Messi since he came up to the Barca A team when he was 17. I still remember his first goal, 10 minutes after he entered his first match, off of a pass from Ronaldhino. And, he is my favorite player and in my opinion the GOAT.
So, I didn’t know which side I would be rooting for when the match started. I quickly discovered it was Argentina. I think that regardless of the opinions on this Board, the majority of viewers also rooted for Argentina. They played a more positive brand of futbol and they had Messi. Around the world, a lot of fans want Messi to win the one trophy that has eluded him.
For me, the referee seriously degraded the level of play. He is IMO the worst official in La Liga — and there are some really bad ones there. He followed his usual pattern: He failed to get control of the match early, allowing some very bad fouls to go uncalled and not issuing any early yellow cards. Then, when he started issuing yellows, he issued them by the bushel. Those two acts, taken together, disrupted any flow to the match.
Messi, of course, was the victim of a large number of the Dutch fouls, and because he played so long in La Liga was familiar with how poor a referee he was. I think that raised his anger level significantly.
In the first half, Argentina was able to play periods of flowing futbol. But, in the second half, the game disintegrated into the Dutch fouling every time Argentina tried to get into the final third and an offense, as Messi rightly described it, of long balls to tall players. The shame is that the Dutch have a midfielder, Frenkie DeJong, who is capable of orchestrating attacking football, but didn’t use him to do it.
But, I think what really got the Argentines angry was the foul call in the 100th minute which set up the tying goal. The set piece for the goal was brilliantly conceived and brilliantly executed. It also was illegal as one Dutch player stood too close to the Argentinian wall and blocked it from getting after the pass. But, the foul called by the referee to award the free kick was an absolutely horrible call. To call it at that spot at that moment of the match was totally incompetent. But it is something that referee does a lot. This is a referee who once awarded Real Madrid two PKs in 2 minutes of added time to win a match. The fact that they were awarded in the 11th and 13th minute of what was supposed to be 6 minutes of added time made it worse. The fact that one was an absolute dive by CR7 when he was untouched and the other was Pepe grabbing an Elche player from behind on a corner and pulling the defender down on top of him made it even worse.
What Argentina did after they won the shootout was IMO more directed towards the referee than the Dutch team, but it looked bad on TV and worse in that photo. Still, I suspect that a large majority of the people watching the finals will be supporting Argentina.
Messi has gotten Argentina to the final before. In 2014, against Germany in Brazil. In that match, Messi routinely took 3 German defenders with him and setup Aguero and Higuan, two experienced strikers, for good chances, none of which they converted. He set up Higuan for a shot at an empty net from 5 meters in the last minute of added time. The shot went wide right. Germany won in double OT.
Messi really deserves this one.
