2018 World Cup running thread

Now no one can make a pk.

 

Not a great day as an advertisement for soccer.

 

Penalty kicks are a ridiculous and unfair way to settle a soccer match. They are however, superbly dramatic and entertaining. I can't help thinking the Spain-Russia match would've been improved by going straight to the kicks and omitting the first two hours of play.

 

In brave new federation, White House comes to Mother Russia.

 

Interesting that you can't find the 114th-minute takedown on the highlight packages of FIFA rights holders Fox or the BBC.

 

Who faces more pressure in the game-deciding PKs ... the goalie or the shooters? Everyone who made a goal had this huge sigh of relief.

I find myself pulling for Croatia. It doesn't hurt that their best striker looks like one of my favorite British actors, Robert Carlyle.

 

Easily the shooters. No one expects the goalie to stop it. I felt terrible for Schmeichel -- no goalie should stop two PKs and still lose.

 

So interesting that the NYT story didn't mention the takedown. Neither did the WaPo. Neither did AP.

They're all in on it. Probably the SEC, too.

Because in Russia, it just means more.

 

Photo: The Guardian
NYT did reference it but not in the main text of the story. The following is in a play-by-play after the main story:

114’: Penalty? No.
A beautiful Spanish free kick drifts achingly beyond three Spanish players, and they IMMEDIATELY sprint to referee Bjorn Kuipers to argue that Pique and Ramos were held and deserve a penalty.

Andrew Das: That really should have been a penalty for the hold on Ramos. He couldn’t get free of his man and the ball sailed within a few feet of him. Nope. Kuipers waves play on.

 

There is zero pressure on the goalies.

 

You got me. A play-by-play that mentions everything that happened every two minutes mentions it. That settles it.

 

Spain will feel better when a positive drug test strikes Russia’s win from the books.