The Soccer Thread (Version 12) — Revenge of the Backup GK

The Frisco Bowl, but make it soccer. Brilliant!

 

Ole out and CR7 is washed up at halftime turned into top of the group at full time.

The narrative turns until United are destroyed by Liverpool on Sunday.

 

Solskjaer is a cockroach. Don't kick him down the Ship Canal quite yet.

 

Since I apparently can't leave well enough alone, I thought I'd game out what a second-cycle biennial World Cup might look like. Let's take Infantino at his word and say FIFA goes with the rule of no consecutive World Cups. I took the results from 2018 qualifying and eliminated everyone who made it to Russia. This is what the following World Cup would look like if that rule was in place for a hypothetical 2020 tournament.

Host nation (1): whomever that might be
Asia (4.5 spots): Syria, Uzbekistan, UAE, Iraq; China v Thailand in the fifth-place playoff
Africa (5): DR Congo, Zambia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Uganda
CONCACAF (3.5): Honduras, USA (woo hoo!), Trinidad & Tobago; Hex only had six teams so no one left to go into the playoff, assume Guatemala (best team to miss the Hex)
CONMEBOL (4.5): Chile, Paraguay, Ecuador, Bolivia; Venezuela to the playoff
Oceania (0.5): New Zealand to the playoff
UEFA (13): Northern Ireland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Slovakia, Netherlands, Hungary, Montenegro, Ukraine, Scotland, Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Czech Republic

That lineup isn't completely bereft of sizzle, but is it enough to convince young people to put down their phones or controllers and watch IRL FIFA or is it just giving them more of what they're already not watching?

 

It's a JV World Cup that would be completely dominated by Europe, which is deeper than everyone else. Even with USA in it, I think most Americans would view it as such. Bad idea.

 

The strangeness of FIFA is that because every country has an equal vote, power can lie with the majority of countries with no real soccer program and no hope of ever making a WC. They just want the extra cash. If you can harness those votes (usually with bribes/promises) you have insane power. Fiji, for example, is better off with a cut of WC money every 2 years and the lost revenue is felt by UEFA and COMEBOL which won’t have the Euros and Copa America.

 

I don't know what I just watched at Goodison Park. And that offensive explosion happened after Sarr was substituted. I don't know what to make of that. But those were three completely unexpected points that are going to come very much in handy down the road.

 

I can't believe Brighton & Hove Albion are sitting in a Europe spot at the EPL quarter-pole.

 

The only thing more predictable than righteous indignation over shady ownership (at someone else's club) is Toon fans' cries of persecution and double standards.

 

Salah is a joy to watch.

 

United just melting down

 

A natty hatty for Sala. Damn.