The Soccer Thread (Version 8)

Big Cup QF draw. Tasty stuff:

Barca v. Atletico Madrid
Real Madrid v. Dortmund
PSG v. Chelsea
Man United v. Bayern

 

No 12 seeds in that bracket.

 

When Man United is the plucky underdog, you know that the field is stacked. I think that I heard earlier this week that all 8 group winners advanced.

 

You can get down on ManU at 36-1 to win it. Those are pretty good odds.

 

I've watched at least 2/3 of their games. The way that they are playing I'd say they are no better than 4-1 to beat each of the most likely 3 opponents (Bayern and then 2 of Barca, RM and PSG). At that level, 36-1 are actually poor odds.

 

Any bet but Bayern is a risky proposition, but of the rest, if I had to take a little flutter I'd put it down on PSG.

 

Comedy at Stamford Bridge. Down 2-0 ale ready, A-OC with a ridiculous handball on the line and the ref sends off Gibbs (obviously the nearest light skinned black guy he can find) instead. Chelsea up 3-0 and a man after 20.

 

Poor Cardiff. Goes up on Liverpool twice, each time it gets leveled quickly and now the Cardiff trails 3-2.

 

Rooney with a sick goal with the outside of his boot from just inside the halfway line. Beckham-esqe.

 

Qatar World Cup PR folks don't like Deadspin.

http://deadspin.com/the-organizers-of-the-qatar-world-cup-are-very-mad-at-u-1550619295

 

"In the meantime, I suggest you re-visit the headline. It is currently being reviewed by our legal team - not least because of the direct comparison to the worst atrocity on US soil. And in the future, please give careful consideration to future reports on Qatar."

Ah, yes -- veiled threats of racism and libel suits. The preferred recourse for people who aren't used to being handled with anything other than obsequious deference. Qatari royal fee-fees > poor South Asian people's lives, I guess. Is it just a default PR move to take great umbrage at "factual inaccuracies" on the periphery and demand corrections while leaving intact the core of the article and its central assertions?

Also, if the chief flack for Qatar's World Cup bid really led that e-mail by calling the Deadspin EIC "Tommy", he's even more tone-deaf than he comes across in the message. At best, he's overly informal; at worst, he's high-handed and dismissive, reinforcing some of the worst stereotypes of Brits and PR flacks all in one go.

 

England's biggest fan-owned club is well on its way to becoming England's biggest Conference club. Portsmouth two points clear of the League Two relegation places, and but for a very late Wimbledon equalizer against Northampton, they'd be out of the drop zone only on goals scored.

Ugly, ugly stuff.