World Cup 2022 - Quarter-Finals

I'm disappointed we didn't get the predicted Iberian classic but think Morocco will make up for it with it's 'home game' status. Brazil-Croatia is a foregone conclusion but the other 2 are up in the air and should make for exciting matches.

What is the logic behind Netherlands/Argentina getting two extra days rest than Brazil/Croatia?

that's just how the bracket turned out, don't complain

Portugal now looks like a solid contender and has a relatively easier route to Semi. With all respect, Morocco and Croatia are the two weak teams remaining.

@m99 you guys rested all your starters for a match so I expect Brazil will arrive fresher

El Gunner wrote:that's just how the bracket turned out, don't complain

I'm just asking what the logic is.

The brackets and scheduling of fixtures made way more sense back in 02/06.

Argentina only had 2 days of rest before their R16 tie against Australia.

Not sure what the logic is tbh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5NDBP4bYO0

they don't cover the Aussie game here, but it will be interesting to see whether Scaloni makes changes again for the Netherlands game because he has at least made one change every game so far. Also good to see that he has multiple ideas, options and can think on the spot to make adjustments that reap benefits. And he still has a joker card in Dybala on the bench which he hasn't used yet. Sign of a good coach.

Yeah Scaloni absolutely deserves a lot of credit. Will be fascinating to see him against LVG, arguably the two best coaches left in the tournament.

Had been reading somewhere how LVG stopped Messi back in 2014. They think he is more than capable of repeating that. In 2014 Messi was almost invisible after the 2nd round. I don't think LVG had to come up with a master plan to stop him. Things might be different this time as it stands

neuro11 wrote:Had been reading somewhere how LVG stopped Messi back in 2014. They think he is more than capable of repeating that. In 2014 Messi was almost invisible after the 2nd round. I don't think LVG had to come up with a master plan to stop him. Things might be different this time as it stands

Watch out this is a controversial take around these parts. Some think he "led" Argentina to the final with those performances

difference between 2014 and now is that Argentina had no identity outside of give the ball to Messi and hope for the best, as well as not having a good coach

farfan wrote:

neuro11 wrote:Had been reading somewhere how LVG stopped Messi back in 2014. They think he is more than capable of repeating that. In 2014 Messi was almost invisible after the 2nd round. I don't think LVG had to come up with a master plan to stop him. Things might be different this time as it stands

Watch out this is a controversial take around these parts. Some think he "led" Argentina to the final with those performances

well he had to considering the whole team had no identity and was solely revolved around him... just because he didn't score doesn't mean he was "invisible"

Well, for me he was invisible by his standard. I had been expecting him to be in god mode in Semi and Final in particular. This is the chance of your life and you gotta lit up yourself on such occasions as Maradona did. As a die-hard Messi and Argentina fan, I had huge expectations from him and I blamed very little on Higuain or others for the loss. I thought he should have single-handedly made the difference as legends do, rise on the occasion. I can remember how he broke the deadlock vs Iran and then performed vs Nigeria, vs Mexico this time. Deep in my heart, I blame him for not winning it back then.

So we have 4 players in this tournament who are in that "one of a kind in football history" top players in Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar and Mbappe. Will it be Mbappe's world cup again ? Or Neymar/Messi/Ronaldo will snatch it from him ?
Can't wait for the QFs, SFs and then the WC ... the story to unfold. Please don't tell me it is fixed

Again ppl heap so much expectation on Messi when it comes to the WC its quite interesting, any other player now or ever u rarely get as much expectation. CR, Lewand, Modric for examples the recent Ballon D'or winners they are so far away from leading their NT to the world yet nobody crictises them at all for that n yet ppl jump on Messi all the time, its pretty insane.

Seems to me that CR is criticized for his attitude or performance level, regardless of whether or not he actually plays, so I'm not sure why you think that he gets a free pass from people.

I suppose you're right that Modric hasn't typically been held accountable when he's not been a standout performer for Croatia, but they had more top performers during the last international tournament who shared the burden of criticism with him. The current, Croatia team seems to consist of players who are on the wrong side of their prime, as well as players that I've never heard of. It doesn't seem reasonable to expect 37 year old, Modric to miraculously pull that team anywhere.

Although Poland have some good players, I don't think anyone expected them to get far in this tournament, with or without Lewa.

So yes, Argentina with their Higuains or whatever elements of burden people like to apply to them, are considered among the favorites to win the competition, and Messi naturally becomes the spearhead of that ambition since he's their most high-profile player.

neuro11 wrote:Well, for me he was invisible by his standard. I had been expecting him to be in god mode in Semi and Final in particular. This is the chance of your life and you gotta lit up yourself on such occasions as Maradona did. As a die-hard Messi and Argentina fan, I had huge expectations from him and I blamed very little on Higuain or others for the loss. I thought he should have single-handedly made the difference as legends do, rise on the occasion. I can remember how he broke the deadlock vs Iran and then performed vs Nigeria, vs Mexico this time. Deep in my heart, I blame him for not winning it back then.

fair enough, but i wouldn't go so far as to hold it against him. These things happen, no player can ever be perfect.

The thing I hold against Messi is how he sulks and puts his head down when his team are in a bad spot. Galtier said Messi knows when his team have lost the game, so he puts his head down when that happens.

There’s a reason Neymar was the one who willed the comeback against PSG in 2017, and not Messi. If the going gets tough tomorrow I don’t get the impression he’ll run and try harder, but he’ll go back into his shell and walk even more.

He still has the individual quality to turn games around against smaller teams, but we haven’t seen that against the big teams in a while. That’s another one of the reasons why I think Argentina need to get an early goal and sit back. Tactically they suck at breaking defensive blocks, but then they resort to hero ball using Messi and that hasn’t worked in years against big teams.

Netherlands is going through. Bet your house, horse and your rickety car on it

Its gonna be 2014 all over again, Argentina wins very narrowly.

Brazil lost to the first European team they faced in the knockouts for the last four World Cups. Do they break the pattern now?

According to Whoscored.com Only 4 sides remain unbeaten at #Qatar2022

Croatia
England
Morocco
Netherlands

interestingly they all have the chance to remain unbeaten in this round too

England are not beating France, please. Also i am rooting for Morocco, but i think Portugal flipped another switch in their last game. So yea... Croatia will have to put in the best defensive game of the tournament if they want to beat Brazil.

Netherlands i think have the best chance with how they are set up to beat Argentina. Think Scaloni might have to bring Lisandro Martinez back in to help contain the pace of the Dutch counter attack.

M99 wrote:Its gonna be 2014 all over again, Argentina wins very narrowly.

Brazil lost to the first European team they faced in the knockouts for the last four World Cups. Do they break the pattern now?

Brazil are much better today than they were last WC. I am looking at the team that played against Belgium that time. My word, they were full of average players, left right and center. Only Casemiro being available will make a huuuge difference. They have complete opposite fbs to what they had then. Much more defensive this time around