Word!
I didn't know who Zlatan was til this World Cup. He's fun as a commentator. They're all talkin about how Paraguay was intentionally tryna get people tossed outa the game... how difficult it can be stayin outa the trap. Zlatan is like I woulda got FOUR Red cards... maybe other things... Haha
Pretty big games today. Norway is gonna have their hands full with Brazil. Mexico maybe has a better chance in their game with England? Sorry, Harry Kane, but I'm rootin for Mexico.
Locals are fired up for today's game in Mexico City. Lady at the neighborhood butcher store was rockin her green shirt. 😎🌴
They just said FIFA is gonna let Balogun play for USA tomorrow. 🥳🇺🇸👍
I know there's been animated discussions on Brazilian surfers. I wonder if that overflows onto their soccer players. I could just add another reason to root for Norway. Apparently Haaland plays vs one of the Brazilian defenders in his league play. Lotta rowdy history between them two. Haha
@ibc It is exactly the same, but even worse. Brazil thinks that they are all gods gift to surfing, and their entire country believes that they are the chosen ones in futbol. It's annoying as fuck, which is why I root against them every opportunity I get. Their fans suck. Their athletes in every sports are as arrogant as can be. Fuck them. Good riddance.
Happy 4th ya'll!
That Cape Verde performance was epic! They may have "lost", but damn did they win the hearts of millions. That goal from the left hand corner of the box by that dude, curving up and into the upper right corner of the net was top tier class! WOW! Heart breaking for them they didn't pull of the W, but damn, they sure felt like winners.
In other news, Balogun got cleared to play for the USA vs Belgium! YEEEW! LFG!
The Vikings did it. The actually fucking DID it. Sent Brazil home. End of the game was weird AF, but it don't matter. Haaland gets 2 more goals. This is pretty fuckin cool. 🥳👍💥
England grinds it out!
Haaland continues to be one of my favorite players right now, incredible how easy he makes it look. And who doesn't love him pounding that drum while everybody else in the stadium does the Viking row? One of the best post game celebrations for sure.
Harry Kane of England also is pretty insane to watch.
Best World Cup ever. Now let's get to that next level USA, let's make history!
Yeah man, I have put money on him to score every game so far in this tournament, and he has delivered. Both of his goals yesterday were absolute class. Perfect head ball. Then a perfect low drive right inside the post....
I love watching him "score", as far as play. He is an old school striker that just stands around the box. If you watch him, he looks like a fucking Zombie, but then he explodes in to action when the ball comes his way. He is the best true scoring in the game I would say. Messi is more of an artist, and has more goals, yes, but Haaland is physically imposing and just muscles the ball into the net.
Harry Kane is a beast too, and what I like most about his is that he plays the entire game. Defense. he is all over the place. Assist, finding space. He doesn't just wait for it... He is a baller for sure.
So, let's go through this. Brazil OUT. Mexico OUT. And while I explained before that when the tournament started that my wife suggested that I give Mexico a break and root for them since at one time, we spend hundreds of days down there surfing and enjoying their people and culture. But last night, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I put money on Kane to score and England to win. I am just sick of all the shit that they let happen down in Mexico to opposing teams. They did the fireworks and drum lines all night. They were telling England not to order carry out, or eat anywhere, or drink anything because of the potential posioning they could get. I mean, crazy shit. After the last match at Azteca before England, 5 people were killed in the choas after the game. Can you imagine if that happened in the US? And that barely made headlines... It's crazy... Then there were protestors down there complaining about the 130,000 people that are "missing" from the Mexico City area. Hundreds of thousands of people slaughtered and dipped in acid baths, never to be seen again.
So while I respect Mexico's love for the sport and passion and all that, they are bush league idiots in the grand scheme of things. No class whatsoever. They were crying and whining the whole game. Trying to interfere with Kane's PK. It was a pathetic display of sportsmanship....
I didn't feel bad for one player or fan in Mexico when they were all crying after the game...
Shit, if you looked closely, they had to use riot shields after England scored each goal to protect them from the beer and bottles being tossed at them. And while it's funny, they were still chanting that England's goalie was a "homo" every time he approached a goal kick...
They can call that "history" and "tradition"... Grow the fuck up. Ya'll never won shit, and ya'll never will win shit. Stop acting like you are god's gift to soccer. You have gotten spanked by Europe and South American for your entire history, just like the rest of us... Get over yourselfs. And get your crazy ass fans in order. embarrassing.
The fucking Military and SWAT had to escort England in and out of their hotel. I mean, are you fucking kidding me?
And as for the US red card situation... I have mixed feelings about this. After further review, I do think the red card was the wrong call. But Balogun accepted it with class and grace, as did Pochettino. They never once complained or said they were pushing for anything....
So when I saw the article come through, with Trump's name on it, him posing in a photo with a red card and basically saying, yeah, the FIFA president is my buddy, so I called him, and no it's reversed. Not a good look. And the rest of the world futbol community hates us to begin with. No one on earth outside of the USA wants us to make a run. And this just adds fuel to the fire and conspiracy theories abound...
What I will remind everyone is that like I said, Portugal challenged the two game world cup suspension for Ronaldo heading into the routnament, and they reversed it. And Ronaldo played the first two group games, which he was suspended for... I literally had to dig deep to even find that information. No one in the world cared. But now that it's the US, here we fucking go....
So, one of a few things will happen. If the US loses tonight, it will feel an awful lot like bad karma from shit like this... Or, the US wins and Balogun scores like 2 goals, then all we will hear for weeks is "US Cheaters" and all this shit. And Trump this and Trump that....
And the worst part about that, is that this world cup, in a rare state of affairs has united America. You don't hear politics in soccer. We have all stood behind this team and showed love for our country. Even the liberal psychos for the most part, are all behind our squad. This is the perfect form of division....
Like, a super liberal family member texted me last night talking about "We should bench Balogun as a middle finger to Trump and FIFA"... I laughed back via text like, yeah, no. Not happening. Get over it.
Oh, and also for the record, it really seemed to me that FIFA and the refs were doing EVERYTHING in their power to have Brazil and Mexico advance. It was more eggregious in the Mexico game. I do NOT think that the challenge from England was a red card. His leg accidentally rolled across the top of the ball and he lost control and hit the guys ankle. Fine with a yellow. That was no a red card...
And then when they called a PK on Kane. That was absolute horse shit. He was playing the ball 100% and at the last second, the striker snuck his foot between Kane and the ball. That is the definition of a 50/50 ball and a fair challenge. The ref took all of 3 seconds to look at it and awarded the PK.. Nonsense....
And then at the end, the first slap in the face was the +11 minutes of stoppage. GTF outta here. And then LONG after that 11 minutes expired, they let Mexico take like 3 more corners in a row before finally blowing the whistle...
The coverage did a terrible job showing the fight where the benches cleared. They kept talking about it, but never showed it on the broadcast.....
And Mexico started it over the foul.... No red cards for that? No yellows? Because it's as Azteca, you just let that shit go? Lame.
Reckon I ain't gotta worry about choosin sides in Norway vs Mexico. No problemo rootin against England vs Norway. I don't know hardly anything about Mexico's team. I was just jumpin in to support my neighbors.
After England got 2 goals in like the first 10 seconds, I decided it was time to multi-task. That almost felt like a Mike Tyson fight. I started doin other things while also lookin once in a while at the score.
I know the whole planet is mad about Balogun bein allowed to play. I think they initially busted him using a method that ain't allowed. The video review. Like illegal searches, you didn't get a lawyer, etc. Don't that make whatever happens next inadmissible in a court of law or FIFA? 🇺🇸😏
@ibc Yes, 100%. Atricle 27 is what they used. They were not allowed to show the replay in slow motion in that situation. Period...
But now, FIFA has said that it is allowing Belgium to argue their case in front of a non-FIFA judge at some point today. Stay tuned.
On a side note, it was discussed today on the radio with some European soccer players that the two most hated Soccer nations in the tournament are the US and England. And that is because we are the historical "colonizers". I guess if you ain't form England, you hate English soccer and if you ain't from the US, you hate American soccer. Bring it on....
No easy teams today...
lol It doesn't bother me one bit that the suspension was overturned. It shouldn't have happened to begin with, so I see it as justice. How it happened is up for debate I guess, but the right decision was made. I don't know what Trump actually said to the FIFA President, first of all, it's not surprising they are communicating throughout this whole thing, Trump is very involved in the planning of all of it, just like everything else, very hands on. He loves TV and production and he loves making sure everybody is having a great time, a true host if you will. Now, he's allowed to have his opinion, just like the rest of us. Does that mean he did anything improper? I doubt it. Did the FIFA President do anythign improper? I doubt it. Knowing the overreach, and what EVERYBODY else was saying too, probably just confirmed what DJT's opinion may have been. But I don't think he told him to do anything or requested he do anything, probably just said what was on his mind, and that's OK with me. The fact that this was ABC breaking this and ESPN being one in the same (Disney), it doesn't surprise me that they would give the perception of wrong doing in their reporting, but always remember they have a huge axe to grind against DJT, they've already lost lawsuits and owe him millions of dollars for the BS Fake News. Just sayin. I don't think the USA is going to win it all, but I do hope they beat Belgium and piss off the haters.
@dawnpatrol321 Yeah, it's not that I don't trust Trump. It's that I don't trust FIFA. They have been corrupt my entire life. Case in point: Qatar gave FIFA and their board members over a billion dollars, under the table to get the world cup in Qatar. FIFA denied it, but the money was there, and they all have private islands with Yachts now...
I don't trust FIFA, so I want to be clear on that. And there have been hundreds of millions of dollars exchanged between the US and FIFA throughout this for rebranding stadium and all of that. So would it surprise me if FIFA was skimming some of that money like they always do? Not surprising at all...
And is there a world where I could see Trump saying the following to them: "Remember all that missing money? Remember all the kick backs we gave you by giving us the bid to host? We know about your island, your Yacht. You are a rich man because of this world cup, so I think you might want to "do the right thing here".... Yes, I could see that happening.
Because Trump, the US and everyone on earth has dirt on FIFA. Lot's of dirt....
So if this truly was an honest challenge and FIFA is trying to "do the right thing", then so be it.... But if that IS the case, I see a strong possibility that FIFA sides with Belgium later today and upholds the suspension because of international backlash, and the fact that everyone has dirt on these guys... Because if the US presented them with the ol' blackmail or bribery card, this will stand and he will play....
So, if FIFA stands firm on this and he plays, I think there were some darker conversations behind closed doors.
Of course, I'd be happy as hell if USA wins the World Cup. Or Norway, for that matter.
I think both teams have made it deep enough for me to consider them a success. Especially Norway. If USA wins today, I'd say they're up there with Norway on the over achievement scale. Almost everybody left now is like France, Spain, Argentina...
I am not a Ronaldo fan. But I think Spain is the better of the two clubs, so I would like them to get the axe. And we have a long road ahead of us tonight, but if the US could advance, I would love the opportunity to end Ronaldo's world cup career and send him back to Saudi Arabia.
P.S. Earlier in the weekend, they CERTAINLY gave france that win. That was another BS PK. And now I officially don't l ike Mbappe. He was talking shit to the keeper, then he refused to shake his hand and the goalie threw a ball at him... Then MBappe ran down the field mocking the keeper for his dive. On a PK. France got lucky was fuck.
It still feels to me like USA is an outsider in the World Cup and big time international soccer. It ain't like the Olympics or Monster Trucks. We can't just come up in here and take over everything. Sure, you win, you can talk some. We ain't really got that history yet.
@ibc Yes, we will always be the red-headed step child in the Futbol world, until we aren't. We were a darling story a few weeks ago, now the casual US fans are getting louder, and now this... I was listening to Barstool radio this morning and this Jamaican/English player was on talking mad shit. Like "Until you called it Futbol, you will never be respected. You were cute when you were quiet, not you are loud, now you are annoying and now you are going to feel the wrath of Europe on the pitch"...
It is clear that nobody likes us in the soccer world. Because we dominate in damn near everything else in sports. Everything.... So, it would be a slap in the face to the whole planet if we build up a world class soccer program.... To this point, nobody thought it could happen. No one sees us as a threat. Now, are toes are in the water and people are like, oh shit... Not this. This cannot be...
We have a long way to go. And regardless of how far we get in this one, we have to put on proper performances for years to come in order to gain the respect and put fear into opponents....
Soccer has come so far since I played. I went to the first MLS game ever. It is certainly nice to see the development we have made, and most importantly that our best players are all over in the EPL and Euro leagues, playing big boy soccer. It's not like the late 90s and early 2000s when it's a bunch of no-name MLS guys that have the touch of a Rhino with a soccer ball.
We got a long road ahead, but one of the best parts of sports is the haters. I hate on all kinds of other teams and countries. It's fun. So remember, when you aren't good at something, you don't have haters. People just laugh at you. It is only with success that the haters start showing up, and getting angry, and talking shit, while you live rent free in their heads.
This is the same mentality I was explaining about Mexico and it's fans and how most Mexicans in the US all root against US soccer. Always. Because in their mind, that is THEIR thing. Not the gringos. Their kids play soccer in the streets before they are out of diapers. They don't respect our game and they want us to fail at every opportunity. Hate on us, then we will hate on ya'll.
FIFA reminds me of the Cantina in Star Wars.
