ChaoticMusings

Barksdale wrote:

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Vam wrote:

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🫪 … wow … and there was me thinking the Moroccans played dirty. These Paraguayans take aggression to a whole new level! 

And the referee is completely useless 🙄 He seems to have practically lost control of the game.

Edit….and now the French are getting in on the act. With all the leg-kicking, tripping up and Swan Lake style diving & swooning, this match is farcical now 😂

-- Edited by Vam on Saturday 4th of July 2026 11:48:28 PM

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 Paraguay played "dark arts" football - tactical fouls / time wasting / provocation to slow down the game and frustrate France. They probably thought their best hope of winning the game was to go to penalties and take their chances. Seems sensible really as they couldn't compete with France in open play.

It's not pretty to watch and the ref really should have dished out more yellow cards but it is a legitimate strategy which other teams have used in the past.

The good news for other teams is that it shows France can be contained. 

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 Absolutely - on both counts!  But they can shove their ‘dark arts’ up their wazoos on the plane ride back home.

I think one of the post-match pundits said it best, especially when seeing the clip of someone slyly and deliberately kicking the back of Mbappe’s heel: “As a national coach, I wouldn’t want to win like that. If that was one of my players, I’d rip the shirt off his back.” 

Barksdale wrote:

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 Paraguay played "dark arts" football - tactical fouls / time wasting / provocation to slow down the game and frustrate France. They probably thought their best hope of winning the game was to go to penalties and take their chances. Seems sensible really as they couldn't compete with France in open play.

It's not pretty to watch and the ref really should have dished out more yellow cards but it is a legitimate strategy which other teams have used in the past.

The good news for other teams is that it shows France can be contained. 

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 'Dark arts' is putting mildly. With the exception of some of the great Brazilian teams, South Americans have a rightly deserved reputation of being 'dirty cheating bastards'. Everything from Maradona's hand of god to leg breaking tackles - they will cheat at any opportunity and have no footballing scruples. They just don't care as long as they win.

Take Uruguayan Luis Suarez for example, in the last minute of the 2010 WC QF against Ghana - he punched the ball off the line then had the audacity to point at his chest and say 'who me' when he got the red card. He then celebrated Ghana missing the penalty as if he had just scored the winner himself. The same Luis Suarez who has received 3 lengthy bans for biting opponents. 

Syl wrote:

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Is everyone staying up to watch the England v Mexico tonight?
Pubs are open till 5am, we will be watching at home....3 ish is my normal bedtime anyway.

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 I'll be up watching it at home. Not sure the rest of the fam will join me (although my youngest seems delighted she may be able to stay up to 1am.)

I've taken tomorrow morning off in case the kick off gets delayed etc. I would be working from home anyway I think I could have gotten away with 5 hours sleep if I knew the game would finish at 3am. 

Barksdale wrote:

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Maddog wrote:

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They reversed Balogun's suspension, which I didn't know was possible. 🤷

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 Apparently FIFA can do so under its disciplinary code - so the red card stands given it's an on field decision but the sanction which comes with it (the one match ban) doesn't come into effect, so he can play.

Standard FIFA bending the rules to suit themselves. The US is obviously a very lucrative market so they will want the US to go deep into the tournament to help grow football's exposure there.

Not great for the USMNT though. If they beat Belgium people will say they had to cheat to do so. Some people will also say it was always a mistake to allow the US to host the tournament as they were going to put pressure on FIFA to make things go their way. 

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 From everything I've read and seen, it's FIFA that puts pressure on the host country. They are like the Mafia and I doubt they give two shits about what the US Team wants. We are nobody in terms of power in that organization. I guess there's a chance someone in the US made a large "donation" somewhere..😉

I think it's more of the fact that that if that play was a red card, then there would have been 147 red cards issued this tournament instead of 5..

Syl wrote:

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Is everyone staying up to watch the England v Mexico tonight?
Pubs are open till 5am, we will be watching at home....3 ish is my normal bedtime anyway.

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 Yup…meeee! (COME ON 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ENGLAND! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿)

Just got back from dinner with friends at a place we could watch the Norway/Brazil game.….annnnnd….

🚣🚣🚣🚣🚣 ! R O W ! 🚣🚣🚣🚣🚣  

So delighted I’m gonna get to see Haaland’s wickedly enchanting grin again 😂 

But it‘s gotta be said, the other 2 men of the match for me were that little guy, Berg, and of course the fantastic Norwegian goalie! 

@Red/Avon/Dawg….would you rule out Norway advancing all the way to the Final?

Maddog wrote:

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Barksdale wrote:

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Maddog wrote:

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They reversed Balogun's suspension, which I didn't know was possible. 🤷

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 Apparently FIFA can do so under its disciplinary code - so the red card stands given it's an on field decision but the sanction which comes with it (the one match ban) doesn't come into effect, so he can play.

Standard FIFA bending the rules to suit themselves. The US is obviously a very lucrative market so they will want the US to go deep into the tournament to help grow football's exposure there.

Not great for the USMNT though. If they beat Belgium people will say they had to cheat to do so. Some people will also say it was always a mistake to allow the US to host the tournament as they were going to put pressure on FIFA to make things go their way. 

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 From everything I've read and seen, it's FIFA that puts pressure on the host country. They are like the Mafia and I doubt they give two shits about what the US Team wants. We are nobody in terms of power in that organization. I guess there's a chance someone in the US made a large "donation" somewhere..😉

 

I think it's more of the fact that that if that play was a red card, then there would have been 147 red cards issued this tournament instead of 5..

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 No need to guess. One name is all I need to erase all doubt: Gianni Infantino 🙄

Red Okktober wrote:

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Norway are on the soft side of the draw, so you cannot rule them out of reaching the final by any means. If they did make the final, either Spain or France would be waiting for them though, and either would most likely beat them with their superior technical ability.

The Norway GK played a blinder tonight - best save was in preventing the own goal.

 

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 He really was terrific.

It’s just been announced that the England game has been rescheduled to kick off at 2am, which is 3am for me. And I’m fading fast… 🫩