**** 2018 WORLD CUP THREAD ***

Croatia again! Don't know why but I'm so happy they're destroying these chokers.

Argentina's midfield looked absolutely hopeless against Croatia's top level midfield.

Argentina tactics, goalkeeping and subs were abysmal.

Well, that was an old fashioned drubbing. Croatia 3-0.

Argentina has to hope for Iceland to lose tomorrow, and then beat Nigeria. Iceland might get a surprise win against Croatia if Croatia takes it easy with qualifying wrapped up.

SB runner. wrote:

Subway Surfers Addiction wrote:

Argentina aren't out yet

They will be soon enough. They look horrible.

Yep, I got that one wrong.

I predicted Argentina to win the Cup and, as usual, it's turning out to be the kiss of death for them. But Croatia, are the surprise team of this World Cup even though they're really not a surprise. They were exceptionally good at Euro 2016 and unlucky to go out. Always been a solid team.

Sorry Messi fans, but Adidas photographing him with a goat doesn't make him one. He's excellent for Barca, a team built entirely around him, but almost nonexistent for his country. He actually seems passionless to me when playing for Argentina as opposed to CR7's very visible tantrums and meltdowns playing for Portugal which are indicative of someone who deeply cares for his country. Right now, he has one over Messi because he single-handedly carried a team which were no one's favourite to lift the Euros. He's also proved himself in three clubs in three different leagues unlike Messi who's been at Barca all his life. Messi need's Cristiano's passion and incredible self-belief.

This campaign will haunt Adidas. They jinxed little Leo.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2OzqnlW6CAw/maxresdefault.jpg

https://image-cdn.hypb.st/https%3A%2F%2Fhypebeast.com%2Fimage%2F2018%2F06%2Flionel-messi-paper-goat-cover-1.jpg?q=75&w=1000&fit=max

I still think it's too soon for these ...

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/977813/Lionel-Messi-Argentina-Cristiano-Ronaldo-debate-GOAT

https://www.rt.com/sport/430491-messi-argentina-croatia-world-cup/

But knowing Cristiano's personality, he's probably doing this on purpose

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/74cca7af-da3c-4815-a180-34c95ec92973

El Keniano,

I am beside myself.

Thi s is just too hard for me to take.

........and they dare call Messi a sheep.

How dare they?

Willy Caballero and Jorge Sampaoli need to be left in Siberia (literally).

They are a disgrace.

Now I have no team.......unless of course a miracle happens and here, we need a BIG one!

I am crying for Argentina.

^ I hear you NativeSon but I'm also so over all those commentators saying "Argentina has failed Messi". Coach blamed for not letting him play in 2006, "insane" choice of coach (Maradona) blamed for 2010, other strikers like Higuain blamed as ineffective in 2014 and now the whole team blamed for letting him down. It seems like it's always everyone's fault but Messi's which is just ridiculous.

It's not over, by the way. Messi and Argentina have a chance to step up vs Nigeria who looked especially toothless against the Croats.

El Keniano..do you have any knowledge of the game? What Croatia did to Messi is NOT Messi's fault. The manager of Argentina should have been FIRED immediately after the game. He absolutely failed to make the necessary tactical changes to make Messi and Mascherano effective. No formation changes. Very little or no moving players to different positions. Horrible subs. Everyone in the world knows the game plan is to stop Messi and make the others beat you. When you can't get the ball to your best player, the coach needs to realize this and make the necessary adjustments.

Say what you believe, but this loss (and effectively their entire debacle of World Cup qualifying and their performance in the World Cup so far) is NOT the fault of Messi. Also, remember and this is a big remember, without the heroics of Messi scoring a hat trick on the road in Ecuador, Argentina isn't even in this World Cup.

I hope Argentina fans that think this lies on Messi can at least enjoy one last Messi performance because he's done playing for the national team. He already left once....He's going to be gone for good if they don't make it to the second round of the World Cup. Then your team is going to be stuck looking at a lot more questions in the next major international tournaments and qualification for 2022.

And what was the excuse for the finals in the 2014 WC?

What is his excuse for missing a PK against Iceland to seal the game?

See, that is the difference between Messi and Ronaldo. Ronaldo can get it done with mediocre players, because he goes out and gets it. Messi requires certain players and certain schemes in order to be great. He is unproven outside of Barca and outside of La Liga

Ronaldo has done it at Manchester United in the Premiere League. He has done it in La Liga. He has done it on the national level, which is why he is the GOAT of this generation, and is the reason why he is still playing at a high level. He has even reinvented himself. Instead of playing as an all out winger, he plays more as a Center Forward, where he cuts in and out of the box now.

Messi has some of the greatest players in the world playing around him: Kun, Di maria, Higuain, Otamendi, etc, but it's still their fault and not his. You can't have all the glory without accepting the responsibility that comes with the glory.

That is the difference between Ronaldo and Messi. Ronaldo is the man, and he wants to be the man, and will accept all of the responsibility, and he will not shy away from it. I don't think Messi really wants it. After the loss against Iceland, he stood there, and put his head down, and couldn't deal with the defeat. HE looked troubled and lost. Ronaldo would never do that.

Don't cry for Argentina, and damn well don't cry from Messi.

As usual, Brazil will tank the third game if it means it plays Mexico instead of Germany in next round. They do this every world cup and it always works out for them. I hope it finally backfires and Mexico kicks their ass to send them home.

It would have been mote surprising id Argentina played well than Argentina bonking. They barely qualified for the World Cup this time around.

It is true that Messi avoids the spotlight because he prefers to live a more private life. But he is a fierce competitor on the field and gets physical with defenders that are a half foot taller than him. The problem with Argentina during Messi's time is they never have put together a coherent coach and squad that can create opportunities for Messi, so instead Messi is expected to carry this gigantic burden on his back and do everything. He carried the team during the 2014 Cup and lost to a nearly unstoppable German team. That Argentina squad was better on defense and goal keeping and made less mistakes than what we see here.

Although Argentina should at least have won a couple Copa Americas.

Portugal has completely designed their style of play around Ronaldo and also play an ugly style of football that reminds me of Mourinho ball at it's finest. They aren't exactly scoring beautiful goals in this World Cup. A penalty, free kick, and two headers. It's clear that Portugal is going to score goals in certain ways rather than the free flowing style of play that we love to see.

Banana Bread wrote:

I literally think Russia could win. They are more dope then human these days. If they were tested there would be so much dope that you would be trying to test for humanity inside them not drugs. I wish Russia lost in WW2 like they did in WW1. They have caused so many problems in the world.

Instead of making trade wars, Trump and Putin need to strike a deal so that the USA soccer team can be drafted into this year's world cup knockout stages. Kind of like they did on those reality TV shows such as average Joe. Then we can have a cold war classic of USA versus Russia in the final and the entire world will tune in to watch. It will be soccer's equivalent of Rocky IV and a 360 win for FIFA in terms marketing the sport.

Why would I cry for Messi? Dude makes more in one year than I will make in my lifetime. He gets to play a "game" for a living.

I think part of the reason you see the body language you do from him is because of the intense pressure he faces. Whether this is self-imposed or created by his "fellow" Argentinians or a combination of both, I don't know and none of us do. (Note that I use quotes around fellow because many Argentinians do not feel as if Messi is "one of them" like they did Maradona. They see a privileged person who left the home country at a very young age. He doesn't represent Argentina like Maradona did...all that sh*t..lol)

The missed PK. Yeah, that is 100% on him. He has never offered an excuse. What good would that do? He knows he missed it...what do people want him to say? Saying anything isn't going to all of a sudden put the ball in the back of the net after a miss. It doesn't work like that. To me, he knows he missed it. He feels bad. He knows that a nation "expects" him to carry this team. He knows that anything less than winning the World Cup is failure to them.

You can't BLAME Messi for the loss in the 2014 final to Germany and point out that with a team of stars like Higuan and Di Maria and Mascherano and Aguero that the loss is on Messi. Aguero played in 5 games in that World Cup and produced NOTHING. Supposedly, even then, one of the best strikers in the world. Guy scored 17 goals in the EPL that season. 0 in the World Cup. No one else did anything in the final v Germany either.

Saying Ronaldo has gotten done in his career with mediocre players is laughable, at best. Exactly what has he gotten done with mediocre players? He's been on teams full of stars and world class players at Man U and Real Madrid. His Portugal team that won Euro 2016? He was subbed off (due to injury) in the final before the first 1/3 of the game was over, so don't say he "won" that game or even had anything to do with them winning that game.

In the words of Baker Mayfield to Colin Cowherd the other day on a radio interview "Did you even play the game past high school?"

vivalarepublica wrote:

It would have been mote surprising id Argentina played well than Argentina bonking. They barely qualified for the World Cup this time around.

Exactly this. This is not a "great" Argentina team by any definition. They needed Messi's magic to even qualify. Again, instead of blaming Messi for the failures, the country should be celebrating him.

^ Exactly what we're talking about. It's all everybody's else's fault. Messi fails to shine it's because the others aren't helping him. Saying Argentina's big stars like Higuain, Aguero, Macherano and Di Maria have failed but what about Messi? When is he going to step up and inspire his team like Cristiano did with the very mediocre Portugal at the Euros in 2016? An injured Cristiano barking instructions from the sidelines in the final was much more effective for his country than Messi on the field. If Portugal go out now (and they still can) the Portuguese people will always have 2016. A small country that no one gave a realistic chance actually won.

El Keniano...Let's agree to disagree, my friend. I still believe you are missing my point. Argentina isn't even IN this 2018 World Cup without Messi. That's how bad the team around him is. The "other big stars" needed Messi to come in and save them in qualifying. I will agree that Ronaldo secured his legacy with the Euro 2016 win by Portugal. It seems as if he has a way of lifting his teammates up and getting them to believe that Messi does not.

For the last 20 years at least Argentina has been poorly coached. They've never played up to the sum of their parts, even in 2014 when they were 2nd. It's like when Lebron had Mike Brown as a coach - they would just spread out and not move and make Lebron do everything.

They need some help from Nigeria today but they don't deserve it.