Football (Soccer) Thread

[celedhring]

Wow - really sucks Ukraine lost in the final qualifier as a result of an own-goal.

Nothing against Wales mind you, and they should be excited to go to their first World Cup in 60+ years.

Worst of it is that watching the highlights and match stats they looked like the better team and had enough chances to win the tie.

[Sheilbh]

Worst of it is that watching the highlights and match stats they looked like the better team and had enough chances to win the tie.

Yeah - Hennessy had the game of his life in goal for Wales.

[Josquius]

The

Wow - really sucks Ukraine lost in the final qualifier as a result of an own-goal.

Nothing against Wales mind you, and they should be excited to go to their first World Cup in 60+ years.

It would have been quite an amazing goal in the right net too

[FunkMonk]

For the Americans, or those watching the Premier League on NBC in the US:

New head commentator for their main matches. Arlo White is gone to be replaced by Peter Drury. Unsure of the rest of the match commentating crew. I personally like Lee Dixon's color commentary though I fully admit my bias there 


I don't think this affects the studio crew so Rebecca Lowe should still be presenting.

[Jacob]

I wonder if the UEFA Nations League is going to become something people care about... seems like a legit competition.

[Zoupa]

I wonder if the UEFA Nations League is going to become something people care about... seems like a legit competition.

Geez I wonder why you like it so far     

(No Denmark smilie, closest I could find was Swiss, sorry)

[Duque de Bragança]

I wonder if the UEFA Nations League is going to become something people care about... seems like a legit competition.

Geez I wonder why you like it so far     

(No Denmark smilie, closest I could find was Swiss, sorry)

It's not like supporters of les Bleus, who mostly discovered the competition after the second edition, are in a position to criticise. 

Back to Denmark, 2-& victory in Vienna, late at night following a blackout in the second district where the Ernst-Happel Station is located.

As for France, tie in Split vs Croatia, better than the previous game and the Croat equaliser came 10 minutes before the end.
Griezman is on a bad spell for some time now, he had some great chances.

[The Larch]

Sunderland shareholders Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven are in discussions to sell their stake in the Championship club to a cryptocurrency group known as The Fans Together.

Sorry, Jos.

[Josquius]

Sunderland shareholders Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven are in discussions to sell their stake in the Championship club to a cryptocurrency group known as The Fans Together.

Sorry, Jos.

Well thats daft. But getting shot of those guys is welcome.
https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/2022/6/7/23149760/will-sunderland-afc-be-subject-to-a-crypto-experiment

I suspect when they say they're attracted to Sunderland for the large fan base they've missed out mentioning how dopey a large segment are.

I have heard of this fan engagement token somewhere before though and it didn't seem so awful, for the sort who spent money on ringtones back in the day.

I'm having trouble seeing how it will be so awful for the club, its a minority stake and with the NFT market collapsing they should sell it on pretty soon. Though pretty bad for the region to have snakeoil salesmen in a position of influence.

[Sheilbh]

It doesn't sound good. I saw Joey d'Urso from the Athletic covering a parliamentary committee into the Football Index ponzi scheme and I think one of the MPs flagged the weird crypto/NFT products footballers and football clubs have been promoting (which have almost all collapsed).

It's something d'Urso and the Athletic have been really good at covering but there's some dodgy stuff going on with football and crypto/NFTs. Two very suspect industries getting involved is probably not a good thing in general.

[Josquius]

You'd think England is the one with a fan ban from how empty molyneuix of all places is.

[celedhring]

I wonder if the UEFA Nations League is going to become something people care about... seems like a legit competition.

So far I'd say it's just in the "people only care when they win it" tier of trophies.

[Jacob]

I wonder if the UEFA Nations League is going to become something people care about... seems like a legit competition.

So far I'd say it's just in the "people only care when they win it" tier of trophies.

I'm caring about the games now and it's merely "we have a shot." Interesting to see how it develops.

[Threviel]

Norway beat Sweden twice in a row 2-0. Some Norwegian defender made a rude gesture and they seemed happy. Apparently they think there's some kind of football rivalry going on.

[Sheilbh]

So far I'd say it's just in the "people only care when they win it" tier of trophies.

I think the first round was fun - 2018's friendlies leading up to finals in summer 2019. But doing it in the same year as a big tournament just doesn't work.

I think this year it's particularly ridiculous. There were disrupted and weirdly timed seasons because of covid. There were Euros in the summer, then a full season. Players are going to the World Cup in November and they've got this too.

In off years it's fun - and I like countries playing with roughly similar level teams. But I think de Bruyne's complaint was really fair: "(They are) just glorified friendlies after a long and tough season. I am not looking forward to it. As players, we can talk about vacation or rest, but we have no say. We have a little more than three weeks of vacation every 12 months." Van Dijk made similar comments.

I've said it before but I really feel that since 2020, like the rest of us, football players need a proper break. Everyone looks knackered.