The World Cup 2018 general pub chat thread.

[PinkDalek]

Just to cheer you up, England just managed to beat Australia this afternoon, albeit nobbut just, ...

That sounds like Yorkshire speech but the match was in Manchester.

Good to see the Somerset born 'keeper getting some more ODI runs. He could turn into an all rounder, in the same way that Yorkshire born off-spinner is becoming a handy batsman (I refuse to use Batter).

Didn't Rashid do well, born in Yorkshire as well.

[csearle]

(about which I know less than the square root of bugger all)

Just for the record that would be "zero" (which oddly is the way an Italian might tell a tourist there is no public right of way. C.

[Beerpig]

BUB

Back until beaten.
This team can beat anyone.
Starting with Belgium.

[scotia]

and Lewis Hamilton led the French GP from start to finish

.
In a German car.

[Bubblesofearth]

Oh we'll never hear the end of this now. 5-0 up against a welfare league team. Bravo.

The joy at beating Panama might seem OTT but has to be seen in the context of going out of the group stage last time with 1pt, a draw against Costa Coffee. The time before that we scraped out of the group stage having drawn with USA and Algeria only to be thumped in R2 by G**ma*y.

So forgive a little exuberance.

And, hey, at least we're there

[redsturgeon]

and Lewis Hamilton led the French GP from start to finish

.
In a German car.

I'm not sure the Hamdroid 2.1 is even English anymore. He may have been assembled in the UK, but (for tax reasons) most of his upgrades come from foreign lands.

That German car built in Brackley, Northants.

John

[redsturgeon]

and Lewis Hamilton led the French GP from start to finish

.
In a German car.

I'm not sure the Hamdroid 2.1 is even English anymore. He may have been assembled in the UK, but (for tax reasons) most of his upgrades come from foreign lands.

That German car built in Brackley, Northants.

With the engine built by British engineers in Brixworth

https://www.theverge.com/2016/2/18/1103 ... ngineering

German car...pah!

John

[UncleIan]

That German car built in Brackley, Northants.

With the engine built by British engineers in Brixworth

I wouldn't bother RS, he's not rational about F1 and Hamilton. Or in the modern parlance, haters gonna hate.

Sun shining, nice and warm, the England footy team you can feel positive about for once, the manager seems a decent bloke, we started with low expectations, there's been no controversy about off field antics, the players don't seem to be playing with a huge weight of expectation on them. I do wish in post match interviews Gabby didn't ask every player if England can go all the way. We've played Tunisia and Panama, get a grip!

[scotia]

RS - thanks for the correction to my comment on F1 design:-

https://www.theverge.com/2016/2/18/11031456/mercedes-formula-one-engine-design-specs-engineering

[Leothebear]

BUB

Back until beaten.
This team can beat anyone.
Starting with Belgium.

Well I guess that has extinguished any hope I had no matter how infinitesimal.

[redsturgeon]

BUB

Back until beaten.
This team can beat anyone.
Starting with Belgium.

Well I guess that has extinguished any hope I had no matter how infinitesimal.

Arrrgh the landlord's curse follows from TMF to TLF!

John

[nimnarb]

This has become a penalty world cup. Both those penalties in the Saudi Match not justified. Egypt goalkeeper 45 years of age? looks 30. I need to pray more.

[nimnarb]

Look at the second photo down.................." please don't do that, I'm not in the mood right now"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44439228

[redsturgeon]

Look at the second photo down.................." please don't do that, I'm not in the mood right now"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44439228

Do you think they were thinking of pulling him off?

John

[panamagold]

PanamaGold,
You watching this from Panama now? Was thinking of visiting next week...need some tips if poss. Good luck to your side.

If it's not too late I can offer some 'definites' as anything else is subjective.

June. Not the best time to visit. Late December to late April/May. Pay attention to the weather forecast at this time of year. It is now fully into the wet season and that means a lot of rain is being dumped and there is excruciatingly high humidity.
Be aware that there is a gang culture (drugs) throughout the country resulting in higher than average gun crime. Don't even consider venturing within the Darién Gap or surrounding area. This place makes the gang culture appear to be choirboys. Like any foreign venue, don't stray too far into the tulies and you'll be fine.
Outside of metropolitan areas don't drink the pumped/tap water or have ice cubes in beverages.
Take a trip on the Canal. Pacific to Atlantic will take about 10-12 hours, depending on traffic.
Sample the Pacific side beaches
Use licensed taxi tour guides.
Colon hosts a duty-free zone.
El Cangrejo (Panama City) is where the action is. (West End and Covent Garden on steroids) The Veneto Hotel and Casino and surrounding streets is where the hookers mainly operate. (Prostitution is legal in Panama.) Avoid if it offends.
If the intention is to business choose your establishment with great care and diligence. The season of the year should not influence that nature of trip.

Enjoy your visit.

[Leothebear]

Maradona is just a fat ungracious repugnant turd.
.
.
.
.
Still, he scored a great couple of goals against England and that makes him alright in my book.

I'm sure a Scot has scored against England too... Dennis Law?

[nimnarb]

PanamaGold,
You watching this from Panama now? Was thinking of visiting next week...need some tips if poss. Good luck to your side.

If it's not too late I can offer some 'definites' as anything else is subjective.

June. Not the best time to visit. Late December to late April/May. Pay attention to the weather forecast at this time of year. It is now fully into the wet season and that means a lot of rain is being dumped and there is excruciatingly high humidity.
Be aware that there is a gang culture (drugs) throughout the country resulting in higher than average gun crime. Don't even consider venturing within the Darién Gap or surrounding area. This place makes the gang culture appear to be choirboys. Like any foreign venue, don't stray too far into the tulies and you'll be fine.
Outside of metropolitan areas don't drink the pumped/tap water or have ice cubes in beverages.
Take a trip on the Canal. Pacific to Atlantic will take about 10-12 hours, depending on traffic.
Sample the Pacific side beaches
Use licensed taxi tour guides.
Colon hosts a duty-free zone.
El Cangrejo (Panama City) is where the action is. (West End and Covent Garden on steroids) The Veneto Hotel and Casino and surrounding streets is where the hookers mainly operate. (Prostitution is legal in Panama.) Avoid if it offends.
If the intention is to business choose your establishment with great care and diligence. The season of the year should not influence that nature of trip.

Enjoy your visit.

Thx PG.

Think you have confirmed why I always have hesitated and your comments confirmed what I have always thought. Not a place I need to go, as tend to wander around a lot as always curious but don't want it to kill the cat...

[nimnarb]

This is becoming an interesting world cup due to an outsider winning but now concerned it is becoming all about penalties and if these refs don't have a talking to by whoever, then any controversial incident now would involve players demand they look at VAR(as has been the case) which gives them at least a 50% chance(and I thing more like 75%) of getting the decision reversed in their favour. We are on very dangerous ground of having the joys of football being manipulated and that's not why this piece of equipment was brought in to play. As far as I can tell, its good for offside rules and if the ball goes over the goal line, but unintentional handballs, soft supposed dives, interference when going for the ball but ending up clipping an ankle or whatever and the odd non-malicious rough stuff within the penalty area, is part of the game we have watched for years. Try and take your eye off the ball when a free kick is about to be played and watch what now happens when players are marked and see how they are grappling each other like street hooligans. Its becoming a wrestling match and the attacking or defending team know this, which takes the game now to a new level and has nothing to do with football and its getting worse.

Many goals have come in the last few minutes to seconds of ADDED extra time up to 7-8 minutes and this is due to VAR. Soon its going to go the same way as American Football and will go on for hours, well not quite but we could see matches prolonged by 7 to 10 minutes. Suppose it makes it more exciting to some. What do you all think?

p.s. Dare I even say it, regardless of what England do against Belgium(who I actually picked as an outsider) they have sure been under the radar this time. We shall see.

[tjh290633]

I don't see why the Rugby experience with TMOs is not drawn on. The video is used to help referees in their decisions, sometimes alerted by the touch judges or the TMO. Players who attempt to influence the referee get short shrift from Nigel Owens, for example. Big screens are used, so everyone can see what happened.

Stoppages are more likely to be due to Head Injury Assessments or tending to injured players. Repeated TMO referrals do not usually add much to playing time.

TJH

[PinkDalek]

The thing about VAR is that it doesn't seem to re[s]olve anything. … The ONLY thing it's useful for is to see if the ball crossed the goaline. Sadly though, that particular technology is 52 years too late.

What a great time to celebrate Russia and "their" linesman, again.

Useless fact, he wasn't Russian. Apparently Тофик Бахрамов was born in Ağcabədi, Azerbaijan.