2022-2023 Soccer Season

[Ericandblueboy]

Champions League draw

GROUP A: Ajax (Netherlands), Liverpool (England), Napoli (Italy), Rangers (Scotland).

GROUP B: FC Porto (Portugal), Atletico Madrid (Spain), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Club Brugge (Belgium).

GROUP 😄 Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Inter Milan (Italy), Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic).

GROUP 😧 Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany), Tottenham Hotspur (England), Sporting CP (Portugal), Marseille (France).

GROUP E: AC Milan (Italy), Chelsea (England), FC Salzburg (Austria), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia).

GROUP F: Real Madrid (Spain), RB Leipzig (Germany), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Celtic (Scotland).

GROUP G: Manchester City (England), Sevilla (Spain), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), FC Copenhagen (Denmark).

GROUP H: Paris Saint-Germain (France), Juventus (Italy), Benfica (Portugal), Maccabi Haifa (Israel).

Groups C and G are the deadliest.

[Tweaked]

DC Soccer Louts Can Get Hammered 22 Hours a Day During World Cup

DC passes new reg for World Cup:  Bars can stay open 24 hours a day and serve alcohol from 6am to 4am, with a 2 hour alcohol break from 4am to 6am.  Which is actually a little odd, given that the first game of the day starts at 5am...why not make the 2 hour break from 3am-5am?  whatever, drink up!  

[Ericandblueboy]

Champions League draw:

RB Leipzig vs. Manchester City

Club Brugge vs. Benfica

Liverpool vs. Real Madrid

AC Milan vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Napoli

Borussia Dortmund vs. Chelsea

Inter Milan vs. Porto

Paris Saint-Germain vs. Bayern Munich

[Tweaked]

World Cup 2022 (so far)

Qatar demonstrates that the only reason they are in the tournament is because they are the hosts.

USA squanders lead in a 1-1 draw with Wales.  Next faces England in Black Friday showdown, 2pm on FOX.

Historic victory as Saudi Arabia beats Argentina 2-1.  

England and France show their class with big wins against group minnows. 

[Tweaked]

World Cup 2022 (so far)

After a well-earned 0-0 draw against England*, the US faces off against Iran today at 2pm in a win or go home show down.  * Yes Americans, there is such a thing as a well-earned 0-0 draw.

The second round of matches saw some notable upsets, including Morocco beating Belgium's aged Golden Generation 2-0 and a beleaguered Costa Rica beating high flying Japan 1-0.

As we enter the end of the Group stage, Groups C and E are in disarray with every team standing a chance to advance. 

France, Brazil, and Portugal have been the class of the Group stage and the only teams to official book their tickets to the knockout round after two matches.

 

 

[zgast]

What a fun game to watch!  US really needs to work on finishing when they get good opportunities, but such a young squad really gives hope for the future.

Also notable - check out Adams response to the questions from Iranian TV after the game.  Striking eloquence from a 23 year old (mispronunciation aside).

[Tweaked]

Fabulous couple of afternoons of World Cup...has not disappointed.  Mighty have fallen, upstarts have claimed Groups E and F, and the US advance out of Group B.

USA v. Netherlands Saturday at 10am FOX

[Tweaked]

The football/soccer world powers demonstrated why they are world powers in the Round of 16...and then came Morocco.  

Quarter Finals Friday and Saturday.  

[Tweaked]

Drama drama drama until the last.  Quarter Finals Round 2 on Saturday.

[dracisk]

15 hours ago, Tweaked said:

Drama drama drama

Tangential to the games, but any thoughts on the journalist fatally collapsing during Argentina v. Netherlands? I'm a VERY casual fan, but I just heard him on a podcast recapping the USA v. Netherlands game. I didn't previously know how significant he was in the soccer world.

[Ericandblueboy]

Never heard of this guy but I listen to mostly European broadcasts.

As for this WC - there are players that I dislike and I hope they all lose.  Neymar and Vinicious Jr. are out - awesome.  Now just cheering for Mbappe and Penaldo to get knocked out.  They're all narcissistic divers. 

[Tweaked]

8 hours ago, dracisk said:

Tangential to the games, but any thoughts on the journalist fatally collapsing during Argentina v. Netherlands? I'm a VERY casual fan, but I just heard him on a podcast recapping the USA v. Netherlands game. I didn't previously know how significant he was in the soccer world.

Grant was one of the top soccer journalists in the US, writing for Sports Illustrated for much of his career.

When the England  France match cut back to the second half coverage, they had just finished an in stadium tribute to him, and the lead FOX commentator, John Strong, was choking up on air. 

Certainly a great and unexpected loss for the US soccer community. 

[Ericandblueboy]

I believe England outplayed France except for the bottom line.  It didn't help that H. Kane missed a penalty.  So the semis are France v. Morocco and Argentina v. Croatia.  On paper these are mismatches and the winners are obvious but that's not how this WC is playing out.

[zgast]

On 12/11/2022 at 1:03 AM, Ericandblueboy said:

I believe England outplayed France except for the bottom line.  It didn't help that H. Kane missed a penalty.  So the semis are France v. Morocco and Argentina v. Croatia.  On paper these are mismatches and the winners are obvious but that's not how this WC is playing out.

That was my impression as well.  Looking forward to the matches the next two nights.  Pretty sure everyone here is rooting against France.  And Argentina didn't win many fans with their antics against Netherlands.

[Ericandblueboy]

There was no in-your-face celebration yesterday from Argentina against Croatia.  Makes me think Van Gaal and the Dutch team must've really pissed off Messi.  The reffing has been rather bad at times in this World Cup, how that is possible with VAR is beyond me.  As for the French, they won but looked shaky against Morocco - a team not know for offensive prowess.  As a Barcelona and Messi fan, I'll be rooting for Argentina's victory that will cement Messi legacy as the GOAT.  

[dracisk]

As a very casual fan, I'm also rooting for Argentina, even though I have French heritage. I was in Buenos Aires in May 2010 and the local TV stations showed incessant coverage of the Argentine team heading to the airport for the World Cup on their bus. I remember hearing about Messi but didn't even know who he was at the time. I remember just being wowed by the spectacle of it all.

I was also in Paris when France won the World Cup in 1998 (actually, we might have arrived a day or two after they won). At the time I had NO IDEA what a big deal the World Cup was. I had a better idea in 2010 in Buenos Aires but was still surprised by the incessant coverage of the team's bus.

[Ericandblueboy]

Nail biting finish.  I don’t like Kyllan Mbappe - his head is already big and now it’s gargantuan with a hat trick in the final.  Luckily Messi deflated it a little otherwise it would be insufferably big, like Penaldo’s.  Congrats to Messi - the best player that I’ve seen since i started following soccer 8 years ago.

[zgast]

On 12/19/2022 at 5:50 AM, Ericandblueboy said:

Nail biting finish.  I don’t like Kyllan Mbappe - his head is already big and now it’s gargantuan with a hat trick in the final.  Luckily Messi deflated it a little otherwise it would be insufferably big, like Penaldo’s.  Congrats to Messi - the best player that I’ve seen since i started following soccer 8 years ago.

Even watching on an iPhone from my quarantine room, that was an amazing game.  They just completely opened up the field the last few minutes of second half and extended time.  With Mbappe, at a certain point you've earned your ego.  He might be there.