FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Knockout Phase

[Sedale Threatt]

I have always believed Messi is LeBron, Ronaldo is Durant. Messi is the "do it all" soccer player, Ronaldo is a good scorer. Messi always was the better soccer player, and can help his team win games, even when he isint scoring. He is more valuable to any team.

I prefer Messi straight up, and do agree that he's a more natural playmaker. But Ronaldo has almost 200 career assists. That's a hell of a lot of creation for a player who, unquestionably, is score first. That sounds a lot like LeBron to me.

Ronaldo's not bad, but as a playmaker/passer, Messi has always been light-years ahead of him.

For sure. Just like, despite LeBron's greatness as a playmaker, Magic Johnson was on a totally different tier. I'm just saying, don't discount Ronaldo. He's piled up massive numbers there too.

[ejftw]

I have always believed Messi is LeBron, Ronaldo is Durant. Messi is the "do it all" soccer player, Ronaldo is a good scorer. Messi always was the better soccer player, and can help his team win games, even when he isint scoring. He is more valuable to any team.

Who’s Kyrie?

Some combination of Neymar and Robinho.

Neymar's a good one.

My mind, though, immediately went to Balotelli

[Tracymcgoaty]

I have always believed Messi is LeBron, Ronaldo is Durant. Messi is the "do it all" soccer player, Ronaldo is a good scorer. Messi always was the better soccer player, and can help his team win games, even when he isint scoring. He is more valuable to any team.

Messi has suffered the most humiliating defeats you can imagine, Ronaldo is also two years older and his coach is a moron. Ronaldo ended the goat debate in 2016 when he won the Euro cup, Messi is a good player but Ronaldo has had the better career.

Ronaldo has a bad rep with the media and has been unfairly targeted his whole career. Messi is a scumbag and showed his true colors once again in the Netherlands game, but the media and casuals will always treat him as a saint. He's a snake and has gotten countless amount of coaches and team staff fired simply because he's a mental midget that chokes in every big game.

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This post is case n point on how to be objective about a topic. 10/10 flawless.

[clyde21]

I prefer Messi straight up, and do agree that he's a more natural playmaker. But Ronaldo has almost 200 career assists. That's a hell of a lot of creation for a player who, unquestionably, is score first. That sounds a lot like LeBron to me.

Ronaldo's not bad, but as a playmaker/passer, Messi has always been light-years ahead of him.

For sure. Just like, despite LeBron's greatness as a playmaker, Magic Johnson was on a totally different tier. I'm just saying, don't discount Ronaldo. He's piled up massive numbers there too.

i think Bron is pretty damn close to Magic as a playmaker

[Mamba81p]

The US vs Netherlands had worse ratings than US-Eng, which is somewhat surprising. Maybe it was a Black Friday thing, or maybe because it was England.

Overall the ratings were down in R16 compared to group phase. Probably 2 factors: US lost in the first game in R16 and people lost interest and Mexico was out from R16. Maybe CFB and NFL played a role in that too. We will see how the quarters did, with CFB having only the Navy-Army game this Saturday, plus no conflict with NFL.

[TheHartBreakKid]

The US vs Netherlands had worse ratings than US-Eng, which is somewhat surprising. Maybe it was a Black Friday thing, or maybe because it was England.

Overall the ratings were down in R16 compared to group phase. Probably 2 factors: US lost in the first game in R16 and people lost interest and Mexico was out from R16. Maybe CFB and NFL played a role in that too. We will see how the quarters did, with CFB having only the Navy-Army game this Saturday, plus no conflict with NFL.

That's interesting I'm not really surprised. It's because it's England AND it's black Friday , and it was promoted so heavily for weeks, while the Netherlands matchup had 4 days for hype to be created, IIRC.

As for the differences between the R16 compared to Group Phase....I'm curious to see those numbers (I believe you). That's interesting, and I think your theory regarding U.S, Mexico, and the Football games makes sense regarding explaining that.

[Mamba81p]

The US vs Netherlands had worse ratings than US-Eng, which is somewhat surprising. Maybe it was a Black Friday thing, or maybe because it was England.

Overall the ratings were down in R16 compared to group phase. Probably 2 factors: US lost in the first game in R16 and people lost interest and Mexico was out from R16. Maybe CFB and NFL played a role in that too. We will see how the quarters did, with CFB having only the Navy-Army game this Saturday, plus no conflict with NFL.

That's interesting I'm not really surprised. It's because it's England AND it's black Friday , and it was promoted so heavily for weeks, while the Netherlands matchup had 4 days for hype to be created, IIRC.

As for the differences between the R16 compared to Group Phase....I'm curious to see those numbers (I believe you). That's interesting, and I think your theory regarding U.S, Mexico, and the Football games makes sense regarding explaining that.

This is my source: https://worldsoccertalk.com/tv/most-watched-world-cup-2022-games-on-us-tv-and-streaming-20221208-WST-411671.html

You can notice in the top 10 category only 2 are from R16: US and Argentina

[Stannis]

With USA, Mexico, England, and now CR7, I don't think the ratings will get any better tbh

I love this final 4. But don't American soccer fans care much for Croatia, Morocco, or even France

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[Stannis]

The final 4 each have their unique story

Morocco and Croatia can get their first cup.

Morocco being the first African nation to do it. Also the first Arabic & Muslim nation to get it. The entire Arabic and even Muslim world is rallying behind them, and making it their cup as well

Croatia is a country of less than 4 million. Could be the first eastern Europeon nation to get it, which was an area where teams always mentally collapsed on the world stage. Croatia already broke the trend last world cup. But they could be here again. And maybe even get their revenge on France and Griezmann

Argentina, is obviously a Messi story and the one I'm least interested in tbh. But still a unique story.

And then there's France who have a chance to win back to back world cups, solidifying themselves as the best in this era.

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[Mamba81p]

Morocco being the first African nation to do it. Also the first Arabic & Muslim nation to get it. The entire Arabic and even Muslim world is rallying behind them, and making it their cup as well

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We’ve been here before with Turkey in 2002, very close I would say.
France should be able to do much better with a park-the-bus tactic than Portugal and especially Spain did. Portugal actually had chances unlike Spain. France has the better finishers, and a guy like Giroud is extremely important against a tactic like that.

[Stannis]

Morocco being the first African nation to do it. Also the first Arabic & Muslim nation to get it. The entire Arabic and even Muslim world is rallying behind them, and making it their cup as well

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We’ve been here before with Turkey in 2002, very close I would say.
France should be able to do much better with a park-the-bus tactic than Portugal and especially Spain did. Portugal actually had chances unlike Spain. France has the better finishers, and a guy like Giroud is extremely important against a tactic like that.

Yeah, unfortunately with Turkey it didn't go past the semis

But turkey always felt more Europeon than Asian (to me). So it's cool to have Morocco in there, since they are African

Hoping this time it's different lol. Would be insane to see Morocco in the finale.



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[Stannis]

I don't think Morocco is a park the bus team. When I think of that tactic, I think more of Greece who relied heavily on set pieces

Morocco is an extremely effective building from the back. And they do want the ball and are more effective with it than their opponents so far.

I know people are gonna look at the possession stats and say "oh they park the bus". But it's about what you do with that. Morocco had just as many chances (maybe more) with their low possession than Spain or Portugal.

But Morocco had the better chances in the knockout stage. Their defense has been solid. And able to string tight passes in the back and build a nice counter

They just gotta start executing these breakaways and 1 on 1s lol.

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[TheHartBreakKid]

I don't think Morocco is a park the bus team. When I think of that tactic, I think more of Greece who relied heavily on set pieces

Morocco is an extremely effective building from the back. And they do want the ball and are more effective with it than their opponents so far.

I know people are gonna look at the possession stats and say "oh they park the bus". But it's about what you do with that. Morocco had just as many chances (maybe more) with their low possession than Spain or Portugal.

But Morocco had the better chances in the knockout stage. Their defense has been solid. And able to string tight passes in the back and build a nice counter

They just gotta start executing these breakaways and 1 on 1s lol.

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Morocco is far from a "Park the Bus Team". They are extremely talented and have played very well, both defensively and offensively.

[Stannis]

I don't think Morocco is a park the bus team. When I think of that tactic, I think more of Greece who relied heavily on set pieces

Morocco is an extremely effective building from the back. And they do want the ball and are more effective with it than their opponents so far.

I know people are gonna look at the possession stats and say "oh they park the bus". But it's about what you do with that. Morocco had just as many chances (maybe more) with their low possession than Spain or Portugal.

But Morocco had the better chances in the knockout stage. Their defense has been solid. And able to string tight passes in the back and build a nice counter

They just gotta start executing these breakaways and 1 on 1s lol.

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Morocco is far from a "Park the Bus Team". They are extremely talented and have played very well, both defensively and offensively.

Yep

I think Portugal and Spain held onto possession with dear life knowing how efficient Morocco is with the ball

Pretty crazy how many chances they were getting. Seems like every time they string more than 3 passes together, they open up the game and create a chance

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[ejftw]

As much as I'd love to see the Morocco train continue, a France -Croatia rematch would be amazing.... something that has never happened.

And yeah, the Moroccans aren't a park your bus team. They are just a side that defends exceptionally well, has solid midfield play.... don't fully trust them in the final 1/3, but they get the job done as much as you'd expect.

[clyde21]

Morocco playing with house money at this point, they should let it fly tbh

that said, fully expect an Argentina-France final at this point. a passing of the torch from Messi to Mbappe seems appropriate.

[Mamba81p]

As much as I'd love to see the Morocco train continue, a France -Croatia rematch would be amazing.... something that has never happened.

And yeah, the Moroccans aren't a park your bus team. They are just a side that defends exceptionally well, has solid midfield play.... don't fully trust them in the final 1/3, but they get the job done as much as you'd expect.

What do you mean never happened? 2 finals in a row between same teams?
Happened in 86 and 90 between Germany and Argentina

[Stannis]

Morocco has to stick to what they've been doing

Don't chase the game

France will probably try to outsmart them.

I remember the last World Cup, they let Croatia take all the risk and they were just able to capitalize on their mistakes

I don't see them gifting Morocco with those boneheaded fouls like they've been doing so far

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[ejftw]

As much as I'd love to see the Morocco train continue, a France -Croatia rematch would be amazing.... something that has never happened.

And yeah, the Moroccans aren't a park your bus team. They are just a side that defends exceptionally well, has solid midfield play.... don't fully trust them in the final 1/3, but they get the job done as much as you'd expect.

What do you mean never happened? 2 finals in a row between same teams?
Happened in 86 and 90 between Germany and Argentina

Stand corrected, was skimming quickly and misses that.

[clyde21]

Morocco has to stick to what they've been doing

Don't chase the game

France will probably try to outsmart them.

I remember the last World Cup, they let Croatia take all the risk and they were just able to capitalize on their mistakes

I don't see them gifting Morocco with those boneheaded fouls like they've been doing so far

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you cant expect to give France 80% possession and come out with a win