Pro Soccer

[Deleted]

A very good piece on what doing well in the World Cup means to Croatia.
There is an essay on team in it I think.

[chonies]

That's a great article, fitz. I think I mentioned this up thread, but I misremembered some of the details of the early 90s Croatian soccer team--one accusation against them was that playing as Croatia while Yugoslavia was still a legal state was the match that literally set the Balkans on fire, but obviously national politics is rarely a binary issue.

Anyway, Croatia's uniforms are very smart, and I'm very excited about this game although I had to look up Croatian food on Wikipedia in order to plan for Sunday's snacks...eek!

[Deleted]

1990 teams that 28 years are changed completely along with Yugoslavia there was also West Germany, Czechoslovakia and Soviet Union, so much historical political and geographical changes since then.

Chonies I love your dedication for nationally accurate sports snacks. 😁

Edit: I'm sad I've just discovered that the Bould Roy was in studio pundit for ITV Roy Keane kicks off he has a point pundits talking of finals and parades and winning the semi was just a case of showing up. Croatia were listening and watching all along.

[chonies]

Croatia motivated by English pundits’ lack of respect, says Luka Modric. I love this. As a person who also feeds on other people's haterade, I found this darkly delightful. I would also like to add that the American commentators need to step aside from the English pundits, or at least stop copying them so nakedly. I heard a million times that Croatia would be too tired to win, the poor dears.

Did any commentators get it right?

ETA: I like this piece about athletes' psychology. It's not about wanting it more, it's about playing on.

ETA, again: I love these photos: Croatian team topples Salvadoran photographer. I was neutralish on Croatia, but I've been swayed by everyone's faces, especially Mario Mandzukic.

[Deleted]

As I'm always going for the underdog my heart says Croatia.

Which probably means I jinxed them.

[Oxynia]

Jul 15, 2018 10:12:33 GMT -4 @fitz said:

As I'm always going for the underdog my heart says Croatia.

Which probably means I jinxed them.

My sentiments exactly.

So was that handball call the right one? I know defenders in the air need to be extra cautious of where their hands are, but I didn't see that as intentional so disagree that a PK should have happened.

And if Croatia loses because of controversial refereeing and an own goal, that would be beyond heartbreaking. All the stats of this match so far (shots, possession, etc.) are in Croatia's favor.

[prairiefire]

Lesson learned today....France is good at football.

[chonies]

I have no problem with France generally as a team, and will concede the hand ball penalty, but that dive Griezmann took was just crummy, and I could see how it eroded some of Croatia's mental game. I sort of loved the mom-hugs Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović gave all the players on the podium, and I was intrigued to hear she flew economy and paid for her own flights. Great PR--I have no idea about anything else she does or stands for, and I'm too drained to Google it right now*. I also loved how excited Macron was.

Other things: I was glad to hear that no red cards had been issued for direct violence throughout the tournament. Pussy Riot also claimed the actions of the pitch invaders.

*ETA: Oops, I googled. Ugh. I guess she has nice manners, because she had jerseys made for Theresa May and Putin, too.

[Martini Girl]

All I know is that I need to stay out of these threads, cause I seriously jinxed all my faves.

I'll show myself out.

[Deleted]

Same here, even my sometimes works trick of not watching(hiding behind cushions) when its going bad didn't help Croatia or in the tennis Rafa or Serena...