DoofersDad

Good summary BC. England did pretty well keeping possession in the first half and not reacting (too much) to Argentinian dirty tricks. But they lacked the bravery to turn that possession into chances. Argentina looked to get forward more in the 2nd half and that gave us the space to attack with speed. That resulted in us scoring a great goal with a sweeping move. What happened after that is a bit inexplicable. One of the things Tuchel had said earlier is that the way to stop Messi was to starve him of the ball. So what do England do? Sit deep and leave Messi in acres of space! We defended by hoofing the ball up the park with no player up for an out ball, so Argentina got the ball straight back to come at us again with Messi being given time on the ball. Argentina had previously come back brilliantly from 2 down against Egypt so it was pretty clear what they are capable on that situation. Kane said after the game that the messaging was to keep going forward, but replacing Gordon with Konsa gave a very different message. It was a situation that was screaming out for the likes of Watkins up front who will chase and chase. Rice was clearly not fully recovered so fresh legs in midfield were called for. In the absence of Wharton (who would have been ideal in this situation), why not bring on Mainoo? Eze, Rashford and Saka could all have made it very difficult for Argentina. As BC says, England had the tool box to beat Argentina, but on the day, poor decisions were made. Tuchel ultimately didn't have enough faith in his players. It is the players sitting on the bench who could have won it for us that I feel most sorry for.

Our lads showing Messi and Mbappe that scoring from the spot really isn't that difficult. 5 really well taken penalties. Shame about the 90 minutes preceding them. Credit to East Fife who were very well organised and committed.

At least there were no hydration breaks.

No way should England appeal the ban. Now that the USA are thankfully out of the competition, we are back to a level playing field with regard to suspensions for red cards. The focus for England and the other teams still in the competition should be simply to prepare for their next games as best they can within the current rules. If people are unhappy with the rules, they can be reviewed once the competition is done. Beyond that, there should be some quick repercussions for Trump's (ultimately counterproductive) political interference. It makes the prospect of him presenting the trophy even more distasteful than ever. Participating Football Associations could lobby for the trophy to be presented by Ronaldo. It was sad to see him playing for Portugal as a shadow of his former self, but he is one of the greatest players ever to play the game and this would be his only chance to get his hands on the trophy! I am sure the players of which ever team wins would be honoured to shake hands with Ronaldo but would be putting on disposable gloves if shaking hands with Trump.

No we aren't! I stayed up to watch last night and was very glad I did. It was a superb team effort and an emotional roller coaster for me. I really expected England to lose given Mexico's record at the Azteca and the short time for the players to acclimatise to the altitude. Tuchel got the team selection, tactics and substitutions spot on. I also rather liked his tongue in cheek remark about asking Trump if he will have a word with FIFA about the red card! I think just about everyone is disgusted by Trump's interference and Fifa's pathetic subservience to a corrupt president. It would be wonderful if Pochettino simply left Balogan out of the squad for the quarter final. What a message that would send to Trump and FIFA Now for Norway. Actually, I would rather have played Brazil. Brazil have been a shadow of the past teams and actually lost more games in the qualifying competition than any of the teams reaching the finals. On the other hand, Norway have only lost 1 of their last 16 competitive games and that was to France in the group stages when they had already qualified for the knock out stages. In Haaland, they have the world's best striker but they are by no means a one man band. England are probably favourites but it will be another very tight game.

I have now!

Cabo Verde were brilliant. They weren't just putting everyone behind the ball, they attacked in numbers when they got the chance and ended up winning 8 corners and having 16 shots at goal. Argentina were hanging on at the end. One stat I heard was that the Cape Verde goalkeeper has completed more successful dribbles in this world cup than Ronaldo!

The holding and shirt pulling may well start before the ball is in play but it usually continues well after the ball is back in play

It's the inconsistency that gets me. You have the officials spending time to see if there was any contact in incidents like Kane's last night or Tielemans' (which was given) and yet they refuse to get involved when players are holding opponents in bear hugs to stop them getting to the ball at set pieces.

It is absurd that Scotland might not know whether they are through or not until the early hours of Sunday morning when Austria and Algeria will play, knowing that a tame draw will see them both safely through. Meanwhile, the team will have to train assuming that they will qualify whilst fans continue to pay money hand over fist to continue staying in the USA in order to support their team in the event of results going their way. I think Scotland will go through. Four of the teams above them still have games to play and could drop below them with defeats, although probably by a couple of goals or more. And realistically, I can only see Belgium and Congo moving above them. In Belgium's group, if they beat New Zealand and Egypt beat Iran, then Iran would go 3rd with just 2 points. It looks like a nervy 3 days.

As one of the sides to play their 3rd game early, Scotland are at a bit of a disadvantage. Teams in the later stages will have a better idea of what is needed to get through. For instance, a team playing later on having, like Scotland, won one and lost one, might see that some teams finishing 3rd had less than 3 points and will know the goal difference of those finishing with 3 points. They will know whether they need to get at least a draw or whether a 1 or 2 goal defeat would still see them through. Scotland won't have that luxury. If they concede to Brazil, they will be in a dilemma of whether or not they push hard for an equaliser at the risk of conceding again and making their goal difference worse.

I've watched more than I had initially intended and am thoroughly enjoying it. Apart from the Scotland and England games, I have watched the full game of Canada v Bosnia and Netherlands v Japan. As a neutral in those games I was able to just sit back and enjoy game. The key thing to enjoyment is to fully participate in the hydration breaks.

I get nervous when they play that way, but it's a question of balance. Yes, they are likely to get caught out from time to time but the advantage is that by drawing in players to press them, it leaves the opponents stretched defensively. You've got to be good to execute the tactic successfully and England were good last night. England have good attacking options down both wings and through the middle. I think it is a good tactic for England but it was a bad tactic for ICT when big Dunc tried it.

Can't really complain - except when you look at how lightly Celtic have been punished. Their suspended closure in relation to the Hearts game is for just 1,000 seats rather than half a stand. Half of our North Stand is more than 1,000 seats. OK, we don't fill the North Stand, but who's to say it might not be a lot fuller in 2 years time. Celtic have been fined a token £7,500. In terms of a proportion of their annual turnover it is significantly less than our fine. Celtic's "punishment" for a combination of a pitch incursion and the illegal use of pyrotechnics at Motherwell is just £2,500 plus a tiny reduction in ticket allocation for one game. Celtic have form. It is time they were punished in a way that would make the club think seriously about dealing with their moronic supporters.

I share your feelings about Fifa and Trump but I am not going to let my disgust at the power brokers detract from my support for the players. For them, playing in a world cup is a dream come true. Sadly, the powers that be are tainting their dreams by the appalling way the tournament is being run and by the behaviour of the corrupt USA Government. The pricing and the politics means that overseas fans are being both discouraged and priced out with the result that the players will have less of their most vocal supporters actually at the games. Let's not make it worse for them by taking our support for the event away too. It is a shame it is too late in the day to move the event to another more welcoming country. Incredible though it sounds, players, officials and fans got a warmer welcome in Russia in 2018 than they are getting just now. The refusal to let the highly respected Somalian referee into the country is utterly shameful. Omar Artan has behaved with great dignity despite Trump having referred to Somalians as "garbage". We all know which one of Artan and Trump is garbage - and it isn't Artan. Apart from the politics, the players are also being exposed to extreme heat at some venues. This clearly puts players at risk. All the politics surrounding this event makes it more difficult for the players. This makes me more determined to watch a bit more of the football than I might otherwise do. I sure as hell won't be watching the half time "show" on the day of the final though.