[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

martino es argentino, if he eliminates them in group stage he's never going back home again

 

[!@#$%!]

Puedes llevarme al Irán
y presentarme al Imán
pasearme por Teherán
y mandarme al frente de Iraq
puedes colgarme de los pies
y fusilarme también
cortarme las manos sin piedad
y llevarte a mi chica ye-yé

Ayatollah, no me toques la pirola
Ayatollah, no me toques la pirola
Ayatollah, no me toques la pirola más...

Sabes que no soy el Sha
pero en el nombre de Alá
te lo pido una vez más
no me toques la pirola jamás
en el desierto me verás
bailando el cha-cha-chá
soy un enemigo de Alá
no me gusta la rumba ni el jazz.

Ayatollah, no me toques la pirola
Ayatollah, no me toques la pirola
Ayatollah, no me toques la pirola más...

Sólo vine a comprar pan
a mí todo me sale mal
sólo vine a comprar pan
y me enseñasteis el Corán
en el desierto me verás
bailando el cha-cha-chá
soy un enemigo de Alá
no me gusta la rumba ni el jazz.

Ayatollah, no me toques la pirola
Ayatollah, no me toques la pirola
Ayatollah, no me toques la pirola más...

¡Ayatollah, mola!

[The Soup Nazi]

By order of the prophet
We ban that boogie soouuund...

[!@#$%!]

ecuador vs senegal is pretty lively. and the senegalese supporters look awesome.

[_tunic_]

If the US can play the entire match like they did the first half against Iran, they may have a good chance to win it against the Dutch.
Hopefully the injuries will have recovered by then

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by _tunic_

If the US can play the entire match like they did the first half against Iran, they may have a good chance to win it against the Dutch.
Hopefully the injuries will have recovered by then

Captain America sent a bunch of Iranians to forced labor or summary executions today. Not his fault, though; that's just how they roll in large parts of the Middle bloody East...

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by _tunic_

If the US can play the entire match like they did the first half against Iran, they may have a good chance to win it against the Dutch.
Hopefully the injuries will have recovered by then

You really want LvG to finally retire, eh?

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by _tunic_

If the US can play the entire match like they did the first half against Iran, they may have a good chance to win it against the Dutch.
Hopefully the injuries will have recovered by then

i doubt it, and the second half was a horror. going all defense at the end was an extremely risky bet. what saved us was the superior level of fitness and speed of american players. technically though, it was a clusterfuck.

our first half belonged to pulisic. he made plays, beat defenders, served balls, and scored by himself after weah missed like 20 chances given to him. without pulisic, we are lost.

so i'm fine if you put us out of our misery. what i did not want was to encourage the ayatollah's propaganda if we lost. that job is done, we can go home now and make room for the good teams that have technical quality and good tactics.

i almost fucking died today. we should have scored a second goal but absolutely couldn't. then it was running and hoping and running some more.

[The Soup Nazi]

Apropos the (then upcoming) Iran vs USA game, AFP recently listed the most politically fraught matches in World Cup history. To summarize:

- Mussolini's 'Blackshirts': France v Italy, 1938
- Cold War battle: East Germany v West Germany, 1974
- Maradona's moment: England v Argentina, 1986
- Say it with flowers: Iran v USA, 1998
- An eagle lands: Switzerland v Serbia, 2018

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by choc e-Claire

the Aussies

congrats, kid!

i didn't watch your game but saw the news. well done.

[choc e-Claire]

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

Apropos the (then upcoming) Iran vs USA game, AFP recently listed the most politically fraught matches in World Cup history. To summarize:

- Mussolini's 'Blackshirts': France v Italy, 1938
- Cold War battle: East Germany v West Germany, 1974
- Maradona's moment: England v Argentina, 1986
- Say it with flowers: Iran v USA, 1998
- An eagle lands: Switzerland v Serbia, 2018

None of these hold a candle to the Chile vs Soviet Union playoff in 1973, which isn't at the World Cup proper but is an insane story.

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

congrats, kid!

i didn't watch your game but saw the news. well done.

If you look at the videos from Federation Square in Melbourne, I'm one of the 8,000 people there. We were actually, genuinely the better team throughout the second half - bring on Argentina.

[Genteel Death]

I don't want the Australians to win because they are all redneck racists.

[choc e-Claire]

Originally Posted by Genteel Death

I don't want the Australians to win because they are all redneck racists.

compare to Argentina, whom a Chilean friend has described as "the Poland of Latin America". I have a bizarre years-long vendetta against them, and this match will be a great contributor.

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by choc e-Claire

None of these hold a candle to the Chile vs Soviet Union playoff in 1973, which isn't at the World Cup proper but is an insane story.

Oh shit, and I forgot that! Goddamn...

[choc e-Claire]

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

Oh shit, and I forgot that! Goddamn...

I'm a sports fan, a raging leftist, and deeply invested in a few Chilean friends of mine; I'm actually halfway through writing a lengthy essay on this that I've mostly been using to slack off from uni work. I'll send it here sometime.

[!@#$%!]

south korea won so uruguay failed to make it to round of 16

only argentina and brazil left standing for conmebol

--

well brazil was shit today and paid for it hahahaha

[The Soup Nazi]

We'll see if there are any surprises left, because when you take a look at the round of 16 draw it looks pretty clear cut...

 

[choc e-Claire]

Japan v Croatia by far the most even looking of these; Portugal vs Switzerland could also be fun.

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by choc e-Claire

deeply invested in a few Chilean friends of mine

Deeply invested might be a mistake. Chileans are turds, mostly.

[The Soup Nazi]

From Fareed Zakaria's newsletter:

The Reality of ‘Fake Fans’

This World Cup has been rife with political controversy—notably over human rights in host country Qatar—but fandom itself has endured a kerfuffle. After a group of South Asian supporters of England were accused from afar of being “fake fans,” Financial Times sports editor Josh Noble reflects on a changing relationship between fans and the sport worldwide.

“If football is a matter of identity—personal or national—how can someone cheer for Argentina at 1pm, then don the yellow of rivals Brazil hours later?” Noble asks, hypothetically. “But like it or not, this is the modern game. This World Cup has showcased a vision of football where national teams are more like brands that anyone can consume, and where preference can be based on mood or marketing. When Fifa talks about a ‘World Cup for everyone’, this is what it means in practice.”