Not sticking up to Qatar it should never have been there but they have put on a good World Cup to the point I would suggest fifa will be happy to go to one of the other gulf states in a few years.
Something I have thought which may prove to be a longer term benefit is the decentring of European football which occurs by holding it away from the normal footballing seats of power. I think the effect of pretty clear in the Morocco Spain game, with absolutely massive support for Morocco from the Arab and African fans in a way that simply wouldn't have happened had it been elsewhere. Also visible in the Saudis defeat of Argentina (still can't believe that happened). This provincialisation of European football is desperately needed…
pundits didn't praise Japan at all after their victory over Spain and instead spent 15 minutes making thinly disguised accusations of a VAR stitch up!
Im sure the teams love that they don't have to move hotels all the time too.
correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't every single other world cup held in the middle of eg. the south american football season? If thats true and I think it is, I can't get too upset about this one being in the middle of a European season for once! If anything it might serve to level the playing field a bit given the dominance of European sides in the last 20 years.
Plus the frequency of the matches at this stage is not that much more than busy periods in the domestic leagues.
Duncan says much higher up this thread that people object to a country without a decent side hosting but I don’t have a problem with that personally. Qatar are the first hosts ever to not surf through to the knockouts on a wave of local support but I can’t see that as wrong.
Not sure how much that softens the blow of having literally no recovery time before the restart of the domestic seasons. Chelsea and Man City play each other in the League Cup four days after the final. Most of their first teams are still in Qatar. Not sure Chelsea would have been expecting Ziyech to still be there!
any democratisation of sporting advantage, fan experience and player welfare at this World Cup is basically a happy accident.
South Africa?
It'll also be interesting to see how the teams with few world cup players perform for the rest of the season.
I reckon we’re looking at one of those “plays brilliantly, scores loads of amazing goals but then goes out to stubborn opposition and everyone cries” Brazil sides myself so let’s say Argentina.
until Brazil win this years final of course!
Quote from: cheque on December 06, 2022, 05:28:22 pmI reckon we’re looking at one of those “plays brilliantly, scores loads of amazing goals but then goes out to stubborn opposition and everyone cries” Brazil sides myself so let’s say Argentina. Jesus Christ cheque can you tell us the lottery numbers as well?!??
Yellow cards written off after tonight.
Is anyone else fed up with the way the commentators, pundits and media in general are just fawning over the ageing stars
Quote from: Ged on December 10, 2022, 07:36:19 amIs anyone else fed up with the way the commentators, pundits and media in general are just fawning over the ageing starsBritain’s meant to be a country that loves the underdog and I can’t help but think that part of that is because we have to listen to football commentators wanking themselves dry about the overdogs regardless of what’s actually happening.
Quote from: cheque on December 10, 2022, 03:51:05 pmQuote from: Ged on December 10, 2022, 07:36:19 amIs anyone else fed up with the way the commentators, pundits and media in general are just fawning over the ageing starsBritain’s meant to be a country that loves the underdog and I can’t help but think that part of that is because we have to listen to football commentators wanking themselves dry about the overdogs regardless of what’s actually happening.Speaking of, a world first tonight for Morocco!