Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Innocent people do not delay justice.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

I really should read my own blog.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

The desire to stay informed is directly at odds with the need to not be constantly enraged.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

He really is that stupid.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

You are here: Home / Sports / Friday World Cup Open Thread: Qatar vs. Senegal / Netherlands vs. Ecuador / England vs. United States

Friday World Cup Open Thread: Qatar vs. Senegal / Netherlands vs. Ecuador / England vs. United States

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SportsMole:

World Cup hosts Qatar face Senegal in a crucial Group A match at the Al Thumama Stadium on Friday.

Both nations are playing catch-up following opening day defeats at the finals.

Qatar let themselves down massively in their clash with Ecuador on Sunday which kicked off the tournament, falling to a 2-0 loss to the South American side.

Getting thoroughly outplayed by CONMEBOL’s weakest qualified side gave a true indication of their stature on the global stage, but luckily for them, they still have time to prove people’s perceptions wrong.

However, the facts will say that Qatar are the first host nation in World Cup history to lose their opening fixture.

Not only that, the Maroons are also the first hosts not to have shot on target in a match at the finals since the USA failed to do so in their last 16 defeat to Brazil in 1994…

Meanwhile, while suffering the same fate as the hosts, Senegal had a lot to be impressed with in their performance against the Netherlands on Monday.

Their build up play in attack was easy on the eye and, for the most part, they were solid defensively…

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SportsMole:

Netherlands will be bidding to make it two wins from their opening two matches at the 2022 World Cup when they take on Ecuador at Khalifa International Stadium on Friday.

Louis van Gaal’s side recorded a 2-0 victory over Senegal on Monday, while Ecuador were also 2-0 winners in their Group A opener, beating the tournament hosts Qatar on Sunday…

Netherlands will face Ecuador on Friday before rounding off their group stage against the hosts Qatar next Tuesday, and it will be fascinating to see what this group of players can achieve in the tournament, as Holland have impressed in their last two World Cups.

The national team, who have never won the World Cup, were absent from the finals back in 2018, but they reached the final of the 2010 competition before finishing third in 2014….

Ecuador now have their toughest two games in the section, facing Netherlands on Friday before taking on Senegal next Tuesday, and the latter will be desperate to bounce back from their loss to Holland.

La Tricolor did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup, but they were present at the 2014 competition, being eliminated in the group stage, while their best-ever performance came in 2006, with the tournament seeing them advance to the last-16 stage before losing to England.

There had been some doubt over Ecuador’s spot in Qatar, with Chile and Peru lodging appeals due to the involvement of Byron Castillo during the qualification fixtures, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport agreed with FIFA in saying that the 23-year-old was able to represent the national side…

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SportsMole:

Off the back of an emphatic victory in their opening 2022 World Cup fixture, England will endeavour to boost their hopes of securing top spot in Group B when they lock horns with USA at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor on Friday evening.

The Three Lions began their campaign by hitting Iran for six on Monday, while the Stars and Stripes were forced to share the spoils with Wales in their opening clash.

Following memorable highs of reaching the World Cup semi-finals four years ago and then the final of Euro 2020, optimism surrounding Gareth Southgate’s squad had dipped heading to Qatar after a disappointing winless UEFA Nations League campaign.

However, the nation’s hopes were boosted in emphatic style as the Three Lions roared to a 6-2 victory in their opening group game against Iran, their biggest-ever win in the first match of a major tournament…

USA managed to progress from the group stage at their previous two World Cup finals, finishing second ahead of Portugal in 2014 before securing top spot ahead of England in 2010. Indeed, a memorable 1-1 draw in their last meeting against the Three Lions – which saw Robert Green fumble a Clint Dempsey strike – helped the Americans to finish above Fabio Capello’s men on goal difference.

The Stars and Stripes head into Friday’s contest unbeaten in their previous two World Cup meetings with England, including a shock 1-0 group-stage triumph back in 1950, and similar heroics will be required if they wish to come away with at least a point at the Al Bayt Stadium.

Reader Interactions

55Comments

  2. 2.

    Gin & Tonic

    During the 2010 World Cup I was in Prague, and I recall an awful lot of Dutch fans, for some reason. During their semifinal I was having dinner in a very quiet cafe on Kampa Island, and could hear the roar of their fans from Stare Mesto, across the river (they won.) Perhaps fortunately, I left town before the final.

  3. 3.

    Montanareddog

    Today, we’ll see the best centre-back in the world face the best striker in the world.

    That’s just trolling. No way is Valencia in the top 10 of strikers in the world. And, Van Dijk seems to not be the same player since his (dreadful) knee injury 2 years ago.

    It seems to me that the best CB around at the moment is (still) Thiago Silva; and Kim Min-Jae of South Korea will be perhaps the next great player in that position

  4. 4.

    West of the Cascades

    As much as I like rooting for underdogs, and have nothing against the Qatari players, I’d be happy to see Qatar lose all its matches by two or more goals and (further) underscore how inappropriate Qatar is as a host nation for the World Cup.

  5. 5.

    phdesmond

    Full-time: Qatar 1-3 Senegal

    the Guardian notes, “Africa’s first win at these finals, Qatar are heading out unless Ecuador beat the Netherlands.”

  11. 11.

    Gin & Tonic

    Is it just my old ears, but is the sound mixing too light on the announcers’ voices? I’m often having a hard time making them out over the crowd noise. This is not a today thing, it’s every match.

  18. 18.

    phdesmond

    sighting of a new verb for “kicking” in the Guardian blog:

    83 min: Ecuador throw-in, halfway inside the Dutch half. The Netherlands win possession back and the ball finds it’s way to Noppert, who wellies it high upfield.

  20. 20.

    Uncle Cosmo

    England demolishes USA; England & Wales both defeat Iran; if necessary, Limeys field the back end of the roster against their co-islanders and sneak past them by a goal or two so that they both advance over the Amis, who crawl home to a third of a billion people who mostly didn’t even know they were playing, or what they were playing, and overwhelmingly didn’t care. Do I have that about right?

  23. 23.

    Anyway

    USA! USA! USA! GO team!!

    (So thoughtful of FIFA to schedule this on my day off.

    ETA All set. got my noshes ready – whipped up a batch of fromage fort with the leftover cheese from yesterday

  25. 25.

    cmorenc

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    England demolishes USA; England & Wales both defeat Iran; if necessary, Limeys field the back end of the roster against their co-islanders and sneak past them by a goal or two so that they both advance over the Amis, who crawl home to a third of a billion people who mostly didn’t even know they were playing, or what they were playing, and overwhelmingly didn’t care. Do I have that about right?

    There has been enormous progress in building fan interest in the US over the past 20 years.  I recall back in the 1998 WC when ABC had the broadcast rights and the US team faced Germany in the opening game, ABC actually gave each local ABC affiliate the option to choose to show other programming instead of the game.  I vividly recall my frustration that the local ABC affiliate in Wilmington, NC chose to instead broadcast a local parade in downtown Wilmington instead of the match, and I had to search hard before i found a sports bar down in Myrtle Beach, SC that showed it on one among their bank of several TVs.  OTOH, after watching the enormously outclassed US team absorb a thorough thrashing by Germany 2-0 that was vastly more one-sided than the score might suggest – I reluctantly conceded that maybe the Wilmington ABC affiliate had an arguable point, at least at that time.  The next two group games for the 1998 US team went no better, despite the seemingly modest final margins – we were clearly way below par relative to the rest of the soccer world.

    Used to be a running joke about soccer in the US: “soccer: the sport of the future in the United States since 1978” – on the witty, soccer-themed “Men in Blazers” show hosted by two British expats.

    Interest in soccer broadcasts has in the meantime hugely improved since 1998, in part thanks to the increased presence and recognition of immigrants in the US from more soccer-mad regions of the globe, as well as the proliferation of sports cable channels – NBC now regularly carries EPL games and in the US, it’s been possible the last two or thee WCs to find literally every WC match available on non-premium channels.

  26. 26.

    Alison Rose

    @cmorenc: Yeah, it’s definitely gotten better, even just since I first got into the sport in my mid 20s (nearly 20 years ago now, jeez). It’ll never be the same here as it is in basically every other country, for multiple reasons, but it’s not as belittled as it once was.

    Though I have still seen a fair number of comments on FB posts from news sites being like “who cares” and “why do I have to see this shit” and blah blah. I mean, to the first, “who cares” is literally hundreds of millions of people around the globe, as well as millions here in the US. And also…this happens for one month every four years. People can fucking deal. If I have to see six million posts and articles about March Madness every year, they can cope with this. (Plus, I don’t feel the need to comment on those posts whining about how much I don’t care. I just……….scroll by. Imagine that!)

  29. 29.

    Alison Rose

    @Anyway: Which has always confused me a bit. These people are so jingoistic, you’d think they’d love getting to cheer for the US against other countries. But maybe it’s because we’re usually the underdog and all they care about is winning. I mean, I care about winning too, but you know…I still support the team even when they lose.

  30. 30.

    Origuy

    This is the first game I’ve watched (on Telemundo). I saw the USA team entering the field escorted by little boys and girls. Cute.

  33. 33.

    phdesmond

    A nice atmosphere is bubbling up inside the stadium, with the two fan groups trading chants and songs from across the stands. “IT’S! CALLED! SOCCER!” the American fans just chanted, over and over again.

    — from NYT live game coverage

    soccer (n.)

    1889, socca, later socker (1891), soccer (1895), originally university slang (with jocular formation -er (3)), from a shortened form of Assoc., abbreviation of association in Football Association (as opposed to Rugby football); compare rugger. An unusual method of formation, but those who did it perhaps shied away from making a name out of the first three letters of Assoc. Compare 1890s English schoolboy slang leccer, from lecture (n.).

    from etymonline.com

  34. 34.

    kalakal

    @phdesmond: There’s a fair bit of class snobbery in it.

    Rugby Football was the posh game played at upper class public schools – the gentleman’s game.

    Football aka Soccer was the working class rabble’s game and the gentry objected so a long battle ensued with the upper crust & the media trying to popularise ‘soccer’ for the game where you used your feet and ‘football’ for the game where you used your hands. Didn’t work

    Compare 1890s English schoolboy slang leccer, from lecture (n.).

    Now there is classic example of English Public Schoolboy slang*

    * I was one and we said soccer and rugger

  37. 37.

    kalakal

    Can’ t see that game doing much to boost the popularity of football  soccer in the US

    That were a load of crap

  40. 40.

    OverTwistWillie

    How not to do set pieces: the US had 7 corners and generated zero shots on frame from them.

    Beerholder seems to be set on drawing his way out of this tournament.

  42. 42.

    Alison Rose

    @OverTwistWillie: Well, why don’t you hop on a plane to Doha and take over. I’m sure you would do much better.

    Scoring off a corner kick isn’t as easy as people want to believe, especially against a team like England. And no, Berhalter is not looking to “draw his way out” – like any coach, he wants his team to do their best and advance to the next round. You can take issue with some of his choices, but it’s pretty gross to imply that he’s trying to throw the games or something.

  43. 43.

    LeftCoastYankee

    @OverTwistWillie:

    The percent of corners which actually lead to goals (at least in the English Premier League) is 3%.

    So no goals off of 10 corners isn’t surprising at all.

  44. 44.

    LeftCoastYankee

    @eclare:

    He’s not as good as the two starters Robinson and Dest, but he definitely should have played over Wright as a sub.

    He’s now the grizzled veteran… which makes me feel old.

  50. 50.

    VeniceRiley

    Late to the comments buT, this WC has been horrible footie. The teams look like they haven’t had enough practice time together. Likely due to the fact that they’re playing in winter instead of summer break. 

  51. 51.

    Kevin

    Good result for USA. I see what they tried to do on the last set piece but for me just get it into the box (the mixer as they say) and see what happens.

    Also love Pulisic but can no one else take a corner? His service has been meh.

    We’re in good shape to advance. I think the boys can pull off a win vs Iran.

  52. 52.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Kevin: We’re in good shape to advance. I think the boys can pull off a win vs Iran.

    Probably in better shape to be sent packing, since the Iranians only need a draw to qualify while eliminating The Great Satan. Never underestimate the ability of Team Useless-Eh to fuck around for most of the match, then wake up & shift into desperation gear, and find out they’re just a tad too late.

    And why shouldn’t a nation advance whose population actually cares about the sport, versus one where only a relatively small number of “footie snobs” gives a damn?

  53. 53.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @cmorenc: ​There has been enormous progress in building fan interest in the US over the past 20 years.

    When you start with a fan base measuring in the high dozens, any progress can be touted as “enormous.”

    My minimally informed conjecture is that most of the “fan interest” over here owes to recent immigrants and ethnic groups that identify more with the fortunes and fate of the Old Country side than with Team USA. Anyone who’s dedicated to seeing us Yanks take any significant interest in “footie” is going to have to destroy NFL and college football first – though (between scandals and gambling) the mofos are doing their damnedest to self-destruct – and the clientele would still prefer watching basketball and ice hockey and even (horrors!) baseball.

    My own estimate of “footie” essentially parallels Samuel Johnson’s of women preaching: like a dog’s walking on hind legs. “It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.”

    (And do NOT fling any BS in my direction about “the most popular sport in the world” – the only reason for that is that it requires nothing but a ball, a field and a few scraps of litter to mark the goals and boundaries, and involves no rules except offsides and no-mugging-opposing-players, all of which are more honored in the breach than in the observance, so there.)

  54. 54.

    Alison Rose

    @Uncle Cosmo: So, did you spend too much time being thankful. yesterday that today you felt the need to be a total dick? If you don’t give a shit about soccer, then fine–try shutting the hell up and let those of us who do care have our own discussion.

    And your “explanation” for why it is the most popular sport is so stone-cold stupid I don’t even know how to respond. Except to say that you are, unsurprisingly, completely wrong. So again, keep your pissy inaccurate opinions to yourself.

  55. 55.

    kalakal

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    the only reason for that is that it requires nothing but a ball, a field and a few scraps of litter to mark the goals and boundaries,

    You make that seem a bad thing. It’s a sport anyone can play nearly anywhere at minimal cost with no special equipment. It’s no surprise that 2 & 3 are cricket & field hockey. Same as football but add a few sticks .

    Would you prefer Polo?

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