I don’t care. It was much of a muchness, and it just sucks so much joy from the game. We’ll end up losing out on so many special moments in football because of incredibly minor technical infringements, it’s such a jobsworth tool, and it’s hideous. You know what, we probably don’t win the cup in ‘76 if VAR is about, but never mind because it’s ‘technically correct’. (Not having a pop at you, Tom, I do get it, but it’s not in the spirit of the game).
I guess the phrase I would use here is "be careful what you wish for". Not aimed at you - it's aimed at football fans in general. For years fans were screaming abuse at referees for making mistakes, no matter how small. People were begging for technology to be brought in. Now every goal is going to be scrutinised for any infringement whether that is offside or handball or whatever. It's not how I want VAR to be used but the scrutiny on referees by the media, fans, managers etc brought this about. Gary Lineker is a massive hypocrite for example. How many Saturday's did he criticise the state of refereeing with his pals in the MOTD studio and urging technology to be brought in? And now it has, he spends every week mocking it! You can't have your cake and eat it buddy.
All VR has done is effectively brought in a new layer of opinion. It think it is slightly more objective than before but the science behind it picks up things which are not obvious and I feel this is why it has not done away with controversy. The controversy is still there but it is a different kind of issue.
****, just realised it's time for the the FA Cup 3rd round draw! World Cup takes a back seat for 15mins!
One odd thing about this Wolrd Cup that has intrigued me is that this is the first time that Islam seems to have enjoyed such a large profile in the international sport. I think the host nation has clearly has clearly played a factor but teams like Saudi Arabia and Iran have also played a factor. I have found this really fascinating and it was something we were talking about in the office today. With the amoint of money going in to the game form the Middle East, I think that a team from this region will probably be more likely to challenge than teams from Africa where there is not the level of investment. I think that Qatar has gone from having something like 300 people playing fotball in 2012 to 6000 in 2022. From the other perspective, I had not realised just how many players in European teams are now Muslim. Probalby more noticeable with teams like France and Germany but also with Sterling and Luke Shaw for England. (Don't think the former is practicing.) All in all, it did make me wonder why the BBC coverage is not more balanced in this respect. I usually agree with Gary Lineker but feel the anti- Qatar business has bled over to be tacit criticism of the wider Islamic world / diaspora. Not 100% convinced that western coverage has been totall "on message."
Why are Portugal so disliked? Have Ronaldo and Fernándes destroyed their likeability built up in previous eras by the likes of Eusebio!!
Fascinating that you have highlighted Irán, Saudí and Qatar as Islamic nations. Certainly true but the culture between Irán and the Arab nations is very different. Add in Morocco and Senegal and we begin to see how diverse Islam is!!
Pepe is possibly the most cynical and dirty defender of recent times. Uruguay don't have Suarez on the pitch so I prefer them.
So tonight is all about backing the less rogueish team!! It is a mighty hard task to differentiate between the two. Of the two, I think I'd prefer Portugal to.progress as they have a bit more style when playing properly
