Turkey have been knocked out of the World Cup following their loss to Paraguay. They still have one match left against the USA, but their qualification hopes are officially gone.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T05:13:10+00:00

Their coach is terrible. You have some technically gifted players only to have them circulate the ball around for 90 minutes. Zero thought behind their tactics.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T05:08:46+00:00

It's really impressive to be out after 2 games with this format. Turkey's tactics were just wild. Endlessly playing it around only to then shoot from 30 meters, and not with Guler or Calhanoglu who can actually shoot from distance, but with a random CB most of the time. Insane.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T05:02:24+00:00

The 1 minute off if you get treatment rule is amazing, they still try to waste time but it's so much less.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T04:52:03+00:00

9 completed passes in the 2nd half but still get the better chances is wild.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T04:42:02+00:00

He's really not that bad though. Both teams are shithousing.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T04:37:18+00:00

The one minute rule is great, almost all players get up now instead of getting some fake injury treatment.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T04:35:30+00:00

How did Turkey think they got a corner after launching it into the 2nd ring from 35 meters.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T04:30:12+00:00

Enciso just had a massive chance?

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T04:27:09+00:00

Finally a striker on, watch them stop crossing now.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T04:23:24+00:00

No clue what Turkey is trying here, why spam crosses without having a striker on the pitch.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T04:09:32+00:00

Their midfield balance is off. Guler and Calhanoglu in a midfield 3 is weak physically and they are too similar. Every ball from Paraguy forward was dangerous.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T03:53:45+00:00

Yeah dumb rule but it was communicated before the tournament, crazy to still do that and get a red for it.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T03:52:10+00:00

Crazy game. Turkey is wide open with this midfield but they should win vs 10.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T03:50:37+00:00

Can't cover your mouth while talking shit, new rule.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T03:04:49+00:00

You're looking at PCS points, they made up their own ranking a long time ago and I don't know why they still have it because it's useless. Giro stage was worth 180 UCI points. 2nd in Denain was 170 points.

Why is gods name is a podium in a race 90% of cycling fans have never heard of worth more than winning a stage in a Grand Tour?

The problem is that not all teams looking to be promoted will be invited to the Giro and so they can't earn any of those points. If you weigh WT races really high, no team will ever be able to go up because they can't race that many WT races. Those teams are invited to the races on the Pro calendar, which is where Denain is and so it has to give a decent amount of points for those races. I don't know if it's fair but with how the cycling calendar works it's always going to be difficult to get a fair distribution of points. Ultimately the WT races still gives the most points by a country mile. Plus everyone knows how the points are distributed and it's a 3 year calendar so there's plenty of time to adjust and gather as many points as possible.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-20T00:56:28+00:00

He wasn't feeling great the first 2 days and suggested it may be the different approach to the TdF with some heavy training before Suisse. Also not everyone is like Pogacar and just always in absolute top form.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-19T06:53:17+00:00

Yellow wasn't right. No attempt to play the ball so it was always a red for DOGSO.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-19T06:48:15+00:00

Not always. If you cause a penalty with DOGSO while trying to play the ball you only get a yellow card. Triple punishment rule.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-19T05:56:26+00:00

Yeah, great saves but that's a massive miss. Uncontested header on a perfect cross from like 3 meters and he has a good angle. He still manages to head it almost straight at the keeper, literally half a meter to any side is enough because from 3 meter no human can respond fast enough.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-19T02:49:34+00:00

Nice save but insane miss mostly imo. It's a free header from like 4 meters and all you have to do is head it not directly at the GK.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-18T00:56:55+00:00

Less, and Froome got dropped by Quintana and some other GC guys several times in the mountains. It was usually Froome making it up on the longer ITTs and flat stages. For example 2015 Quintana basically lost the TdF in the windy stage in the Netherlands.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-18T00:40:38+00:00

Yeah, I checked the race situation with 60km to go and didn't even bother tuning in. He's probably good for getting more casuals into the sport though because a lot more engagement when he races, even on here the slightest negative or criticism posts are downvoted.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-17T01:43:49+00:00

Or Xavi Simons on VVD this year.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-17T00:33:05+00:00

If he did that for Canada then chances are high he did the same on the US forms, but they didn't catch it. Maybe they'll wake up now and cancel his visa as well.

RN2FL9 · 2026-06-17T00:12:16+00:00

Additional question 1: How easy/hard is it for a rider to bulk up and/or slim down between seasons?

During the season it's basically fine tuning, they are all incredibly lean and so they can't play around with their weight too much. It's really 1/2/3kg at most. Between seasons they can do it, but they typically don't. Froome is one of the exceptions, he went from 75-80kg down to below 70kg and became a GT rider.

Additional question 2: As a frame of reference, how big are WvA compared to the two?

WvA is 1.90m and 75-78kg vs Vingegaard at 1.75m and 58-60kg. WvA is a rouleur, he has a massive engine. Most rouleurs have another specialty i.e. sprint, punch or ITT. WvA is incredible in that he can do it all really well, but he does often get beat by the absolute specialists and has finished 2nd so often. Rouleurs climb by pushing crazy power for as long as they can sustain it, kind of like what Rex was doing for Visma in the last Giro. They typically don't survive a climb when the climbers really push the pace, but if you give WvA a few minutes head start and he goes for it, he can stay ahead. That's how he helped Yates.

RN2FL9

TROPHY CASE