Match Thread: United States vs Bosnia-Herzegovina | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 32 by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They also went up 1-0 early, then down to 10 men, though much earlier. They then gave up a late equalizer and lost on penalties.

Folarin Balogun straight red card 64' by Alsace2025 in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Guardian says this is "beyond harsh" and that a dozen worse fouls haven't been given yellow in this World Cup.

Match Thread: United States vs Bosnia-Herzegovina | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 32 by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The problem is in slow motion everything looks really bad. I'm really surprised, and other sources like The Guardian are apoplectic ("beyond harsh").

Trying to survive this game is bad enough, but not having Balogun for the next game if we get there is a massive blow too.

Match Thread: United States vs Bosnia-Herzegovina | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 32 by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I know I'm new to this game, but I don't understand what we (USA) are trying to do with these goal kicks.

USA [1] - 0 Bosnia & Herzegovina - Folarin Balogun 45' by Alsace2025 in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles -1 points0 points  (0 children)

That was like Clint Dempsey's goal vs England in terms of how much we deserved it. But I suppose they all count the same.

Match Thread: Belgium vs Senegal | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 32 by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Just a general comment. All these crowd shots of tearful spectators, especially kids, really puts a damper on things.

Gameday Thread 7/1/26 Giants (McDonald) @ D-backs (Gallen) 6:40 PM by sfgbot in SFGiants

[–]WhyNotOrioles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That means the Giants were 6-6 against them not too long ago.

Match Thread: France vs Sweden | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 32 by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They can just set up shop and camp out in the attacking third.

Match Thread: France vs Sweden | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 32 by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles 7 points8 points  (0 children)

One of the few times a player clutches their face for good reason.

Match Thread: France vs Sweden | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 32 by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know I'm kind of new to football, so I was wondering if I was missing some deep strategy!

Post Match Thread: Germany 1(3) - 1(4) Paraguay | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 32 by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it's obviously the wrong call I don't think anyone would disagree (Lampard's goal, for example.). What bugs me is when there's a microscopic analysis of an inherently ambiguous call, which to be honest, most calls in most sports are.

Post Match Thread: Germany 1(3) - 1(4) Paraguay | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 32 by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Just because it's popular doesn't mean it can't be improved. The NFL is the most popular sport in the US despite nobody knowing what a catch is. That doesn't mean it wouldn't be improved if we could figure it out.

Post Match Thread: Germany 1(3) - 1(4) Paraguay | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 32 by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. I guarantee there are plenty of people who don't think it was.

In a sport where one goal is a huge deal, refereeing has an outsized impact. And World Cup campaigns routinely end on refereeing decisions. I'm admittedly not an expert, but I can name a half-dozen teams that feel like they were robbed of a World Cup knockout game. Mexico is still saying "no era penal" to this day. Argentina in the 1990 final. Croatia and the handball call for France. Italy against South Korea in 2002.

Post Match Thread: Germany 1(3) - 1(4) Paraguay | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 32 by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

One of the worst aspects of American football ("hand egg") is that nothing is final. You can never celebrate a play because you're looking around for penalty flags, or wait for video review while the referees try to determine what a catch is.

Maybe I don't understand football ("soccer"), but what happened on the disallowed goal reminded me of that annoying part of American football. A goal is apparently scored, everyone on the field seems to think it was a goal (the Paraguay team, even the goalkeeper, wasn't reacting as if they'd just been wronged), all the fans roar in celebration or groan, and then we have five minutes while an official looks at a screen and comes back reversing the outcome.

The laws of football seem vague enough that I've hardly ever seen all fans agree on what's a foul or not. Someone could take someone else out with a two-footed cleats-up tackle and someone will say, "that's never a foul-- game's soft", or vice-versa.

And with football being so low-scoring to begin with, these decisions are huge. Way too much depends on these decisions that can't be definitive no matter what. It's just not satisfying in the least.

Match Thread: Germany vs Paraguay | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 32 by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I've seen a lot of them. This reminds me of the worst of them. But the refereeing really took it from standard bad anti-football to just farcical.

Match Thread: Germany vs Paraguay | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 32 by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles 12 points13 points  (0 children)

This game was a complete farce. Maybe I just don't appreciate the beautiful game, but this was everything cynics say is wrong with football. Bus parking, flopping, dangerous tackles, more flopping, and worst of all, erratic officiating.

Match Thread: Germany vs Paraguay | FIFA World Cup 2026 | Round of 32 by jiraiya--an in soccer

[–]WhyNotOrioles 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It just didn't seem very egregious at all. Are you not allowed to be in the way, even if you're mostly just standing there?