Michael vs Michael. 🎯 What a great game.

[serious_fun]

Dutch...a few medium level footballers...

agreed (though ranked #7 in the world?) We'll see how they fare in the WC which starts in ~3 weeks! ️

 

[jstar]

agreed (though ranked #7 in the world?) We'll see how they fare in the WC which starts in ~3 weeks! ️

I’m quite sure that Herbert was talking about the players selected for the Indonesian national team when he mentioned “a few medium level footballers”. And definitely not the Dutch national team. Indonesia did not qualify.

Like Italy btw, which is a former world champion

The other world champions are doing better:

• Brazil: Qualified automatically as a CONMEBOL entrant.
• Germany: Qualified directly by topping UEFA Group A.
• Argentina: Qualified directly as a CONMEBOL entrant.
• France: Qualified directly by winning UEFA Group D.
• Uruguay: Qualified directly by finishing fourth in CONMEBOL.
• England: Qualified directly by winning UEFA Group K.
• Spain: Qualified directly by winning UEFA Group E.

 

[Helpful Herbert]

I’m quite sure that Herbert was talking about the players selected for the Indonesian national team when he mentioned “a few medium level footballers”.

Exactly, they can't play for the Dutch team since they are now Indonesians not Dutch.

 

[serious_fun]

I’m quite sure that Herbert was talking about the players selected for the Indonesian national team when he mentioned “a few medium level footballers”. And definitely not the Dutch national team.

Yes I know; I was trying to be funny and mock the Dutch team.

 

[jstar]

PSG (Paris) beat Arsenal (London) in the finals of the Champions League. Which is after the World Cup for countries probably the most important (and lucrative) tournament in football.

Only three clubs managed to win both the Champions League (or Europa Cup 1) and the national title two seasons in a row in history. Earlier, Real Madrid (1956-57/1957-58) and Ajax (1971-72/1972-73) succeeded. So kudos Paris Saint-Germain.

Arsenal had a bad evening, it was still ahead of PSG until the 65th minute, but that was not due to the quality of their play. The French were superior and barely lost possession of the ball. (The Londoners had only 24.7% possession of the ball, that is the lowest percentage in a CL final).

And to make it even more painful for The Gunners: Arsenal remains the club with the most matches in the European Cup and Champions League without ever winning the tournaments. After this lost final against PSG, the counter is at 226 games without a trophy.

The current amount of CL cups won per country:
Spain 20
England 15
Italy 12
Germany 8
Netherlands 6
Portugal 4
France 3
Rumania/ Scotland/Yugoslav 1

 

[harryopal1]

Watching the European news. The so called "Great Game" manages to change many fans into destructive, raving lunatics. A phenomena found around the world. I think much of it is to do with unreleased tension with so little scoring to vent this pent up excitement at frequent intervals throughout the games.

 

[jstar]

In his car during the morning traffic jam the well behaved and gentle father of the family becomes a raving lunatic, Harry. Has nothing to do with the game.

 

[harryopal1]

In his car during the morning traffic jam the well behaved and gentle father of the family becomes a raving lunatic, Harry. Has nothing to do with the game.

".... nothing to do with the game." ??

The US National Library of Medicine seems to differ as the result of a study'
"Fan aggression in football (soccer) is a societal problem that affects many countries worldwide. However, to date, most studies use an epidemiological or survey approach to explain football fan aggression. This study used a controlled laboratory study to advance a model of predictors for fan aggression. To do so, football fans (n = 74) saw a match summary in which their favorite team lost against their most important rival. Next, we measured levels of aggression with the hot sauce paradigm, in which fans were given the opportunity to administer a sample of hot sauce that a rival football supporter had to consume. To investigate if media exposure had the ability to reduce aggression, before the match fans saw a video in which fans of the rival team commented in a neutral, negative, or positive manner on their favorite team. Results showed that the media exposure did not affect aggression. However, participants displayed high levels of aggression and anger after having watched the match. Also, aggression was higher in fans with lower basal cortisol levels, which suggests that part of the aggression displayed was proactive and related to anti-social behavior....."

The full details of the study are to be found with the link below.

Football Fan Aggression: The Importance of Low Basal Cortisol and a Fair Referee - PMC

Fan aggression in football (soccer) is a societal problem that affects many countries worldwide. However, to date, most studies use an epidemiological or survey approach to explain football fan aggression. This study used a controlled laboratory ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[jstar]

Thursday the World Cup tournament begins in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

On June 11, Mexico and South Africa will play the first match.

 

[jstar]

The Iranian football team must enter and leave the same day for World Cup matches played in the US. That's what the Iranian ambassador to Mexico says ahead of the World Cup. "We can enter in the morning and have to leave the same day," the ambassador told journalists.

Due to the conflict in the Middle East, the Iranian football team is in Mexico for the entire World Cup. Initially, the plan was to stay in Arizona. The team is expected to arrive in Mexico on Sunday morning.

That's not the only problem the team is struggling with. For a long time there was uncertainty about visas. They will not be provided by the US until Friday. On the other hand, a large part of the accompanying staff has not been granted a visa, much to the dissatisfation of Iran.

The Iranian Football Federation accused the US of 'revengeful behavior' for not issuing visas. According to the federation, the refusal of the visas has "effectively deprived the Iranian national team of the opportunity to get an equal opportunity and participate in a competition without discrimination."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week that he had no problem with the players, but that the delegation would be closely monitored due to possible ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Iran will play the first match in the group stage against New Zealand on June 15 in Los Angeles. This will be followed by duels with Belgium (21 June, LA) and Egypt (26 June, Seattle).