World Cup 2022

And I missed another key decision. Six days ago FIFA did a U-turn and approved the COVID-era standard of 26 man rosters for Qatar 2022 instead of returning to the 23 man limit pre-COVID. Final rosters are due 30 days before the opening match on October 20th, so by my questionable math, that's September 20th....right? At midnight? Arabia Standard Time? Greenwich Mean Time? The Chamorro Time Zone? I suppose some enterprising journalist will inform us when the time draws nigh.

https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/ne...teams-will-have-three-extra-players-in-qatar/

 

You're a month early. The World Cup starts on November 21. And yes, I'm sure there will be many articles speculating on the roster leading up to late October. I don't know how the managers will handle the additional subs, but it certainly gives them a chance to cycle some players. Given that this is the pinnacle of world football, it may not make much of a difference in team selection.

 

YOU ARE CORRECT SIR!

 

What?
WHAT????
Just one more reason FIFA really screwed the pooch on this decision. I wonder if the girls and boys running InBev knew this when FIFA awarded the WC to Qatar back in December of 2010. I’m willing to bet a lot of suds swilling European supporters are gonna stay home and watch it on the telly for this reason alone. Wonder how those ticket sales are going?

https://finance.yahoo.com/video/qatar-world-cup-stadiums-alcohol-122728153.html

 

Mitro bagged another goal against Norway to go with his hat trick against Sweden on Saturday during the break.
Watch out for the Serbs in Qatar. Although they open with Brazil in Group G, they’ve got an authentic chance at making the KO stage with Switzerland and Cameroon comprising the rest of the group. And with their positive recent form, they may just up and smack A Seleção one upside the head. When you’ve got Aleksandar Mitrović terrorizing enemy defenders, you’ve got a chance to get a result against anybody if your defenders can keep them from scoring at will.

https://youtu.be/iSQZ3tNzPFk

 

Today was the deadline for countries to submit 55 man provisional rosters, however…FIFA does not release the names on the prov., nor are federations required to disclose it. But they are allowed to…if they wish.
Uruguay, Ghana, Poland and Holland spilled the beans on theirs. Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, both 35 and toiling for Nacional & Valencia, respectively, may be seeing their last World Cup action. La Celeste boss Diego Alonso used the full compliment of 55 slots. Louis Van Gaal submitted 39 names, no surprises.

 

There are a significant number of key players who will miss next month’s proceedings in Qatar. The most critical, in my opinion, is France’s loss of midfielder N’Golo Kante. Kante had hamstring surgery Tuesday after going off against Spurs August 14th. Kante is a humble, unsung workhorse who makes both Chelsea and Les Bleus go on both ends of the pitch. One of those players that true students and fans of the game can appreciate, even if you’re not a scum and France supporter.
Odds are Angel DiMaria will be fit for Argentina by the time the Cup starts, but Paulo Dybala is 50-50 after tearing a quad a week ago. A fit Messi will need them both if La Albiceleste are to make any noise in what will surely be Leo’s last WC appearance. Ronaldo’s Portugal will be missing Diogo Jota and Pedro Neto, neither of whom are expected to be fit for Qatar. Tha’ Anglish will likely be missing CB’s Kyle Walker and Reece James, and could be missing mid Kalvin Phillips. Didier Deschamps may have lost another defender yesterday when Raphael Varane went off in near tears for ManUre.

 

https://www.si.com/.amp/soccer/2022/10/28/luca-de-la-torre-injury-usmnt-world-cup-celta-vigo

The dreaded injury before the WC hits Luca. He hasn’t been getting playing time at Celta Vigo (54 minutes on the pitch this season), so while his manager thinks he’ll be ready to go, he is squarely on the bubble, and would have to be chosen not on form and not being able to train until a day or two before the Wales game.

 

It’s here, and no doubt it shouldn’t be held in Qatar (almost fall over when Scumbag Sepp Blatter said so, since he was the architect of making bribery for votes not only okay and open, but mandatory if you wanted to be the host country). Can’t take a blind eye to all the human rights violations that country commits, but the football will be played.

With that in mind, I will go out on a limb and pick Brazil. My dark horse semi-finalist Senegal pick went up in flames w/the loss of Sadio Mane.

 

I'm going with Belgium, but Brazil is packed with talent. For dark horse candidates I'm looking to see what Serbia does against Brazil in their opening match on Thursday. I won't be surprised if Serbia delivers a punch in the mouth and comes away with points. Hopefully Mitrovic's foot is okay, he stays healthy, and takes Serbia well beyond the group stage.

 

I agree. I put 10 bucks on a Serbia win or draw.

 

If A-B were still owned by the Busch family, they would not have abided this.

https://www.stltoday.com/business/n...cle_80ccc7c0-c5c7-5a10-8f65-01f3a0bfd64d.html

Of somewhat more pressing concern, how do you make this call TWO DAYS ahead of the start? That’s the ultimate BS. How long have they known it was gonna be in a Muslim country? Please…

 

I know fans will travel for any World Cup (the video of Sergio Aguero on a flight full of Brazilian fans is amusing), but I kind of wish no one showed for this tournament. I’d argue that all the concessions that have been made by players, teams, leagues, countries and fans will not be worth it in the end. Hopefully this will be a lesson learned for FIFA (though probably not since they’ll be too busy counting their cash to get it).

 

I'm half expecting Qatar to be overthrown by very sober and very angry football fans. 25 Billion barrels of oil reserves could be in the hands of Dutch ultras by the end of the week, but more importantly the beer will flow.

 

Deuce on the Fox set in Doha!

 

As to the Budweiser ban, one theory could be the USMNT’s symbolic support of human and LGBTQ rights. Qatar’s human rights record is, at best, suspect, at worst hideous.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Qatar

And, as has been well documented, male homosexuality is illegal in Qatar (no mention of female homosexuality that I’m aware of) and a generally hostile legal and general atmosphere toward LGBTQ people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Qatar

Upon arrival, many teams, including ours, made clear their opposing stance on these and other policies of the government.

https://www.newsweek.com/usmnt-change-shield-rainbow-colors-lgbtq-world-cup-1759982?amp=1

I suspect that these events may have had some role in the decision to shut out the biggest American brewery’s products (even though they’ve been owned by Belgian beer giant InBev since 2008) but, so far, nobody seems to be going there.
I’m sure your observation is accurate to a great degree also Don.
Money doesn’t talk, it screams.

 

Welp, a rather ominous beginning for the hosts. I don’t know how they stack up against Senegal in Group A, but I know the Dutch should be able to beat them with nominal effort. Based on today’s result, the Qatari’s don’t appear to be a reasonable bet to advance out of the group stage. Perhaps they never were, but they seemed prepared to at least put up a scrap, what with the substantial lead time and performances leading up to the tournament. Alas, they might be turning into a pumpkin. Too bad, but that’s what happens when you pick an undeserving country to host the planet’s biggest event.

 

Tha’ Anglush have sent a message to the rest of Group C this morning. Suddenly it makes our match with Wales even more important. Getting a result against the Three Lions looks much more difficult in the wake of this performance against the Iranians.