OT: World Cup 2018

[Robertelamin]

Wow! Some excitement finally.

 

[Jaker]

Spain needs to score so we don't have to endure extra minutes

 

[intlzncster]

711 passes to 162 lol

 

[UCDaveD]

I hate Spain. They deserve to lose as punishment for being cat emojis.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Spain sucks. The Barcelona possession game works at times, but against an entrenched D with a solid counter, it doesn’t allow them enough real scoring chances.

Even if Spain gets through, I think Croatia will take them out.

 

[bobbygt]

Spain needs to score so we don't have to endure extra minutes

Extra time is great- less waiting time in between matches!

I just don't want PKs.

 

[superjohn]

Not a fun match, Spain is boring and Russia is pretty terrible.

 

[UConnSwag11]

711 passes to 162 lol

It’s hard to do anything else when a team puts all 11 in their own third lol

 

[Jaker]

Croatia/Denmark will be good

 

[UConnSwag11]

Not a fun match, Spain is boring and Russia is pretty terrible.

It’s hard to do anything else when a team puts all 11 in their own third lol

 

[Jay-Bone]

Has either goalie made a save?

Akinfeev had a great save off an Iniesta strike. Other than that, not much. Does Spain have anyone that can put the ball in the back of the net? So many balls bouncing through the box. They desperately need a Torres.

If it comes down to pk's, should be a great keeper duel.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Did Spain consider maybe they could open up and go for goal more since they are miles better than Russia, and they could save energy for the QFs by not playing ET in the meantime?

 

[Jaker]

Russia needs a hail mary play

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

I understand Russia are essentially playing 11 behind the ball but, sheesh. Breathe some life into this game, you're Spain.

 

[bobbygt]

Spain sucks. The Barcelona possession game works at times, but against an entrenched D with a solid counter, it doesn’t allow them enough real scoring chances.

Even if Spain gets through, I think Croatia will take them out.

Spain's a good team, but they just don't have a David Villa type player right now, who can score in tight spaces (Iniesta still can) when the other team is packing all 11 players back.

Russia just blows.

 

[Jaker]

if Spain loses in PK's it will serve them right

 

[superjohn]

You have to take a couple of chances, do they really want to play the tossup game of penalty kicks?

 

[intlzncster]

Spain's a good team, but they just don't have a David Villa type player right now, who can score in tight spaces (Iniesta still can) when the other team is packing all 11 players back.

Russia just blows.

Yeah, this is more on Russia than Spain imo. It's never fun when all 11 are back. And as you say, they lack that dynamic attacker. Even the best guys struggle to get through so many bodies.

Of course, Spain compounded that by sitting back and knocking it around too leisurely. They needed to switch the field quicker to open up some space for a probing pass.

The game opened up a little more when Iniesta and Aspas came in.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

That's the strategy it seems. Spain doing exactly what Russia wants. Russia happy to sit and let Spain pass around the back.

... or, hope for a convenient bounce & potential counterattack. Shortly, the russkies will transition to any way to delay with hopes of penalty shots.

 

[intlzncster]

Great turn there Rodrigo

 

[HuskyHawk]

Ref calls for a PK here and he’s probably dead before he gets out of the parking lot

 

[intlzncster]

Ref calls for a PK here and he’s probably dead before he gets out of the parking lot

Fortunately not his call. Looks like the VAR guy decided to spare his life. Like a Roman Emperor thumbs up.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I’ll give Russia credit for being much better in the air. Spain can’t get any kind of cross-header opportunity going. They have to keep everything on the ground.

 

[intlzncster]

Can you imagine if Russia goes through? Not only a monumental result, but given the lopsided brackets....teams like England/Croatia licking their chops.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

I’ll give Russia credit for being much better in the air. Spain can’t get any kind of cross-header opportunity going. They have to keep everything on the ground.

In the air, Russia's average team height being a few to several inches taller might have helped.