Marquee
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5.1K
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almost 13 years

Keep all Group D posts here

17-Jun-2018 01:00 NZT Argentina Match 7 Iceland Moscow
17-Jun-2018 07:00 NZT Croatia Match 8 Nigeria Kaliningrad
22-Jun-2018 06:00 NZT Argentina Match 23 Croatia Nizhny Novgorod
23-Jun-2018 03:00 NZT Nigeria Match 24 Iceland Volgograd
27-Jun-2018 06:00 NZT Nigeria Match 39 Argentina Saint Petersburg
27-Jun-2018 06:00 NZT Iceland Match 40 Croatia Rostov-on-Don
WeeNix
200
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670
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over 16 years

Argentina should get through but the second spot is up for grabs.

Appiah without the pace
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19K
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over 16 years

I dunno. I have a feeling Argentina are gonna implode.

Woof Woof
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over 16 years

2ndBest wrote:

I dunno. I have a feeling Argentina are gonna implode.

Agreed. If you're looking for a big nation to completely fudge it up in this World Cup, I'd say the Argies are the odds-on favourites for that.

Marquee
970
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6.5K
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over 11 years

el grapadura wrote:

2ndBest wrote:

I dunno. I have a feeling Argentina are gonna implode.

Agreed. If you're looking for a big nation to completely fudge it up in this World Cup, I'd say the Argies are the odds-on favourites for that.

Taking over the fudge-up baton from England then?

Starting XI
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2.7K
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almost 9 years

Jerzy Merino wrote:

el grapadura wrote:

2ndBest wrote:

I dunno. I have a feeling Argentina are gonna implode.

Agreed. If you're looking for a big nation to completely fudge it up in this World Cup, I'd say the Argies are the odds-on favourites for that.

Taking over the fudge-up baton from England then?

he was talking about BIG nations!

First Team Squad
120
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1.9K
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almost 17 years

Yeah I like the Croat's in this group. Nigeria have been pretty average since qualifying, Iceland I think the fairytale was done at the Euro's and the Argies look great in the front 3rd but average everywhere else and probably worse than average in goal. 3 Keepers have 9 caps between them and two are well over 30 so two number 2's and a younger keeper.

Croatia's spine is strong Lovern (Liverpool) and Vida (Besiktas) as CB's, Brozovic (Inter), Rakitic (Barca) and Modric (Real) running midfield plus Juve striker Mandzukic and Inter's Ivan Perisic upfront they're solid. Lot's of experience around that too with the likes of Athletico Madrid right back Vrsaljko and Kovacic (Real) off the bench

Starting XI
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over 16 years

Croatia were cool a couple of years ago at the Euros, will be a good chance of having another good tournament. 

Woof Woof
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over 16 years

PROAK wrote:
 

Croatia's spine is strong Lovern (Liverpool) and Vida (Besiktas) as CB's, Brozovic (Inter), Rakitic (Barca) and Modric (Real) running midfield plus Juve striker Mandzukic and Inter's Ivan Perisic upfront they're solid. Lot's of experience around that too with the likes of Athletico Madrid right back Vrsaljko and Kovacic (Real) off the bench

Brozovic is far from a certainty to start, which is kind of crazy to me, as that midfield line-up (Brozovic and Modric with Rakitic in front) is by far the best balanced that Croatia can put out on the field. Dalic though seems to prefer Badelj, but even he may not start the Nigeria game if the rumoured starting line-up is true (and which has me quietly sharkting my pants).

Cock
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16K
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over 14 years

I have Nigeria as one of the teams. I am unsure if the other is Croatia or Argentina but feel stronger about Croatia getting through than Argentina.

WeeNix
200
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670
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over 16 years

Croatia played decently, maybe lacked a bit of penetration in front of goal. Definitely have the talent to do well if it all clicks though.

Phoenix Academy
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almost 12 years

bennie99 wrote:

Croatia played decently, maybe lacked a bit of penetration in front of goal. Definitely have the talent to do well if it all clicks though.

Yeah i agree: think they're a bit of a dark horse. Same as ever with Croatia though: won't be a question of technique or talent, but of temperament...

Starting XI
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over 16 years

Iceland getting the draw was fun to watch. Their counter attack really is explosive at times. Penalty Argentina got wasn't a penalty, but they weren't awarded one they should have been. Messi hasn't been going great with penalties recently, they should've had a different penalty taker.

Croatia were decent but not getting me overly excited yet. A bit lucky with the two goals, it was definitely a penalty, but more due to stupidity of defender than any good attacking play by Croatia. Not the best Nigerian team I've ever seen. 

Woof Woof
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over 16 years

The starting line-up with four forwads didn't really work, for a number of reasons. Lucky to get the first goal. Once Brozovic came on on the second half it got a lot easier, but by that stage the game was already won, or very close to it. Another goal would at the end would've been nice for GD, but still a two goal win to open with, especially considering the other result in the group, is a pretty good start.

Starting XI
1.8K
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4.1K
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about 17 years

So folks, are Argentina not doing enough for Messi or is Messi not doing enough for Argentina?

First Team Squad
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over 15 years

reg22 wrote:

So folks, are Argentina not doing enough for Messi or is Messi not doing enough for Argentina?

I wouldn't write off Messi or Argentina just yet, but there's things you can do when you have Barcelona players around you that you can't do when you have other teams around you.

There's no doubt Messi is a super special talent. But it doesn't surprise me to see that he hasn't hit his hits outside of Nou Camp

Starting XI
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about 17 years

Kalinic has been sent home for refusing to come on as a sub vs Nigeria. Way to blow it bro.

https://en.as.com/en/2018/06/18/football/152931010...

Starting XI
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over 16 years

reg22 wrote:

So folks, are Argentina not doing enough for Messi or is Messi not doing enough for Argentina?

Clearly both.

Argentina aren't that good, and also Messi just isn't the sort of player that wins int single handed.

I'm very sure I was a Messi fan before you, but it's clear he's no Maradona, he is a near perfect player in a great team like Barca, but with Argentina, he is too easily marked out of the game, as shown by World Cups and Copa Americas for over a decade.

Woof Woof
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19K
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over 16 years

Colvinator wrote:

reg22 wrote:

So folks, are Argentina not doing enough for Messi or is Messi not doing enough for Argentina?

Clearly both.

Argentina aren't that good, and also Messi just isn't the sort of player that wins int single handed.

I'm very sure I was a Messi fan before you, but it's clear he's no Maradona, he is a near perfect player in a great team like Barca, but with Argentina, he is too easily marked out of the game, as shown by World Cups and Copa Americas for over a decade.

That's a bit harsh, he has played in three major finals with Argentina. If he'd one at least one of those, and especially the World Cup, the narrative would be completely different. And of course, he can win games single-handed - his hat-trick in the last qualifying game in Ecuador, where they had to win and were down inside the first five minutes testifies to that. 

Argentina's problem is that they have 5-6 terrific players, but they're all forwards, so you can probably only play 3 of them at most at any given time. The rest of the team is average at best, and it creates a huge disconnect when it comes to trying to put together a decent performance on the pitch.

Starting XI
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over 11 years

el grapadura wrote:

Colvinator wrote:

reg22 wrote:

So folks, are Argentina not doing enough for Messi or is Messi not doing enough for Argentina?

Clearly both.

Argentina aren't that good, and also Messi just isn't the sort of player that wins int single handed.

I'm very sure I was a Messi fan before you, but it's clear he's no Maradona, he is a near perfect player in a great team like Barca, but with Argentina, he is too easily marked out of the game, as shown by World Cups and Copa Americas for over a decade.

That's a bit harsh, he has played in three major finals with Argentina. If he'd one at least one of those, and especially the World Cup, the narrative would be completely different. And of course, he can win games single-handed - his hat-trick in the last qualifying game in Ecuador, where they had to win and were down inside the first five minutes testifies to that. 

Argentina's problem is that they have 5-6 terrific players, but they're all forwards, so you can probably only play 3 of them at most at any given time. The rest of the team is average at best, and it creates a huge disconnect when it comes to trying to put together a decent performance on the pitch.

This is good read about Messi/Argentina. He does not run or walk a lot (less then a goalkeeper) is slow but still has a lot shots on goals and runs in the final thirds:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/20/lionel-messi-sun-king-argentina-blind-world-cup

Phoenix Academy
110
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400
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over 14 years

Colvinator wrote:

Iceland getting the draw was fun to watch. Their counter attack really is explosive at times. Penalty Argentina got wasn't a penalty, but they weren't awarded one they should have been. Messi hasn't been going great with penalties recently, they should've had a different penalty taker.

Croatia were decent but not getting me overly excited yet. A bit lucky with the two goals, it was definitely a penalty, but more due to stupidity of defender than any good attacking play by Croatia. Not the best Nigerian team I've ever seen. 

Matt Conger and Simon Lount (AR1) appointed to the Nigeria Iceland game. Well done guys.
Woof Woof
2.7K
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19K
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over 16 years

keefy_NZ wrote:

Colvinator wrote:

Iceland getting the draw was fun to watch. Their counter attack really is explosive at times. Penalty Argentina got wasn't a penalty, but they weren't awarded one they should have been. Messi hasn't been going great with penalties recently, they should've had a different penalty taker.

Croatia were decent but not getting me overly excited yet. A bit lucky with the two goals, it was definitely a penalty, but more due to stupidity of defender than any good attacking play by Croatia. Not the best Nigerian team I've ever seen. 

Matt Conger and Simon Lount (AR1) appointed to the Nigeria Iceland game. Well done guys.

Hope that Conger has a better experience than O'Leary after he refereed a Nigeria game in the World Cup.

tradition and history
1.5K
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9.9K
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almost 17 years

el grapadura wrote:

keefy_NZ wrote:

Colvinator wrote:

Iceland getting the draw was fun to watch. Their counter attack really is explosive at times. Penalty Argentina got wasn't a penalty, but they weren't awarded one they should have been. Messi hasn't been going great with penalties recently, they should've had a different penalty taker.

Croatia were decent but not getting me overly excited yet. A bit lucky with the two goals, it was definitely a penalty, but more due to stupidity of defender than any good attacking play by Croatia. Not the best Nigerian team I've ever seen. 

Matt Conger and Simon Lount (AR1) appointed to the Nigeria Iceland game. Well done guys.

Hope that Conger has a better experience than O'Leary after he refereed a Nigeria game in the World Cup.

Conger is a very poor ref.

One in a million
4K
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9.5K
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almost 17 years

Leggy wrote:

el grapadura wrote:

keefy_NZ wrote:

Colvinator wrote:

Iceland getting the draw was fun to watch. Their counter attack really is explosive at times. Penalty Argentina got wasn't a penalty, but they weren't awarded one they should have been. Messi hasn't been going great with penalties recently, they should've had a different penalty taker.

Croatia were decent but not getting me overly excited yet. A bit lucky with the two goals, it was definitely a penalty, but more due to stupidity of defender than any good attacking play by Croatia. Not the best Nigerian team I've ever seen. 

Matt Conger and Simon Lount (AR1) appointed to the Nigeria Iceland game. Well done guys.

Hope that Conger has a better experience than O'Leary after he refereed a Nigeria game in the World Cup.

Conger is a very poor ref.

Well I hope he proves you wrong there.

Phoenix Academy
110
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400
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over 14 years

Leggy wrote:

el grapadura wrote:

keefy_NZ wrote:

Colvinator wrote:

Iceland getting the draw was fun to watch. Their counter attack really is explosive at times. Penalty Argentina got wasn't a penalty, but they weren't awarded one they should have been. Messi hasn't been going great with penalties recently, they should've had a different penalty taker.

Croatia were decent but not getting me overly excited yet. A bit lucky with the two goals, it was definitely a penalty, but more due to stupidity of defender than any good attacking play by Croatia. Not the best Nigerian team I've ever seen. 

Matt Conger and Simon Lount (AR1) appointed to the Nigeria Iceland game. Well done guys.

Hope that Conger has a better experience than O'Leary after he refereed a Nigeria game in the World Cup.

Conger is a very poor ref.

thanks leggy. Always insightful and informed. Done a referee assessment development course? And to those who knock O'Leary replay that game and come back with your thoughts
Marquee
1.1K
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over 12 years

Well who put money on Croatia 3 nil

Phoenix Academy
140
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330
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almost 11 years

Surprised at the scoreline but not at Argentina's overall performance at the WC. Had them down as the first giant to fall.

Woof Woof
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19K
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over 16 years

el grapadura wrote:

2ndBest wrote:

I dunno. I have a feeling Argentina are gonna implode.

Agreed. If you're looking for a big nation to completely fudge it up in this World Cup, I'd say the Argies are the odds-on favourites for that.

Call me clairvoyant, Part Two

WeeNix
200
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670
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over 16 years

Yeah you got that one right.

Marquee
1.7K
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7.5K
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almost 17 years

keefy_NZ wrote:

Leggy wrote:

el grapadura wrote:

keefy_NZ wrote:

Colvinator wrote:

Iceland getting the draw was fun to watch. Their counter attack really is explosive at times. Penalty Argentina got wasn't a penalty, but they weren't awarded one they should have been. Messi hasn't been going great with penalties recently, they should've had a different penalty taker.

Croatia were decent but not getting me overly excited yet. A bit lucky with the two goals, it was definitely a penalty, but more due to stupidity of defender than any good attacking play by Croatia. Not the best Nigerian team I've ever seen. 

Matt Conger and Simon Lount (AR1) appointed to the Nigeria Iceland game. Well done guys.

Hope that Conger has a better experience than O'Leary after he refereed a Nigeria game in the World Cup.

Conger is a very poor ref.

thanks leggy. Always insightful and informed. Done a referee assessment development course? And to those who knock O'Leary replay that game and come back with your thoughts

Agreed, I thought at the time a lot of the criticism of O'Leary was incredibly unfair.

tradition and history
1.5K
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9.9K
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almost 17 years

keefy_NZ wrote:

Leggy wrote:

el grapadura wrote:

keefy_NZ wrote:

Colvinator wrote:

Iceland getting the draw was fun to watch. Their counter attack really is explosive at times. Penalty Argentina got wasn't a penalty, but they weren't awarded one they should have been. Messi hasn't been going great with penalties recently, they should've had a different penalty taker.

Croatia were decent but not getting me overly excited yet. A bit lucky with the two goals, it was definitely a penalty, but more due to stupidity of defender than any good attacking play by Croatia. Not the best Nigerian team I've ever seen. 

Matt Conger and Simon Lount (AR1) appointed to the Nigeria Iceland game. Well done guys.

Hope that Conger has a better experience than O'Leary after he refereed a Nigeria game in the World Cup.

Conger is a very poor ref.

thanks leggy. Always insightful and informed. Done a referee assessment development course? And to those who knock O'Leary replay that game and come back with your thoughts

I don't have to do a refs course to have an opinion on whether a ref is good or poor. That is my opinion, which is also the same as a friend of mine that is a ref in the northern league.

Phoenix Academy
360
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470
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over 6 years

Just catching up on results and WOW Croatia totally took Argentine to the cleaners!

Loving it!

Phoenix Academy
110
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400
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over 14 years

Leggy wrote:

keefy_NZ wrote:

Leggy wrote:

el grapadura wrote:

keefy_NZ wrote:

Colvinator wrote:

Iceland getting the draw was fun to watch. Their counter attack really is explosive at times. Penalty Argentina got wasn't a penalty, but they weren't awarded one they should have been. Messi hasn't been going great with penalties recently, they should've had a different penalty taker.

Croatia were decent but not getting me overly excited yet. A bit lucky with the two goals, it was definitely a penalty, but more due to stupidity of defender than any good attacking play by Croatia. Not the best Nigerian team I've ever seen. 

Matt Conger and Simon Lount (AR1) appointed to the Nigeria Iceland game. Well done guys.

Hope that Conger has a better experience than O'Leary after he refereed a Nigeria game in the World Cup.

Conger is a very poor ref.

thanks leggy. Always insightful and informed. Done a referee assessment development course? And to those who knock O'Leary replay that game and come back with your thoughts

I don't have to do a refs course to have an opinion on whether a ref is good or poor. That is my opinion, which is also the same as a friend of mine that is a ref in the northern league.
Very poor is an extreme judgement. Care to share some facts from you or your friend to back that up?

Phoenix Academy
520
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420
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over 11 years

keefy_NZ wrote:

Leggy wrote:

keefy_NZ wrote:

Leggy wrote:

el grapadura wrote:

keefy_NZ wrote:

Colvinator wrote:

Iceland getting the draw was fun to watch. Their counter attack really is explosive at times. Penalty Argentina got wasn't a penalty, but they weren't awarded one they should have been. Messi hasn't been going great with penalties recently, they should've had a different penalty taker.

Croatia were decent but not getting me overly excited yet. A bit lucky with the two goals, it was definitely a penalty, but more due to stupidity of defender than any good attacking play by Croatia. Not the best Nigerian team I've ever seen. 

Matt Conger and Simon Lount (AR1) appointed to the Nigeria Iceland game. Well done guys.

Hope that Conger has a better experience than O'Leary after he refereed a Nigeria game in the World Cup.

Conger is a very poor ref.

thanks leggy. Always insightful and informed. Done a referee assessment development course? And to those who knock O'Leary replay that game and come back with your thoughts

I don't have to do a refs course to have an opinion on whether a ref is good or poor. That is my opinion, which is also the same as a friend of mine that is a ref in the northern league.
Very poor is an extreme judgement. Care to share some facts from you or your friend to back that up?

Being a referee basher is such an easy path ay. I am not a referee but I thought Conger and his crew had a very good game including courage to change decision after VAR review. Interesting to note no protests from the Nigerians when he finally gave the penalty. Conger by some distance not the worst referee we have seen in the last week or so. Hope he gets more

tradition and history
1.5K
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9.9K
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almost 17 years

keefy_NZ wrote:

Leggy wrote:

keefy_NZ wrote:

Leggy wrote:

el grapadura wrote:

keefy_NZ wrote:

Colvinator wrote:

Iceland getting the draw was fun to watch. Their counter attack really is explosive at times. Penalty Argentina got wasn't a penalty, but they weren't awarded one they should have been. Messi hasn't been going great with penalties recently, they should've had a different penalty taker.

Croatia were decent but not getting me overly excited yet. A bit lucky with the two goals, it was definitely a penalty, but more due to stupidity of defender than any good attacking play by Croatia. Not the best Nigerian team I've ever seen. 

Matt Conger and Simon Lount (AR1) appointed to the Nigeria Iceland game. Well done guys.

Hope that Conger has a better experience than O'Leary after he refereed a Nigeria game in the World Cup.

Conger is a very poor ref.

thanks leggy. Always insightful and informed. Done a referee assessment development course? And to those who knock O'Leary replay that game and come back with your thoughts

I don't have to do a refs course to have an opinion on whether a ref is good or poor. That is my opinion, which is also the same as a friend of mine that is a ref in the northern league.
Very poor is an extreme judgement. Care to share some facts from you or your friend to back that up?

OK, not very poor. Just not very good.

Phoenix Academy
360
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470
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over 6 years

Am I a horrible person for wanting Argentina to crash and burn in the group stage?

Marquee
4K
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6.6K
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over 13 years

Am I a horrible person for wanting Argentina to crash and burn in the group stage?

To be fair, they already looked poor in qualifying except for Messi's heroics late in the CONMEBOL campaign. 

Anybody else thinks their goalkeeper (Caballero) is just diabolical.  Their lack of balance between good forwards and a poor goalie reminds me of Brazil of old, except Messi is no Pele.

Marquee
1.1K
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7.6K
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over 12 years

2 do or die games  

Iceland did well

Argentina better find some footballers quick

WeeNix
200
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670
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over 16 years

bennie99 wrote:

Argentina should get through but the second spot is up for grabs.

Never doubted them for a second!

Senegal Africa's last hope now.

Marquee
1.5K
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5.2K
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over 16 years

I suspect Argentina will be the only team to go through with 4 points. Hopefully they crash & burn against France

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