The_jagster

It's because Messi has done stuff in the last two games but Mbappe hasn't other than the deflected assist.

You told me it will be defence vs defence yesterday

Morocco just showing the limits of being hard working but not having great forwards. Bend don't break is a reasonable summation of that, have lots of nervy moments but the better chances overall. Felt Morocco really had the upper hand until about 65/70 minutes then fell away a bit. France didn't try the quick counters but were slowing it down instead, presumably because they kept losing it. I think the final could be quite even, both finalists have periods where they don't look great but have moments where key players make the difference.

If France were conceding chance after chance I'd say yes, lucky. I don't think Deschamps will be delighted with the performance but there's not been a brilliant chance yet. Even when the sub forward was through on the replay the defenders were in a place to block. Also, I think Murphy's been all right tonight.

I like the world cup, but this is not a game I will be making an effort to watch

I don't think France have been that bad, it's not like Morocco have created lots of chances. Just came close with a very unlikely overhead. France have so many good ball carriers on the break.

I support Bayern so Upamecano is clearly better The last time I was this sure that a team would finally see their luck run out Rob Huth scored twice at the Etihad so we can expect the Moroccan Maldini to bag a brace. With Mbappe and Giroud you can neither afford to defend high or deep so this is probably Morocco's biggest test by some way, I just can't see them doing it. Edit: I jest, Upamecano was clearly terrible in the first half against Kane.

@GunmaN1905iI think with Nunez that there was a handball before it got to the penalty claim? Therefore it may have been a foul but VAR decided it was a handball first.

I watched the highlights in normal speed again last night, it is clear as day that Livakovic comes out, doesn't get there, but is still moving forward even as he slows up. The idea that he was just standing still and had nowhere to go is nonsense

I thought Wilson fouled Lloris too I didn't actually watch the halftime stuff so was hearing that for the first time, imagine making Peter Walton look like a man talking sense

It would be unfair to say Messi carried the team, defensively they've been pretty good apart from late onslaughts from the opposition. But he's had so many key parts to play in goals that other players would not have done. Credit should also go to Scaloni for creating an environment that allows Messi to make the difference I guess.

England has 18 professional sides to offer career prospects in cricket, which skews the economics of it. Pietersen aside it's not really the top talents from other big Test nations, and it's the same in rugby (which also has its own exaggerated issues with Pacific Islanders playing for Australia or New Zealand).

In reality it's just that it's a small community that play it on a global scale so there is more interest in having a competitive international game and the economics of the sport means it's only the castoffs who are choosing a different nationality in the main, because there's more money representing the national team. (Think this will change with the new generation and franchise leagues in cricket). There's naturalisation in handball too and I don't think that is down to the hangover of British imperial rule in Qatar. Whereas in football there are enough sides to have competitive international tournaments even if you tighten up nationality criteria. But I wouldn't allow adult naturalisation tbh

France were ahead for a lot of the match, so defended more. It's still two teams that would think they could win it in normal time rather than playing for pens and maybe getting a goal from a set piece.

Was basically just chatting for much of the second half having lost interest as a spectacle. Croatia are just bad in attack, even when it was 0-0 they were so slow in promising positions. Messi was great but the match was a bit disappointing, would like France to win so we have a classic final, rather than attack vs defence.

Already blaming Lovren for others' mistakes

Alvarez didn't run 10 yards then knock him, they both move for the ball and then Livakovic pulls out late when he realises he is t getting there first. It's clearly a penalty.

Reach the ball first?

I have no problem with teams playing defensively from a moral standpoint and they have every right to play that way. I just don't want to see them win when they play in that fashion no matter who the opposition is. Doesn't matter whether it's Wolves, Wales or Poland.

I am sure you were quite negative about Howe at first

Some presenter said cycling and rowing aren't sports because they involve sitting down, Talksport is intentionally full of controversial takes

I do prefer it when a coach is the same nationality and that applies to countries big or small, but I don't think it should be a rule.

Semi-finals Tuesday 13th December Argentina v Croatia 19.00 2-0 Wednesday 14th December France v Morocco 19.00 2-0 *NAP* Bonuses The total number of goals across all the games - 4 The total number of goals scored in the first half - 1 The total number of goals scored in the second half - 3 The total number of goals scored after 90 minutes - 0 The total number of hattricks - 0 The number of games going to extra time - 0 The number of games going to penalties - 0 The total number of penalties scored (including those in normal game play) - 1 The team which scores the fastest goal - France The team which scores the last goal - Argentina The time of the first goal - 26' The time of the last goal - 85' The scorer of the first goal - Giroud The scorer of the last goal - Lautaro The total number of yellow cards - 5 The total number of red cards - 0 The total number of substitutions across all games - 14

Big man flick on from Michael Owen

Kane could easily be great deeper or become what he was at the start of last season where he was pretty ineffective (Raul still scored for Wolves under Nuno so it's not just Nuno's fault imo) if he loses more physically.