Actually at 70 minutes going forward, France starting pulling the ball back instead of attacking on 5-6 counter attack chances. Could have been 6-3 or worse. If you go back and review the game after the 4-2 scoreline, Antoine signals to the team to slow things down and pull the ball back into the mid field. Great France performance.
FIFA should stop using the term ‘Own Goal’. It exposes players to undue hatred at home. No player scores against their own team on purpose. An ‘Own Goal’ goal should be credited to the last player of the opposing team that touched the ball. ⚽️⚽️⚽️
Michael St. Hill RTE cover champions league of course they know about him. Dunphy has been praising him leading into this. It’s a fair analysis of mbappe he was only a talent a super talent until yesterday when he became a global star. Up until then he was super for Monaco in a poor league then got his big move to PSG and done nothing in champions league
Michael Mulhall The first time I saw Messi kick a ball in the warm up I knew what I was looking at; it was the same thing as watching Mbappe play. If all you're doing is reporting that a guy scored 2 great goals in a World Cup knockout game then what the f#ck are you getting paid for? For certain you could be absolutly no blooody use as a scout - he's an 'unproven' kid from Monaco for crissake, he should be paying PSG or MUFC to play for them... geriatric ignoramus.
Let me explain to you how it works, suffern...; In 2006 Argentina were in a tight game for the semi-finals, I believe, against a German side that they were outplaying but unable to finish off. The foolish Argentinian coach (somewhat akin to our geriatric friend) one Jose Pekerman, had one throw of the dice left at the end of the game. A throw that seemed obvious from halftime. Send out the 18 year old kid from Barcelona who had scared the living day lights out of everyone in the tournament every time he was sent on and breathed on the ball, or opt for experience and send on the club footed, pace-less, 31 year old journeyman called Julio Cruz -- forerunner of today's Gonzalo Higuain. Showing the insightful judgement of a jackass (or Duffy -- your choice) he decided to send Cruz on against a tiring German side. Germany went though. I repeat: if you have nothing more useful to say than to tell us what we just saw STFU, stay home, dribbling and nodding off on the sofa with your eggnog and let RTE 2 mail you your check.
France almost lost the game, they gave too many chances, and argentina took the lead because of that. the reason they won was very simple, Argentina gave up even more chances for france. but all in all, both teams had terrible defences. if this was against a better defending team, i dont think france would've won this. their next match will be incredibly dificult be it uruguay or portugal, if they dont improve, they wont go firther than that.
MS trust me i tgink sampaoli really sabotaged this tournament on purpose. Rulli is agentina best goalie. He wasnt picked. Ezequiel garay. Fazio must surely be better cb than rojo. If worst come to worst u put macharano in cb. If perez was called up to the side as a replacement for lanzini injury. Surely he cant expect to start ahead of lo celso. His tactics is to play out the back. Dont you think u need a deep lying play maker to recive this ball from defends . If u say dybala and messi are too simmilar, Surley its only an advantage to have 2 messis on the pitch.
extremedude1234 i argee. I dont think its a job for simeone. Argentina dont have the defensive players for his style setup. Their strengths is in attack. I wouldve gone for Manuel pellegrini. I think he would have found a system that allows argentina attacking stars to flourish.
extremedude1234 and sampaolli has came to this tournament with no apparent system. He has juss changed the style each games. Even through the qualifiers and hoping this things would work. He looked lost and the players looked lost. The Argentine FA has really fucked up this guy shouldve been fired b4 the tournamenr
Ghost Face That's another thing, he's done horrible with Dybala, Aguero, Banega, Di Maria etc but the other huge shock was choice of keeper and Fazio over Garay...what's that all about? IIRC Otamendi and Garay have partnered up before....
The central defensive duo of Garay and Frederico Fernandez did quite well in 2014, and they are still around. Mascherano should never have played. He was great in the 2014 final, but is now well past his sell-by-date and plies his trade in a minor league. But, as always, it is Messi's fault. Damn if you do, damn if you don't. He is always in a no-win situation. And yet, without him Argentina would not have qualified for Russia. Maybe it would have been a blessing in disguise, because then they could never have blamed Messi because he was absent for a number of games, during which Argentina did not win a single game. It was only when he returned from injury that Argentina started winning and climbing up the table, all of which culminated with his hat-trick in the last qualifier which sealed Argentina's presence in the finals. Is it necessary to knock into people's heads with a sledgehammer that without Messi, this Argentina would not even be a consideration in the last two world cups, and wouldn't even be in this world cup?
I hope Messi will play the role as the playmaker for icardi and dybala infront of him....the copa america 2019 is only 10 months away. please rebuild the team with the youngsters. the copa america could be messi's last hurrah......i just don't understand why sampaoli put him as the CF alone up front. leaving dybala, aguero, celso on the bench.....sampaoli's way of thinking is just amazing to even comprehend.
Argentina were all over the place. Should have played higuain and aguero up front. Have messi and di maria free role behind strikers. banega central mid and macherano defensive mid. Play to your strengths. If your going to play defensively then they should played france like portugal did in the euros.They played into frances hands. Argentina serious need to look at there youth development.They won't qualify for the next world cup with that squad. One of the worst midfield and defence line up I have seen in years. If modric, iniesta,godin,ramos and de gea were argentinian they would win.
Good Morning....... Are, we seeing a star....being born!?....... Is, it the New Age!!!! 1) M'Bappe 2) Kane 3)Salah .........Lead, the next generation!!!..... Out....ON........Limb!!!!! Bro / Fan
Commentators are such dumb Messi apologists. They say it was tough for Messi to have to manage. Then they ask what would have happened if Aguero had played. They talk about ARgentina being poor in attack but they don't mention that to fit what works for Messi in the team, the manager has screwed up the games of Icardi (not even taken to the Cup) and Dybala and Higuain and Aguero. Messi is what has held Argentina back.
Sampaoli is the one who should be strung up in the main public square in Argentina. He was born to screw Argentina. Won two Copa Americas for Chile against, wait for it….Argentina. Screwed his country again with his mind-boggling, mind-blowing team selections and team tactics. I said to a friend after the Croatia game that Sampaoli would have to play Messi on the wing, where he could find more space (you can mark him with four players in central midfield, but not on the wings, otherwise they would be bare in the middle, and exposed). That is exactly what Sampaoli did against Nigeria, and Messi performed much better and found more space, with other players sharing the build-up duties in midfield. So instead of only have one creative player, Messi, they also had Banega, who provided the pass for the first goal. Oddly enough, Sampaoli reverted to type against France, instead of keeping Messi on the wing and playings an out-and-out striker like Aguero from the start. We can only imagine what would have happened if Aguero had played more time. The moment he came on, Messi provided a laser-guided pass (perhaps the assist of the tournament so far) for Aguero to head home. Why? Because there was finally a target man, a reference, inside the box to aim at. Sampaoli was cluelelss. But it is always Mess's fault. if he carries the team single-handedly, he is not given due credit. If the team do not succeed, it is his fault. The fact that people talk so much about Messi is great praise for the Argentinian, living proof of his genius, the hope that Argentina might win the world cup. Without him, this debate would not even have started. It would be a non-starter. This whole debate about Argentina's chances of winning only exist because Messi is there. Period. Otherwise, people would not even talk about it, and would focus their attention elsewhere.
lol how quickly the world jumps to the conclusion Messi has been showing the skills for the last 12 years, when Mbappe will half as famous as Messi , the opponent teams will have tactics to stop him and that time these same people will criticize him to the floor. Looks like these old panel watch headlights not the real football , Oh well ... two words ...grow up ...
Hugo Lloris the Spurs keeper absolutely terrible goalkeeper he was to blame for for Di Maria goal and Aguero as soon as Fazio the donkey came on he handed Mbappe the goals even Dunphy could score against him
Thierry G I'm sorry pal but please watch the first goal it was dead centre Hugo Lloris had cement in his boots not on a million years should he be beaten from that distance the third goal he got beat at his near post another horror mistake by calamity
Explain something to me guys: In Argentina we see Messi as disappearing all the time and there in Europe you see him as a one man team and stuff, we praise Mascherano much much more for his courage and daring... Agüero, di María, Rojo, Mercado, Otamendi, we see what they all do...
Easy to explain. Carried Argentina piggyback to the 2014 wolrd cup final and topscored and was, undoubtedly, the player of the tournament. Carried Argentina on his shoulders to two Copa America finals with mesmerising performances. Is the reason Argentina qualified for the world cup finals in Russia, as during his absence through injury Argentina did not notch a single victory, and then sealed it definitely in the last qualifeir with a hat-trick. Did not have a good tournament this season, but it would have been a miracle of Canaan proportions with the players he had around him. The only reason this debate about Argentina's chances exists is because Messi is in the team. Without him this conversation would have never started. If you want a reason for Argentina's failures in finals (3) look elsewhere at a certain….Higuain. The main stars of the main teams, world champions Germany, runners-up Argentina, and European champions Portugal, did not perform, Even Ronaldo against Spain was overrated - he scored a penalty, a howler by Di Gea, and, yes, a great free-kick (the only thing of real note he did at this world cup).
I tell you something. This country lives and breathes football, I'm a woman, and I've seen Maradona play and he has always been my favourite player of all time. We don't need Messi, not even want him, with his head block or whatever he suffers from when he plays with our selection, it's painful to see him play. He might retire from it so I'm happy, I don't have any feelings towards him good or bad, and I thank him for what he's done but we need to become better as a team and keep going, so we can win again. It's not about him, we all like and play football here. At schools at the park, on everybody's backyard, everywhere.
AHHHHHHH THE SHEER GENIUS OF LIONEL MESSI!! HE PRETENDED TO SHOOT, BUT INSTEAD HE PLACED IT PERFECTLY ONTO THE FOOT OF MERCADO! WHAT VISION, WHAT BEAUTY! NO HUMAN ALIVE COULD'VE ACCOMPLISHED THAT. THE LITTLE MAN IS CARRYING THESE BUMS ON HIS BACK AGAIN, JUST GIVE HIM THE WORLD CUP ALREA - But then Mbappe, the most talented young player on the planet, happened, and Messi was exposed, once again, for what he really is: the most overrated player in the history of the sport. GOAT? Hilarious. Not the best n.10 on the pitch. Not even the best M! Oh, and another myth that was dispelled today? The notion that Argentina was a one-man team. More like a 10-man team, actually.
Michael Federer since Di Stefano? You sound no older than 12. No way you're 60+. Stop lying, fanboy. Messi's not even the best of his own generation, let alone of all time.
Listen bird-brained idiot, I saw Di Stefano and Pelé live in the stadium, and so I am far more authoritative to make an assessment than hardly out-of-your-fucking-diapers lunatics like you who know nothing about football. Messi is a genius who was surrounded by a bunch of medíocre morons. Maradona had in his team some of the greatest footballers in Argentina's football history, namely, Fillol, Ruggeri and Tarantini in defence. Argentina's problem is not going forward, it is its defence. Pelé had in each position the best player, or one of the best players in the world. Messi was as great as, if not greater than, Maradona in carrying Argentina single-handedly to the 2014 World Cup final plus two Copa America finals, as Maradona had a better team. The difference was Maradona played at home in Mexico with the whole stadium supporting Argentina. Messi played at the Maracana with the stadium rooting for Germany for obvious reasons. And Argentina had as many chance as, if not more chances than, Argentina had in 1986, but the chances in 86 were converted and were wasted in 2014. It was not down to Messi. Messi is a considerably better footballer than Ronaldo (Ronaldo makes up the shortfall with his fantastic athleticism, but in technical terms, in the way they treat the ball, Messi is considerably superior). And, by the way, in case you might think I am being biased…...I am Portuguese. And by the way, I would like you to contest the veracity of the facts I spelled out in my previous posting. Did Argentina win any matches in the world cup qualifiers before Messi returned from injury? Did Menotti not say that without Messi, Argentina would not have got out of the group stage in 2014?. Come on, challenge those facts if you dare. It is mind-boggling how people are so stupid as to not appreciate the genius of Messi recognised by all the best managers in the world in the last 30 years, from Menotti, to Capello, Wenger, Mourinho, Guardiola, Ancelotti, Ferguson, Benitez, Heynckes, etc, etc, as well as his peers. I played the game briefly as a professional, although athletics was my main sport, and I have a sense of aprreciation of this God of Football. Quoting Gary Lineker: "Messi is a gift from the footballing gods". Enough said. Spoken through the mouth of someone who knows the game and has played it at the highest level, including two world cup finals, top-scoring in 1986, not ingorant morons like you who hate the Argentinian genius for some unaccoutable, mentally retarded reason.
Jack Harper your mother probably gave you away at birth. You must have shit in tour eyes unbelievable dumbass. Just don’t watch football ever again, you don’t know shit, piece of shit
He is better. Zidane played much deeper than Messi , Yet still Scored all types of goals, headers, FK, volleys. He also is a great dribbler, a fuckin TEAM LEADER that spurs on a Team to success. He also Fuckin Won more as a player than MESSI for CLUB and COUNTRY.
You are a frustrated good-for-nothing idiotic ignoramus who knows nothing aabout football. If Messi had around him the players that Maradona, Pelé or Zidane had he would have won 3 world cups. He came close in 2014, and he wasn't at his best, carried Argentina to the world cup final on his shoulders. He did as much as Maradona in terms of carrying Argentina single-handedly to the world cup final, but Maradona played the final at home in the Azteka Stadium with 95% of the crowd supporting Argentina. In 2014, conversely, Argentina had one less day of rest after an energy-draining semi-final against a great Dutch side, which went to extra-time and penalties Argentina had to travel to Rio (Barzil is not a small country) where Germany were already waiting. And Germany played at home with virtually the whole of the Maracana Stadium supporting Germany. And Argentina had more and better chances than Germany wasted by morons like Higuain, Palacio and even Aguero. The difference is that similar chances in 1986 were put away by Valdano and Burruchaga. Messi took Argentina to the Promised Land but his teammates refused to inhabit it. Csear Menotti famously said that without Messi, Argentina would not even got out of the group. What has Ronaldol done at World Cups?. Messi was brilliant in 2014 (despite not being at his best due to recurrent injuries). Ronaldo has always been poor at World Cups. And Portugal did not win the 2016 Euros because of Ronaldo - he only had a good game, against Hungary. Portugal qualified for the knock-out stages through the back door as the best third placed team. And Ronaldo virtually did not even feature in the final. And was a disaster in the 2016 Champions League final, purely and simply did not exist. Messi was stratopheric in all CL finals in which he played. Ronaldo in the 2018 CL final was pathetic.
Barca Campnou You absloute fool... Watch footage of Maradona... He was always in average teams and won everything. Maradona, Pele, Platini, Cryff, Best, Weah and Zidane were better than Messi.
He isn't. He never was. A player who is such a big flop can not be considered the best ever. At least Ronaldo delivers trophies for both club and country.
