2022 World Cup Players & Talk

[Zizou]

2022 FIFA World Cup Capped

DF – Nathan Aké, Manchester City (Netherlands)
FW – Noa Lang, Club Brugge (Netherlands)
DF – Denzel Dumfries, Internazionale (Netherlands)
MF – Krépin Diatta, Monaco (Senegal)
FW – Lionel Messi, PSG (Argentina)
FW – Paulo Dybala, Roma (Argentina)
FW – Raúl Jiménez, Wolves (Mexico)
FW – Arkadiusz Milik, Juventus (Poland)
MF – Nicola Zalewski, Roma (Poland)
MF – Thomas Delaney, Sevilla (Denmark-he’s still mine in spirit)
FW – Kasper Dolberg, Sevilla (Denmark)
FW – Yussuf Poulsen, RB Leipzig (Denmark)
FW – Kylian Mbappé, PSG (France)
MF – Adrien Rabiot, Juventus (France)
FW – Kingsley Coman, Bayern Munich (France)
DF – Lucas Hernandez, Bayern Munich (France)
DF – Theo Hernandez, AC Milan (France)
DF – Ibrahima Konaté, Liverpool (France)
FW – Marcus Thuram, Borussia Mönchengladbach (France)
GK – Manuel Neuer, Bayern Munich (Germany)
DF – Matthias Ginter, Freiburg (Germany)
MF – Leon Goretzka, Bayern Munich (Germany)
FW – Youssoufa Moukoko, Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
DF – Eric García, Barcelona (Spain)
MF – Koke, Atlético (Spain)
FW – Ferran Torres, Barcelona (Spain)
MF – Rodri, Manchester City (Spain)
DF – Aymeric Laporte, Manchester City (Spain)
FW – Ansu Fati, Barcelona (Spain)
FW – Charles De Ketelaere, AC Milan (Belgium)
FW – Richarlison, Tottenham (Brazil)
FW – Raphinha, Barcelona (Brazil)
MF – André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Napoli (Cameroon)
DF – Nikola Milenković, Fiorentina (Serbia)
MF – Filip Kostić, Juventus (Serbia)
DF – Mohammed Salisu, Southampton (Ghana)
GK – Rui Patrício, Roma (Portugal)
FW – André Silva, RB Leipzig (Portugal)
FW – Bernardo Silva, Manchester City (Portugal)
MF – William Carvalho, Betis (Portugal)
MF – Rúben Neves, Wolves (Portugal)
MF – Nicolás de la Cruz, River Plate (Uruguay)

I was 20 years old the first time I ever had my heart broken. It wasn’t a girl. I liked sports but it was never a live-or-die thing for me. I watched football and I liked Barcelona. I liked the LA Kings and the Dodgers because they were the hometown teams from where I grew up. But my heart was Mexican and every time I watched the Mexican National team play, I felt a little more buzz. I watched them en route to qualifying for the 2006 Fifa World Cup in Germany, having followed from afar until then but having grown into a more avid fan in the leadup.

To set the scene for you, from a sunny day in Leipzig, Argentina and Mexico played in the Round of 16 knockout stage of the 2006 Fifa World Cup. That day, at that same time, from a second story make-shift kitchen in a large house in Zamora, Mexico, I was with my family — mom, dad, cousins, uncles and aunts. We were cooking chicken stew, drinking beer, having shots and cheering on Mexico ‘con todo’, as was the rest of the country. It didn’t matter that Argentina were heavy favorites and favored in the tournament. It didn’t matter that Mexico hadn’t reached the now infamous ‘Quinto Partido’ since 1986 when they hosted the tournament. Mexico always expects to win. And when Mexico loses, it feels inferior. It’s a sickness but it’s true. And I got caught up in it. As much as Mexico has long pumped its chest out for being regional giants, internationally, we have little hardware to boast. And yet, the last time Mexico had beaten Argentina was two years prior at the 2004 Copa America so we believed. My family believed. Mexico believed. The country stopped to watch El Tri try to vanquish the South American heavies. And to this day, the euphoria of Rafa Marquez’ header 5 minutes in is the loudest I’ve ever screamed, the highest I’ve ever jumped and the most exhilaration that I ever remember feeling. I lept straight into my cousin’s arms getting beer all over me. We went rabid. That moment — that injection of euphoria was like a drug. And it went right into my heart. Had to be Marquez. The player, born in Zamora, that I followed from Atlas in Guadalajara to Barcelona, turning me into a fan for life, had scored a goal and created this sheer moment of joy that overwhelmed my senses to the point of tears. And I was on a cloud.

Thus, when Hernan Crespo equalized some five minutes later, the cloud had dissipated and I’d fallen to the ground. He had drawn Argentina level but I was undeterred. I still believed, biting my nails and hanging on every shot. And it wasn’t until extra time when Maxi Rodriguez’s devil-pact of a goal lobbed over the outstretched hand of Oswaldo Sanchez, that I felt the dagger went through my heart. You remember the first time you have your heart broken. Maxi Rodriguez was mine. That moment has stayed with me all these years later. As I said, I’d been into pro sports before that but only mildly. And yet, even after the loss… I’ve been living and dying with my sports teams since. Especially Mexico. The Quinto Partido has grown into a Boogeyman of mythic proportions and I dare say I don’t see the quality in the team traveling to Qatar enough to break that spell especially with Argentina and Poland in the group and a looming matchup against France or Denmark (Sorry, Aussies) in a potential Round of 16 match. Two years ago, I was very much looking forward to our prospects especially with an in-form Raúl Jiménez scoring everything in-sight. I even put in a deposit to join my fellow Pancho Villas Army (Mexico Supporter’s group in the US) members in Doha. But ultimately, my own misgivings and comfort traveling to stay in Qatar caused me to rethink and Mexico’s chances don’t look nearly as they good as they once did. I decided to save the money and try to attend as many WC2026 games as possible. But I’ll still be watching and living and dying.

Feel free to share anything World Cup-related. Who you got?

I’ve got Argentina… big leap, I know.

[james]

I wouldn’t mind taking this team to a WC.

Marc-André ter Stegen Goalkeeper FC Barcelona Germany
Robert Sanchez Goalkeeper Brighton & Hove Albion Spain
Kamil Grabara Goalkeeper FC Copenhagen Poland

Jackson Porozo Defender (Center) ES Troyes AC Ecuador
Harry Maguire Defender (Center) Manchester Uniteds FC England
Benjamin White Def (Center) Arsenal FC England
Benjamin Pavard Def (Center/Right) Wingback (Right) FC Bayern Munchen France
Raphaël Varane Def (Center) Manchester United FC France
Gleison Bremer Defender (Center) Juventus FC Brazil
Manuel Akanji Defender (Center) Manchester City FC Switzerland
Min-jae Kim Def (Center) SSC Napoli South Korea
Alejandro Balde Def/WB/Mid/Attmid (Left) FC Barcelona Spain

Gonzalo Plata Attmid (RLC) Real Valladolid CF Ecuador
Xavi Simons Defmid/Mid (Center) PSV Eindhoven Netherlands
Kalvin Phillips Defmid/Mid (Center) Manchester City FC England
Phil Foden Mid (Center)/Attmid (RCL) Manchester City FC England
Guido Rodriguez Defmid/Mid (Center) Real Betis Balompié Argentina
Anis Ben Slimane Mid/Att Mid (Center) Brøndby IF Tunisia
Sergej Milinković-Savić Mid/Att Mid (Center) SS Lazio Serbia
Fabian Rieder Mid (Center) BSC Young Boys Switzerland

Boulaye Dia Attmid (Right) Fwd Villarreal CF Senegal
Randal Kolo Muani Attmid (Right) Fwd Eintracht Frankfurt eV France
Romelu Lukaku Forward Chelsea FC Belgium
Abdessamad Ezzalzouli Mid/Attmid (Right/Left) Fwd FC Barcelona Morocco
Vinicius Junior Att Mid (Right/Left) Fwd Real Madrid CF Brazil
Facundo Pellistri Attmid (Right) Fwd Manchester United FC Uruguay

– how the fuck does Jose Luis Rodriguez, who has never been called up to the full Uruguay national team, get on the World Cup roster? I held on to this guy forever before I let him go. I knew he was good but he wasn’t going anywhere. Now he’s going to Qatar.

– I think Mexico will regret not taking Chicharito to the WC.

– two key defenders (Miles Robinson/Chris Richards) injured for the USA will likely cost them a trip to the 2nd round. I hope I’m wrong.

– My first WC experience was in 1974. I spent the summer in Sweden when the WC was in West Germany. Sweden had an unbeaten first round which included a 0-0 draw against eventual runner-up Netherlands which featured Cruyff and Neeskens, and a 3-0 win over Uruguay. In the second group stage they beat Yugoslavia but lost to Poland and eventual Champion West Germany. CONCACAF was represented by Haiti who lost their first round matches to Poland, Argentina and Italy by a combined 2-14. Zaire ( Wikipedia – Zaire 1974 WC ), now known as DR Congo was Africa’s only representative and lost their first round matches to Yugoslavia, Brazil and Scotland by a combined 0-14. After that I was hooked on football. Unfortunately it was many years until cable tv came along and access to matches from Europe became commonplace.

– I’m not gonna dare pick a winner because I think this is the most wide open WC ever. I think the winner will be a country that has not won it before.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by james.

[Zizou]

james wrote:

– I think Mexico will regret not taking Chicharito to the WC.

I think Tata will regret not taking Chicharito and Lainez.

Thanks for sharing your experience! I’m jealous that I never got to experience going to a WC match before the inevitable arm and a leg cost of the modern era, including what I’m sure will be insane prices in 2026.

That Zaire team is legendary for a number of reasons.

[Kawai]

I watch the Wc as a neutral but I always want to see Team Usa , Australia, and England do well so I’m doing the same again!

Players selected for WC
Luka Modric (Croatia)
Mateo Kovacic (Croatia)
Ivan Perisic (Croatia)
Andrej Kramaric (Croatia)
Nikola Vlasic (Croatia)
Heung-Min Son (S. Korea)
John Stones (England)
James Maddison (England)
Jordan Pickford (England)
Kieran Trippier (England)
Conor Gallagher (England)
Ismaila Sarr (Senegal)
Axel Witsel (Belgium)
Leandro Trossard (Belgium)
Tariq Lamptey (Ghana)
Granit Xhaka (Switzerland)
Denis Zakaria (Switzerland)
Mikkel Damsgaard (Denmark)
Joachim Andersen (Denmark)
Mathias Jensen (Denmark)
Alex Telles (Brazil)
Predrag Rajkovic (Serbia)
Aleksandar Mitrovic (Serbia)
Thilo Kehrer (Germany)
Moises Caicedo (Ecuador)
Rubin Colwill (Wales)
Ben Cabango (Wales)

[Xavi4life]

Nice thread fellas! I’ll try and add to it before Sunday.

[james]

Is it my imagination or did FOX not show starting lineups? And no way that goal was offside.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by james.

[evilo]

The offside was on the FK before.
And to be honest, right before the FK, there was a huge foul by an ecuador player not called by some miracle.

[ProPAIN]

Doesn’t help that they didn’t show the actual offside on most broadcasts. A lot of people didn’t understand where the offside was.

Pretty boring opening match, Ecuador cruised in the second-half.

[james]

evilo wrote:

The offside was on the FK before.

I’ve watched this quite a few times now. When the free kick was taken, the only player that could have been offside was Valencia. There were Qatari players that were closer to the box line on the far side of the box marking Ecuadorian players than Valencia was.

The Qatari gk got the first touch on the free kick. There’s and Ecuadorian player behind the gk and the defender but he wasn’t offside when the kick was taken and didn’t touch the ball here.

When the ball was crossed to Valencia, he was onside. So I still don’t see who could have been offside. The graphic that was shown 9 minutes after the fact showed a player offside well after the free kick was taken.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by james.

[Zizou]

On the Spanish broadcast I was watching, it was said that the dozen cameras VAR is using caught Félix Torres’ leg ahead of the last defender’s leg for the split second they’re calling that play. It’s all minutiae that I don’t care for. It took three fucking minutes to settle it. VAR was supposed to turnover egregious errors and now we’re delaying several minutes to measuring legs. What are we doing.

[BLAUGRANA]

If anyone in the US is like me and you don’t have Cable anymore, Tubi has match replays for free. Really easy to register and it’s on Roku.

[JR]

GROUP A

Ecuador
Piero Hincapie

Netherlands
Jurrien Timber

GROUP B

England
Marcus Rashford

United States
Tyler Adams
Sergiño Dest
Timothy Weah
Yunus Musah
Brenden Aaronson
Joe Scally

GROUP C

Argentina
Lautaro Martinez
Angel Di Maria
Nicolas Gonzalez *injured
Gonzalo Montiel

GROUP D

Tunisia
Hannibal Mejbri

GROUP E

Spain
Marcos Llorente
Carlos Soler
Cesar Azpilicueta
Nico Williams

GROUP F

Canada
Tajon Buchanan

GROUP G

Brazil
Casemiro
Rodrygo
Lucas Paqueta

GROUP H

Portugal
Ruben Dias
Joao Palhinha
Jose Sa
Diogo Dalot

Uruguay
Jose Gimenez

[ProPAIN]

Have the Dutch forgotten how to shoot?

[Zizou]

Noppert starting? Did Van Gaal draw straws?

[james]

I told the wife, USA was absorbing too much pressure and if Wales kept it up they would score. Sure enough, not even 5 minutes later, they gave up the stupid PK.

[Author]

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