New International Football thread

[sussexpob]

I watched the full replay of Newcastle/Barca tonight and I have to say that if Tuchel doesn't go into the WC with Lewis Hall at LB, then he's as daft as a brush. He kept the boy wonder pretty much out of the game all night. I thought he was as magnificent in defence as he was dangerous in attack last night. He's a terrific player.

I seen Yamal quoted in the Spanish press saying he felt like a shoplifter, every time he got the ball he had people running at him.

[Durhamfootman]

Yamal should have got a yellow card for forcibly shoving Hall out into touch in a fit of petulance. If a yellow had been issued he would have had to miss the replay. Naturally he will score the winning goal next week

[Durhamfootman]

Senegal have been stripped of their AFCON title and a 3-0 win has been handed to Morocco

article 82, apparently.... leaving the pitch without the ref's permission being deemed a forfeiture of the match

I imagine this will run for a while yet

[sussexpob]

The precedent this sets is horrifying. Not only can we not celebrate goals anymore with the threat of VAR hanging over you, but you can't also celebrate titles.

I have sympathy for Morocco, and had the referee implemented this on the night and suspended the match, then its fine. Senegal were refusing to play, so why after 17 minutes delay did the referee do nothing and just wait?

But after insisting the game go ahead again, then the result should stand. We got a whole game, the result was decided on the pitch. You can't then override it.

[Durhamfootman]

Senegal shouting 'corruption' as often and as loudly as they can. It's a mess

I also have sympathy for Morocco. Senegal walking off the field (with the notable exception of Mane), because they didn't like the decisions made by the ref was disgraceful, but this was a couple of months ago. It is being painted as a clear breach of the rules, which I'm sure it is, so why wait so long to make a determination? That could have been done almost immediately

So what happens if teams walk off the pitch and refuse to play, because of unacceptable racism directed at their players? Does that get a team disqualified too, because under these articles if the ref doesn't take them off the field, they forfeit the game. Not even Hungarian fans, presented with the opportunity to knock Brazil out of a world cup by directing monkey chants at Vinicius Jnr to try and get the players to walk off in protest, would stoop to such levels......... surely?

This might only apply to AFCON, of course

and, of course, the final was one panenka penalty away from removing the need for this decision

[sussexpob]

Senegal walking off the field (with the notable exception of Mane), because they didn't like the decisions made by the ref was disgraceful

Tbf to Senegal, I sympathise with them also. Morocco spent all game physically assaulting them and the ref gave them nothing. They then scored a legitimate goal to win it just before the final whistle, but the referee (a) inexplicably decided it was a foul and (b) even more inexplicably blew it without letting the phase end and ruling it out on the replay. Both were errors that decided the game at 90 minutes. And then to cap it all off, he then gave a penalty for absolutely nothing against Senegal at the end. I guess in isolation you can argue these are all just mistakes, but this was South Korea 2002 stuff, just felt like blatant match fixing for the hots.

It is being painted as a clear breach of the rules, which I'm sure it is, so why wait so long to make a determination? That could have been done almost immediately

The Moroccan ball boys entered the pitch during the game to wind up the Senegal keeper to put him off. Is that not against the rules too? One particular tyke kept trying to steal his gloves and waterbottle, and ended off running away with the keepers towel, initially wrestling with the player who tried to get it back, and then ended up fighting on the sidelines with other players. And if memory serves people came onto the pitch after the penalty was awarded.

[sussexpob]

Either way, I remember someone accusing the SKY team of being racist when they said the AFCON wasn't elite, and the tournament was a bit of a mess (was it Carragher?). This whole fiasco and the tournament as a whole was a dreadful advert for African football, the players and fans deserve better than this. I come away with the feeling that the suits did what the referee couldn't. and made sure Morocco won.

Senegal are apparently refusing to give the trophy back.

[Durhamfootman]

a shambolic mess, all in all

[Durhamfootman]

UEFA have called a meeting with the Heads of Referees of the big European leagues to discuss VAR and reset its use to better reflect the original intention. Back to clear and obvious errors and away from 'microscopic' re-refereeing

Good luck with that, at a time when VAR is being given a wider role for corners and second yellow cards.

It might, though, be an indicator that Football federations are just beginning to get an inkling that they may be killing the game.... no sh1t Sherlock