FIFA World Cup 2018 - GROUP B [Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran - 15/20/25 June] **spoilers**

It does make you wonder how no English ref has made it to the World Cup, I know we moan about it but some of the referring in this tournament has been atrocious. This guy and the other one who did England vs Tunisia should be nowhere near the World Cup.
 
That's insane!

VAR could reach those levels in football and there's no way the players and ref would be on such good terms.

Loved the 'Christopher' bit :D

That rugby ref is awesome

TBH it's dreamland thinking that football could get to that level of respect and order. Nigel Owens is one of the best rugby refs in the business, you probably missed the "Sorry sir" after the 'Christopher..." :D

Also it's not just that ref, you watch any 6 nations, world cup match and it's the same. Complete respect and the ref's word is final. No appealing for penalties or anything.
 
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Egypt lodged an official complaint about the referee (Iran vs Portugal) so maybe if they also complain, we won’t see him again.
 
It does make you wonder how no English ref has made it to the World Cup, I know we moan about it but some of the referring in this tournament has been atrocious. This guy and the other one who did England vs Tunisia should be nowhere near the World Cup.

I thought they boycotted it because of the Russian poisoning?
 
Our ref was down to be Mark Clattenburg but he packed up and moved to Saudi at the start of the season so forfeited his and our place.

Though if Clattenburg is the supposed saviour of good refereeing then god help us!!
 
TBH it's dreamland thinking that football could get to that level of respect and order. Nigel Owens is one of the best rugby refs in the business, you probably missed the "Sorry sir" after the 'Christopher..." :D

Also it's not just that ref, you watch any 6 nations, world cup match and it's the same. Complete respect and the ref's word is final. No appealing for penalties or anything.

He'd be one of the best in the business if his bias wasn't so obvious, he hates England, that much is clear.
 
In a way Portugal got what they deserved LOL - so many cheap and sneaky little un-sportsman like touches so in some ways a cheap and undeserved penalty against them was kind of karma though it felt kind of fixed.

In soccer these days if teams lost because of Karma due to cheating then no team would ever win. Every team is at the same thing. Looking for fouls, falling like they are shot with the slightest contact, timewasting, pulling, dragging, trying to manufacture penalties etc. How fairly teams play depends on how close the game is, how much better the opposition are, how near to halftime/full time it is. And how bad the cheating is depends entirely on which team you have a preference for.
 
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FIFA need to watch some rugby, this is how it should work, not this ridiculous sideshow.

Basically what MMJ said below.

The whole culture in Rugby is completely different to football, the players themselves make footballers look like kids who have never grown up.

It's all about respect. Only the Captain is allowed talk to the Referee. There isn't any of those childish mobs around the ref after every call in Rugby. Most of the Iranian team would have been sin binned last night, especially the guy that kept bumping the referee with his chest.

I do think it's something that needs to be done for soccer. Starting at underage levels, Only the captain should be allowed talk to the Referee.
 
Do any of you watch rugby. Its not the same sport.

Football rewards cheating, exaggerating contact and quite a lot of decisions are shades of grey.

Rugby is a much simpler game in that respect and obvious cheating gets you sin binned or sent off. You can't dive, exaggerate contact or get a penalty for going down in the right area. If another player does something you don't like you can pay him back next time you tackle him. Whats more annoying, getting hit hard once and hitting them straight back or taking someone nibbling at you for 70 minutes constantly with no way to get your own back.
 
In soccer these days if teams lost because of Karma due to cheating then no team would ever win. Every team is at the same thing. Looking for fouls, falling like they are shot with the slightest contact, timewasting, pulling, dragging, trying to manufacture penalties etc. How fairly teams play depends on how close the game is, how much better the opposition are, how near to halftime/full time it is. And how bad the cheating is depends entirely on which team you have a preference for.

Oh yeah I'm no fan of it in general but some play relatively clean and some display some really poor sportsmanship.

Most of the Iranian team would have been sin binned last night, especially the guy that kept bumping the referee with his chest.

I mean the Iranians were trying it on a bit but some of that was anger because Portugal were getting in some really sneaky little fouls and calling any and everything, etc. I'd have been a bit frustrated in their shoes as well though they really should have dealt with it better.
 
Oh yeah I'm no fan of it in general but some play relatively clean and some display some really poor sportsmanship.



I mean the Iranians were trying it on a bit but some of that was anger because Portugal were getting in some really sneaky little fouls and calling any and everything, etc. I'd have been a bit frustrated in their shoes as well though they really should have dealt with it better.

Iran were doing the same thing. Did you see them against Spain before Spain got the goal? The only reason the Iranians were getting frustrated was because Portugal were beating them at their own game.
 
Iran were doing the same thing. Did you see them against Spain before Spain got the goal? The only reason the Iranians were getting frustrated was because Portugal were beating them at their own game.

Didn't watch that game - I think it was one of the ones covered by ITV? for some reason I find their coverage I can't get a connection with the game and just end up finding my attention taken up by other things and I just switch off the game :s
 
Didn't watch that game - I think it was one of the ones covered by ITV? for some reason I find their coverage I can't get a connection with the game and just end up finding my attention taken up by other things and I just switch off the game :s

you didn't miss the much, the first half was brutal!! Second half was ok, Iran showed they can play when they stop been all super defensive.
 
Weird arguments that most of the Iranians would’ve been punished for their petty stuff yet the Portuguese beat them at their own game. So you’re saying the Portuguese should have been punished even more?
 
TBH it's dreamland thinking that football could get to that level of respect and order. Nigel Owens is one of the best rugby refs in the business, you probably missed the "Sorry sir" after the 'Christopher..." :D

Also it's not just that ref, you watch any 6 nations, world cup match and it's the same. Complete respect and the ref's word is final. No appealing for penalties or anything.

I don't think it's Dreamland at all. It's entirely achievable. They just need to start acting on it.

New rule: only the captain is allowed to approach the ref. Anyone else who approaches the ref gets booked. If the captain is disrespectful to the ref they get booked. Yes, there will be a comedy match or two with four players from each side sent off but then they will learn.

Players in other sports are capable of behaving. Footballers don't only because they're not being forced to.
 
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