So, ARG have qualified, yet still bringing in Old Man Messi for June matches.
Inter Miami might want him to rest or practice at home instead of flying, practicing, playing, and flying back, and then play in the CWC.
Not that I think Inter Miami will advance, playing against the second-best team in Brazil and (currently) the third-best team in Portugal.
I can’t tell if this is a warning or if he wants a bunch of breaks in the action in soccer:
Maybe the rest of the word is not attention-deprived as the US and their sports businesses attempts to exploit it.
“You don’t go to a basketball game [NBA] just to watch a basketball game,” he said.
"There’s a show. There’s a break, people come out dancing. Then there’s another break, fans come out shooting hoops. Before the game, someone really famous sings the national anthem.
"They make it worth your while to go. If you take that as a reference, it’s good for Brazil. In soccer, you have a 90-minute game and there’s nothing during halftime. Everyone goes to the stadium gates to hang out. Why not inside the stadium? Do something different?
“Entertainment can be used in many ways. And without detracting from everyone’s focus.”
Well, if the sports were more exciting, there wouldn’t be any need for all the bullshit during the breaks.
My wife and I have tickets to a Hartford Yard Goats (AA affiliate of the Colorado Rockies) game this week.
Like almost all AA-and-lower minor league baseball games, you don’t go for the baseball. You go for the concessions, promotions, people-watching, etc.
(I picked this particular game because it’s one of the “alternate identities” nights this season. The Yard Goats will be rebranded as the “Thunder Chickens” for the night, and I was vastly amused by the logo.
We also have tickets for the night they’ll be playing as the “Leaf Peepers” – the branding isn’t as fun, but the symmetry appealed to me.)
LWTwJO is doing a bit on Minor Leagues, offering a night of changed identity, no questions asked, no requests listened to, to any Minor League team.
I think they picked Erie.
I was disappointed that he didn’t pick the Yard Goats. After all, he is already familiar with Connecticut.
All the reasons I DON’T go to basketball games.
What I like least is cranking up the music so loud that you can’t talk to the person beside you.
The last thing the team wants is fans talking about how shitty the team is playing (if/when that happens).
More teams have qualified. USMNT odds drop even more.
Folks here may have seen this but I find the colour-coded FIFA map of matches and venues to be a handy reference. Will be more exciting when the Groups are drawn!
Vancouver has a very active World Cup committee and is treating this event like the Olympics. Am looking into signing up as a volunteer.
wiki has the groups and venues as well.
My son and two of my SILs will be attending matches with me and we have started the discussion about whether we will attend any matches in US cities. It will depend upon which countries play in which cities but I expect we will sacrifice our US boycott principles for matches in West Coast venues.
I expect tickets in Vancouver will be really hard to get. Matches involving the Canadian team will require luck in addition to high Canada Soccer status. However I would also watch a couple of low-ranked teams in the round of 64 if the price is not ridiculous.
I originally considered trying to rent a place in Philly so I could have 3 sets of possible venues: ATL, PHL, NJ. However, the group stage matches are so compressed I don’t think it’s worth it. I’m just trying to get to as many local matches as I can depending on cost and availability.
Maybe if someone was willing to host me at their place for R16 or the quarters I would consider going depending on ticket price, but I’m thinking the quarters and later will be very expensive and hard to get.
It will be fascinating to see which teams end up playing where! Toronto and Vancouver would have huge local fan bases for any of the popular countries in addition to the foreign demand so tickets will be tough to get in those venues for all the popular teams.
Vancouver has a Round of 16 match. If Canada was somehow able to get that far the match would be here as Toronto has no Round of 16 matches. Resale ticket prices for that match would be astronomical for locals so I am resigned to watch that match from a public viewing venue.
I would be happy to host anybody from this thread but I expect my house will be full with foreign family members. In any event, as mentioned above, tickets will be very tough to get for Vancouver matches. The 2010 Olympic tickets here were massively oversubscribed and I expect the same phenomenon for WC.
I’m fascinated to see how FIFA handles the U.S. [who’s obviously qualified for the World Cup] hosting if [when] it attacks Iran [who’s qualified for the World Cup] - and if [when] the U.S. continues to host, how FIFA handles Iran having to potentially play in a country that’s attacked it and has severe travel restrictions on its citizens.
Because while Trump’s EO theoretically allows Iran’s MNT to enter the U.S., that - like everything else in Trump’s orbit - is subject to change on a moment’s notice.
I believe there are plenty of Iran fans in the USA already, from 45 years ago, and their descendants. Hate tha regime, not tha playa!
I wonder if FIFA has an exit strategy. Guessing GER or ENG or ESP can be given short notice as the only countries with that many large stadia. I bet FIFA always has them on notice not to schedule other events during the WC windows. And a strategy for adding a team if USA (or “the host”) is disqualified.
The stadiums in Toronto and Vancouver or some Mexican stadiums could handle Iran’s matches unless Trump slaps tariffs on Canada or Mexico if they offer to. Those stadiums aren’t playing matches continuously. Iran may end up in Canada’s pool.
As it stands, to avoid matches in the U.S. during the group stage Iran has to land in A3 with Mexico. Every other group has pairings that will require at least one match in the U.S.
If Iran lands in A and gets out of the group stage, the only way it potentially avoids a U.S. game in the knockout stage is to win the group, which could guarantee up to 2 games in Mexico City. If it gets past that, then its QF match would be in Miami.
Other countries on a rumored upcoming 36-nation travel ban list include a number of countries from Africa, which has 9 spots in the tournament. So depending on what happens, this could be more than an Iran-specific thing.
FIFA is such a money grab. Just received their offer to buy the right to buy tickets for the Final if my team is in it. Favoured teams have sold out but Canada and US still available at $999 per ticket.
Gonna be hot, and the players are worried.
Yeah, I would suggest earlier (9AM or 10AM) or later (9PM or 10PM) start times in many of the outdoor-stadiumed cities below 40 Degrees Latitude North. Tough shit for Euro fans. Set your DVRs or whatever passes for that.
Breaking news:
Um, yes, this was already planned. Are they planning to move already-scheduled matches to indoor stadia?
Let’s see how they could do that: BC Place, for example, is having a match every two or three days. So not there. Maybe NRG. Probably can squeeze one more Group Stage match there.
It might be possible to move all the knockouts to the five indoor stadiums and those above the 40th Lat N, plus Levi (shouldn’t be that hot in the summer), but that would make some cities pissed. Looking at the sites, only real trouble is the Mexico sites and Miami; maybe KC and NJ (final).
Another question is whether they can move some to, oh, Superdome, the Astrodome (is that still erect?), Vikings’ Stadium, Detroit, … Secondly, these would have to be made wide enough, in a year, to play real football played with feet.
So, that won’t happen. The outdoor stadiums’ matches times need to be changed. 9AM local or 7PM local. There is always someplace on Earth that doesn’t get the matches in prime time.
UEFA gets 16 spots. Can they be chosen so their matches are at indoor stadiums? Probably not.
And, ugh, bending over to suck on tRump:
Infantino, who speaking at Trump Tower in Manhattan, confirmed that President Donald Trump will attend the final in New Jersey on Sunday.
“President Trump will be at the final,” he said. "He loves soccer. In his first term as President there was a soccer goal in the White House garden.
"President Trump is the President of the U.S., one of the host countries for the World Cup, and he embraced immediately the Club World Cup as well.
“Events like these are huge events. You can’t stage tournaments like this without his support.”
Load of shit. He had nothing to do with this. USA chosen two years ago to host. If anything tRump has been nothing but trouble for visiting fans and their money boosting the economy.
