Maybe not a stonewall penalty, but I've seen them given before, even by VAR.

There are few organisations as full of thieves from top to bottom as FIFA. I can really only think of the IOC, the Italian Mafia or the US government that are similarly structured.

It's certainly not impossible, few things are in a cup competition. Nonetheless they really need to get past several heavy hitters to get there. That is a very tall order.

That sounds like a great idea. Maybe Johnny can combine it with the 2027 Peace Prize for Bibi Netanyahu?

Oh No! Anyway...

The article was specifically about World Cup players. While Cruyff probably revolutionised football like few others before or after, his impact at the World Cup was limited. While the Netherlands probably should have won in 1974, they were just outsmarted by West Germany in the end, despite Cruyff and his brilliance.

As mentioned, he's not even greatest active player, let alone all time great. I honestly he'll have a hard time breaking into the top five or even ten once his career ends. My personal greatest players behind Pele (in no particular order) would likely be Maradona, Beckenbauer, Zidane, Messi, Matthäus, Ronaldo (the real one) and perhaps Cruyff, but that could be my Dutch bias.

Immer diese Ankündigungspolitik. Lasst es lieber bleiben. Meine Annahme bei öffentlichen Projekten der EU ist mittlerweile, dass die nie kommen aber dafür trotzdem massig Kohle rausgeworfen wurde. Wäre schön, wenn ich da mal falsch liege, aber ich bleibe erstmal skeptisch.

It's difficult to gauge whether Argentina is very strong or Algeria surprisingly weak. I'd honestly thought that this would be a closer affair. Argentina definitely look like they might be potential title defenders.

It really felt a bit wobbly for a while after the equaliser, but Germany eventually got back on track. In Germany the discussion about Leroy Sané is still ongoing. Somehow he managed not to score or assist while covering less distance than either Wirtz or Havertz. Meanwhile Deniz Undav, who is becoming something of a folk hero, scored and assisted twice after coming on.

Personally I feel like Kai Havertz is silently turning into that big game player teams really need. He isn't as prolific as other forwards, but he doesn't go invisible on the big stage.

Ik woon al vele jaren in Duitsland. Een van de grootste voordelen hier is het Deutschland Ticket. Mijn werkgever betaalt het grootste deel van mijn ticket. Ik kan het dan in heel Duitsland gebruiken. Het was echt een bevrijding toen ik onlangs tijdens mijn vakantie in Hamburg gewoon de metro kon nemen zonder daar extra voor te betalen.

Does anyone know how Brazil and Argentina stack up against the major European squads in terms of market value?