[Football] England V Iran

[beorhthelm]

gonna be a lot of penalties this tournament if thats the benchmark. also, get on at the ref to take a look and they will, so "obvious" errors is out and forensic examination is in.

 

[SAC]

Was a penalty but the one on Maguire was more obvious. Poor by VAR.

 

[Randy McNob]

southgate out

 

[Eeyore]

Felt like that went on forever.

 

[GT49er]

How can that pen be given and not the one for England in the first half which was more obvious?

Well, VAR hadn't got into the game at all, had they? Can't have the VAR doing nothing, especially when there's a WC with the results not going the way the hosts would probably have liked it, tin-pot footballing countries getting easily beaten.

 

[SAC]

Hosts just let themselves down by playing Sweet Caroline.

 

[US Seagull]

Why was the monitor for the ref to go look at the penalty so far from the damn pitch?

 

[Stato]

Maguire fouled his man before the bear hug began. The commentators didn't comment on it, but it was fairly obvious that's why VAR didn't award a penalty.

 

[Poojah]

Well, little value in getting excited after one group game, but you can’t really argue with that as our opening gambit. That had the potential to be a horrible, turgid game, and yet we made it pretty entertaining.

Easy to draw comparisons with our demolition of Panama at the last World Cup but Iran aren’t the part-timers they were - a good chunk of the players they had on the pitch play in Europe’s top leagues.

It’s a long time since I can remember an England side so comfortable playing in tight spaces, and able to break down rigid defensive banks. We looked exciting to watch on that showing.

The main question mark remains the obvious one. We’re going to face far bigger attacking threats than that and there were certainly defensive fragilities on display there. We have a midfield and attack capable of winning this World Cup in my opinion; I have much less confidence in our defence.

 

[Dr Q]

Why was the monitor for the ref to go look at the penalty so far from the damn pitch?

Size of the Technical areas almost as big as a Tennis court!!

 

[timbha]

Uruguayan var official recommended the pen. I wonder therefore how many pens are given for a slight shirt pull in Uruguay!!

 

[Scappa]

Well, little value in getting excited after one group game, but you can’t really argue with that as our opening gambit. That had the potential to be a horrible, turgid game, and yet we made it pretty entertaining.

Easy to draw comparisons with our demolition of Panama at the last World Cup but Iran aren’t the part-timers they were - a good chunk of the players they had on the pitch play in Europe’s top leagues.

It’s a long time since I can remember an England side so comfortable playing in tight spaces, and able to break down rigid defensive banks. We looked exciting to watch on that showing.

The main question mark remains the obvious one. We’re going to face far bigger attacking threats than that and there were certainly defensive fragilities on display there. We have a midfield and attack capable of winning this World Cup in my opinion; I have much less confidence in our defence.

If Eric Dier is considered to be one the best three English centrebacks, we will certainly be in trouble against decent opponents

 

[Weststander]

Duplicate post.

 

[Weststander]

[Caveat - I’d love England to do well].

But let the English media hype begin. I’ll avoid R5 and newspaper sports sections for the next month. Been there and worn the t-shirt

 

[nicko31]

What is the point of VAR?

On we go, well played England.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I remember 1978 Scotch Tom.. 1-1. Wasn’t it.

There were no easy games at that level of competition back then

 

[jcdenton08]

Well, VAR hadn't got into the game at all, had they? Can't have the VAR doing nothing, especially when there's a WC with the results not going the way the hosts would probably have liked it, tin-pot footballing countries getting easily beaten.

Absolutely this.

 

[Springal]

Mind boggling.

I assume demand would be there if flights accommodation and tickets were available to England fans.

maybe it can't be done at a reasonable price

The weird thing is pretty much every game has been sold out since the resale in September. The odd game pops up but doesn’t stay there long. We’ve been trying to get some tickets for other games out there without any success.

Can only assume the locals have grabbed a lot of the $30 ‘residents’ tickets and not bothered to attend for various reasons

It’s the same every tournament, in South Africa we did manage to get Brazil v Chile while out there by walking up to a ticketing centre, but it’s all online / via the app nowadays

 

[schmunk]

Why was the monitor for the ref to go look at the penalty so far from the damn pitch?

Couldn't find an extension lead?

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

What an enjoyable victory. Of course Iran aren't great (only something like the 20th best team in the world) and yes, we're unlikely to win it. But that was really good fun to watch bar VAR and the stoppages.

Great start