McAllister covered some amount of ground. He was unbelievable. He won’t be at Brighton for long
5 Likes
No sign of the World Cup highlights at the scheduled time on RTE. Want to watch the drama back. That save from Emi Martinez at the end of extra-time was iconic.
Lautoro then with his square forehead nearly punctured the ball
2 Likes
He had a huge chance in the first half of extra-time too. Upamecano didn’t brilliantly to put him off. Usually extra-time is cagey enough but today it was relentless. Thrill a minute. That Muani fella for France is a great bit off stuff.
He was excellent, ran out of puff in the end. Think he’s off to Southampton.
A lot of the players were running on empty at the end, understandable after a tough tournament in that heat. Made for a great if a little crazy finish
1 Like
Like two punchy heavyweights slugging it out duke for duke
1 Like
Exactly. It was everything you want to see in sports, just raw and intense football both teams going all out. Tactic book fucked out the window
2 Likes
Last man back, next goal wons type stuff in a world cup final. I nearly called for a defib at one stage and i had no skin in the game
2 Likes
Aguero 
I remember that one very well. Bats in goals for France.
That’s right … Joel Bats. Tigana, Giresse, Platini. They won the Euros in 84. That was my first tournament to watch.
2 Likes
Sergio Aguero’s Instagram is good craic.
Classical glas
3 Likes
@Cheasty maybe it’s been mentioned already, but pretty sure someone had a post here after the Saudi game saying it wasn’t unusual for eventual finalists to lose the opening game. Is this true?
Argentina lost to Cameroon in 1990 and went on to reach the final. Spain lost to Switzerland in their opening game of the 2010 tournament and recovered to win it out. Argentina really evolved and grew into this tournament. They were a dramatically improved force in the space of 10 days between the narrow 2-1 win over Australia in the round of 16 and the 3-0 against Croatia last Tuesday.
Italy in 94
3 Likes
Great to see such patriotism and passion on show throughout this tournament. It would make you yearn for an Irish appearance at a major tournament soon. We’d love that drama and rollercoaster. Going beyond a World Cup quarter-final in rugby may be the nearest we come to it for the foreseeable.
Look at the team they had at the start of the tournament, and the evolution to the team they had towards the end.
Paredes/Guido Rodriguez in midfield, ahead of an actual progressive passer of the ball like Enzo Fernandez, who completely transformed their midfield.
Lautaro Martinez is a very talented player but his confidence looked completely shot and Alvarez offered way more up top.
And MacAllister did a lot more than Gomez, had a very good final.
1 Like
Yeah the fella who didn’t play who has Messi up on his shoulders is the story there 
Has any 35 year old ever produced the goods like that in football/soccer history?