World Cup: 2022 FIFA World Cup

[QuietContrarian]

I mean if MBS lasts that long…

But doubt Asia gets ones that quickly even for fifa

Hopefully not.

 

[cgf]

Any time someone makes a prediction about global events or anything really you risk sounding like an idiot when you probably get it very wrong buuuut. His throne after his old man kicks the bucket will be highly contested. Many people in the royal family would be after it. He’s very young, prone to rash decisions and already felt this heat hence why he locked up many of his family members years ago. However, once he gains the crown for many Saudis it would be the end of history essentially. Would they take that laying down? I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t.

Interesting. I guess I had just kinda assumed that after those arrests when he came to power, he had positioned himself like Putin has...as the only person that the powers behind the throne can agree on...so that they'd keep him in place for as long as possible to avoid the civil war that was certain to break out if any of the power players tried to replace him*

But I also know very little about saudi arabia. Never been there myself and it's one of the few countries that I've never even spent much time talking to someone from...unlike Qatar, where one of my closer college friends was from.



*granted that armistice seems to have collapsed now, judging by the way the oligarchy has been cannibalizing itself since the invasion started; with everyone seemingly trying to take advantage of the chaos to bump off all of their rivals before their weapons need to be put back down.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Interesting. I guess I had just kinda assumed that after those arrests when he came to power, he had positioned himself like Putin has...as the only person that the powers behind the throne can agree on...so that they'd keep him in place for as long as possible to avoid the civil war that was certain to break out if any of the power players tried to replace him*

But I also know very little about saudi arabia. Never been there myself and it's one of the few countries that I've never even spent much time talking to someone from...unlike Qatar, where one of my closer college friends was from.



*granted that armistice seems to have collapsed now, judging by the way the oligarchy has been cannibalizing itself since the invasion started; with everyone seemingly trying to take advantage of the chaos to bump off all of their rivals before their weapons need to be put back down.

You obviously know more about Russia but the oligarchs would rather stay behind the scenes while the members of the royal family want the actual throne. Plus those guys he put in jail, had to pay to get out and accept the charges of "corruption" so its not like their in their for life.

 

[Savant]

They got Casper as their mascot

That’s the ghost of all the dead migrant workers.

 

[Panteras]

That’s the ghost of all the dead migrant workers.

 

[cgf]

You obviously know more about Russia but the oligarchs would rather stay behind the scenes while the members of the royal family want the actual throne. Plus those guys he put in jail, had to pay to get out and accept the charges of "corruption" so its not like their in their for life.

The russian oligarchy has a similar preference for keeping their own faces off the regime and hiding behind their medieval castle walls...my dad's buddy who stayed behind and survived to become a lower-level oligarch (net worth in just the low 9-figures lol) literally has a 6-8m tall stone wall around his estate that is almost 2m thick the whole way around.

But because there's no royal family for them to shove in front of the people and because the military / kgb elites held onto enough power after the collapse of the USSR to remain power players in the new russia as well, there's a massive tension when it comes to who the public face of the state needs to be. As everyone has their own preferred candidate and nobody wants to let "the other guys' candidate" get the gig.



I assumed that MBS's rivals weren't just allowed out because they paid up to be released. Figuring instead that they were being held until MBS had been able to sever them from their sources of power by securing their supporters to his cause; like what happened to khodorkovsky.

But if that really was just about buying himself time to consolidate power and strengthening his resource advantage over his rivals, then yeah that sounds like a powderkeg just waiting to blow up...especially if they have been able to rebuild their support since being released, while MBS has stumbled into blunder after blunder.

 

[Power Man]

So what's the preferred method of following along without giving anyone involved ad revenue? Any decent peg leg sites?

I’ve had IPTV since August so I’m not paying for anything lol
I also have plenty of channels to choose from

 

[QuietContrarian]

Interesting. I guess I had just kinda assumed that after those arrests when he came to power, he had positioned himself like Putin has...as the only person that the powers behind the throne can agree on...so that they'd keep him in place for as long as possible to avoid the civil war that was certain to break out if any of the power players tried to replace him*

But I also know very little about saudi arabia. Never been there myself and it's one of the few countries that I've never even spent much time talking to someone from...unlike Qatar, where one of my closer college friends was from.



*granted that armistice seems to have collapsed now, judging by the way the oligarchy has been cannibalizing itself since the invasion started; with everyone seemingly trying to take advantage of the chaos to bump off all of their rivals before their weapons need to be put back down.

KSA is a beautiful country, have visited a few times - It is unlike anything you have seen, kinda like Japan, very different.

Jeddah is a beautiful city.

KSA as a country, is hella iffy tho.

 

[Shocker]

Get f***ed Qatar!

E: Haha, no way.

 

[QuietContrarian]

That was quick - Awful defending.

 

[Apex Predator]

Just turned on the game was it the correct call for it to be offside?

 

[QuietContrarian]

Lol, but why?

Just turned on the game was it the correct call for it to be offside?

I couldn’t see it at all…

 

[member 305909]

It feels depressing thinking that when Qatar was awarded the tournament it seemed like it is a long time to come in the very distant future.

Now that time is here.

 

[cgf]

It feels depressing thinking that when Qatar was awarded the tournament it seemed like it is a long time to come in the very distant future.

Now that time is here.

I know what you're saying...but as someone who had to see his nation go through a significant down period in our youth development during that time that we just started coming out of a few years ago, it certainly didn't feel very quick

 

[ScottishCanuck]

This is about as awful as I expected it to be. I’ve been at livelier funerals.

 

[JackSlater]

The bullshit positivity talk from FIFA and the IOC before the World Cup/ Olympics is so torturous to me. Football unites the world, let's learn from each other, football is love, whatever other platitudes they have planned, blah blah blah. They are producing an entertainment product, that is all. It would be torturous even if FIFA and the IOC weren't cartoonishly corrupt organizations.

 

[robertmac43]

If it wasn't clear before, it should be now. This Qatar team is terrible, the worst we have ever seen at the tournament.

 

[cgf]

If it wasn't clear before, it should be now. This Qatar team is terrible, the worst we have ever seen at the tournament.

*Worst host team

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Sounds like the atmosphere was terrible for that first game.

 

[robertmac43]

Sounds like the atmosphere was terrible for that first game.

Not a sell out and then many fans left at the half.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Sounds like the atmosphere was terrible for that first game.

It was - Not alot of noise.

And it is clear that the Qataris don't have football culture like in Europe, and South America. Fans left the stadium when they fell behind, and in the 2nd half, it was half empty.

 

[HajdukSplit]

Can see why a Croatian league select team (essentially Croatia C team being kind to them) beat Qatar 3:0. For all the prep they could barely control the ball let alone create an offensive action

 

[QuietContrarian]

Can someone please tell me how that 1st goal was offside? I mean even in slowmotion with lines it made no sense....

 

[bluesfan94]

Can someone please tell me how that 1st goal was offside? I mean even in slowmotion with lines it made no sense....

When the Ecuadorian player headed the ball, the Ecuadorian player who crossed the ball was ahead of the second to last man back

 

[QuietContrarian]

When the Ecuadorian player headed the ball, the Ecuadorian player who crossed the ball was ahead of the second to last man back

Just couldn't see it - Will have to rewatch.

I read somewhere that a former top ref said 0 out of a 100 linesmen would have called this in the times before VAR.