Scott7

I don’t think the penalty award was correct. Having said that that the section and third goals were vintage Argentina. Alvarez got the break of the ball twice in his run on goal for his first but you could say he made his own luck. Messi is well on the downward slope of his career but he’s still well ahead of many. Perisic is a player. ‘Spurs got him on a free.

Croatia are consistent performers. Argentina have the capability of mesmerising brilliance two or three times in most games. They have a downside of nastiness and there’s that Malvinas nonsense. Modric deserves a Cup Final. Prso. Jelavic. MoanaCroats. 🎶Borna won a medal in Qatar🎶 - sounds good.

Have we not already had a big five weeks and made a horlicks of it?

But for the wrong reasons. Souness, on the other hand …….

Might have been different if Ralph Brand’s early shot had gone in.

Sixty years ago on this day ‘Spurs beat Rangers 2-3 in the second leg of the second round of the Cup Winners Cup to make the aggregate score 4-8. The result was a disappointment but it was a good match. The Rangers team was a permutation of the great early sixties elevens. This one had Henderson for Scott and Davis for Greig. ‘Spurs had Blanchflower and McKay and Greaves and White and a couple of Welsh Wing Wizards but I don’t think they were necessarily better players than Rangers players. They were a better team by which I mean they were better coached by Bill Nicholson than Rangers were by Scot Symon. I think Symon’s method was to assemble the talent and let them get on with it. Not entirely unsuccessful. ’Spurs went on to win the cup.

England out and for once they were desperately unlucky.

And another but Kane’s missed it. 2-1 France in a match dominated by England. I’d have Saka in my team before either M’Bappe or Dembele or both come to that. Still time to get it back but not much.

France getting away with a lot. England should have had a penalty first half. They’ve got one now. 1-1. Saka’s a player.

I’m sure you’re right, Bill. The genius, Southgate, will give his team a crash course in the language, probably at halftime tonight.

Portugal expected it and waited for it. Morocco went for it and deserved it. Mistake not to play Ronaldo from the start. Arrogant nutter but he’s good at the football.

Nope. Not having that. It looks like Welsh Guards uniform and Garter sash. Should be Scots Guards and Order of the Thistle. The Thistle sash is green but it’s a respectable dark green, no emerald nonsense. If there’s no picture of HM in a Scots Guards coat, Admiral of the Fleet would be even better. I hope this in addition to and not in place of Her Late Majesty.

Mrs7’s sister is going for her first ever visit to Ibrox. I apologise in advance on her behalf for any screaming, cursing and general unruly behaviour inappropriate to the Stadium. I hope the UBs won’t be running out with their hands over their ears.

The Argies pay the penalty for buggering about. They should have kept playing. Would most likely have won it in the 110. Now they’ve got to start all over again. Surrendered momentum is hard to regain. Argentina are masters of the sleekit foul. Only Uruguay do it better.

England wouldn’t have to worry too much about either Argentina or Netherlands in the Final though Argentina can sometimes produce a little bit extra that makes them dangerous.

Thanks. Forgot about that. Where’s my worry beads?

Tell’t ye. Actually I’m a bit sorry Brazil are out. They are capable of stunning bits of play, just not the nonstop samba of old. Not sorry Croatia are through. I like their consistency.

Team: England though they have had no notable opposition but at least they disposed of them. Brazil, Argentina and Spain all lost matches to inferior teams. Player: Mbappe for his thunderbolt shooting.

Depends. If we’re hanging on to a single goal lead which is nut unusual, the answer is no. If we’re pushing for an equaliser, yes. The sensible answer, however, is that it must be done to overcome the ridiculous amount of time-wasting that goes n.

I don’t think England will ever have a better chance. Beat the frogs and it’s theirs. I believe they’ll do it and good luck to the team and all English football supporters. NB Supporters, not fans. There’s a difference. As for the journos. Perhaps the Lord will strike them dumb.

As you ran back to the centre circle to get on with the game. Can you see Willie Rae boogieing at the corner flag while McColl and Woodburn shower him with kisses, compo? Me neither.

They will. The Follies’ numbers didn’t go on so long.

Japan were the better side and more likely to score in the ninety minutes and extra time. Their striker from an SP club that plays in Glasgow looks a lot better than the useless nobody everyone assured us he would be. Borna spent the entire match looking bewildered. He doesn’t position himself well to defend and can’t tackle. Fell down a lot. Put in a couple of decent crosses but that’s a terrific luxury for a team to carry. With regard to penalties, see the earlier topic. The only Croat to miss was the one who tried the clever dick approach.

An interesting discussion elsewhere about Rangers captains. Shaw and Young were the captains of my early days with Cox and IMcColl deputising occasionally. Then it was Caldow and Shearer. Greig is succeeded by the likes of Butcher, Gough, Barry Ferguson and Amoruso. Who’s the greatest? You could say that a lot of them had it easy in teams that didn’t need leadership. I go for Greig. He didn’t just lead teams, he carried some of them.

See this hoppitty-skippitty stuff from Lewandowski and Bruno Fernandez - leave it to the rabbits. OK, now and then the ‘Keeper is mesmerised but more often it’s the kicker himself who gets confused. Johnny Hubbard wrote the book on penalty taking. Low and hard to the corner of the net. Not all penalty takers are confident or skilful enough to do that so just blast the ball. The ‘Keeper may get lucky but not often. In penalty shootouts that’s what the lower order does and it appears to work. The frontline “craftsmen” seem more likely to miss or be saved. No doubt some statto can tell me this is nonsense. The top order take more penalties so they are bound to miss more often and other factors. If so just shut up. This is my theory and I’m sticking to it. NOTE: The only Croat to fail in the penalty shootout against Japan was the one who tried to be clever and demonstrated how to beat the ‘keeper but hit he post NOTE 2: Bloody Neymar.