Yup, hated that cooling break shit.
God knows what’s going to happen with Qatar. They’ve come out with plans for fully air conditioned stadiums. They’re certainly rolling in enough oil money to make something so ridiculous.
I never said it wasn’t exciting, but still a crappy way to decide who advances in the world’s most important tournament.
Interesting comment to make after the highest scoring group stage in the tournament’s history.
LoLs
I still can’t imagine another way to finish off a 120min slug fest when everyones cramping after covering 10+ km of short sprints and agility runs.
I think Qatar WC could be awesome if they have indoor stadia. Plus, FIFA does need to keep pushing the game in places that are not historical powers instead of taking the easy option and moving to the US. The Arab world is crazy about the game, and I think they should get a WC at some point. I think China should be the next very obvious destination.
TV networks around the world loved those cooling breaks. The fans in the stadium also seemed to be glad to have an opportunity to leave their seats, so don’t be shocked to see them become more common going forward.
US fans seem to be more used to those breaks due to American Football experience. Normally I hate those breaks (that´s why I´m against video proof), but yesterday it was necessary for the players´ health…
yeah, I can see it going to China soon, India maybe a bit further down the line.
They should still throw the odd one to Europe though
^
Which is why people like Gringo hated it. The whole point of football is the way that the game ebbs and flows. Introducing a stop start format even in limited amounts so that corprations can start advertising their junk which we already see too much of will never be accepted by football fans.
This was perhaps slightly understandable because the heat was sweltering. If it becomes a regular occurance when it isn’t required you can expect it to be the final straw where organizations start breaking away from FIFA and forming their own.
As for Qatar the idealist in me wants them to get it. The global game going to middle eastern deserts for the first time will be epic. The pragmatist in me fails to see how it’s going to happen. The temperatures seem like a huge stumbling block, if they can come with a viable plan to combat that then okay else I suspect we’ll have to wait for a bit more.
2026 or 2030 is nailed on for China and it will be epic
Cooling breaks are common in Brazil, but I hope they don’t use it in colder climes…it’s a slippery slope, soon there will be multiple subsitutions and 300 pound men…
Robben wouldn’t have had to dive if he’d been tackled by Ndamukong Suh.
Good point. The game was on a channel that has adverts in the UK but it didn’t cut to an advert break. I’m sure that by the time Qatar comes round that will have changed.
Also, why didn’t they just stop the clock instead of letting it run and playing 6 minutes stoppage time.
Interesting, ESPN in the states went to commercial almost immediately. I’m not sure what Univision did. Stopping the clock would have been another slippery slope - if they stop it for cooling breaks, why not for injuries?
No commercial break on Univision. I like to watch soccer in Spanish even though my command of the language is pretty bad. It just seems appropriate.
Univision’s broadcast team is certainly much more enthusiastic than ESPN’s, although I imagine the Mexico game was like a funeral at the end.
Yeah, somewhat. Like I said, my spanish is spotty at best, but I certainly heard “que lastima” (what a pity or what a shame) a number of times.
