The 2022 World Cup.

[MalcolmR]

OK, the 2022 World Cup is about to kick off, so we'll have a separate topic to bandy about our thoughts.

And you left-ponders aren't excluded, you are sending a team you know, you're playing England on Friday.

[MalcolmR]

Well, the first comment has to be about beer, doesn't it? Budweiser is a major sponsor, and they have been told that they would be allowed to sell beer at the grounds. Until two days before it starts, and then they are told they can't.

Just how pissed off are they going to be? I don't know how many millions of pints they were predicting to sell, but it will all have been brewed, canned and shipped to Qatar by now. They are going to lose a fortune.

Just who do the Qatari authorities think they are? Pulling permission just two days before the event is just an obscene gesture in the face of the suppliers and the fans. Beer is a heavy commodity, you can't just ship it around willy-nilly. It wouldn't surprise me if they end up just dumping the stuff because it isn't worth shipping it all out to snother country.

If they feel that their actions are reasonable, I hate to think what sort of treatment the fans are going to get. I've heard that so-called hotel rooms that have been sold through FIFA might be nothing more than a couple of beds and a wash-basin inside a shipping container. We'll soon find out.

[frodi]

The man who taught me how to play bridge had a saying. "If your first bid is wrong then everything after that is just playing catch up."

Qatar should never have gotten the games in the first place. After that it was all down hill. Anyway £12 for a pint and it it was only Bud. That's really taking the mick.
It sounds as if there is some power plays and politics going on in the Qatari royal family.
Cormac who is following the betting reckons that Brazil are the favourites as they are the only top tier team used to playing in the extreme heat. I wonder how fit the players will be returning to the domestic game after playing in the heat and then back to a northern winter. Meanwhile the non-international players will have had a nice mid-season break and will have retained fitness. It should make for an interesting few games after the tournament.

[martycanuck]

Excuse me Malc but I believe *this* left-ponders boys are playing Belgium on Tuesday.

[MalcolmR]

My apologies, Marty.

[martycanuck]

Nov 20, 2022 6:12:30 GMT -5 MalcolmR said:

My apologies, Marty.

LOL!!

[MalcolmR]

Nov 19, 2022 9:27:28 GMT -5 MalcolmR said:

I've heard that so-called hotel rooms that have been sold through FIFA might be nothing more than a couple of beds and a wash-basin inside a shipping container. We'll soon find out.

I don't know if this link will work outside the UK.

Apparently the hotel rooms are $200 per night and consist of a plastic tent containing two beds, a small table and an electric fan. No water, no toilet, no washing facilities, they are all communal. In temperatures from 40-50C. correction 25-30C, those were the summer temperatures.

[frodi]

Nov 20, 2022 9:18:57 GMT -5 MalcolmR said:

Nov 19, 2022 9:27:28 GMT -5 MalcolmR said:

I've heard that so-called hotel rooms that have been sold through FIFA might be nothing more than a couple of beds and a wash-basin inside a shipping container. We'll soon find out.

I don't know if this link will work outside the UK.

Apparently the hotel rooms are $200 per night and consist of a plastic tent containing two beds, a small table and an electric fan. No water, no toilet, no washing facilities, they are all communal. In temperatures from 40-50C. correction 25-30C, those were the summer temperatures.

I suspect that many fans didn't read the small print when they booked their accommodation.  If they did and they missed this then they should have gone to specsavers.

[MalcolmR]

frodi, does that link work for you? There's a guy in that, French IIRC, that had a piece of paper showing that he had booked a hotel room and paid thousands for it. It was a plastic tent in a desert.

The Qataris must be laughing their tits off, all the way to the bank.

On another beer note. I have seen that all the beer on sale in Qatar, both real and alco-free, is in cans, served from fridges. There's a serious problem with that. Every time you open the fridge door, warm air gets in. If you load the fridge up, and leave the door shut for a couple of hours, you will get cold beer. But if you then start selling it, and opening the door two or three time a minute, the temperature shoots up and as soon as you have sold the first cans, any others put into that fridge will not be chilled unless you keep the door shut for another couple of hours. And seeing as a match only lasts a couple of hours . . .

They have the same problem at Old Trafford, but they compound their woes by using glass bottles which take even longer to cool than aluminium cans.

The ONLY way to sell cold beer in large quantities is to use barrels and run the line through a chiller.

£12.00 for a warm alcohol-free lager. ::shudder::

[MalcolmR]

Well, that's the first one under our belts. Bring on the Yanks!

(And that was never a penalty, ref!)

[MalcolmR]

I've just noticed. USA -v- Wales in 2 hours.

[mank]

I saw a few memes about why watch soccer if you cannot drink. I was surprised at first they were going to allow beer since in Qatar you are not allowed to drink. I know because my company has sent some of us there and we were trained about the customs of that land; drinking is forbidden.

[MalcolmR]

Qatar has always allowe drinking, but only in selected business-type hotels. They do understand that we infidel Westerners can be persuaded to sign agreements when we have some alcohol in us.

It was the about-turn 48 hours before kick-off which astonished me. Mind you. I have seen the odd report that says there were never any beer concession booths in the stadia anyway.

Don't get me wrong, not all those who go to football feel they have to have a drink, but for the male under 30s it is a large part of the experience. Unlike American football games, in the UK and some other countries you aren't allowed to drink whilst in sight of the pitch anyway, so the drinking gets concentrated in the hour before the match and the 15 minutes of half-time interval.

[MalcolmR]

Well, that was an interesting few hours. England thrashed Iran and the USA kept Wales to a draw.

It's England -v- USA on Friday.

[martycanuck]

Nov 21, 2022 12:49:41 GMT -5 MalcolmR said:

Qatar has always allowe drinking, but only in selected business-type hotels. They do understand that we infidel Westerners can be persuaded to sign agreements when we have some alcohol in us.

It was the about-turn 48 hours before kick-off which astonished me. Mind you. I have seen the odd report that says there were never any beer concession booths in the stadia anyway.

Don't get me wrong, not all those who go to football feel they have to have a drink, but for the male under 30s it is a large part of the experience. Unlike American football games, in the UK and some other countries you aren't allowed to drink whilst in sight of the pitch anyway, so the drinking gets concentrated in the hour before the match and the 15 minutes of half-time interval.

Malc, look up “Tailgating”. 

You are right about the drinking during the game though. That is allowed. But the parties that happen in the parking lots of NFL and College Football stadiums BEFORE the game even begins are EPIC! 

[MalcolmR]

Yes, I've heard all about Tailgate parties, but they don't occur here for two reasons at least. We don't have a tradition of driving to a match, we used public transport - bus, train or tram. The hordes of working class folk who attended on a Saturday afternoon, paying their two shillings, couldn't afford cars. Secondly, now that th ticket prices are higher and we mostly do own cars, those who do drive to the match tend not to park in the club car parks because they are bloody difficult to get out of at full time. Our grounds tend to be in inner city areas with poor road infrastructure. When 60,000 people all try to leave a venue at the same time, there is just gridlock.

When I used to have a Man Utd. season ticket, four of us used to go in one car. Twenty years agp we used to be able to find a parking spot about 800 yards from the ground. These days, unless you are willing to arrive an hour before the match starts, you are lucky if you can find a spot within a mile. My friends who still attend have given up on the car and now travel by tram. It is more expensive, but far, far quicker.

[mank]

Since I am on vacation this week I watched USA vs Wales. Granted, I don't know a lot of the intricacies of soccer, even though I played goalie years ago in a league, I think that USA dominated the first half but went into a defensive shell in the second half. They weren't aggressive enough in the second half. I predict an upset on Friday. USA will be aggressive the entire game and beat England 2-0.

I will admit I do find the game boring. My wife is home this week too and wondered did I fall asleep during the game since it was quiet in the house. She wondered why I would watch soccer. I said to be patriotic.

[MalcolmR]

S'funny. I watched that game and saw the opposite. Wales were shite in the the first half, allowing the USA to dominate them, but got their act together at half-time and dominated the second half. The USA certainly started aggressively, I think they had two yellow cards in the first twenty minutes.

I normally won't watch a game unless I support one team or the other, but I suppose Wales is my 'second' national team as I lived there for three years. I was also interested to see how good the Americans were, given the paucity of support in the USA. It turns out that half your starting line-up plays in our Premiership and most of the rest in Europe. I was certainly surpried to learn that the USA is ranked 20th in the FIFA world rankings. I didn't think they would be anywhere near that high.

[MalcolmR]

Nov 19, 2022 21:05:46 GMT -5 martycanuck said:

Excuse me Malc but I believe *this* left-ponders boys are playing Belgium on Tuesday.

Wednesday, actually Marty, 7pm GMT.

[martycanuck]

Nov 22, 2022 14:07:18 GMT -5 MalcolmR said:

Nov 19, 2022 21:05:46 GMT -5 martycanuck said:

Excuse me Malc but I believe *this* left-ponders boys are playing Belgium on Tuesday.

Wednesday, actually Marty, 7pm GMT.

Correct, 2 PM here.

[martycanuck]

Colbert’s monologue last night had some good bits on the World Cup. Of course then he went on to roast DJT over the tax records being ordered released by (his) Supreme Court.

[MalcolmR]

Your boys are doing well Marty, unlucky to be 1-0 down. That penalty was poorly taken and you should have had another.

[martycanuck]

Nov 23, 2022 14:53:31 GMT -5 MalcolmR said:

Your boys are doing well Marty, unlucky to be 1-0 down. That penalty was poorly taken and you should have had another.

I was horrendously busy at work and never saw even 1 second of the game sadly. I had intended to put it on. 

[mank]

I tried watching other games but it is too boring to me. I have no dog in the fight as they say. I might watch some of the USA vs England game since USA is going to upset England. I still say USA dominated the first half over Wales. They even put up some stat about the play was 58% USA and I think 14% contested. That was a definite penality in the box against Wales.

Go USA! Go Liverpool!

[Jeannette]

I watched the Spain vs Ghana match, saw Rolando score, turned away for a bit Ghana scored. Then got up to put the dogs out and turned back around and Spain was up 2 more goals. Goes 75 minutes with not much action then a whole bunch right at the end.

I have it on right now while I'm doing some work stuff and I do plan on watching the USA vs England match.

[MalcolmR]

From the games topic:

Nov 25, 2022 11:55:30 GMT -5 Bomber said:

Penalty kick

I hope the referee tells the keeper to get back before he blows his whistle.

[MalcolmR]

And how not to be a keeper.

[MalcolmR]

Well, one of your favourites, a 0-0 draw!

We certainly made heavy weather of that, but a point is a point and we still lead the group.

I'll tell you something though, if I'd paid £100 for a ticket, £1000 for a flight and £175 a night for a tent in a desert, I'd be very, very pissed off.

[martycanuck]

Alphonso Davies baby!!

[mank]

Nov 25, 2022 12:10:43 GMT -5 MalcolmR said:

And how not to be a keeper.

When I click on the link it says the content is not available in my location!