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Italia90 v Russia18

Well?


  • Total voters
    22
Russia 18 for the unexpected results and big names going out.

Italia 90 for England, we looked better than the Germans in the semi for long spells and only lost on penalties and would have had a good chance of actually winning it - England in Russia 18 looked more assured in the group stage but there's no way we would have beaten France or Belgium in the final.

Italia 90 therefore was far more gutting than last night.

Also, as I've said, before Russia 18 should have been England 18.

And Nessun Dorma wins hands down.
 
if this country can't bribe its way to hosting the world cup, perhaps it doesn't deserve to get it. we all know the way fifa works.

Used to, after the FBI did for Blatter. Hopefully things are better, but we should have a retrospective WC and kick Qatar off 2022.
 
Used to, after the FBI did for Blatter. Hopefully things are better, but we should have a retrospective WC and kick Qatar off 2022.
maybe hosting world cups should be limited to countries that have a footballing tradition and have demonstrated that by actually qualifying for a world cup at some time or another.
 
maybe hosting world cups should be limited to countries that have a footballing tradition and have demonstrated that by actually qualifying for a world cup at some time or another.

I'm all for inclusiveness and sending it round the world - only having it in countries that have qualified before could be seen as football-elitist - maybe to places where there is a decent grass-roots football structure or a modicum of stadia infrastructure for countries that are growing their football roots, would be a good idea. But of course it's all about cash.
 
Russia '18 feels like a big blockbuster series - lots of twists and turns and drama, but little character development. It's been all plot, little in the way of people.
 
Utterly different animals. I can see the comparison wrt to England getting i the SF but it ends there for me.

2018 has been far more entertaining overall
 
Russia '18 feels like a big blockbuster series - lots of twists and turns and drama, but little character development. It's been all plot, little in the way of people.
I can see where you are coming from in that - the WC 18 is more representative of the top league football theses days - a balance sheet exercise and bland media filler. I know 90 has been mythologised to death , but in a decades time, No one will remember anything remarkable about the English team or their adventures
 
I think 1990 was more gutting - maybe because I was younger, it seemed more possible that we would win the thing - and I think we would definitely have beaten Argentina in the final had we got there. This time, whilst many of us got carried away , we seemed to struggle more getting through to the semis - and looked the worse team in the 2nd half tbf - those wily Croatian lads knew how to close the game down after going 2-1 up.
 
but in a decades time, No one will remember anything remarkable about the English team or their adventures
Not quite sure about that. Biggest win at a WC, breaking the penalty hoo-doo with a manager whose penalty miss defined a generation, Pickford's saves against Sweden, plucky young kids defying the odds...

I was talking more about the WC as a whole rather than specifically around England. I don't feel like anyone's truly made their mark on this tournament, team or individual. Maybe the closest you could get is Mbappe? He seems to be the one everyone is excited and talking about.
 
Both good. But Russia 2018 overall because the game is better, and rules have slightly changed for the better - no passbacks to goalies any more, VAR/better decisions, yellows wiped after Quarters, HD coverage, better camera angles, social media, etc.

There was no urban in 1990 either so no running commentaries followed by the inevitable bunfight after an England game.
 
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Yeah, I don't get why anyone's loving this World Cup.

It's been entertaining, sure, but it's not a classic. Lots of big teams gone, awful reffing, too many set piece goals, and as LC says, no one's really shown anything special.

And that fucking VAR :(

Rio was miles better.
 
Italia 90 for me. Of course difficult to distangle from where you are/were in life... but the team in 1990 were well-established in the public mind.. they and Robson had got loads of grief after European championship in 88. I'd forgotten how much of a slow-start they had.. so it's probably rose-tinted..
 
Italia 90 has great memories for me, but why compare them? Vastly different eras. This tourny was great, and Italia 90 was magical, both for different reasons.

I love all World Cups and Euro's as they seem to act as a marker in people's lives at the time. I barely paid attention to the 2006 World Cup, but remember what was going on in my life, and the world at the time.

But yeah, I'd like to think both the 90 squad and this one are relateable to normal people and even likeable, which can't really be said for a lot of the players in between. I reckon that is the biggest similarity, excluding the results. :thumbs:
 
From an England perspective, despite all the talk about how young the squad is it felt like a lot of this was about previous tournaments.

Singing a song from 20 years ago, we 'conquered the curse' of penalties that has dogged us for decades, and the compliments for the current squad were frequently framed in contrast with those of the last decade and a half: "they're a team, there are no stars or egos, years of overexpecting and underperforming".

And, of course, once we got to the SF it was all about that night in Turin.

And I enjoy all that stuff, but let's concentrate on now and make some new history, eh?
 
Italia 90 has great memories for me, but why compare them? Vastly different eras. This tourny was great, and Italia 90 was magical, both for different reasons.

I love all World Cups and Euro's as they seem to act as a marker in people's lives at the time. I barely paid attention to the 2006 World Cup, but remember what was going on in my life, and the world at the time.

But yeah, I'd like to think both the 90 squad and this one are relateable to normal people and even likeable, which can't really be said for a lot of the players in between. I reckon that is the biggest similarity, excluding the results. :thumbs:

Comparing's fun and useful, and perhaps you find out more about why you did/didn't have fond memories of something..<I could go on...> :)
 
Italia 90 was considered at the time one of the worst tournaments ever. I don’t think Russia 2018 has been great either but with the benefit of hindsight, 1990 gave me more fond memories.
 
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