sluggo said:

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concordtom said:

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sluggo said:

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If anyone is still reading, I told you I was a sicko.

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You get an Incomplete.
Will comment when you finish the roster.

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Heehee. Will probably do when I get some down time. Right now I am rushing to finish my work to go on Thursday to Seattle for the game.

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Oh, awesome.
Now this thread is really going to come alive. We're going to live vicariously through you!

dajo9 said:

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Cape Verde, monsters of defensive soccer

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I want to see Cape Verde play Australia!

Cal88 said:

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Maybe a factor is that top teams have harder, longer schedules with UEFA fixtures and some players start the tournament more tired or injured.

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I sent this to a group WhatsApp text thread with my friends in Spain:

Guillermo taught me several decades ago that in the game of futbol anything can happen. It is a lower scoring match, and one accidental tripping penalty can decide who wins and who loses.

At the time, I hated that, because I thought a proper contest should require a better determination of who played better.

But Guillermo taught me to embrace the concept of Chance!

And you know, this is fitting, for, Isn't life itself often the result of pure chance?

Consider the good fortune we all had to be born to parents who bought houses in (redacted, beach enclave they developed in the 60's)!

Life is not always fair.
We must accept that both good luck and bad luck are part of the equation.

Viva futbol!

When one accepts that many successful lives are the result of a series of good fortune (chance) and many unsuccessful lives are also the result of (chance), the logical next step is Compassion - or egoism if you're a jerk.

sluggo said:

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dajo9 said:

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sicko stuff

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A sicko who has the self-awareness to know he is a sicko is hopefully tolerable. Okay, no more about me.

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Please post often from Seattle. Bearister or Diablo will teach you how to post images anonymously.

Enjoy yourself, compatriot.

Big C said:

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Cal88 said:

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This is incredibly awful and stupid.

Uruguay arrived in the United States for the World Cup and were greeted by sniffer dogs and full security checks.

Look at Manuel Ugarte’s face 😂 pic.twitter.com/LZrT4nUmrX

— utdreport (@utdreport) June 15, 2026

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Speaking of Uruguay, how did they ever win two World Cups? Isn't that, like, twice as many as ****ing England?!?

Shouldn't Spielberg or somebody make a movie about this? If you gave 1,000 random Americans an outline map of the world, how many could identify Uruguay? Or even come within three countries of identifying them?

Paraguay and Uruguay are two different countries, right? What's up with them both ending in "guay"? Does that mean something in Spanish, like "country"? Then what do "para" and "uru" mean? Hey, maybe "para" means zero, "uru" means two... and "guay" means World Cups!

I feel like I'm having a great day, today, solving a lot of the world's problems.

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Yes - Paraguay and Uruguay are completely different countries.
And no - "guay" does not mean anything in Spanish. The similarity comes from Guarani , an Indigenous language of the Southern Cone.

Here's the clear breakdown.

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Why both names end in -guay

Both Paraguay and Uruguay come from Guarani, not Spanish.
In Guarani, -guay (or -guai) appears in several riverrelated words. It does not mean "country." It's part of older compound forms describing rivers, animals, or natural features.

Paraguay

Multiple Guarani etymologies exist, but the most widely cited breakdown is:

para - "water" or "river"
guay gua y - interpreted variously as "birth," "from," or simply "water"


Common scholarly interpretations include:

"water that gives birth" or "born of water"
"river of the born" (para = river, gua = born)
Other historical proposals exist, but all are Guaranbased.


Uruguay

Uruguay also comes from Guarani. The most accepted etymologies:

uru - "bird"
guay - "river"
-> "river of birds" or "birdriver"


Another linguistic source traces it to:

urugu - "water snail"
y - "river"
-> "river of water snails"


Both interpretations are Guaranii not Spanish.

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So what do para and uru mean?

para -> "water," "river," or "big river" (depending on the specific Guarani analysis)
uru / ur -> "bird" (in the most common Uruguay etymology)
In another etymology, urugua refers to a type of water snail.



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Why the names look similar

Because both countries are named after rivers, and both rivers were named in Guaran.
Spanish colonizers adopted the Indigenous names rather than inventing new Spanish ones.


NOTE: there is apparently no river that flows through both countries.

I am so F*****G SICK of this new *feature* with the website advertising programming that reloads pages in the middle of my posts and wipes them out.


INTOLERABLE.
NEEDS FIXING!

Fun Short:

5 Things from Day 5:

5 things from Day 3

5 Things from Day 2:

5 Things from Day 4:

5 Things from Day 1:

After a day of draws ($100 parlay of all four games drawing yesterday would have netted you nearly $100,000) I'm seeing no draws in today's predictions.

France 3-1

Norway 3-0

Argentina 3-0

Austria 2-0

dajo9 said:

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Cape Verde, monsters of defensive soccer

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40 year old goalie Vozhina watches his following on IG go from 40,000 to over 3 million!

Dwight Way said:

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dajo9 said:

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Cape Verde, monsters of defensive soccer

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40 year old goalie Vozhina watches his following on IG go from 40,000 to over 3 million!

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It's actually up over 8.3 million now!

concordtom said:

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sluggo said:

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dajo9 said:

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sicko stuff

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A sicko who has the self-awareness to know he is a sicko is hopefully tolerable. Okay, no more about me.

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Please post often from Seattle. Bearister or Diablo will teach you how to post images anonymously.

Enjoy yourself, compatriot.

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Thanks! If someone tells me how to post photos I will post a few. I never appear in my own photos. I hurt myself playing soccer last year and gained a few pounds, and then a few more. In the future I will have AI fix all my current photos to my future weight.

I am enjoying this kind of video, demonstrating that most Americans actually are pretty hospitable to people from other countries when given the opportunity (despite what you may assume from the rhetoric of our current leaders).

World Cup tourists have discovered New Jersey deli: pic.twitter.com/1UmF2jsrTV

— Katerina Dimitratos (@KDimitratos) June 12, 2026

🗣️ “I want to say thank you to Algeria for choosing Lawrence, Kansas.” 🇺🇸

The locals in USA are all getting behind Algeria. 🇩🇿 pic.twitter.com/e2kejLtxjb

— Dean Ammi (@AlgerianFooty) June 8, 2026

Česká reprezentace, která během základní skupiny pobývá v texaském městě Fort Worth, přijala pozvání městské samosprávy k návštěvě místní čtvrti Stockyards. 🇺🇸

Český tým navštívil také tradiční rodeo. Čtvrť Stockyards hrdě odkazuje na místní tradici kovbojství a Divokého západu.… pic.twitter.com/qNsMPg12GQ

— Česká fotbalová reprezentace (@ceskarepre_cz) June 14, 2026

Good stuff!

~ uhh

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-16/world-cup-exposes-growing-global-rift-over-prediction-markets?srnd=homepage-americas

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/scotland-fans-loudest-noise-ever-world-cup-history/d9134bd5e457e6a852e88ad5

Kore’nin stoperlerinin yaptığı idmanmış. Bizim stoper rotasyonunda şundan 8 tekrar yapacak kondisyona sadece Ozan Kabak sahiptir yüksek ihtimal. pic.twitter.com/YtL4Ymes3G

— Hüseyin Karakurt (@vekilkarakurt) June 16, 2026

Korean defender training

Tempo de trabalho resulta nisso que vocês estão vendo. Marrocos engoliu a seleção brasileira. pic.twitter.com/pRx9D5MwEJ

— Fernando Galvão (@fernandogalvaof) June 15, 2026

Translated from Portuguese
"Work time results in this that you're seeing. Morocco swallowed the Brazilian national team."

98 players in this World Cup are from France, 54 from the Paris suburbs. In the pregame show, Thierry Henry, a product of that region cited street and pickup football culture as key to this success.

Cal88 said:

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98 players in this World Cup are from France, 54 from the Paris suburbs. In the pregame show, Thierry Henry, a product of that region cited street and pickup football culture as key to this success.

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Sure, those matter, if you don't want to talk about race. (Ducking.)

You look at someone like Mbappe', his father was from Cameroon, raised in France, his mother a second generation immigrant originally from Algeria who was born and raised in France, and starred on the French women's national handball team. Are you going to tell me he is any less French than the other 69 million French people?

Cal88 said:

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You look at someone like Mbappe', his father was from Cameroon, raised in France, his mother a second generation immigrant originally from Algeria who was born and raised in France, and starred on the French women's national handball team. Are you going to tell me he is any less French than the other 69 million French people?

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Not my point whatsoever. I try to stay away from politics but I am very pro immigration and diversity.

The best athletes in the world come from West Africa. That is my only point.

Athleticism in soccer is overrated. Look at that assist by Olise on that goal, you can't teach that, and who cares about his speed. The best French player of all time, Platini, was not particularly fast or athletic, he would start and captain this France team.

Olise really took out three Senegal players with that ball.

What an assist 😨 pic.twitter.com/GFCv1bzjBI

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 16, 2026

Mbappe with his 2 goals today joins German great Gerd Muller as the 3rd all time WC goal scorer, 1 behind (Fenomeno) Ronaldo and 2 behind Klose. He's going to break the record in this tournament.

Cal88 said:

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Athleticism in soccer is overrated. Look at that assist by Olise on that goal, you can't teach that, and who cares about his speed. The best French player of all time, Platini, was not particularly fast or athletic, he would start and captain this France team.

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Olise is a wonderful athlete who plays for Bayern, the team I think started the athletic revolution in the game that was taken to new heights by PSG. Referring to players from 40 years ago is not relevant, the game has changed in the last 5-10 years. Skill is also at a premium, but the athleticism has gone through the roof.

I think we both don't want to have a discussion of race, so let's not. I do think it is difficult to understand modern French soccer success without talking about race. I don't think race, ethnicity or religion has anything to do with citizenship or more generally belonging to a country. Done.

sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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98 players in this World Cup are from France, 54 from the Paris suburbs. In the pregame show, Thierry Henry, a product of that region cited street and pickup football culture as key to this success.

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Sure, those matter, if you don't want to talk about race. (Ducking.)

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https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2022/0718/Immigrant-population-rises-in-France-but-so-does-discrimination

ChatGPT tells me French law disallows collection of demographic (race) data from citizens. But this article reveals some outside sources.

Two studies have released data highlighting the persistent discrimination immigrants face in France. The data reveals that although a large swath of France's population has immigrant ancestry, discrimination in French society is still high.

Big C said:

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Cal88 said:

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4 ties today - orange slices for everyone.

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I knew you were rooting for "Holland"!

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According to Growls forum, it's called the Netherlands!

sycasey said:

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I am enjoying this kind of video, demonstrating that most Americans actually are pretty hospitable to people from other countries when given the opportunity (despite what you may assume from the rhetoric of our current leaders).

World Cup tourists have discovered New Jersey deli: pic.twitter.com/1UmF2jsrTV

— Katerina Dimitratos (@KDimitratos) June 12, 2026

🗣️ “I want to say thank you to Algeria for choosing Lawrence, Kansas.” 🇺🇸

The locals in USA are all getting behind Algeria. 🇩🇿 pic.twitter.com/e2kejLtxjb

— Dean Ammi (@AlgerianFooty) June 8, 2026

Česká reprezentace, která během základní skupiny pobývá v texaském městě Fort Worth, přijala pozvání městské samosprávy k návštěvě místní čtvrti Stockyards. 🇺🇸

Český tým navštívil také tradiční rodeo. Čtvrť Stockyards hrdě odkazuje na místní tradici kovbojství a Divokého západu.… pic.twitter.com/qNsMPg12GQ

— Česká fotbalová reprezentace (@ceskarepre_cz) June 14, 2026

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Deli guy gets an A+ for marketing

Cal88 said:

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98 players in this World Cup are from France, 54 from the Paris suburbs. In the pregame show, Thierry Henry, a product of that region cited street and pickup football culture as key to this success.

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Having worked for a French company, I have observed most French will tell you they're from outside Paris. I'm beginning to think "outside" covers several hundred miles.

dajo9 said:

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Cal88 said:

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98 players in this World Cup are from France, 54 from the Paris suburbs. In the pregame show, Thierry Henry, a product of that region cited street and pickup football culture as key to this success.

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Having worked for a French company, I have observed most French will tell you they're from outside Paris. I'm beginning to think "outside" covers several hundred miles.

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The population within the boundaries of the city of Paris is 2 million, and that of the metropolitan area is 12M-13M.

If you live in Paris proper, you're either fairly well off, a local Boomer, or you have inherited your pad, with a few small exceptions. Most of my HS classmates ended up getting their own place outside of town, as do most young professionals who move there. As well the extended public transit network is pretty good and covers a wide area, it is easy to commute.

I don't remember specifics but I remember Argentina being pretty obnoxious 4 years ago and I remember rooting against them

Ditto, rooting for the pride of Lawrence, KS in this game.