Paul Stephen

“Every day, I pray for the grace to honestly say, Father, I am indifferent to every outcome except your will. I want nothing more or less than your desire for what I do...” - Pete Scazarro

@AlexiLalas According to Gemini Before the tournament began, the mathematical odds of the exact top four favorites all successfully making the semifinals were roughly 1 in 70 (or about a 1.4% chance). It’s never happened before is history. All the chaos seems to have been removed from WC

Final 4.

@rich_kruszyna @ElliottBCFC Starfish - perfect explanation lol. The way he went from absorbing contact with his body staying low and feet under him to suddenly “starfish” pose falling backwards and landing like a log…

@ElliottBCFC He flopped man. There is a human reaction called protective extension where your body will naturally try to break your fall to protect itself. Putting your hands down to brace your fall. Notice how he put his hands above his head and fall like a starfish…… lol unnatural

I feel like the World Cup does something to people's brains, they're now claiming Haaland pushing Anderson with both hands was 'never a foul' the most blatant foul of the entire season

@Erling See you in 2030!

It’s been quite a row, thank you for making it so special 🚣🏼🇳🇴❤️

@_marc_clark_ @Gyroro_ @Jacobtheclipper I think FIFA have a vested interest in protecting its biggest names against teams like Croatia and Norway, Egypt, and even American players who are deemed inferior. It’s a financial risk if the big teams lose.

@PStephenO @Gyroro_ @Jacobtheclipper "That affects viewership dramatically" Does it? Especially if you have the USA in there?!

FIFA IS USING VAR TO RIG GAMES FIFA IS USING VAR TO RIG GAMES FIFA IS USING VAR TO RIG GAMES

@_marc_clark_ @Gyroro_ @Jacobtheclipper Fair—USA would have been blockbuster of course in the American market but we didn’t play well enough. People want to watch Messi, Mbappe and Pedri and Yamal.

@_marc_clark_ @Gyroro_ @Jacobtheclipper Imagine a semis tournament with Egypt, Norway, Croatia and one other team like USA or Cabo Verde. That affects viewership dramatically but it could have been if the calls were reversed.

@Gyroro_ @Jacobtheclipper Do FIFA directly get money from TV adverts?

@MikRec A slight touch to the inside would have given him a good angle. He didn’t want to pass it, had no intention. And so they lose

Creo que Sirloth no tiene en ningún momento linea de pase lo suficientemente clara como para dársela. El problema es que es zurdo y lo que tenía que haber hecho era avanzar y disparar con la derecha. No se atrevió

@sejhudson x.com/markvalorian/s… x.com/markvalorian/s…

Put it this way: imagine if the goal had been ruled out on the evidence that was available at the time (i.e. the quoted video and maybe a different angle). Had that happened, I think many good faith neutrals would see England as the victim of yet another poor VAR call...

Obviously have my biases here but I just don't see anything here. Has to be by far the most tenuous of the "controversies" this tournament. Even the disallowed goal involving Haaland's foul had more to debate.

@JenkoKent @sejhudson It’s not too rare — it happened to the Minnesota Vikings on a field goal kick and it wasn’t caught in real time almost causing them to lose the game. Cable cam needs to have more rules placed on it

I actually don’t disagree with you here — it would have felt brutal for England supporters. It’s such a rare situation that it’s going to be contentious no matter what, and a shame a goal came from this particular moment. But if we’re looking for objective officiating, the correct decision is always going to be playing the rules which are clear about any kind of interference on the ball. Similarly, the disallowed Norwegian goal is technically objectively correct, because there was enough contact from Haaland, but it feels equally harsh because the English player was obviously trying to get a foul, was pushing back equally until he flopped over on purpose, and both Haaland and the English player were irrelevant to the play. I think we all just want to feel certain that the objective decisions are objective in both directions, even when disappointing for one side or the other.

@sejhudson Ball hitting the wire shortened its trajectory giving the ball easily to the England player who ran on to it with momentum going toward goal. It absolutely gave an advantage to England.

@TaylorTwellman He went from pushing and shoving to becoming a stiff board and fell feet planted like a tree. You don’t see the dramatics in that???

This is a foul. But so is the bear hug and that needs to be called more consistently.

@TaylorTwellman Also, a dive.

@SharkingClub @FFTVofficial There was a window to pass it easily and Sorloth missed it Stones did good given the fact that he split the difference

@PStephenO @FFTVofficial Well that’s definitely correct yet the English defender made a perfect move. He needs to get the majority of the credit.

💥 Alexander Sörloth’un bu pozisyonda Haaland'a pas vermemesi sonrası Norveç taraftarları çileden çıktı.

@theoldzealand The ball drops straight down for England giving them an advantage going the other. Sorloth could have hustled and gotten back on defense.

Norway players point it out right away, don’t know how with all the cameras and sensors they miss this

So unbelievably England got possession for their goal because the ball hit the camera cable Which by rule, is an instant dead ball

@ESPNFC It’s so easy for FIFA/Var to manipulate these games. They just ignore stuff like this to get the big four teams in the semi finals.

The goal kick hit a camera wire in the buildup to Jude Bellingham's equalizing goal right before halftime 😯 There was no VAR check on the play and Norway couldn't believe it 😳

@flemingrut Thank you this was beautiful

open.substack.com/pub/jasonmiche… Here is the best format for my sermon at my husband's funeral. It includes the full text as well as the video. It is not a "eulogy"!Thanks to the tirelss efforts of Jason Micheli...

@mattturck @FirstTouchDev This was great

Chills - Thierry Henry on growing up playing in the suburbs of Paris (and why 54 World Cup players are from there)

@AndrewMarchand Haji can play wing can’t he?

I like Dempsey idea, putting Pulisic up front as false 9

Americans on my TL saying this isn’t a red card LMFAOOO