And now, a hat trick.
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Crazy day for the stars. 7 goals combined
Algeria officially making history
nice to see a player from MLS finally get to showcase his skills on a world stage. big boost for the brand, and good for him.
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Another MLS guy scored for Croatia
Cristiano Ronaldo needs to not play… he was a liability today.
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Been a great World Cup so far. Can’t believe we’re not even through the opening group stage games.
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Expanded World Cup haters in the mud (so far), despite FIFA’s best efforts, basically this take
Henry had a good breakdown of how he made the selfish play and squandered a great opportunity for the team the score:
https://x.com/haterreport/status/2067386682488279202?s=46&t=wAzMZR-0PRGT1LpN6U5x0g
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I was commenting to my boys after Portugal took the lead that Ronaldo didn’t even seem too excited that they had scored since it wasn’t him.
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Feels like the issue is more Ronaldo the persona than Ronaldo the player. Plenty of 9’s who don’t contribute anything offensively other than hanging around the box. But the rest of Portugal tried to pass or cross the ball to him every time they got near the box. Every corner was targeted to Ronaldo. They passed up so many shot and pass to other player opportunities to force Ronaldo the ball. If they just didn’t do they that they could’ve easily had 2 or 3 more goals even with his lack of contribution in build up and non existent defense
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My son and i talked about this specific point. Those 9s… the quintissential example for active players is Ollie Watkins… can roam around with minimal touches on the ball and score with a single touch.
Watkins leads the Premier League with the most goals with the least amount of touches. He is the master of being in the right place at the right time.
Ronaldo just likes bullying his way into the box and demanding the ball. He isnt good enough to do that anymore.
Ollie Watkins is a highly efficient striker who averages approximately 1 goal for every 50 to 60 touches. He typically records around 25 touches per match, meaning his touches-to-goal ratio remains low by design, relying on elite movement and clinical finishing rather than high-volume buildup involvement.
- Touches per 90 minutes: ~25 to 28 touches.
- Touches in the opposition box: ~5 to 6 per match.
- Goal conversion rate: ~16.3% to 19.3% of his shots.
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Ronaldo says he was just trying to minimize ebola spread, guys. He’s very public health conscious.
I, for one, support his community orientation and public spiritedness.
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If Pulisic can’t go, who do you guys think starts? General vibe seems to be Reyna given we expect to have most of possession and he’s our best passer. Given how little he’s played, I think I’d save him for the second half though.
Wish we had experimented with two strikers more than a few minutes over the last couple of years. Seems like being able to play Pepsi (assuming Paraguay was just an off day) with Balogun would be the best solution if Pulisic can’t play
I hope it is Pepi… but remember he is coming off that broken arm… so who really knows his fitness.
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I thought you didn’t use your hands in soccer. What’s he need an arm for?
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I don’t know if Paraguay was an aberration for Pepi. He’s blown multiple easy chances in international play over the years that he usually converts in club play.
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More talking about his touch. He was very loose with the ball. Maybe just too amped up after Balogun had scored two
When it comes to actually scoring, he’s the most efficient US player since there is enough data to track such things. Might be skewed by goals against bad Concacaf teams though 
Ugh… Pulisic out.
I’m nervous