Lighthouse

Their laws are wrong and inhumane, that’s the whole point, that’s why people are protesting.

They aren’t protesting for people who want to go there on holiday, they’re protesting for the homosexuals who are born there and don’t have a choice. I’m sure if you and Turkish were forced to bone each other from the age of 14, or face a state imposed death penalty, you might have a problem with it.

That’s not the argument. Nobody is asking any Muslim to change their own personal faith, simply not to impose it on other people. You’re allowed to believe whatever mental sh*te you want, whether it’s the Earth being flat or a 2000 year old Jew being nailed to a piece of wood to absolve you of all sin. Everyone else is allowed to think your beliefs are ludicrous and not adhere to them.

People are imposing their own personal beliefs on the entire country, on penalty of death in some cases. I can’t put it any more simply than that. If you’re having trouble differentiating between a same sex relationship and 12 year olds underaged drinking, I can’t help you.

No, not in any way, what a bizarre thing to try and argue.

But the very thing people are protesting about is non-homosexuals instilling their will on homosexuals. Nobody is trying to take Islam from them, you can still live according to strict Sharia law if that’s your choosing. The whole argument is that people who don’t believe in this medieval belief system shouldn’t have to live by it.

Could we get a points deduction when Gao has sold up and left? Seems like that’d be zero punishment on him and everything on SR.

Is it coming over the hill?

Obviously it’s not going to change much with the current regime but younger, more impressionable Qataris might just realise there’s more to life than very conservative Islam. I have some personal experience of Saudi Arabia and whilst they still have a long way to go as a country, there are signs of a shift culturally. Countries in that region have realised that selling oil and religious dogma just doesn’t cut it in 2022 and they have to move with the times or face a popular uprising. There are already signs of that in Iran, where women are getting rather annoyed at being made to feel shame for their own hair because it says so in 9th century scripture. If nothing else I’m just glad that they’re protesting against an actual law which can actually be changed, rather than against something vague and conceptual, like with all the knee/racism stuff.

I know it’s 5-0 but that crowd is just an embarrassment.

Boufal the first player dragged off when they can’t score. Where’ve I seen that before?

Absolutely, been saying this for years. Along with in play, on field physio treatment, outside the penalty area to cut down on fake injuries and play acting.

Crikey mucker, bonzer goal.

Woah, what a f**king goal that is.

Glad to see that penalty being given, the problem is that they’re not given every time in every game. I don’t care if we get six penalties per game, they’d soon learn.

Can we call this the Ryan Reynolds derby?

Berghuis really fleeced the defender there.

He’s not concussed, just a bit confused about what he was doing.

I think the utterly spineless nature of all of this is one of the most irritating things. If we decided to just shut up and play football, fine. If we decided we were going to take the knee and wear the armband, also fine. The fact that they’ve made all this noise about standing up for people’s rights but immediately back down when they’re threatened with being booked shows how shallow and artificial it really is.

1934, Angelo Schiavio against the USA for Italy.

I wonder what the deal is when Ecuador score, everyone gathers in a circle to thank God, then it’s disallowed by VAR. do they have to start praying to someone else?

Hoping for double figures personally, want to see an absolute farce of a score. You don't, I was being facetious.

Begins? F**k me, you're late to that party.

It’s just doesn’t feel like a WC to me, more of a pain in the backside international break. I’m wouldn’t be against a winter WC as such, if the football seasons were aligned to a calendar year and the domestic season was over. It’s the fact that it’s mid-season and in Qatar that ruins it.

Wasn’t a problem when it hosted a friendly between Scunthorpe and Lightwater.