Open Thread: September 6, 2021

The Open Thread/Daily Merengue is a place where you can discuss anything and everything related to football. Feel free to discuss the topics presented here, or start your very own discussions! The Open thread will be posted every day by one of the mods: Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, YoSnail, Ezek Ix or NeRObutBlanco.

Real Madrid players light up the WC Qualifiers

Bale carries Wales with a hat-trick against Belarus. The third goal:

Hazard scored and played 73’ for Belgium against the Czech Republic. His goal:

This is his 101st official Man of the Match award:

Courtois maintained a clean sheet.

Valverde was given the responsibility to take a free kick against Bolivia and it was a bright idea. He played for much of the game as a left-sided midfielder in a 4-3-3.

CONMEBOL Fiasco

Meanwhile, the Brazil vs Argentina match has been suspended after four minutes due to players from Argentina violating Covid-19 protocols. The officials literally ran on to the pitch mid-play to apprehend the violators, who reportedly had given false information about their quarantine status. It has to be said, however: this is a spectacularly ugly way to go about enforcing their policies.

Here was Messi’s comment about it:

We’ve been here for three days. Were they waiting for the match to start? Why not warn about this beforehand or at the hotel? They could have explained this and it would be sorted. Now, the world is watching.

The Bernabeu will reopen for the Sunday match against Celta Vigo.

The white temple of football will finally host again with the renovations in the last stages of completion.