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On July 20, 2023, at 7 p.m. local time in Auckland, New Zealand, the whistle will blow for kickoff between co-hosts New Zealand and Norway, and the 2023 Women's World Cup will be underway. I am not sure if admins will be re-opening the World Cup forum (they should!) so I wanted to at least get a general hype thread down. Over the past three World Cups there have only been a handful of teams with real chances to take home the trophy. The US has been a dominant force over that time, winning the last two in 2019 and 2015, and advancing to the finals in 2011 before losing on penalties to Japan. Other top nations like Sweden, the aforementioned Japan, France, Brazil, Canada, and Germany have been among the contenders over this time period, but generally speaking there's been only a handful of nations considered to have a chance at the crown. That is not the case this year. There are at least 10 nations out of the field of 32 with realistic chances of hoisting the Copa Mundial on August 20. Not only has the women's game developed a great deal over the last decade, with viable pro leagues popping up on both sides of the Atlantic, but injury troubles and absences due to sexist national football federations have mainly fallen on the top squads. The combination of nations like Spain and England and their pro clubs finally taking women's soccer at least somewhat seriously has upped both the quality of play and given their citizens hope that they could win it all. After all, the only English team to win a Euro in all of history are the women, who brought it home just last summer. There's 32 group stage teams this year, eight more than in 2019. This is a mixed blessing. It will no doubt drive attention to the women's game in nations like Vietnam, Argentina, and South Africa. It will also mean we have more results like the 13-0 paddling the United States handed Thailand in the prior tournament. That being said, it won't be a waltz to the knockouts for all of the favorites.  New Zealand, as co-host, received a group of life. That's good, because the Football Ferns have never won a World Cup match in 18 attempts. Their record all time is 0-3-15. They should be able to win against the Philippines and probably against Switzerland, though. Norway, on the other hand, has two of the best players in the world in Ada Hegerberger and Caroline Graham Hansen, and are dark horse contenders who should really be aiming for at least the semifinals.  Australia and Canada should be expected to go through here. Australia has Sam Kerr, possibly the world's best striker, in her prime and at home. Canada has Christine Sinclair, perhaps the greatest striker in women's footballing history, in her swansong. Both are in the group of teams that could win the whole thing, and Canada just two years ago took Olympic gold. Which, for context, is the second most important tournament in women's football where nations send their very best possible squads instead of the weird sideshow it is for the men.  Spain has, despite the perfidy and fecklessness of it's national federation, finally turned into one of the powerhouses of the sport. They were looking at being outright favorites until a number of their players stated that they would not play for the current coach, and those women have sacrificed their World Cup so that a failson can keep his sinecure despite his players hating him. Despite that, if Alexia Putellas has fully recovered from a devastating ACL injury last year and has the fitness to play full matches, they've still got enough talent on the roster to win the whole thing. Since the start of the 2021-2022 season Barcelona, which has many of the Spanish team's players, has gone 85-2-4 with a +250 goal differential.  The Lionesses finally brought it home last year. Much like Spain, for decades English women's football suffered at the hands of a FA that didn't give a single poo poo about the game and turned what should have been a top tier powerhouse into nobodies. That began to change in the last decade thanks in large part to semifinal runs in 2015 and 2019, and has advanced rapidly as the WSL in England has become one of the top women's leagues alongside the Americans, French, and Germans. Denmark and China are both good sides who will have a dogfight to advance, with Denmark having one of the 10 or so best forwards in the game in Pernille Harder.  Group E has both the defending champion and the runner up from the prior World Cup, where a very scrappy Dutch side burst into the final before a respectable 2-0 loss. It also has Portugal, which is simply not there yet in terms of depth or top level quality. The United States is missing in their prime stars Mallory Swanson, Sam Mewis, and Catarina Macario from their roster due to injury. Injury has also knocked veteran leaders Christen Press and former team captain Becky Sauerbrunn from the competition. Rose Lavelle is only just back from a knee injury, and neither she nor 2019 star Megan Rapinoe played in the send-off match against Wales a week ago. They've got a giant target on their back. And they're still the favorites to win, because the United States is so ludicrously deep that the B team would be expected to make the quarterfinals. They're a lot closer to everyone else than they were in 2019, when only France were on their level, but they're still at least first among equals. And they could very well to add that fifth star to their jersey. OTOH, this ad for the World Cup does make me think that hubris might finally catch up to them.  France's players, led by centerback and team captain Wendie Renard, rose up and defenestrated their coach Corinne Diacre earlier this year. The only shame of it is that it didn't happen sooner. Their new coach is Herve Renard, no relation to Wendie, who was last seen leading Saudi Arabia to victory over Argentina last November. It's too bad he hasn't had more time to work with the team, and it's also too bad that Amandine Henry is missing from the squad due to injury. Brazil, meanwhile, is in full "win for Marta" mode. Marta, a six time winner of the FIFA Player of the Year award and one of the greatest players the nation has ever produced, is appearing in her 5th World Cup, and has never won. They, thanks to injuries to the top squads, are in the mix of clubs that could do the whole thing.  Absent any knowledge about women's soccer, you would think that the best team in a World Cup group that includes Italy and Argentina would be one of those two. You would be wrong. Sweden has long been one of the elite clubs in women's football, while Italy only just managed to remove their heads from their asses after the Azzurre surprised everyone by winning their group over Australia and Brazil, and then marching to the quarterfinals over the bodies of China. Argentina, on the other hand, have never come close to their rival Brazil's success, and this team lost 7-0 to Spain last fall.  Lastly, the only nation other than the United States to win multiple Women's World Cups is in Group H. Germany has had a disappointing decade, winning only the 2016 Olympics and 2013 Euros after the aughts saw them win both World Cups and all three Euros. They're still one of the teams to beat, and it would be shocking if they didn't win this group. habeasdorkus fucked around with this message at 16:15 on Jul 18, 2023 |
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Jul 16, 2023 18:19
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 14:35 |
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For the record, my prediction is USWNT over Australia in the final.
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Jul 16, 2023 18:21
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I'll be down there for a little bit and will be attending the rematch of the '19 final, hopefully my hotel doesn't turn out to actually be a converted shipping container  ngl, super worried about the US come knockouts because of all the injuries (I know they're not the only team dealing with that, but goddamn).
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Jul 16, 2023 18:32
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habeasdorkus posted:Norway, on the other hand, has two of the best players in the world in Ada Hegerberger and Caroline Graham Hansen, and are dark horse contenders who should really be aiming for at least the semifinals. We're a bit less optimistic over here and the current expectation is getting out of the group and then getting booted in the round of 16. We may have four of the best attacking players in Ada, Caroline, Guro and Frida, but have no defense what so ever to speak of.
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Jul 16, 2023 18:34
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Great op, op. Lold at Ireland cancelling a friendly with Colombia at half time the other week because they were getting the poo poo kicked out of them. Conmebol never change Mrs ghost has met a number of the EWNT as part of her work and says they're lovely so in conclusion it's coming home
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Jul 16, 2023 18:37
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I watched Zambia beat Germany 3-2 in a friendly and with no other knowledge or context decided they will become the first african nation to win a WWC knockout match. sleep on them at your own peril
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Jul 16, 2023 18:42
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habeasdorkus posted:Absent any knowledge about women's soccer, you would think that the best team in a World Cup group that includes Italy and Argentina would be one of those two. You would be wrong. Sweden has long been one of the elite clubs in women's football, while Italy only just managed to remove their heads from their asses after the Azzurre surprised everyone by winning their group over Australia and Brazil, and then marching to the quarterfinals over the bodies of China. Argentina, on the other hand, have never come close to their rival Brazil's success, and this team lost 7-0 to Spain last fall. sweden also used to have one of the top national leagues in europe until the big money clubs down on the contient started paying attention to womens football you had marta playing for umeå back in the day
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Jul 16, 2023 19:08
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QUEER FRASIER posted:I watched Zambia beat Germany 3-2 in a friendly and with no other knowledge or context decided they will become the first african nation to win a WWC knockout match. sleep on them at your own peril Zambia has some real good players. I think they're still 4 years off from making some noise, but I don't know poo poo. Grimson posted:We're a bit less optimistic over here and the current expectation is getting out of the group and then getting booted in the round of 16. We may have four of the best attacking players in Ada, Caroline, Guro and Frida, but have no defense what so ever to speak of. Yeah, that's fair. I think Norway will finish first in their group though, so I think going to the quarterfinals at least is pretty realistic. habeasdorkus fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Jul 16, 2023 |
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Jul 16, 2023 20:09
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thanks op allez!
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Jul 16, 2023 20:41
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I think that The United States of America will win the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
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Jul 16, 2023 20:57
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Got tickets to a few of the games, watching England v Denmark and a couple of the R16 matches which I’m super looking forward to. Everyone down here is pretty pumped for the World Cup, with actual fans attending rather than paid tifos like in Qatar. Believing and hoping that Australia can go the whole way, everyone is super behind them and expectations are pretty high. We’re not the best team in the tournament, but over the last year or so we’ve found ways to win against better teams which is promising. Blows my mind that they’re expecting 80,000 spectators for the Aus v Ireland game this week, it’s come a long way from the friends and family type crowd that used to attend women’s football!
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Jul 17, 2023 01:48
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I know it's a long shot but I would love for Canada to win the World Cup so Christine Sinclair, the greatest footballer of all time, can retire with a World Cup winners medal.
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Jul 17, 2023 14:37
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Christine Sinclair, the 17th greatest women's footballer of all time.
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Jul 17, 2023 15:14
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Teams I think should be considered roughly co-favorites: USA Germany France Spain England Teams I think could win it all (teams I'd figure have at least a 5% chance to win): Sweden Canada Australia Netherlands Brazil Norway Team that could make me look real dumb for thinking they're not competitors this year: Japan (They just seem like they're in an off period after being fantastic a decade ago) Team that could make me and everyone look dumb for totally discounting them: Denmark (Pernille Harder is fantastic) That's 13 teams that should be between pretty drat good and excellent! That's about as good as you could ever hope for in a major international tournament. We're 3 days out and I am straining at the bit levels of hype.
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Jul 17, 2023 17:30
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its coming home harder than a johnny wilkinson drop goal
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Jul 18, 2023 06:22
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Let's not bicker and argue over whether or not it's coming home (because it's not, it's staying right where it is) and instead make fun of this ESPN article that says the US has the best looking kit out of all 32 teams (based on the blurb for the Dutch kits I'm pretty sure the author is colorblind, which explains a lot).
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Jul 18, 2023 15:46
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German away jersey is real nice, IMO. I think the writer was referring to the Dutch alternate jerseys being white, red, and blue. But man, the home and away kits are hideous. Portugal's away kit is also terrible. How are they ranked above boring but perfectly fine jerseys? And Christ, I cannot believe I'm going to buy either the home or away Sophia Smith jersey. The USWNT: first in football, first in pay equality, last in 2023 World Cup kit design.
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Jul 18, 2023 15:58
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Ah, I see how I read that wrong. Still, that Dutch 2nd looks like it should be an England kit. The CONMEBOL teams should be 1/2/3. I grabbed the US 2nd for my trip, but it was through gritted teeth.
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Jul 18, 2023 16:04
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All of the Nike kits are bad and boring. The US kit is bad, boring, and ugly.
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Jul 18, 2023 16:11
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This is the better read on jersey rankings. https://twitter.com/applessquabble/status/1674117818520948743?s=20
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Jul 18, 2023 16:13
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whypick1 posted:Let's not bicker and argue over whether or not it's coming home (because it's not, it's staying right where it is) and instead make fun of this ESPN article that says the US has the best looking kit out of all 32 teams (based on the blurb for the Dutch kits I'm pretty sure the author is colorblind, which explains a lot). Trying to read the article on my phone, every one of the instagram posts is just a link to instagram
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Jul 18, 2023 16:20
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whypick1 posted:Let's not bicker and argue over whether or not it's coming home (because it's not, it's staying right where it is) and instead make fun of this ESPN article that says the US has the best looking kit out of all 32 teams (based on the blurb for the Dutch kits I'm pretty sure the author is colorblind, which explains a lot). quote:The away kit is perfectly serviceable but also arguably represents the least captivating of Adidas' nature-themed alternate jerseys, featuring a deep-blue design inspired by the magnificent ice caps, fjords and ancient glaciers of the Scandinavian nation. that sounds like they are describing norway not sweden the only fjords we have are the ones in the region bohuslän which borders (and used to be part of) norway
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Jul 18, 2023 18:22
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Megamissen posted:that sounds like they are describing norway not sweden so youre saying you do, in fact, have fjords alternatively: it's not a fjord, it's just made to look like a fjord
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Jul 19, 2023 00:09
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Eau de MacGowan posted:so youre saying you do, in fact, have fjords  sweden has two, one if which is shared with norway norway has over a thousand they also have over ten times our glacier coverage despite being smaller "inspired by the magnificent ice caps, fjords and ancient glaciers of the Scandinavian nation" everyone who knows scandinavia would think of norway  the picture makes me think of islossning in the gulf of bothnia or the northern rivers e: checked the adidas website and the writers just made up the fjord part, probably just thinking scandinavia=fjords quote:bortastället knyter an till den kyliga naturen och glaciärälvarna som flyter genom landet Megamissen fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Jul 19, 2023 |
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Jul 19, 2023 01:24
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The assistant coach for the Norwegian team handed out homework for each national team player at the end of last year and asked them to practice taking penalties. Between the first and second national team camps they were asked to practice taking three penalties five times a week, and then after the second camp they were asked to refine them a bit and do one penalty three times a week. They've also hired one of the best penalty researchers in the world, Geir Jordet, to help with the mental aspect and they held a penalty shootout contest against Portugal in the last friendly before the game on Thursday and won 4-2.
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Jul 19, 2023 02:51
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Grimson posted:The assistant coach for the Norwegian team handed out homework for each national team player at the end of last year and asked them to practice taking penalties. Between the first and second national team camps they were asked to practice taking three penalties five times a week, and then after the second camp they were asked to refine them a bit and do one penalty three times a week. They've also hired one of the best penalty researchers in the world, Geir Jordet, to help with the mental aspect and they held a penalty shootout contest against Portugal in the last friendly before the game on Thursday and won 4-2. guess we know what Norway's strategy is going to be
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Jul 19, 2023 07:02
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Grimson posted:The assistant coach for the Norwegian team handed out homework for each national team player at the end of last year and asked them to practice taking penalties. Between the first and second national team camps they were asked to practice taking three penalties five times a week, and then after the second camp they were asked to refine them a bit and do one penalty three times a week. They've also hired one of the best penalty researchers in the world, Geir Jordet, to help with the mental aspect and they held a penalty shootout contest against Portugal in the last friendly before the game on Thursday and won 4-2. Sounds like a recipe for a hilarious collapse when it actually matters. Very English.
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Jul 19, 2023 10:29
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Norway can't do worse than last year. Grimson can attest. US look really strong in attack but we'll see about their defense when they (inevitably) get to the later stages. France got rid of their Lyon-hating coach so they might be good this time. Germany were excellent at Euros and I hope they do well this year also. Weird to not see Scotland or Austria in the tournament but it's going to be a fun one.
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Jul 19, 2023 10:56
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I've set my alarm for 2:45 am tomorrow. Won't be doing that for all the matches, but I don't want to miss the opening ones. Glad the US was able to wrangle a 9pm eastern/6pm pacific kickoff for their first two games vs Vietnam and the Dutch. I'll have to see if I can rouse myself on Tuesday to watch the final group stage game against Portugal.
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Jul 19, 2023 13:32
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Shrapnig posted:Sounds like a recipe for a hilarious collapse when it actually matters. Very English. Terminally Bored posted:Norway can't do worse than last year. Grimson can attest. I’m very much on the side of doubting we will even get to a game that can end in penalties, based on our performance in the last uhhh… ten championships. 2011 World Cup: Group stage. 2012 Olympics: Didn’t qualify. 2013 Euro: Runners up, but this is the odd one out. We lost 1-0 to Germany after missing two penalties. 2015 World Cup: R16. Lost to England, 1-2. 2016 Euro: Group stage. 2016 Olympics: Didn’t qualify. 2017 Euro: Group stage. We didn’t score a single goal. 2019 World Cup: Quarter-finals. Lost to England, 0-3. 2020 Olympics: Didn’t qualify. 2022 Euro: Group stage. Suffered our worst loss ever, to England, 0-7. Grimson fucked around with this message at 14:49 on Jul 19, 2023 |
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Jul 19, 2023 14:42
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That Geir Jordet guy is an absolute quack
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Jul 19, 2023 14:48
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Grimson posted:I’m very much on the side of doubting we will even get to a game that can end in penalties, based on our performance in the last uhhh… ten championships. it's weird, too, there are extremely solid players in almost all positions and several stars who could walk into just about any team in the world norway's bizarre goal keeper curse is in effect on the women's side as well as the men's, but it's not *that* grave. there must just be something peculiar about the institution i guess
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Jul 19, 2023 21:46
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Mass shooting in Auckland, multiple teams are staying downtown near the incident, including Norway who play in 9 hours. Incident contained but what an awful event in general, and especially on opening day. https://twitter.com/1newsnz/status/1681773486241374208?s=46&t=WVceeWcLlqXlE2y7eNkQ_Q https://twitter.com/itsmeglinehan/status/1681788325206822914?s=46&t=WVceeWcLlqXlE2y7eNkQ_Q Nybble fucked around with this message at 23:11 on Jul 19, 2023 |
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Jul 19, 2023 23:06
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https://twitter.com/_shireenahmed_/status/1681817568783503360?s=20
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Jul 20, 2023 01:12
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https://twitter.com/AndrewDasNYT/status/1681822614560407554
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Jul 20, 2023 01:33
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Not all heroes wear capes 
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Jul 20, 2023 02:19
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Let's loving go Matildas
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Jul 20, 2023 02:53
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C'mon New Zealand
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Jul 20, 2023 07:52
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Asia/SA sporting events ftw. No work getting done this morning
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Jul 20, 2023 07:57
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I'm 50/50 on the warmup cardigans or whatever the grey warmup jersey is.
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Jul 20, 2023 07:58
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