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South Africa 2010

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#1

bhamv3

bhamv3

Apparently there's going to be a few countries sending people to South Africa to kick a ball around this summer.

As an England supporter, I look forward to expectations inflated beyond all reasonable levels, followed by squeaking through the group stages, followed by a crushing defeat in the first knockout round, followed by months of scapegoating.

What about you guys?


#2



Chazwozel

bhamv3 said:
Apparently there's going to be a few countries sending people to South Africa to kick a ball around this summer.

As an England supporter, I look forward to expectations inflated beyond all reasonable levels, followed by squeaking through the group stages, followed by a crushing defeat in the first knockout round, followed by months of scapegoating.

What about you guys?
Click to expand...

Having the World Cup hosted by South Africa is the worst idea since the Berlin Olympics.


#3

Piotyr

Piotyr

Chazwozel;384947][QUOTE=bhamv3 said:
Apparently there's going to be a few countries sending people to South Africa to kick a ball around this summer.

As an England supporter, I look forward to expectations inflated beyond all reasonable levels, followed by squeaking through the group stages, followed by a crushing defeat in the first knockout round, followed by months of scapegoating.

What about you guys?
Click to expand...

Having the World Cup hosted by South Africa is the worst idea since the Berlin Olympics.[/QUOTE]

Blame FIFA, who created a rule that the host site had to rotate through all the continents. Then, after they saw how bad it was going to be in Africa, repealed the rule effective after this one.


#4



Chazwozel

Piotyr;384960][QUOTE=Chazwozel;384947][QUOTE=bhamv3 said:
Apparently there's going to be a few countries sending people to South Africa to kick a ball around this summer.

As an England supporter, I look forward to expectations inflated beyond all reasonable levels, followed by squeaking through the group stages, followed by a crushing defeat in the first knockout round, followed by months of scapegoating.

What about you guys?
Click to expand...

Having the World Cup hosted by South Africa is the worst idea since the Berlin Olympics.[/QUOTE]

Blame FIFA, who created a rule that the host site had to rotate through all the continents. Then, after they saw how bad it was going to be in Africa, repealed the rule effective after this one.[/QUOTE]


No one is going to go. That's the main problem. South Africa has a terrible crime rate. There's like a 50% chance of getting mugged on a given day.


#5

sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

I can see this being successful. SA is a bit of a tourist destination and is the richest nation south of the Sahara.


#6

Dave

Dave

And west of Acapulco.


#7

Jay

Jay

Terrible location.

I'm 100% behind Italy. FORZA AZZURI!


#8

Calleja

Calleja

Mexico is opening the Cup against the host South Africa. The team hasn't been in worse shape since... early 90s at least. If we pass the first round It'll be a miracle.

oh, and also:

THERE'S NOTHING FLOATING WEST OF ACAPULCO, YOU CHEATING KNAVE!!


#9



Chazwozel

sixpackshaker said:
I can see this being successful. SA is a bit of a tourist destination and is the richest nation south of the Sahara.
Click to expand...
SA is a lovely tourist destination if you like getting robbed at knifepoint, having a lovely stroll through sweltering hot gated rich communities, sweltering hot slums, or shot on a diamond beach.


#10

Dave

Dave

I started a World Cup pool. I will make a separate thread for it. It ends July 11 so it'll be the July contest.

http://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=43496


#11

sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

Chazwozel;385518][QUOTE=sixpackshaker said:
I can see this being successful. SA is a bit of a tourist destination and is the richest nation south of the Sahara.
Click to expand...
SA is a lovely tourist destination if you like getting robbed at knifepoint, having a lovely stroll through sweltering hot gated rich communities, sweltering hot slums, or shot on a diamond beach.[/QUOTE]

72 degrees is not sweltering, and it will likely get cooler there over the next month. It is winter after all. Crime is high, but the police work in tourist areas is decent. I imagine that they will be out in force too. If you wander onto a beach where they conduct diamond mining, it means you have gone past fences and razor-wire to get there.


#12

Rovewin

Rovewin

Group A is a tough one to call there Calleja. I hope South Africa does well in their own country but I dont even see them getting past the group stages.
The best group match ups are going to be Group G with Brazil, Ivory Coast and Portugal. There is going to be some intense battles there.


#13

tegid

tegid

I think Spain is going to do well, they have some serious possibilities of winning the cup.
Argentina may surprise us if Maradona gets his shit together. I support these two, I guess. I'd also like Mexico not to do too bad.


#14

Calleja

Calleja

What the hell, why do you support Argentina over Mexico?!

what's weird is that I feel like a jealous sibling or something... "LIKE THIS COUNTRY YOU CONQUERED BETTER THAN THAT OTHER ONE HURRGH"


#15

tegid

tegid

The Mex said:
What the hell, why do you support Argentina over Mexico?!

what's weird is that I feel like a jealous sibling or something... "LIKE THIS COUNTRY YOU CONQUERED BETTER THAN THAT OTHER ONE HURRGH"
Click to expand...
There, there, don't be angry :p
There's a few factors, the most relevant being the prominent players from the team I support (Barça) that play there. Actually, that's also like half the reason I support Spain. A reason I support Argentina is that Messi is like, unloved in his country just because Maradona's an ass and they blame the national team not working on Messi instead of the fatass. I want the dude to be happy. On the other hand, fuck Argentinians :mad:
A reason I support Mexico is because I think you'll be happy if they win some matches, or something. Uh... that's weird.

I don't know what I'm writing. I don't even know if it's undenstandable. Too tired, off to bed.


#16

Calleja

Calleja

Stupid Argentina having better players.

Remember Hugo Sanchez at least!!

Oh.... wait.. you're a Barça supporter... never mind :paranoid:


#17

Rob King

Rob King

I'm pulling for Germany.

Failing that I'm obligated to pull for Brazil, since I got so much crap for NOT loving Brazil when I went to Haiti that I feel like I have to list them as my 'second team' if such a thing exists.

Last world cup I had no idea about football (still don't have a finger on the pulse of international football, I will admit) and I rooted for Portugal for no good reason.


#18

Covar

Covar

U! S! A!

U! S! A!

U! S! A!

we were invited right?


#19

bhamv3

bhamv3

Yes, you were. And you're playing England for your first match, on the 12th of June.

No matter how the match turns out, there's going to be some gloating around here on the 13th!


#20

Covar

Covar

ah, in that case...



#21

Piotyr

Piotyr

I know it's a commercial, but damn if it isn't cool:



#22

Calleja

Calleja

Damn, Ballack's out of the World Cup. Thank Ghana for that.

Oh, yeah, whoever was pulling for Germany.... good luck now without their main star. tee hee.


#23

bhamv3

bhamv3

I see Nike's got the British press and public down pat, in that commercial.


#24

bhamv3

bhamv3

The injury reports are starting to roll in. Rio Ferdinand's out for England (knee injury), while Didier Drogba's a major doubt with a broken arm. Also, Jozy Altidore of the US has an ankle injury, but he might make it.


#25

Calleja

Calleja

I still can't believe Mexico beat Italy... THE CURRENT WORLD CHAMPION. Even if it was a friendly match, both teams are preparing for the world cup and both used their "main" teams... and we still won.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it looks like my initial pessimism was exaggerated... we're not as bad as I thought. I'm not saying we're gonna get past the second round, mind you, but I find myself HOPEFUL now. That was a great game.


#26



Chazwozel

Calleja said:
I still can't believe Mexico beat Italy... THE CURRENT WORLD CHAMPION. Even if it was a friendly match, both teams are preparing for the world cup and both used their "main" teams... and we still won.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it looks like my initial pessimism was exaggerated... we're not as bad as I thought. I'm not saying we're gonna get past the second round, mind you, but I find myself HOPEFUL now. That was a great game.
Click to expand...

Dude North Korea is slated to win a couple?!??! What is the world coming to!??~~


#27

Calleja

Calleja

I'm not sure if North Korea is slated to win a couple, but if it is it's against even weaker teams like Ghana or something... remember, not all participating zones have strong contenders so we get some pretty weak teams making the World Cup. If the US or even Mexico qualified in, say, Europe, we would never even get to go to the World Cup... but if the qualifying round were against teams in somewhere like Africa they'd be first place of their round every single time.


#28



Chazwozel

You have to realize that the North Korean players are probably going to be killed if they come home losers...


#29

Calleja

Calleja

Eh, the same has been said of lots of teams over the years. Remember the World Cup has happened during wars and cold wars and world wars and mafia wars and... wait, where was I?


#30

bhamv3

bhamv3

More injuries, Dutchman Arjen Robben has a hamstring injury, while Nigeria's John Mikel Obi is out of the World Cup with a knee injury.

John Mikel Obi is interesting because he's the fourth player from Chelsea to go down injured, after Ballack, Essien and Drogba. Manchester United fans might be feeling just a little schadenfreude right now.


#31

Calleja

Calleja

bhamv3 said:
More injuries, Dutchman Arjen Robben has a hamstring injury, while Nigeria's John Mikel Obi is out of the World Cup with a knee injury.

John Mikel Obi is interesting because he's the fourth player from Chelsea to go down injured, after Ballack, Essien and Drogba. Manchester United fans might be feeling just a little schadenfreude right now.
Click to expand...
Wait, really? Are clubs really taken into account during the WORLD CUP?

Down here we pretty much forget about club rivalries when the national team jersey is being worn....


#32

bhamv3

bhamv3

Well, none of the injured Chelsea players are British, so national loyalties wouldn't stop Manchester United fans from delighting in their pain. Plus, this season Chelsea pipped Man Utd to the Premiership title, which is the main reason why Man Utd fans would be resentful towards Chelsea.


#33

Math242

Math242

I hate Chelsea so fucking much (except Terry and Lampard)

go England


#34

Jay

Jay

Calleja said:
I still can't believe Mexico beat Italy... THE CURRENT WORLD CHAMPION. Even if it was a friendly match, both teams are preparing for the world cup and both used their "main" teams... and we still won.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it looks like my initial pessimism was exaggerated... we're not as bad as I thought. I'm not saying we're gonna get past the second round, mind you, but I find myself HOPEFUL now. That was a great game.
Click to expand...
You're sorta reaching. Italy only played half their starting squad. The other half played Switzerland. It's also a friendly... against Mexico. Italy didn't really give a shit and it showed.

---------- Post added at 03:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:21 PM ----------
Calleja said:
Eh, the same has been said of lots of teams over the years. Remember the World Cup has happened during wars and cold wars and world wars and mafia wars and... wait, where was I?
Click to expand...
Go read what Saddam's son to the National team players after they lost. Try not to lose your appetite.

Whipped them thrown into a vat of sewage so that the sores can fester


#35

Calleja

Calleja

I.. think you're missing words or something... saddam's son SAID, DID, IMAGINED?


#36

bhamv3

bhamv3

You have to rearrange the words so they make sense.

Saddam's son SO whipped them into a sewage can of the thrown fester vat that sores

Wait, that's not much better.


#37

Covar

Covar

I would like to add to the official complaints of the World Cup Ball.

*ahem*
It is round.

thank you.


#38

Calleja

Calleja

Alright, I've tweaked my predictions and I think they're pretty accurate now.

You people are going DOWN!


#39

Piotyr

Piotyr

Really, the only real complaints I've heard is that the ball is too easy to knuckle, which would lead to more goal scoring.

This can only be a good thing.


#40

Dave

Dave

I joined a pool for a local radio station. I drew Denmark. If they make it into the top 3 I get the Vivid Video Kendra sex tape. :unibrow:


#41

Calleja

Calleja

Lol, sorry to tell you dude, Denmark is not making the final 3, I'd be surprised if they pass the first round.


#42

Piotyr

Piotyr

Calleja said:
Lol, sorry to tell you dude, Denmark is not making the final 3, I'd be surprised if they pass the first round.
Click to expand...
Basically, Denmark has as good of a chance to make the final 3 as Mexico.


#43

Dave

Dave

They'll get past the first round but that'll be about it. I have them as losing to the Netherlands but beating Camaroon & Japan to advance.


#44

Calleja

Calleja

Piotyr;397261][QUOTE=Calleja said:
Lol, sorry to tell you dude, Denmark is not making the final 3, I'd be surprised if they pass the first round.
Click to expand...
Basically, Denmark has as good of a chance to make the final 3 as Mexico.[/QUOTE]

Actually, probably even worse. I'd bet on Mexico if they played against each other.

Not that I think Mexico is particularly strong, but we have a shot at making the quarter finals (a long shot, we need to NOT play against argentina) whereas no one would be surprised at Denmark not finishing the group round.


#45

Chippy

Chippy

Chaz called it.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/06/09/south.africa.world.cup.robbery/index.html?hpt=T3


#46



Chazwozel

Chippy said:
Chaz called it.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/06/09/south.africa.world.cup.robbery/index.html?hpt=T3
Click to expand...
And all the tourists haven't flocked in yet.


#47

IronBrig4

IronBrig4

I saw the opening concert today. Damn, but Shakira looked good.



#48

Wahad

Wahad

Uh...yay, The Netherlands?

I don't know, I'm not a soccer fan. Have at it, you numbnuts.


#49

Piotyr

Piotyr

It'll be fun to watch Mexico get jobbed by the refs today.


#50

Rovewin

Rovewin

Piotyr said:
It'll be fun to watch Mexico get jobbed by the refs today.
Click to expand...
wow you were right on that. There was a defender right on the post.


#51



Biardo

dude the keeper was gone so offside


#52

Dave

Dave

Nil - Nil at the half.

GO MEXICO!


#53

Dave

Dave

South Africa strikes first!


#54

Dave

Dave

Mexico: GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!

---------- Post added at 10:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:45 AM ----------

1-1 draw.


#55

Rovewin

Rovewin

ok after seeing the replay yeah it was offside. But man that was a tense game there at the end. Good start. Glad South Africa did better than I expected


#56

bhamv3

bhamv3

Okay, did anyone predict a draw in their World Cup pool? Because I sure didn't.


#57

Dave

Dave

Rovewin predicted 1-1 so he's in the lead after 1 game.

---------- Post added at 11:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:27 AM ----------

Odie did, too.


#58

tegid

tegid

I joined the pool, but every time I go in to check it it asks me to join again... :(


#59

Piotyr

Piotyr

Watching Uruguay-France, maybe Mexico is the best team in the group.

---------- Post added at 03:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:17 PM ----------

It's been over 25 years now since a goal has been scored in a France-Uruguay game.


#60

DarkAudit

DarkAudit

Pizza Hut in Ireland has an offer of free pizza to everyone logged into it's Facebook page when a goal is scored against France. Doesn't matter who scored it, as long as it was against France.


#61

Calleja

Calleja

This is the first time in my entire life that I start drinking at 9am. I have been ALREADY drinking at 9am from the night before a few times, but never had woken up to a beer.


That being said... Mexico really disappointed this morning. I know that playing against the host will always be tricky, especially with the bafana bafana against you... and the ref. But even though we were clearly superior the first half, we did nothing with it. And the second half we just let them run over us... we didn't lose 4-1 because the South African strikers have worse aim than a Stormtrooper, but the opportunities were there. Awful, awful.

I'm really looking forward to the England - USA match tomorrow.

---------- Post added at 03:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:36 AM ----------

And, yeah, I'll be cheering for England.


#62



Biardo

dude where was te ref against mexico, if anything South Africa shoul have goten a penalty


#63

LordRendar

LordRendar

Im rooting for Germany,but our team this year around is considerably weaker then our last WM or even our EM team. Still,Go Germany!
Today im rooting for England.Show those guys how two play Real Football.


#64

Chippy

Chippy

Annnnnd my favorite player scores the first goal of the match! GERRARD!


#65



Chazwozel

You know what's awesome about US vs. England? If we win, we beat them at their sport. If they win, we go back to not giving a shit about soccer.


#66

bhamv3

bhamv3

Oh my god, I cannot believe that just happened to Robert Green. I thought England dropped David "Calamity" James just to prevent these things from happening.

England are playing like shit so far.


#67

Calleja

Calleja

Fuck, Green! What the fuck?!


#68

IronBrig4

IronBrig4

As soon as pics of that goal against Green are released to the Interwebs, I'm sure it will be a good demotivational poster.


#69

Calleja

Calleja

IronBrig4 said:
As soon as pics of that goal against Green are released to the Interwebs, I'm sure it will be a good demotivational poster.
Click to expand...
http://twitpic.com/1w898p


#70

Piotyr

Piotyr

First real "upset" result of the tournament as Ghana beats Serbia on a late PK.


#71

LordRendar

LordRendar

4:0 Germany vs Australia
Damn we rock!


#72

Dave

Dave

I had originally predicted Germany to win in the pool 4-1 but about 2 minutes before gametime I revised it to 2-1 because of the low scores thus far.

Damn it.


#73

Sparhawk

Sparhawk

I had the same prediction score Dave, revised mine down to 3-1, and here they go scoring goals like everyone else has been passing them "Get a Goal Free" cards all weekend.


#74

LordRendar

LordRendar

I think they are just pushing the Gaspedal down as hard as they can to dispell any doubts about the team to the people watching back home.Since Ballack and 2 other top players were injured before the WM people were very worried about results.


#75

Calleja

Calleja

No, I think it was mostly that Australia SUCKS.


#76

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

Ban those fucking vuvuzuelas immediately.


#77

Calleja

Calleja

I think they actually will, starting next round.


#78

Piotyr

Piotyr

I actually wouldn't mind if they used them for Bafana Bafana games, but every game is a little much and it's impossible to hear any fans.


#79

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

For like a second, I thought I had actually guessed a score right when Germany was up 3-0.

Then they scored again...


#80

Jay

Jay

Was Green also playing for Australia?


#81

Rovewin

Rovewin

Yeah those horns need to go. I figure when teams start playing their second game the novelty will have worn off so it wont be as bad. Also WOOT WOOT Germany, my pick, showing how its done. They are going far in this tournament.


#82

Dave

Dave

Probably gonna be banned.

http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/wo...t-yet-be-banned-from-World-Cup?urn=sow,247947


#83



Biardo

I seem to be the onley one who doesn't mind the vuvuzelas, all my friends hate them to.

It's just an element of the South African football culture, if they can stand it I don't see why they should try to ban it. It would be like banning the mexican wave because it distracts visually


#84



rvdleun

Welp, just sat down at my favorite sportsbar in Rotterdam. Here's hoping that Holland will have a good victory over Denmark


#85

Dave

Dave

2-0 over Denmark. I called it. Still in last place in the pool but I called it!


#86

DarkAudit

DarkAudit

Dave said:
Probably gonna be banned.

http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/wo...t-yet-be-banned-from-World-Cup?urn=sow,247947
Click to expand...
And no they won't...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/796347/ce/uk/?cc=5901&ver=us


#87

Dave

Dave

:facepalm:


#88



Chazwozel

DarkAudit;399128][QUOTE=Dave said:
Probably gonna be banned.

http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/wo...t-yet-be-banned-from-World-Cup?urn=sow,247947
Click to expand...
And no they won't...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/796347/ce/uk/?cc=5901&ver=us[/QUOTE]

I can't watch these games in surround sound because of these fucking things. My rear speakers are right at the sides of the couch, so all you hear is the fucking horns blaring in your ear.


A ban would rob the tournament of part of its cultural identity, leaving thousands of locals perplexed: could you imagine being told by an international body that you could no longer drink beer at American football games, or fall asleep during baseball?
Click to expand...
Falling asleep and drinking beer don't make the people around you go deaf.


#89

sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

The article said they were introduced during the 90's. I had one I played at my brother's high school matches back in 82-83.


#90



rvdleun

All I can say at the moment is: VIIIIVA HOLLANDIA.

After all, it's all that I've been hearing for the past 150 minutes.


#91

LordRendar

LordRendar

My guess is Germany is gonna perform well till semi-finals und somehow fail spectacularly against a an enemy that played inferiorly for most of the game,but took the one chance they were given to take the winning goal.


#92

Piotyr

Piotyr

With soccer players like this, it's a surprise the Italian diving team isn't world class.


#93

LordRendar

LordRendar

Yikes... 0-1 italy against freaking paraguay


#94

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

VIVA PARAGUAY


#95

Calleja

Calleja

Hang on, hang on, we still have 45 minutes left. I'm betting Italy won't sit down and take it.


#96

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

Calleja said:
Hang on, hang on, we still have 45 minutes left. I'm betting Italy won't sit down and take it.
Click to expand...

Oh no way, they're probably going to dive to the ground untouched and take it.


#97

Piotyr

Piotyr

Now this is a textbook dive:


#98

Dave

Dave

WTF was that? Did he pull a muscle?


#99

Piotyr

Piotyr

Dave said:
WTF was that? Did he pull a muscle?
Click to expand...
He was trying to draw a foul. Should have been a yellow on him.


#100

Calleja

Calleja

Dave said:
WTF was that? Did he pull a muscle?
Click to expand...

It's the unofficial talent some players boast... trying to fool the ref with diving and writhing in "pain". It's an automatic yellow card if you're caught, but it happens pretty much in every game.


#101

tegid

tegid

Yeah, but you usually try to dive when you have at least been touched!


#102

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Still effin' funny (and bit NSFW). Part about taking a dive starts around 1:10.



#103

drifter

drifter

Welp, you can put me on the Paraguay bandwagon

GATDANG

(Not really NSFW, but just in case)


#104

bhamv3

bhamv3

tegid said:
Yeah, but you usually try to dive when you have at least been touched!
Click to expand...
It's also usually better to dive in the penalty area. Uh, not that I do that.

My personal favorite dive was Slavan Bilic's, in the 1998 World Cup, against France. Laurent Blanc pushed him on the chin while jostling at a free kick, and Bilic goes down clutching his eye.


#105

Piotyr

Piotyr

Cristiano Ronaldo earns a yellow card for diving.


#106

Covar

Covar

The people who use the vuvuzelas are just morons, I'm glad shit like that wouldn't stand at a US sports match. Of course if Americans were to use them we certainly would be smart in the usage, not just blowing them constantly. Batter about to take a swing? blow the vuvuzelas. Quarterback trying to snap the ball? blow the vuvuzelas.


#107

klew

klew

Piotyr said:
Cristiano Ronaldo earns a yellow card for diving.
Click to expand...
There was an image of "Caution: Portuguese" with a flopping Ronaldo replacing the wet floor-slipping guy. I've been trying to find it with no luck.


#108

Piotyr

Piotyr

Wow, major upset in North Korea-Brazil this afternoon. North Korea scored.

In related news, North Korea fans are going to be treated to the last 3 minutes of a 1-0 North Korea victory later tonight.


#109

Jay

Jay

I refuse to watch any games beyond the ones I'm interested in. These horns are retarded. I'm watching sport that I can barely hear over the buzz of an angry swarm of bees.

They refuse to ban them due to not embracing their culture... what the fuck does blowing an annoying horn NON STOP for the ENTIRE GAME have to do with it?


#110

Jay

Jay



#111

Frank

Frankie Williamson

Jay said:
I refuse to watch any games beyond the ones I'm interested in. These horns are retarded. I'm watching sport that I can barely hear over the buzz of an angry swarm of bees.

They refuse to ban them due to not embracing their culture... what the fuck does blowing an annoying horn NON STOP for the ENTIRE GAME have to do with it?
Click to expand...
Quoted for truth here. I had to sit in an emergency room with a prisoner for 2 hours and they had World Cup on on the TV and the buzzing noise nearly made me pull my gun on the room. It's unbelievably annoying.


#112

Sparhawk

Sparhawk

I'm justing waiting to have somebody come back and sue FIFA over the damn things. They can cause hearing damage and wouldn't be surprised to hear about some wanker filing suit for attending a game and having some blowhard going constantly behind him.


#113



Jonzac

Really? Non-stop out of tune drunken Englishmen singing...or the vuvuzelas? Not much difference to me, its easy to tune out...I get practice listening to my wife


#114

Covar

Covar

I just turn off my tv.


#115



Chazwozel

You'd think that the broadcasting geniuses would know how to tune down the background noise...

Here's what it sounds like in the stadium



Even Hilter hates the vuvuzela



#116

Calleja

Calleja

Bah, that Hitler hates everything.


#117

sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

Calleja said:
Bah, that Hitler hates everything.
Click to expand...
I think he'd love Micheal Jordan's mustache.


#118

drifter

drifter

If you really can't stand the sound, you can use an equalizer to filter out the sound of the vuvuzela. Instructions here.


#119

Piotyr

Piotyr

Well, the possibility of a Brazil-Spain second round match just went up.


#120

Dave

Dave

If Spain gets out of the group.


#121

bhamv3

bhamv3

Did... did anyone predict Switzerland would win against Spain? Did anyone have that in their picks?


#122

Seraphyn

Seraphyn

I did not see that coming, or even as a remote possibility.


#123

Dave

Dave

Millions of people put in their picks. Less than 1% picked the Swiss to win, 3% for a draw. 96% predicted an outright Spain victory.

Which is why we play the games instead of relying on "experts".


#124

Jay

Jay

Spain always chokes.


#125



Chazwozel



OH NO! LOOK OUT! IT'S VUVUZILLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


#126

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

How the hell did that happen? Spain isn't a likely favorite to win, but they're still undoubtedly among the top teams in the Cup. And Switzerland, well, isn't.

I am seriously starting to think that the vuvuzelas are just throwing the best teams off their rhythm, and the middling teams are benefiting because they weren't so locked into their own rhythm.


#127

sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

Maybe the Swiss are not distracted by the blowing of horns.



#128

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

South Africa is probably done, unless a miracle happens in the last 5 minutes against Uruguay, or they use their vuvuzelas to pull out a win against France if France and Mexico tie.


#129

Piotyr

Piotyr

Ahh, crap. Argentina woke up.

Winner of Group C has a huuuuge advantage now.


#130

Jay

Jay

http://www.vuvuzela-time.co.uk/www.halforums.com/forum/forum.php

Visit HALFORUMS with a touch of World Cup 2010!


#131

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Jay said:
http://www.vuvuzela-time.co.uk/www.halforums.com/forum/forum.php

Visit HALFORUMS with a touch of World Cup 2010!
Click to expand...
http://tinyurl.com/2ueuf7z


#132

sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

OK, I finally heard the Vuvuzelas... yep, really annoying. The horn I had back in the early 80's made more of an English Horn sound instead of a Kazoo on steroids.


#133



Biardo

go Mexico!


#134

Jay

Jay

Love seeing those dirty french lose. :)


#135

Calleja

Calleja

Drunkness celebration woo


#136

Rovewin

Rovewin

WHOO Mexico!!! Plus always glad to see France go down. :biggrin:

For the Argentina game Messi makes such superb plays but he never seems to get his name on the scoresheet. I hope next game he scores a huge goal (which actually gets counted for him).


#137

Math242

Math242

wooooooooooo Mexico

Today is awesome, we have 2 french guys working here. THIS IS AWESOME.


#138

Piotyr

Piotyr

Germany is getting completely hosed here by a card-happy ref.


#139



Biardo

ow ow ow USA 0-2 behind, still a half game left, hopefully they can do something then


#140

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Biardo said:
ow ow ow USA 0-2 behind, still a half game left, hopefully they can do something then
Click to expand...
The guys are letting Slovenia literally run circles around them.

We need a hollywood movie moment, apparently.

EDIT: Go Donovan! Now do it again!


#141

Covar

Covar

wait the point is to score goals in soccer? I thought it was like golf.


#142



Biardo

apparently so does your coach.

I'm really hoping for the USA here, and if Bocanegra could score that would be good for my prono


#143

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

YES! Just one more!


#144

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

U


S



A


#145

Piotyr

Piotyr

Man, a draw is not a bad result, but that was an awful call to overturn the third goal for the US.


#146

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Seriously. That did not look like offsides, for one thing, also Bradley totally got fouled and the ref didn't call it.


#147

Piotyr

Piotyr

Terrible, the official won't even say what the call was on the disallowed goal. Just awful.


#148



Chazwozel

What a load of fucking horseshit!


#149

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

I'm stunned. I still can't believe it.


#150

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

blugh


#151

drawn_inward

drawn_inward

There's still a chance for the US though! Woot!


#152



Chazwozel

This is where the NFL has every other sport beat. Refs are only human; we have the technology. Allow 3 challenges per match!


#153

Jay

Jay

That was such a bad call.


#154

Dave

Dave

Can you find video of the bad call? I was in a mandatory all-company meeting and missed the last hour of the match.


#155

Jay

Jay

USA vs. Slovenia Decided by Koman Coulibaly's Disallowed Goal (Video) -- Soccer FanHouse


#156

Dave

Dave

Wow. Terrible. I have never seen a call that bad in international play.


#157

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

England and Algeria TIED. Our group could really go in any direction now.


#158

Piotyr

Piotyr

The England-Algeria draw means the US still has a decent opportunity to win group C, and will automatically qualify for the round of 16 with a win next week.

Every time I see that disallowed goal the fire of a thousand suns burns within me.


#159

DarkAudit

DarkAudit

Which of the UK tabs called Group C E-A-S-Y for England to get through?


#160

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

I love that when we tie it's a momentus win, and when England ties it's the worst thing that's ever happened.


#161

Piotyr

Piotyr

The Lovely Boner said:
I love that when we tie it's a momentus win, and when England ties it's the worst thing that's ever happened.
Click to expand...
I'd say it was momentous today only because of the atrocious first half, and even then it sucked that the winning goal didn't count.


#162

LordRendar

LordRendar

Piotyr said:
Germany is getting completely hosed here by a card-happy ref.
Click to expand...
Fuck that fucker in his fucking whistle! In the Bundesliga the refs wouldnt even think about blowing the whistle.Those were duels not blatant fouls. :/
But to Serbias defense,they played a tight game.Shame on Podolski for missing a freaking Penalty Kick. How does one do that?! How? He also missed a dozen good chances to score a goal. I wonder why Jogi Löw kept him on the field instead of subbing him for someone that dosnt choke.


#163

Cheesy1

Cheesy1

Looks like the ref from today's U.S. game may be sitting out the rest of the tournament, if not worse:

FIFA may sit Slovenia-U.S. referee


#164

bhamv3

bhamv3

England are completely ruining my picks. :mad:


#165

Calleja

Calleja

Seriously


#166



Biardo

damn my favorites keep loosing or drawing that stupid Colibaly dude

and England was really boring they don't deserve to be a favorite for the title


#167

Seraphyn

Seraphyn

1-0 bitches!

woo!


#168

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Seraphyn said:
1-0 bitches!

woo!
Click to expand...
Why couldn't you guys score two more goals? :p


#169

Seraphyn

Seraphyn

I didn't even get to see the game yet (damn work :( ), though going from the radio it was not all that great a game.


#170

bhamv3

bhamv3

BBC Sport - Football - World Cup 2010: France boycott training over Anelka row

It's like the French players decided, "Hey, you know what, life isn't already difficult enough for us right now at the World Cup, and the public don't already think we're a bunch of highly-paid lazy asses. Let's remedy both these problems in one stroke!"

Oh, and New Zealand just ruined another one of my picks.


#171

Seraphyn

Seraphyn

Hah, Italy.

It's like all the favourites this Cup just decided to suck, this is getting ridiculous.


#172



zero

No, seriously, WTF is wrong with Ivory Coast?


#173

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

zero said:
No, seriously, WTF is wrong with Ivory Coast?
Click to expand...
They caught a really bad case of playing Brazil


#174

Calleja

Calleja

zero said:
No, seriously, WTF is wrong with Ivory Coast?
Click to expand...
Wrong? Brazil would have scored lots more goals against most other teams. Hell, the way the "favorites" are playing, most teams losing by two goals to Brazil would consider themselves lucky.


#175



zero

Calleja;402545][QUOTE=zero said:
No, seriously, WTF is wrong with Ivory Coast?
Click to expand...
Wrong? Brazil would have scored lots more goals against most other teams. Hell, the way the "favorites" are playing, most teams losing by two goals to Brazil would consider themselves lucky.[/QUOTE]

Oh no, I was talking about the complete lack of sportmanship towards the end of the game, when Ivory Coast completely forgot about the game and started kicking the crap out of the Brazilian team (they actually injured Elano - BTW, isn't that Spanish for "The Asshole"?. To add insult to the injury, they managed to trick the ref into sending off Kaka.

Tsk, admitedly, it is likely that Luis Fabiano used his arm in the 2nd Goal...

I just wish FIFA would start using replays during the matches...


#176

Calleja

Calleja

ooohhh... yeah, that was crap. Kaka didn't deserve that red card, to be honest.

And yeah, "Elano" is pretty much "el ano" which is "the anus" in Spanish. Lots of jokes all over twitter over that.

Especially when he made plays with Kaka which sounds exactly like... well, you know exactly what it sounds like.


#177



Biardo

zero;402555][QUOTE=Calleja;402545][QUOTE=zero said:
No, seriously, WTF is wrong with Ivory Coast?
Click to expand...
Wrong? Brazil would have scored lots more goals against most other teams. Hell, the way the "favorites" are playing, most teams losing by two goals to Brazil would consider themselves lucky.[/QUOTE]

Oh no, I was talking about the complete lack of sportmanship towards the end of the game, when Ivory Coast completely forgot about the game and started kicking the crap out of the Brazilian team (they actually injured Elano - BTW, isn't that Spanish for "The Asshole"?. To add insult to the injury, they managed to trick the ref into sending off Kaka.

Tsk, admitedly, it is likely that Luis Fabiano used his arm in the 2nd Goal...

I just wish FIFA would start using replays during the matches...[/QUOTE]

likely? Allowing that goal was the worst call I've seen all tournament, even worse than the rejected goal of the USA.

Still doesn't make a good excuse for the way Ivory Coast reacted after that.
A commentator on Belgian Television said that Brazil was looking for it because they tried to make the adversary look ridiculous with overly fancy plays after they bassicly got the game handed to them which off course frustated the players from Ivory Coast.

Still no excuse IMO, this was the worst referee I've seen all tournament, let's hope he goes home to France after this.


#178

DarkAudit

DarkAudit

Bookmakers in Europe are now laying odds the French team will pack up and go home before their final group match with South Africa.

Anelka's behavior came as no surprise to me. When he was at Arsenal his psyche was as fragile and delicate as spun glass. You'd never know from match to match what his mood was going to be. Often brilliant, more often a petulant, sulking horse's arse.

France is as gutless a bunch as you'll find right now. I'd place that bet.


#179



zero

Biardo said:
likely? Allowing that goal was the worst call I've seen all tournament, even worse than the rejected goal of the USA.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've watched it again, he clearly caught the ball with his arm... I still say the rejected USA goal was worse because not only it changed the outcome of the game, but the ref still hasn't explained why he rejected it!

Biardo said:
lStill doesn't make a good excuse for the way Ivory Coast reacted after that.
A commentator on Belgian Television said that Brazil was looking for it because they tried to make the adversary look ridiculous with overly fancy plays after they bassicly got the game handed to them which off course frustated the players from Ivory Coast.
Click to expand...
Lol, in here everybody is complaining about the ugly and uninspired football the Brazilian team is displaying.


#180



zero

Ok, the North Korean team IS getting [strike]fusilladed[/strike] [strike]fusilladeded[/strike] [strike]fusilled[/strike] oh, screw that, they're getting shot at.


#181



Overflight

Whoa. 7-0. Against North Korea.

I guess it's inevitable that we get nuked now. In case I do not make it, I would just like to say it's been an honor and a privilege knowing you guys and I wish you luck with the inevitably following WWIII. :p


#182

Dave

Dave

7-0 is a right drubbing! Good God!


#183

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

OF COURSE it's the one match of the whole World Cup that I slept through completely.


#184

Piotyr

Piotyr

If Chile beats Switzerland here, Spain really has its work cut out for it just to advance. Honduras is going to feel the brunt of it this afternoon.


#185

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

If I were the DPRK coach, I'd get political asylum right about now.


#186

Calleja

Calleja

GODDAMN YOU AND YOUR SCORE PREDICTIONS, ROVEWIIIIIIIN!!!


#187



zero

So now CONMEBOL is leading on every damn group it has at least a team in it (all but C, D and E).

What's wrong UEFA? You forgot how to play the game? :p


#188

bhamv3

bhamv3

zero said:
What's wrong UEFA? You forgot how to play the game? :p
Click to expand...
Not for England, at least. This is how they've always played the game - long balls up to the attackers. I mean, sooner or later one of them's going to fall favorably for the strikers, right?


#189



Biardo

It's because we weren't allowed to join :(

but yeah it's strange


#190

Calleja

Calleja

Hey, hey, hey... Uruguay may be leading our group but only because of a single goal difference.

We'll see how it stands tomorrow.













bitches


#191

LordRendar

LordRendar

Sigh..this aint no fun. I remember the WM last time in Germany.Now that was a good time.maybe im biased cuz it was held in my country and I was in the middle of all the Fan Action,but this WM ist lackying exitement.


#192

Jay

Jay

The fact that vuvuzelas make my ear bleed I have specifically avoided all games beyond Italy. I can barely stand watching replays of other games, it's beyond annoying.


#193

Calleja

Calleja

I can't believe how many people are being so butt hurt by the vuvuzuelas, I barely even notice them to be honest.

It's probably due to the fact that they're also used (or at least similar plastic things) in Mexican Football all the time... not as much as in south africa, down here they blow them for a reason and not constantly... but seeing a game in the Estadio Azteca with 120,000+ screaming fans with plastic horn things will prepare you for any amount of vuvuzuela blowing, believe me.


#194

Jay

Jay

Still sucks a dick to listen to.


#195

Calleja

Calleja

I don't even notice them, even when watching a surround sound feed. It's not like you can't hear the commentators over them.


#196

Dave

Dave

I'm so used to them now they don't bother me.


#197

Calleja

Calleja

It's another thing when you're at the stadium and some idiot is blowing it right in your ear, of course. But watching on TV? Don't even know they're there most of the time.


#198

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

It doesn't bother me anymore, but the first time I saw a match with them, I thought there was something wrong with my sound.

Then I thought it was signal interference of some kind.

I was wrong... :eek:rly:


#199



zero

Overflight said:
Whoa. 7-0. Against North Korea.

I guess it's inevitable that we get nuked now. In case I do not make it, I would just like to say it's been an honor and a privilege knowing you guys and I wish you luck with the inevitably following WWIII. :p
Click to expand...
Funny fact: This is the first time in history that an international football game was broadcasted live in the DPRK. I suppose it will be a while until it will happen again...


#200

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

Do you not have functional mute buttons? The commentating isn't especially great or insightful anyways.


#201

Calleja

Calleja

LMAO, are you serious?

Those poor people "Oh! Hey!! We can watch the game live now! Let's all sit down an-- uh... oh god. No, no.. not another one! TURN IT OFF!! TURN IT OOOOFFFFFF!!"


#202

Dave

Dave

If only this story were real:

The Spoof : Vuvuzela Stuck In Man's Arse
Medical staff have told how a man was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital this morning with a vuvuzela protruding out of his arse.
Click to expand...


#203



Biardo

zero;403134][QUOTE=Overflight said:
Whoa. 7-0. Against North Korea.

I guess it's inevitable that we get nuked now. In case I do not make it, I would just like to say it's been an honor and a privilege knowing you guys and I wish you luck with the inevitably following WWIII. :p
Click to expand...
Funny fact: This is the first time in history that an international football game was broadcasted live in the DPRK. I suppose it will be a while until it will happen again...[/QUOTE]

yeah? over here they said that normally south Korea sends the transmissions for free to the north but this time for obvious reasons they wouldn't but then North Korea made a deal with the FIFA, can't find any proof though.


#204



zero

Biardo;403265][QUOTE=zero said:
Funny fact: This is the first time in history that an international football game was broadcasted live in the DPRK. I suppose it will be a while until it will happen again...
Click to expand...
yeah? over here they said that normally south Korea sends the transmissions for free to the north but this time for obvious reasons they wouldn't but then North Korea made a deal with the FIFA, can't find any proof though.[/QUOTE]
Oh, that's probably true too, although I've heard TV's sold in the DPRK must be modified to receive only the official state television. Hmm, here's a BBC article about it.

But that was the first time an international football game was shown live by the official state television: World Cup 2010: North Korean TV to broadcast Portugal match | Football | guardian.co.uk



On unrelated news, France isn't even trying, right?


#205

bhamv3

bhamv3

I wonder if Laurent Blanc, the guy who will be taking over the French national team after the World Cup, will have the guts to say to this group of players, "Okay, you don't want to represent your country? Wish granted, all twenty three of you just started your international retirement."

Sure, France will suck for the next few years, but it'd be so worth it.


#206

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

hahhhahahah France you are the worst


#207



zero

And Uruguay has just scored against Mexico. If South Africa makes two more goals they will advance to the elimination round!

Go Bafana Bafana, you can do it!!!


#208



Biardo

I don't know who to root for or what to watch:eek:hwell:


#209

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

It will totally screw with my old picks, but go RSA!!


#210



zero

Aw crap, France just scored :(

Anyway... RSA is playing an awful football...


#211

sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

I wonder what the North Koreans thought when they saw 1,000's of happy people all in one place.


#212

Dave

Dave

Thanks for scoring that goal, France. In the pool I changed my initial prediction from France winning 3-0 to France losing 2-1. After the first 2 by South Africa I thought it was going to be another Portugal.


#213

Jay

Jay

Almost perfection... if they didn't score...

GOODBYE FRANCE! HAHAHA


#214

Rob King

Rob King

I love that South Africa beat France. For some reason it defied my expectations, but happily so.

I really wanted North Korea to do better, though. I know it's late, but 7-0 is just harsh, especially after pulling off only a one point loss against freakin' Brazil.


#215



zero

... and group B is done: Argentina (who has been showing the most beautiful football so far) in first and, surprisingly, South Korea in second. I believe South Korea will be no match for Uruguay, but, hey, Calleja, what's the big plan for stopping Messi?


#216



Biardo

I have an unexplainable love for South Korea so I'm really happy they got trough the first stage lets hope they can play well against Uruguay.

And lets hope that Messi will get to scoring soon.


#217

Rovewin

Rovewin

I am so happy to see south Korea go through. Uruguay has a whole lot tougher defense than the teams they played against so they will probably not be going farther.

Biardo said:
And lets hope that Messi will get to scoring soon.
Click to expand...
^:uhhuh:

Also damn fathers day threw me off a day and I didnt get to change my prediction to France losing.


#218

Terrik

Terrik

Ｉf US doesnt go through but S. Korea does, I'm never going to hear the end of it.


#219

Dave

Dave

ANOTHER disallowed goal for the US! We've been screwed VISIBLY twice now!


#220

sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

The game is on, Hopefully the USA can beat Algeria.


#221

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

weeeeeeeeeeeeelp and England scored.


#222



zero

Oh crap, USA can't seem to get a break, do they?
Another disallowed goal... And Sepp Blatter insists there's no need of replays in football... idiot...


#223



Biardo

yeah, I would say that it was offside but very difficult to see for the linesman (who is a Belgian)


#224

Dave

Dave

Offsides? Are you insane? At worst it was even! He was behind the defender when the ball was struck.


#225

bhamv3

bhamv3

I dunno, it looked onside to me.


#226



zero

Onside or Even... but USA just got lucky with the crappy refs... they just ignored a clear penalty for Algeria.


#227

Dave

Dave

What did I miss? I didn't see that.


#228

bhamv3

bhamv3

ARGH Rooney hit the post!!!!!!!!!!!

Watching this game is bad for my heart.


#229



zero

Dave said:
What did I miss? I didn't see that.
Click to expand...
Cherundolo clearly pulled an Algerian player during a Corner kick.
Hey, are you watching the game? Come to the IRC channel!


#230

Dave

Dave

Dude took a flop and Altidore got a yellow card. Nice.


#231



Biardo

sorry I meant onside, come on USA you deserve it more

---------- Post added at 05:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:38 PM ----------

that's how you do it!


#232



zero

USA Scored!!! What an ending!!!!!!!!!

---------- Post added at 03:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:51 PM ----------

That's it, and USA is the first in the group!

Congratulations to the best USA football team ever.


#233

Dave

Dave

USA! USA!!


#234

bhamv3

bhamv3

Holy crap, I feel for Slovenia. They played their guts out near the end there, attacking however they could, even though they knew a draw in the USA-Algeria match would still put them through. And then right when the ref ends the game, USA score, and Slovenia are eliminated. I wonder how they felt there.

"We lost, but at least we can still progress to the knock-out stages. Wait, Landon Donovan just did WHAT?!?!?"


#235

Dave

Dave

Anyone who says soccer is boring has never watched a game like this one.


DAMN fine game!


#236

bhamv3

bhamv3

I just realized there's a good chance of an England-Germany matchup in the next round. Those are always interesting.


#237

sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

I looked at the live "box" score on Yahoo! with 4 min remaining, and thought great another tie. Because nothing ever happens in 4 minutes of a soccer match.

I am glad to be wrong.


#238

drawn_inward

drawn_inward



---------- Post added at 11:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:26 AM ----------
Dave said:
Anyone who says soccer is boring has never watched a game like this one.


DAMN fine game!
Click to expand...
I was one of those people! I officially have World Cup FEVER!!!


#239



Biardo

This is the second time the USA is doing good in a tournament in 2 years, apparently they starting to form quit the taste for success

and we can't even place:(


#240



Chazwozel

A World Cup U.S. win would definitely be a boon for the sport in the U.S.


#241



zero

Biardo said:
This is the second time the USA is doing good in a tournament in 2 years, apparently they starting to form quit the taste for success
Click to expand...


Do you feel lucky, punk?


#242

Calleja

Calleja

We have no plan for stopping Messi. Argentina kicked us out of the last World Cup with a unstoppable, genius goal by Maxi Rodriguez. It was a close game, too.

This time around? Unless our DT pulls his shit together, which he won't, we have no chance. We have the team and talent, but not the strategy or consistency. Few Mexicans hold hope to go on beyond the next round. Argentina is our World Cup Moby Dick.


#243



Biardo

ok but mexico is playing better then I've seen them play in the last decade or so, not that I'm saying you'll win but maybe there is a slim chance, maybe


#244

Piotyr

Piotyr

For those who didn't get to watch:


#245

Calleja

Calleja

They CAN play better than they've played in a decade or so, no doubt, we have the potential to be a great team.. the friendly against Italy and the match against France (somewhat) prove that.... our problem is consistency. We can have a great game one day and play worse than Papua New Guinea the next. That's our problem. If they go out on Sunday playing like they did against Italy or maybe even France, we have a chance, for sure.

We all doubt it, though. The DT is playing favorites and aligning players that shouldn't be there and benching those who should.

Sad.

I'm thinking you should watch out for Mexico in 2026, though!! If we keep sending players to Europe, 16 years might be enough to become actually good :smug:


#246



Biardo

Chazwozel said:
A World Cup U.S. win would definitely be a boon for the sport in the U.S.
Click to expand...
yeah, that is not going to happen, I fear it will be difficult for the USA against Germany or even Ghana or Serbia. Unless they get much more efficient in scoring goals


#247



zero

Well, the results for group D are in, 1st Germany, 2nd Ghana. I believe USA is more than able to get past Ghana... now Germany x England will surely be interesting...


#248

Calleja

Calleja

USA won't have such an easy time against Ghana, I wouldn't get too cocky.


#249

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Calleja said:
USA won't have such an easy time against Ghana, I wouldn't get too cocky.
Click to expand...
I have to agree, Ghana is a seriously aggressive team, and today not withstanding, our guys (as a team) haven't done so well defending. Howard is a great goalie, but the odds are against him if the defense can't back him up.


#250

Calleja

Calleja

Plus those fuckers run like crazy.


#251

Dave

Dave

US gets Ghana and if they win that they will get either Uruguay or South Korea - both of which are winnable. The semis will probably be (in my breakdown) where they meet their hardest match in either the Netherlands or Brazil. I don't see them beating Brazil but the Netherlands is doable.

I can really see the USA making it to the Semis and then playing for 3rd place against possibly Denmark.


#252

Calleja

Calleja

You think USA can beat Uruguay!?

Dude, come on. Uruguay is one of the "new favorites" that rose up after most favorites disappointed.


YOU THINK THE USA CAN BEAT NETHERLANDS!?

Dude.. no. That's just ...no.

I'll admit that this is the best US soccer team ever, but that's still not enough to be good enough to beat a World Cup motivated Netherlands.


#253



Biardo

that is probably a bit to optimistic Dave, I give them a chance against Ghana but Uruguay and South Korea have better teams in my opinion, okay maybe they have a chance against them too. But neither Brazil nor the Netherlands is doable. Again in my opinion, off course maybe if they start playing better everything is possible but they will have to play a lot better.


#254

Calleja

Calleja

Take the best game the USA has had this world cup, the very best. Add even a bit of luck to that.

That's still not enough to beat the Netherlands. No way.

Uruguay? Maybe a snowball's chance in hell, but not much more.


#255

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Pray that we get past Ghana first, then pray we get South Korea. Uruguay will run circles around us, but we have a mild chance against South Korea.

If we actually get that far, I will be more than satisfied. We made it to the quarters in 2002 before getting slapped down by Germany, and we got murdered in 2006.


#256



Biardo

I don't think the USA will get past Korea either, they have the drive and the fitness to win against the USA to, but it is easier then Uruguay on paper.


#257

Calleja

Calleja

Ghana's gonna be challenge enough, I will actually predict they win, even if it's a close call.


#258



zero

Biardo said:
(...) But neither Brazil nor the Netherlands is doable.
Click to expand...
Well, I do remember them scoring twice against us in the last Confederation's Cup... sure, sure, that's a totally different tournament, but Tim Howard is a hell of a goalie, and Landon Donovan would have a place in any football team here in Brazil.


#259

Calleja

Calleja

Agreed.

A goalie and one awesome striker doesn't a world cup winning team make, though.


#260



Biardo

I won't say it's impossible, but nearly impossible.


#261

Calleja

Calleja

I'd say Mexico is still better than the USA at football. It's a contested match, yeah, but I think we still edge up.

Mexico has NO CHANCE WHATSOEVER IN THIS OR ANY OTHER UNIVERSE to win the 2010 World Cup.

Create your own syllogism.


#262

KEM

KEM

Biardo said:
I won't say it's impossible, but nearly impossible.
Click to expand...
There is a very clear difference between Impossible and Improbable. It is absolutely possible that the US can beat any team in this cup. Period.


#263

Piotyr

Piotyr

Calleja said:
I'd say Mexico is still better than the USA at football. It's a contested match, yeah, but I think we still edge up.

Mexico has NO CHANCE WHATSOEVER IN THIS OR ANY OTHER UNIVERSE to win the 2010 World Cup.

Create your own syllogism.
Click to expand...
Not a chance Mexico is better than the US team right now.

Ghana hasn't scored a goal in the run of play yet, it was the best possible scenario other than Australia for the US team in the second round.

As for Uruguay/South Korea? Really, I know Uruguay made Mexico look silly, but the US is a good step ahead of team Mexico.

This is the best chance for the US to make the semis since 1950. One of Uruguay/South Korea/US/Ghana will, and I'd give the US team at least even odds against anybody in that foursome.

This team played even with England, a team better than any of those 3.


#264

KEM

KEM

As for US v. Ghana: Ghana beat the US 2-1 in the 2006 World Cup in which we crashed out in the first round. Also it looks like Ghana will be the only African team to make it past the first round, as such I wouldn't be surprised if they had the entire continent behind them from now on. So yeah, US v. Ghana is going to be a tough match, but if the US wins there's no telling how far they can go.


#265

Piotyr

Piotyr

Biardo;404152][QUOTE=Chazwozel said:
A World Cup U.S. win would definitely be a boon for the sport in the U.S.
Click to expand...
yeah, that is not going to happen, I fear it will be difficult for the USA against Germany or even Ghana or Serbia. Unless they get much more efficient in scoring goals[/QUOTE]

They scored 3 (and were credited with 2) goals in 45 minutes against a Slovenia team that gave up 4 goals in the entire qualifying run. Just because they should have routed Algeria 6-0 with the chances they created and only got one in isn't indicative of the team's scoring quality.

That doesn't mean they can win the World Cup. Their defense is suspect, especially in the first 20 minutes.


#266

bhamv3

bhamv3

Piotyr said:
This team played even with England, a team better than any of those 3.
Click to expand...
You mean based on current form, or reputation? For the latter, maybe. For the former, no chance. England suck at the moment.


#267



zero

Trust me, I happen to know one or two things about football... It will be their hardest game so far, but USA is more than capable of beating Ghana.

bhamv3;404626][QUOTE=Piotyr said:
This team played even with England, a team better than any of those 3.
Click to expand...
You mean based on current form, or reputation? For the latter, maybe. For the former, no chance. England suck at the moment.[/QUOTE] Have faith. I saw today for the first time an English team playing their game, instead of trying to emulate the continental or the South American styles. And while I dislike the English style of play, I must admit, it is very effective for them.


#268



Biardo

Yeah they are capable if they play better then they played so far. They have a very wonky defense and for all the chances they have they don't score enough, they don't have a striker who finds the goal and you can't hope that you'll get so many chances against a team like Ghana so every chance will count. If they do that I say maybe with a bit off hard work the semis are possible but I don't see Altidore and Dempsy improve in 4 days.


#269

twitchmoss

twitchmoss

Did anyone else watching the BBC coverage of the england match see this piece of mindnumbing stupidity beforehand?



bravo bbc. a fake viral outbreak newsflash. any more bright ideas?


#270

bhamv3

bhamv3

Hmm, it does seem rather unbecoming of the BBC. I'd expect something like that from Channel 4, maybe.

Lineker's deadpan "I think I've got it" was nice though.


#271

Piotyr

Piotyr

Biardo said:
Yeah they are capable if they play better then they played so far. They have a very wonky defense and for all the chances they have they don't score enough, they don't have a striker who finds the goal and you can't hope that you'll get so many chances against a team like Ghana so every chance will count. If they do that I say maybe with a bit off hard work the semis are possible but I don't see Altidore and Dempsy improve in 4 days.
Click to expand...
Altidore and Dempsey, especially, score much better than they showed against Algeria. Calling the US team one striker and a goalie really sell guys like Altidore, Dempsey and Bradley short. I'd feel better about their chances if Onyewu and especially Davies were 100%, but this is probably the best squad of 11 the US has ever had.


#272



zero

Piotyr;404744][QUOTE=Biardo said:
Calling the US team one striker and a goalie really sell guys like Altidore, Dempsey and Bradley short. I'd feel better about their chances if Onyewu and especially Davies were 100%, but this is probably the best squad of 11 the US has ever had.
Click to expand...
Oh, that is a fact, that's the best football team ever assembled in the USA.

BTW keep in mind that Donovan is no mere striker. He's a classic, 10-shirt bearing, midfielder.


#273



Biardo

Italy is going to lose I think, they just seem so lifeless


#274

Dave

Dave

The lose and they are gone, man. Weird.


#275

Calleja

Calleja

Shit, Italy, get your shit together, uomini, you're the world fucking champions!


#276



Biardo

yeah but they are playing so bad they don't deserve to go trough


#277

Calleja

Calleja

If they score one goal, I'll be happy cause that's what I predicted in the forum game... and probably so would they cause maybe they'd squeak through.


#278



zero

Shit, whas that a goal? Even after watching the replays I can't tell...


#279

Calleja

Calleja

I think it was!! Oh man, such a close call... I'm not sure, but I think the ball did completely cross the line for a tenth of a second.


#280



zero

Well, that's probably it... Slovakia scored.

Nice game.


#281



Biardo

2-0 bye Italy,

That goal, I don't know, you can't see it clearly on the replays so maybe


#282

Calleja

Calleja

Italy's out.

Damn, this is a weird World Cup.


#283



zero

They're not out yet! If either Italy OR Paraguay score now...


#284



Biardo

maybe...

but Italy has to score again, they have only 2 points and Slovakia has 1 so that would mean they have 4 when they win


#285



zero

Dang, ANOTHER questionable overside call?? Although I believe the ref was right now...


#286

Calleja

Calleja

Oh man, the last minutes of the match seem scripted by Hollywood or something, controversially annulled goals and everything.


#287



zero

Biardo said:
maybe...

but Italy has to score again, they have only 2 points and Slovakia has 1 so that would mean they have 4 when they win
Click to expand...
D'oh! You're right, of course...

---------- Post added at 03:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:45 PM ----------

GG Italy


#288

Jay

Jay

Italy robbed on a legit goal, should have been tied! Changes everything.


#289

Calleja

Calleja

It's over for sure now.


#290



Biardo

yeah they don't have time to do anything back I fear

---------- Post added at 05:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:48 PM ----------

ow man 2 min for 1 goal


#291



zero

Jay said:
Italy robbed on a legit goal, should have been tied! Changes everything.
Click to expand...
Which one? After watching a replay, I'd say the overside was a good call (although a close one).

The other one? I've seen multiple replay angles, slo-mo, and really, I can't tell...


#292

Calleja

Calleja

Holy shit, 3-2... I'm telling you, not even a scripted game would be this intense. The entire country of Italy must have made grooves on their chairs with their fingernails.


#293



zero

Calleja said:
Holy shit, 3-2... I'm telling you, not even a scripted game would be this intense. The entire country of Italy must have made grooves on their chairs with their fingernails.
Click to expand...
And Slovakia, who, let's face it, deserves it more!


#294

Jay

Jay

That was dramatic. Italy didn't deserve to move on. The last 20 minutes was great entertainment.

But how often will good goals be denied due to human incompetence? I think with today's day and age with the available technology they should allow teams to contest disallowed goals. That no-goal will be the talk of the tournie, or at the very least, the talk of some countries for the next 4 years.


#295



zero

... and Pepe MISSES IT!

It's over... Slovakia 3 x 2 Italy one of the most intense games I've seen in my life...

So we have Paraguay 1st and Slovakia 2nd. CONMEBOL is dominating...


#296

Jay

Jay

zero said:
The other one? I've seen multiple replay angles, slo-mo, and really, I can't tell...
Click to expand...
Instant replay shows him clearly onside.


#297



Biardo

and there goes the reigning world champion, together with France that is the second finalist from last time.

And I don't see it those two denied goals, maybe the offside one but even in the replay I'm not sure so videos wouldn't help in this case.


#298

Calleja

Calleja

Such a great game, I love this sport.


#299



Biardo

now I see it again it's offside I would say so good call by the assistant


#300



zero

Jay;404851][QUOTE=zero said:
The other one? I've seen multiple replay angles, slo-mo, and really, I can't tell...
Click to expand...
Instant replay shows him clearly onside.[/QUOTE] LOL, really? I would say instant replays clearly show him offside! Well.. if it was a bad call, I can't blame the ref for it...


#301

Calleja

Calleja

He was offside by like an elbow.. so fucking close... but yeah, offside.

The other one I'm not so sure about, though.


#302



Biardo

if you look between the legs you can see the ball and that it's still above the line, maybe because of the angle that isn't really proof but I still think that it was a good call too


#303

Covar

Covar

I remember during this years winter olympics people were saying how the US didn't stand a chance in Hockey.


#304



Biardo

yes but in hockey there are like 6 good countries so a surprise is easier if the others don't bring their A game

if in football you have the top 6 countries that aren't preforming to their usual standards there are still 10 countries who will so it's a lot more difficult, I think you all hope to much on a miracle. Not that I don't want to see the USA do good but it is to soon, you can just get to the top without a solid background IMO.


#305

Calleja

Calleja

I'm Mexican, I'm culturally programmed to root for any team that's playing against the US.


#306

blotsfan

blotsfan

That was a good call, but the offsides rule is crap. The ref can just judge if a player is cherry picking and penalize him. No reason plays like that should be illegal.


#307



Element 117

Japan 2 Denmark 0 at half.

wtfwc??


#308

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Those were some sick penalty kicks...


#309

Calleja

Calleja

blotsfan said:
That was a good call, but the offsides rule is crap. The ref can just judge if a player is cherry picking and penalize him. No reason plays like that should be illegal.
Click to expand...
What? I'm sorry, but that's just a stupid statement. If there was no offside rule the entire game would be long, long passes trying to bypass the defense.


#310



Biardo

yep it's there for a reason, now they could make sure it's easier to enforce with technical improvements but they shouldn't get rid of it.


#311



Biardo

great game from Japan BTW


#312

Seraphyn

Seraphyn

Man, Netherlands sucked :(

3 yellow cards makes 6 total, we ain't getting far with shit like that.


#313

Math242

Math242

italiy sucked. The netherlands just paced themselves for the next round :D


#314

blotsfan

blotsfan

Calleja;404974][QUOTE=blotsfan said:
That was a good call, but the offsides rule is crap. The ref can just judge if a player is cherry picking and penalize him. No reason plays like that should be illegal.
Click to expand...
What? I'm sorry, but that's just a stupid statement. If there was no offside rule the entire game would be long, long passes trying to bypass the defense.[/QUOTE]
Like I said, the refs can determine whether or not a player is cherry picking and then penalize him. The fact that that goal was illegal means theres a flaw in the rules.


#315



zero

blotsfan said:
Like I said, the refs can determine whether or not a player is cherry picking and then penalize him. The fact that that goal was illegal means theres a flaw in the rules.
Click to expand...
Wait, you want to add MORE ref adjudication to the offside rule? Seriously, if the current offside rule has anything wrong, it's precisely how it leaves too much open to interpretation.

Sure, that was a nice goal, but you need to draw a line somewhere, and it's for the better that the line is clearly drawn.


#316



crono1224

The only thing I would change is the players rolling around on the ground for the last 5 minutes of the game, trying to draw it out. Other than that there seems to be great case for instant replay to be utilized, even if both the goal calls don't get overturned they were so close on video, that they must been nearly impossible to see in person.


#317



Biardo

I would like to see some more video use and maybe a system like in rugby where they can stop the time when there is a serious injury, but then they can't play overtime.


#318



zero

Gah, what an horrible game...

Brazil is playing for the 0 x 0, they DESERVE to lose... GO PORTUGAL!


#319



zero

Worst. Game. Ever.

Well, Brazil was without the two main strikers and worse, without the midfielder...

Anyway, Brazil 1st, Portugal 2nd. Let's see how Spain does now...


#320

bhamv3

bhamv3

I turned the TV off out of boredom and disgust halfway through the Brazil-Portugal game. Seriously, what the hell was that? I thought that would be one of the best matches of the group stages.


#321

Calleja

Calleja

It was supposed to be, but both were content with their standing and phoned it in. Bastards.


#322

Dave

Dave

Nothing they did would change the outcome. Even if Brazil beat Portugal the Ivory Coast would have had to beat Korea by 7 goals to leapfrog.

So I don't blame them if they didn't want to push thmselves and risk injury.


#323

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

If Portugal won, they would have won the group.


#324

Dave

Dave

Yes, but as soon as Portugal started actually playing, so would Brazil. Brazil had nothing to lose by waiting and Portugal was probably looking at their bracket if they won. Winning means that they'd meet either Slovakia or the Netherlands in the quarters. By coming in second in their pool they have weaker perceived opponents in the Quarters (Japan or Paraguay) if they get past whomever wins Group H.


#325



zero

Ok, let's forget about that Brazil x Portugal, Spain x Chile is nothing short of spectacular!!!


#326

Calleja

Calleja

It was until the last 20 minutes where they just decided to play "pass the ball".... idiots.


#327

IronBrig4

IronBrig4



Dammit, Torres. That was just disgraceful.


#328

LordRendar

LordRendar

Hahahaha.That is very very embarassing.


#329

Covar

Covar

That right there is another reason I could never play soccer. If someone did that to me I would make sure there was a reason for him to be writhing on the ground.

Players that flop should be fucking ashamed of themselves. They are an embarrassment to all of sports.


#330

Rob King

Rob King

I remember hearing a commentator on a game once decry someone for diving. If I recall correctly, it went something like: "The only way it could have been more obvious that that was a dive was if he were wearing a damn snorkel."


#331



zero

Ah, what an intense game between Uruguay and South Korea! Things are certainly different when nothing but a victory will do...

Uruguay 2 x 1 South Korea, USA x Ghana is next.


#332

Calleja

Calleja

Uh, guys, look at that gif frame by frame... totally by accident the Chilean player's knee hits Torres' foot just as it's up, so it pushes it against his other leg.. of course after he feels the impact he exaggerates the fall, but he would have tripped anyway. Not deserving of the yellow card since there was no intention, granted, but the player would have fallen. Didn't the network where you watch it show it??


#333

LordRendar

LordRendar

Hmm...if you look really closely the right leg does get knocked to the side and hits the calf on the left leg.One would defenitly fall from that.But that jump was still a little over the top.

0-1 ghana


#334

IronBrig4

IronBrig4

Yeah. You'd think somebody shot him.


#335

bhamv3

bhamv3

I think Ghana and the USA are pretty evenly matched so far, though Ghana seem to be growing stronger as the game goes on.


#336

Calleja

Calleja

What were you guys saying about diving?

Well, a dive just got you tied with Ghana.


#337



zero

Calleja said:
What were you guys saying about diving?

Well, a dive just got you tied with Ghana.
Click to expand...
Hmm, I disagree...

Anyway, that's it, Ghana 2 x 1 USA... a nice game, although I expected USA to win.


#338

Calleja

Calleja

What do you mean you disagree? I was watching it on the ABC feed and the AMERICAN commentators were all like "oh, yeah, uh, diving is a strategy and he used it brilliantly on his team's favor..." while they were playing the replay. It was obvious.


#339



zero

Calleja said:
What do you mean you disagree? I was watching it on the ABC feed and the AMERICAN commentators were all like "oh, yeah, uh, diving is a strategy and he used it brilliantly on his team's favor..." while they were playing the replay. It was obvious.
Click to expand...
Really?? Well, I'll watch it again latter. Of course, diving is not a strategy, diving is cheating.


#340

Calleja

Calleja

Exaggerating the extent of a hit can arguably be called strategy... a little kick that would barely even be felt through the shin guards could still count as a foul, and the referee can't be close enough to notice there was a hit every time unless he sees a reaction. Coaches instruct their players to seek the foul call by making it noticeable when one is committed, make no mistake. It's always been that way, all over the world. You'll never see a player get kicked and not fall down, unless he deems it a better strategy to continue a dangerous play or something.

Diving when there was no contact whatsoever, on the other hand, is unarguably cheating.


#341

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

Welp. Go Mexico, Go Netherlands, Go Germany I guess.


#342

Calleja

Calleja

If Mexico wins (they won't) Monday is gonna have a looooot of people calling in sick to work. A looooooooooooooooooooooot.


#343



zero

The Lovely Boner said:
Welp. Go Mexico, Go Netherlands, Go Germany I guess.
Click to expand...
... erm...

???


#344



zero

Calleja said:
Exaggerating the extent of a hit can arguably be called strategy...

(...) Diving when there was no contact whatsoever, on the other hand, is unarguably cheating.
Click to expand...
Ah, ok, so you agree that in that penalty for the USA, there WAS a fault?


#345

Calleja

Calleja

No, of course not, he dove without any reason whatsoever. He cheated his way onto that penalty.


#346

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

Cheering for Brazil is too easy.


#347

Rovewin

Rovewin

Calleja said:
No, of course not, he dove without any reason whatsoever. He cheated his way onto that penalty.
Click to expand...
I am sorry but I am going to have to Disagree. That was not a dive. He got taken down by the Ghana Players back leg. Watching the replay he did not start falling until he was hit by the other players leg. Embellishment, Yes. Dive, No.

On another note I like how we took a play from hockey and had the goal keeper out of the box and up trying to score. Keeper v Keeper


#348



Biardo

I saw a penalty too, but I was watching in a bar so not really the best place for objectivity

to bad the US lost

and the keeper v keeper thing is not that extraordinary in a tournament, off course when you just play for the points it's not word the risk but when you need to win then the keepers do that a lot


#349



zero

Don't miss the Germany x England game!
Germany 2 x 1 England so far...


#350

bhamv3

bhamv3

BULLSHIT!!! That was TOTALLY OVER THE LINE!!!

England got robbed a goal. :mad:


#351

redthirtyone

redthirtyone

Wow - and England gets ripped off. Wasn't even close.


#352

Calleja

Calleja

If England loses the stink they will raise over the robbed goal will be of epic levels, seriously. I wouldn't want to be FIFA these days.

And no one can help but make the comparison to the controversial goal in 1966 World Cup:



And yes, that's again Germany vs England. They got the goal that time, though.


#353

Sparhawk

Sparhawk

bhamv3 said:
BULLSHIT!!! That was TOTALLY OVER THE LINE!!!

England got robbed a goal. :mad:
Click to expand...
No kidding, this WC is building more of a case for using video replay than ever. I don't care if it can't be instituted across all levels of the game, you don't need it under pro or WC level anyway.


#354



zero

Well, even with ref screw ups, 4 x 1 is very convincing for Germany...


#355

Calleja

Calleja

Yeah, they were clearly superior for the entire second half, if they had won 2-1 the mess would have been epic... but two extra goals takes care of any ref mistake and clearly shows who was superior.

Good game Germany, it was beautiful to watch such a well-oiled machine.


#356

Seraphyn

Seraphyn

Germany played damned well. If they could keep that up their next match should be awesome.


#357

Calleja

Calleja

Oh man.. Mexico / Argentina in 2 hours... this is going to be awful, but I can't NOT watch, y'know?

Hold me.


#358

Rob King

Rob King

Calleja said:
Oh man.. Mexico / Argentina in 2 hours... this is going to be awful, but I can't NOT watch, y'know?

Hold me.
Click to expand...
*Pulls Calleja close and strokes his hair gently.*

There, there ...


#359

Calleja

Calleja

*whimpers*


#360

bhamv3

bhamv3

Yeah, no complaints about the England result. There were times when England were able to give as good as they got, but on the whole Germany were in a different class.

This happens every tournament. England have got good players, but as I predicted in my first post, they always underperform. Where the hell was Wayne Rooney for the whole tournament? Where was Frank Lampard (apart from hitting the post a few times with free kicks)? And why the hell does Fabio Capello hate Joe Cole so much?

Let the inquisition begin.

EDIT: Actually, reading my first post again, I got it EXACTLY right.


#361



Element 117

Rob King;406086][QUOTE=Calleja said:
Oh man.. Mexico / Argentina in 2 hours... this is going to be awful, but I can't NOT watch, y'know?

Hold me.
Click to expand...
*Pulls Calleja close and strokes his hair gently.*

There, there ...[/QUOTE]

Isn't he bald?

That was a crazy yaoi image right there


#362

Calleja

Calleja

I'm closely shaved, but you can still touch the little hair bristle things u_u

(actually, it's the reason lots of women love to touch my head, my thin hair is all soft and pettable, even I can't stop myself from rubbing my head (the bigger one) from time to time)

---------- Post added at 01:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:12 PM ----------

You guys may not realize this, but down here in Mexico the World Cup is a BIG DEAL. The whole country STOPS when the Mexican team plays. I just came back from the supermarket and it was COMPLETELY FULL, the rather huge beer aisle was nearing emptiness, the lines for check out were well into the aisles, everyone wearing green or black or white, painted faces... it was craziness.

But I didn't care that I had a long, long wait with my beers and frozen pizza (watching the game alone today)... because I chose the line with the EXTREMELY HOT girl right in front of me. She was... breath taking in her sexiness, not prettyness maybe, but.. oh man. Her ass CALLED OUT TO ME, I literally had to bite my lip almost the entire time. Holy shit did she have an epic ass. And epic everything... god. If her boyfriend had not made an appearance as soon as he did I would have not been able to stop my unbathed, unshaven, sweaty self from hitting on her.

PHew, I'm still reeling from her hotness.


#363



zero

Mexico is playing like this was the game of their life, and they may very well do it!
Hey Calleja, hop in the irc channel!

---------- Post added at 06:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:51 PM ----------

Ouch, was that goal allowed?????????

... and I though refs were bad here in Brazil :(


#364

Calleja

Calleja

Holy fuck. A clear offside. What the fuck are they going to do? They played it on the screens and the players saw it, this is going to be big, especially combined with the England goal they didn't count.


Shit, I have to start drinking faster.

---------- Post added at 02:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:58 PM ----------

Osorio.




Osorio.


#365



zero

Mexico apparently lost their stuff on that offside call... that was a newbie mistake


#366

Calleja

Calleja

Osorio.

Oh, Osorio.


#367



zero

Damn Celleja, this is getting ugly.

DO SOMETHING!


#368

Calleja

Calleja

I am.

Beer. Lots of it.


#369



zero

Dam it Calleja, it's your fault, do you hear me?

IT'S YOUR FAULT!!!

*sobs


#370

LordRendar

LordRendar

OH man.Mexico get it together :(

But hey,Germany WOn.Wooot.You could hear the whole neighborhood cheering everytime we scored a goal.Very entertaining.


#371



zero

That's better Mexico... 3 more to go...


#372

Piotyr

Piotyr

Between the officiating gaffes against the US, England, Ivory Coast and Mexico, FIFA may actually feel enough pressure to do something about it.


#373

Calleja

Calleja

While my vuvuzuela gently weeps.

---------- Post added at 03:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:37 PM ----------

Final Score: Mexico: 1 Referee: 1 Osorio: 1 Argentina: 1


#374

Jay

Jay

Piotyr said:
Between the officiating gaffes against the US, England, Ivory Coast and Mexico, FIFA may actually feel enough pressure to do something about it.
Click to expand...
You forgot Italy.

Just watched the game, I have to say... Argentina looks great thus far. However, that offside was blatant. The sheer incompetence of the Refs this World Cup is staggering.



#375

HCGLNS

HCGLNS

I really don't see how that was offside. The defenders were equal to him or behind him when he touched the ball.


#376

Sparhawk

Sparhawk

HCGLNS said:
I really don't see how that was offside. The defenders were equal to him or behind him when he touched the ball.
Click to expand...
Offside is determined when the ball is played forward, not when the ball is played by a player that is in an offside position.


#377



Element 117

This feels like a world cup of attrition.


#378

Calleja

Calleja

HCGLNS said:
I really don't see how that was offside. The defenders were equal to him or behind him when he touched the ball.
Click to expand...
The offside is measured the instant the passer hits the ball, not when the receiver gets it.


#379

Jay

Jay

Look at the video. They even pause if for you and draw the line.

I wonder if these Refs are asking the same question. :)


#380

redthirtyone

redthirtyone

daaaaaaamn! That guy wasn't just offside, he was DOUBLE offside. The keeper was off his line so he didn't even have ONE defender between him & the line, much less two.


#381

Math242

Math242

man, i'm done with this shit until they decide to use real refs or technology.


#382

Piotyr

Piotyr

FIFA has fixed the glitch. No more video replays


#383

Covar

Covar

Math242 said:
man, i'm done with this shit until they decide to use real refs or technology.
Click to expand...
I heard on ESPN this morning a clever solution to Englands goal problem (which btw is still no excuse in a 4-1 game). Paint the area in the net red. When the the rest of the field is green, and goal area is red, it becomes a lot easier to just have to see if the ball hits Red grass, over seeing if the ball hit the other side of a thin white line.


#384

tegid

tegid

Next year, the Champions league matches (and the Europe league ones as well) will have 6 referees. Besides the 4 'normal' ones there will be one right beside each goal. Meh.


#385

Seraphyn

Seraphyn

I don't get the FIFA's hate for a simple screencheck in very important close calls. It only eliminates possible ref faults, nothing else changes.


#386

Covar

Covar

Seraphyn said:
I don't get the FIFA's hate for a simple screencheck in very important close calls. It only eliminates possible ref faults, nothing else changes.
Click to expand...
Soccer can't even figure out how to stop the clock when stoppage in play occurs.


#387

Jay

Jay

Let's be honest, as time moves on the more evident the lackings are in the game of soccer. To BAN replays because it instigates crowds is beyond asinine. Fix the problem, there won't be any issues afterwards. This game is flawed.


#388

Sparhawk

Sparhawk

Jay said:
Let's be honest, as time moves on the more evident the lackings are in the game of soccer. To BAN replays because it instigates crowds is beyond asinine. Fix the problem, there won't be any issues afterwards. This game is flawed.
Click to expand...
The game isn't flawed, the ruling committee is a bunch of dim-witted doofuses that can't see that a change is needed at the highest level of the sport to take advantage of modern technology. It's possible that MLB baseball and FIFA are bastard children of the same father, snobbish "traditionalists."


#389

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

To play Devil's Advocate, if you're in this tournament now, and you're not going to change things in the middle of the tournament, well. Turning off the replays makes a lot of sense.


#390

tegid

tegid

You are right, but looking further ahead than the end of the championship probably no change will come from this. The discussion is not new...


#391

Sparhawk

Sparhawk

I don't think anyone here was for changing the rules for this WC, but for using it for the next, at least that is what I was suggesting. The rules are set for this year, but there have also been some really glaring examples of poor calls that shouldn't have stood upon review. The technology is there for the on-field ref to be able to review a possible goal, even a way for a "video judge" to signal that the ref needs to review. I think that getting the call right is more important than the "tradition" that the ref is always in the right.


#392

Calleja

Calleja

You think so, you go make your own international sport committee association thingie. THEY obviously don't think so. And THEY'RE the association running the, literally, most important sport on this planet.


#393

bhamv3

bhamv3

And they're idiots. And we're calling them idiots.


#394

Jay

Jay

They severely lack the ability to fix these issues due to their stubborn traditional ways. What they feel they are trying to preserve is being shat on because they lack the integrity to do their jobs after half a dozen game outcomes were ruined by flagrant terrible calls. At work, people talk about the games but no one is going, "Wow, Argentina is amazing!" or "Germany really is going to win this one", what I heard all day? "How the fuck did they miss that England goal?" "I don't get it, are imaginary offsides only called against the Italian team?" "First the hand of God, now the offsides, FIFA loves Maradonna like Maradonna loves coke."

I got a link to both replays in email by the time I came in. That's what everyone was talking about most of today.

So is FIFA sucking a dick? I think so.


#395

Calleja

Calleja

The england replay and the mexico replay you mean?


#396

Rob King

Rob King

Calleja said:
You think so, you go make your own international sport committee association thingie. THEY obviously don't think so. And THEY'RE the association running the, literally, most important sport on this planet.
Click to expand...
Exactly, which is why we don't want to watch silently as they fuck it up.


#397

Jay

Jay

Absolutely. It's so aggravating they have fucked up the WC this bad. Everywhere I go, this is all that I hear and see.








#398

Cog

Cog

Soccer fans like the controversy. The game for them is like a soap opera. They like to suffer, like to argue and that is why they keep watching the game.


#399



zero

Cog said:
Soccer fans like the controversy. The game for them is like a soap opera. They like to suffer, like to argue and that is why they keep watching the game.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah? I happen to know more than a few football fans... Not a single one of them enjoy those shenanigans...


#400

Cog

Cog

That is not like it looks from where I am. And I am the only who is not a soccer fan in this city.


#401

bhamv3

bhamv3

The mistakes and the controversies are good topics to talk about and argue about and watch again and again, but that doesn't mean they're desirable.

It's like saying people want cars to crash because then they'll have something interesting to talk about.


#402

Jay

Jay

Great game between Portugal and Spain!

Another controversy though? Red card on Costa... for what reason?


#403

Seraphyn

Seraphyn

I dunno, but at least this time it didn't affect the game.


#404

Calleja

Calleja

having 10 players instead of 11 didn't affect the game?

what?


#405

tegid

tegid

5 minutes to the end, when Spain was dominating the match... No, not so important.
Also, I think it was not because of that (nonexistant?) foul itself but because he had already been called out by the referee or something.

Anyway, yeah, good match! A pity that Portugal didn't try and attack more (besides counterattacks). If they had been more agressive they could have scored by the end of the first half. I think.

(I actually have no fucking idea about football)


#406

Calleja

Calleja

Alright, I just heard an actually decent reason to the lack of technology in FIFA approved football...

If they made it a rule, it would leave out lots of poorer countries that could just not afford the infrastructure needed to implement the technological checkings. Think of countries where football is the national pastime but are still poor as hell, someone like Trinidad & Tobago, they would have to leave FIFA if they wanted to continue playing football in their local league. Which would mean no international tournament inclusion, no FIFA-approved league, no way of their players playing in other countries... it'd be pretty bad.

I'm not saying it's the only reason they would need, they could just require the technology during international tournaments, but it's the first time I've heard an actual reason for their lack of technology that makes some sense.


#407

Seraphyn

Seraphyn

Calleja said:
having 10 players instead of 11 didn't affect the game?

what?
Click to expand...
What Tegid said, Spain didn't use it to their advantage and there was too little playtime left to really matter all that much. Sure it's still a mistake and maybe in those 5 minutes Portugal were about to flip this game around and score a goal, but I have a hard time believing that it would happen.

In any case I loved this match, very eager play from Spain and not a boring minute.


#408

tegid

tegid

Calleja said:
Alright, I just heard an actually decent reason to the lack of technology in FIFA approved football...

If they made it a rule, it would leave out lots of poorer countries that could just not afford the infrastructure needed to implement the technological checkings. Think of countries where football is the national pastime but are still poor as hell, someone like Trinidad & Tobago, they would have to leave FIFA if they wanted to continue playing football in their local league. Which would mean no international tournament inclusion, no FIFA-approved league, no way of their players playing in other countries... it'd be pretty bad.

I'm not saying it's the only reason they would need, they could just require the technology during international tournaments, but it's the first time I've heard an actual reason for their lack of technology that makes some sense.
Click to expand...
I have heard that a couple of times before. It is absurd! As you say, you only need to require the technology on the higher levels of the game, like international tournaments. I don't know how it is in Mexico, but here the lower category leagues don't have 4 referees... Well, it's the very same for an even higher level.

Did you read my post about there being 6 referees in some European matches?


#409



Biardo

plus in tennis they don't use hawkeye in every tournament only in the really big ones and even then they don't have the system on every court, it's not a problem there so it shouldn't be a problem in football.


#410

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Most football arenas in the States aren't exactly loaded with video replay technology, and at the high school level and lower, pretty much none of them are. We still require it at the national championship level. It's a non-argument.


#411

Calleja

Calleja

People, we're talking about CHANGING THE RULES OF THE GAME here...

The game CLEARLY forbids... not ignores, FORBIDS... the referee and players to watch replays of an ongoing game.

Imagine, for instance, the recent-ish Challenge rule in the NFL. I think it's a brilliant way to address the problem... but what if it couldn't be used by every stadium in the NFL? How is that fair? Am I sucesfully transmitting my point here? If they change the rules to accommodate only the countries with the means to follow them, they're leaving all those others with an unfair disadvantage.

Again, I'm aware it's not the greatest of arguments, but I'm playing Devil's Advocate here.


#412

Dave

Dave

What if it's only used during the World Cup? That way it only affects those who get there. Problem solved.


#413

Jay

Jay

It's a retarded system with critical Windows Millenium-like flaws in their mentality that guarantees nothing but a bunch of fail.


#414

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Calleja said:
If they change the rules to accommodate only the countries with the means to follow them, they're leaving all those others with an unfair disadvantage.
Click to expand...
How so? Putting in the replay option would allow refs to see clearly whether a player is or isn't violating the rules and whether a goal is or isn't legal with perfect clarity according to the current rules?

If the Olympics and all their internationally recognized sports associations that send people to the Olympics can manage it every two years with a lot more countries, I don't see why FIFA can't manage it every 4 for the WC.


#415



Disconnected

The fifa president is older than the instant replay. almost as old as dave. maybe the man fears technothingamabobs past the invention of the wheel.


#416



Element 117

man I am despondent in ways that people here who hate me could only dream of inspiring. My teams are out, and all the teams I wanted to win- man. out. Damn. Why WC Football? Why do I let you tease me into thinking it'll be different this time? Why?


#417

Calleja

Calleja

Let's all cheer for Spain now! YAY!!

Or Germany!


#418



zero

Again, what's wrong with
?


#419

Calleja

Calleja

We're all bored of them winning. It's rooting for The Man.


We hate The Man.


#420



Element 117

definately Germany


#421



zero

Okay, fair enough, but the Deutscher Fussball-Bund has 3 titles already... hardly an underdog...


#422

Seraphyn

Seraphyn

zero said:
Again, what's wrong with
?
Click to expand...
Cause they're going to get their asses whooped next Friday.
Ok probably not, but one can hope!


#423



zero

Seraphyn said:
Cause they're going to get their asses whooped next Friday.
Ok probably not, but one can hope!
Click to expand...
Oh, it is very much possible CBF's team is full of problems now. Thank you very fucking much, Ivory Coast guys, you really broke Elano...

... why is Calleja snickering?


#424

Jay

Jay

Looks like FIFA admitted to sucking a dick on Sunday in both games and will reopen discussions to improve the game.


#425

Calleja

Calleja

zero said:
Okay, fair enough, but the Deutscher Fussball-Bund has 3 titles already... hardly an underdog...
Click to expand...
They haven't won since 1990, that's 20 years. I was 5. Before that it was sometime in the 70s and before that sometime in the 50s.


#426

LordRendar

LordRendar

We win the World Cup every 20 years.It is time. :)


#427



zero

Waitasec, DFB's next game is against friggin' AFA??



Ich bin ein Berliner!!!!
... till Saturday...


#428

LordRendar

LordRendar

That game is gonna be fraking awsome.We are gonna watch it on this wide field with around 70,000 people.


#429



Biardo

I'm sorry LordRendar but I think I'm for Argentina, I'm just supporting the team Messi plays in, now if he would only play a little better.

plus when they leave I'll probably switch to the Netherlands, supporting the neighbours!


#430



zero

Biardo said:
I'm sorry LordRendar but I think I'm for Argentina, I'm just supporting the team Messi plays in, now if he would only play a little better.

plus when they leave I'll probably switch to the Netherlands, supporting the neighbours!
Click to expand...
Nononono, Biardo, don't let AFA seduce you with their aggressive tactics, insanely skilled midfielder and joyful coach. Their football is evil.

Want to go for Netherlands? By all means (and yeah, I know who they are playing next). But stay away from AFA!


#431

Calleja

Calleja

FUCK ARGENTINA!!! THEY HAVE THE UGLIEST ACCENTS IN ALL THE SPANISH SPEAKING WORLD!!!

GO DEUTSCHLAND!!


#432

phil

phil

I guess I'm rooting for Paraguay?

Larissa Riquelme, Lingerie Model, Will Run Naked If Paraguay Wins World Cup (PHOTOS)


#433

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

I'd subscribe to her newsletter.


#434

Calleja

Calleja

meh


#435

Charlie Don't Surf

The Lovely Boehner

Go Netherlands :)


#436

Sparhawk

Sparhawk

Germany, my family's homeland, like 70 years ago, before they tried to kill us all... who else is there... yep, gotta be Germany.


#437

bhamv3

bhamv3

I support everyone who plays against Germany, because they knocked out England. I still can't believe England lost to that booger-eating bastard.


#438

klew

klew

A group of workmates went out to dinner Sunday night. I, and a Brit, ordered the bratwurst, he got ridiculed the rest of the night for not realizing he ordered a German dish.


#439



Element 117

bhamv3 said:
I support everyone who plays against Germany, because they knocked out England. I still can't believe England lost to that booger-eating bastard.
Click to expand...
I support you having your testicles kicked by a horse. 4-1. Jedenfalls sind deutsche Frauen so heiß, und insgesamt Tiger im Bett.


#440

bhamv3

bhamv3

But then how will I enjoy the deutsche frauen?!?!? You're mean!


#441



Biardo

zero;407613][QUOTE=Biardo said:
I'm sorry LordRendar but I think I'm for Argentina, I'm just supporting the team Messi plays in, now if he would only play a little better.

plus when they leave I'll probably switch to the Netherlands, supporting the neighbours!
Click to expand...
Nononono, Biardo, don't let AFA seduce you with their aggressive tactics, insanely skilled midfielder and joyful coach. Their football is evil.

Want to go for Netherlands? By all means (and yeah, I know who they are playing next). But stay away from AFA![/QUOTE]

but but Maradona looks so cool in his suit and Messi is just so cute, I wanna support them, why won't you let me support them Zero, why?


#442

Rovewin

Rovewin

Biardo;408282][QUOTE=zero;407613][QUOTE=Biardo said:
I'm sorry LordRendar but I think I'm for Argentina, I'm just supporting the team Messi plays in, now if he would only play a little better.

plus when they leave I'll probably switch to the Netherlands, supporting the neighbours!
Click to expand...
Nononono, Biardo, don't let AFA seduce you with their aggressive tactics, insanely skilled midfielder and joyful coach. Their football is evil.

Want to go for Netherlands? By all means (and yeah, I know who they are playing next). But stay away from AFA![/QUOTE]

but but Maradona looks so cool in his suit and Messi is just so cute, I wanna support them, why won't you let me support them Zero, why?[/QUOTE]

Because they are playing Germany next. Any other time I would say go ahead, have fun but not this time.


#443

Calleja

Calleja

Maradonna isn't even Argentina's Coach, he's more like their mascot.


#444



zero

bhamv3 said:
I support everyone who plays against Germany, because they knocked out England. I still can't believe England lost to that booger-eating bastard.
Click to expand...
And what about the "Hand of God"??? You already forgot that? NEVER, I say!

Biardo said:
but but Maradona looks so cool in his suit and Messi is just so cute, I wanna support them, why won't you let me support them Zero, why?
Click to expand...
You fool!! Do you really think Messi is even HUMAN?





#445

nfldraftman

CincyGuy

The Dutch and Brasil kick it off shortly....hopefully this is a nice, fast-paced game. It shouldn't lack for quick, laser-sharp passing. I wonder if Brasil will be the first team to figure that Robben goes TO HIS LEFT!!!! I like both these teams so I don't care who wins...but wait, I'm in a WC pool. I better go see who I picked to advance....gambling never lies.


#446



zero

CincyGuy said:
The Dutch and Brasil kick it off shortly....hopefully this is a nice, fast-paced game. It shouldn't lack for quick, laser-sharp passing.
Click to expand...
How prophetic! Felipe Melo just did precisely that for Robinho to score.


#447

Seraphyn

Seraphyn

2-1 BITCHES! :D


#448

nfldraftman

CincyGuy

Wow, the Dutch get a break and then ride the momentum to a sudden lead! Brasil should be very aggressive for the next 20 minutes, and it will be very entertaining.


#449

Seraphyn

Seraphyn

And a red card for Melo!

This should be over and done.


#450

LordRendar

LordRendar

That Japanese Referee has pretty sharp eyes.

hahaha.he accidentaly pulled the red card. :p


#451

nfldraftman

CincyGuy

Well, no matter what happens to me today, I'll at least know that someone (Felipe Melo) is having a worse one than I am. An own goal and a red card.


#452

Seraphyn

Seraphyn

He had me shitting my pants for a sec. :p

---------- Post added at 05:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:34 PM ----------

Practising corners >_>
Man that was lucky.

---------- Post added at 05:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:39 PM ----------

Whahahaha, so awesome! It's been 40~ years, but we beat Brazil :D


#453

Dave

Dave

Daaaaaaaaaaaamn.


#454



zero

Oh well, I had not foreseen that...

... on a second though, Red Card for Felipe Melo? Ok, totally predictable :(


#455

Calleja

Calleja

daaaayuuuumn


#456

nfldraftman

CincyGuy

I DID have the Dutch winning this game in my World Cup pool. Who's in first place NOW, BITCHES!!!! (Not the one on this site, another one).


#457



zero

Seraphyn said:
Whahahaha, so awesome! It's been 40~ years, but we beat Brazil :D
Click to expand...
The Dutch always had the most beautiful football in the whole Europe. Congratulations on wining an amazing game.


#458



Biardo

congrats to the Netherlands they deserved this one in their second half.

But about that most beautiful football, I think that Spain took that tittle over for this championship


#459

bhamv3

bhamv3

The fates are conspiring to make my picks not come true. :(


#460

Calleja

Calleja

Fuck the World Cup forum game, fuck it right in the ear


#461

nfldraftman

CincyGuy

The Ghanaian coach has a tie that looks like it was made out of Fruit Stripe gum...


#462



zero

Wait, what????????

---------- Post added at 09:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:02 PM ----------

HOLY SH***************************************!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


#463

Dave

Dave

What an ending to this match!


#464



zero

We jumped right over Hollywood-Style ending, that's worthy of the cheesiest Anime!

---------- Post added at 09:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:06 PM ----------

DAMN!!!

---------- Post added at 09:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:13 PM ----------

EL LOCO SCORES!!!

And yeah, he's completely insane... He did precisely that penalty kick in the finals at the Carioca league.


#465



zero

I found the video (in portuguese):


#466



rvdleun

Just wanted to quickly butt in(did you lot change the look of the forums again?) to say that Holland's game today was absolutely amazing. I was in the center of Rotterdam during the game, and after the first half, everyone pretty much assumed the game was over.

And then you suddenly win with 2-1. An incredible euphoria washed over the city, no one had seen this coming. Biggest celebration in Holland so far. Frankly, I don't care if we lose in the semi-finals, the fact that Holland beat f'ing Brazil AND came back after 0-1 is an incredible achievement. Lord, I was afraid that I was going to relive the old 2-0, 2-2, 3-2 from '94.

So yeah, definately enjoying the world cup so far :p


#467



Veteran

Suarez is an absolute hero!


#468

tegid

tegid

Biardo said:
congrats to the Netherlands they deserved this one in their second half.

But about that most beautiful football, I think that Spain took that tittle over for this championship
Click to expand...
Agreed, but one could say their way of playing comes from Holland. :)


#469

Sparhawk

Sparhawk

Argentina is running around looking like they just don't know how to handle the German attack at all, about 25 minutes in and they are starting to pull it together now. I'm not sure that the goalie even saw that ball coming toward the net on the 1st German goal.


#470

Dave

Dave

I turned it on at about 13 minutes and was shocked Germany had scored already.


#471

sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

I watched it from the start. I was shocked when they scored so early.


#472

bhamv3

bhamv3

Um... holy shit Germany.

Now I feel better about England at least getting one goal past the Germans.


#473



zero

WHOOOOOOOOOOT, 4 x 0!! IN YOUR FACE AFA!!!



Schadenfreude is a German Word after all...


#474



Biardo

ok that 's that for Argentina I guess it's time to support the Netherlands

Hup Holland Hup!


#475

Seraphyn

Seraphyn

I only saw the second half due to work, but man Germany seemed unstoppable. And what happened to Argentina, everything they did seemed to go wrong on both the defensive and offensive side.


#476

bhamv3

bhamv3

Well, we already knew Argentina were frail defensively, but Maradona seemed to prefer to attack and outscore his opponents. And they were able to do that up til now. It seemed like Germany came with a game plan to nullify the Argentinian attack and then carve them open.

Gotta hand it to Joachim Loew, this guy seems to know exactly what his opponents are going to do, and how to counter them. He did it against England, by getting his players to draw Terry out of position, and now he's done it against Argentina.


#477

LordRendar

LordRendar

They totaly isolated Messi and thus almost nulliefied the Argentinian offense.The German Defense though did loosen up around end of the first half and till around middle of the second,allowing the Argentinians ample chances,but were thwarted by our superb goalie.

*happy dance*

Wooo...gonna call in sick on wednesday.


#478

Jay

Jay

That was an asskick and a half.


#479



zero

Biardo said:
ok that 's that for Argentina I guess it's time to support the Netherlands
Click to expand...
Dammit Biardo, since you insisted in cheering for those bastards, here's a statistic that may make you feel better about their elimination.

AFA titles on international tournaments:

Before anti-doping exams: 16
After anti-doping exams: 0

just saying...


#480

LordRendar

LordRendar

im sorry that you are gonna be dissapointed soon,Biardo.


#481

tegid

tegid

!!!!! The referee totally missed a second penalty and a red card! Paraguay's goalie hit Cesc in his leg (and made him fall) after the penalty Xabi Alonso kicked.


#482



zero

tegid said:
!!!!! The referee totally missed a second penalty and a red card! Paraguay's goalie hit Cesc in his leg (and made him fall) after the penalty Xabi Alonso kicked.
Click to expand...
Not to mention he ignored the obvious invasion on the Penalty Kick for Paraguay, right? ;)


#483



zero

Oh yeah, and I would very much like to see a replay of that offside...


#484

tegid

tegid

Oh, I saw the replay on tv and it was offside, if we're talking about the same one...
Anyway, wohoooo! Go Spain!!! To Semifinals!*


*To get owned by Deutschland...


#485



zero

tegid said:
Oh, I saw the replay on tv and it was offside, if we're talking about the same one...
Click to expand...

One of the toughest offside calls I've seen in a while. Valdez is evidently NOT offside, but Cardozo is, and as he gets really close to the ball, I'd say the ref was right on this one.


#486

Jay

Jay

The shittiness of the Refs this world cup is so bad.


#487

tegid

tegid

zero said:
One of the toughest offside calls I've seen in a while. Valdez is evidently NOT offside, but Cardozo is, and as he gets really close to the ball, I'd say the ref was right on this one.
Click to expand...
Indeed.

On the invasion of the penalty for paraguay, the team that is kicking the penalty cannot invade, but the other one can, I think. Or something like that.


#488

Jay

Jay

Let's be honest. This match was sadly ruined by lousy referees.


#489

tegid

tegid

Well yes, I'll agree with that...


#490

Calleja

Calleja

Lots of them were ruined by bad refs this world cup. Rubbish. That's what they all are.

I think the elevated controversy this year will move things forward on some rule changes and technology inclusions, though.


#491



zero

tegid said:
On the invasion of the penalty for paraguay, the team that is kicking the penalty cannot invade, but the other one can, I think. Or something like that.
Click to expand...
Not quite, no. Nobody can invade the box before the kick is performed. So, if the attacker team invades and the penalty kick is a goal, the penalty must be redone. And yes, if the defender team invades and the penalty kick isn't a goal (either the keeper gets it or even if the ball misses completely), the penalty must be redone. So, as a rule of thumb, if you want the penalty to go well for your team, whatever it is, don't enter the box before the ball is kicked.

---------- Post added at 01:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:21 AM ----------

Now, for those who are wondering why Valdez goal was invalidated even if he was clearly onside, the (ridiculously complex) offside rule has a provision for invalidating a goal when an attacker in offside position "takes part in the play" that resulted the goal, even if he don't touch the ball. Of course, what "taking part" means is often left to the ref to adjudicate. Usually, an attacker retreating is ignored for offside purposes, while one reaching for the ball and missing it by inches (like Cardozo did) is not.

Now one can't help but have a bit of sympathy for a ref who needs to make this kind of call in a split second.


#492

IronBrig4

IronBrig4

You know why I'm glad Argentina's out? Because Maradona said he'd strip naked and run through the streets of Buenos Aires if Argentina won the World Cup. And he's probably crazy enough to do it too. Nobody needs to see that short, fat guy streaking.


#493

bhamv3

bhamv3

I remember a match where an attacking player was in an offside position when his team played the ball in again, to another (onside) team mate. This guy just suddenly stood still, put his hands behind his back, and stared at the sky, while his team mate gathered the ball and scored.

The defending team protested that the attackers had a man offside, but it was pretty obvious he'd made himself unavailable for the attacking play, so the goal stood.


#494

nfldraftman

CincyGuy

I'm ready for these semi-finals to kick in...weird scene over the weekend I was hanging out with some friends, and in the party was a German national living here in the States and his friend who was visiting...from Spain. There was a lot of good-natured jawing going on and was a lot of fun. Kinda sad I have to work, because I'd love to watch the match with those two.

Germany looks great, but let's see how Spain does without having to deal with a team quite happy to park 8 guys in the box and defend, defend, defend. Germany will be more prone to move the ball forward. Spain of course, has a lot of weapons. Muller being out for that ridiculous yellow card is not going to help Germany, but they have depth.

As for today's game, I've always enjoyed Dutch football, so my heart is with them. But my wallet wants Uruguay. If they or Spain win then I take my WC pool and a nice chunk of cash. At least no matter what I'll do no worse than third.


#495

Piotyr

Piotyr

Netherlands to the final, guaranteeing a European winner in a non-Europe World Cup for the first time ever.


#496

Wahad

Wahad

Goooooo Netherlands!

Very nice 3-2 victory from the boys from my home country.


#497

Seraphyn

Seraphyn

BAM! :D

So awesome, if I didn't have work tomorrow I'd be partying all night.


#498



rvdleun

Woo!

Now just have German waltz all over Spain and let's have an epic confrontation.

(which Holland should win)


#499

Rob King

Rob King

I have Dutch friends who couldn't even spell "FIFA" before last week, but who are oh so uppity about the Netherlands getting to the finals.

It's almost enough to make me hope they don't win. But the real reason I hope they don't win is because I'm rooting for Germany.


#500

tegid

tegid

Too bad the final is going to be Spain vs Germany


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