World Cup Thread.

Nikolai said:

CONCACAF...for all the **** that had been thrown around prior to the World Cup, it's been an impressive showing so far.

Robbens is a scumbag, but that last one was a penalty. His embellishment was just shameful though. Tough way for Mexico to go out...

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Agree on CONCACAF, disagree completely on the PK, if that's a foul then any contact whatsoever is a foul, Robben was diving whether he was touched or not, he dives all game every game looking for the calls and they should throw him out of every game after two of his flops

GO Les Fennecs

Ivan said:

Contact doesn't mean it should have been a PK, and regardless of who it was i wouldn't have given one in that situation. Reducing any team's world cup to that is a disgrace imo, Herrera is right, the ref should be sent home.

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Uhm, why do you keep blaming Robben(Yeah he embelished that big time) and the ref who had to make a call?

The Mexican player is the idiot who stuck his feet in there against a known offender with other Mexican players around him. Robben was never getting that ball. But the Mexican player decided he wanted to put Mexico's chance in the hands of the refs. Not smart at all...

And not to mention Mexico's decision to play prevent defense with 10 minutes + stoppage time left...seriously?!?!

Wheelman said:

Uhm, why do you keep blaming Robben(Yeah he embelished that big time) and the ref who had to make a call?

The Mexican player is the idiot who stuck his feet in there against a known offender with other Mexican players around him. Robben was never getting that ball. But the Mexican player decided he wanted to put Mexico's chance in the hands of the refs. Not smart at all...

And not to mention Mexico's decision to play prevent defense with 10 minutes + stoppage time left...seriously?!?!

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I blame Robben for diving incessantly, he's a sh.t of a player, and he was goping down no matter what. Marquez made a mistake in not giving him space but that was no foul and in no way did it deserve a PK. And Herrera brought Chichuarito in and he's a forward not a defender.

The ref made a horrible call and called a lousy game imo, he sucked and should go home. And i am no fan of Mexico i just feel they deserved much better than they got in that game. Much the same can be said of the Uruguay game, I was rooting for Uruguay until Suarez bit Chiellini but overall felt Italy got screwed on a horrendous Red Card and the Suarez bite, they deserved better and the ref blew it.

Overall i just want well played and well officiated World Cup, and regardless of my rooting interests i still think you have to call bullsh.t when you see it. They need to take a strong stand on the diving and start suspending players for it, that's the only way you clean it up. There's no reason they can't review matches after they are over and dish out suspensions after the reviews, that would stop the garbage. Working four years only to see your dreams dashed by fakery and horrible calls is terrible.

I agree with you, something needs to be done about the diving and faking. But it 's hard to do when there's contact because you never really know.

But blaming a loss on bad officiating I will not do. Both sides had bad calls against them. Robben should have had a penalty shot, on the play Van Persie passed it to him, when he got kicked in the calf. Doesn't that even it out?

But to be clear I don't agree with this team got screwed, that team got robbed stuff, or that made it even. The team that wins deserves that win. The losing team didn't get robbed.

Ultimately they made more plays than Mexico, or Mexico made more mistakes than the Netherlands. Whichever way you want to look at it.

If you want a well officiated World Cup I think you need to direct your anger at FIFA, not Robben or any other player that likes to take a dive when convenient.

Oh yeah, and am I the only one who thinks officiating the Offside rule is absolutely impossible? How is the linesman supposed to be able to look at two places at once?(When the ball is being kicked and where the players are in relation to the defenders)

Credit Algeria, they came to play. Germany has its hands full now.

Germany very laborious and slow in possession. They're trying to play with a high line but are clearly terrified of Mertesacker being caught out.

Algeria waspish and energetic, they look like Germany!

Wheelman said:

I agree with you, something needs to be done about the diving and faking. But it 's hard to do when there's contact because you never really know.

But blaming a loss on bad officiating I will not do. Both sides had bad calls against them. Robben should have had a penalty shot, on the play Van Persie passed it to him, when he got kicked in the calf. Doesn't that even it out?

But to be clear I don't agree with this team got screwed, that team got robbed stuff, or that made it even. The team that wins deserves that win. The losing team didn't get robbed.

Ultimately they made more plays than Mexico, or Mexico made more mistakes than the Netherlands. Whichever way you want to look at it.

If you want a well officiated World Cup I think you need to direct your anger at FIFA, not Robben or any other player that likes to take a dive when convenient.

Oh yeah, and am I the only one who thinks officiating the Offside rule is absolutely impossible? How is the linesman supposed to be able to look at two places at once?(When the ball is being kicked and where the players are in relation to the defenders)

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I didn't blame the loss on the ref, in fact I acknowledged that the dutch probably would have won after the Sneijder goal because they were getting much better of the play from then on. What i did say was that Mexico deserved better, and they did, they deserved the right to win or lose the game based on their play and not a horrendous PK call with no time left to respond, that was crap and nothoing is going to change my mind on that. Contact does not mean a foul, soccer is a contact sport and a foul is a foul. I have also said numerous times that FIFA is to blame, and all you have to do is read this thread to see that. And i don't think they made more plays than Mexico, in fact i thought overall Mexico outplayed them but went into a shell late and payed for it. And finally there is a big difference between calling a PK during the first 3/4 of a game and calling it in stoppage time, the call should still be made if warranted but it needs to be a clear foul and not the make believe garbage we saw in that instance.

BritPat said:

Germany very laborious and slow in possession. They're trying to play with a high line but are clearly terrified of Mertesacker being caught out.

Algeria waspish and energetic, they look like Germany!

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Agree, Algeria has outplayed them completely, i would love to see them knock germany out.

Wheelman said:

Oh yeah, and am I the only one who thinks officiating the Offside rule is absolutely impossible? How is the linesman supposed to be able to look at two places at once?(When the ball is being kicked and where the players are in relation to the defenders)

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I agree, tough calls for the linesman to make, a part of me would like review but it could really impede the flow of the game. If they could do it in the booth and get the call made in under 30 seconds it could be viable. Just do it visually, the booth ref make the call and turns on a red or green light, I know they usually have it up in the TV replay in really quick fashion.

If Ozil is still out there at the start of the second half Jlow needs to be fired on the spot and left at the stadium to fend for himself win or no win. He has been awful out there.
And the 4CB back line once again shows why its a stupid ass idea especially with a guy that would make Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe seem fleet of foot anchoring it.

BritPat said:

Algeria waspish and energetic, they look like Germany!

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Waspish = all over the field?

Ivan said:

I didn't blame the loss on the ref, in fact I acknowledged that the dutch probably would have won after the Sneijder goal because they were getting much better of the play from then on. What i did say was that Mexico deserved better, and they did, they deserved the right to win or lose the game based on their play and not a horrendous PK call with no time left to respond, that was crap and nothoing is going to change my mind on that. Contact does not mean a foul, soccer is a contact sport and a foul is a foul. I have also said numerous times that FIFA is to blame, and all you have to do is read this thread to see that. And i don't think they made more plays than Mexico, in fact i thought overall Mexico outplayed them but went into a shell late and payed for it. And finally there is a big difference between calling a PK during the first 3/4 of a game and calling it in stoppage time, the call should still be made if warranted but it needs to be a clear foul and not the make believe garbage we saw in that instance.

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Sorry for saying you blamed the ref. My bad. We'll just have to agree to disagree on the Mexico deserved better. That Mexican defender shouldn't have put his foot near a known offender with so many Mexican players right there to back him up. They played prevent defense. Mexico got what they deserved.

The team that wins always outplays the losing team. I mean..they won, didn't they?

I don't it's fair to put more importance on a play that happens near stoppage time than in the first 3/4 of the game. That goes for any sport. It should be consistent.

PP2 said:

Waspish = all over the field?

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Not quite

Moody, sullen, surly. They're playing as though they're offended. I love it.

Muller should have put the Germans in the lead. The save for the header was incredible but the miss just then was awful.

Surely this can't go to penalties.....can it?

So many chances for the Germans.....

Have free kicks / corners always been called Set Pieces ? I hadn't watched a lot of soccer since moving from England in 1980 until a couple of years ago but that term sounded unfamiliar. However it's clearly used by everyone now

BF - always fella.

BritPat said:

Surely this can't go to penalties.....can it?

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Probably heading that way. Both teams equalizing right about now, but the goalies are playing lights out. M-Bolhi is playing on a different planet- ridiculous.