World Cup Thread

[Ciara's Dad]

this game is soooooo strange. What a foolish foolish way to act. this game is worse than pro wrasslin'. World Cup player are the biggest actors around. Too bad, because it is a great showcase, but i just cant stand the flopping around.

Yes, it's pathetic. It's only one reason that I now prefer gridiron to soccer.
I despise the playacting, diving and feigning injury. When the players on the park started kicking the ball out of the park because another player was down 'injured', you knew the game was going to going to the dogs.
The UK game isn't too bad for it, but abroad it's endemic.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Sometimes you wish you had hindsight!

Holland 2-1 Brazil
Well done the Dutch. Got a lucky break with the first goal and then built on it.
No words to describe the collapse of the Brazilians.

Holland 2:1 Brazil

Maybe it's just me, but I was very unexcited by that game. You won't be surprised to hear that I don't mourn Brazil's defeat but I'm not thrilled by the Dutch winning.

Don't get me wrong, Brazil are a talented side. Maybe that's the trouble. Their goal and an attack that split the Dutch defenders again (but was just offside) apart, they didn't create anything. No playmaking, no imagination, just a willingness to get behind the ball. You'd never guess how gifted some of their players are.

Brazil's "collapse". Not exactly -- that would suggest that they'd played exciting, creative football and then lost it. Not what I saw at all.

And now, on a very personal note.

I am going to be one of the half-dozen people in Germany who won't watch Germany against Argentina. No objections in principle -- on the contrary, in prospect it looks like the game of the tournament, but ...

My beloved daughter's dance school has a performance set for 5 pm (K.O. = 4 pm local time). I wonder what the chances of getting a taxi there are going to be!

P.S. I thought that the referee was one of the better ones I've seen in this tournament. He couldn't but have sent off Melo and he spotted it immediately -- and he didn't fall for too much of the pantomime stuff both sides were offering.

 

[Scouse Patriot]

C'mon Ghana! I was just doing a Desailly...

Chickens an Goats

 

[Mike the Brit]

Ah, that's fantastic! "Goats! Chickens!" indeed. Truly great player, as well.

 

[Ciara's Dad]

Uruguay 1-1 Ghana (Uruguay win on pens)

Heartbreaking stuff for Ghana.
I hope Uruguay beat the Dutch and get to the final.

 

[Scouse Patriot]

Well, theres no other sport that will bite you in the arse worse than football. I mean, wheres the justice in that tonight? Suarez gambled and it payed off for Uruguay, the cheating b@stard. He also had the gall to celebrate...

Gutted for Ghana.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Well, theres no other sport that will bite you in the arse worse than football. I mean, wheres the justice in that tonight? Suarez gambled and it payed off for Uruguay, the cheating b@stard. He also had the gall to celebrate...

Gutted for Ghana.

I've never seen an ending like that in my life.

Granted I haven't watched all my life but the peaks and valleys in that ending were unreal.

Let's face it ... most of the world wanted Ghana today ... it just seemed so perfect that they make the semi's.

My favorite plays next ... Argentina ...
My heart says Argentina you can do it ... my head says this World Cup is Germany's to lose.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Well, theres no other sport that will bite you in the arse worse than football. I mean, wheres the justice in that tonight? Suarez gambled and it payed off for Uruguay, the cheating b@stard. He also had the gall to celebrate...

Gutted for Ghana.

What he said. If Uruguay were playing themselves in the final, I'd be rooting for the b*st*rds to lose ...

 

[efin98]

Go Netherlands...only because I don't want to hear the honking all day and night in Chelsea and Revere.

The second straight World Cup that Brazil didn't make it to the semifinals...can't feel sorry for them for all their successes in the past but it's gotta hurt FIFA to not have them in there

 

[Rossmci90]

To be fair to Uruguay and Suarez, it should never have been a free kick in the first place, and in the end justice prevailed with the missed penalty.


And, 99% of us would do the same thing. Sacrifice yourself so your teams goes through, or go out of the World Cup in the quarter finals because of honesty?

 

[Ciara's Dad]

To be fair to Uruguay and Suarez, it should never have been a free kick in the first place, and in the end justice prevailed with the missed penalty.


And, 99% of us would do the same thing. Sacrifice yourself so your teams goes through, or go out of the World Cup in the quarter finals because of honesty?

I tend to agree with you. There is all manner of cheating throughout the 90mins, so why does stopping a ball on the line with your hand create so much bluster and feigned indignation? If it was your team defending, you'd say 'well done that man'.
Again, congratulations to the Uruguayans, and I hope they beat the Dutch in the semi-final.

1-0 to Germany at h/t. Argies losing the head a bit like the Brazilians the other night. A good game to watch nonetheless.

 

[Ciara's Dad]

Germany 4-0 Argentina

Didn't see that coming!
Sensational German performance.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Germany 4-0 Argentina

Didn't see that coming!
Sensational German performance.

No, really?

Only saw about ten minutes of the first half, but I think we already had enough evidence to say that you can't play against the Germans unless you know how to defend against the counter-attack.

Ball possession: Germany 46%, Argentina 54%. Goals: Germany 4, Argentina 0

Ball possession: Germany 44.8%, England 55.2%. Goals: Germany 4, England 2 ) )

 

[Mike the Brit]

Half-time: Spain 0-0 Paraguay

Spain with a bit more possession, but Paraguay have given it a real go so far.

Excellent at swarming round the ball in defence (particularly good at closing down Villa) and sharp and brave in attack. They had a goal disallowed that looked good to me. The scorer (Valdez?) was level with the last defender, I thought. Yes, there was another forward a bit offside and the German analyst said that it was a "passive offside" (interfering with play). I thought that that rule had been changed, but what do I know?

My bet is that Spain will still win, but, if Paraguay do, all credit to them.

ADD

61st minute: Spain 0-0 Paraguay

Sensation!

Two penalties in two minutes, one for each side. The first saved! The second converted but ordered to be re-taken for encroachment and then saved! Congratulations to the referee. So far as I could see, both penalties were absolutely justified and the encroachment was too -- brave decisions all!

Paraguay are defending hard but fair and trying to hit their strikers with a defence-splitting long ball. The penalty apart (Villa through and having his legs taken from him by a mistimed tackle) Spain haven't created any good chances this half.

FINAL

Spain 1-0 Paraguay

Good goal by the Spaniards. The Paraguayans gave it their all and could have had an equaliser in the 85th minute. If I knew any Paraguayans, I'd tell them they could be very proud of their team.

 

[Mike the Brit]

SPAIN PARAGUAY FOLLOW-UP

The German TV analysts showed a couple of things after the game that I'd not seen.

1. If you're going to take a hard line on encroachment at the penalty kick, there was an even stronger case for having the Paraguay (missed) kick re-taken. Three Spaniards were clearly well inside the penalty area when the kick was taken.

2. The Paraguayan goalkeeper brought down a Spanish forward who was following up the missed Spanish penalty. "Clearest penalty of all", the analyst said.

Reading the BBC web-site there were WC reactions from around the world and their Paraguayan contributor said that Paraguayans were shedding "tears of dignity" for their team. All a bit much for a football game, but I see just what he means.

 

[Scouse Patriot]

And, 99% of us would do the same thing. Sacrifice yourself so your teams goes through, or go out of the World Cup in the quarter finals because of honesty?

He could have headed the ball, it's not like he absolutely had to use his hands like Neville did against us a few seasons ago. Thankfully Dirk put the pen away that time. Shearer was the same, "everybody would have done it". I disagree with that and I honestly think it's second nature to try to head the ball there, wether you can keep it out or not. Plenty of other players have done so just like plenty of other players have tried to head balls going in the top corner, failing of course but the point is they went to head it when they could be saving it with hands if everybody would do the same thing, even in World Cups. Suarez has been a dodgy little runt all tournament.

I can honestly say had it been England I wouldn't be congratulating it at all, just like I'm firmly against any other manner of cheating wether it earns Liverpool or England a goal or not. Just can't agree with it and I certainly can't praise it, I love the game too much.

Argentina certainly got a shock, the precision in that Germany side is brilliant. I think they have to be favourites now, Spain don't look convincing enough to beat them and I'd fancy them over Uruguay or the Dutch. I've noticed Spain have been caught in possesion a few times this tournament and if any team is going to hit them on the break theres no prizes for guessing who. That mental three mins in the Spain/Paraguay game was pretty funny, Spain actualy should have had another pen after the retake! I think the ref just thought that would be taking the p!ss...

 

[Calciumee]

On the Uraguay handball:

He may have been sacrificing himself, but it is cheating, and I think that he should have had a heavier ban. And I hope Holland destroy them.

On the Spain - Paraguay game:

The penalties were correct, but the player who tackled Villa should have been sent off being the last man back, and Spain should have had another penalty when the GK took out a player from the rebound.

The only consistency I have seen in this world cup is how bad the refereeing has been.

 

[Mike the Brit]

On the Uraguay handball:

He may have been sacrificing himself, but it is cheating, and I think that he should have had a heavier ban. And I hope Holland destroy them.

Yup. It's cheating. Now you might say that you expect a player to cheat if that's the only way to save the game. But I'm still gutted when that prospers. If the goal had been awarded as a penalty (like a penalty try in rugby or giving a completed catch when there's PI in football) who could have quarrelled?

On the Spain - Paraguay game:

The penalties were correct, but the player who tackled Villa should have been sent off being the last man back, and Spain should have had another penalty when the GK took out a player from the rebound.

The only consistency I have seen in this world cup is how bad the refereeing has been.

Actually, I thought that the referee was very good. It wasn't an easy game to referee and he kept the game flowing and didn't fall for play-acting.

On the other hand, he was brave to give the first penalty. We all know how much jersey-tugging goes on in the penalty area but no one could disagree with that penalty. I don't blame him too much for missing the final penalty -- hard to get a good view -- and blame the linesman for not giving the Paraguay goal in the first half.

 

[Ciara's Dad]

Uruguay handball
I agree with what you're saying about the 'penalty try' which is given in rugby to apply to soccer. And that, in the game the other night, one would have been awarded. Also, if your through on goal and just about to pull the trigger and you're deliberately brought down, one should be awarded. But what about a big centre at the back post just about to stick his nut on the ball and into the goal, who is then nudged in the back by a defender who is too old and can't jump as high, say J.Carragher for instance. What do you do then? There aren't too many occasions when this type of incident occurs, so does it really need a rule change, and pile more pressure on a ref to get it right?

There are some other rules, however, we should think about adopting from rugby.
An independant time keeper sitting in the stand would be one.
Sin bins for trivial faults; kicking the ball away for example.
Respect for refs another. Any abuse, dissent or foul language, then punished. Sin bin for 10mins?
How about getting treatment for those 'injured' players whilst the game continues if the play is headed away from the injured player, so that the ball isn't kicked out of play to allow the trainer on?

 

[Mike the Brit]

Yes, some good points there.

I'm not sure I wanted to advocate the "penalty goal" so much as to say that anything short of a goal for Ghana that night was unjust. No such thing as a "sure thing" in footy! If you haven't seen your centre-forward blast it over the bar from four yards out, you haven't supported football!


Some sort of instant replay is overdue, obviously -- not just for balls crossing the line but for offsides. There are ways to stop it getting out of hand. And if it means that a big match takes an extra 15 minutes to finish ... so what?

Sin bins are good -- punish the player during the match that's taking place, not by piling up yellow cards for (possibly) later in the tournament.

I'm a bit out of it this evening and the main thing that your post did was get me thinking (Rugby, Scotland, what-not) about Bill Maclaren. Everyone's favourite Scotsman! Apparently, that passion for the game that we thought we heard when we listened to him really was there. Now why isn't there a "voice of football" whom everyone loves like they love him (or John Arlott with cricket)? (I kind of had a soft spot for John Madden for that kind of reason (though most of the Yanks seem to despise the old geezer).)