Official World Cup Soccer Thread

[Gooberlx2]

It can be fun. I watched the Sounders game last night on TV and enjoyed it. The Whitecaps are joining MLS either this year or next, so I'll probably watch them a bit more since the coverage and play shoudl be better.

KT

Play has definitely improved (at least for the Rapids) since 2004, when I started watching them. It's nice we have a natural rivalry with RLS.

The Sounders seem to be a solid team in the league, and they should have solid rivalries with the Whitecaps and, more so, with the Portland Timbers when they come on in 2011 as well.

 

[Terzo]

What surprises me is that all the reports I've read seem to have a huge bias towards Spain. As I said, I initially went in rooting for Spain (partially because I had seen the some previous Netherlands games and was not impressed by their play style or flopping), but I quickly learned Spain is no better.

Yet all the reports I read seem to deify Spain and villify Netherlands; that the Dutch played a dirty game and could cry at every foul (mostly true, I'll admit) while Spain played a "superior game" and had no faults. I don't understand since the game I saw displayed plenty of flops from both sides.

Though a bit extreme, sometimes I think it would be nice if a player who falls down (say for more than 10 seconds) is forced to sit out for 5 minutes so he can recover.

Yes, it happens, and it can get excessive, but it is not a dive every time someone goes down. Seriously, I'd like to see some of these assholes get out on the pitch and get tackled by one of these guys, and see how long they roll around on the grass for.

While I've only played rec soccer, I've never seen anyone roll around like the professionals. I've been knocked down plenty of times. When that happens I get up and back into the play as fast as I can, rather than wallowing around on the ground. Long ago when I used to play goalie I even received a small cut on my face from a guy sliding in cleats up. I sure as hell didn't drop to the ground rolling around clutching my face.

I'm not saying soccer isn't physical, but it's not so rough that players should be falling down left and right. Football players and boxers endure more impacts than these crybabies, but you don't see them falling down clutching themselves every other time they get hit.

 

[KeithTalent]

Play has definitely improved (at least for the Rapids) since 2004, when I started watching them. It's nice we have a natural rivalry with RLS.

The Sounders seem to be a solid team in the league, and they should have solid rivalries with the Whitecaps and, more so, with the Portland Timbers when they come on in 2011 as well.

Yeah, a buddy of mine has season tickets for the Caps, so I usually get to see a few games a year. This will be even better now.

The game last night ended in a 1-1 draw. Pretty damn entertaining, with the Sounders being up a goal, but down a man for a good chunk of the game.

How is attendance in you neck of the woods? I was in Seattle a little while back and it was a Sounder's game night; tonnes of people going to the game and I saw jerseys all over the place. Seems to be pretty popular there.

KT

 

[eits]

so glad spain won. they were the better team. they played a great game and were clean throughout the entire world cup. they weren't diving constantly and weren't playing dirty.

the dutch, however, can suck it. they were the dirtiest playing team i'd seen in a very long time.

 

[Regs]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9gRzmCf1EI&feature=related

 

[Gooberlx2]

How is attendance in you neck of the woods? I was in Seattle a little while back and it was a Sounder's game night; tonnes of people going to the game and I saw jerseys all over the place. Seems to be pretty popular there.

I think average right now is 12k or 13k, which is like half that of the Sounders. We're better overall than last year, though. The new supporters terrace has probably helped that quite a bit. Also, the WC and July 4th are helpful. If the Rapids can bring themselves up with more wins, hopefully attendance will continue to improve.

I have intentions of joining one of the local supporters clubs. They start at a Denver bar, bus and booze to the game, tailgate, cheers, sing, chant, drum, banners, etc.. on the supporters terrace, and then bus back to the bar for post-game booze.

I've heard/read some people attribute Sounders attendance to not much else going on in Seattle, and generally being a good soccer town.

 

[lupi]

sad that they couldn't hold it for a few more minutes to get to kicks.

 

[palswim]

Iniesta should have been ejected much earlier in the game. His yellow card really should have been a red. He should have been given a yellow card again when the ref caught him flopping..

Couple that with Iniesta flopping to give a second yellow to the Heitinga..

Yeah, Iniesta's usually one of my favorite players, too. Cheering for Barcelona, I can't refute the fact that they dive too much, but I usually expect Busquets to be the disgraceful one. We had the privilege to witness the acting skills of Busquets, Villa, and Iniesta in the Final. I really wish they'd stop.

 

[KMFJD]

That was a terrible game.

I wish the Netherlands wasn't there. I wish it came down to Spain and U.S or Ghana or Brazil or Portugal or any other team that wouldn't have played so physically (dirty). This is my first time watching the World Cup. Usually for sports I expect a better game from the final. I saw maybe 12 games leading up to it and most of them were exciting, especially rooting for the U.S., but this was just bad... ad even some of the commentators said so, as well.

Oh well, at least Spain won. They played honorably and well, as far as I could see. If I wasn't rooting for them at the start of the game, I was after that first half. And yes, the chest kick was ridiculous. Should have been instant red card.

Portugal? Portugal?

/jfc

 

[zinfamous]

sad that they couldn't hold it for a few more minutes to get to kicks.

fuck no. Penalty kicks is no different than tossing a coin to decide the winner.

can any of you soccer hounds explain to me why sudden death OT was apparently so hated as to do away with it? It makes way more sense to me in these type of games.

 

[Terzo]

fuck no. Penalty kicks is no different than tossing a coin to decide the winner.

can any of you soccer hounds explain to me why sudden death OT was apparently so hated as to do away with it? It makes way more sense to me in these type of games.

I was wondering about this too. Since possession changes so quickly who gets the kick off doesn't really matter.

 

[kinev]

That was a terrible game.

I wish the Netherlands wasn't there. I wish it came down to Spain and U.S or Ghana or Brazil or Portugal or any other team that wouldn't have played so physically (dirty). This is my first time watching the World Cup. Usually for sports I expect a better game from the final. I saw maybe 12 games leading up to it and most of them were exciting, especially rooting for the U.S., but this was just bad... ad even some of the commentators said so, as well.

Oh well, at least Spain won. They played honorably and well, as far as I could see. If I wasn't rooting for them at the start of the game, I was after that first half. And yes, the chest kick was ridiculous. Should have been instant red card.

Well, there's your problem...

Spain was "honorable" in that the Latin/Mediterranean/South American sense, I suppose. To them, flopping is part of the game...

Let's compare Robben's breakaway and Iniesta's. One guy gets blatantly fouled from behind but continues fighting on trying to score. No call. Robben gets pissed and mouths off and HE gets carded (probably rightfully so for what he said ). Iniesta almost gets a breakaway, dives at the top of the box to give a Dutch player a soft red. An already tired Dutch team is down to 10 men. Fair? Hardly.

I hate being accused of stereotyping, so I'll let someone else do it.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/418878-the-best-and-worst-of-the-2010-fifa-world-cup

On diving

"...I hate to do this, but it’s Mediterranean (and colonies influenced thereby). Maybe the quality of life is such that any affront or physical contact FEELS worse than it actually is? I don’t know.

But I do know it is not a part of the English, Scottish, Scandinavian, or German games, Klinsmann excepted. It’s a huge part of Italian, Spanish, Argentinian, and Mexican games.

Dives have become the norm because it is what the refs, coaches, and fans in those leagues expect. You can never tell whether someone is hurt. Winning an unjust penalty is considered part of the game. It is so pervasive in these countries that only FIFA can address it. And it should be easy to do in international tournaments, because it is entirely predictable as to which teams are going to be doing it.

Let’s face it—Iniesta was a complete and utter embarrassment today..."


I agree with HumblePie 100%. I was rooting for a both teams to have a great game at kickoff. By the end, I was rooting for the Netherlands.

Not only did that Dutch free kick right before the Spanish goal OBVIOUSLY deflect off the wall, I'm pretty sure the keeper got a hand on it, too!

 

[HumblePie]

KT, yep I agree that Nigel De Jong from the netherlands should have received a red card for what he did. Watching the replay, you can clearly see that he see's alonso and makes no attempt to stop his kick before it impacts Alonso's chest. That's deliberate. Unfortunately, I had to take a piss at that moment and only got to see the quick replay of it during the half time report. I went and rewatched it on youtube and was disgusted by what I saw. Still no excuse for the way Spain played either, nor Iniesta's behavior near the end of the game.

 

[GasX]

I'm another in the "not going to demonize Holland" camp.

My game plan would have been the same. Play a hard physical game against the Spanish panzies and put them out of their game. I'd have had Robben and others just take on their opposite numbers to draw fouls and put them on the back foot. It's a risky strategy and the card count showed that. Spain picked up a lot of cards and got frustrated, but Holland picked up a shitton of cards and ultimately the red. The risk did not pay off, but if Robben had scored on either of his breakaways, it would have...

Note - the chest kick should have been a straight red early in the game and Spain would have taken it easy then...

 

[kinev]

so glad spain won. they were the better team. they played a great game and were clean throughout the entire world cup. they weren't diving constantly and weren't playing dirty.

the dutch, however, can suck it. they were the dirtiest playing team i'd seen in a very long time.

 

[Terzo]

Let's compare Robben's breakaway and Iniesta's. One guy gets blatantly fouled from behind but continues fighting on trying to score. No call. Robben gets pissed and mouths off and HE gets carded (probably rightfully so for what he said ). Iniesta almost gets a breakaway, dives at the top of the box to give a Dutch player a soft red. An already tired Dutch team is down to 10 men. Fair? Hardly.

I was impressed by that breakaway, since it seemed like he was fighting the entire way when I feel that many players would allow themselves to be tripped to draw a foul.



HumblePie, out of curiosity, what teams did you admire most this past cup? I felt like every team I decided to cheer for ending up disappointing me in play (US, England) or questionable behavior (Germany keeper playing off England's goal). I was also disappointed with all the diving in the final.
I didn't watch all the games, but I think I liked South Korea and Japan the best. I didn't see any of South Korea's group matches, but what I saw of their play against Uruguay seemed pretty good (though I only caught part of the second half). Japan seemed to do well, especially in their game against the Danes, but I felt like they embraced acting a little too much. Then again, I wont pretend that I'm an expert at spotting dives.

 

[eits]

i'm serious

 

[lupi]

fuck no. Penalty kicks is no different than tossing a coin to decide the winner.

can any of you soccer hounds explain to me why sudden death OT was apparently so hated as to do away with it? It makes way more sense to me in these type of games.

watching someone every 90 seconds or so hit the turf like robin hood nailed them from 20 yards lost a bit of the sport element long before it would come to PKs.

 

[KMFJD]

i'm serious, and blind

ftfy

 

[HumblePie]

Terzo,

Up until the game with Ghana, I was most impressed with the US. Damn near zero flopping or tactics to cause cards. They took hits and got up and kept playing until the whistle blew when they could. They just sort of ran out of steam against Ghana.

Japan and South Korea also played well as teams although neither had any real "super star" which is rarely needed with a well coordinated team. Japan did very well losing to only the Dutch and Paraguay. They lost to the dutch because the Dutch do have exceptional strikers and Sneijder was able to pull the trigger on a lucky shot. Then they lost to penalty kicks against Paraguay. I think they got overly nervous, which can happen, and their communal training and team mentality doesn't work to well for PKs. Meaning Japan works exceptional as a team on the field, but when you have to put their players on a spotlight, they choke. I could be reading more into the outcome than what really happened, but it is just a gut feeling.

South Korea was like Japan, just as a whole their team was a little bit slower, a little bit smaller, and just a little less coordinated. Maybe they were also a bit nervous as a young team this time around. Then again, they had Argentina in their group bracket they lost to, which Argentina when it's on a roll is hard to stop. They also tied Nigeria in their bracket. This could have been a winnable game for them. Then they got stopped in the first knockout round against Uruguay. Like Argentina, hard to stop once they get going.

I think what South Korea really lacked was a bit of the physical game. Here's the thing about soccer. It is a physical game. There are moves and actions a player can legally do to bump someone off the ball to take the ball. For example, using your shoulder only while leaning in. Perfectly legit way to push someone off the ball. But this requires you to be physically that the person you do this to, or the other person has to be slightly off balance already. If not, you are only going to mess yourself up.

Oh and England didn't impress me at all this WC.

One other team that impressed me was New Zealand. They didn't get out of the group round, but they tied every game. They drew a couple of late yellows from frustration I think in their three games, but they had the tenacity to hang in there. They were just going up a whole group of floppers and rough teams. Italy, Paraguay, and Slovakia were all talented teams. They were also teams with experience and all knew when to take dives and place late hits to no draw too many fouls but irritate their opponents. I think that if new zealand could get their late game temperament in check, they would go a lot farther.

 

[Zargon]

I'm another in the "not going to demonize Holland" camp.

My game plan would have been the same. Play a hard physical game against the Spanish panzies and put them out of their game. I'd have had Robben and others just take on their opposite numbers to draw fouls and put them on the back foot. It's a risky strategy and the card count showed that. Spain picked up a lot of cards and got frustrated, but Holland picked up a shitton of cards and ultimately the red. The risk did not pay off, but if Robben had scored on either of his breakaways, it would have...

Note - the chest kick should have been a straight red early in the game and Spain would have taken it easy then...

agree'd

I was very split on who to root for, I wasnt happy that hollan obviousl changed the gameplan to try thug spain out of the game

then that kick happened and I was spain the rest of the night...

 

[Gooberlx2]

Let's compare Robben's breakaway and Iniesta's. One guy gets blatantly fouled from behind but continues fighting on trying to score. No call.

To be fair to the ref, calling that would have taken away advantage. IIRC, they were at the top of the box, not inside. His chances of scoring were probably still higher fighting through the tackles than taking a freekick. Or am I thinking of the wrong breakaway?

 

[HumblePie]

To be fair the the ref, calling that would have taken away advantage. IIRC, they were at the top of the box, not inside. His chances of scoring were probably still higher fighting through the tackles than taking a freekick. Or am I thinking of the wrong breakaway?

The one where Puyol was grabbing him from around the back as Puyol was falling was clearly in the box. That should have been a PK.

 

[eits]

The one where Puyol was grabbing him from around the back as Puyol was falling was clearly in the box. That should have been a PK.

what about the cleats to the chest? that shoulda been a red card, too.

 

[Blackjack200]

To be fair to the ref, calling that would have taken away advantage. IIRC, they were at the top of the box, not inside. His chances of scoring were probably still higher fighting through the tackles than taking a freekick. Or am I thinking of the wrong breakaway?

No I think it's the same one and I feel the same way about it. At full speed I thought Holland got jobbed on the play, but when you watch the replay the foul occurs outside the box, Robben then gets a chance on goal with only the keeper to beat. If the ref calls a foul it's a free kick just outside the box, which is a good scoring opportunity but I take the chance on goal any time.