Anyone watching the World Cup?

I never think very much of people who blame their teams loses on the officiating. I looked at the pick of Reynosa that led to the first goal and really could not make up my mind if it was clean or not. The Spanish Broadcasters certainly did not think it was, but they are probably only slightly less biased than I am. If the first pick was clean with that amount of contact, then there is no @#$%^&* way that the aerial challenge in the box should have been a falta. I guess with what we are doing in Iraq, we are none too popular in the rest of the World.
Back to a more reasonable analysis, I thought Donovan played like crap. How many balls did her serve high and wide? We controlled that game, we played it in front of their goal, but we lack anyone who can put the damn ball in the net! One clean goal in three matches. No bad officiating there! Just bad play.

On the bright side, several teams left to root for in order.
1) Mexico, but I don’t see them getting past their next game
2) England, hopefully at least another two or three to go. I actually
know this team better than my own and I have seen every one of
their matches . I could watch Beckham center the ball all day!
3) Portugal. I have seen all three of their matches and just like their team.
4) The Aussies. Someone forgot to tell them that they don’t belong in the knockout round. I am really looking forward to their math with Italy.

I wasn't "blaming my teams lose on the officiating". I said very clearly that Ghana deserved to win and wanted it more. I agree that the U.S. overall played like total crap. You can't win if you can't score and then make boneheaded plays like they did.

It was a bad call though. But like conceptfan said, most of the officiating in this tournament has been bad. Did you see the Australia/Croatia game? The ref didn't even know who he had give out yellow cards to and gave one Croatian guy three of them! Now that's terrible.

I pretty much agree with your list. I would like to see a surprise team in the final. It would be disappointing to see Brazil against (insert European soccer power here) again.

Here is where we differ. I thought the commentators were great! But of course, I was watching/listening to Univision is Spanish and they are Fabulous. When someone on either side makes a bad or stupid pass, they will say "malo" or "muy malo". When the horrible "Falta" was called in the box, they were sreaming in unison "por nada, por nada" (for nothing, for nothing). Except when maybe Mexico is playing, they call it as they see it, and the emotion that they put into the game when something starts to happen is great. Plus, you don't have to listen to stories about how this player's third cousin on his mother side was arrested on drug charges and could he be thinking about that, rather than the game? I am happy to say thaT I have not heard a word of English in the World Cup thus far!

18 minutes gone in the first period, let's see how Spain makes out tonight.

Hardly a world soccer afficionado, so take it with a grain of salt but gotta say the U.S. shoddy play was surpassed only by the commentators here in the States (Foudy, Wynalda, etc.). I know they trying to rally support and be positive, but c'mon guys, but a tad bit realisitic in setting expectations.

Bottom line, from what I saw and what I've seen is U.S. plays with 11 players and has about 4-5 that are truly "world class" soccer players (My picks would be Keller, Reyna, McBride, Dempsey, Gooch). The rest (and even some of them) clearly show how lacking we are in basic skills that many countries do so well. For example, is there a worse team in the World Cup than the US when it comes to controlling the first touch?? I mean, any wonder we turn the ball over so much and leave ourselves up to counterattack??

Anyhoo, enjoying the rest of the field play now and watching a team play the game like it should is pretty incredible if you'd ever played soccer (er....football) or tried to play before.

As for Donovan, I won't say he sucks, but the fact that he plays in the minor leagues (MLS) between Cups definitely I think has something to do with his surprising International play stats (hasn't scored in over a year I think). Just think he, like a lot of our players, are overmatched.

Now I'll turn it over to others that actually know something about this game!

LF

The announcers on ESPN have been horrible! I don't mind Foudy so much but Wynalda has to go. That guy is a total idiot. Not only is he an idiot, but he keeps on interrupting everybody else on set. He just needs to shut up and go away. As for the game announcers, the only one's I've enjoyed are Tommy Smyth and that English guy (I'm sorry, his name escapes me at the moment). These two guys know the game and make every game they do come to life. In fact, I would rather watch a game they are calling that means less than a game that means more where some boring American announcer is drolling on and on and on and on.....

P.S. Don't feel alone LFan. I don't know much about soccer either. I played when I was a kid but that was it. What I know is just from watching the last World Cup and some English League games that I happened to catch here in the U.S. ESPN did broadcast the Champions league tournament here in the States so it was enjoyable watching Arsenal's run through that. Maybe I'll adopt them as my European team. Does anyone know where I can get an Arsenal jersey?

Wow! What a game winning goal by Argentina! I feel bad for Mexico because they played their hearts out, but that was an amzing strike. So if Maradonna's goal was the "Hand of God", is this goal "The Foot of God"?

I wonder if Argentina will have anything left to take on Germany. They better rest up after this marathon game.

I thought that Argentina was the better team, but Mexico gave them everything they could handle. What a pace. Typical Latin American football. It's a shame that someone had to lose, but what a shot in overtime!

Congrats to England on advancing into the quarters! So much for the folks who think that Beckham should not have made the squad! Rooney looks to be on the mend.

I did not understand, nor did I enjoy the Portugal Match. If I see one more like that, I am going to quit watching. Grown men falling down and pretending to be hurt after being brushed, and then fights starting over it, alternating with actual hard shots. One guy was taped in the Shin guards, IN THE SHIN GUARDS, and then went down like he had a broken leg. Is this just World Cup acting out, or our all European matches like this? If I see another player fall down and plead to the ref for a call, I would like to see a red card. And then the contact escalated and sometimes nothing was called.

If they want to play like that, just forget the ball and come out with swords and shields and whichever side has a man standing when the match is over is the winner.

I hope England beats the snot out of Portugal after that last display of “football”.

Well, on behalf of 50 million English, I'd like to apologise to the world for our boring team. Not that Ecuador were any better. But we can't go much further unless we remember how to play football. Who's the guy impersonating Lampard in the midfield? He looks just like Fat Frank, but without any of the soccer skills... Still, at least Crouch stayed on the bench...

Ace, what you witnessed in Portugal/Holland is indeed, the "ugly" side of European football. Dispicable stuff. Indefensible.

The Dutch seemed more interested in getting the Portugese sent off than scoring an equaliser. The Portuguese seemed more interested in conning the referee than trying to seal the win. Holland seemed the better team on paper before the game, so today, England are doubly pleased: No Holland and 2 key Portuguese players will be absent for the quarter finals

I thought Mexico and Argentina put on a much better show. Mexico were brilliant but (how many times has this happened to teams in Germany) ran out of steam. Argentina were even more brilliant. The winning goal was a thing of such pure beauty I could watch it on a loop for a year.

In the other game in this round so far, Sweden simply failed to turn up against Germany. The hosts look better and better each game, but the Swedes never looked like they believed they could compete.

At least, for one Swedish fan, the immediate pain of defeat was slightly softened:

Does anyone know where I can get an Arsenal jersey?

You can have one of my old ones, jd. The beer stains don't wash off I'm afraid but I can assure you that the dark mark at the bottom of the front is from tears and not what it looks like. Also the various pin-hole burns, whilst not pretty, provide excellent ventilation. Or go to shop.arsenal.com (the new home shirts come out in a couple of weeks, I think). Get ready to remortage you house when you order. Someone's gotta pay those astronomical players' wages...

Well, it appears that Italy still has the refs on their payroll! I will leave my opinion out of it and just translate what the Univision Guys had to say about it.

“It’s a Robbery”! “There was no penalty”! “A penalty kick, por nada, por nada (for nothing, for nothing)! (Now where have I heard those words before?) “Australia was robbed”!

Who am I to argue with two professional futbol announcers from a neutral country?

The other match was great! I saw more take away slide tackles in that match than all the rest of the matches that I have seen combined. When players met in a challenge and both fell down, there was not an automatic whistle.
If they got a little too aggressive, the whistle was blown, but a yellow card was not pulled unless it was a grievous infraction or one that potentially interfered with a scoring opportunity. Magnin was the one designated whiner of the match, but he wasn’t too bad. We have complained about the bad officiating, so I guess it only fair to acknowledge a job well done. CF, there is one thing that I would like you to explain if you can. We always taught our boys that when making a wall in the box to cross your arms and grab a wrist with a hand to avoid being called for a hand ball in the box. One of the Swiss guys had his arm out at 90 degrees to his body and then bent 90 degrees in front of him. When the ball was struck, he raised it slightly and deflected it up over him and over the crossbar. Why was this not a handball in the box? Had it hit his chest (which would have happened if he jumped not take it in the face), the striker might have had another chance with the rebound.

I agree - NEVER a penalty, a blatant dive. Not fair to accuse the Italians of corrupting the officials (on this occasion) however. It was NEVER a sending-off either. The Australians had a man advantage for a large portion of the match and totally failed to even come close to making it count. They got what they deserved, even if the Italians got more than they deserved.

I thought Switz-Ukraine was an AWFUL game, devoid of creativity. It seemed somehow fitting that the Swiss missed ALL their penalties. Other than one freekick (in 120 minutes) they never looked like finding the net. Can't see Ukraine offering Italy much of a game on that form, but you never know.

Two potentially wonderful games in store today. Can't wait...

CF, there is one thing that I would like you to explain if you can. We always taught our boys that when making a wall in the box to cross your arms and grab a wrist with a hand to avoid being called for a hand ball in the box. One of the Swiss guys had his arm out at 90 degrees to his body and then bent 90 degrees in front of him. When the ball was struck, he raised it slightly and deflected it up over him and over the crossbar. Why was this not a handball in the box? Had it hit his chest (which would have happened if he jumped not take it in the face), the striker might have had another chance with the rebound.

OK, if the handling player (hand=anything on the arm BELOW the shoulder) is adjudged to have had no chance to get his hand/arm out of the way of the ball, it is not a foul. In all other cases, it is a foul. The standard of officiating in this tournament has been disgraceful.

We did not cross arms at school, but simply placed our hands over the one part of the front of our bodies we didn't want to leave unprotected as someone kicked a ball as hard as he could from 10 yards away... A "handball" would only be given if someone in the wall deliberately MOVED their hand/arm to intercept the ball. If you keep your arms by your sides and the ball is smacked into one of them that is deemed "Ball to hand" and not penalised. If the ball hits your hands when they are crossed in front of your precious assets, that's fine. (And a lot easier to recover from).

Frankly, I'd rather watch REAL sports, namely baseball. Soccer is nothing more than an underlying intro to globalization. Call me a Nationalist, but America is my nation--and soccer is NOT a national sport and MLS is a failing league on the level of the WNBA though it's been around 10 seasons thanks to corporate help from big brother NBA.

So why even bother watching the World Cup--if you're looking to turn on America--THERE'S YOUR REASON! You're in this country, PLAY BY IT'S RULES! And there are many people who have more hatred than myself for soccer.

So why even bother watching the World Cup--if you're looking to turn on America--THERE'S YOUR REASON! You're in this country, PLAY BY IT'S RULES!

I'm not in your fucking country, you fucking idiot. This is the internet. The WORLD wide web. Where folks from ALL OVER THE WORLD can chat.

If I wanted to "turn on America" I'd just point to dick-heads like you. I don't. I have a lot of American friends, and on the whole, I love the place. Don't think much of its bizarre sports though.

Oh, and what fucking "rules"? Which article in the Constitution are you referring to? Why can't an American watch a bit of international "soccer" every four years? Are you scared that your own sports are so crap that the fans will desert in their droves? Where does this tie in with "freedom"?

And HOW DARE you make such remarks on a forum with "non-American" members?

Take your head out of your arse.

And there are many people who have more hatred than myself for soccer.

Where? In your red neck county? Soccer (as you call it) is the world sport. LOVED all over the world. The world - that's the 6 billion human beings who don't live in the US of A. If you are too blinkered, ignorant, xenophobic and insecure to appreciate the World Cup (the biggest sporting event on Earth), then keep your views to yourself.

Football (as I call it - it's played with feet) is a way of life for me and BILLIONS of others. It is a major part of our lives, not just for these 5 weeks every 4 years. But we regard these 5 weeks as a GLOBAL celebration of our common passion. It has been wonderful sharing thoughts on the games with friends in every continent, especially my American friends with whom sports-talk is normally impossible as they follow sports that don't exist outside of US/Canada What a shame a wanker like you has to come along and drop a steaming load of shit on the thread.

Bigot.

Moron.

I was watching the Italy-Australia match yesterday and it was the only time i wanted Australia to win anything-the ref was a complete liberty and how those cheating Italians cheated the ref into giving them a penalty in what was the last few seconds of the game in injury time was well out of order.

Oh well, all I'm looking forward to now is watching the England-Portugal match this saturday at a local pub draped in my CPFC England flag of course, lol

Um, lads, I really think we're going to struggle against Portugal and what with Rooney's temper, he's liable to get sent of, too

So why even bother watching the World Cup--if you're looking to turn on America--THERE'S YOUR REASON! You're in this country, PLAY BY IT'S RULES!

I'm not in your fucking country, you fucking idiot. This is the internet. The WORLD wide web. Where folks from ALL OVER THE WORLD can chat.

If I wanted to "turn on America" I'd just point to dick-heads like you. I don't. I have a lot of American friends, and on the whole, I love the place. Don't think much of its bizarre sports though.

Oh, and what fucking "rules"? Which article in the Constitution are you referring to? Why can't an American watch a bit of international "soccer" every four years? Are you scared that your own sports are so crap that the fans will desert in their droves? Where does this tie in with "freedom"?

And HOW DARE you make such remarks on a forum with "non-American" members?

Take your head out of your arse.

And there are many people who have more hatred than myself for soccer.

Where? In your red neck county? Soccer (as you call it) is the world sport. LOVED all over the world. The world - that's the 6 billion human beings who don't live in the US of A. If you are too blinkered, ignorant, xenophobic and insecure to appreciate the World Cup (the biggest sporting event on Earth), then keep your views to yourself.

Football (as I call it - it's played with feet) is a way of life for me and BILLIONS of others. It is a major part of our lives, not just for these 5 weeks every 4 years. But we regard these 5 weeks as a GLOBAL celebration of our common passion. It has been wonderful sharing thoughts on the games with friends in every continent, especially my American friends with whom sports-talk is normally impossible as they follow sports that don't exist outside of US/Canada What a shame a wanker like you has to come along and drop a steaming load of shit on the thread.

Bigot.

Moron.

That's it CF, you bloody well tell him!

WOW! Things are kicking off in here (PTP). But everybody has his/her opinion. We just know that Football (soccer) rules! :wink:

As for Skippy and his mates, they were robbed! All I know is that an Italian submarine crew were last seen heading towards Hamburg(JK).

So roll on Saturday and lets get revenge on Portugal. 8)

And finally lets hope T gets an hat-trick tonights as I've got him in my dreamteam.


Gooner

COME ON EN-GER-LAND

France overcame a stupid mistake and looked pretty impressive. The Spanish boys did what they could, but eventually, luck runs out and skill
determines it. France handles the ball very well, almost like Brazil. I think they are at this point the team with the best chance to beat Brazil,
except that I still think that Brazil can turn it up anytime they need to.

I think England has two more matches left and they will need a miracle to make it three (like France beats Brazil and pick up four red cards and or injuries doing it).

Italy will exit should they run into a ref that is not on their payroll. I think Ukraine may take them, if not certainly Germany or Argentina.
Now there is a match I am looking forward to! My Guess is that the winner of Gremany/Argentina will be seeing France/Brazil.

Let me restate myself. I think that England has two more matches left that will mean something. Years ago in the NCAA basketball championships, they eliminated the runner up game as neither team really wanted to play it. Maybe it is different in Football, as it gives them more chances for caps and goals. As a team, I would hate to exit with two loses!

Ace, I agree with pretty much all of that. France were the better team on the night as they got better as the game went on whereas Spain, after a bright start, faded. The Spanish did not offer enough attacking options in the second half. Torres looked pretty ordinary throughout the game. What a cracking match it was though. Fantastic entertainment and some wonderful skill and passing. Shame Henry "exaggerated" the free-kick - he's too good a player to lower himself to that level. No question he "owed" Puyol (and the hateful Aragones) a bit of rough treatment, but still, I hope he never does it again.

You're right about Brazil. They just turn it on whenever they fancy. The end of the Ghana game was typical of this. The Brazillians, leading 2-0 were just passing the ball amongst themselves at the back. Their fans started to boo this lazy negativity. So, they put a couple of passes together and walk the ball into the net, as if on demand. Frightening for the rest of us.

So now we're into the final stretch. Say what you will about some of the teams remaining, they can all defend with quality, experience and organisation and all boast players who can manufacture goals out-of-the-blue. That's why they haven't been eliminated. There's some mouth-watering games in the quarter-finals...

On Friday, it's Germany-Argentina. Argentina are about the only team that have looked good in every game they've played. That said, it is foolish to write off the hosts. They specialise in slowly improving game-by-game in these tournaments. So often they have sneaked into semi-finals and finals without being noticed on the way. Plus, of course, they have home advantage. Should be a brilliant game.

Also Friday, Italy-Ukraine. I think that Italy will beat Ukraine, possibly comfortably because they are by far the better team. Remember, they had a player very unfairly sent off against Australia - the dodgy penalty they got in that game needs to be seen in that context. Because of the scandal back home, quite a few of the Italian players will be afraid that their clubs will be relegated - this is their opportunity to catch the eyes of other clubs' coaches and escape...

Saturday's first game is England against Portugal. Along with Ukraine, these are the weakest teams left (from what we've seen so far). Either England or Portugal are capable of waking up and putting in a good performance. Both teams have players who have lit up games at the highest level all year, regardless of what they have (or have not) contributed at this World Cup.. Portugal, with key players suspended, might not be as confident as England who have a frustrating penalty shoot-out defeat against the Portuguese at Euro '04 to avenge. Could be another bore-fest, but might be a blood-and-thunder epic...

The final quarter, also on Saturday, is the most exciting of all. The re-born French against the starting-to-swagger Brazillians. A repeat of the '98 final. No love between Zidane/Henry and Ronaldinho/Carlos. It could be an absolute feast of flair packed with fast, intricate, attacking football. Whoever wins it will be very confident of going all the way...

Ace, the losers of the quarter finals all go home straight away. The losers of the semis do play a third/fourth place playoff the day before the final, although as you might expect, this is traditionally not a great occasion.

I missed the last two days of matches because I was out of town on business. So I didn't see how Italy stole the game from the Aussies (from what I've read anyway), the only game to go to PKs so far, another Brazil demolition, and the resurgent French.

As a sport's fan, I love to see the underdogs do well (like in the 2002 Cup). However, I really don't see any underdogs left in this tournament. I guess the only teams you could possibly consider "underdogs" are Portugal and Ukraine. Other than those two, it's the same teams that are always in contention. I don't know how the rest of the world feels, but seeing the same teams over and over is boring. Maybe this is just an American mindset.

Anyway, I'll still tune in when I can. But I won't be totally absorbed in it like I was during the group stage.

As for BobAnthony's comments. I hope all my European friends understand that he doesn't speak for all Americans. Sure, I would rather watch a NFL game than a soccer game any day of the week. But the World Cup is special. It is the biggest sporting event in the world with the hopes and dreams of Billions riding on it. That in itself makes it worth watching.

Good luck to England! I'll be rooting for them. They should have it pretty easy against Portugal but then the road gets rougher.

P.S. I know the English haven't been playing "pretty" lately. But just remember, I'd rather have an ugly win than a "pretty" loss.

P.S.S. I don't think I'll take your old Arsenal jersey conceptfan. It sounds like you have some hygiene problems you need to work on. I'll check around and see if I can find a reasonable priced new one.

I'm really glad that after a bit of a shaky start, France beat Spain, but i dont think they'll do well in the quater finals.

jdrock24 wrote:
As for BobAnthony's comments. I hope all my European friends understand that he doesn't speak for all Americans. Sure, I would rather watch a NFL game than a soccer game any day of the week. quote]

You seem to forget that my local NFL team is the Cardinals. In other words, the World Cup will be the best football action I see all year!