FIFA World Cup 2010

[//\/\/]

This world cup's like world war 2...the french surrendered... the yanks turned up at the last minute... and we're left to fight the f**ckin germans!

with all due apologies! :D

[Eikman]

Breathing a bit easier, Eik?

i never questioned our squad... :p

but i didn't even see the match as i was driving from berlin to frankfurt at a 110 mph. had to listen to the goddamn thing on the radio... :rolleyes:

[cured]

i never questioned our squad... :p

but i didn't even see the match as i was driving from berlin to frankfurt at a 110 mph. had to listen to the goddamn thing on the radio... :rolleyes:

Yeah...cuz relying on Australia to make sure they tidy things up in the event Germany lost is definitely what any team would have preferred :)

Germany/England will be a great one, especially now that it appears England remembered how to play.

[cured]

with all due apologies! :D

OK that's just comedy!

[//\/\/]

youtube have added a vuvuzela button, so you can have parp with everything - just click on the football!

[//\/\/]

der kaiser can go fuck himself - makes it sound like england planned not win the group. i think he thinks it's 'stupid' because he's shitting it...

[cured]

OUCH. Italy should have drawn even there...frantic 5 minutes. Horrible offsides call.

[cured]

What a psycho game...2-0 at the 80 minute mark or so...3 goals after that point!

Gotta wonder what it was like for Italy to see Slovakia writhing on the ground after every ball was cleared, the last minute subs in stoppage time, etc. All that blatant flopping must have reminded Italy of...Italy.

[//\/\/]

Gotta wonder what it was like for Italy to see Slovakia writhing on the ground after every ball was cleared, the last minute subs in stoppage time, etc. All that blatant flopping must have reminded Italy of...Italy.

precisely :D maybe this is the world cup of karma?!

so - both 2006 finalists fall at the first hurdle - who'dathunkit?!

well done nz - finished higher than the holders :)

[cured]

...and the American beat the Frog at Wimbledon!

[//\/\/]

another coach refusing to shake hands at the death - what's italian for arsebag?

[//\/\/]

...and the American beat the Frog at Wimbledon!

i'm gonna miss those guys...

[Jason Roth]

of course, due to fifa totally rigging things against the usa, winning the group could prove to be quite the double-edged sword...;)

Not at all. Our quarter of the draw is USA/Uruguay/South Korea/Ghana. The quarter we avoided contains Argentina/England/Germany/Mexico.

[//\/\/]

(written before germany had won the group)

[chuck]

The dream ends.

But finishing the World Cup undefeated and above Italy.

Fantastic.

Very proud of the All Whites tonight - Mark Paston was mega in goal again - which will mean he'll probably be leaving the Phoenix. Bugger

Great stuff all round - no tears for Italy -

Nutters - is it "arsebaggio".?

4am - time for sleeps.

[cured]

reax from Americans on the Donovan goal...should prove there are quite a bit of people out here who go nutty for footie

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jbn3rOPmR9w

[Dunwho]

reax from Americans on the Donovan goal...should prove there are quite a bit of people out here who go nutty for footie

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jbn3rOPmR9w

I love how "the world" is USA and Lyon France... but it looks like you enjoyed it ;)

[cured]

I love how "the world" is USA and Lyon France... but it looks like you enjoyed it ;)

yeah, and it was ex-pats at that, I'm sure. Nonetheless, a good feeling for the reaction from border to border here.

[matt]

http://imgur.com/6M4k9.jpg

[stimpee]

http://s7.directupload.net/images/100624/ogtrkvoo.jpg

personally i think England will lose. we always do. a lucky deflection, a dodgy penalty.

[//\/\/]

heskey's going to score and absolute screamer.

in his own goal.

in injury time.

[//\/\/]

brasil - portugal - ref's just booked tiago for diving in the box - excellent work!

[Jason Roth]

I love how "the world" is USA and Lyon France... but it looks like you enjoyed it ;)

South Africa was in there too ;)

[Dunwho]

personally i think England will lose. we always do. a lucky deflection, a dodgy penalty.

You may BLAME it on a lucky deflection or a dodgy penalty but at the end of the day England are a team that couldnt beat the USA or even Algeria and were scrambling to protect a one nil win against Slovenia... i really think you should be hoping for Germany to lose from a lucky deflection or a dodgy penalty otherwise they are going to run rings around you.

But saying that they are having a bit of a wobly at the moment... but still they look far superior to a bunch of English "Stars" who dont seem to shine so brightly without all of their far superior international clubmates who make them look better than they really are on a weekly basis.


Wow bit harsh there but i was in a flow... :D

[cured]

La Furia are looking good today. Weird that the Chilean goalkeeper strayed so far away from home, though.

[//\/\/]

bit carried away indeed, dunwho... you forget england's capacity for lowering their game, as well as the ability to raise it. and you overlook that this 'good-looking' german team lost to serbia and didn't pull up trees the other night either.

england could be building a tournament momentum, stumbling upon a way to work the team...

(there, that's me in the optimism flow :D)

[cured]

Ricardo Clark sure was a disaster in that first half. And we're in familiar position...playing from behind :/

[cured]

Aaaaaaand we're out. Ghana earned this as opposed to 2006. USA had their chances but if you can't put em away you deserve to lose.

[cured]

Well, time for something semi-long winded by a yank...

We don't have world class strikers (and Jozy played horribly today). There is a sea change in how excited people are around here, though. It's a national pride thing that I'm excited to see happening. It's a funny thing that the US was expected to win this game, quite the change from 1994 (when I first started watching the World Cup) when we were just shit all around and miraculously made the second round.

We're going to get better from here. A lot of our key guys are young and will be there in Brazil for 2014 (I know I'll be there for sure). The MLS is getting better as a league and our 20 and under teams are competitive in worldwide tournaments.

It's a disappointment to be out but we didn't deserve the win today, not the way we had those first or last touches going in for a chance. But we aren't the weaklings we used to be. Spain knows we don't suck. Our expectations for the team are getting bigger and that's drawing more Americans into the game.

I absolutely love the World Cup play. Draws may not bring in many casual fans but even American footballers will say they enjoy the "game within the game" and that's where the real meat of this sport is. What's been wonderful is to see so many friends cursing and celebrating as the game progresses...it's important to them. We aren't going to be on the level of the top European teams for another Cup or two but our level of improvement from 1994 or even 1998 has been amazing. We're helped out by the fact that our players are starting to get invited to Europe more and our MLS season starts in the summer, so our national team players are fresh without the injuries of a long season and can better build team chemistry.

I've noticed a lot of teams have risen to bridge the gap between the world powers and the average nobodies (New Zealand's Paston has been the best keeper in the tournament thus far, IMO).

As far as the US team, you can only play like shit in the first 15 minutes of a game and go behind early so often enough before it bites you in the ass. Tonight our asses got bit by a very good Ghana team. But I like how, even when teams play with a defensive mentality in the second half with their leads against us, we can still create chances that get our hearts pumping.

We aren't going to be La Furia or the Azzurri or anything but we can be us and we aren't too shabby at this game, perhaps you guys can agree.

Can't wait to wake up tomorrow at 7am and see England and Germany go at it!

[//\/\/]

well said, cured - and a good world cup from the usa - honest performances in every game and thoroughly deserved progress to the 2nd round. the more your players are exposed to world football, the better they'll become. it'll take time before the mls becomes more than a first step, but hopefully this success will help the sport take a firmer root. but to have a team of triers is what all football fans want, and you certainly have that.

here's hoping you don't get too good ;)

[potatobroth]

US isn't exactly a young team. Not the team they brought at least. A good number of these players will be into their 30's come Brazil.

I'm proud of how well they played considering how poorly out defense was leading up to the cup finals.

[cured]

Cheers, and good luck tomorrow. Too bad I gotta wake up at 7am to see it but it's a heavyweight matchup!

[undarrenworld]

not even Klose :D

Thats cool:) England vs Germany today, I would like to see England winning:)

[BrotherLovesDub]

The beauty of this game just shone through on that uncalled goal for England. If you were playing with your mates you probably would have missed the call too. Such a perfect game. I'm sure the England fans understand that's just the glory of football. Who needs replay or technology when you've got tradition to uphold.

[cured]

Ghosts of 1966...didn't get the call this time around, though. Glad England finally woke up...Germany was carving up their back line big time. Rooney is frustrated....Germany had their box area sealed up like a vault for most of the half.

But yeah, wow. That ball spun back out of goal.

[Troy McClure]

I'd be happy to see England go down just for pure tabloid fodder, but they got jobbed on the no goal call. That looked like it bounced in twice before Neuer grabbed it.

Jason

[cured]

The US coverage has featured Steve Mcmanaman, Jurgen Klinsman, and Shaun Bartlett doing studio commentary. Kind of weird watching Steve and Jurgen talking about that non goal at halftime.

[Eikman]

well, i guess we'll never know whether the ball was in or not :D

[cured]

The rout is on. Germany's quality in that last third of the field is on another level from England. The non goal sure looks moot, now. Fantastic run by Ozil and a nice feed for the finish.

[//\/\/]

dear oh dear... bbc pundits saying our back 4 didn't look like they'd seen eachother before - it was more like they'd never seen a football before.

milner off just as he was starting to get some joy down the right - to be replaced by a left-footed winger?

abject - but the way we've played this tournament, totally unsurprising - any half decent team were going to thrash us...

(bld - the point will always be lost on you, so 'what.ever')

[BrotherLovesDub]

Even though Germany scored 4, the air was out of the English side after missing the equalizer. Momentum is huge in sport and you can't say the score would have been 4-2 at the end anyway. Doesn't matter now but my belief is the English team lost their heart after getting robbed. Would have been a different game if it had been 2-2 at the half.

[//\/\/]

nope; if anything that 'goal' got them fired up. for all of 5 minutes. then they were back to playing the same turgid, shapeless shit that they'd produced before it.

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

The beauty of this game just shone through on that uncalled goal for England. If you were playing with your mates you probably would have missed the call too. Such a perfect game. I'm sure the England fans understand that's just the glory of football. Who needs replay or technology when you've got tradition to uphold.

ha yeah who didn't see that coming

[cured]

I'd like to welcome Mexico to the "FIFA needs to put in some kind of replay" club.

[chuck]

Re: England v Germany

Who needs a replay? It's clearly not a goal.

http://i.imgur.com/QxJvh.jpg

[//\/\/]

(yet in the grand scheme of things, haven't these incidents changed nothing? same teams still lost, same teams won their groups...)

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

(yet in the grand scheme of things, haven't these incidents changed nothing? same teams still lost, same teams won their groups...)

good point, clearly replay is not needed

[potatobroth]

thats four or five AWFUL calls regarding goals. considering the hardest thing to do in this damn tournament/match is score a goal, having them disallowed (or allowed wrongly) is a MASSIVE problem.

consider this: the USA scored 5 goals in their four games at the World Cup. They also scored 2 more that were disallowed. Thats an increase of 40%. As it turned out, those goals didn't matter, but they sure as shit mattered for Mexico, England, etc.

I was watching the ARG v MEX game live. When that goal went in, my eyes naturally drifted to the side judge, who was running his ass off to get down to the goal box area of the pitch. He wasn't even close and there was no physical way he was in ANY position to adjudges Tevez on or offsides. It was just impossible. Why does Mexico have to suffer that? Even worse, while the stadium replay is running the goal over and over, the referee asks his sidejudge what his call was. I can only imagine what he said was, "i didnt see him as offsides." because he was about 10 or 12 yards away from the play. Prediction: "We think the officiating of the game was fine." They can fuck themselves. (oh, and I'm 100% gunning for ARG - but not at the expense of just shit calls.)

FIFA is failing. The (at least the ones the US hear) announcers were ripping the officiating. The media is shredding the officiating. Teams are dismissing the officiating. Players are lambasting the officiating. FIFA just turns away.

[Dirty0900]

But if only the second goal had been counted...........

(It would have been 4-2_____________________________________)

[BrotherLovesDub]

So momentum and team psychology mean nothing?

[//\/\/]

not when you're being outclassed, no.

[potatobroth]

not when you're being outclassed, no.

And the team that is outclassed NEVER wins the match, right?

Such a bullshit comment.

[stimpee]

Who knows. Momentum counts for something. psychological. but when your defence leaks goals youre gonna lose. game changing events have a big mental effect on the teams though but its hard to quantify and its all a case of "what ifs". You can say that things would have been different, and that the result might have been different, but maybe not. Germany were the better team. Argentina were the better team. The good news is that these two lucky teams now play each other and one of them has to run out of luck.

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

I agree things would have been different. I can't imagine that these players were psychologically unaffected by the missed goal. I know for certain the Mexican players were for the offside one. I watched that one with my Mexican girlfriend, who claimed that Mexico could have won that game, but the country as a whole has such a "losers mentality" that once they get behind they are unable to come back. If the first Argentina goal was disallowed (as it should have been) I doubt the Mexican team would have allowed the second as easily, and it could have been 1-1 going into overtime.

Honestly the lack of any type of replay is ridiculous - thank god both teams would have won without the extra goal, because it's absurd just how big of a story the officiating is. The (american) football team I played for in high school had better officiating than this. Think about this from the players' minds - you get robbed of a goal (or unfairly scored on) because of a simple mistake, during the biggest sporting event in the world, one that only occurs every FOUR years (why?!), meaning you will only get probably FOUR chances in your life to ever play in it, and that's if you're lucky! The psychological implications are staggering.

[Eikman]

the fact that i got banned for 24h after yesterday's match only proves that the English are not only poor football players, but also sore losers ;)

[//\/\/]

Such a bullshit comment.

up yours too, claude.:rolleyes:

[//\/\/]

the fact that i got banned for 24h after yesterday's match only proves that the English are not only poor football players, but also sore losers ;)

don't mention the score...:confused:

[//\/\/]

and to speak for the nation (http://twitpic.com/20qkrh)...

[//\/\/]

Who knows. Momentum counts for something. psychological. but when your defence leaks goals youre gonna lose. game changing events have a big mental effect on the teams though but its hard to quantify and its all a case of "what ifs". You can say that things would have been different, and that the result might have been different, but maybe not. Germany were the better team. Argentina were the better team. The good news is that these two lucky teams now play each other and one of them has to run out of luck.

jesus; if these 2 teams are 'lucky' i'd love to see a 'good' one ;)

[cured]

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l4orfuOT0l1qzpwi0o1_500.png

[cured]

http://www.acegames.us/forum/attachments/jokes-section/124274d1238173579t-football-team-tactics-27-03-2009-17.44.54.jpg

http://www.acegames.us/forum/attachments/jokes-section/124275d1238173579t-football-team-tactics-27-03-2009-17.45.30.jpg

http://www.acegames.us/forum/attachments/jokes-section/124276d1238173579t-football-team-tactics-27-03-2009-17.46.09.jpg

http://www.acegames.us/forum/attachments/jokes-section/124277d1238173579t-football-team-tactics-27-03-2009-17.46.41.jpg

http://www.acegames.us/forum/attachments/jokes-section/124279d1238173579t-football-team-tactics-27-03-2009-17.47.39.jpg

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

A step in the wrong direction:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/5335440/ce/us/fifa-censor-stadium-replays&cc=5901?ver=us

Seems to me that FIFA doesn't even really care about a fair game anymore!

[cured]

USA update: it appears Sunil Gulati may make another run at Jurgen Klinsmann as the next coach.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/5335896/ce/us/us-soccer-president-sunil-gulati-says-team-failed-expectations?cc=5901&ver=us

Watch the video, he makes excellent points.

12 years living here and I believe that's all been spent in California. Charismatic and perhaps one of the world's better strikers (in his time) can show our forwards how to put the ball in the net in the World Cup. We haven't had a striker score since Brian McBride in 2002.

Now, about England. Steve McManaman and Klinsmann gave their thoughts on ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5333633

What bothered me about England was they played way too slow. When they moved the ball upfield, there weren't a whole lot of meaningful runs being made to make their attack quick. Rooney never seemed to get any space so a team mate could feed him the ball. A lot of standing around, waiting for the defense to hiccup or for an offensive player with the ball to move the ball around and not attack the defense, themselves.

When they went down 2, they played with that sense of urgency you need but, even with the disallowed goal, they still needed to come out and play in the second half and they didn't. David James said he felt that if the goal would have been allowed, Germany would have folded (?!?!?!). Mind boggling. Well, there is a barometer for England to measure themselves by now in the years leading up to 2014; the Germans. They've got a lot of young guys that will be playing in the next couple of world cups. It will be interesting to see what the new guard in England looks like, since the bulk of core players from this team will be retiring from international competition.

[cured]

A step in the wrong direction:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/5335440/ce/us/fifa-censor-stadium-replays&cc=5901?ver=us

Seems to me that FIFA doesn't even really care about a fair game anymore!

FIFA is just bracing for the storm. I don't think we'll see instant replay anytime soon. Us americans are used to it, though. Even though play is stopped, the right calls are usually made and games can resume play where they ought to be. I'd recommend, at minimum, some goal line technology that can discern whether or not a ball crosses the line. Apart from the England non-call, it can help with other spots, such as balls being cleared off the line by defenders (there was a close one a few days ago) and goalies playing, essentially, in their own net (this happened with one of the Asian keepers in 2006 a couple of times, IIRC). 30 second review after a goal is scored, if challenged, would work well enough and not interrupt the flow or timing of the game, I would think. These ideas may sound whacky to those not accustomed to instant replay but the goal is to ensure the right calls are made so teams like Mexico don't find themselves under the gun and a team like England doesn't have to expend energy to fight an uphill battle when they should be level.

FIFA appears to be really slow when it comes to embracing change but, as technology advances, maybe it won't be such a drastic jump. Heck, hockey has this technology in place when a puck crosses the line and it seems to work well for them.

[potatobroth]

jesus; if these 2 teams are 'lucky' i'd love to see a 'good' one ;)

You can be both. Clearly ARG was lucky at the start of that match to 1) be up 1-0 and 2) have their crossbar struck once (or was it twice?)

Mexico played very well in that match aside from the defensive blunder that gave ARG their second score. And I'll argue til I'm blue in the face that the awarded Tevez goal cost them a great deal of focus. Should a pro player be able to skirt a bad call? Surely. But when everyone in the stadium, on the bench, and in the world saw it was a bad call only 15 seconds after the score, then there is a massive problem. Mexico got screwed.

[BrotherLovesDub]

Football fans are ok with time wasting for flopping and diving but not for a replay to ensure the right call was made. That would ruin the beauty of the game. Stupid Americans will never understand.

[stimpee]

Football fans are ok with time wasting for flopping and diving but not for a replay to ensure the right call was made. That would ruin the beauty of the game. Stupid Americans will never understand.the only stupid people who dont understand are the people at FIFA. we want replays as much as you do..

[cured]

the only stupid people who dont understand are the people at FIFA. we want replays as much as you do..

The head of US Soccer said he'd be willing to allow the MLS to be a test bed for new technologies. He also added this nugget:

Gulati said a FIFA executive committee member, whom he didn't identify, gave his own personal views about using technology.

"He was outlining a system that he had in his own mind thought of which was very similar to the NFL system, with the obvious difference of continuous action. But a challenge system, if the challenge is upheld, then you retain," Gulati said. "I don't think there's any doubt that FIFA will look at what's happened here, whether it's additional referees or some limited form of goal-line technology which they've looked at. They'll look at some things."

[mmm skyscraper]

Video replay does not solve everything. The replay official will just take the heat. And it won't stop the game for 30 seconds; they'll have to review every single goal from multiple angles for 5 minutes even if it was clearly a goal in the name of fairness. The replay has made US college football almost unwatchable; they spend a long time disputing a call and then still make the wrong decision:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSIykYoM260

[cured]

Video replay does not solve everything. The replay official will just take the heat. And it won't stop the game for 30 seconds; they'll have to review every single goal from multiple angles for 5 minutes even if it was clearly a goal in the name of fairness. The replay has made US college football almost unwatchable; they spend a long time disputing a call and then still make the wrong decision:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSIykYoM260

I never said it should completely mirror the American football system. It can't because American football is built on game stoppages and soccer is not. Watch a World Cup game and there will be a conclusive replay within a minute of the play in question happening, including off-sides calls. I'm suggesting a quick look to see if there was something egregious going on. American football and soccer are completely different animals.

Plus, refs occasionally don't make the correct call in American football replays but the vast, vast majority of the time, they get them right and you know it.

[//\/\/]

Stupid Americans will never understand.

no - only fucking boneheadeds like you.:rolleyes:

i'm explaining FIFA's stance. that's not my stance. it's FIFA's stance and why they do what they do. and it's a compelling argument when you think about the philosophy of a simple game. though you can't handle the concept of a fucking draw, so i'm on tough ground anyway.

so let's say we have it. what do we have replays for? goal/no goal? offside? diving? foul? hurt feelings? where do we stop? how often do we stop? i'd say goal/no goal is quick - after that you're getting into no end of fucking schoolground yah-boo-sucks pissing about. as much gamesmanship will sneak in moaning and demanding replays as to make the game unwatchable.

in short - GET FUCKING OVER IT AND STOP THE FUUUUUCKING BOOORING MOANING.

[cured]

In my view, replays should only be given for goals. Check and see if the guy is onside and if the ball cleared the line. That's it.

Yellow and red cards should be dished out upon review of the game (diving/cheap shots) the next day or so to ensure the Italians have to play all their bench players :)

[//\/\/]

Yellow and red cards should be dished out upon review of the game (diving/cheap shots) the next day or so to ensure the Italians have to play all their bench players :)

all for that - it'd cut it out very quickly.

[chuck]

You could all just watch and play rugby.

Simple game - hard ass hits - no diving theatrics - got replay when needed - big scores.

Game for all sizes - fat blokes and skinny fast ones.

Comes in 3 versions - touch, sevens, 15's.

Simple costumes.

And we all sit around and drink beers after and have a wee singsong.


....

I'll get me coat.

[King of Snake]

no - only fucking boneheadeds like you.:rolleyes:

i'm explaining FIFA's stance. that's not my stance. it's FIFA's stance and why they do what they do. and it's a compelling argument when you think about the philosophy of a simple game. though you can't handle the concept of a fucking draw, so i'm on tough ground anyway.

so let's say we have it. what do we have replays for? goal/no goal? offside? diving? foul? hurt feelings? where do we stop? how often do we stop? i'd say goal/no goal is quick - after that you're getting into no end of fucking schoolground yah-boo-sucks pissing about. as much gamesmanship will sneak in moaning and demanding replays as to make the game unwatchable.

in short - GET FUCKING OVER IT AND STOP THE FUUUUUCKING BOOORING MOANING.

well it wouldn't be so hard to have a certain limitation on replays. Either limit it to goal/no goal or give each side the right to call for a replay a certain amount of times per match. Personally after what's been happening in this World Cup I don't see how you could describe the FIFA's argument as "compelling" in any way, simple game or not. If the game is so simple, then why all the bad calls? Obviously it's not so simple to make the right decisions with the current referee system.

[King of Snake]

oh yeah and by the way:
HOLLAND!!!

[//\/\/]

Comes in 3 versions - touch, sevens, 15's.

4 - there's 'league' too. though fatties and softies need not apply... ;)

[chuck]

4 - there's 'league' too. though fatties and softies need not apply... ;)

bah.

northern boofhead version of the game they play in heaven! ;)

It's even simpler than the union version though - so might make more sense to some.

Actually back on the ref/technology thing.

How many games - out of the thousands that are played around the world in leagues every year - are actually directly affected by the referee's mistakes?

Henry's double handball.

The Germany goal.

For my mind - offsides are different - that's a linesman's call - and if you want to bring in replays for that - then you will alter the game irrevocably. IMO.

Football is a simple game - that's the beauty of it. I know you all demand exact accuracy - but it's not chess with shoulder pads - like the NFL is. It's not cricket - where you're appealing to the umpire to make a decision ... ie. How was that? = Howzzzaaaatttt!!!!

Even in rugby - where the referee has the option to ask the TMO (TV match official) to confirm a decision - the referee is still the final say. In one of the tests last year - the TMO and the TV replay guy took about 5 minutes to make a decision - and finally the referee said, "Sod this for a lark", blew the whistle and awarded the try. Ignoring the technology.

Sometimes you get shit decisions - and for my mind, that's the nature of sport - in whatever game, in whatever code and with whatever technology - sometimes shit happens and actually - it's just a game.

Shake hands, have a shower and get a beer together.

[stimpee]

no - only fucking boneheadeds like you.:rolleyes:

i'm explaining FIFA's stance. that's not my stance. it's FIFA's stance and why they do what they do. and it's a compelling argument when you think about the philosophy of a simple game. though you can't handle the concept of a fucking draw, so i'm on tough ground anyway.

so let's say we have it. what do we have replays for? goal/no goal? offside? diving? foul? hurt feelings? where do we stop? how often do we stop? i'd say goal/no goal is quick - after that you're getting into no end of fucking schoolground yah-boo-sucks pissing about. as much gamesmanship will sneak in moaning and demanding replays as to make the game unwatchable.

in short - GET FUCKING OVER IT AND STOP THE FUUUUUCKING BOOORING MOANING.Methinks Ian is losing patience. Ho hum. Its fairly simple. Just look at other sports and when they use video evidence during the match. You dont stop play to look at a video replay. For the most part you just wait until the ball is out of play. There would be one problem and that was highlighted in the England v Germany match. Ball crosses the line, referee allows play to go on because he didnt see it. Now, the play isnt stopped because he thinks it hasnt crossed the line. There is protest from the team who think they have scored. When do you look at the evidence? What if the opposing team go down the other end and then score? Then you'd have to look at the first "goal" on video and then disallow the one at the other end.

However, referees have the power to blow their whistle and stop play if they deem what has happened reason enough. This happens for injuries or things like two balls on the field, or someone from the crowd throwing something at the keeper.

If you had video cameras in combination with other goal line technology this would be a moot point too...

[//\/\/]

with blatter apologising to england and mexico, it looks like something's going to change anyway...

as for goal/no goal decisions - that's as much a linesman's call than a ref's - often moreso as he's usually the closest official to the incident. that said, uefa have been trialling with extra linesmen behind the goal in the uefa cup this season, and iirc there was a couple of absolute howlers there too...

if you look at cricket (where there's plently of time to stop and scratch your arse about things) you have umpires who are now too scared to give a decision and err on the side of caution, referring even clear-cut decisions to the third bloke. furthermore, you have people moaning about playing some tests where technology isn't available/is too dear and therefore isn't used - so you have an effective 2-tier version of the sport - and that's at TEST level... so with football you have to think about the technical implications of this. which leagues/competitions? how many teams? how many grounds? haves/have nots? not every league can afford this - look at the shit state of football finances in The Best League In The World and ask how many would like to install/test and run new technology... ...you also need a replay technician at every match, a team to run the technology, somewhere to house it, an extra official to adjudicate...

and for how many instances, as chuck rightly asks?

[chuck]

...you also need a replay technician at every match, a team to run the technology, somewhere to house it, an extra official to adjudicate...


Forgot about that - here in NZ, we have the "third umpire/TMO/video replay" for Super 14 games, and test matches - but not for the national provincial championship. And that's despite those NPC games being televised - the decision was made, on the basis of cost, that those games wouldn't have video replay.

This has caused some consternation - as there's still controversial decisions.

But that's a decision that's been made - and all teams know it - and despite controversial decisions being made. The other key point about rugby officiating - is that the TMO can only be used to adjudicate on the awarding or non-awarding of a try. It's a natural break in the game - and so does not disrupt (apart from the delay for replay) the flow of the game. In the event the cameras cannot confirm a try or no-try - the onfield referee has to make a call that determines how the game is restarted. But of course it's a very different (and far, far better) game than football.;)

Even if Fifa goes for some form of video replay, and I'm not discounting it - it has to be strictly implemented. In rugby for instance, the on field referee is still the absolute law - and can only ask the TMO for confirmation of a decision made on the field. This is unlike cricket, where like Nutters says - umpires are now almost totally reliant on the TMO - and in tests now, teams can "challenge" a decision several times. This is similar to the challenge system in tennis.

At some point you have to trust your referees - and give them power to make decisions - acknowledging that sometimes they'll be the wrong ones.

Referees and umpires are already constantly and consistently abused by players in football - whereas in rugby, only the captain is officially meant to speak to the ref. If video replay undermines that authority even further - how much will the game become a free-for-all?

Who challenges the refs call? The captain? The coach?

Here in the A-League they ban the replaying of any controversial footage on the screen in the stadium of the game is being played in. Have ever since the league began. It's designed to prevent riots when issues like this happen. The broadcast feed to satellite/TV still has replays in though.

EDIT : Appears FIFA are doing the same thing (http://www.salon.com/technology/dan_gillmor/2010/06/28/fifa_censors_video_replays/index.html). Which is just silly now.... it's not the officiating - it's the replays! Muppets.

[chuck]

And now for some topical humor.

------
Q. Why did the chicken cross the road?

A. According to FIFA the chicken did not cross the road.

------

What was the most commonly asked question posed to England's footballers today?

Chicken or beef?

------

Feel free to add...

[//\/\/]

wayne rooney has broken david blaine's record for doing nothing in a box...

[//\/\/]

but yes, kos - we really should be getting back to the programme!

[matt]

Here in the A-League they ban the replaying of any controversial footage on the screen in the stadium of the game is being played in. Have ever since the league began. It's designed to prevent riots when issues like this happen. The broadcast feed to satellite/TV still has replays in though.

EDIT : Appears FIFA are doing the same thing (http://www.salon.com/technology/dan_gillmor/2010/06/28/fifa_censors_video_replays/index.html). Which is just silly now.... it's not the officiating - it's the replays! Muppets.I thought that was a long standing FIFA directive. Whenever we go and watch Wales play they never show replays of contentious issues on the big screens. I understood it was just a bit of a cock up when the big screens at the Argentina Mexico match relayed the replay clearly showing Tevez offside.

I also don't get the football mentality that seems to be cropping up that you'd have to introduce video replays across the board. Why not just for the big tournaments and leagues that have cameras at every game anyway. That's what they do in rugby. In fact, in the Heineken Cup (the premier rugby competition in the world and much better than that S14 lark where they score about 10 tries each per game) there's usually a couple of games each round (the ones not on Sky) that don't have video replays available even though the other matches do. Both sides know the rules before hand so there's no real problem.

Anyway, here's hoping one of today's games provides us with the first penalty shootout of the tournament.

[BrotherLovesDub]

Goal line technology means no replay necessary for determining goals.

Should celebrations be banned too? You do realize how much time is wasted by the goal scorer running and sliding and the subsequent dogpile. That takes several minutes every time a goal is scored. Time stops during a match all the time. I'm not sure why it's ok to celebrate for 3 minutes but not review a play.

[cured]

wow what a game...Portugal had the best defense in the tournament and Spain couldn't generate many quality chances at all. It looked as if Spain's porous back line would crack open several times but they got good goalkeeping, a couple fortuitous bounces, and Portugal couldn't put one in.

That red card at the end though was a bit odd. I didn't see what happened to Capdevilla and it almost looked like he took a dive.

[stimpee]

I thought Spain edged it. goal was maybe offside but if it was it was by the length of a boot. anyway, better than penalties.

[cured]

It looks like the Nike curse is in full effect now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idLG6jh23yE

All of those players had bad World Cups.

[//\/\/]

phew - the slack-jawed, kitten-torturing, diving genius is out!

[stimpee]

Is Blatter's U-turn for real?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gpVdHckjqvys34nBz6H1YEACT_kAD9GL4RNG0

Blatter: "It would be a nonsense to not reopen the file of technology," he said Tuesday.
Just don't forget that this is the same person who in 2008 said: "Let's leave football with errors."

[rayray]

I think they were all jinxed by that nike commercial....roo will be in a trailer park, do I even need to mention ribery appearing on a billboard, no stature for the great ronaldo after that match yesterday, and poor ronaldinho missed the plane to south africa!

IMO - should be wearing three stripes

looking forward to NED v Brazil (forgetting that it's an all swoosh affair)

[Eikman]

i think he's just bluffing to keep the media off his back for the next couple of weeks. eventually, there will be another ominous meeting discussing the subject in which they will decide, that football is best with its errors. we've seen it all before.

[Dunwho]

On t subject of Capello's Job... i think Keane sums the whole thing up perfectly. Near thend he single handedly rips the English team apart... bad players, not a bad coach

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwQ80x2MrG8&feature=player_embedded

[//\/\/]

excellent stuff from dog's best friend!

[Rog]

On t subject of Capello's Job... i think Keane sums the whole thing up perfectly. Near thend he single handedly rips the English team apart... bad players, not a bad coach

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwQ80x2MrG8&feature=player_embedded

not a bad coach?......
der........ i'll play a flat 4-4-2 of aging players against a very quick young team......HE SHOULD HAVE GONE 4-5-1

der......I'll withdraw a natural goalscorer (Defoe who scored 20 - odd goals this season but admittedly did jack-shit during the game) and put on Heskey who last scored for england about 10 years ago while leaving Crouchy on the bench who has scored a lot of goals for england in the last few years.
he also went for Lennon and Wright-Phillips when he should have gone for Walcott and Johnson.

He played Barry who, although recovered, was not match fit at all.

He dropped green for one error and put calamity James on instead - he was at fault for at least the first 2 goals - too slow off his line for the first and through his legs from a tight angle for the second

they are IMHO poor decisions.

The players must shoulder a lot of the blame but what does Roy fuckin Keane know about coaching?......did fuck all at sunderland, failing at ipswich ;)

[Eikman]

He dropped green for one error and put calamity James on instead - he was at fault for at least the first 2 goals - too slow off his line for the first and through his legs from a tight angle for the second


yeah, blame it on the goalkeeper if your defence acts as quickly as a granny on crutches ;)

[//\/\/]

...take off milner just as he was starting to find his range, replace him with the left-footed cole. and keep him on the right, with gerrard on the left, trying to kick with his right...

[//\/\/]

yeah, blame it on the goalkeeper if your defence acts as quickly as my granny on crutches ;)

you mean somebody has broken your granny's crutches to make it a fair race?

[chuck]

Should celebrations be banned too? You do realize how much time is wasted by the goal scorer running and sliding and the subsequent dogpile. That takes several minutes every time a goal is scored. Time stops during a match all the time. I'm not sure why it's ok to celebrate for 3 minutes but not review a play.

Players can actually be yellow carded for delaying the game by celebrating.

I think Winston Reid was given one after the elation of scoring with pretty much the last play of the game against Slovakia.

Which was silly - but it's in the rules.

[rayray]

I think they were all jinxed by that nike commercial....roo will be in a trailer park, do I even need to mention ribery appearing on a billboard, no stature for the great ronaldo after that match yesterday, and poor ronaldinho missed the plane to south africa!

IMO - should be wearing three stripes

looking forward to NED v Brazil (forgetting that it's an all swoosh affair)

okay then - seems as if some more industrious people have taken notice as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fgRvpbYkc8&feature=player_embedded

[//\/\/]

anyway - bollocks to technology - just build a wall in the goal, remove the posts and bar. ball bounces out = goal. implementable globally at a tiny fraction of the cost :D

[//\/\/]

how's this for pure madness :D (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_Caribbean_Cup_1994)?

[Rog]

I would have loved to have been at that match after a few beers:D

[Rog]

yeah, blame it on the goalkeeper if your defence acts as quickly as a granny on crutches ;)

they're not that quick eik...................:p

have you heard the comment 'milk turns faster than john terry'

[Rog]

i also heard that the plane carrying the england players back from south africa was diverted to glasgow airport where they received a heroes welcome.......;)

[Rog]

http://www.goalymoly.com/celebrities/ashley-cole



check out the mobile phone item.......what a fuckin arsehole that bloke is:D

[stimpee]

how's this for pure madness :D (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_Caribbean_Cup_1994)?Holy shit! thats nuts!

Anomaly

There was an unusual match between Barbados (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbados_national_football_team) and Grenada (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenada_national_football_team).
Grenada went into the match with a superior goal difference (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goal_difference), meaning that Barbados needed to win by two goals to progress to the finals. The trouble was caused by two things. First, unlike most group stages in football competitions, the organizers had deemed that all games must have a winner. All games drawn over 90 minutes would go to sudden death extra time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_goal). Secondly and most importantly, there was an unusual rule which stated that in the event of a game going to sudden death extra time the goal would count double, meaning that the winner would be awarded a two goal victory.
Barbados was leading 2-0 until the 83rd minute, when Grenada scored, making it 2-1. Approaching the dying moments, the Barbadians realized they had no chance of scoring past Grenada's mass defense, so they deliberately scored an own goal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Own_goal) to tie the game at 2-2. This would send the game into extra time and give them another half hour to break down the defense. The Grenadians realized what was happening and attempted to score an own goal as well, which would put Barbados back in front by one goal and would eliminate Barbados from the competition.
However, the Barbados players started defending their opposition's goal to prevent them from doing this, and during the game's last five minutes, the fans were treated to the incredible sight of Grenada trying to score in either goal. Barbados also defended both ends of the pitch, and held off Grenada for the final five minutes, sending the game into extra time. In extra time, Barbados notched the game-winner, and, according to the rules, was awarded a 4-2 victory, which put them through to the next round!

[cured]

I watched the first half at home, Brazil dominated. Heard they've never given up a halftime lead.

On the drive to work, I hear about the own goal. When I get to the office, I frantically tried getting my laptop up but Flash kept crashing. Checked ESPN's site...2-1 NED? Looked at the gamecast...red card for Felipe Melo?!

Watched the rest of the game by asking the lobby receptionist to change the TV channel. A group of people hung around and watched as they came in for the day.

Crazy ending! And I missed all the best bits!

[//\/\/]

fantastic match!

[stimpee]

http://www.shrani.si/f/V/yW/3nexp2a8/melo.jpg

[rayray]

yeah, he was a real "impact" player today - not sure that's what dunga had in mind

[Eikman]

ah crap, germany really has to beat argentina now that the friggin dutch are in the semis ;)

[stimpee]

ah crap, germany really has to beat argentina now that the friggin dutch are in the semis ;)makes no difference to me :) germany lose. i win. argentina lose. i win. win win win win.

[Eikman]

talking about a crazy finish to a game....

[cured]

I've never ever ever ever seen a game end like that. Red card on a handball at the very end of overtime? A missed PK when the final whistle would have been blown right after? A wild end to penalty kicks?!

Awesome stuff for someone who isn't invested in either team...heart attack inducing for anyone who is.

[m.g.]

Well... at some point, a "Frog" has to write something in this thread :)

Great match between Brazil and Holland, and it's absolutely normal that the Dutch won.

Crazy match (and ending) for Uruguay vs Ghana... and I'm very sad for Ghana who really deserved to win.

I'm a bit sorry that the final will be tomorrow with Germany - Argentina, which are definitely the two best teams of this world cup. The winner should win the whole thing in the end.

Why not a final Germany - Holland? a kind of "revenge" of 1974? (which is one of the best match I ever saw... in the time when football was still football)


ps : as I'm not supporting France since 2006 (guess why?), I'll go back the proverb of the 80's : "football is a game which is played by two teams of eleven players and, in the end, Germany wins" ;)

[King of Snake]

i have just one thing to say:


HOLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!!!


:D

[cured]

Hello! Welcome to WRITE THE FUTURE - the World Cup 2010 text adventure! Who would you like to play as?

>FRANCK RIBERY

[Now playing as FRANCK RIBERY]

You are in a room. There is a young woman.

Please confirm you are over 18 years of age.

>YES

Please confirm the young woman is over 18 years of age.

>CHANGE PLAYER

Who would you like to play as?

>RONALDINHO

[Now playing as RONALDINHO]

You are in a room. There is a television.

>LOOK AT TELEVISION

The World Cup is on. Brazil is playing.

>GO TO GAME

You cannot do that.

>LEAVE ROOM

You are in a street in Milan.

>GO TO SOUTH AFRICA

You cannot do that.

>CHANGE PLAYER

Who would you like to play as?

>DIDIER DROGBA

[Now playing as DIDIER DROGBA]

The Ivory Coast is playing Portugal. You are on the bench.

>LOOK

The game is in progress. You are on the bench.

>PLAY GAME

You cannot do that.

>GET ON FIELD

I don't understand.

>GO TO FIELD

You cannot do that.

>STAND UP

You feel a pain in your arm.

>LOOK AT ARM

Your elbow is broken. You cannot play in this game.

>CHANGE PLAYER

Who would you like to play as?

>FABIO CANNAVARO

[Now playing as FABIO CANNAVARO]

You are in Johannesburg. You are playing a team no one has ever heard of. You are captain of one of the most celebrated defenses in the world.

You hear a dull buzzing hum.

>LOOK

The dull buzzing hum is coming from the crowd.

You see several anonymous men in white shirts. They have scored a goal. Your team is now losing.

>RUN

You are too old to do that.

>PLAY DEFENSE

You are too old to do that.

The dull buzzing hum has been replaced by boos and laughter.

>CHANGE PLAYER

Who would you like to play as?

>WAYNE ROONEY

[Now playing as WAYNE ROONEY]

You are in Bloemfontein.

>LOOK

You are playing Germany. You are wearing a red shirt.

Germany has scored a goal. The score is now 1-0.

>GET BALL

You cannot get the ball.

Germany has scored a goal. The score is now 2-0.

>GET OPEN

You cannot get open.

England has scored a goal. The score is now 2-1.

>YES! PLAY FOOTBALL

England has scored a goal. The score is now 2-1.

>WHAT?

I don't understand.

>WHAT IS THE SCORE?

The score is now 2-1.

>YOU SAID ENGLAND SCORED ANOTHER GOAL!

The score is now 2-1.

>BUT THERE WAS A SECOND GOAL!

The score is now 2-1.

It is now halftime.

>REVIEW FIRST HALF

Germany scored two goals. England scored two goals. The score is now 2-1.

>THE SCORE SHOULD BE 2-2!

The score is now 2-1.

>BUT ENGLAND SCORED TWO GOALS! WE SHOULD BE TIED!

The score is now 2-1.

Germany has scored a goal. The score is now 3-1.

>WAIT! WE STARTED THE SECOND HALF?

Germany has scored a goal. The score is now 4-1.

>THIS GAME SUCKS!

The score is now 4-1.

>CHANGE PLAYER

Who would you like to play as?

>CRISTIANO RONALDO

[Now playing as CRISTIANO RONALDO.]

You are in Cape Town.

>GO NORTH

There is a Spanish person in your way.

>GO EAST

There is a Spanish person in your way.

>GO WEST

There is a Spanish person in your way.

>GO SOUTH

There is a Spanish person in your way.

>SCORE GOAL

You cannot do that.

>DIVE

The referee tells you to get up.

>DIVE

The referee tells you to get up.

>DIVE

The referee tells you to get up.

>DIVE

The referee tells you to get up.

>WRITE THE FUTURE

You visualize a majestic glittering statue. You visualize a glamorous movie premiere of your life story. You visualize international world celebrity.

Spain has scored a goal.

>QUIT

You have decided to quit.

Thank you for playing WORLD CUP 2010 - WRITE THE FUTURE!

>ERASE DISK

[Eikman]

Hello! Welcome to WRITE THE FUTURE - the World Cup 2010 text adventure! Who would you like to play as?

[Now playing as CRISTIANO RONALDO.]

You are in Cape Town.

>GO NORTH

There is a Spanish person in your way.

>GO EAST

There is a Spanish person in your way.

>GO WEST

There is a Spanish person in your way.

>GO SOUTH

There is a Spanish person in your way.

>SCORE GOAL

You cannot do that.


LOL! :D

[Eikman]

i have a bad feeling about this...

[stimpee]

i have a bad feeling about this...http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086190/quotes?qt0447327

[m.g.]

And, in the end, Germany wins. Cool. :)

Looking forward to a Germany - Holland on 11th July...

[cured]

i have a bad feeling about this...

Hahaha

Massacre in the second half. Germany's defense is strong.

[Eikman]

lol argentina. n00bs.

[stimpee]

lol argentina. n00bs.hahahha you were nervous. but maradona got his comeuppance. eat shit cheating drugs midget.

[Eikman]

spain is the new france.

[Eikman]

what a fuckin' weak play by spain. you want to be campéon? better step it up, amigos.

[cured]

Paraguay were robbed of a goal in the first half but the second half was where the game went batshit crazy. I'm wondering if there's anything left to see in a WC game that we haven't seen in the past week.

Spain's ball control vs Germany's defense and counterattacking. I've given up trying to predict how this will all play out.

[Eikman]

PARAGUAY ROBBED BY EVIL HENRY!

[Rog]

i don't feel so bad about our result now:D

[sanblaster]

Last time I checked, offside is called when a player in offside position is willing to play the ball, and that was exactly what the first Paraguay attacker did. He couldn't hit the ball but the second striker could, and he was in legal position indeed, but game was halted by then. I can't honestly see the controversy.

Paraguay's penalty tho, looks like one of our players stepped into the box too soon in the shooting and should have been repeated too. They could complain about that, but it's not time to be splitting hairs, is it? Their keeper should've been sent off and Spain should've shot their 3rd penalty in minute and a half....


Regarding the not so beautiful display from Spain so far, I guess it's not easy when literally every team they've played against plays basically with two lines of 4 defenders. I'm really looking forward the game against Germany because they like to play in the rival's field and that will definitely benefit Spain's style. I'm all for a 4-3 instead of a 1-0.


All in all, ESPAÑA!!!!


:D

[stimpee]

Sanblaster v Eikman. FIGHT!

[cured]

Last time I checked, offside is called when a player in offside position is willing to play the ball, and that was exactly what the first Paraguay attacker did. He couldn't hit the ball but the second striker could, and he was in legal position indeed, but game was halted by then. I can't honestly see the controversy.

Paraguay's penalty tho, looks like one of our players stepped into the box too soon in the shooting and should have been repeated too. They could complain about that, but it's not time to be splitting hairs, is it? Their keeper should've been sent off and Spain should've shot their 3rd penalty in minute and a half....


You're right about that. I had to have the offsides clarified after the match. I need to see it again, though, because I had kept my eyes on Valdez.
In any event, GER/ESP is going to be a good one. I'd say winner of that will be the favorite to win the cup but you never know in this tournament.

[stimpee]

Germany dont stand a chance!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/06/paul-the-octopus-stuns-ge_n_636118.html

[King of Snake]

HOLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND! :D

[Eikman]

jesus christ.

[Camiel]

HOLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND! :D

WIN

[Eikman]

*heavy breathing*

[cured]

*heavy breathing*

Only a couple more hours, tough guy.

[cured]

Sorry, Eik...

VAMOS LA FURIA!

[Eikman]

the way i see it, everything past the QF would be more than lucky for Germany.

told you so...

but hey, now Barca gets to win the world cup! ;)

[Jason Roth]

never doubt an octopus

[Eikman]

never doubt an octopus

the octopus was actually wrong in the Euro 2008 final...

[sanblaster]

SPANIEN ÜBER ALLES!





Next Sunday HUP SPANJE HUP!



A well paced game at last! Should've been 2 or 3 nil, way too much suffering in the last 10 minutes. Very well defended Germany nonetheless, it was a delight to watch (score aside!)

[Eikman]

oh, and this is what will happen to poor Paul: http://fishcooking.about.com/od/octopusrecipes/r/octopus_paprika.htm ;)

[King of Snake]

haha, it will be nice to watch Orange beat Spain on sunday :)

[sanblaster]

Ah.... mouthy and overconfident, aren't we?


Bring it on! ¡¡ARRIBA!!

[cured]

A well paced game at last! Should've been 2 or 3 nil, way too much suffering in the last 10 minutes. Very well defended Germany nonetheless, it was a delight to watch (score aside!)

Pedro needs to get spanked for being so greedy, though. It wouldn't have been such an intense last few minutes if he had just passed the ball to Torres.

[stimpee]

Nice. We will get a new winner of the World Cup. About time! Two nearly-teams with great potential. I'll have to support the brilliant orange of course.

[sanblaster]

http://eskup.elpais.com/Imagenes/39/50/1278581958-6fb338f41ee4b270348b7776764bd856.jpg

[Eikman]

yaaaaay......3rd....




....again


:rolleyes:

[Rog]

was an entertaining game eik! coming 3rd in the world cup is pretty good;).........imagine how i feel after our shite showing....no you probably can't

[Troy McClure]

Today's game was one of the best of this World Cup to watch. It was nice to hear the crowd noise over the vuvuzelas.

I really thought Diego Forlan was going to make that free kick on the last play. Hope tomorrow's game is as good.

[Eikman]

was an entertaining game eik! coming 3rd in the world cup is pretty good;).........imagine how i feel after our shite showing....no you probably can't

given our young team 3rd place is pretty good indeed.

however, after coming in 2nd in 2002, 3rd in 2006, 2nd in the Euro 2008 and 3rd again this time around, it feels like it is finally time to win the goddamn thing.

[Rog]

i wish i could say the same...................

[m.g.]

Germany - Uruguay was a great match, yes... and I would have loved that the final was Germany - Holland tonight :mad:

Spain should win, but I'll support Holland, though...

[cured]

What a tough match!!! Grats Spain and el Sanblaster!!!

[cured]

History made: Spain had won the most games (27) without winning it all. That ended. No team had won the tournament after losing thier first match. That ended. No winning team had scored less goals going into the final (7). New standard.

Mueller (GER) wins the golden boot.

It would have sucked if this game went to PKs. Way too much diving on both teams, way too many yellows. De Jong should have been given a red in the first half. Robben won't sleep for a week. So few great chances for both sides, only Iniesta put his away. He'd been holding onto the ball too much, I thought, over the past few games. Expert strike to win the biggest trophy in the world.

[BrotherLovesDub]

what a boring game.

[Eikman]

BREAKING NEWS....BARCA WINS WORLD CUP!!!!!

but seriously, thank god for that. what a dirty play by the Dutch. fuck off holland. better luck next time, eh?

so glad Andres scored that goal. best man on the pitch, possibly in the tournament (besides Müller of course) :)

[//\/\/]

MORE BREAKING NEWS.....FOOTBALL WINS WORLD CUP FINAL


dutch were a disgrace - so pleased they (and robben in particular) didn't win. well done spain for sticking to football despite the spoiling 'tactics' they faced. worthy winners.


(and bld can go back to watching his minority pastimes for another 4 years)

[Eikman]

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5ew4qpfhI1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg

[BrotherLovesDub]

[B]

(and bld can go back to watching his minority pastimes for another 4 years)

you mean sports where the athletes aren't diving/crying pussies who play for a tie?

[Eikman]

http://fourhorsementattoo.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/kobe-crying.jpg

[chuck]

Sadly that game is another example of why the great game of football will not prosper in my country.

Diving, rolling, stumbling - arm waving wankers all over the ref. Mostly wearing the Spanish jersey.

The Dutch hacked and smacked - but there was nothing beautiful from either side.

At one point in the second half the Spanish number 8 kicked himself - and collapsed to the ground looking to milk the penalty. WTF was that all about?

Apart from missing the goal - Robben's mistake was not falling when Puyol was giving him a big cuddle from behind. Which says something about the state of the game at the top level.

Iniesta's goal was well finished - I did think he was offside for starters - but it was the right call by the sideline official.

Congrats Spain.

But the mighty New Zealand All Whites finish as the only UNDEFEATED team in the World Cup. Wooohooo!!


Someone serve up that freaking octopus as well. ;)

[Eikman]

oh, and Forlan is apparently "Player of the Tournament" with Müller being the Top Scorer and "Best new player".

[sanblaster]

Well deserved on both sides. What a fucking disgrace was to see Holland play it rough, they obviously don't know how to do it properly and betrayed themselves.


Diving, eh? :rolleyes:



¡¡¡ESPAÑA!!!

[chuck]

Oh yeah - forgot to mention De Jong's karate kick to the chest - that was impressive in another "Wtf?" type reaction. Did he get a yellow - or just a warning?

It's that kind of inconsistency that pisses me off - a player gets a yellow - for an innocuous tackle (that's milked by a dive) - but only a warning - for a studs up - boot to the chest.

The play-on when Robben was pulled from behind by Puyol - and the goal-kick, after the ball came off the Spanish wall - were the two most glaring Webb errors.

He should have sent out a red card earlier - he kept warning players and showing yellows - but nothing really changed. Who cares if it would have screwed the game - both Holland and Spain would have had to have changed their game plans, and played some football.

I should stop posting - I've had 4 coffees to keep me awake!

[chuck]

Well deserved on both sides. What a fucking disgrace was to see Holland play it rough, they obviously don't know how to do it properly and betrayed themselves.


Diving, eh? :rolleyes:

¡¡¡ESPAÑA!!!

Plenty of it san - plenty of it - and the arm-waving - I thought some of the Spanish were trying to take off and fly out of the stadium.

Hah - if that was a club side playing like Holland - it would have been hailed as a "tough uncompromising" performance.

Like I said - congratulations Spain - it was a cracking finish from Iniesta. But it's not a great advertisement for the sport - at least not in my country.

I know, I know - who cares right - we're just New Zealand. But it's not in our sporting culture to fall over and roll around - you can see that watching the All Whites games - they prefer to play the ball and the game. Unlike the Italians who were grabbing their faces, and falling to the ground anytime we got close.

I know - it's part of football - and you know what - fair play to you. You won - you are the world champions.

But until the officials actually start to officiate the foul play as demonstrated by Holland - and the unseemly diving and milking (did you see the Spanish #8 kick himself - and fall over????) - football will never really take off here.

I love football - I do - it's just that the World Cup - which produces superb games - also produces ugly, unsatisfying performances like this final. The ends justify the means - and so it should.

Anyway - did I mention NZ were undefeated? :)

Congratulations again Spain!

[sanblaster]

Plenty of it san - plenty of it - and the arm-waving - I thought some of the Spanish were trying to take off and fly out of the stadium.

Hah - if that was a club side playing like Holland - it would have been hailed as a "tough uncompromising" performance.

Like I said - congratulations Spain - it was a cracking finish from Iniesta. But it's not a great advertisement for the sport - at least not in my country.

I know, I know - who cares right - we're just New Zealand. But it's not in our sporting culture to fall over and roll around - you can see that watching the All Whites games - they prefer to play the ball and the game. Unlike the Italians who were grabbing their faces, and falling to the ground anytime we got close.

I know - it's part of football - and you know what - fair play to you. You won - you are the world champions.

But until the officials actually start to officiate the foul play as demonstrated by Holland - and the unseemly diving and milking (did you see the Spanish #8 kick himself - and fall over????) - football will never really take off here.

I love football - I do - it's just that the World Cup - which produces superb games - also produces ugly, unsatisfying performances like this final. The ends justify the means - and so it should.

Anyway - did I mention NZ were undefeated? :)

Congratulations again Spain!



We might be talking about different plays and correct me if that's the case, but doesn't Xavi kick Heitinga's calf then falls over?

The arm waving, I take it you don't mean when Van Bommel was hanging on the backs of whoever worn a blue tshirt. I'm positive this might be one of the games when there's been less diving and cheating - just watch the replays again.

The way Spain played, enhancing what Holland did in the 70's, in the middle of the physical era with the Capellos, Domenechs and Mourinhos.... this is just something else. I couldn't care less if it wasn't Spain - I obviously am delighted it was my country who made it -, talking about diving and waving after how this final was played sounds absolutely ridiculous, sorry about that.

And congrats New Zealand! Why not!

[King of Snake]

haha, we lost but i had a great evening anyway :) Now let's get all this orange shit out of the way... I'm going on holiday tomorrow \o/

[cured]

There was a lot of milking it on both sides...you expect it from Robben and perhaps even Iniesta but it was just too much. Having those fake death injuries rewarded by the English ref didn't do much to help as players just started diving to see if the guy marking them would pick up a second yellow. The Hungarian ref should have been the one calling this final. In the end, the calls sort of evened out. De Jong didn't get booted in the first half for his cleats-to-the-chest play (he got a yellow like everyone else did. Seriously, if you didn't get a yellow in this game, you weren't on the field) and Puyol didn't get a second yellow for his near-tackle of Robben later on in the match.

Anyways, it was sort of an ugly game, you'd expect that since Spain's opponents aren't stupid enough to go toe-to-toe and leave their backs open. Holland, for their part, did a great job of challenging the Spanish midfield and if Robben had knocked that chance in at the 63rd minute, perhaps the Dutch are partying tonight. Maybe Casillas' right shoe will end up in a museum somewhere. Holland played tough and would have been deserving champs. Gotta wonder where Wesley Sneijder was tonight, though.

I'm glad it didn't go to PKs as that's a horrible way for a game like this to be judged but it almost came to that.

Good year for Spain: Rafael Nadal took Wimbledon, Pau Gasol won his second NBA title with the Lakers, and Spain ends years of misery with clutch play to take out Portugal, a tough Paraguay team, Germany, and the Netherlands all by 1-0 scores (all scored in the second half or overtime?). Their defense held strong even though they were opened up by every team on occasion.

Germany is obviously going to be super strong in 2014 but I wonder if it doesn't matter given that Brazil is going back to joga bonito and they are hosting the tournament. Whatever. I'm 33 now and who knows what life will look like at 37 but I already can't wait for my next serving of this awesome tournament.

last, more stats:

•Spain is the eighth country to be crowned World Cup champion, winning its first title and becoming the first European country to win outside of Europe.

•Andres Iniesta scored his second goal of the tournament in the 116th minute, the latest game-winner in a final.

•The 14 total yellow cards are the most ever in a final, more than doubling the previous record of six set in 1986 (Argentina-Germany), and third-most in any game (cards began in 1970).

•Spain's eight total goals scored are the fewest ever by a champion, three fewer than the previous mark.

•Spain is the first team since 1970 Brazil to win the title after winning all of its qualifiers.

•The Netherlands' 10-game winning and 25-game unbeaten streaks were snapped, as the Dutch lost for the first time since September 2008.

•Spain controlled possession with 59.3 percent of the touches. That's the highest total by a team in a World Cup final since the stat was first tracked in 1966. Spain controlled 60.9 percent of the touches in its seven World Cup matches, the only team ever to control over 60 percent for an entire World Cup.

•The Netherlands had its worst-ever passing day in a World Cup match -- completing a paltry 69 percent of its passes. Since 1966, the Dutch had completed fewer than 75 percent of their passes just twice.

•The goals per game finished at 2.27, just ahead of the 2.21 at the 1990 World Cup, the lowest of all time. Goals per game in the knockout stage of this World Cup were 2.75, the best since 1998 (2.81).

[cured]

by the way, there's good discussion/commentary on the match over at BigSoccer.com, a great place to talk about the game if you can get over the name

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/blog.php?b=9531

[//\/\/]

you mean sports where the athletes aren't diving/crying pussies who play for a tie?

indeed. ones where they're not covered in armour in case they get a scwatch on their weg...

[Jason Roth]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs025.ash2/34603_1341472898176_1271790040_30808685_3798217_n. jpg

[BrotherLovesDub]

indeed. ones where they're not covered in armour in case they get a scwatch on their weg...

American football players NEVER fake injury. They get hit every single play. The pads make sense. Soccer players wear shin pads but one tiny touch to their foot and they roll around on the ground like their leg has been bitten off by an alligator. Put them in full pads if it means they'll stop faking injury and wasting time.

Just admit that your precious footballers are a bunch of faking, whining, pussies.

[Jason Roth]

Just admit that your precious footballers are a bunch of faking, whining, pussies.

Thanks, Italy!

[BrotherLovesDub]

Also, play stops all the time and then some time gets added on arbitrarily. If someone would be in charge of stopping/starting the clock after celebrations, arguments and fake injuries, the game could be played 90mins without some bullshit 'stoppage time'.

[BrotherLovesDub]

Basically, every argument about why football is a superior sport has been proven to be bullshit by this World Cup.

[Dirty0900]

Cheers Spain, that's me £50 up.

[cured]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KXrQ_GoMMt4

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

indeed. ones where they're not covered in armour in case they get a scwatch on their weg...

Are you kidding me? American football has players colliding into each other at full speed (who are twice as big as soccer players) on every single play. There are tons of huge injuries in the game despite the pads they wear. Rag on American football if you want but calling these guys soft is so ignorant I wouldn't be able to take you seriously...

Basically, every argument about why football is a superior sport has been proven to be bullshit by this World Cup.

Sadly, I mostly have to agree, although I did enjoy many of the games, the main things that stood out for me was the reffing (and how the refs can basically singlehandedly take your team out of the tournament regardless of any actual rules or even an explanation of what they thought they saw) and the shameful degree of flopping (especially in the final). I do enjoy the flops however since they are funny in slo-mo replay, but the game doesn't really feel like a competition when it's done to that level. I realize American sports have their flaws but after watching most of the WC matches I just can't see any American wanting to start following soccer now. For referece I would say it reminded me most of the 2006 NBA finals where the refs whistled anyone who even breathed on Wade...you have to ask, how is this even a sport anymore?

[//\/\/]

Basically, every argument about why football is a superior sport has been proven to be bullshit by this World Cup.

bollocks.

[//\/\/]

Just admit that your precious footballers are a bunch of faking, whining, pussies.

google roy keane. then piss off.

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

well here in america one of our college football players cut off his own pinky just to play the rest of the season...just sayin'
i'll accept that soccer players are generally a bunch of louts but i don't see how BLD's statement is false. seriously, in what other sport will you see a team go up by one point and then spend the rest of the game faking injuries and making pointless substitutions to burn clock. when our football players get carried off in a stretcher they sure as hell don't hop off and walk around once they get on the sidelines (*cough* *cough* Ghana)

[chuck]

No.

What's been proven is that some of us can only appreciate one sport.

Whereas others are happy seeing the best and the worst in any sport.

For example - when I think NFL - I think 3 hours sitting on the couch talking shit with a mate, eating pretzels and drinking light beers, and arguing about TV replays, wondering where Doug Williams ended up, and laughing at what a dumb ass Leon Lett was/is.

When I think football - I think a session at the pub, talking shit with mates, drinking pints, a couple of packets of crisps and abusing the ref, remember the greatness of the Arsenal offside trap of the early 90's - laughing at Ronaldo, discussing why Chelsea fans are pillocks and so on.

When I think rugby - I think mates, cheering the haka, beers, drinking with the opposing fans, a few songs, and beers, hearty banter, big hits, several "smashed 'em bro!" moments, some more beer, telling the ref to fuck off - and then shutting up when you watch the replay. Good times basically.

It's all about perspective BLD - it's only a game after all.

I have enjoyed watching this World Cup - not just because of the All Whites - I reckon it's not been an all time classic - but it's all good - only 4 more years till the next one.

Thoughts turn now to watching some of the Tour at 6am in the morning - the Premiership is almost upon us, and my fantasy squad of mid-table no-hopers is due to be assembled for pre-season drinks - and for those of you that missed it - the Tri-Nations has begun. And the Blackness open their 2010 campaign by beating the Bokke comprehensively. As I said - good times!

Replay moment of Game 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO12nItzYdw)

Bakkies Botha - munter of the season award (so far). Cowan held his jersey - Botha decided to take it on himself to sort Cowan out - Botha ended up with a sore head - and a 9 week suspension.

See - you can't do that in football or NFL can you. :) ;)

[//\/\/]

American football players NEVER fake injury. They get hit every single play.

guess they get good drugs to keep 'em going :rolleyes:

[BrotherLovesDub]

I enjoyed the experience of the World Cup. Watched it every day it was on. I will enjoy watching 4 rounds of the British Open like I enjoyed watching Wimbledon, like I enjoyed watching the NCAA Final Four, like I enjoyed watching the NFL/NBA playoffs, like I enjoy watching the Tour De France etc. etc. I enjoy watching lots of sports but I also like to be realistic. Soccer/Football is full of a bunch of pussies. The faking/diving/crying that goes on is absurd. The supporters who claim it's superior because the game doesn't stop are fooling themselves. To say they are tougher because they don't wear pads is so fucking absurd, it's useless to argue. I watch all kinds of sports and I find faults in all of them. If only people like Ian could admit the serious flaws in their beloved sport, I wouldn't have to continue to make the point.

[Rog]

Basically, every argument about why football is a superior sport has been proven to be bullshit by this World Cup.

complete bollocks! or are over 700 million world cup final viewers all wrong?

[Rog]

I enjoyed the experience of the World Cup. Watched it every day it was on. I will enjoy watching 4 rounds of the British Open like I enjoyed watching Wimbledon, like I enjoyed watching the NCAA Final Four, like I enjoyed watching the NFL/NBA playoffs, like I enjoy watching the Tour De France etc. etc. I enjoy watching lots of sports but I also like to be realistic. Soccer/Football is full of a bunch of pussies. The faking/diving/crying that goes on is absurd. The supporters who claim it's superior because the game doesn't stop are fooling themselves. To say they are tougher because they don't wear pads is so fucking absurd, it's useless to argue. I watch all kinds of sports and I find faults in all of them. If only people like Ian could admit the serious flaws in their beloved sport, I wouldn't have to continue to make the point.

most of us on here watch other sports too you know and don't feel the need to make crass comments about other people's favourites.

to quote you " i enjoyed the experience of the world cup" and then again " football is full of a bunch of pussies" .....:confused: you don't know what you're on about!

[BrotherLovesDub]

So if you enjoy a sporting event you can't find fault with the sport in general. Good to know.

[//\/\/]

i don't think i ever said football was perfect. it's you who's dealt in absolutes throughout this thread. never a 'i think...' before any sweeping criticism. even the 'all footballers are pussies' bollocks, which is patently a load of bullshit. yes; there's too much of it - one of the reasons i'm happy that holland lost was the thought of arjen robben, the diving, whining little shit, becoming a world champion was anathema to me. i was delighted portugal got knocked out because that preening, cheating, whining arsebag cristiano ronaldo went with them. but when people come along and tar all football with the same brush, you'll have to forgive me for coming back with ill-founded generalisations of my own so you can see how it reads when it's turned round.

so learn to argue in a more nuanced fashion, know what the fuck you're talking about, and then let's debate.

[Rog]

rubbish once again! there's finding fault and there's trashing the the sport- which you have been trying to do since this thread started.

[stimpee]

*sigh* you have fed the troll so much that he cant stop himself :) BLD stop winding these lovely people up. You have so many other better things to do. If you want to start the whole American HandEgg vs World Football then start a new thread. I'll admit that this WC wasnt the best, in fact its been one of the worst. Spain have been this year's Greece 2004. But we have a new winner. Lets see if Spain do what France did after they became World and Euro champs... ;)

[//\/\/]

waaaaaaaaaaitaminute - i thought i was trolling him!

i can't agree with your conclusion that spain are the new greece 2004. not at all. maybe you're coloured too orange to see that. greece 04 were an effective team, but devoid of anything that could be called 'flair'. spain, even in the face of the dutch muggers, still played (or tried to play) good football. greece just bored teams to death and have done nothing of note since.

i think the honourable gentleman should retract his statement and apologise to sanblaster :D

[//\/\/]

I was on a date yesterday she asked to go Dutch on the bill so I raked my studs down her chest bullied the waiter & ran out crying...

[stimpee]

Im referring to the constant diving and the lack of goals and general faffing about with the ball without doing anything with it. no flair. And im bloody english, you should know that by now :) The dutch were unconvincing but effective for most of the tournament. Never pretty to watch but they got the job done. Robben has his reputation of falling over in a strong wind but the rest of the team a solid players. Germany deserved to win this world cup, and that takes a lot for me to say as an Englishman.

Greece 2004:
Matches, 2-1, 1-1, 1-2, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0. Scored 7 in 6 matches.

Spain 2010:
Matches: 0-1, 2-0, 2-1, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0. Scored 8 in 7 matches.

Look familiar?

[chuck]

Pfft - Dutch nutters playing football ain't got nothing on Buck Shelford. ;)

Badass of the Week (http://www.badassoftheweek.com/shelford.html)

Who now actually fronts a health campaign for prostate cancer here in NZ - so he's not just a hard mofo. As Barney would say... Legen....DARY!

While this tale puts paid to the NFL is hard-core argument as well, I'm posting it in jest - it's a quality rant - that made me laugh.

===
There is, however, one dark, unspeakable aspect of international soccer that I cannot in good conscience seem to overlook. One monumentally un-badass facet of the game that dominates the sport, and which rears its hideous bulbous head with such alarming frequency that it's impossible to watch an entire match without clenching your fists in a mildly-pissed sense of outrage – the unbridled, shameless flopping.

Soccer is probably one of the only organized sports out there that actually rewards pussy behavior (though I have to admit that basketball is getting there). Like it or not, for whatever reason there's a huge incentive in the sport for some big, supposedly-tough douchebag to send himself hurtling through the air every time his opponent's leg gets anywhere close to the ball. These goddamned floppers routinely go flying at the first sign of a challenge, and then spend two minutes rolling around on the pitch howling and weeping like they've just been shot in the kneecap at point-blank range with a shotgun. Then, as soon as the foul is called, these faking assclowns just pop up like nothing's wrong and start sprinting around without so much as losing a step.

Sure, I have no doubt that it probably hurts like a motherfucker when you get tripped up while running at full speed, but this is some of the most ridiculous weaksauce shit I've ever seen. Every other sport has a culture that requires you to take it like a man – don't let the other fuckers see that they hurt you, get your ass up, and tough it out. Don't give them the satisfaction of knowing that they've hurt you, and don't stop trying to crush peoples' faces inside out until you hear the whistle. In some soccer games it's more like there are twenty-two NFL wide receivers on the field simultaneously bitching and complaining about calls – some of these guys spend so much time rolling around or arguing with the refs that they completely take themselves out of what might have actually been an interesting play, shamelessly trying to draw a bullshit foul call rather than actually playing the fucking game the way it was intended. It's infuriating, especially to people who enjoy badassitude.

The game of rugby is the exact opposite of soccer. I won't pretend that I really know anything about the sport – I think I've probably watched three rugby matches in my entire life, and those were at like four in the morning while I was intoxicated and not in any position to be trying to remember or absorb any sort of new information. I tend to think of it as a crap-your-pants insane cross between Mutant League Football, Blood Bowl, Base Wars, and Kill the Man with the Ball, and from what I've seen, that might not be too far off. All I'm really certain of is that when you're talking about international rugby there's one team that perpetually dominates the sport year after year – the New Zealand All-Blacks – and among the All-Blacks, there's one man who is an epic legend that all badass aficionados (even those who couldn't give a crap about sports) should be able to appreciate: Buck Shelford.

http://www.badassoftheweek.com/shelford2.jpg
I love that the cover of his autobiography is just him showing off his unstoppable ballsack.

Shelford is a New Zealander of Maori descent, meaning that his ancestors were part of an uber-intense warrior-culture that tattooed their faces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokomokai), beat the shit out of European colonizers by clubbing them in the dome with jade bludgeons until their skulls exploded out their ears, and cut off the heads of their enemies to carry around as trophies demonstrating how good they were at killing people and lopping off their heads.

The Maori are seriously nuts, and you really don't want to cross these guys unless you enjoy being put in a headlock that's only marginally less decapitation-inducing than having a dude clamp a giant bear trap on your neck. In order to honor his heritage, Shelford revamped the haka, the moderately-terrifying dance (http://www.allblacks.com/index.cfm?layout=haka) the All-Blacks perform before games as a way of collectively threatening the opposing team with bodily harm just moments before beating the shit out of them with a few career-ending tackles that would leave most normal humans crumpled in a boneless heap on the floor. Shelford is believed by some people to be the greatest player to ever play at his particular position in rugby, whatever that position may be, and he captained the All-Blacks during a period of time when they went undefeated for three and a half straight years. What I'm trying to say is that he was good at rugby.

And now, finally, a good twelve hundred words into the article, we get to the crux of why I chose to include Shelford on the website this week – his incredible, literally balls-out actions during a match with the French national team in 1986 that was so hardcore and brutal it's simply known as the "Battle of Nantes". Actions that rank very high on the list of the most badass things ever recorded on the field of any sport throughout the course of history.

During his international match against the French, Shelford was basically just running around doing his thing (a "thing" that usually involved charging around the field without any kind of padding more protective than a headband and hitting dudes harder than Ronnie Lott decapitating a receiver on a crossing route) when all of a sudden, about 20 minutes in, he ended up on the bottom of a huge-ass pile of anarchy with a bunch of giant rugby motherfuckers kicking and clawing for the ball. In all the fighting and battling for possession, Shelford was jacked in the face with a bare-knuckled roundhouse punch that knocked out four of his teeth.

But that wasn't the worst of it – not long after getting de-toothed with a sucker punch, a French cleat found its way through the pile and struck Shelford directly in the ballsack, ripping it open leaving one nut hanging out of his scrote.

http://www.badassoftheweek.com/shelford3.png


You are reading this correctly – the guy got Monkey Steals the Peached by a fucking spiked boot in the middle of a rugby game. Displaying what can only be the utter, literal definition of balls-out, Shelford amazingly didn't even seem to give a shit about a wound that would have brought even a berserking Viking warrior (http://www.badassoftheweek.com/stamfordbridge.html) to his knees in agony. Bleeding badly, missing a ball from his goodie sack, and in what could only have been excruciating pain in both his face and groin, Shelford didn't roll around on the turf crying like some kind of professional soccer flopper punk. He didn't get carted off to the hospital in an ambulance for emergency surgery. He didn't even go to the locker room strapped to the back of one of those little golf cart thingies.

This psychotic madman got up, walked off the pitch holding his balls back in place, stood on the sidelines, and waited patiently while the team doc stitched up his nutsack on international television. Without anesthesia. With a cameraman right in his face, taping the entire gruesome procedure. I didn't find the footage of the incredibly-unhygenic surgery, but I'm not going to lie and say that I tried very hard, either. There are some things which can be sufficiently described with text and don't necessarily require people to see things that can never be unseen.

Seriously, are you kidding me with this shit? Not only is this the most insane tale of on-field toughness ever recorded, but shortly after having a threaded needle repeatedly jammed into in an area where most guys aren't particularly keen on inserting pointy objects, this unstoppable Rugby-Bot 9000 came back and played the second half with a stitched-up junkbag and a mouthful of gauze to prevent him from coughing and spitting blood all over the place Alice Cooper-style. Despite being only slightly more well-put-together than Frankenstein's Monster at this point, Shelford continued pushing it to the limit, and didn't slow down, half-ass it, or back down from hardcore contact – while trying to plow through for extra yards later on in the game he took yet another huge hit and ended up receiving a massive concussion.

To this day the guy has absolutely no recollection of the game. Maybe that's a good thing… it would be the only game he played for the national team in which the All-Blacks lost, and intensive hardcore crotchal trauma is generally not the sort of thing most people would presumably be too keen on remembering. Shelford would get his revenge nevertheless, simply on principle alone – a year later he and the All-Blacks would square off against the same French team in the finals of the first-ever Rugby World Cup and with a fully-functioning ballsack (we can fix it… we can make it better, faster, stronger…), Shelford overcame his groin-kicking adversaries and led New Zealand to the world championship in the sport of professional badassball.

[sanblaster]

Im referring to the constant diving and the lack of goals and general faffing about with the ball without doing anything with it. no flair. And im bloody english, you should know that by now :) The dutch were unconvincing but effective for most of the tournament. Never pretty to watch but they got the job done. Robben has his reputation of falling over in a strong wind but the rest of the team a solid players. Germany deserved to win this world cup, and that takes a lot for me to say as an Englishman.

Greece 2004:
Matches, 2-1, 1-1, 1-2, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0. Scored 7 in 6 matches.

Spain 2010:
Matches: 0-1, 2-0, 2-1, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0. Scored 8 in 7 matches.

Look familiar?


There's obviously a point where stats have to be backed up by the intangible events in the playing field - I'm sure we can find dozens of spectacular 0-0 games every season. I couldn't agree less with the comparison between Greece '04 and Spain'10 styles' and I can't honestly see another reason in you doing so other than try to wind me up. :P. Is by this standard The Netherlands as good/bad historically as, say, Canada? They both have zero World Cups.

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

chuck - wow, that article is incredible. I try to watch rugby whenever it's on TV (afaik the Samoans should be the best at it, so it was surprising to read that New Zealand was the best) and did play for about half a year until my health insurance ran out. I think it combines the best elements of soccer and American football and is way more entertaining than either. Shame it hasn't caught on here...although football here is going through a lot of criticism because of how unsafe it is and how much brain damage some of these guys are getting...I can't imagine what they'd say about rugby!!!!

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

complete bollocks! or are over 700 million world cup final viewers all wrong?

so you would agree that american idol is one of the all time greatest tv shows?

[//\/\/]

. And im bloody english, you should know that by now :)

ey-up, son, i was never suggesting for a minute that you weren't ;) just that living there and making that comparison was a little on the outlandish/hollandish side...:)

[Rog]

so you would agree that american idol is one of the all time greatest tv shows?

LOL!:D

[stimpee]

So now that the world cup is over, the football seasons will be starting in a few weeks. Even though England played shite, a lot of the players who played WELL in the World Cup play in the Premier League in England. If you fancy your chances at this years fantasy football, then the details are HERE (http://www.darktrain.org/dirty/forums/showthread.php?t=11080). Its a mixture of luck and judgement so you can still do well even if you dont know what youre doing! The more the merrier! And if you need help there are veterans of the last few seasons here to help out.