FIFA World Cup 2010

[Eikman]

Originally Posted by //\/\/

sepp (german) blatter would have made damn sure that no german player got sent off for petty fouls, such as we saw today.

except that Blatter is Swiss, which brings us back to another conspiracy theory, right Spain?

[potatobroth]

Originally Posted by //\/\/

this is why we invented the phrase 'we wuz robbed' it might be the first time it's happened to you; but it's by no means the first time it's happened.

hardly the first time for the US. from recent memory:

2002: uncalled handball v. Germany in the quarters. clear handball on teh line stopped the ball from goin in the net.

2006: phantom red card to onyewu after he was dragged to the carpet allowing italy keep a tie

2010: phantom penalty on a player who was being bear-hugged.

I watch SO much soccer that it does roll off me now, but... FUCK THIS. I'm so sick of it (and not just because its the US.) I rarely see this in the 50+ EPL games I see each year. Always in the WC though.

US was robbed of the winning goal. It doesnt change anything after the fact, but for fuck's sake, FIFA/ref just has to admit it.

And Mali? Are you serious?

[bas_I_am]

Originally Posted by //\/\/

this is football[sic] - its beauty and its pain are that it's like life.

I never thought about like that... you're right though....

Mind numbing tedium occasionally interrupted by onlookers making a whole lot of noise about nothing of real import....

Yes, soccer is a lot like life

[Jason Roth]

Originally Posted by potatobroth

2002: uncalled handball v. Germany in the quarters. clear handball on teh line stopped the ball from goin in the net.

Torsten Frings! I remember this one. The ref let Germany use 2 keepers that game. No big deal right?

Yes, we've been fucked on a consistent basis, but I take it as a compliment. They fear us bro, that's why they don't want us in their little football tournament.

USA RESPECT!

edit: Gee, I hope I don't run into that Malian ref in South Africa

[cured]

Is it me or do the England players just have no idea what their team mates are thinking as it pertains to how they are attacking. No imagination, very pedestrian. They look like France out there :/

I expected them to come alive and score a goal or two.

[//\/\/]

Originally Posted by cured

Is it me or do the England players just have no idea what their team mates are thinking as it pertains to how they are attacking. No imagination, very pedestrian. They look like France out there :/

I expected them to come alive and score a goal or two.

absolutely. fucking rubbish, that. not even the basics of control and passing were right. garbage.

rooney moaned about being booed off - what did he expect - and wtf was going on with him? never seen him play that badly - every element of his game was poor, and by the end he looked either pissed or injured.

cured; you got some of that whiskey spare?!

[//\/\/]

Originally Posted by Eikman

except that Blatter is Swiss, which brings us back to another conspiracy theory, right Spain?

sorry etc!

[34958hq439-qjw9v5jq298v5j]

NOW DO YOU BRITS UNDERSTAND WHY AMERICANS DON'T LIKE SOCCER!?!?

Seriously...I get amped up for the WC every 4 years...and now that's THREE in which the US get cheated in some way. But today was the worse. This one was flat out robbery...I was upset when it happened, then I saw the overhead replay and I was furious!! It's not only clearly NOT a foul, but if ANYTHING, you could have called up to 3 penalty kicks against Slovenia!! I'm not asking for anything as logical and sensical as say, instant replay, but maybe hiring some competant refs would be nice. Biggest sporting event in the entire world and FIFA apparently does not care about the officiating. That's why most of us don't like soccer. You better believe the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL would have gotten a call like that right.

tl;dr:

[//\/\/]

see earlier post re. 'life' - if you only get involved every 4 years, you can't see (or, more importantly, feel) the balance sheet clearly...

and i don't believe it's the reffing that you don't get - isn't it more the fact that there's not dozens of points being scored?

and for instant replays - again, see what i put about world cup and my son's team - the game is largely the same simple thing at any level, on any pitch. that's what makes it globally far more important, successful and popular globally than the XXX games you mention.

[cured]

Originally Posted by //\/\/

absolutely. fucking rubbish, that. not even the basics of control and passing were right. garbage.

rooney moaned about being booed off - what did he expect - and wtf was going on with him? never seen him play that badly - every element of his game was poor, and by the end he looked either pissed or injured.

cured; you got some of that whiskey spare?!

I ran out of booze following the Lakers win over the Celtics in game 7 of the NBA finals last night.

So what's the deal with game 3 for England and the US? If both tie, does the US advance based on goals scored if both teams play to, say 1-1?

I'd say England should have an easier time with Slovenia; the US shredded them in the second half. It'd just be nice to see my country playing with a lead for once.

Back to today's game: you're right. The passing was just awful, even when they had a play in mind. It was on set pieces that I felt they just didn't know what they wanted to do. I felt they were pressing towards the end, launching shots from 35 meters out and going away from trying to get through-balls to the guys standing at the 18. They had some decent chances but, most of the time, they held onto the ball too long.

I'm surprised a country as advanced in the game as England is playing the wait-and-see approach to attacking; I thought they'd be one-touch passing into the box with regularity. What the hell is up with that?

Back to the US: we can cry and whine about getting jobbed by the refs but giving up those two goals so easily has those types of consequences. As far as officiating, it is surprising that in the showcase tournament, they're essentially using training referees when there are plenty of quality officials out there. Not to say this happened in any way but what's to stop a ref who knows he's only going to officiate one or two matches from taking a few coin to skew the result of one group match? When you don't go with proven commodities, all sorts of things can happen.