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@Jeffrey said:
...Just a little too much acting though. You see it 20 times a game.
This is a serious problem in football in my humble opinion. It’s getting absurd the way players roll and moan and play the referee. They do it all the time.
Maybe things would improve if decisions could be reviewed - during the game - using video. The referee can show a player the yellow card for faking a foul. Video could make the referee more confident in handing out such penalties against unsportsmanlike behavior.
0
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
A win-win situation....?
A seven year old boy was at the center of a courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with the child custody law and regulations requiring that family unity be maintained to the degree possible. The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried out that they also beat him. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him. After two recesses to check legal references and confer with child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the England Football team, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.
A fairy appeared to a man who had earned the right to a special wish.
"I want to live forever!" He requested.
"I'm awfully sorry, our ToS and Ethical Guidelines forbid us from garnting wishes of that kind...."
"Oh...Ok then.... Well, I want to die when England win their next World Cup..."
Pity about Ivory Coast, they were the better team..
0
DavidA human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First NationsVeteran
The only sport where the fans are in more danger than the players.
I really don't understand the hype and find myself rolling my eyes whenever the world cup is mentioned. Same with the olympics actually... Just think of the good that wasted money could have done. Us and them, Boss, us and them.
Well shitcycles and popcycles! Ghana started today with a bunch of drama anyway..2 players sent packing before even starting and theres been some other issues/drama with payoffs and such, and I think the drama just took over. It became about a bunch of stuff other than the game. ...Oh well. USA onwards....Good for them! The country is pumped I've never seen so many Americans getting into soccer!...Everyone is talking about how damn complicated the advancing system is...hahaha..
@Vastmind said:
Well shitcycles and popcycles! Ghana started today with a bunch of drama anyway..2 players sent packing before even starting and theres been some other issues/drama with payoffs and such, and I think the drama just took over. It became about a bunch of stuff other than the game. ...Oh well. USA onwards....Good for them! The country is pumped I've never seen so many Americans getting into soccer!...Everyone is talking about how damn complicated the advancing system is...hahaha..
Yeah a lot of americans will say "I am watching only because it's the world cup, but usually soccer is boring". That's what a lot of people on facebook are saying. For americans the score of the games is low. I think they don't see all the unbelievable athleticism that goes on. I mean to say that they don't appreciate the part of the game where nobody is shooting on goal.
I'm loving it. I used to play soccer in highschool team and I can see the amazing touches and traps and so forth that the players make.
^^^ yes..it's the low scoring....and yes...they don't realize these guys run about 5-7 miles a game, a few have been clocked at almost 10! .. :0 .. depending on the position. Some of the control and stops are unbelievable...especially when they're running full speed!
@Citta said:
I will probably jinx them...but the USA are doing really well against Germany..its half time.
Dear husband is rather jinxy himself. Two days ago, he was rooting for Argentina during the match Argentina-Nigeria.
The second he arrived from the office and fixed his eyes on the screen, Nigeria scored its first goal. Son and I sent him for a walk and were able to reverse the result (yes, we humans can be so naïfs)...
I know where all that jinx will go next Tuesday during Switzerland-Argentina. .. ..
1
zombiegirlbeating the drum of the lifelessin a dry wastelandVeteran
@Jeffrey said:
Yeah a lot of americans will say "I am watching only because it's the world cup, but usually soccer is boring". That's what a lot of people on facebook are saying. For americans the score of the games is low. I think they don't see all the unbelievable athleticism that goes on. I mean to say that they don't appreciate the part of the game where nobody is shooting on goal.
I honestly think a lot of Americans don't get into soccer because of some sort of misguided notion about patriotism. (The whole FOOTball is football, not FUTBOL.) Soccer/futbol is the world's game, American Football is our game. It's trendy to dislike it, sort of like hating on the French (which I still don't entirely understand).
But having said all that... I got into soccer because 1. I've always liked hockey, which has very similar rules and playing structure (just very different fields, obviously). and 2. It's one of the few sports that actually has decent support for women's teams.
About the low scoring thing... that is very comparable to hockey, but I'm not sure... is hockey not popular throughout the US? It's very popular in Michigan, and of course, Detroit is also called Hockeytown... so maybe I have a biased perspective.
0
zombiegirlbeating the drum of the lifelessin a dry wastelandVeteran
Oh lord... as if by divine providence to support my point, I stumbled across this article from Anne Coulter (who I'm convinced is a GOP funded Fembot, btw).
If more "Americans" are watching soccer today, it's only because of the demographic switch effected by Teddy Kennedy's 1965 immigration law. I promise you: No American whose great-grandfather was born here is watching soccer. One can only hope that, in addition to learning English, these new Americans will drop their soccer fetish with time.
I've held off on writing about soccer for a decade — or about the length of the average soccer game — so as not to offend anyone. But enough is enough. Any growing interest in soccer can only be a sign of the nation's moral decay.
Seriously, read at your own risk. And just to put it all in perspective, Anne Coulter, despite being a woman... has also famously said that women shouldn't be allowed to vote because they tend to vote Democrat. Ugh...
That's awesome that Anne is such a billboard for getting immigrants to the polls. In american footballl that is called 'locker room material' because the opposing coach puts up billboards of trash talking from the other team. Anne Coultier is full of locker room material.
Kofi (my son) insisted I post this on the soccer thread... ..
Mickey Mouse: Le match de football
1
zombiegirlbeating the drum of the lifelessin a dry wastelandVeteran
edited June 2014
@Jeffrey said:
That's awesome that Anne is such a billboard for getting immigrants to the polls. In american footballl that is called 'locker room material' because the opposing coach puts up billboards of trash talking from the other team. Anne Coultier is full of locker room material.
Right? I can hardly believe the woman is real sometimes. Also, I guess I like soccer because none of my great-grandparents were born here. She must have missed that whole "melting-pot" thing in history class. Once upon a time, I was taught that that was exactly what made us strong as a nation.
No disrespect to fans of the game but I can't believe American football fans can say soccer is boring. I have tried to watch American football but it just seems to be a bunch of men in tights and helmets (wtf?) standing around shouting at each other with a pretty uninteresting sport breaking out occasionally.
0
zombiegirlbeating the drum of the lifelessin a dry wastelandVeteran
@Bunks I am uninterested in most sports, but I actually hate football. It's basically just a mini war game, fighting over territory. That's how I see it, anyways...
Anyone watch the Columbia game today? Pass to chest to foot goal shot was best of the day for me. The Brazil game....? That was NOT a handball! Did you see the replay? Agghhh!!!
Rain storms here all day so it was a nice time to lay in bed and watch the games!
Baseball is boring as all outdoors for me. The games last about 6 hours...why? Bec every player has to spit and scratch and move his pee-pee around for 10 mins before every play. Get on with it!!!! hahaha
@vastmind - After slagging off American football I have to say I am a baseball and cricket fan so I guess I do like some "boring" sports. Test cricket goes for five days and sometimes ends in a draw at the end of day five! I know you Americans don't like ties. Gotta have a winner!
@Jeffrey - I guess I should take the time to learn the strategies. I just find it all very dull though.
@Vastmind said:
Anyone watch the Columbia game today? Pass to chest to foot goal shot was best of the day for me. The Brazil game....? That was NOT a handball! Did you see the replay? Agghhh!!!
Rain storms here all day so it was a nice time to lay in bed and watch the games!
Baseball is boring as all outdoors for me. The games last about 6 hours...why? Bec every player has to spit and scratch and move his pee-pee around for 10 mins before every play. Get on with it!!!! hahaha
Best goal of the tournament so far I'd say.
0
zombiegirlbeating the drum of the lifelessin a dry wastelandVeteran
@Citta said:
Best goal of the tournament so far I'd say.
The Netherlands finally played a decent second half of football against Mexico.
(Before that, the only thing they did was score goals and win games, lol)
Anyways because of that decent half game of football in such extreme temperatures, the general feeling over here is that the victory wasn’t entirely undeserved.
Arjen Robben isn’t universally liked as a football player - I get the impression - and I can understand that. He falls easily in the penalty-are.
I think though that practically every striker does the same thing.
If they showed up as often (and as threatening) in the penalty area as Robben does, they would get tackled as often and they would fall as dramatically as he does. They’re not morally superior they’re just not good enough players to get the chance to take such bad dives.
@Jeffrey I saw a statistic that showed the U.S. had a slight edge in overall possession, but as you know it is the quality and what you do with possession that matters most.
One player doesn't make the entire team, but I think Altidore's presence was missed up top and it changed the way the U.S. had to approach play in the midfield and that's where the real battle for control of the game takes place. Bradley is a great midfielder but he wasn't very commanding in his altered role, and of the importance of a key player for his team imagine if Messi were absent for Argentina. I don't think they would have made it as far as the United States.
I think we lacked speed on the back line, as some of the big guys were noticeably slow.
Finishing appears to be a problem too. We had a number of chances that should have gone to the back of the goal, but then again so did Belgium.
That set piece the U.S. executed in extra time was the most beautiful I have ever witnessed, but you aren't going to score when you kick it at or try to take on the keeper directly. Given Dempsey’s ball handling skill I think he could have done something different there. It would have been much easier to take if he didn’t score for trying something creative. He had the keeper committed and going down to his right, so he had time and space to move and put it in the opposite corner.
However, for the future I think the United States could have a tactical advantage in developing set pieces like that and even better. American Football is a game of set pieces and I think that expertise and knowledge should to be tapped into and applied somehow.
That's awesome @Silouan that you know some of the players. It's another level in fandome. I know all the american football players in the team I follow and indeed it is great to watch out for the strategy and stats. I loved that set piece also. The problem with American football is that there are no commercials and therefore they cannot pay for the best players. I'm just making that conjecture.
@Jeffrey said:
That's awesome Silouan that you know some of the players. It's another level in fandome. I know all the american football players in the team I follow and indeed it is great to watch out for the strategy and stats. I loved that set piece also. The problem with American football is that there are no commercials and therefore they cannot pay for the best players. I'm just making that conjecture.
I would also suggest that in the good ol' USA (like Australia) soccer is about fourth or fifth in the pecking order of sports so often the best young sports people will play other sports before soccer.
The game Netherlands / Costa Rica is worth remembering for a firm defensive game played by Costa Rica which prevented Dutch goals in both regular and extra time.
The man of the match; a brilliant Costa Rica goalkeeper, Keylor Navas.
The second thing worth noting was the Van Gaal move to bring substitute goalkeeper Tim Krul in the game, seconds before the penalty-shootout.
The best comment I read on that decision is that it turned around the psychological advantage that Navas had built up during the game. I think that’s true. Navas appeared to be impassable this night.
The fact that Krul was brought in though, must have given food to the idea that he’s particularly good at stopping penalty-kicks. And is he? Who knows.
But if the Costa-Rica players weren’t intimidated by that idea, he added some classical psychological warfare; looking them up, saying he knew what corner they would choose.
Also Krul was fresh and motivated to the bone. These few minutes in the goal could be his only chance of being important to his team. And if he succeeded he would not just be important – he would be the one guy who would take the credit for the Dutch team making it to the semi-finals.
Well he did succeed; he dived into the correct corner each time and stopped two penalty-kicks; all the credits are for him… and for Van Gaal of course…
Comments
Sure, but it's also a different game with different rules.
Women's soccer is MUCH more brutal...... whistles innocently
This is a serious problem in football in my humble opinion. It’s getting absurd the way players roll and moan and play the referee. They do it all the time.
Maybe things would improve if decisions could be reviewed - during the game - using video. The referee can show a player the yellow card for faking a foul. Video could make the referee more confident in handing out such penalties against unsportsmanlike behavior.
A win-win situation....?
A seven year old boy was at the center of a courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with the child custody law and regulations requiring that family unity be maintained to the degree possible. The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried out that they also beat him. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him. After two recesses to check legal references and confer with child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the England Football team, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.
A fairy appeared to a man who had earned the right to a special wish.
"I want to live forever!" He requested.
"I'm awfully sorry, our ToS and Ethical Guidelines forbid us from garnting wishes of that kind...."
"Oh...Ok then.... Well, I want to die when England win their next World Cup..."
"Ooooh, you crafty bugger....."
hope you enjoy this...
MODERATOR NOTE: This is nearly 2 hours long so grab a coffee (or 2) and some popcorn...
Pity about Ivory Coast, they were the better team..
The only sport where the fans are in more danger than the players.
I really don't understand the hype and find myself rolling my eyes whenever the world cup is mentioned. Same with the olympics actually... Just think of the good that wasted money could have done. Us and them, Boss, us and them.
I was startled to learn that no European Team has ever won the World Cup when it is played in South America...
I will probably jinx them...but the USA are doing really well against Germany..its half time.
Well shitcycles and popcycles! Ghana started today with a bunch of drama anyway..2 players sent packing before even starting and theres been some other issues/drama with payoffs and such, and I think the drama just took over. It became about a bunch of stuff other than the game. ...Oh well. USA onwards....Good for them! The country is pumped I've never seen so many Americans getting into soccer!...Everyone is talking about how damn complicated the advancing system is...hahaha..
They played well. The current USA team would probably beat the current England team..
Yeah a lot of americans will say "I am watching only because it's the world cup, but usually soccer is boring". That's what a lot of people on facebook are saying. For americans the score of the games is low. I think they don't see all the unbelievable athleticism that goes on. I mean to say that they don't appreciate the part of the game where nobody is shooting on goal.
I'm loving it. I used to play soccer in highschool team and I can see the amazing touches and traps and so forth that the players make.
^^^ yes..it's the low scoring....and yes...they don't realize these guys run about 5-7 miles a game, a few have been clocked at almost 10! .. :0 .. depending on the position. Some of the control and stops are unbelievable...especially when they're running full speed!
Annnd I'm last in my friend's bracket.
Dear husband is rather jinxy himself. Two days ago, he was rooting for Argentina during the match Argentina-Nigeria.
..
The second he arrived from the office and fixed his eyes on the screen, Nigeria scored its first goal. Son and I sent him for a walk and were able to reverse the result (yes, we humans can be so naïfs)...
I know where all that jinx will go next Tuesday during Switzerland-Argentina. ..
I honestly think a lot of Americans don't get into soccer because of some sort of misguided notion about patriotism. (The whole FOOTball is football, not FUTBOL.) Soccer/futbol is the world's game, American Football is our game. It's trendy to dislike it, sort of like hating on the French (which I still don't entirely understand).
But having said all that... I got into soccer because 1. I've always liked hockey, which has very similar rules and playing structure (just very different fields, obviously). and 2. It's one of the few sports that actually has decent support for women's teams.
About the low scoring thing... that is very comparable to hockey, but I'm not sure... is hockey not popular throughout the US? It's very popular in Michigan, and of course, Detroit is also called Hockeytown... so maybe I have a biased perspective.
Oh lord... as if by divine providence to support my point, I stumbled across this article from Anne Coulter (who I'm convinced is a GOP funded Fembot, btw).
Seriously, read at your own risk. And just to put it all in perspective, Anne Coulter, despite being a woman... has also famously said that women shouldn't be allowed to vote because they tend to vote Democrat. Ugh...
lol That's awesome. I'm pretty sure Ann Coulter is an undercover troll working for The Onion.
That's awesome that Anne is such a billboard for getting immigrants to the polls. In american footballl that is called 'locker room material' because the opposing coach puts up billboards of trash talking from the other team. Anne Coultier is full of locker room material.
Kofi (my son) insisted I post this on the soccer thread...
..
Mickey Mouse: Le match de football
Right? I can hardly believe the woman is real sometimes. Also, I guess I like soccer because none of my great-grandparents were born here. She must have missed that whole "melting-pot" thing in history class. Once upon a time, I was taught that that was exactly what made us strong as a nation.
No disrespect to fans of the game but I can't believe American football fans can say soccer is boring. I have tried to watch American football but it just seems to be a bunch of men in tights and helmets (wtf?) standing around shouting at each other with a pretty uninteresting sport breaking out occasionally.
@Bunks I am uninterested in most sports, but I actually hate football. It's basically just a mini war game, fighting over territory. That's how I see it, anyways...
American football has a lot of strategy and it is more enjoyable if you can see that. Kind of like hockey isn't fun when you cannot see the puck.
Anyone watch the Columbia game today? Pass to chest to foot goal shot was best of the day for me. The Brazil game....? That was NOT a handball! Did you see the replay? Agghhh!!!
Rain storms here all day so it was a nice time to lay in bed and watch the games!
Baseball is boring as all outdoors for me. The games last about 6 hours...why? Bec every player has to spit and scratch and move his pee-pee around for 10 mins before every play. Get on with it!!!! hahaha
I like baseball games outdoors with treats and the sun and fireworks afterwords.
My hubby is a HUGE baseball fan!! That's his second to soccer.
@vastmind - After slagging off American football I have to say I am a baseball and cricket fan so I guess I do like some "boring" sports. Test cricket goes for five days and sometimes ends in a draw at the end of day five! I know you Americans don't like ties. Gotta have a winner!
@Jeffrey - I guess I should take the time to learn the strategies. I just find it all very dull though.
Your hubby sounds like my kinda guy!
Best goal of the tournament so far I'd say.
I second this. My jaw literally dropped.
Breathtaktng...
Or even ..breathtaking...
The Netherlands finally played a decent second half of football against Mexico.
(Before that, the only thing they did was score goals and win games, lol)
Anyways because of that decent half game of football in such extreme temperatures, the general feeling over here is that the victory wasn’t entirely undeserved.
Arjen Robben isn’t universally liked as a football player - I get the impression - and I can understand that. He falls easily in the penalty-are.
I think though that practically every striker does the same thing.
If they showed up as often (and as threatening) in the penalty area as Robben does, they would get tackled as often and they would fall as dramatically as he does. They’re not morally superior they’re just not good enough players to get the chance to take such bad dives.
Nigeria-France has got off to a cracking start..daren't take my eyes off it..
Looks like Nigeria is going to make it a match.
indeed.
Second best I would say. Super Timmy Cahill gets the nod against the Netherlands for me.
US Belgium..0, 0 extra time...31 shots by Belgium and our keeper says...Oh no you don't! hahaha...to be cont...
Whoops..
I spoke too soon....what else is new? hahaha.... Belgium got one in!
2,1 now...? Apparently the game just got started 30 mins ago...instead of 2 hrs ago...lololol
It was a fun game to watch, aside from Belgium possessing the ball the entire game.
T_T
I didn't really expect the US to win... but damn did they put up a fight.
What is US missing? Belgium had the ball most of the game. Where is the deficiency? They definitely had a good goalie.
@Jeffrey I saw a statistic that showed the U.S. had a slight edge in overall possession, but as you know it is the quality and what you do with possession that matters most.
One player doesn't make the entire team, but I think Altidore's presence was missed up top and it changed the way the U.S. had to approach play in the midfield and that's where the real battle for control of the game takes place. Bradley is a great midfielder but he wasn't very commanding in his altered role, and of the importance of a key player for his team imagine if Messi were absent for Argentina. I don't think they would have made it as far as the United States.
I think we lacked speed on the back line, as some of the big guys were noticeably slow.
Finishing appears to be a problem too. We had a number of chances that should have gone to the back of the goal, but then again so did Belgium.
That set piece the U.S. executed in extra time was the most beautiful I have ever witnessed, but you aren't going to score when you kick it at or try to take on the keeper directly. Given Dempsey’s ball handling skill I think he could have done something different there. It would have been much easier to take if he didn’t score for trying something creative. He had the keeper committed and going down to his right, so he had time and space to move and put it in the opposite corner.
However, for the future I think the United States could have a tactical advantage in developing set pieces like that and even better. American Football is a game of set pieces and I think that expertise and knowledge should to be tapped into and applied somehow.
That's awesome @Silouan that you know some of the players. It's another level in fandome. I know all the american football players in the team I follow and indeed it is great to watch out for the strategy and stats. I loved that set piece also. The problem with American football is that there are no commercials and therefore they cannot pay for the best players. I'm just making that conjecture.
I would also suggest that in the good ol' USA (like Australia) soccer is about fourth or fifth in the pecking order of sports so often the best young sports people will play other sports before soccer.
The game Netherlands / Costa Rica is worth remembering for a firm defensive game played by Costa Rica which prevented Dutch goals in both regular and extra time.
The man of the match; a brilliant Costa Rica goalkeeper, Keylor Navas.
The second thing worth noting was the Van Gaal move to bring substitute goalkeeper Tim Krul in the game, seconds before the penalty-shootout.
The best comment I read on that decision is that it turned around the psychological advantage that Navas had built up during the game. I think that’s true. Navas appeared to be impassable this night.
The fact that Krul was brought in though, must have given food to the idea that he’s particularly good at stopping penalty-kicks. And is he? Who knows.
But if the Costa-Rica players weren’t intimidated by that idea, he added some classical psychological warfare; looking them up, saying he knew what corner they would choose.
Also Krul was fresh and motivated to the bone. These few minutes in the goal could be his only chance of being important to his team. And if he succeeded he would not just be important – he would be the one guy who would take the credit for the Dutch team making it to the semi-finals.
Well he did succeed; he dived into the correct corner each time and stopped two penalty-kicks; all the credits are for him… and for Van Gaal of course…
Its going to be interesting to see how Manchester United fare under Van Gaal next season.