Official Football Thread

Started this day with playing indoor footy myself. I swear our play was more pace-filled than the England vs Algeria match. And for myself, that was after downing five pints and a mighty burger to said match yesterday.

Maybe that's the medicine for the England squad? Give them beer and burgers!
 
In the 32nd minute, the Japanese attempted a shot on target for the first time.  The Dutch have to stay patient unlike the Spanish.
 
Hopefully their 2nd half starts just like against Denmark - with a fluke goal. This Japanese team looks like Greece anno 2004. Booooring! This match needs a Dutch goal, and desperately so.
 
Genghis Khan said:
Just 10 min. later and Japan has had more shots on net than Netherlands.  Neither side seems to need the 3 pts.
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That's a good point. Both teams know that if they draw today, they will also most likely be through with a draw in their last match.

And there you go, 1-0 to the Netherlands. Sneijder! Poor goalkeeping by Kawashima, he should really have been able to hold that.
 
What a bomb by Sneijder!  Now the Japanese will need to hussle and expose themselves to more goals.  :D
Sneijder's shot was just with too much power, at least according to the live commentary.
 
I think it looks like he throws himself too far to get behind the ball properly - like if he didn't see properly what direction the ball had. I think that was abysmal goalkeeping.
 
I get to watch at work today. Of course, the day England is playing they play like shit, the games today will probably be quite good and I'll only see half of them.

For reference, I went 5 straight games without seeing a goal until the Slovenia-USA game, and I missed the first one there. Every time someone scored I was getting a drink, snack, or pissing for 5 games :S
 
Eddies Wingman said:
I think it looks like he throws himself too far to get behind the ball properly - like if he didn't see properly what direction the ball had. I think that was abysmal goalkeeping.
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The slow motion showed this assessment to be correct.  It looks like the Dutch will be the first team to make it out of the group stage.

LooseCannon said:
I get to watch at work today. Of course, the day England is playing they play like shit, the games today will probably be quite good and I'll only see half of them.

For reference, I went 5 straight games without seeing a goal until the Slovenia-USA game, and I missed the first one there. Every time someone scored I was getting a drink, snack, or pissing for 5 games :S
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Bad timing.
 
Phew, I guess Foro held his breath there. It almost looked like the ref was pointing towards the penalty spot, when he was really indicating a goal kick  :D

All in all, I think Netherlands looked solid for much of the game - just like against Denmark - and I am now convinced they will get far in the tournament. How about a final between Netherlands and Argentina?
 
I'm glad Netherlands is playing well.  They're the only team out of my European four (Germany, Spain, England) that are playing well enough to impress.  The Argentina-Netherlands final would be great and expectant as of now.  Those two teams played the best football thus far.  (I forgot that Argentina is through to the next round).  So we have two teams now.  Ghana will be next.  I'm counting on it.  The Aussies are too old.

Originally I picked Spain vs Netherlands as the final.  But that's impossible, isn't it?  At best they can meet in the semis. 
 
Genghis Khan said:
Originally I picked Spain vs Netherlands as the final.  But that's impossible, isn't it?  At best they can meet in the semis. 
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If they both win their groups (H and E, respectively), they will not meet before the final. If one team wins their group and the other finishes second, they will meet in the quarter-final provided they both get that far.

PS: The Aussies may be old, but that doesn't matter when the Ghanese goalkeeper decides it is a good idea to give the ball to Brett Holman.
 
Eddies Wingman said:
If they both win their groups (H and E, respectively), they will not meet before the final. If one team wins their group and the other finishes second, they will meet in the quarter-final provided they both get that far.

PS: The Aussies may be old, but that doesn't matter when the Ghanese goalkeeper decides it is a good idea to give the ball to Brett Holman.
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LOL!  I know.  It is the spirit of Robert Green haunting that part of the field.  That's OK.  If Aussies win, every team in that group has 3 pts.  That ought to be interesting.
 
Well, I'm not sure that was intentional. It was nothing like those two by Serbia. He was standing more or less still, his arms straight down - and it hit his upper arm. I actually think it could have been justified had he not given the penalty. I mean, he would have had to move very quickly to avoid the ball hitting his arm.
 
I did not see it exactly like that.  He did touch it with his hand but after it hit his chest.  Certainly nowhere near intentional as the two Serbian flying hands.  A penalty shot is warranted given that the striker should get the benefit of the doubt, but a red card is harsh.  The refs at these World Cup finals are too trigger happy IMHO.  
 
I am not saying intentional…the ref sure did though. Red card, ouch. Socceroos are fucked, bye to my 4th team in the tournament for sure.
 
I think far too many handballs are given in general. The rule is intended to punish those who deliberately use their hands - like the two Serbs.

I think it is also quite harsh to say that the striker should have the benefit of the doubt. In offside situations, of course. But I think the offender should have the benefit of the doubt, regardless if he is in the attacking team or the defending one.
 
Now, I read that they recently changed the offside rule to favour the striker a bit more, is this true?
 
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