Official Football Thread

I had seen! Well, maybe FIFA will one day wake up and smell the coffee. All the other major sports organizations are moving to instant replay. It's quick and efficient and it often backs up a referee's decision. It's important to make the right call. What would the delay be? A minute or two extra additional time's worth - additional time is the most exciting moments often, more won't hurt the sport.
 
My oh my, another free kick soaring two meters over the goal ...that's going to be one of the things I remember from this World Cup, along with the bloody plastic horns.
 
I'm 1 out 2 for today predictions. 

Eddies Wingman said:
My oh my, another free kick soaring two meters over the goal ...that's going to be one of the things I remember from this World Cup, along with the bloody plastic horns.
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I miss the reaction of fans.  Only Mexicans were loud enough to be heard frequently throughout.  :D
 
Interesting, if Ghana draw with the Germans in their next match and Serbia beat Australia 3-0 (or Australia beat Serbia 8-0), the Germans will be out.

Personally, I think the Germans will beat Ghana and top the group. But I can't see the Aussies beating Serbia with enough of a margin to claw back the goal difference deficit to oust Ghana. But I can see Australia and Serbia drawing to allow the Serbians to progress at the expense of Ghana.
 
So in Group D, if in the final round of matches Serbia beat Australia (highly possible) and Ghana manage a draw with Germany (possible but improbable) then ze Germans will be out! When England fail only schadenfreude is left I'm afraid.
You just beat me with that post, Albie.
 
Genghis Khan said:
I'm 1 out 2 for today predictions. 

I miss the reaction of fans.  Only Mexicans were loud enough to be heard frequently throughout.  :D
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Well, I think I heard the English fans quite well yesterday. They really were behind the team for much of the game, which makes the lousy performance of the team even harder to understand.
 
So it seems like a lot of ties...is this normal in this round of play?  I'd imagine that watching tie games in the knock out bracket will fairly exciting, yes?
 
Eddies Wingman said:
Well, I think I heard the English fans quite well yesterday. They really were behind the team for much of the game, which makes the lousy performance of the team even harder to understand.
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I missed that game.  But by the looks of it, I didn't miss much.

Wasted CLV said:
So it seems like a lot of ties...is this normal in this round of play?  I'd imagine that watching tie games in the knock out bracket will fairly exciting, yes?
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Ties are common.  Extra time and penalties in knockouts is common, too.  I'd say twice in the 16 knockout games, we'll see penalty shoot outs.  Hopefully, not too many.  They're only fun when a team you really dislike goes out on penalties.  :D
 
Genghis Khan said:
I missed that game.  But by the looks of it, I didn't miss much.
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Correct. Unless you are a sworn anti-Anglophile who likes to marvel at England's failures, it would have been either:

  • Extremely frustrating
  • Boring as hell

But the fans were loud. Probably the most vocal I've heard in this World Cup. Those fans deserve a team that is willing to bleed for success.
 
I'm suprised how poorly Denmark is playing.  They've never failed to make it out of the group stage before.
EDIT: Ever since the Danes conceived a goal, they've been more ambitious.  Both sides have had great chances, making this a good game.
 
My TV screen went black right before 1-0. I found a decent web stream in time to watch from the 29th minute, and from what I've seen since then it could have been 3-3. A very open and entertaining last 15 of the first half. It seems both teams really want to win this - of course, they have to. Especially Cameroon who have yet to face the Netherlands.
 
Danes could technically lose this game and still have a (slim) chance of making it through.  They'd have to win against Japan, Cameroon would have to lose against Netherlands and Denmark would need to have a better +/-.  Just analyzing, that's all.
 
It's not even that unlikely. Denmark could beat Japan, no question about that. But I guess they are not very comfortable with having to rely on a Dutch team which is already through, and who will win the group with a draw.

Groups ending with 9 points to one team and three teams tied on 3 have been seen before.


Actually, not really. But had 3 points been given for a win in 1950, it would. Here's the final standings of group 2 in the 1950 World Cup:

Spain               3 3 0 0 6 1 6
England               3 1 0 2 2 2 2
Chile               3 1 0 2 5 6 2
United States       3 1 0 2 4 8 2
 
Thanks for doing that research Winger.  If Cameroon loses, they'll be the first team officially out of the tournament.  Algeria, South Africa and Nigeria still have a chance.  Notice that they're all African teams.  It is unfortunate as the home fans want them to shine.
 
I think Nigeria will go through. Greece have no chance against Argentina, and then Nigeria just need to beat South Korea. From the two first games I actually think Nigeria have a higher maximum level than the Koreans.

Ivory Coast could be Africa's second biggest hope. Ghana will be in trouble, since Germany actually will need a win against them to make sure they're through. It is a letdown if all African teams should fail, but if they are not good enough, then so be it.
 
CMR 1 - 2 DEN.  Cameroon lost and not for the lack of trying.  They've pressured the Danish defense a lot, but lacked the final touch.
 
That was a cracking match, end to end stuff with lots of chances. I bet Cameroon wish they'd tried a bit harder against Japan because they looked really decent here.

Eddies Wingman said:
Ivory Coast could be Africa's second biggest hope. Ghana will be in trouble, since Germany actually will need a win against them to make sure they're through. It is a letdown if all African teams should fail, but if they are not good enough, then so be it.
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Ivory Coast are good, but they're unfortunate in such a difficult group. As they didn't beat Portugal they have to beat North Korea by more goals or get a draw with Brazil.
 
Eddies Wingman said:
I think Nigeria will go through. Greece have no chance against Argentina, and then Nigeria just need to beat South Korea. From the two first games I actually think Nigeria have a higher maximum level than the Koreans.

Ivory Coast could be Africa's second biggest hope. Ghana will be in trouble, since Germany actually will need a win against them to make sure they're through. It is a letdown if all African teams should fail, but if they are not good enough, then so be it.
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Hopefully, at least one of them will make it through.
I wonder how much "the discontent in the locker room between the three factions" precipitated this loss.  Apparently, the coach and Samuel Eto'o are at odds.  One side supports the player, one the coach and yet a third does not even think Eto'o should be the captain.
 
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