Official Football Thread

I have to say, I thought Denmark's first goal was one on the best I've seen this tournament thus far.
 
I think Birsa's (first SLV goal vs USA) is the best one so far. 

2/3 of my predictions were correct.

Tomorrow I predict a win by Paraguay, Italy and Brazil.  But secretly hope for a win by Slovakia, New Zealand, Ivory Coast.  :bigsmile:
 
Personally, I think the Ivory Coast may upset the odds and beat Brazil. Paraguay/Slovakia will be a draw, but the Italians will see of the Kiwis.
 
Here's a reason to support Paraguay, and I'm not talking about the beardface.

world-cup-2010-hot-fans-7.jpg
 
national acrobat said:
I have a sudden urge to be a baby again.  :o
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I have a sudden wish to be a cell phone.
That was the weakest play I've seen by any side, by Slovakia that is.  No shots on target until the 90+ minutes.  :o
 
She got some more to cheer for today. Paraguay seemed solid, Slovakia could hardly produce anything. I won't be surprised to see them win the group ahead of Italy now - which probably means we are going to see Netherlands against Italy as early as the 1/8-finals ...

At least, the pressure is on Italy now to score two or more against New Zealand. But how lovely wouldn't it be to see the all-white guys beat the Azzuri?

HOLY CRAP! 1-0 to New Zealand! Suddenly what I just outlined became even more likely.


And there it is 1-1, after the cheapest of penalties. Okay, the New Zealand defender grabbed De Rossi's shirt, but the one who made De Rossi fall was himself. A disgrace.
 
That's true. But scoring when you're offside, especially when the "pass" is the slightest of touches, is not a deliberate act of cheating. Throwing oneself to the ground, on the other hand, is.

And since the touch from Reid before the NZ goal was so slight - and followed by a much clearer touch from an Italian player - one can not really blame the referee and his assistant. It was offside, but it was very hard to see it live.

I think the mistake in giving the penalty was a much clearer mistake.
 
Yes, exactly. Offsides happen. They are sometimes hard to tell, and the benefit of the doubt should be given to the attacking player - offside goals are pretty rare, and they are a little bit of controversy that keeps the game exciting. And goals are good in general. Diving? Diving makes every soccer player look like a douche.
 
I was simply stating that there wasn't only one episode that determined the result of first half. For the diving thing, I agree with both of you. I would use the red card for all kinds of simulations.
Oh, by the way, what a boring match!
Well, thanks to Eddies Wingman, I'll support Paraguay from now on.... :D
 
LooseCannon said:
Ugh. Yet ANOTHER thing they could use instant replay for. Diving is killing football.
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Diving IS football. while replays are nice, someone mentioned before FIFA believes in human error as part of the sport and the ref as king on the field....
 
I hope North Korea will destroy Ivory Coast. What a bunch of shitty losers. That Keita is really a bastard. Did you guys notice how aggressive he came into the match and made that farce resulting in Kaka's red card? Amazing.

Genghis Khan said:
I'm suprised how poorly Denmark is playing.
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I haven't seen the match but I heard that the Danes played more open than in the first match. They tried more, and were less scared to give away chances.

Genghis Khan said:
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.
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In the Netherlands there are two fractions now:
1. The ever ongoing unsatisfied fraction which says: the Netherlands should play better.
2. The growing fraction which says: The result is more important. Rather not fantastic football, and going to the next round instead of fantastic football and not going through.

I belong to the 2nd category, I am not that dissatisfied. Actually, I'm happy with the defense which is often seen as the weakest aspect of the team. Until now it looks quite steady, let's hope it stays that way, I find this more important than improving our attacks (which still would be great but let's not desire toomuch yet ;) ).
 
Save the fantastic football for the next round! Of all the teams I am cheering for, I think the Netherlands have the best shot - and a very, very good shot!
 
Speaking of diving. A lot of stuff to discuss in the Brazil vs Ivory Coast match.

A lovely first goal by Brazil. But after that I think a lot of rubbish happened.

  • Brazil's second was a clear handball by Fabiano. No, two handballs.
  • A lot of exaggeration when players were tackled. Some seemed to be close to death
  • A series of bad fouls - studs up challenges were abundant in the second half
  • The entire episode that led to Kaka being sent off. What a load of crap from Keita. Come on. Kaka lifted his elbow a little, but the Ivorian wanker pretends he got an uppercut to the jaw.

Now, this doesn't take away much from the conclusion that Brazil played very well, and that they now have to be considered one of the main contenders for the title. Argentina have still impressed me more, and Netherlands have been solid, but you can never count out Brazil when they get going.

Forostar said:
I haven't seen the match but I heard that the Danes played more open than in the first match. They tried more, and were less scared to give away chances.
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Keep in mind that Genghis's remark came after just 15 minutes of the game. In those 15 minutes, Denmark were piss poor. For the rest of the game, it was like you say a much more open match. Both teams produced plenty of chances. It could (should?) have been 4-4.
 
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