Official Football Thread

@Wingman, I think I won't continue much about it now (for the time being: we'll see who was right in a couple of years!) because then I would repeat myself a bit too often. I explained my point of view as well as possible (and I assume you did too).

Zare said:
No fucking chance that gold silver and bronze will be taken by Europeans.
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Big chance you're in for some surprises then.
 
Albie said:
Argentina v Germany - The Germans because of their belief in themselves.
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This made me laugh, nobody has higher self-esteem than Argentinians... So I agree with you on Germany winning, but not for the same reason, I just think Germany is the better club.

Zare said:
No fucking chance that gold silver and bronze will be taken by Europeans.

The way i see it, Brazil, Argentina, and Spain are in semi-finals, i only have doubts with Uruguay / Ghana.
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I never thought I'd say this but... I agree wtih Zare on this one. Argentina may surprise Germany and If Brazil doesn't reach the finals it basically is a wasted tournament for them... major upset, The Netherlands can no longer walk through a match.
 
Food for thought:
Spain was able to win from Portugal, Brazil was not.
Holland was able to win from Japan within 90 minutes, no one else was (including Paraguay).
 
Forostar said:
@Wingman, I think I won't continue much about it now (for the time being: we'll see who was right in a couple of years!) because then I would repeat myself a bit too often. I explained my point of view as well as possible (and I assume you did too).
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Fair enough. I guess we'd bore the others with this as well. Let's leave the "analysis" for the British tabloid press, should be fun.

Forostar said:
Food for thought:
Spain was able to win from Portugal, Brazil was not.
Holland was able to win from Japan within 90 minutes, no one else was (including Paraguay).
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Interesting enough, but keep in mind that Brazil didn't need to beat Portugal. They would win the group with a draw. I think the game showed it as well, neither team seemed interested in taking much risk.

Still, I think if the Dutch can up their tempo a notch from the Slovakia game, they can give Brazil a handful. I believe that match will go to extra time.
 
Eddies Wingman said:
Interesting enough, but keep in mind that Brazil didn't need to beat Portugal.
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I had the idea that both countries were trying, I saw some frustration after the chances were missed, also if I remember well, it was a violent match not?

Eddies Wingman said:
Still, I think if the Dutch can up their tempo a notch from the Slovakia game, they can give Brazil a handful. I believe that match will go to extra time.
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That wouldn't be the first time. Who knows...  :)

Something else:

Domenech had to appear before the French Parliament and the Nigerian president suspended "his" national team for two years.

Football is more than sport, it's culture, but this political intervention is going too far don't you guys think?
 
Zare said:
No fucking chance that gold silver and bronze will be taken by Europeans.

The way i see it, Brazil, Argentina, and Spain are in semi-finals, i only have doubts with Uruguay / Ghana.
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:ok: To me also, España doesn't count as Europe, in football at least.

Maradona is a god and he scores as he likes. And so is his wife.

Onhell said:
This made me laugh, nobody has higher self-esteem than Argentinians...  
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This made me laugh !! I was watching with a Mexican Argentina vs Mexico, and he was saying me exactly the same thing  :lol:
Also that nobody likes Argentines in Latin America (Brazilians they all like, he told)

He was looking like you a lot as well and acting in a similar way that I imagine for you. I asked him if his name was Angel  :D
No. Rodriguez.
 
Beat maybe, but screw, I don't think so  :)

Forostar said:
... and the Nigerian president suspended "his" national team for two years.
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I just knew that you'll mention it so I didn't bother to post  ;)
I didn't know about Domenech though... Ridiculous. Oh France where are thou ?  :(
 
Forostar said:
I had the idea that both countries were trying, I saw some frustration after the chances were missed, also if I remember well, it was a violent match not?
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The violent match you mention was against Ivory Coast. There was a point in the game, when Kaka got expelled, that it looked more like a baseball game after both dugouts come running into the field and start throwing punches... I have NEVER seen that in soccer, just like I had never seen a ref add 5 min. to the end of a game until that very match.

And I concurr with Wingman, While they "tried" Brazil and Portugal essentially played for the tie, if the game would have been in any knock-out round they would have tried harder. After Spain didn't win their first match they NEEDED to win all other matches just to make it through... They had different motivation. Also, didn't Paraguay just beat Japan in the round of 16? So Holland was not the only one to beat them...
 
Ah, you're right, I reread your post and you did specify Holland did it in the 90min period.

Edit: A bit off topic, but I've been wondering this for a while. Many people refer to The Netherlands as "Holland." But a quick search reveals that it is only a REGION in The Netherlands and though commonly used to refer to the country, people in the Netherlands don't like it too much. Why is this particular region used to reference the whole nation?

I've been watching the World Cup on the Latin Channel Univision and on ESPN. On Univision they say "Holanda" (Holland) even though, on ESPN they say The Netherlands... to reinterate my question... why the use of both names?
 
Onhell said:
Edit: A bit off topic, but I've been wondering this for a while. Many people refer to The Netherlands as "Holland." But a quick search reveals that it is only a REGION in The Netherlands and though commonly used to refer to the country, people in the Netherlands don't like it too much. Why is this particular region used to reference the whole nation?

I've been watching the World Cup on the Latin Channel Univision and on ESPN. On Univision they say "Holanda" (Holland) even though, on ESPN they say The Netherlands... to reinterate my question... why the use of both names?
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Good remark, in Greece this happens not once, not twice but three times  :)

Greece (the name that Western people use) is a (bit ancient) name of a Western North region.
Yunan (the name that Eastern people use) is the name of a region in today Turkey.
Hellas (the name that Greeks use) is the name of an ancient region in the centre of the country!
 
Onhell said:
I've been wondering this for a while. Many people refer to The Netherlands as "Holland." But a quick search reveals that it is only a REGION in The Netherlands and though commonly used to refer to the country, people in the Netherlands don't like it too much. Why is this particular region used to reference the whole nation?

I've been watching the World Cup on the Latin Channel Univision and on ESPN. On Univision they say "Holanda" (Holland) even though, on ESPN they say The Netherlands... to reinterate my question... why the use of both names?
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Holland only a region? This calls for a reaction from someone who has (almost) lived for 35 years in this area.  :D

Myself I am born in Noord-Holland (Amsterdam) and raised in Zuid-Holland (Delft) and have no problem with using both names. As you might have noticed even I use both names, at pretty random use. Inconsequent, yes, but it goes by itself, hehe.

I think you might like to read this from the website of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

Several centuries ago, the province of Holland (now the modern-day provinces of North and South Holland) was economically the strongest of all the Dutch provinces, and the one from which virtually all foreign trade originated.

200px-Holland_position.svg.png


Most of the Dutchmen that foreign traders dealt with were Hollanders, literally from Holland. Hence, when talking about the Netherlands, this became the accepted way of referring to the country and its people. Over the years both names have come to be accepted, although the official name, of course, remains the Netherlands.

Dutch sensitivity
Though it is generally accepted that the Netherlands is referred to as Holland in many different languages, some Dutch people, especially those not from North or South Holland, do not like the habit. This website used to use ‘Holland’ instead of ‘the Netherlands’ to make page and menu titles shorter, but we received emails from Dutch visitors who objected.

The "Randstad"
While it is of course no longer the case that the provinces of North and South Holland are the most advanced, it is true that most businesses are still located in these two provinces and Utrecht. The area as a whole, which includes Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam, is commonly referred to as the Randstad (an idiomatic term for referring to the conurbation as a whole). But the rest of the Netherlands is just as well developed and many international businesses are based there. The infrastructure (road, rail, water and telephone) is excellent throughout the country.
 
Yes. only a region :p But that explains it. It's just weird, It would be like referring to the U.S as "conneticut" or to Mexico as "Veracruz."

@No. 5: I did notice that, but in the Case of Greece I believe all those are "official" names. In most western languages it's Greece, but in Greek it is indeed Hellas.

A lot of European nations have that, France and Germany to name just too... But alas, this is terribly off topic. Thanks for the info Foro, it was helpful.
 
Will-I-Am said:
Good remark, in Greece this happens not once, not twice but three times  :)

Greece (the name that Western people use) is a (bit ancient) name of a Western North region.
Yunan (the name that Eastern people use) is the name of a region in today Turkey.
Hellas (the name that Greeks use) is the name of an ancient region in the centre of the country!
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I think it's funny to note that whereas the Swedes use "Grekland" about Greece, Norwegians use Hellas.
 
Onhell said:
This made me laugh, nobody has higher self-esteem than Argentinians... So I agree with you on Germany winning, but not for the same reason, I just think Germany is the better club.
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I know what you mean about Argentina, but Germany has beaten better teams than what Argentina has played and as a result their confidence will be so high. And they are a young team fresh from their U21 Euro triumph last year.
 
I meant culturally Argentinians are arrogant people, had nothing to do with the current tourney. This match is tough for me, because as a Latin American I usually root for other Latin American teams, but I really like Germany and I think they have a good chance of beating Argentina for the very reasons you pointed out... I think I'll flip a quarter :p
 
Yep, good luck to the Dutch. I have a feeling they may sneak this one, but time will tell.

And I'm looking for a Uruguay/Netherlands semi.
 
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