Official Football Thread

Foro: First on, congratulations! Now I think Netherlands will go all the way to the final. And nice picture  :innocent:

Still, it puzzles me to think of that enormous chance Kuy & co managed to blow just before the end (the 3 against 1 situation). They really should've killed it there.

Impressive how they came back in it after that dreadful first half. Brazil looked like world champions for 45 minutes and Netherlands looked very average. But after 1-1 they were themselves again. And the 2-1 goal was a really good move. If Norway's head coach Egil Olsen saw it, I think he might have shed a tear of joy  :D
 
Been a very good game so far - Ghana is playing well I think, as is Uruguay now in the 2nd. Forlan's goal was amazing - and Suarez just missed a gorgeous cross from Forlan. I can see why they say Forlan is one of the best players in the world. Of all the strikers in this tournament, he has impressed me the most, along with Schneider and Donovan.
 
Can you imagine that in 2004, he was blowing glorious opportunities weekly at Manchester United? He became a new player after moving to Spain.

Still, many Man Utd fans still love the guy and take much pleasure in his success. I am one of those. He seems a very nice guy and he showed talent at United as well - but he never got out his potential except for on a few occasions:

Against Rangers (Champions League)

Against Liverpool (Dudek blooper, but still  :D)
 
New scenery, new coach, etc. I don't think those are bad for any player who has a dearth of natural talent but is struggling.
 
WHAT a finish to the match!

Ghana get a free kick out wide.

They send it into the box, and after some back and forth, Suarez clears the ball off the line with his hand. Of course it is a red card, and a penalty for Ghana.

Gyan rams the penalty kick in the crossbar and over!

... and of course Uruguay won 4-2 on penalties. But Gyan took the first one for Ghana in the shootout - and he scored! How impressive. That took some serious nerves.
 
Wow, I was truly pulling for Ghana. Again, I won't be upset to see Forlan again, but Ghana played just great. They should be ashamed of nothing.

That little greasy chip at the end by the last penalty kicker by Uruguay upset me.
 
Ghana really played with heart. But they didn't have the nerves it took ... still, they certainly go out with flying colours.

I must admit I loved that last penalty. Arrogant? Yes. But the potential humiliation if the goalkeeper had waited him out and saved it ... it makes his arrogance forgivable.
 
Great game! Two great goals in the first part of the game, but I cheered for Uruguay, I like their style. Me and my friend watched the game in a bar, we laughed out loud when we saw the replays of how the Uruguay player saved the team in the last minute of the 2nd overtime. :D Hope they can do something against the Netherlands in the semis (no offense to Forostar and other Dutchmen ;)).
 
LooseCannon said:
Again, I won't be upset to see Forlan again.....
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I'll say this again - Forlan has been the best player this tournament so far. His form is just outstanding.

LooseCannon said:
That little greasy chip at the end by the last penalty kicker by Uruguay upset me.
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I have to say, I actually applauded that. Audacious and arrogant, yes, but the skill to do that has to be admired. I was torn on this match, I would love to see Ghana progress - for Africa, but not necessarily at the expense of Uruguay (see above).



Netherlands 2-1 Brazil. Not many of us called that, but I had my doubts about Brazil beating the Dutch. And why are people saying its a shock? It's no shame to lose to them. No shame at all. They are a good side.

Oh to be Dutch tonight. :D
 
Did you guys see Suarez cheering after his red card?  :mad:

I feel sad for Ghana, and especially Gyan. A really dramatic apotheose. Let's hope his country will forgive him for that hasty penalty. I screamed nooooooo when he missed. Semi-final would have been legendary, the first African country ever.

Back to the Dutch victory: That last chance was indeed a waste Wingman, you mean the solo by Kuijt? I also thought there was a huge possibility after that far goalkick by Stekelenburg. Robben got the ball just too late to finish it properly.

Albie, there was indeed some atmosphere yesterday evening.

Check this out: A cafe in Amsterdam full of Brazilians with a couple of Dutchmen. Those reactions!
http://nos.nl/wk2010/video/169277-amste ... ianen.html
(the bald man is married with a Brazilian woman, who dislikes his cheering hehe)

I have an uncle who lives in Brazil with his Brazilian wife.. well I wonder how he experienced that!
edit:
I just heard from my father who called him, that he said that the Brazilians finally can go back to work again, after one month of hardly doing that.

I also thought this soundclip is funny to hear. The radio commentator goes crazy after the winning goal.
http://nos.nl/wk2010/audio/169199-radio ... edbra.html
 
There seems to be a fair amount of talk about football adopting the equivalent of rugby's penalty try to resolve situations like Suarez's handball. What rugby does is that if you, as a defending team, stop the attacking team from scoring a clear cut try illegally or collapse the scrum one too many times in succession, you are likely to concede a penalty try (I say likely, as it does depend on the ref - the defending team should be warned beforehand that this could result in a penalty try if the illegal play continues). What this equates to is 5 points on the board no matter what and the attacking team have then got the chance to convert it to get 2 more points. And no matter where the offence took place, the conversion is to be taken from directly in front of the posts - so for any kicker to not convert it should not be in the game, as such 7 points are as good as guaranteed.

If football used this, it would be a red-card to the offender, and then possibly a penalty without the keeper to save it perhaps? I don't know, but that is one suggestion. The other is for the ref to award the goal anyway.

Regardless of what you think, Suarez did not do anything more than just instinctively blocked the shot at goal. As the BBC commentary states:

By Sam Lyon & Jonathan Stevenson said:
22:34

OK, I'm hearing you - but can we just get one thing clear? Luis Suarez did not cheat. He used the rules to his advantage, got lucky and then got even luckier. It's football's fault there isn't such a thing as a penalty try, not  Luis Suarez's.
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Source

And it's also not Uruguay's fault the penalty was not converted. Yes I am really sorry for Ghana - I know how the fans feel as I have been through that crap before many a time, but fair play to Uruguay.
 
Forostar said:
Did you guys see Suarez cheering after his red card?  :mad:
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Well, he cheered when the penalty was missed. Who wouldn't? Still: I, too, felt sorry for Gyan when he missed that penalty. He showed huge mental strength when he scored Ghana's first in the shootout.

Actually, the situation that led to the sending-off of Suarez should have been stopped earlier, as a Ghanese player was offside when the free kick was taken. So even though one can say Ghana were robbed when Suarez cleared the ball off the line, it would have been a robbery the other way had they scored ...
 
I want to see Argentina and Germany in the quarter-final first. Should be a classic. I agree that Argentina are slight favourites to win it, but not by much. Let's say 55-45 in their favour.
 
It's still possible that my old prediction (done before the tournament started) comes close:

I said:

semi-final:

Holland
England
Spain
Argentina

3 out of 4 would not be bad!

But I hope it's going to be

Black_Thunder94 said:
I see Spain and Argentina in this semi-final
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+ Germany

Because I'd like to see revanche for 1974. Come on Germany, beat those arrogant Argentinians.

However, Revanche for 1978 wouldn't taste bad either.

But I should keep my big mouth, we're not in the final yet.
 
Germany have looked more dangerous in the first half. The only real threat from Argentina was Higuain's shot which Neuer had no problems catching.

Anyone else who thought the yellow card given to Müller was incredibly harsh? I don't even think it qualified for a free kick, and definitely not a booking.

And by the way, how does the twat Mascherano not yet have a yellow card? Several late tackles, constantly arguing on ref decisions. Hope he gets sent off in the second half.
 
By Sam Lyon & Jonathan Stevenson said:
22:34

OK, I'm hearing you - but can we just get one thing clear? Luis Suarez did not cheat. He used the rules to his advantage, got lucky and then got even luckier. It's football's fault there isn't such a thing as a penalty try, not  Luis Suarez's.
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Oh please. He deliberately stopped a goal with his hands. If that's not cheating, then what is? Some people might call it "using the rules to his advantage" - I call it extremely poor sportsmanship.
 
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