World Cup 2010

[Lucas]

Morning :)

One hour 'til Day 3 Kick-off.

My predictions:

Algeria - Slovenia = no idea, but I think 0-2
Serbia - Ghana = 0-0
Germany - Australia = 2-0

[eldaec]

This needs to become an internet meme:




The US should have been three nil up in the first half.

The second half was better, but only because the full backs decided to ignore the wingers completely and attempt to play both positions themselves, and because Rooney seemed to realise he was going to have to go get the ball himself everytime it fell to a midfielder not wearing number 4.

England need to drop the 4-1-1.5 formation that sees us play with only 7 footballers, Emile Heskey, plus a dancing idiot on each wing and a tub of lard in the number eight shirt.

I don't remember seeing a single tackle from a midfielder whose name doesn't rhyme with Gteven Sterrard.

All that said England are getting better at running up cricket scores against rubbish teams, so there is a fair chance we'll still win the group.

[Lucas]

Weellll, now that was quite a horrible match between Algeria and Slovenia (0-1).

Every match is another story, ok, but England and USA shouldn't really be worried about either of them (ok, file this under "last famous words" :P). Another hilarious blunder by the algerian goalikeeper, but yes, the infamous Adidas Jabulani ball really looks a bit unpredictable, it dropped quite suddenly (beside the awful placement of the goalie).

[ghost]

The US has a history of playing to their competition.  I'm not ready to wager the keys to the car on them yet.

[Lucas]

Collective prayer :P

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/2010-world-cup/news/1008055/Jordaan-ponders-vuvuzela-ban

...But, on the other hand 

http://www.spitorswallow.co.za/blowme.php

[Lucas]

Kuzmanovic a HUGE douchebag.

[Paelos]

Kuzmanovic a HUGE douchebag.

Total self-destruction by Serbia in the last 20 minutes, holy shit. How do you give up a red card AND a penalty kick that late in the game???

[Azazel]

This game got incredibly entertaining 

[Lucas]

Awesome celebration in the stands. Ghana fans are always among the most funny and colourful :). Deserved win in the end. Serbia looks like a team which got assembled, like...a couple days ago. No cohesive game.

[Lucas]

Now that was some shot by Podolski! Great start for this match...(well, at least from a neutral point of view :P)

[HaemishM]

The U.S. probably didn't deserve the draw since they couldn't seem to put the ball in the back of the net except when Robert Green has a seizure. They played well as a team and yes, Clint Dempsey is still THE LUCKIEST MOTHERFUCKER ON THE GODDAMN PLANET. Notice how he mostly disappeared in the second half. The U.S. started really tentative and got punished for it. Onyewu still doesn't know how to transition the ball from defense to attack quickly enough, but neither does anyone else in the backline so it's ok. Tim Howard was the motherfucking man. Jozy exposed Jamie Carragher in the second half - Carragher is really getting old and was already slow. I think Bradley should have started Feilhaber in the middle instead of Clark and used Bradley as the holding midfielder, then put Edson Buddle up front to start and bring Findley on later in the game. Findley looked kind of lost out there at times.

England though... woof. Milner gets 20 minutes and probably shouldn't have, not that Wright-Phillips did much better. Heskey SHOULD NOT have started. Crouch would have been better in that role, or hell, use Gerrard like Rafa did as kind of a hybrid attacking midfielder/second striker. Lampard was pretty worthless most of the game. England could certainly have benefited from moving Gerrard up, Lampard behind him and then some kind of holding midfielder in front of the gigantic tree stumps that is the England centre back corps. Cole was useless most of the game. Lennon did all right, Rooney would have done much better if anybody could have gotten him the ball in the first 60 minutes of the game. England's a fucking mess and yet should still make it through the group on individual talent alone. Fuck it, sit Robert Green down, don't worry about David James' injury, start Joe Hart in goal. He CANNOT do any worse than Green did.

Algeria/Slovenia was a goddamn horror show of a game. Those vuvuzelas create such a drone that it's almost a hypnotic sleeping pill, and then the game completely knocks you out. If England or the US have ANY trouble with either of these teams, they deserve to go the fuck home. Algeria at least looked like it had some semblance of creativity - they got beat by a shit goalkeeper and a stupid red card. Slovenia had one note the whole game - go route 1 and hope. What little they attempted to make use of the wings they fucked in the ear with the worst crossing I think I've ever seen. This team should never score against either the US or England but  

[Lucas]

Heh, Deutschland Uber Alles

[SnakeCharmer]

So I'm watching the World Cup for pretty much the first time ever...

What the hell is that buzzing swarming bee sound the crowd seems intent on making every single second of every single match?

[Trippy]

That's those fucking vuvuzelas Lucas posted about above.

[Abagadro]

[SnakeCharmer]

That's those fucking vuvuzelas Lucas posted about above.

Ah.  Ok.  Yeesh.

Why, exactly?  Because I'm sitting here watching Ger v Aus, and I'm trying my best to get into it.  I really am.  Problem is, all I see is a bunch of guys running around - no doubt because I don't get the nuances of the sport you guys do.  So it's a bit boring, and that "vuvuzelas create such a drone that it's almost a hypnotic sleeping pill" thing is kicking in hard.

[Lucas]

Ok, I'm a bit worried about Squirrel and Azazel, now 

[Lucas]

Yes, 'til we see them against more difficult teams, total ownage by Germany today. They are young, enthusiastic, well placed around the field, quite a change from the fecent past.

It will be a very interesting match against Ghana (last match of the group), especially because it will probably mean the leadership of the group.

Aussies, well, nothing much to say...

[squirrel]

Oz got severely outplayed. But at least it was a somewhat entertaining game for the first half anyway.

Germany looks very strong, not just beating Oz but their timing and ball movement was killer.

[Falconeer]

The vuvuzela thing seems to have started in South Africa about 20 years ago, and there are apparently different and vague stories about the origins. Now, I am all for cultural differences but I can't wrap my head around it: WHY did it start in the first place? It's not just annoying to hear it, I suppose it's annoying to blow into it the whole fucking time too. Don't they like to just watch the game and loudly cuss when needed? Guess not.

Football-wise, I really like that young Özil guy.

[Stabs]

Football fans have long used noise as part of the experience of supporting. People shout encouragement or abuse, people sing songs, often popular songs with simple refrains with the words changed, people toot horns and wave rattles.

Here's a football rattle, of the type popular in England from 1900-1960:



Frankly it's not about people watching on TV at home, if you're in a heaving surging shouting swearing crowd and if you believe that the louder you are the more your team wins then you make noise. Tools to make noise save you from shouting yourself hoarse.

Back to the world cup I really enjoyed the Ghana v Serbia game and the Germany v Aussies game. Heart goes out to Tim Cahill though, how Vidic didn't even get booked for his various lunges and scythes while Cahill got straight red for kneeing someone in the calf I don't know. On the other hand I appreciated the ref booking two divers.

Bit of a relief for an Englishman to see the terrible quality of our groupmates in the first match. Please please don't let us lose to opposition who are both worse than Crystal Palace reserves.

[Falconeer]

and if you believe that the louder you are the more your team wins then you make noise.

Bingo! Those dudes are making a fuss for a fuss' sake as I am pretty sure South Africa isn't playing every game every day. Anyway, how come the English stopped rattling their rattles after the sixties?

[sigil]

Hey Snake, some things to look for. Don't look so much where the ball is or rather don't focus on it.

look at the whole screen and look for people that are open or are moving to areas that if the ball was passed there would put the team with the ball with a free run to goal or at least past a level of the defense.  At this level, you can look for the people waving with the I'm open wave, they're usually right... well usually. Look for defenders that are getting drawn out of position so that they're creating gaps and then see if those gaps are being exploited.

after a bit you'll start to envision plays before they happen and that's usually when it clicks.


Besides, if something dramatic happens on the ball it will be replayed countless times. You won't always see the replay of the great diagonal run that set up the midfielders reception of the left backs chipped cross leading to a unmolested run at goal.

[Bokonon]

To add o the previous post. Approach the game more like hockey, with ebbs and flows, lots of build up, and then one quick thrust that is often parried away.

[Azazel]

Well deserved victory to Germany this morning. But I have to say that despite all the goals against, Australia still played far better than quite a few of the other teams I've seen so far, and Australia still has a good chance to progress to the second round against Ghana and Serbia (WTF was up with Serbia?) I've got no illusions about winning or getting past the 16, but getting there is a victory in itself IMO. There's no shame in losing to the Germans, though. Especially this German side.

That was a bullshit red to Cahill though, as you said. Really though, I predict that the red will be not even a blip on the radar of controversial/bad referee decisions by the time this cup is through (or before the cup, if you're Irish). Every time there's the discussion about a video ref, and FIFA just seems to keep resisting. Same deal when you have the same refs making dodgy/controversial decisions - FIFA just seems to take the "suck it up, bitches" attitude. It's like they're afraid of doing anything the slightest bit controversial (like banning that fucking trumpet).

 

[Stabs]

The problem with World Cup refereeing is that FIFA uses the World Cup Finals to launch new disciplinary initiatives without explaining them. There's no publicity saying don't do slide tackles. Instead dressing room buzz is frantically whispering "oh my god did you see that decision?" The interpretation of the rules has changed but the only way players find out about it is to be the unlucky one who gets punished.

My impression is that the referees are expert, that they know the rules and see the action clearly but that they are operating on guidelines that no one else is aware of.

This happens every four years, like clockwork World Cups start with a rash of cards and free kicks given against utterly bemused players because of some new initiative changing the way the law is applied.

"The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they don't know the game."

Bill Shankly.

[Lucas]

In the end, a good match by Holland (2-0 against Denmark). While they wait for Robben, Snejder is already taking the lead, and 23 yrs old Elia (he plays in german league with Hamburg), who came up from the bench, is very interesting.

Denmark was good in the first half: they are a well balanced team, but they totally lack quality and creativity upfront. Whille they battle when the score is 0-0, that may be alright, but when you have to show some sparkle of creativity to change gear, then they show they simply lack in that department.

[HaemishM]

Football-wise, I really like that young Özil guy.

I've seen him the last two years with the German team I follow, Werder Bremen. He is the REAL FUCKING DEAL. He's the reason Bremen let Diego go to Italy. He's a playmaker with serious skills, and he's only 21. I hope to God Bremen holds onto him, because I'm quite sure Bayern Munich or some other Euro squad will be itching to get their hands on him after this World Cup. I think he's every bit the player Cesc Fabregas is for Arsenal.

The Aussies didn't provide much challenge for the Germans, and I don't think it was because the Aussies suck. I think Germany is just that good. Spain, Brazil and Germany are the three teams I expect to see among the final 4.

[Cyrrex]

Why do referees, when making any sort of gesture (like Back Off, Shitbag), keep their hands below their waists?  It's as if they've got their arms tied to their sides.  Always thought that was a bit queer.

[El Gallo]

Diving in an attempt to draw a penalty in the closing minutes while you're up 4-0 is pretty classless.  Fuck Germany.

[Lucas]

Pronto per l'esordio degli azzurri...Forza Ragazzi! 

[Cyrrex]

Pronto per l'esordio degli azzurri...Forza Ragazzi! 

I assume this means "Fuck you, Italy" in which case I wholeheartedly agree.

[Amarr HM]

This needs to become an internet meme:

Yeh I nearly choked when I saw that clip right after the match. The title could be fifa.completetwat

[Teleku]

I thought this was amusing:

[Righ]

Why do referees, when making any sort of gesture (like Back Off, Shitbag), keep their hands below their waists?  It's as if they've got their arms tied to their sides.  Always thought that was a bit queer.

Back off shitbag isn't an official signal and most refs are taught to keep their hands down unless they are making an official signal. You'll also see linesmen signal to the ref with hand signals below the waist. That way they get to tell the ref something without signalling an official decision to the teams, managers, commentators, etc.

http://itunes.apple.com/app/vuvuzela-2010/id326630627?mt=8