FIFA World Cup 2014 (Brazil) SPOILERS: Read at own risk

[Chimpy]

I think FIFA decided they did not want to bring anyone who was not in the final match up the long ridiculous flight of stairs into Sepp's little boudoir with his cadre of female bodyguards in French foreign legion desert attire. 

[Jeff Kelly]

After the game, Muller said something to the press that amounted to "yeah, when someone as big a person as I am is at a lost for words, you know it's a big deal"

So apparently, he is a huge douche.

As a side note, I am struggling with the fact that they gave Messi the Golden Boot.  I don't think he was the best player in this world cup.

Yeah, except that he didn't say 'somebody as great as I'. He said if I with my big mouth are at a loss for words then it's a big deal. Alluding to the fact that Müller always has something to quip about.

[01101010]

Well Muller does have a very large mouth. 

[Cyrrex]

After the game, Muller said something to the press that amounted to "yeah, when someone as big a person as I am is at a lost for words, you know it's a big deal"

So apparently, he is a huge douche.

As a side note, I am struggling with the fact that they gave Messi the Golden Boot.  I don't think he was the best player in this world cup.

Yeah, except that he didn't say 'somebody as great as I'. He said if I with my big mouth are at a loss for words then it's a big deal. Alluding to the fact that Müller always has something to quip about.

Okay, I guess it was a bad translation then.  It was sort of hard to believe he would say such a thing.

[Speedy Cerviche]

Soccer fans like to argue that the game is better than the popular 4 NA sports because there's no breaks in the play, but that's not entirely true. A problem is that the field is too big so there's a lot of dead time where a team is slowly moving the ball up field and nothing of consequence is happening. Even worse if one team gets a lead and is trying to sit on it, wasting time punting the ball up and forcing the slow return over and over. Relatively little time is spent with the ball in play in striking distance of the goal, or even one pass away (accurate ground pass, not random boot).

In Baseball, Football & Hockey every play second is significant, because a lot more can happen in a split second, every play is basically within "striking distance" or one fast action away. Basketball is a bit of a different beast but has a sort of nonstop scoring action that appeals to its fans.

Now one thing that's pretty cool is arena soccer, 5,6 or 7 man teams depending on size, boards to cut out of bounds delays, no long periods of dead time moving the ball up field, because every possession basically starts near shooting range.

[Shannow]

A fan will see roughly 18 minutes of play time in a average 3 hour long baseball game. In a football game it's 11 minutes.
Dead time is not the problem..

[Ingmar]

A fan will see roughly 18 minutes of play time in a average 3 hour long baseball game. In a football game it's 11 minutes.
Dead time is not the problem..

The difference is during the dead time in the other sports (minus hockey) you don't have to be paying direct attention in case something suddenly happens. I have the same problem watching hockey, personally. It gets kind of tiring to be concentrating for that long, to me, where football and baseball have a kind of natural rhythm to them, that gives you time to talk to someone about what's going on or whatever.

Another thing I realized recently, and I'm not sure why this is true for me, but I find that I can really only enjoy soccer when it's played by world-class level players, whereas minor league baseball, college football, etc., is always entertaining.

[Ginaz]

Soccer fans like to argue that the game is better than the popular 4 NA sports because there's no breaks in the play, but that's not entirely true. A problem is that the field is too big so there's a lot of dead time where a team is slowly moving the ball up field and nothing of consequence is happening. Even worse if one team gets a lead and is trying to sit on it, wasting time punting the ball up and forcing the slow return over and over. Relatively little time is spent with the ball in play in striking distance of the goal, or even one pass away (accurate ground pass, not random boot).

In Baseball, Football & Hockey every play second is significant, because a lot more can happen in a split second, every play is basically within "striking distance" or one fast action away. Basketball is a bit of a different beast but has a sort of nonstop scoring action that appeals to its fans.

Now one thing that's pretty cool is arena soccer, 5,6 or 7 man teams depending on size, boards to cut out of bounds delays, no long periods of dead time moving the ball up field, because every possession basically starts near shooting range.

Indoor lacrosse is pretty fun to watch, too.  I went to a few NLL games last year and they were all pretty action packed and exciting.

[Speedy Cerviche]

yeah hugely superior to field lacrosse as a spectator sport.

[lamaros]

Lavezzi was injured.

Neuer should have got the award, but everyone loves forwards. Howard wasn't near golden glove.

[Xuri]

The rules are clear. You don't interfere with the goalkeeper's actions when he is inside his own box.

I'm late to this party, but I don't think the rules are as clear as you say. Keepers aren't freed from the rules about dangerous play. In the case of Neuers vs Higuain, Higuain seemed to have as much right to go for the ball as Neuers did, he didn't cross into Higuain's path to intentionally impede the keeper, and ultimately Neuers momentum + pointy knee in face should have resulted in a freekick to Higuain. It's no different from when a keeper tries to box the ball, misses and hits an opponent's face instead - it should be (but often is not ruled as such) a freekick.

Quoting rule for reference:

"Playing in a dangerous manner is defined as any action that, while trying to play the ball, threatens injury to someone (including the player himself)."

[Amarr HM]

The rules are clear. You don't interfere with the goalkeeper's actions when he is inside his own box.

I'm late to this party, but I don't think the rules are as clear as you say. Keepers aren't freed from the rules about dangerous play. In the case of Neuers vs Higuain, Higuain seemed to have as much right to go for the ball as Neuers did, he didn't cross into Higuain's path to intentionally impede the keeper.

In fairness he probably didn't expect the GK to be there so it was just a knee-jerk reaction

Both players had eyes only for the ball as you can see.



The foul was harsh, but I can see why the ref gave it.