f13.net

Madness will return in less than a month, although I'm really disgusted about the delays, deaths and everything that surrounds this edition (not to mention how FIFA is handling the Qatar venue).

But hey, for those of us passionate about it, being wrapped in the atmosphere will be inevitable once the game kicks off.
----

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/index.html

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/index.html

- First match will be Brazil vs Croatia; during last year's Confederation Cup, I really liked Brazil: I was impressed by their (much improved) physical approach and aggressiveness in general. I think they might undertake the competition with a much more "european"  approach, given the burden of responsibility they're going to carry and the fact they just don't fool around as much as in the recent past ;

- Weather might play an important role, with a combination of very high humidity percentage and sudden downpurs of rain. For example, on Saturday, June 14th, England and Italy might get a taste of that when they'll play against each other in Manaus, Amazonia ;

- For you U.S. guys, the task to get through will be almost impossible; ideal would be a tie in your match against (very tricky) Ghana, with Germany beating Portugal so you at least have an headstart on Cristiano Ronaldo's team (which you will meet in your second match, so you can potentially play for another tie) ;

- Italy might be an outsider: we played great during the european championship, but our midfield might crack down, with our very unexperienced attack having trouble scoring goals...Unless enthusiasm and quickness prevail over those factors ;

Having said all that, my dream final is Brazil - Argentina with the latter winning the Cup. What might ensue, I'll leave to your imagination :grin: (but, kidding aside, the atmosphere of such a final would be incredible, given the rivalry).

The corruption on this thing has basically made it a non-watch event for me.

It's a shame because I played soccer for years, but I just can't support the World Cup anymore unless they change how they do it. Add in the fact the USA has a horrific group? Meh.

Yeah, I think if the USA gets a point or two out of that group, they'll be lucky. That's just a crazy strong group. Ghana always plays us tough.

Normally, I might favor Spain to win the whole thing but Costa's hamstring injury issues as well as the difficulties of winning 3 major international tourneys in a row lead me to think it won't be them. My second fallback is always Germany.

the diving too, what kind of sport is this that tolerates a guy writhing in agony on the ground then getting up and running back into the play perfectly fine? what a disgrace to see that at the elite level.

I love WC, warts and all. Hopefully Sepp Blatter will get thrown off of Sugarloaf  Mountain in an attempt to placate the football gods.

US is most likely going to get bummed in a bad way, but if they can find a way to beat Ghana in the first game at least they have a ghost of a chance to advance. Germany will kill them, but Portugal is schizophrenic so they have a shot there.

Gooo, Norway! Oh, wait. We didn't qualify. Bummer.

...But first, before putting the final touches on the stadium  :uhrr: , Manaus needs to fix its airport:

http://www.football-italia.net/49416/manaus-airport-roof-collapses
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1vtj34_world-cup-2014-heavy-rain-causes-damage-at-manaus-airport_news
---

One more thing regarding Italy: I was at San Siro's stadium last sunday for the last AC Milan match against Sassuolo and saw El Shaarawy playing: IMO, Prandelli could have given him a chance, he's clearly getting a lot better and with further preparation I think he could have been an added value for the team (also considering his young age, characteristics and the harsh brazilian weather).

If it wasn't for the good season Cassano had, I think Prandelli would have picked  El Shaarawy anyway. Oh well, he's still young.

I predict that FIFA will declare this World Cup the greatest ever, and a resounding success, even if bunches of tourists do get murdered.

Oh no doubt. They aren't going to admit they sold out publicly.

Hey, they already issued a PSA on how not to get murdered during a mugging. (http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-27373457)

 :psyduck:

I live in a very beautiful city in California, USA and that all sounds like very basic reasonable advice to me. For example: If you leave a visible smart phone or tablet in your car you are not allowed to bitch about the subsequent break-in because that shit was your own stupid fault.

In fact on the busses there is a message that goes: "keep your eyes up and your phone away while riding muni" which imo is a bit extreme but a nice reminder that you can run into a snatch and grab if you aren't aware.

Yes, but how is your murder rate?

The part that blew my mind was make sure you're not being followed and only move in groups. Short of packing a gun, you're essentially going on military patrol when you leave the house.

Why would anybody want to risk going to this?

And just think, in 2 more years they get the Olympics!

Same should apply for Mardi Gras, or really any large gathering of people. Why the fuck anyone goes to these kinds of things in person anymore is beyond me. Fuck the unwashed masses.

Yeah, I am not leaving the country (other than to Canada, which is just new and improved America really) until our reputation around the world is a little better. So just a few minutes after the heat death of the universe.

If I happen to stumble onto riches I might check out Europe and just tell everyone I am Canadian  :grin:

I would like to see a World Cup game in person at some point. Maybe when the Qatar fiasco inevitably ends with having to shift it to a country with a climate suitable to humans and an infrastructure that can support something bigger than a Boy Scout jamboree...

Soccer is better in person for sure. You can see the entire field and catch things the camera misses. Same for handegg, but you really miss the replays when you are in the stadium. Plus the beer is too expensive.

For all the things wrong with the Qatari World Cup, the infrastructure isn't going to be one of them. There's no limit to the number of hotels and unneeded stadiums you can build when you have an effectively unlimited pile of cash and an army of Bangladeshi slave labour available to work themselves literally to death.

Well, it's the only way you're going to.

Russia's uni's are beautiful.

Are they Ukrainian blood red?

http://balls.ie/football/definitive-power-ranking-2014-world-cup-kits/

Photos of them all. And not the worst utterly subjective ranking of things I've ever seen certainly.

http://soccer.si.com/2014/05/22/landon-donovan-left-off-usa-world-cup-roster-jurgen-klinsmann-names-his-23/

Interesting. I am not a huge soccer/football fan, but his name has been a mainstay in USA soccer for quite some time and from the few games I have seen with him, he was pretty good. Wonder if the edge wore off or he wandered thru on his ego.

I am shocked DeAndre Yedlin made it. If he ever sees the pitch Tim Howard will be busy 30 seconds later. He will eventually be good, but he is just way too raw for this stage.

I can't believe they dropped Donovan. I think that's going to be a huge HUGE mistake. Even at his age, he's still a significant creative force and probably the best player on the world stage for the side. I don't figure he'll be playing in 2018, so why not give him one last go?

Apparently Klinsmann was pissed about some trip Donovan took earlier and not being on time, or something like that. I was sketchy on the details on ESPN this morning.

Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey say hello. Honestly I think it might be the right decision, Donovan just looks ...meh in MLS now.

There's a piece on Grantland about it today (http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-landon-donovan-decision/) which makes the point that maybe it's not the right decision NOW but it is for the next four years. I wonder if Klinsmann looks at the draw the US has and says fuck it, might as well give the young kids some experience cause we ain't getting out of that hell hole.

Either that or he is a poorly disguised German mole.

I actually like the "retro" and elegant  style of the greek shirt, probably my favourite of the lot; Germany...nah, my favourite is still the Italy '90 one; and yes, Mexico one is flashing  :grin: (and how can one forget Campos' outfit durin' USA '94) :

(http://db3.stb.s-msn.com/i/33/96BCF1174446528A3E59D501221A.jpg)

Those are both good players - and they would be made better by the inclusion of a playmaker like Donovan.

You may be right about the "fuck it" mentality because yeah, if we get a point out of that group, I'll be amazed.

I was seriously considering going to this and taking my boy. My dad went on his LDS mission there 50 years ago and I thought it would be a cool thing to take him there. Then I starting reading all the crazy shit going on.

Anywho, I hope Messi can get out of his WC funk and play to his potential just because I love watching him play and it would be cool to have him pop up as a counter-narrative to Ronaldo after their respective years (i.e. his down year and Ronaldo's unreal year). I'm not a Ronaldo hater by any means but I like Messi's game better.

Ronaldo will choke like he did in 2010. And Nike will probably run 50 bagillion ads with him again too.

Heh, tonight I watched Eire vs. Italy (venue was the always lovely Craven Cottage, London) on TV and Azzurri still have lots of work to do, to say the least  :oh_i_see: . Plus, Montolivo, one of the more "creative" midfielders, suffered a broken shinbone after 13 minutes. Bye bye Brazil.

A broken shinbone..fucking OUCH.

Look at that, more evidence of bribery and corruption regarding Qatar 2022...  :oh_i_see:

Prediction, they yank it from them (finally) and give it to the USA with Atlanta as one of the flagship cities.

Link puhleeze?

Grauniad - World Cup raising Qatar's profile for all the wrong reasons (http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/01/2022-world-cup-qatar-fifa)

BBC - Qatar World Cup 2022: Fifa vice-president 'would support' re-vote (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27654587)

BBC - Qatar World Cup: '£3m payments to officials' corruption claim (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27652181)

Telegraph - Daughter of World Cup official had £2m put into account (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/10775490/Daughter-of-World-Cup-official-had-2m-put-into-account.html)

God I hope it happens. Those fucks should never have gotten it.

I also hope that they move it to Oz..:D

Other than the timezone, Oz would be awesome

Oz has been making catchy football songs. Some light relief. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrOLGifnMJk)

I just had this image of a haka at the beginning of a football match in Oz. That would scare the pants off those male model diving specialists  :why_so_serious:

But yeah thanks for the links. Seems pretty god and dried to me (not that there was any doubt in the first place)

Haka = New Zealand

Uh, yeah, I know.

And here we go: Brazi - Croatia today as the opening match.

FIFA.com just posted a nice video featuring the best opener goals since 1982 (the most surprising ones were of course Biyik against Argentina - Italy '90 and Bouba Diop against France - Korea '02) :

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/videos/y=2014/m=6/video=from-vandenbergh-to-tshabalala-world-cup-openers-from-1982-2010-2367836.html

And yeah, let's hope for some fun and crazy celebrations  :grin:

(http://puu.sh/9pL9j/f1b4be3f92.png)

lol, brilliant :)
---

Latest news from Brazil: the subway strike in Sao Paulo has been revoked (but there are still clashes between protestors and the police); on the other hand, in Rio, it looks like airport workers announced a 24 hour strike, which began about 8 hours ago :awesome_for_real:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2014/06/rio-airport-workers-strike-ahead-world-cup-201461202626869462.html

This is why the event should only be held in stable countries on a rotation. USA, UK, China, Russia, Australia, and maybe a few others.

CNN reporters injured while recording clashes in Sao Paulo (article & video) :

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/12/world/americas/brazil-world-cup-protests/index.html
----

Opening ceremony starts at 2.15pm ET (8.15pm CET); predictions for Bra - Cro ? Mine is 3-0, but the first half will end goal-less, 'til the home team will eventually break through in the 2nd half.

 :oh_i_see:

Despite being corrupt, they are one of the world powers. I don't believe they can't manage it.

Olympic athletes having to claw their way through a bathroom door in Socchi would disagree with you.

Spain, Brazil or Germany are who I would pick (probably in that order). Rooting for USA and England. And Croatia for today because fuck Brazil.

Yeah it was shoddy in places. I can't imagine it's going to be better in Brazil.

The one thing Russia can do is safety. They can put their boot on this shit. Same thing with China. Same thing here. My main concern isn't the comfort of the participants as much as it is the fans, and people not getting murdered.

Are there any sites streaming these matches in the US that aren't spamfests? 

I am going with Germany this year because I know fuckall about soccer and always pull the picks out of my ass. Deep down, I really want Japan to win for some reason.

I think ESPN.go.com does but only if you have an account with one of their partner ISP's like Comcast.

I am just going with the pirated streams, partially because I am a bad person, but mostly because this is the only time I actually pay attention to soccer and enjoy the games.

If you can handle listening to Mexican announcers (hint, even if you don't speak Spanish it is better than John Harkes and his ilk on ESPN) Univision streams everything for free until the quarterfinals.

Perfect.  Thanks. 

I'm going to search for a german equivalent.  My comprehension of german is a bit better than my spanish. 

Looks like Twitter has some decent customization for WC-related feeds. Anyway, here is the "official" one for the first match (people are posting a nice amount of pictures from the stadium):

https://twitter.com/hashtag/BRAvsCRO

It would appear ESPN3's feed has already crapped out.

Opening ceremony surely was "nothing to write home about" as you guys say in english, but hey, they only had 20-25 minutes; enjoyed the dancing parts, and everything was pleasantly very colourful :D. Also, I can't remember a longer gap between the ceremony itself and the kick-off. Oh, and I prefer Shakira. Gief Shakira the world cup song 'til she's a 90 yrs old granny, plz.

Their stream is pretty solid and crystal clear pic.

Also Modric looks like a 18 yr old with no hair. I kept forgetting it was him on my grainy feed.



edit: words are hard

What the fuck is up with that Goatee World Cup logo?

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/829607/HUMOR/sochibear2.png) Don't forget about me,brah.

Today:

Mexico - Cameroon
Spain - Netherlands
Chile - Australia
---

During the 2010 WC, Mexico was a breath of fresh air; one of the youngest teams of the competition, quick and skillfull players. Hopefully we'll see a similar approach and performance 4 years later, they were really entertaining to watch. Obviously, a win for either team would mean getting 3 points ahead of Croatia (and put a serious dent on their qualification chancesI, which is very important considering how impressive the team was yesterday.

Spain - Netherlands is the highlight of the day: replay of the 2010 WC final, but without the immense pressure of the final. I look forward to a great game  :drill: :drill:

Chile - Australia: Chile could be a REAL pain in the ass and possibly get to the final stage ahead of either Spain or Netherlands. Look out for Vidal & Isla (FC Juventus), Sanchez (Barcellona)

I'm hoping for some real surprises, à la Cameroon in Italy 1990. Good times, that World Cup.

Until FIFA starts handing out retroactive cards for simulation, shit like that Fred dive will continue to influence matches. Fucking shameful. They use goal line technology to make sure the score is correct, but do nothing to assist the referees. If they gave Fred a yellow card after the match, that shit would stop INSTANTLY. Especially with the (imo overly strict) yellow card accumulation rules in this particular tournament.

That being said, the first half was amazingly entertaining, and even the uneven second half had some fun spots. Hoping for 3 more good ones today. Hurray for TiVo!. Only complaint is this is really cutting into my US Open viewing, which is another event I normally like to watch.

Do these assholes even know what offsides is? 

Soccer offside is retarded. If offside is ostensibly to prevent cherry picking, it's moronic to have it applied to passes originating in the box area or the final 10-20% of the field. I don't see why they don't just draw a line like in hockey, 3/4 way downfield, and say the ball must cross first before opposition players, after that anything is fair.

Yeah offsides is one of those rules that needs to go. It would force teams to play the whole field, and open up scoring, which the international game desperately needs.

I agree on yellow cards after the fact. I didn't watch the game, I don't intend to watch any of the games because of shit just like that. It's crooked, it's biased, and they pretend it's part of the game.

Off-sides are fine, just fix the flopping about and play the fucking game. You fall to the floor and roll around in pain, you get treatment off the field for 10 minutes. Oh your magically fine and don't need it, you get a card and fuck off for 20 minutes.


Seeing players just stop playing, when no whistle is blown, to complain to the ref that a whistle should be blown, just fucking play.

Well that was pretty.

That was just sick...  :drill:

Fucking surprised they didn't call it back for offside.

This is quite a reaming.

edit: oops, used quote.  Meant to spoiler, but don't bother watching this if you recorded it.  This is like watching a kid getting beat up by a kangaroo.

6/13/2014 - The day the Spanish dynasty died?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAUY1J8KizU

Whoa, what an unexpected beatdown!!!  :ye_gods: :drill: :drill:

Robben...That half volley toward the end of the match was amazing. Nice match, anyway, no matter the abysmal Spain defence.
---

Next up for Spain is Chile, and if Chile wins tonight, I think we might witness an early exit for the champions.

Anyone know what happened to the spoiler icon? Did I mistakenly remove it from my button menu somehow?

.

Good match by Mexico earlier today, their attacking phase is still very enjoyable and dynamic. Brazil - Mexico should be very entertaining :)

I DVR matches that are on while I'm at work. However, I'm not stupid enough to read a FIFA World Cup 2014 thread if I have something waiting unwatched on the DVR.

I only got to watch about half of the Spain and Netherlands match today.

I DVR sporting events because fuck the metric shitton of commercials, play stoppages and other various time-wasting bullshit sporting events are saddled with. Also, I was at work. I also knew not to click on any spoiler tags before I got to see the match.

England's national football team visited an orphanage in Brazil yesterday. "It's heartbreaking to see their sad little faces with no hope" said Jose, age 6

Jesus, this shit is unwatchable.  Everyone is going to the ground like the stadium is full of snipers.  From what I've seen over the years, the only ones who don't seem to do this on a regular basis are the English, Scottish and Irish.  Its all to common with the other Euro teams and don't even get me started on the South Americans.  Soccer can fuck right off.  Not watching this shit anymore.  I should have known better than to waste my time.

For whatever reason, I have always thought it was the Latin cultures that are the worst offenders.  The Anglos tend not to do it, the Asians don't seem to do it much.  The Africans might do it a little, but not nearly as much as the Latins.  Mid East players may be a close second.

I may be wrong, that's just how I have always seen it.

I laughed a bit too hard at this...  :awesome_for_real:

Was night and day in the Australia / Chile match. Chilean players seems to always drop and roll around for a bit. Makes me wonder how they got all that ink tattooed on their bodies since THAT stuff actually hurts. I can see getting kicked or knocking shins or having cleats jabbed into your leg could hurt, but don't make an ass of yourself by dying on the field and within the next 10 seconds be running around full tilt. Australian players dropped and got right back up save for 2 times that I saw and one of those times the player left the game because it was an actual injury.

I did like the fact that some of these refs are calling out the flopping, at least it seems that way from the interactions I see them having with 'victims' on no-calls. I can't speak spanish and only can cherry pick a few words so Univision is no help in the commentary.

And with the international mixture of the teams, what language do the refs speak when communicating with teams from different language background? Are they are multi-lingual? Was kinda curious about that in the Holland/Spain match and then in the Aussie/Chile match.

I think English is expected.  Or at least, I think the Croatians were complaining that their judge did not speak English, and instead was speaking Japanese to everybody.  So that makes me think they usually speak English.

The ref's are also supposed to communicate in English. Part of the job for this level.

Thanks for the info. I can put that question to bed then.

It's one of the perks of winning world wars.

LOLSpain.

DVR'ed all 3 matches yesterday, and watched them all. Glorious day of great soccer.

Somehow my chlidren let me sleep in this morning. Woke up at 9:04am and thought, oh Columbia v Greece just started. I am sure I didn't miss anyt....welp.

Very excited about the Azzurri's debut tonight (midnight CET): we're a big question mark, and nobody knows what to expect, really, no matter the Euro championships final of two years ago. Oh well, can't go worse than four years ago, right?

Watching all these games on Univision is having an odd side effect of making me learn Spanish.  :why_so_serious:

So I decided to try the WatchESPN Roku app just to see if my comcast account with no espn sub would work...and the Roku app did not ask for authentication at all. So if you are on Comcast internet with a Roku you might be able to stream Engkish language for free.

I did get the Univision app on my iPad to airplay to my appleTV if espn fixes the glitch just in case.

(http://i.imgur.com/NYZoobB.jpg)

 :why_so_serious:

Is anyone else getting a chuckle at the FIFA ads along the sideline saying "Stand up to Racism"?

Maybe Sepp had them cook that up last minute...

LOL at the Facepalm Cup pic :D

Uruguay - Costa Rica

 

England vs Italy

Uruguay - Costa Rica


England - Italy

Stop with the spoiler tags. This thread is silly right now.

^^

If someone clicks on this thread and gets spoiled, they are fucking retarded.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this World Cup. Hoping I can still say that in about 24 hours. I know Klinsmann has been training the shit out of this team to prep for this match in the goddamned rainforest, so hopefully fitness wins out. Although I am sure heat and humidity aren't exactly strangers to Ghana  :awesome_for_real:

Bosnia really showed great form today against Argentina. If that own-goal didn't happen, that would have probably been a draw. And Messi is insanely good on the dribble. I think he is using stick'um.  :why_so_serious:

As for France... was really hoping Benzema was going to get awarded that goal off the post to get the hat trick. Shame on that. He seemed always in the right spot all game.

Finally that Swiss game. Holy shit. I leave to go for a nice walk in the park at half with them losing - enjoy the walk, come back at the 88min mark and watch them win it in stoppage time.  :ye_gods: Amazing. More so because the ECU could have put it away not 30 seconds prior with the ball inside the box and what looked like a decent look. Oh well. Was rooting for the Swiss anyway and was not disappointed.

OK... think I spoiled each one there.  :awesome_for_real:

Gotta give full marks to the ref in that Switzerland game for giving an advantage on a foul and sticking with it. And to the Swiss player who got knocked the fuck down on the play, got up and still made a pretty killer pass to the wing.

That Swiss ending was wacky. At the beginning of extra-time it really looked like both teams were going to be content to just pass the ball around and take the draw then 90seconds later it was furious paced attacking for both sides.

Bosnia played a good match, I think they will probably end up making it out of group play if they play like that.

Messi's ball handling skills are just insane. Argentina really needs to figure out how to attack better with that original lineup they had because defensively in the second half they were super-vulnerable.

In the last couple days I watched:

- First half of Ivory Coast - Japan
- France - Honduras
- Argentina - Bosnia 'til the 2-0 by Messi

-I thought Ivory Coast sheer physicality would prevail over Japan from the get go, but Zaccheroni (Japan's manager) managed to put out a very disciplined team, with good enough technical skills, and the first half was all about that, since Ivory Coast possession and placement all over the pitch was a confused mess.

- France vs. Honduras....LOL, what a mess; national anthems not playing, "goal-line" technology showing both the "goal" and the "no goal" with the referee getting confused; Honduras players trying to kill France players with tackles. But yeah, can't really get worse than the central american team. France didn't really impress me.

- Argentina vs. Bosnia: Argentina still doesn't have a peculiar tactical identity, nor a particular style of play. That often happens in national teams with such amount of talent and the tactical anarchy of their best players. The potential, and that has been true for the last 8 years, is HUGE. Messi is the icing on the cake.
Still, when they'll be put under pressure by continuous attacks from the best teams of the competition (Germany, Netherlands, Brazil), I'm not sure their defensive players will be up for the challenge.
Finally, great game by Bosnia; pity that they lack a quick, short and unpredictable player in the advanced midfield. Dzeko is great but would benefit even more with a player with those characteristics.
---

Today, Germany vs. Portugal should be very good; good luck to the U.S. against Ghana :D

Bosnia needs a David Silva to feed Dzeko.

What. A. Moron.

Pepe, your clubhouse leader for stupidest moment at the 2014 World Cup.

Portugal is a fucking joke.



e- nice half, Portugal. Have they canceled their hotel reservations for the knockout round yet?

Yep. Just utter useless stupidity. I mean it isn't like Portugal were presenting any danger before but forget about it now. Love how Rinaldo is not expected to defend and yet still can't make much of an impact.

This is a good week to live on the Iberian peninsula.

I need to add that Germany might be the only team that can score four times and still bore me the fuck to sleep.  They are technically great, and I mean GREAT.  But fuck me, they are always so boring.  ZzzZZZZzzzzzzZzz. 

If Portugal doesn't put their shit together, they will lose to BOTH Ghana and the US. 

I do not understand how you can say that Germany's play is boring. Patience and methodical, yes. I only started watching football in 2006 but I like the German style of play. It's not Spain WC2010 exciting, but it's still great technically proficient football.

Also, Portugal do not look like a team. They look like a collection of marginal players thrown together around 1 entitled manchild with the abilities of a God (though the two abilities he seems to lack are defending and being able to play as an entire team by himself) and 1 entitled manchild who thinks he's as good as the first manchild only he isn't. I laughed my ass off when Nani tackled his own fucking player in the German box because he couldn't stand for someone else to have glory on a ball he thought was his own. Way to play as a team there, douchenozzle.

Also, no Contreao, no Alemida and no Pepe means very good things for the US side.

Yeah I don't know how you can call Germany boring. Boring is going 1-0 up then putting 11 players behind the ball for the rest of the match. They scored, kept pushing, scored again, kept pushing, scored again and then again. A lot of teams would have just cruised that second half but Germany still went for it.

Or in other words, Chelsea.  :why_so_serious:

Germany was spectacular, head and shoulders above any other teams we've seen so far, IMO.

Mueller and Ozil are now more experienced than 4 years ago; Gotze is great, Kroos more and more a key player, and finally you have veterans like Lahm. Their possession shows they're quite confident in their game. Plus, they got better and what I think is the most important tactical aspect of football: the off-the-ball movement of the players. Germany, but the german league in general, finally mastered that, after years of much more boring (albeit still effective) football.

Brazil is still my favourite pick to win this WC, because of home (and referee :P) advantage, but then comes Germany and finally Netherlands.

Ok, that was quick.

Such ugly uniforms.

Yep, need moar blue and stars :D . But hey, lots of U.S. fans in the stands, didn't expect that many. Nice chanting too.

And a vibranium shield

Looks like a muscle strain for Altidore. Bye bye world cup for him.

So I got home and saw the score and thought it was like 30minutes in, then I looked at the clock and it said 4:23  :ye_gods:

Thank god for that goal because the USA has looked like shit thus far. Can't pass worth a damn.

Beasley is getting his shit pushed in on that side. Can the US string together more than 2 passes?

The entire strategy seems to be to fling balls at/near Howard constantly.  I'm not sure that's a long term strategy worth sticking with. 

Jesus, knock off the cute passes to the guy who in reality isn't behind you.

Well, that was inevitable.

That was pretty.

Whoa!!!

Woot!

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/82533/win.gif)

Clearly not. Not sure the dribbling the ball 6ft in front of you is working either. Oh well, they got the 3 points and lost Alitdore. Somewhere, Donovan is laughing.

Well, you guys played pretty well; might not be the best team when it comes to passing or certain movements, but quickness on the flanks is great, with Bradley and Dempsey giving some needed amount of experience and organization in the midfield.

Jermaine Jones was really great; and hey, Johannsson makes me smile because, although it's expected given his origins, the team suddenly resembled a northern european one when he came on, with a "target man" (as it's called in Football Manager) up front. But he's VERY good at keeping the ball up while the rest of the team recovers.

Didn't expect that late goal...probably no one did; you guys ran out of fuel in the 2nd half, and also got too defensive, no matter Ghana capabilities.

But this win could be HUGE: a draw with Portugal and a (highly probable) loss with Germany might suffice to get to the final stage.

Decent chance Germany is assured of going through by the time they play the US and if so may sit a bunch of guys.

those usa uniforms are awful

You mean basically all of the movements that football requires?

That was a thoroughly HORRID performance. I mean, we're lucky that Ghana's only strategy seemed to have been written by David Moyes but shit, this is a team that is supposed to be considered competitive and it can't hold possession for SHIT. They can't pass accurately, they can't TAKE a pass accurately and they are damn lucky to have gotten 3 points. They might be able to beat Portugal because Portugal looked at least as bad at passing and possession as the US - though I'm sure Ronaldo can probably beat the team by himself if given the chance. Germany? Fuck the German C team would destroy us.

Singapore Anti Gambling Addiction Site
(http://www.ncpg.org.sg/en/PublishingImages/1000x311_new.jpg)

 :awesome_for_real:

Ugly win.

I'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any time.

Just to clarify...it is that overly patient and methodical approach that I find a bit boring.  No mistake, the Germans are fantastic at ball possession and are great passers, but it just feels like 90% of that is happening on their own half of the field.  They have a way of lulling their opposition into a slumber, but it seems to have the same effect on me.  It isn't that they aren't putting 11 players behind the ball.  They are good enought that they can do it with 5 or 6 behind the ball, and then slowly and deliberately work their way up the field.  It is tactically smart, and brilliantly executed.  Just not my cup of tea, however. 

It doesn't help that I find many of their players to be wonderously punchable.

Yes.

Today:

Belgium (very interesting team) and Russia's (managed by legendary italian manager Fabio Capello) debut against Algeria and South Korea; finally, Brazil - Mexico to begin round 2 of the group phase. Given both team characteristics, this could definitely be an entertaining match.

I am looking forward to the chaos in the BRA/MEX game. Mexico's first game was fairly sloppy as was Brasil's so this might be at least entertaining unless both teams have settled down.

My best friend is Korean and I have to back SK by default, but I just don't see it happening against the Russians.

Hilarious (and a bit sad) presentation of FIFA and the World Cup by John Oliver:
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: FIFA and the World Cup (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlJEt2KU33I)

That was brilliant.

Mexico looked decent game 1. A bit sloppy but they had a nice attack with a cycle of quick, short range passes between 2-3 guys just outside shooting range, to open up a seem in the D, then send a guy sprinting up the middle and the last guy in the cycle hits him with a pass as he runs up that opening.

Yeah, maybe sloppy was slightly overreaching with Mexico. After watching Holland and Germany, it has skewed my views of other teams.

Belgium /facepalm cup

Nice to see Belgium finally realizing they're playing in the World Cup :P

FANTASTIC atmosphere for Bra - Mex  :drill: :drill:

Ketchup and Mustard.

haha, yeah, love the colour combination in the stands.

Nice save.

By Brazil and a nice save by Mexico.

Ochoa has been out of his mind... and a bit lucky.

End of the first half; very intense game, although we've not seen a lot of proper football.

Ochoa save on Neymar's header reminded me of what is regarded as the greatest save ever done by a goalkeeper: Banks on a header by Pelè (yeah, of course context is VERY different, but the gesture is similar):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNLam4RAbg8

I really thought Brazil would beat Mexico like a burro, but this has been a very close and entertaining game so far.

One thing I'm not looking forward to is how glorious and well-played a 0-0 tie was from the media. If it ends like that.

Ochoaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

Not glorious nor particularly well-played, but sometimes, intensity and context (in this case, world cup, home team, general atmosphere in the stands) helps a 0-0 and makes it quite entertaining, just like tonight's game.
---

Brazil is surely feeling the responsibility, and that is reflected into their game; it's "chained up" for that aforementioned reason, but also because Scolari wants to push them to be a hybrid between a solid european team in the back, and an unpredictable team in the forwards, but without the free-flowing style of other Brazil teams of the past. Potentially, I think that kind of Brazil might finally show up starting in the Round of 16, but there's still work to do (although they should beat Cameroon with ease; they just have to pay attention to Eto'o on the counter).

That was a stressful game match.  :drill:

edit: i know better than that... /sigh

Just got back from the one decent Mexican restaurant here in Warsaw.  The Mexican embassy was having its big party/match watching thing there, and I got invited.  I hate soccer and the match seemed dull as hell, but the crowd was hilarious and it was a fun time.  I did tequila shots with the Mexican Ambassador while eating fajitas.  Actually, I did a lot of tequila shots as the owner sent down a free tray of about 60 shots of good quality tequila to celebrate their awesome tie.  I shall 'watch' more world cup matches if they go along with events like this!

what surprises me it's how you're good at faking coherent written sentences in a totally drunken state. Good job!  :grin:  (but seriously, that sounds like great fun!)

Now there is a striking contrast between the previous 0-0 and the current one between Russia and South Korea  :ye_gods: zzzzz

Yeah this is dull as shit. Pretty amazing that all Russian players are in their national leagues though.

Russia fitness is horrible, they're simply not ready for this competition.

Let's re-animate this thread!!!

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BqXOFs_CAAEYqcK.jpg)

Giggity.

I didn't know Robert Green emigrated to Russia.

Akinfeev...What..the....fuck????  :ye_gods: :ye_gods: :ye_gods:  Disgraceful throughout the match, and in the end he finally managed to put his team in trouble (not that the korean goalkeeper is much better :P)
 

Goalkeeping shitshow. Good god.

NIL NIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Oh right soccer...

Who is the pretty lady cheering for?  I saw some pretty German ladies yesterday but last world cup I remember seeing a lot of really pretty nordic women in bright orange did that team not qualify this year or can I look forward to that later?

Orange is usually the Dutch who are in this WC.

Mexico uni on her so there is that.

Oh I looked that up and they play tomorrow.  Go orange!

Hup Hup Holland! (think that's right...)

I mean it's really not fair that one country gets three names Dutch/Holland/Netherlands but so be it.

As a trivia fact they still send Canada tens of thousands of tulips each year for liberating them from the nazis and hosting their royal family during WWII.  Dutch tulips are beyond awesome.

No.

Today, it's all about Spain vs. Chile: after the "débâcle (damn accents) with Netherlands, we'll see how Spain is gonna react, against a more than decent team (that can play better than it did against Australia). For Spain, the risk of being prematurely kicked out is real.

If that happens (not getting past group stage), they would follow the same destiny of France in 2002 (winner in '98) and Italy  :ye_gods: in  2010 (winner in '06).
---

I'm not so sure about Croatia - Cameroon; the balkan team must avoid being too lazy around the pitch and create some real goal chances, because Cameroon is definitely quicker and probably better prepared. Huge chance for either team to get immediately behind Brazil and Mexico; obviously, a draw today would already mean a 99.9% chance to get through for both american teams.

Oh yeah, there is also Australia - Netherlands  :why_so_serious:

Well, if the first games were anything to go by, I am going to go with Holland 10 Aussie 0.  Okay, that's not fair.  Australia might score a goal late in the match.

Snark aside, who knows?  The Dutch had a really good day and the Spanish had a really, really bad day, so I really don't know what we've learned.  I expect Spain will clean up their act and at least come away with a draw today and probably even win.  Should be entertaining in any event.  Seemed like Spain had a lot of trouble actually getting the ball into the penalty area and getting room for good finishes.  I recall thinking that Xavi seemed largely absent, Piquet playing like an idiot, and Iniesta seems to have lost a step.  Iniesta was an unstoppable juggernaut four years ago.  Without him playing at his best level, they may have problems scoring.

And although Netherlands is clearly a class above and will be motivated to win this match, there's no reason the Aussies can't keep it close. 

btw, yeah, the above "illustrated" journalist is mexican, and she's called Ines Sainz. Nice MILF :D

Enjoy (NSFW, although she's always dressed) :

like I said, enjoy (http://www.corriere.it/foto-gallery/mondiali/2014/14_giugno_17/ines-sainz-giornalista-piu-ammirata-mondiale-a4e5fc54-f620-11e3-9bf3-84ef22f2d84d.shtml)

So now that everyone has played one game here are the teams that I can still conceive of winning it all:
Brazil
Colombia
Argentina
Italy
Chile
Mexico
Netherlands
Germany
France
Spain

Costa Rica is my new sleeper. I am still backing Germany though.

I like Germany and the Netherlands and have Chile as my long shot.  While Spain is very talented, I worry that their age and lack of defense could be a serious problem in the quarter finals. The Brazil v Mexico match didn't impress me. 

Despite my semi-negativity on them earlier, Germany has my vote.  The way that midfield plays, they might just smash everyone.  Netherdutchland is my number two.  That seemed like too much of an ass-kicking to be a fluke, but we'll see.

I'm hoping for either a Netherlands/German final or Spain/Germany. Either way I think Germany's got this one. I don't see Brazil being a solid enough team to win - they were sloppy against Mexico and Croatia, and really lucky to have gotten out of the Croatia game with a point. Nobody else seems good enough to beat or challenge any of those 4 teams.

I like :
Germany
Holland
Argentina
Switzerland (yeah, I went with the Swiss... )

with Costa Rica as the sleeper.

I think Brazil is way too sloppy, but they have the home turf going for them. Portugal is a mess and Spain has to be a tad demoralized.

Italy, France and Belgium could make it interesting, but they don't appear to be on the level as the guys above.

Awww, Arjen  :heart: :heart: :heart:

...And a fantastic volley by Cahill!!!  :drill:

That volley was a MONSTER.

Holland is getting all they can handle so far, and no mistake.

We should be 2-1 up. I hope they can keep it up after half time.

 :ye_gods:

I'm sorry but that's fucking bogus.

C'mon Aussies!

holy kangaroo.

No wait, 2-2. Hot mess of a game  :awesome_for_real:

Yeah, defenders not so good. Two really easy goals for them.

That Cahill goal was just sick. 

God we are awful defensively. So so bad.

Good on Australia for playing their asses of and making a game of it.  They looked like they were up to the task for about the first 60 minutes.

But then fucking Holland.  The seem to just go nuts in the second half.  Yeah, the defense left something to be desired, but they are just really really effective in the box.  They make a lot of shit happen.

well, honorable defeat for the australians, IMO; basic but very effective football from the flanks; but what surprised me the most is how well physically prepared they were, standing toe to toe with netherland's rhythm; anyway, 8 goals in two matches (plus other chances) for the dutch team, impressive.

The only specialist right back in the Aussie squad (coach's gamble to only bring Franjic) pulled a hamstring against Chile, so our defense was in a mess from that point on.

oooooh, what a start from Chile  :drill:

Whoa, great penetration to score the first goal!!

The shot for 2-0 is typical Futsal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futsal), amazing skill. But Casillas had to punch on the side, not back in the center; another awful error.

The spanish gods have fallen, end of an era (at last :P).

Meanwhile, lovely move by Croatia to get ahead 1-0. Weather conditions are quite tough: temperature is not bad (28 Celsius), but humidity is almost 90%. Could be a factor later on.

AKA, a nice summer day along the entire eastern seaboard of the US.  :awesome_for_real:

"Run Forrest, run!!!!"  :grin: :grin:

0-2!!

Cahill goal from different angles, over and over (https://vine.co/v/MTu5Pm3nhqh).

 :why_so_serious:

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bqcxq77IEAA7yRC.jpg)

Anyway, Croatia - Mexico will be HUGE, can't wait.

What the hell was that about, it's like he just temporarily lost his mind.

He caught a case of the Zidane.  :why_so_serious:

Today most interesting match: Uruguay - England. Last call for either team.

Suarez is still not confirmed in the starting eleven, but in any case he definitely won't be 100% fit. England made a good impression no matter the defeat, IMO. If they can keep up the pace they've shown against Italy, I think they can beat the south american team, which seemed quite lethargic compared to Costa Rica. On the other hand, England players got a serious case of cramps toward the end of their first match.

The other matches: Day 2 of Group C. I give a slight advantage to Colombia over Ivory Coast, and Japan should beat Greece

Anyone who backs england is asking for heartbreak. this is a team of under-performing, overpaid stars, filled with has-beens who hardly won anything on international level.

Tell us what you really feel

Much better.  :grin:

Watched the Spanish team get demolished by Chile. Holy... fuckballs. How a team with this much quality at EVERY SINGLE POSITION can be so utterly inept is amazing. I mean, they couldn't even get simple passes right. Casillas really does just look burned as a top-level goalkeeper. I put at least 4 of the goals scored against them directly on him making simple, idiotic mistakes. Jordi Alba was a fucking nightmare, and Ramos has been beat up and down the pitch for pace all Cup. He's also made some really fucking stupid tackles that caused him to get beat even worse and put pressure on both his keeper and central defensive partner. Chile could easily have put 4 in with a few different bounces. Busquets provided no spine in defense and no accuracy in passing to move the ball from back to front.

All credit to both Chile and the Netherlands for doing the smart thing and not letting Spain just pass the ball around the midfield. Both teams pressed the fuck out of those midfielders all game long and as a result Diego Costa barely got anything remotely resembling good service. Spain then didn't have an answer - they never went wide (and when they did Jordi Alba fucked it up - and Azpilicueta isn't even as good as Alba offensively) and they refused to go route 1 or thump balls long even though Costa really is good at that kind of game. I laughed my ass off when they substituted Torres for Costa. I mean sure, Costa hadn't done shit and didn't look like he would, but it's been years since Torres could find the goal without a compass, a map and a flashlight, and even with those things, I wouldn't lay odds on him scoring. He doesn't seem to have the confidence for it anymore. Why put him on when you had David Villa on the bench? He's not what he was, but he still put in 13 goals for Athleti this year and that's with Costa scoring his ass off.

Welp, it was good while it lasted. Still think a Germany/Netherlands final is in the cards and would look forward to that.

I am with you on that, but I think Germany would walk home with the trophy given how the Aussies gave everyone a template on how to handle the Dutch. I'd hope Germany could do that quite easily and then just control the ball the rest of the match once they got the lead.

Can't wait for the England match today and how many 'might have been' arguments the announcers will bring up when they lose.

english fans getting ready for today's game  :why_so_serious:

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BqgetCFIMAAOaRF.png)

Great final 20min of that Ivory Coast/Columbia match. Really thought Drogba had a shot to tie it up there. Good showing in that they never gave up.

Figures: I have dinner for about 20 minutes, and of course everything happens in those 20 minutes  :oh_i_see:

Anyways, this game shows you why teams like Colombia and Cote d'Ivoire are very unreliable: speed, passion, some talent here and there, but zero tactical awareness, they get stretched out all over the pitch far too often; a more organized (and technical, of course) team can easily exploit those weaknesses and drop into those open spaces.

Official team lists for Uru - Eng:

Cheering for England is like cheering for the Toronto Maple Leafs  :oh_i_see:

No, it's like cheering for the New York Knicks. They're popular despite only having won once ever and that was a million years ago. The Leafs at least had a history of success for a while.

I like that comparison. Just like the Knicks, England's best players have a tendency to be massively overrated. Was a painful match to watch because I could never really decide which team I wanted to win less.

On the plus side there is now EVEN MORE reason to want to see Italy fail. So hooray for that I suppose.

I was really shocked they never pulled Suarez for Forlan but I guess they knew what they were doing. What a dagger. Quite fortunate but at the end of the day I'm searching my mind to think of a good save that Hart made all game. England just can't produce the kind of keeper you need, the kind that is good for denying 2+ goals per game at this level. I really fucking hate Joe Hart, what a joke that he's the best they can find.

Whatever. They're going home as usual.
Piece of shit.

Oh and anyone who mentions that Uruguay should have gone down to ten right away on that Goudin foul should be ashamed of himself and is a huge bitch.

England getting beat by Freddie Mercury was kinda priceless. I was sad a little for them, but at least Rooney got the monkey off his back.

Jesus, these Greeks dive like Louganis.

England as a whole now knows what Liverpool fans knew a few years ago. Roy Hodgson should not be their manager. At least he started with Rooney in the center behind the main striker instead of out on the wing. But Welbeck? He's not nearly as effective a winger as he is a forward. As a result, the forwards didn't get as good a service as they should have and it shows in only getting 1 goal each game. It's even more infuriating when you realize that he had winger options on the bench in Lallana. Both Baines and Johnson were disappointing but they were being relied on to provide both the width and defending. The defending was pretty terrible, though - both times Suarez got free for a goal, it was because someone let him go free in a dangerous position. Gerrard was pretty disappointing in the deep role but really overall, the team just wasn't good. All those star players should feel pretty embarrassed by that performance.

All that being said, they still have a middling chance to go through. Italy is going to beat Costa Rica like a drum, which will go a long way toward erasing the goal deficit. Then England needs to win v CR and they are through. I would say 25-35% chance?

I hate having to go on media and thread blackout during work days, but getting to watch 3 games when I get home is pretty cool  :grin:

Like a drum.

Costa Rica have a different copy of the script than WAP does.

 :drill:

Hah.  Fuck Italy.

Fuck  :uhrr: :ye_gods:

 :why_so_serious: Italy

I think the only team that's stayed on script is England.

Who woulda thunk it, the one team in that group that has never won the cup is the one that will most likely win the group.

It does set up a good match to watch between Italy and Uruguay though. Uruguay wins they are in, otherwise Italy goes through.

Cameroon as well.

*ahem*

Now that's beating like a drum.

Coq slapped.

Wow nice save.

Edit: actually it wasn't that good a penalty kick though even if it was closer to the corner the goalkeeper would've likely have blocked that too.

I hate the penalty awarded in that situation.  Dude had nowhere to go with that ball anyway, had not path to either pass the ball or score.  Glad the attempt was saved.  I mean, the ref probably has to make the call according to the book, but I wish they would use more situational judgement sometimes.

But otherwise, France is kicking the shit out of the Swiss so far.  I thought it would be a closer match.

Switzerland....le sigh.

Ouch :ye_gods:

Edit: haha so many people have scored for France they have to scroll the list on the ESPN display :awesome_for_real:

LOL right through the wall :awesome_for_real:

That was hilarious.

When the score was 2-0 France, and after watching just two possessions against the Swiss defense, I looked at the buddy of mine watching and said, "You can stop now, it's only going to get uglier."

Guess it did.

Sloppy looking and tactically poor first half for Argentina.  Pretty solid defense for Iran.  Making for a fairly boring match if Argentina can't get one in the net soon.

Getting more exciting now.  Iran is going to steal one if they aren't careful.

Whats the difference between England and a tea bag?


The tea bag stays in a cup longer!




tee hee :raspberry:

They should have pulled Aguero long before they did.

Messi and he just don't seem to mesh very well.

I say that and Messi nails another perfect goal  :ye_gods:

Iran were robbed. Argentina weren't even playing for most of it, then they manage to put the ball in front of Messi and he pulls them through.

Kinda feel bad for Iran, they played their faces off.  Deserved a draw, tbh.

Argentina isn't going to go far with that kind of play.  Bad coaching, too.

Perfect game my ass. Putting 11 behind the ball is boring and lame. Glad Messi could do his thing.

Heh. Watch Ghana screw the U.S. by beating Germany. Just can't get away from them.

Klose!

Great game.  US is win and in.

That was a nuts last half hour.

And the US controlling their own destiny in that group is  :why_so_serious:.

I wasn't expecting the game to be too exciting... By the end I was an emotional wreck. Awesome! :drill:

Gonna need a trip to the packie for tomorrow's match.

Bosnia got hosed pretty hard.

Yeah :(

Ghana just keeps surprising me. Let's face it - they outplayed the US by a wide margin the other night and were unlucky not to have at least gotten a draw. Who would have thought that the team with the highest paid player in the world (Portugal) would end up being the worst team in the group? I'm probably going to regret saying this, but I'd be shocked if the US didn't at least get a draw tomorrow. I could even see both Ghana and the US beating Portugal and not just because Germany embarrassed them. That team just doesn't seem to have any cohesion.

Germany, OTOH, should have started Klose from the off. This may be his last World Cup but he still knows how to put the ball in the back of the net.

I feel that Klose might not have the stamina anymore to keep up this level of play for a whole 90 minutes. Using him as a sub for the 2nd half seems like the better choice.

If they had started Klose the guy who scored their first goal ( who played pretty well) would not have been in there. Schweinsteiger on the other hand should have been in there the whole match. And I second the stamina comment.

Ghana played really well both matches. Seeing how Ghana played against the Germans really showed just how good the US defense played to hold that lead for 80 minutes.

This game is turning in to a stinker.  Belgium looks to be content with the draw, and Russia looks like they are forced to play along.  I hope it comes back and blow up in Belgium's faces, stupid dicks.

So much for that. The curse of Fabio Capello continues onward.

Yeah, they pulled themselves together in the last 10 minutes. 

Korea getting absolutely shit on. BY ALGERIA. WTFC.

I'm not sure about the rest of their team, but Algeria's Feghouli is a hell of a creative player. He's been one of the few bright spots for Valencia the last few seasons - which means he'll probably get sold soon to pay for their new stadium.

This has turned into quite the exciting game. :drill:

The last three days, beside Italy's clusterfuck (but well played by Costa Rica, no doubt), I've only watched Germany-Ghana and Belgium-Russia.

Germany - Ghana, IMO, has been the best match of the group phase, so far. Great courage and dedication by the african players; from time to time, right before Ghana's 2-1 and that great chance for 3-1, Germany looked a bit like Italy: on its knees, slower, with no clue on how to carry on. But the quality of the team is definitely higher than Italy, and they promptly showed that with the 2-2; Klose, what a poacher

Belgium - Russia has been an absolute snoozefest; first half was slightly better, and then, of course the last ten minutes by Belgium. Now I'm looking forward to USA - Portugal :D

You should have watched Algeria v S Korea, it was about as full of exciting attacking play from both sides as it is possible.

Derp.

Decent reaction by the U.S. so far, anyway.

Man, Ronaldo is such a whiny bitch.

Fucking Bradley. Complete shit.

Pretty.

holy fuck, nice!

Apparently my ESPN3 stream is like two minutes delayed O.o

And out comes the European diving competition.

hahahhaha, can't believe it.

Chesty McDempsey.

Couldn't head it or he'd break his nose again.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/829607/daily/53/cr9box.jpg)

Flavored with over 11 Portugal Players' Tears and Secret Spices

Fucking Bradley again. He turns it over and that leads to a goal. He should simply not be playing.

Oh god, Bradley.

Fuck me dry.

That was ALL on Bradley. Best player NOOOOO

 :psyduck:

Four minutes turned to five is also kinda bullshit.

Bradley coughed it up twice in that last minute. Fuuuuuuu

what did I just watch?

He did this in the Ghana game too. I have u14 players who can do a better job than that.

Frankly he played fine early on.  I wonder if he makes mental mistakes when he gets tired.  It happens to the best of us I suppose.  But,  take him out of the game 75 minutes in if he can't play the last 15.

I hand in my man card.  I actually took time to turn on the TV and watch the US world cup game, after 1 AM local time (meaning it took effort), to see the end.  To all you soccer fans I promise I'll not watch anymore US world cup games.  Every single time I make the effort to watch a US world cup match (once back in 2006, once in 2010, and now once in 2014) we have lost or fucked up hilariously (Ghana, Ghana, last second of the game tie on Portugal).  I shall stop, so you guys might have a chance.  Also hide my head in shame for effort (living in Europe is obviously fucking with me horribly).

I will say this now, regardless of the final result for the US in this tournament they have to keep Juergen as boss for four more years.

Bradley had ONE JOB!  :ye_gods:

That said, the US just are complete shit when it comes to control. Whole game was haphazard passing with a few glimmers of brilliance.

So now we have to root for Portugal to win by or 1 goal or for the Germans to be content with passing it around for a draw.

Pretty much summarizes the country as a whole.  A bunch of flailing with occasional brilliance.

And not to get lost on this stupid outcome, that Jones goal was a fucking cannon shot and Dempsey is showing his value (though he disappeared in the 2nd half until they needed his midsection).

You know Klinsmann has already been on the phone. "90 minute kick around and we will see you in the knockout round? Good."

Bradley is supposed to be best US outfield player and he has been shockingly, appallingly bad. If he can hold possession any of a dozen times it is a completely different game.

Bradley coughed it up a bunch. He did make a few nice passes too, during the course of the match, but the foible that led to the tying goal at game-end was inexcusable.

The US were lucky that Portugal couldn't shoot on target, they deserved to lose that game just for the fact that every time they got the ball they passed it nicely to a Portuguese player. Also wtf were the US defence doing kicking around short passes inside their own box when Portugal were pushing hard?

I swear I saw Klinsman tell the team to stay in the forward half at the very end to try to kill it. Big mistake when you have someone turn it over with the frequency of Bradley.

I think he was gesturing for them to tighten up in their end. Regardless, Bradley needs to warm a seat on the bench against Germany. They will eat the US alive if his shoddy passing is there.

You know I was looking forward to work today to watch recap videos, pump up videos...enjoy photoshops of a Captain America Star or Superman 'S' on Clint Dempsey's chest instead we get this shit. Again, fuck you Michael Bradley.

There was some good in this game:

Love seeing Ronaldo consistently screw up. No idea if he is completely healthy, but some of his advances and dribbling suggest yes, but his shots were horrible. He is a liability on defense and his team pays for it, which I like.

Beasley is playing out of his mind for an old man. Jones is also showing up every game. Come to think of it, the whole starting squad is getting up there in age. That Yedlin kid is a straight up burner. I'd like to see Jóhannsson get some experience.

The USA just seems too scattered and most of their success has been opportunistic rather than executed. Makes it exciting but mostly frustrating to watch.

I think the executed option goes through Bradley and that particular cog is not functioning correctly. He was better than against Ghana so I'm not sure benching him is the answer, but there's got to be some changes in the strategy.

Ronaldo has knee problems and had them for quite a while now. He shouldn't be playing. Because of a mixture of him wanting the world cup, the Portugese team relying on him and pressure by the Portugese people he does though.

Ronaldo is such a beloved player and such a fixture though that there was no way his team would have left him at home. The press would have slaughtered both the manager for having the audacity and CR7 for being weak.

You mean like this?

(http://i.imgur.com/orm9Qk0.jpg)

If the US play the same game against Germany that they played last night then there's a good chance that Portugal will still manage to beat the US on goal difference. Not only giving the ball away every other touch but being markedly unwilling to engage in defence gave Portugal a bunch of gift-wrapped opportunities where they had possession deep in the US half and plenty of space to move around and find a way through. Germany won't pass those chances up like Portugal did. Also bouncing the ball around with short passes between defenders is a fucking stupid idea when you can't hold possession and the penalty box is full of guys from the other team. That last second goal was inevitable because not even Portugal could keep missing all the chances to score that they were handed.

The biggest weakness of Klinsmann is that he wants to win every game, he lacks the cold blooded tactical and efficient mindset. He also still has a huge chip on his shoulder because in his mind he never had the respect and popularity in Germany he thinks he deserves. That makes it more likely that the US will lose against Germany.

If Germany were to play Italy on thursday the game would end 0:0. Italy's tactic would be to basically play a 11-0-0 and to take all of the tempo out of the game to conserve  energy for the next round. They'd let the opposing team charge on against their defense and they'd only ever switch to an offensive setup if they'd ever get behind. They'd probably even start with a some of their key players on the bench.  That's how they won the semi in 2006, they waited until the German side ran out of steam and then went in for the kill. Löw is not stupid so he'd eventually resign himself to the 0:0 to not overextend his team and his key people. It would probably be utterly boring but in the end both teams would be through to the next round.

Klinsmann unfortunately already told the press that he 'wants to win against Germany'. This means that Löw also has to play to win. Germany can't afford a loss. The likelyhood of us going through regardless might be high but he won't take that risk because you'll never know what Ghana is capable of or if Portugal finds its tournament spirit after all.

So Löw will go for an early goal and - given just how exhausted the US side was at the end of the portugal match - will probably try to make the US side run until they are no longer able to stand.

Normally I'd say that the US should also push for an early goal. The German side doesn't handle getting behind well and they usually play more hectic and not as concentrated when they are behind. For that to work though you need god ball control and a competent defense/good possesion play. Last night's game has shown though that the US side is lacking there so they'd probably have to push for another goal even if they had a 1:0 lead.

I wholeheartedly adore the trading shirts tradition.  :drill:

Hopefully Croatia-Mexico won't disappoint: I'm expecting a great game. I'm dismissing Brazil-Cameroon already because of how horrible Cameroon was during the previous two performances.

Was an exciting last 20 minutes.

You know how they have that stat that shows how much a player has run around on the pitch during a match?  I like that statistic, but I really want to see a stat showing how much time each spends rolling around on the pitch grabbing his whiney cunt.

And now Suarez just bit a motherfucker.  No really!  Full on Mike Tysoned him on the shoulder plain as day.

And now a goal.

Fuck both of these teams.

I mean, Suarez literally bites then guy, and then roles around on the pitch grabbing his own teeth as if he was fouled.  That is a good summary of this entire bullshit game.

Italy got what it deserved for playing that shit brand of soccer. Suck it.

If that was meant for me, I should clarify that I prefer seeing Uruguay go on.  Italy plays the world's worst brand of football, I hate everything about it.  That's what you get for crying wolf all the time, you dumb bitches.

But the game in general was a disgrace, on both sides of the ball.

It is just insane how Italy feels they need to play so dirty when they have such talented players.

And Suarez is a psychopath. It really sucks for Uruguay that Forlan is not the same player as in 2010 making them effectively have to play Suarez.

Oh no not directed at you. Directed at those shit heads in blue who deserve fucking nothing. SUCK IT SUCK IT SUCK IT (ok so I may still be a little bitter about 2006).

Even if the other team does have a cannibal.

Eh, fuck Italy.  Lesser of two evils moves on.

Really not shocked that Freddie Mercury bit someone again... I mean look at his top front teeth!

And I think he got an elbow to the mouth for it which is why he was laying on the ground - really thought he got one knocked out which would have been both awesome and deserved. But yeah, He'll be banned for the rest of the tournament.

My dark cynical German heart rejoices at the thought of Italy being out of the World Cup. Serves then right for being one of the most appalling sides in football. That they went out while getting a dose of their own medicine is just the cherry on top of that delicious cake made from their tears.

Doesn't change the fact though that the red card wasn't really justified. Also if they don't retroactively ban Suarez for biting another player they might as well just be done with enforcing rules at all.

I really do not see the resemblance between Suarez and Freddie Mercury.

They can barely keep the refs from fixing matches, let alone enforce their own rules.

This. Get fucked, Azzurri.

HuffPo bringing it-

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bq6zhiyCcAArVUc.jpg)

(http://twitpic.com/show/thumb/e6v39c.gif)

hint: it's the mouth.

The gif misses the BEST part when Suarez fucking DIVES after he bites him.

He did get an elbow to the face because of his bite, though.

(http://i.imgur.com/pQ5zWiA.jpg)

this one still the best to me
(http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/SuarezBirthday.gif)

Needs a muzzle a la Hannibal Lecter.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bq7GAaeIMAIG9aY.jpg)

A day of shit football, played by shitheads. And despite my Italian roots, the Azzurri can fuck right off for being both dirty players and boring. Also, Fuck Greek divers, and Fuck Hannibal Suarez.

Despite the fact he's a Liverpool player (though for how long who knows if the rumors about Barca and Real Madrid are to be believed), goddamnit what the fuck is wrong with that idiot? One of the greatest football talents in the world, but he can't keep his fucked up teeth out of some dude's shoulder? I don't even know in what world you'd even consider doing that. Totally bonkers. The fucked up part is that the ban he'll get likely won't be for club level football which would hurt him a lot more than just banning him from internationals. Most maddening as a Liverpool supporter is if he IS banned from club games, selling him will be right out because we wouldn't get anywhere near the proper valuation for him with a 24-match ban hanging over his head so we'd likely have to hang on to him. Just utter fuckstupid cuntery.

Also, just for good measure, fuck Italy. I've always hated the way that team plays. I've taken to calling the Chelsea way - park your bus in front of the goal, and wait for the other team to make a mistake. Boring ass football to watch. I found it especially hilarious seeing some of the Italian players complaining about Suarez and others diving and play acting to waste time. Pot - meet kettle.

I do hate the turtling teams do when they go up a goal. Has that same feel as playing prevent defense... and the Italians do it best. I am glad they are out.

I have to confess that every time I see a player dive and grab his shin, I imagine them on the bottom of a fumble pile getting punched and spit on.  It makes the dives easier to take.

Has there ever been consideration of a rule change that would function as the opposite to offsides, that would regulate the number of defenders you could have downfield without any offensive players in the same area? Something that would force teams to stay mobile and not just turtle up?

If there ever were, I'm sure the Italians would fall down writhing in front of it grabbing their shins while Jose Mourinho screamed and pointed his finger.

One thought I had the other day was that you could make the first tie-breaker for any matches that end in a draw dependent on score.  For example, say Italy has 4 points in the pool, Uruguay has 4 points, so both teams won a game and tied a game.  Make the first tie-breaker dependent on the number of goals scored in the game that was a draw for each team.  So Uruguay tied another team 2-2, and Italy tied a team 0-0.  Bingo bango, Uruguay goes through because their tie actually involved not playing like dickholes.

I kind of like that better than goal differential anyway, but I haven't really thought through whether there are obvious problems with my idea.  On the surface, it was just an idea to get teams to actually try to score goals.

Well if this keeps up, it'll be 9-10 by half - ARG/NGA.  :awesome_for_real:

Four minutes into the game, and I am ready to predict that Argentina will win 38-36 over Nigeria.

It is also nice to be able to watch 15 minutes of football without half of that being a bunch of cunts rolling around on the grass like a bunch of toddlers.

They already use goals scored as part of the tiebreak, it is just the step after goal differential.

Its fun to watch Messi...

Noooot so much if your Nigeria.

You misunderstand, perhaps.  I am talking about only the goals scored in the games that were draws.  Not total goals scored.

I understand what you were saying, I just don't see how it makes much of a difference in the end.

Lacrosse does that with the 4/3 offside rule. You have to have 4 players on your defensive and 3 players on the offensive half of the field at all times.

Speaking of rolling around like toddlers, what the fuck was the Ecuador keeper doing last night. I'm surprised none of his teammates punched him in the face. 89 minutes on the clock his team needs a goal to qualify and he's complaining about a dead leg, the two minutes he wasted didn't even get added on cause it was right at the end. What a tool, he likely got man of the match cause France kept shooting straight at him.

USA Ger might be delayed due to rain

Dunno if you guys caught this but I just saw it, pretty good burn on Mexico (and I say this as a Mexico fan)

More like biblical flooding.  :why_so_serious:

http://www.espnfc.com/fifa-world-cup/story/1913701/luis-suarez-banned-for-four-months

Banned for the next 9 internationals and banned from all football activity for 4 months - not even allowed to enter a stadium. And fined 100k francs. So his World Cup 2014 is out and it rolls over into the next World Cup.

This seems like such a ludicrous slap on the wrist.

It's a sign from God that the game is supposed to be a draw :awesome_for_real:

This shouldn't be a surprise. Every time America goes up against the Germans, things fall from the sky.

Germany's just lucky it's water this time.

Ghana sent Boateng and Muntari home before the match today.

So it looks like Portugal has a better chance of beating Ghana (which is slightly better for the US chances to make it through in any circumstance as there is a bigger goal differential gap there).

Gonzalez is starting....whhhy?

Sounds about right.

This is a terrible start.  And of all days, perhaps now is not the day to make sure everyone plays.

Looks like it's raining  :grin:

Oh, and fuck Italy, really. Damn fuckers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOxj26vcwMI

 :awesome_for_real:

Wow no holds barred! Good game so far.

Bradley has coughed up pretty much every ball that has come his way, sigh.

He's consistent.  You have to give him that.

Eh. Nice shot.

This is setting up for a massive disaster for the USA.

Did anyone here expect the US to make the round of 16 prior to the start of the World Cup?  I know I didn't. 

Even if they lose there are multiple scenarios where they advance, the easiest being 'Portugal and Ghana draw', but also if Portugal beats Ghana (nice own goal, Ghana) and the goal differential doesn't swing by *5*.

Right now it's very likely that they advance even if they lose.

Ghana puts in another goal and that all changes fast.

A one goal loss for the US and a one goal win for Ghana still puts us through, because of head to head.

EDIT: Yeah, and as Nebu says, even if they don't advance, it can hardly be called a disaster. When the groups were originally posted I doubt 10% of people would have predicted that the US would advance. They've already outperformed expectations.

No, I don't think it does. Because of total goals.

http://screamer.deadspin.com/what-has-to-happen-for-the-usmnt-to-advance-1594615051/1596488489/+reubenfb

Ah, yeah, apparently the article I was using to double check only factored a 1-0 win for Ghana, not a 2-1 one.

Good news, Portugal just buried a goal.

Sorry guy but any way you cut it, it's pretty bad when you blow your ticket to round 2 in minute 94 of 95. They gotta make up for that now.

Is it me, or does the USA just run out of gas ~75min?

Gas?  No.  Focus?  Yes.

SNUCK IN THE BACK DOOR! USA USA USA!

I'll take it.

Spent most of those minutes chasing the ball, the old football idiom comes to mind 'let the ball do the work'.

I just had the misfortune to watch Keith Olbermann's video comment about the US v. Ger game 'if a tie is a win, we all lose'.

Heavily retweeted and shared already because 'MURICA apparently. Probably the douchiest comment about the world cup and soccer. I've seen this year. Just, wow.

People who don't like ties are douchebags? Uh, ok.

Here's the actual douchiest thing written about soccer thus far this year, by the way:

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2014/06/25/coulter-growing-interest-soccer-sign-nations-moral-decay/11372137/

The only thing I took from that game is we played like shit and still advanced. Gotta up the game if they want to win in the elimination rounds.

I will take the result we got, though the way the US played was pretty meh. I am a little miffed that we need to thank Ronaldo for helping us through though.

Go on and watch what he said then get back to me. It wasn't  'I don't like ties'.

The USA squeaked by Ghana but they won it on a set piece so I give them credit. They fucked up against Portugal and lost to Germany. They'll go out first game, 3-0 to Belgium.

I just watched it. Which part was I supposed to be offended by? Soccer has an incredibly hard time getting traction here, and the ties are part of it. I don't mind them personally but I get where the people who hate them are coming from and it's certainly the majority opinion for US sports fans, or at least English-speaking US sports fans.

We're in the easier bracket now so it was better not to win :awesome_for_real:

Getting out of that group was amazing whether we did it backwards, sideways, or on a stretcher. Tough draw in general with the extra plus of Ghana, our personal tormentor demon. I thought we'd be eliminated in two matches.

Getting out was an over-achievement for this group, but I believe we've done that before. To progress as a "soccer nation" we have to start winning some elimination games, and they don't get much easier than Belgium.

Yeah well, Belgium is no joke. They 'should' beat SK pretty easily which means they ran their group..which was not the greatest, I'll admit. But still, Belgium was the sleeper on quite a few boards at my job.

I always felt if people were so proud/defensive of ties being integral to soccer, they should take it to the logical conclusion.  No exceptions at all.  Allow ties even in the world cup final.  Bask in the glory of 0-0 beautiful game championships!   :why_so_serious:

Here's where the terrible beauty of penalties comes in. They are such a soul destroying thing to go through that even the objectively worse team will prefer to risk everything at a shot of deciding the game before it comes to that.

Fun (disclaimer: fun may mean incorrect) fact: In the good olde days, 5 players from each team were executed on the spot when the referee king got too damn bored with the game, but they toned it down a bit in recent years.

Add on to ties the uncertainty of the game clock as a reason it remains less sticky. Soccer fans love it, Americans prefer more than a single ref knows when the game is actually going to end.

Soccer should be at least as big as Hockey in the US. Bigger given you don't have to live in a northern climate or be rich enough to afford an indoor rink to play. Yet it's not.

Yeah the clock is the one thing that drives up the fucking wall.

Now Algeria can get revenge for the collusion game!  Also, not sure I've seen a bench player booked before.

How big is this ban to the World Cup?

Suarez? Pretty big. Nobody loses a guy that good without missing a step.

The clock doesn't bother me because, like Rugby, you know within 5-10 minutes EXACTLY how long in real time watching a game will take. A football game in the U.S. has 60 minutes of playtime and takes around 3 hours to complete. Soccer has 90 minutes (plus injury time) and it takes right about 2 hours start to finish. The running clock is awesome because the game doesn't stop to try and sell you some shitty beer you don't want anyway every 2 minutes.

Also, when MLS started they tried reversing the clock and counting down but it confused people more so they switched it pretty quickly to the international standard.

The big problem with soccer becoming a huge sport in this country compared to others is that we are a country with ADD and can't focus on something on the television (where most people see sports) for more than 5 or so minutes before expecting an interruption for a commercial. Well, that and American Exceptionalism makes everyone think that if it is not a sport that is played primarily in the U.S. with comparison to the rest of the world and the absolute best league is based here it is pooh poohed as some kind of "wimpy sport". More children actively participate in soccer in the US than in any other country, the problem is that once they reach puberty there is very little chance for organized play in most parts of the country. Little towns with 2000 people have teams participating in youth soccer leagues but only the richest/biggest schools in suburbia tend to have the sport available at the high school level.

YMMV, but I like having the opportunity to get up and use the restroom, etc., without potentially missing the one big event that might happen in the whole game.

If only there was a break halfway through the game.  :why_so_serious:


They always tell you exactly how much extra time each half is going to have, the clock is far from a mystery.

Thanks for proving my point, soccer fans.

Remain in wonder as the game fades to the background for another four years.

Also:

 If only there were a method of sending information from the game clock controlled by the ref through the aether to some mysterious device that could display it for all. No negative count or plus time required.

If only such methods existed on this frail mortal coil.

Keep selling them short, eventually you folks will be right.

The team is basically getting by on guts from what it looks like to me. Which can take you a ways, but eventually they will have to put together two things: 1) not making boneheaded plays in the first 5 minutes/last 5 minutes; and 2) string together some possession passing and connecting it to runs into the box.   

Solid set piece + resolute defense.
less talented teams make it with just that.
Remember Greece?

It's just the lapses on concentration will cost them dearly.
The moment you let in a goal, defense would just open up the floodgates..

I could bother to explain why things work the way they do but honestly just fuck off. You will not be missed.  :roll:

(http://i.imgur.com/7Q8kNxF.gif)

Wow, is that really true? I lived in a pretty rural part of NJ (as rural as a state with a population density that high can get, anyway) and every school in the area had a soccer team, because all it really requires is a field, a ball, and people with feet. Most other sports require more crap than that.

I played soccer since I was 5. I ended up as a captain of my high school team, and we won our intermural championship at UGA. Soccer is fun to play.

It's fuckawful to watch at the high levels to me. I was a keeper so I hate poncy forwards anyway, but the clutch and dive jobs, the inconsistent offsides calls, the ties, the boring ass 70+ minutes of every game, and the elitist attitude of the hipster soccer assholes make the sport unattractive to Americans.

And I can't blame them. I would rather watch NFL, College Football, Baseball, Hockey, and Golf long before I'd turn on a non-USA soccer game. We care about the colors, that's all.

There is nothing more annoying about the World Cup that the endless debate every 4 years about the status of soccer in the US.

The quibble that gets me is all the complaining about the refs, offsides calls, and penalties (including diving). I guess we won't talk about travelling and fouls for superstars in the NBA or holding calls and their "consistency" in the NFL.

I don't like the reffing in the NBA either, and I find it distasteful as a product for many of the same reasons as soccer. Bad officiating, drama llama stars, flopping, and corruption. The NBA also has soccer's boring problem in reverse, there's TOO much scoring and it's agonizing to watch the first 3 quarters of a game. Note that was NOT on my list of things I would watch.

The NFL has issues with the refs, but they are leagues better than soccer because (guess what) when you get it wrong they can actually replay the call and prove what happened. Plus they review things after the game and make appropriate suspensions for nonsense.

Yes, let's have this endless fucking debate about why asshole Americans don't like soccer again.

Soccer doesn't have to be the biggest sport in America. If you don't like soccer, don't watch it, don't talk about it. Not every-goddamn-thing Americans think is great is actually liked by the rest of the world, and Americans acting like handegg is somehow a superior or more manly sport just confirms the impression the rest of the world has of us - that we are self-righteous, obnoxious, loud, violent douchebags.

The US team, however, really needs to learn how to fucking pass. Bradley has been TERRIBLE this tournament, and I'm a fan of his. His first touch is usually directly off of his dick and onto the waiting feet of the opposing team. The US actually played better when Bradley dropped back deeper and Jermaine Jones came forward. Boy, it sure would be great if the US had a proven, veteran attacking midfielder with international experience, a history of scoring goals in international competition, the ability to take a pass, run with the ball and then make a creative move to either provide a chance for someone else or make one himself.

I wonder where we could find a player like that. *COUGH*LandonDonovan*COUGH*

Seriously, that's been the US's biggest problem this Cup - no ability to keep the ball and make something happen through the center of the field. The wings have done well, the wingbacks have done all right defensively when they aren't having the same guys running down their throats over and over again.

Getting out of the group is a huge achievement. Only losing 1-0 to Germany (who I think could win the whole thing), almost beating Portugal and beating Ghana to get out of the group is a huge step for a team that's clearly not got all the pieces.

Is Altidore back in for Belgium? Then you can push both Dempsey and Bradley back into better roles for them. Also doesn't Zusi usually play a more central role for Kansas City? I wouldn't mind seeing him in the middle...anyone at this stage other than stone feet Bradley.

Jones has been a beast. Funny how all the talk before the world cup was worrying about how he would play...

That is because every time I have seen him play in the past, he has done something stupid and gotten booked or sent off for it. He has a temper, but it seems like JK has gotten through to him, at least for now.

Firstly there is a huge difference between claiming to not like soccer and claiming that it is an un-american sport because teams can advance because of ties. 'There are no ties in american sports' was the second sentence he said. Secondly it is misrepresenting soccer and the way of advancement in a group stage of a tournament. Thirdly it is completely ignoring the fact that all team sports have their 'traditional' rules and ideosyncracies that might seem weird or boring to the uninitiated.

It's basically the whole 'hand egg vs. football' debate all over again. That debate is lame because it is always about misrepresentation of and the putting down of one sport or another. Yes soccer has lots of diving, a lot of barely competent refs and many teams get away with abusing rules and playing dirty. Which makes it no different from the NBA etc, etc.

Until 1994 there was no Major League Soccer in the US. Between 1950 and 1990 the US team never qualified for a World Cup and just 20 years after hosting the WC in 1994 the US has a professional first and second league > 10 million soccer players and a team that can qualify for the final 16 of a WC tournament and is competent enough to have a chance to beat teams like Germany or Portugal. That is a big fucking deal and should be honored and celebrated - especially by your people and even more especially by professional sports experts and reporters, like Olbermann.

I simply don't get the hate. It's not like American Football, Baseball or Basketball will become illegal next year.

And as far as soccer rules and regulations are concerned. As with most other sports most of the additional regulations are there as a reaction to systematic abuses of the rules or to clarify certain things.

Take additional time for example: Additional time and the 'back passing' rule, were added because teams kept extensively playing for time and the FAs didn't want to reward destructive tactics. The time has to be added at the end because in soccer the clock is not stopped. The clock is not stopped because that would go against one of the core tenets of the sport. So there are no timeouts, no breaks for the referees to review plays, no challenges and so the refs have only a few moments to make up their mind which leads to more mistakes etc.

I rather like the metaphor of American Football being a turn based game and soccer being a real time based game. You can't make the one more like the other without completely changing it and probably not for the better.

In American Football you can stop the clock, review the game so far, react to the opposing team and communicate all those things to your offensive or defensive line. In soccer you can't. That doesn't make one sport objectively better or worse than the other. You might like one or the other more and that's OK

The single rule change I want to see is replay review of simulation. Award retroactive red cards for that shit (which come with automatic suspensions) and it would clean the game up in 6 months. No, you can't do this at the weekly Sunday game down the park, but they don't have goal line technology there either- that ship has sailed.

Because soccer people in America fucking whine about it. They try to pretend they are smarter as sports fans because they watch it. The rest of the American backlash to soccer is over that mentality. And the fact the Euro nations prize it so highly, yet we throw out 5th tier of athletes at it.

America will never care. Ever. We have our own sports we enjoy, and the one thing we don't like to hear is the same bullshit out of the media every four years saying WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SOCCER IN THE USA? IS IT TIME NOW? IT CAN HAPPEN!

No it can't. The average American sports fan already follows at least one major league, and there are already 4 realistic options. That's not even counting niche stuff like Golf, Tennis, and NASCAR. Throwing Soccer into the mix is basically competing with Tennis.

The deep true SEC country American south may never care. But beyond that I think you should just shut the fuck up and avoid speaking for the entire country.


Literally worst strawman on f13 ever. "Soccer people" are way too busy enjoying the world cup right now.

Meanwhile cretins like you are coming out of the woodwork like they do every four years complaining about diving or added time or latin teams attitudes and the media is trolling you all with their bullshit debate over WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SOCCER IN AMERICA!?

Awww, did I strike a nerve soccer guy? Thanks for proving my point. Save the whining and start posting TV ratings of anything but the World Cup here in the states if you want to make a legit point about the game in this country.

I don't give a shit if you like soccer or not. Good on you if you do, but the vast majority of the country votes on pro sports in TV ratings and with their wallets. Like I said, I've played the game for years. I'm not "uninitiated" or whatever terms you like to toss out. I understand the game. Jeff Kelly asked the question and I answered him.

You can go back through this thread and try to prove your point that the people posting how much they hate: offsides/no commercial breaks/added time/no replay reviews/diving/player attitudes/whatever were only doing so because they were forced to respond to claims that soccer fans are smarter and whines about how the rest of America needs to get on board. I'll wait.

This thread is like every comment thread everywhere else. Some people are talking about the game and some people who don't like the game want to make it about them and how they have legit reasons to dislike the game.

Gotta agree on the straw man. Seems to be a lot of whining from soccer haters about people FORCING soccer on them, 'stop stop I'm being oppressed' when it ain't really happening at all. People are just enjoying the World Cup. Maybe it's a fear of brown people, cause, ya know they like to play soccer..

Last week I was in Kansas City where their brand new beautiful soccer stadium is built right next to a Cabella's and the speedway. They drew 6000? ppl to a 4th round US Open cup match ...

Stop complaining so much. People like sports. People like different sports. People's tastes change. Soccer may become a top 4 sport in this country, it may not. You can't stop it either way.

Enjoy rooting for a national team , there's nothing like it.

It probably will be a top 4 sport, eventually, just by virtue of immigration from soccer-loving countries.

Also, people are getting waaaaaaaay too personally insulted by people criticising certain aspects of the game. I'm pretty sure everyone here is still following and watching and enjoying the World Cup. Every game can have improvements made to it, and the fact that I don't like how the clock works and all the stupid diving is not a crime against nature. Relax.

That's a good point. Americans are by far watching and enjoying the World Cup. They usually do when the team does well. We all enjoy a national bandwagon.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/06/usa-germany-world-cupespn-ratings/

The ratings play out that way too. The USA has bought in to this tournament. That doesn't mean soccer can't be improved in many ways to attract a larger audience.

Think just a minute about what you are saying. Let it sink in for a second. You are obviously missing a word in there, a qualifier of some kind. I'll wait.

Which of the changes people have suggested do you think would drive away existing audience members? Would aggressively penalizing dives drive away millions of existing fans? Or a displayed clock?

Stuff like adding stoppages or whatever, sure, but I don't think anyone is actually suggesting that; 45 minute halves with no breaks is something I don't like, but changing it would be too big a structural change.

I see what you're getting at ("LOL you didn't add American before audience") since it's the most popular sport everywhere else, but these are changes that, say, MLS could make that would improve the game's profile here without hurting anything anywhere else.

I honestly enjoy the ambiguity of the clock. Maybe I am just used to it, but I like they way the ref will almost always let one last attack play out before blowing.

Gotta agree it's kinda fun.

I'd also like to boggle at the fact that I'm looking forward to Jozy Altidore returning to the US lineup. Twilight zone.

Larger means larger. It doesn't matter how much you already have.

It really seems like they need him to hold the ball, doesn't it? Christ knows Bradley isn't getting it done. And Dempsey plays much better in a CAM or 2nd CF position than as a striker IMO. He is really good at secondary runs and finding passing lanes in tight spaces.

If FIFA really gave two shits about dramatically increasing the American audience or felt like it needed to, you wouldn't have seen the World Cup go to Qatar.

As for needing to change the game, sure FIFA needs to make some changes, but not to appeal to an American audience. The NASL tried that and it was a colossal fucking failure. For all its faults, the MLS has actually been very successful. You know that aerosol can of chalk the refs are using to mark the proper distance for free kicks? The MLS was the first place I saw using that. This game is OLD and its governing body is corrupt as fuck, not to mention being made of old traditional players. Worldwide rules changes are GLACIAL, worse than MLB with more history involved.

Penalty shootouts to remove ties? Won't happen and soccer fans don't like them. Having ties is not what turns Americans off to soccer - since there are still ties in the NFL - they are just more infrequent. The offsides rules don't really need changing so much as they need consistent enforcement - most especially they need the refs to enforce the rule as its written, which says give the benefit of the doubt to the attacker (when in practice it's the defender that gets that benefit). Diving? Come back to me when the NBA fixes flopping or the NFL fixes its fucked up pass interference and roughing the passer rules.

 :oh_i_see:

Tickles my funny bone to hear American sporting terms used in a football (soccer) sense.

How a non-american might say it.

"They really need someone to hold the ball up, cause Bradley isn't very good at it. Dempsey plays much better in the hole, where he excels at making late runs into box or working the ball out of tight spaces."

I was quite impressed by the US so far, most by the fact they play physically and don't go in for playacting bullshit. Being Irish our national team shows a similar naivety in the art of simulation, which has cost us results over the years but it's just the way we play over here. Similarly it stems from our national sports were you would basically get a kick up the arse (ass) for any sort of carry on.

What also impressed me is the midfielders composure on the ball, which has turned over possession at times, especially later in the game. But it has actually been important aspect to the build up play and allowed breathing space for your defenders. Beasley, that guys an animal how has he not had a higher profile? I like him, maybe I'm missing something but he's impressive so far. Bradley was decent last game except a bit wasteful in final third, played some nice long balls and broke up the German play well.

Beasley's main gift is speed, even at his relatively advanced age. A stiff breeze can knock him over though. He has been wildly inconsistent through the course of his career. He broke in about the same time as Landon Donovan, and together they were supposed to save US Soccer. Then he disappeared for most of a decade, only surfacing to inexplicably be named to every World Cup squad.

He has been ok when his midfielder in front of him helps out, but he can't handle world class wingers on his own.

I find it hard to watch most sports because of all the commercial breaks so I sort of wish I could get into soccer but I just can't.  I also don't understand how the best players in the world manage to miss such a large target so often.  I mean I realize they have to aim for the edges or the goalie will stop it but still.

If a sixty minute NFL game didn't actually take three hours because of all the ads I'd watch it all the time, but fuck watching two hours of bullshit out of three.

I find it really weird that is an issue for you. I've watched many fine football games with you where you don't move for at least 45 minutes, even with commercial breaks happening. I've also watched movies with you where you were capable of going 90 minutes without needing to pee!

I don't always get up during a football game, but I have time to look away and have conversations, etc., there's not something always happening.

And movies are different shut up.

That another thing I love about watching soccer- the whole thing is over in 2 hours give or take 10 minutes. And all over that save halftime is actual play! No huddles, no goal reviews, no pitching changes (especially to face 1 fucking batter and then change again), no network timeouts.

NO U

 :heart:

And that was the thing... he was MUCH better when he played more as a holding midfielder/midfield engine room type of guy, like the role Gerrard has played for Liverpool this season. That allowed Jermaine Jones to get forward and HE has actually been able to pass, shoot and hold the ball up. Bradley has just been SO wasteful in possession in the final third. He could have created at least 3-4 gilt edged chances had he remembered he could use his feet.

It is funny how much tenser everything feels in knockout.

Also get up Neymar, you diving cunt.

Heh. They are beating the hell out of that guy.

Well this just got interesting.

Fred rockin the pornstache.

I submit that if your name is Fred, and you rock both the curly hair and the pornstache and are TOTALLY UNABLE TO FINISH ANYTHING RIGHT GODDAMN IN FRONT OF YOU, then perhaps you are unfit for the Brazilian national team. 

Seriously, he has already blown at least two big ones.

Hulk smash with hand! Eat a dick.

 :oh_i_see:

Only Maradona gets away with that kind of thing.

For the amount of talent on the pitch, this Chile v Brazil match is god awful.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so.

Lucky bastards.

Well there's the goal of the tournament, wow.

I'm still more impressed by Cahill's volley. Rodriguez volleyed it off of his chest stop making it much easier to judge the ball trajectory before the volley.

Yeh I'd forgotten about that one, it's marginal but you're probably right, that was a serious hit. I couldn't help be astounded by the way Rodriquez controlled it with his chest and then used the outside of his boot for the volley. That's an über difficult technique.

I'd put Van Persies header against Spain in there with the two of them all the same, that was genius.

I think Van Persie's was more a product of excellent timing on both parts.  A fantastic goal, but probably slightly less skill involved in either of the volleys we saw.

The most impressive thing about the Rodriguez volley was his body position.  It wasn't just a simple bounce of the chest.  He had his back to the goal and bounced it off and dropping it to his left foot, keeping his back to the goal and turning into the shot.  Incredible.  His shot and Cahill's are 1 and 1a.

As an Australian I can let you all know: Rodriguez kicked the better goal. Holy crap it was a fine goal.

RVPs showed the most ingenuity. I've watched it back a few and not once does he take his off the ball, yet he knows where the keeper is.

Spot on about Rodriguez the chest control was sublime. Watch the behind goal replay and you can see just before it hits his chest he's looking to where he knows the ball is going to be. The only other player I think could have pulled that off was Zidane.

After 45 minutes, Mexico looks far more dangerous than Netherlands in this match, which is a mild surprise.  Of course, Netherlands seems to always go bonkers in the second half, so let's see what happens.  One thing, though...whoever Mexico has playing up front, especially on the right side....just waaaay too fast for the Dutch defense.  They are lucky not to be down a goal.

Oranje look in disarray. That was nice goal by Mexico.

I wonder how much the heat is getting to them.  They strike me as a team that works really hard, but not so much today.

That was a pretty cheap penalty.

I feel less bad about it given the one he wasn't given in the first half.

It was a bit cheap, but he probably got stiffed for at least one earlier.  Netherlands ultimately deserved the win, I guess, but what a bummer for the Mexicans.  You can't give those Dutch so many chances and expect to win.

Wow poor Mexico.

I feel bad for both Chile and Mexico but at this point you need to take it from your opponent unless you are Italy (or maybe Greece?) you can't try to go into a defensive shell and survive. Even Colombia with a 2 goal lead looked like they might throw it away for about ten minutes but Uruguay just didn't have the talent without Saurez to get that first goal to ramp up the pressure.

There are only six teams left that I can see potentially winning it all:
Brazil
Colombia
Dutch
Germany
Argentina
France

That's it. I don't believe in Belgium despite Hazard being one of the top players at the tournament. Its a real shame that four south american squads were grouped in that corner of the bracket. I much prefer rare match ups to regional rivalries at this stage. Instead we will get Brazil vs Colombia and most likely France vs Germany. Good games but still a little bit disappointing.

Also insane considering how awful African teams have looked in Brazil that we were so close to having 3 African teams in the knock outs which I'm pretty sure has never happened. In South Africa there was one team.

Netherlands coach has to look good for bringing in Huntelaar for van Persie. 

God the refereeing thus far is so bad. Another clear penalty not given at gre vs. cr.

Aussie referee Ben Williams. Quite unpopular in our own A-League.

This CRC V GRE match has been a fucking war. Down to PKs now.

Costa Rica!!!!

And fuck Greece , it was a completely horrible call that put you past Ivory Coast and you play shit soccer.


Costa RICAAAAA!!!

:awesome_for_real: Damn straight.

 

That ref was such an idiot. He couldn't even properly send the Greek manager off the field. He sent him off and the manager still stayed on the pitch for more than five minutes talking to his team and even deciding the PK lineup before eventually leaving. It was silly even sending him off that late in the game anyway but doing it and then not following through was equally stupid.

Just want to echo that Greece plays all the worst aspects of Italian, park the bus football, only without even the slightest hint of real football skill at any point on the pitch.

So far I've only watched Brazil - Chile and Netherlands - Mexico: both great matches. France-Nigeria is shaping up to be a very entertaining match as well (both teams are running like crazy, might run out of steam soon).

PSA reminder: The free univision feed is gorgeous hd and smooth as butter.  :heart:

Nigeria goalkeeper: from hero to douchebag in a minute or less  :uhrr:

I saw all of the game pretty much except for the goal you are referring to.  He's a pretty good keeper to my eyes.  Nigeria lost because, despite the glimpses of brilliance, they are ultimately toothless.  In fact, it seems like all the African teams are kind of like that.  All bark, no bite.  I keep rooting for them, and they keep disappointing me.

No matter the fact that some of the key members of an african team might play in european teams, where they are taught a more "thoughtful" and wary approach to football, once they're together in the national squad, they simply play a different kind of game, to exploit their physicality and quickness. But the lack of tactical awareness inevitably shows, which can be countered by courage, that, again undoubtedly, Nigeria showed today.

Goalkeeper IS very good, but not all-around: great when he has to block shots, good reflexes, but he lacks on the more..."finer" aspects, like rushing out, timing and handling (yep, good example today :P) on corners. Goalkeeping has always been the football role I've been more fascinated with, and my favourite one. VERY complex and rewarding.

I really started to root for Mexico solely for Ochoa.

oh and Costa Rica!  :drill:

Goddamn that was tense. Could have gone to penalties at the very last second.

Algerian goalie played really well.  That was a pretty nifty back heel to get it past him.  

Germany had so many opportunities.  Ever since that opening romp, they've had issues finishing plays.

That game has cooled my enthusiasm for the WC. Not because of the game or the performance of the German team, though.

I can't handle all of the shit that has been going around the press and the net during and after the game. Each and every one of those chauvinistic fuckers expected us to steamroll Algeria. And now that we didn't because Algeria has played great football throughout the tournament and wasn't really going to stop doing that just because they played Germany people are talking all kinds of crap.

'I hoped that we lose so that they finally sack Löw' was one of the more harmless ones. Dumb entitled chauvinistic stupid fucks, all of them. The Algerians fought like lions and had the full support of their fans even after they lost, while our players have to answer fuckers like the German reporter who asked Mertesacker after the game about  'what went wrong because they didn't easily win against Algeria'. Mertesacker almost decked him because of that question and I kind of wished he did just so that no one would ever asked such crap ever again. As if we were somewhat entitled by birthright to win the World Cup especially when we play against stupid brown people from Northern Africa.

I'm angry and sad because a lot of teams and their fans this WC have been very passionate about the tournament and kept their enthusiasm even after they have been defeated while the majority over here is acting like entitled and spoiled brats. Watch all kinds of crap being poured out over our team if we don't win this time...

Actual headlines of a few major tabloids in Germany right now:

'This is how we're going to lose against France, Jogi'
'the dumb luck win'
'if we're having such a hard time against Algeria, we're going to get trounced by France'
'We have graded all German players' performances: F for Mustawi and Hoewedes'
'the return of clumsy football.

and so on and so forth.

Sauerkraut-eating surrender monkeys?

So a French German then?

We're not at this stage yet but it will be any minute now until some third rate paper will come up with something similar in the run up to the Fra Ger game.

I still have them winning out, but man that defense looks suspect. Maybe this just proves how bad Portugal was...  :why_so_serious:

And I'll call it now. Belgium 3-0 over the USA.

That was my pick as well. 3-0 over the USA and it's not close. Love to be wrong and the USA pulls it out, but oh well.

I think the US defense is too good to allow 3 goals most likely. I'm not saying they're going to win, but I think it will be tighter than that.

Alsaciennes.

Heh, nice.

I'm legally forbidden from making that joke :why_so_serious:

I wish the US team the best of luck for the game today. I hope we se each other again at the final :drill:

Yah, I think the likely outcome is 2-1.   We can win this, it's just unlikely. 

I'll be getting dental work done during the first half.   :facepalm:

another match, another fight. Switzerland is making this more interesting than expected  :drill:

They really are. I am torn because I liked both teams..but would like to continue to watch Messi play at least another match.

I can't decide if it is Switzerland's solid defense, or Argentina's mostly toothless attack.  It isn't a boring game, it just seems to lack some quality.

I've decided I prefer to see Argentina through, based primarily on the fact that several of the Swiss players look EXTREMELY punchable.

I'll be getting cortisone shots in my hand during the second!

Beautiful run and dish by Messi.

Goddamm messi

Yeah, but Di Maria is the man.  He was working his goddamn ass off that last 15 minutes, and totally deserved the goal.

whoa, what a ending!  :awesome_for_real:

Intense last 10 minutes of this long ass match.

Wild ending to an otherwise shit match.

This is why I don't like the playing for a 0-0 tie style of play.  I don't understand it.  No matter what sport it seems like whenever teams go into a defensive shell and give up offense altogether they make it harder on themselves.

Turtling to penalty kicks because a team believes it is outmatched is a sure fire way to lose any interest the group stage generated.... Especially in the US.

Really have to wonder what would have happened if the Swiss actually put forth that offensive show during the actual match.

C'mon USA! Crushing a small nation and making a movie - you can do this :)

Yedlin has got scary speed.

Could go either way, this one.

Bradley seems to be playing fairly well for a change.  Beasley seems to be working his ass off too.

That whole right side is open for attack, because that douchebag Hazard basically refuses to come home to defend.  I hope Yedlin is up to it, because there should be chances.

It may be 0-0 but it ain't shit soccer. Lotsa end to end action. Made need to change my pants..

I hate it when we go into shell mode and just let the other team beat on us.  This won't pay dividends.

Yeah, this is going to turn into a goal in a minute.

enjoy your heart attacks  :why_so_serious:

Wish I could do the same :(

This is just silly, Belgium is all over the USA. Howard is the only thing standing between us and complete absurdity.

Jones is playing like shit.

USA had a chance to steal it. And they blew it before extra time.

Now who knows?

Yeah, I noticed that too.

The pressure has been intense, but the quality of the finishes has actually been quite low.  Howard has only had a couple of really tough ones to save.  The defense has played fine, they just can't keep the ball away.  Meanwhile, a shitton of energy is being spent.

Fantastic match, so much courage by both teams, no matter that Belgium had the best chances.

That was a gift goal that Wod shanked.

Tim Howard.    :awesome_for_real:

Howard needs a trophy for this game no matter who wins.

I concur.  :drill:

Was only a matter of time.

Maybe the USA will actually score now that they are forced to try.

Been enjoying Twitter.

(http://i.imgur.com/HcCYnLb.gif)

That hurt.

Great googily moogilt is Cameron bad.

The team's below average except Howard. The fact they beat Ghana was something of a shock, but the mistakes they made defensively against Portugal told the tale. They played not to lose for 2 games in a row.

As a result they'll lose both.

Hope is a dangerous thing...  :awesome_for_real:

Ha! Interesting now.

it's not ovah 'til it's ovah!!  :grin:

incredible heart and courage by the States. You should be proud of those guys no matter what.

Dempsey just can't finish.  Great set piece though.

Bradley running the show now.

Every group winner made it to the quarters.

I'll remember that Tim Howard performance for the next 4 world cups.

They battled at the end. I wish it had been like that the whole game.

That set piece was magic.

But any game your goalie sets the record for most saves is not one you win.

Nice last hurrah by USA, but I think Belgium deserved it over the course of 120 minutes. Lots of tired teams going into the quarters.

Tim Howard's response to breaking the World Cup record for most saves in a single match, "I signed up to do that, to put my face in front of balls.".

That's not a beard.  That's face padding.

Why did the US lose? Creativity. Specifically, lack of it. Also, a complete fucking inability to make a pass or receive a pass. You can't just put 10 guys behind the ball and hope to WIN, which is what you have to do in the knockout stages. Tim Howard's performance deserved a better team up front.

You know what would have been nice? If we'd have had the guy who holds the record for US goals scored in international play. What was he doing? Oh yeah, sitting watching the fucking game while Klinsmann plays statues like Bedoya and Cameron. Why the fuck was Landon Donovan not picked again? And why was Jozy Altidore the only fucking out and out striker that Klinsmann thought was good enough to start? I mean, you brought Wondo, PLAY HIM FFS. Sure, he blew an easy fucking finish but... at least he's a striker. Dempsey is SO much better when he's not the focal point of the attack. His game is sneaking into positions to slap home a goal from 2 feet away while the keeper is looking the other way. At least with Donovan, you could play him at the top of the diamond where Bradley lost possession time and time again, which frees Bradley up to do what he does best - sit in front of the defense and sling out picture perfect long passes to a guy in space. I have yet to see what Bedoya offered this team all tournament. Jones had a bad game, but to be fair, he got the shit beat out of him in that game AND was playing with a broken nose.

Beasley did well all tournament, and Besler was decent. That Yedlin kid should have been starting - he may be young and raw, but FUCK would you look at his speed.

All in all, this team overachieved. The scary part is that 4 years from now, I still don't know who is going to score goals for them.

Julian Green and Aron Johansson, and Altidore will all be in the running, I would assume. They might even drag Dempsey's corpse along to come in off the bench. I am more concerned about who will be in goal.

Donovan being on the team would have made them worse. He is and has always been a pretentious douche and this team was really all about making a change for the future. Donovan may be one of if not " the best" US player but his decision making in the World Cup since he was just a kid has always been self first.

Douche or not, motherfucker knows how to score goals more than anyone else on that team. Just because he hurt Klinsmann's fee-fee's is no good reason to hobble the team.

He also fucked off for a year, got fat, and never really regained his form. I am fine with leaving him home. They weren't going to win it, and getting experience for the guys who are going to be on the team going forward was worth it. Fuck Landon Donovan.

Yeah I have zero doubts that no Donovan was the right decision. You have to credit Klinsman he adapted to a shit hand considering how much plan A relied on Altidore. Its also not his fault that Eddie Johnson and Donovan both made it clear they didn't deserve to be on the plane and that Johannsson just wasn't ready for this kind of stage when he was called upon.

Yedlin wasn't starting because Fabian Johnson is the best wing back the USA has ever had and honestly Yedlin is still quite young and raw if he's in there all game the other team will figure out his weaknesses and exploit them as we saw against Belgium by the end they had made adjustments both offensively and defensively to deal with him.

The Belgium game needed another marquee performance from Jones and hopefully one from Bradley as well. Instead Zusi and Jones had their worst games of the tourny. Calling Bedoya a statue and asking what he did all game seems very unfair to him. Without his work rate the Beckerman-less midfield would have been even more badly overrun. Is he great or do I have high hopes for his future? Nope. But in their most difficult and pressurized game he did play his best match of the four to my eyes.

In 2018 we will have lost the services of Dempsey, Beckerman (the surprise of the USMNT for me), the also surprisingly functional Beasley and probably most importantly a leader and midfield enforcer in Jones. If Howard is gone Guzan can take his place without too much drop in quality as things currently stand.

If the MLS can not collapse in quality with the addition of all these new teams and American players don't all follow in the footsteps of Donovan, Dempsey and Bradley and pussy out of playing in the strongest league they can make a roster in...  the future could be plenty bright. For a squad without a single champion's league starter we have performed admirably the past two cups.

MLS needs to import as much midfield talent from the European and South American countries as they can to raise the technical play level of the league. Even the worst substitute midfielder on any of the South American teams in the World Cup would be a fucking superstar on team USA. Getting enough people at that level to play in the league day in and day out will tighten up the play of the midfield in the league a lot. Watching any other team in the World Cup make tight passes all day long while the US flails around is saddening.

The only problem with adding more non-American talent to MLS is that a lot of players won't be playing at all, much less playing against better opposition. They'll run themselves into the same position England is at right now - England's international team's talent is overrated even though they are playing in one of the world's "top leagues." See Wayne Rooney's miserable time at this (and every other) World Cup, or the entire England back line. I'd be fine with importing more good managers and coaches to MLS to teach some of these fuckers how to pass.

As for Donovan, he may be a douche and his form may have dipped - but he would still have been a better option than every single person in the midfield that did play.

Was there ever any info on why Beckerman didn't play? That seemed weird to me.

I don't know how many of the qualifiers and friendlies you watched in the past couple of years, but our midfield play was A LOT better then than it showed in the WC. Things that shouldn't be impacted by the level of opponents, like basic trapping and ball control. I saw so many 5 yard first touches in the WC that it drove me insane. Those weren't happening before. Not sure if it was just nerves, or what, but everyone in the midfield ( with the possible exception of Jermaine Jones) played significantly worse in Brazil then they did trying to win a spot there.

e- re Beckerman- He was pretty terrible against Germany, and JK has been a big 'what have you done for me lately' guy. He dicked around with the midfield way too much, but I think he was trying to find a solution to the no Altidore problem. Starting Brad Davis was a joke, for instance.

They mentioned in the pregame that his being a lot shorter than the guy they used was part of the reason as they felt they needed another taller player for offensive set pieces.

Did US really do something outstanding or we just patting our own backs?

I would say midfield was your strength, Bradley, Cameron and Jones all had a decent tournament.


You got further than Italy and England, and being a small (footballing) nation with only one player playing regularly at the highest level, it's a pretty respectable outcome, I would say.
You knocked out Portugal who happen to contain players of a much higher standing including this years Ballon D'or Winner, not to be scoffed at.

My home country didn't even make it to the tournament and if they did would have likely been eliminated after two games.

We must have been watching different games. Cameron's biff gave up the goal to Portugal in the first 5 minutes, he was ball watching on Ronaldo's tying goal and gave up an uncontested header, and then simply let the guy thread a pass right by him without even attempting to do anything on the Belgium winner.   Heck he didn't even play against Germany he sucked so bad in the Portugal game.

Cameron was probably taking his spot in order to neutralize the big fucker w/ the afro Fellaini a) his size b) Cameron has played against him before in England.


Also this. You could see during the anthems that Belgium was quite a tall side.


They played with more skill than last world cup, though still not nearly enough. We still don't have the confidence to play long diagonal balls for instance. They never embarassed themselves and besides the ghana game did decent jobs with possession and not being in desperation defending mode for more than 20 minutes per game. Which is def an improvement. Also half the teams and many of them good teams do not make it to the knock out rounds so yes, making it out of group is an accomplishment we should be proud of. Doubly so that they were in that Belgium game right to the end even if Belgium were clearly of higher quality and the better team won eventually we made them work hard and had some chances to steal it. Also the US accomplished all of that with a not nice at all group draw and no gifts from the refs and a really inopportune injury in the 20th minute of the very first game.

You did Good considering. The quarters would have been very very good.

I thought that was strange as he worked pretty hard the majority of the time. Possibly overawed by the occasion.

Beckerman is 6'2"*- not sure what the problem is.




*with the shitty hair  :grin:

Cameron is 6'3 without nasty dreads and Fellaini is 6'4 per wikipedia at least.

Beckerman has lots of intangibles though. There was a deadspin article by a MSL player saying that he was the best fouler he ever played against (and he meant it as a compliment). Said he could sneakily disrupt buildups or breakaways with fouls that others would get yellows for and do it four or five times in a row without getting booked.  I think he should have played against Belgium.

The broadcast I was watching showed a replay of him dragging some German down from behind by their jersey just behind the ball on a German counter. The ref had no idea.

Yeah, Beckerman is a good enforcer. He's a shit passer but on that team, who could tell the difference? He would have done well against Belgium because when De Bruyne and Hazard started dancing into the middle, whereas Cameron was fucking off in a corner somewhere in awe of Fellafro, Beckerman would have knocked the ever-living fuck out of those two tiny fuckers. He'd have been yellow carded for sure, but those motherfuckers would have known what was waiting for them the next time they tried that shit.

Despite my criticisms, I think Klinsmann did well to keep that team together once our only real goal scorer on the team went down. My main problems with him were his choices to not have any other goal scorers that he trusted to start on the team.

USA nearly made Ronaldo cry.
And went further than England is a very hard group.
If the public still thinks the coach made a mistake then they should just commit sudoku.

Some of the best #thingstimhowardcouldsave images. A good meme, this one.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/news/tim-howard-goalie-meme-esqsyn

IIRC Cameron picked up a yellow early which really cut down on the amount of egregious shit he could attempt. God, can you imagine if we had to play a man down for any significant period of time?

And Landon Donovan himself says almost exactly what I did (http://www.espnfc.us/united-states/story/1931340/us-not-set-up-to-succeed,-landon-donovan-says).


Yeah, I think his time in the national team is done. He pretty much just told the coach, "Yeah, you should have picked me, Herr Assgoblin."

What the hell happened to France?

I am a nervous wreck after the second half, I really need a stiff drink now to calm my nerves.

That was a snoozer.

Fun fact: it's now the fourth consecutive World Cup where the German team has reached at least the semi finals.

[edit: can't count]

What can I say, I am easily excited.

A vintage no fun allowed Germany performance. Sad for France to have everything good about their team thus far abandon them. Pogba vanished in the second half after proving in the first he could definitely run at the Germans. The midfield ran itself out then gave up before the 70 minute mark. Their final balls were awful, so many times Griezmann looked in behind but the ball was hit too long.


I hope that Germany doesn't intend to play such a cynical boring brand of football the rest of the way but I'm not sure how much choice they have if Ozil is going to be this forgettable and their defense this shakey.

Here's hoping Colombia can save us all by delivering fun inventive football and winning over an incredibly boring by their lofty standards Brasil team.

The problem is that while Germany is rather fond of the German team's new style of play that style also has the reputation of 'Germany losing in beauty'.

Also the last time Germany won the cup it was boring 'efficient' style of play. When the reporter asked Mertesacker those stupid questions after the Algeria game that was basically Mertesackers answer. 'What do you want? Us to lose in beauty or to win games?' I suppose after that game it might be back to the boring kind of football.

Now this is some futbol.

I'll need to buy a JAMES shirt.

Can't believe Colombia blew that 4 on 2 break.

Hulk is playing like a....monster.

Colombia is getting chances, but Brazil is really putting the pedal down.  Fun stuff.

Sloppy game, but fun to watch.

Fucking Silva can't be that big of a moron can he?

That is how you kick a ball.  Holy shit.

That should have been a clear red card not a yellow.

Gonna be a lot of extra time.

the ref completely lost control of that game early on.

Crazy statistic: Brazil hasn't lost a competitive game on home soil since 1975. Pele was still playing football.

James Rodríguez at this World Cup:

5 games
6 goals
2 assists
22 years old

In post official 4th of July party drunken bliss, we went out too some bars to drink and watch the last part of the game.  Man, Columbia looked like they really got screwed by some of those calls.  Also, I can safely say that if not Columbia, Poland is rooting very hard for "not Brazil" this year.

Will be tough for Brazil to win if half of their team is lying on the ground faking an injury.  Lots of flopping at the end of that match. 

I guess it wasn't all flopping. (http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/story/1932881/neymar-stretchered-off-in-brazil-win)

Ouch.

Damn.  It didn't look like he got hit that hard.  Pointy knees are more deadly than I thought. 

So Brazil will be missing Neymar and Silva for Germany?  Double ouch. 

They should have pulled him to protect him from a potential second yellow at least 15 minutes earlier with how chippy the game was getting and how many fouls were being called.

Yep. Was a disgraceful performance. Had Brazil players running past the ball into James from the 7th min. When he didn't yellow that it turned into a foul free for all, and it ruined the game in my view.

Yeah American viewers will assume that was all down to latin teams suck blahblah but that was as disgraceful a display as we had seen since those horrible early group games. I have literally no clue what the fuck that ref was doing.

Was good end-to-end action for about 20 minutes then devolved into chaos.

The refs abysmal performance is indirectly responsible for Neymar's injury and his broken vertebrae. If he hadn't lost control of the match Neymar most likely wouldn't have gotten kneed in the spine in the first place.

If FIFA considers disciplinary action against the Colombian player for that foul they should also do something about the ref who let the game degenerate to a point where this could happen.

My wife doesn't watch soccer much but she's gotten into the World Cup this year. She kept asking during the match, "Wait, so I thought that was a foul, isn't that a foul, and hey, that's what you said a foul was."

I was like, "Yeah, normally it would be. Really." That ref might as well have handed everybody brass knuckles at the start of the game.

Red cards became yellow cards and yellow cards became fouls and fouls became tackles. My take anyway.

Lot of truth here, it was a bit of a debacle. I did enjoy the tempo of the game and the atmosphere but really it could have been so much better with a referee who wasn't a bottler.

This is shaping up to be a stinker if Costa Rica doesn't actually go into attack mode.  No way they can win by turtling up from the first whistle.  They seem too scared to put anyone in the box in the rare chances they get down the field.  Holland is being tentative too, but I expect they will get more chances simply because they pass the ball better.

12 minutes later edit:  okay, they appear to be attacking a little more now.  Still, I think they need to bring more people up when they attack.

Entertaining extra time for sure.

So how many saves did the post have for Costa Rica that match? I saw at least four.

Some weak-ass penalty kicks there.

(http://the18.com/sites/default/files/u18/Netherlands-Poster.jpg)

Reminded me of the US-Belgium game, except in this case it was either swarm defense or dumb luck that saved the Costa Ricans rather than the goalie. Same thing, though--the overwhelmingly better side just kept shooting and shooting and shooting and getting unlucky. Could easily have been 5-nil in regulation as much as 0-0.

Best 4 teams advanced.  Should be interesting going forward. 

It was interesting to see the games with people who don't know the game--they could all see, even in a game like Costa Rica-Netherlands, which side was better and why. The kind of depressing thing is that it *is* so consistently certain national teams.

Hoping for a Brazil-Argentina final. That has some psychic energy behind it. Something like Germany-Netherlands just feels worthy but dull to me.

I don't see how Brazil advances missing two key players.

It is pretty amazing how consistently this happens in soccer. Probably not enough random events for underdogs to win too often.

Absolutely. I blame that for Neymar's injury. The challenge itself was fuckstupid but had the ref started handing out some yellows towards the end of the first half, there wouldn't have been nearly so many bad challenges in the second. And that Silva yellow? That was the HEIGHT of stupidity. Now they have to face Germany without their best goal scorer and best defender. And it isn't like Brazil has looked anything like world beaters this tournament. They started playing Stoke ball at some point in this game.  :why_so_serious:

The Germans may have been playing boring but Hoax is right in that Osil has just not been himself. He's almost completely invisible. I hope they sit him for the semi.

Speaking of boring, the Netherlands have been supremely boring to watch since that first game. Effective but boring.

I really feel for Colombia and Costa Rica. Both teams played their asses off. Argentina has not played nearly as well as their placement suggests either. I expect a Germany/Netherlands final!

Argentina figured out how to play defense and still let Messi create offensively against Belgium. I think they are the team to beat now.

Was shocked he didn't convert on that last breakaway.  If Di Maria is good to go I think they have the inside track. Otherwise I think Germany will win with their precision/boring play.

Whatever happens, please no Brazil vs. Argentina final. There will be riots and it will be fucking chaos on the pitch.

That stadium will be maddening. On the opposite end, a Germany/Holland match would be way more subdued. I still got Germany winning out, so hopefully a Germany/Argentina match is in the pipe.

Germany/Argentina would be the most entertaining to watch.  That's for sure.  Though I have to admit that I enjoy watching Robben play.  He may be the hardest working midfielder I've ever seen. 

I used to just think he was a giant douche, but I have to admit that I have changed my mind about him.  He works his ass off.  He may also be the most dramatic diver in all of football, but more often then not he actually is getting fouled...he just embellishes the shit out of it when it happens.  I mean, his dives are so over the top that they are actually hilarious to watch.

Which will contrast with Messi's non-dives. I am looking forward to it more-so than the Germany/Brazil match.

I think Robben IS a giant diving douche. However, there's no way you can deny his sheer breakaway pace and football skill. He may be one of the most overly dramatic play actors out there but fucker can still ball.

He also seems to like to draw the fouls intentionally. I.e. he'll try to run through people hoping for the foul rather than try and go around or just pass it.

The diving does piss me off, but at the end of the day it works.  Until FIFA starts telling the refs to hand out yellows liberally for diving, it's going to continue.

Basically, unless they are going to change officiating to have more officials on the field, the best way for them to deal with extra curricular stuff that is missed (or stuff like diving) is to use post-match review panels which would then be able to levy fines (in professional leagues) and suspensions etc by reviewing video. Rugby and Australian Rules Football both do it and while it can be a bit arbitrary, it does cut down a lot on the "well I can get away with it if the ref is dumb and/or does not see me".

Thing is, they ALREADY do that - that's how Suarez got his suspension because he wasn't penalized at all during the game since the ref didn't see it. Start doing it for diving and you might see less diving. What you would see is a lot of clubs going ape shit because half their stars are getting suspended every second game.

I know it's 3 pages ago, but being in Vegas for the USMNT vs. Belgium game was pretty great. Even better was betting the draw  :drill:

Scolari was also manager when the last disgraceful  'kick them in the shins' match happened by the way. Portugal vs. The Netherlands in the round of sixteen of the 2006 World Cup. The game that ended with 4 red cards and 12 yellows. So it's safe to assume that the Brazillian team is doing what Scolari is teaching them to do.

Brazil is currently leading the board on fouls committed by team (96) and three of their players - including Hulk and Neymar - are in the top 20 of fouls committed by players. At the same time only half as many yellow cards have been awarded this time around (about 150) than at the last world cup while the amount of fouls committed has been stable.

A few Refs are also coming out of the woodwork and claim that FIFA ordered them to award less yellow and red cards and to not card players for certain actions anymore.

I wonder if Brazil would have still reached the semis if the refs had been officiating the games like they did in 2010 or 2006 and been quicker with awarding yellows and reds.

4 red cards and 16 yellows (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kns7WotXek).

And while people are bitching that the ref in the Colombia-Brazil game let it get out of hand , that video shows you that no matter how many yellows you hand out players will still do dumb shit.

No that was on the ref. That Portugal vs Netherlands game was a special brand of crazy between two teams that are very willing to get ugly. Also the ref did his job that game but you have to remember that the Dutch came into that with intent to play nasty and took out Ronaldo with a 100% dirty play early in the game and Van Bommel was putting some stick in every chance he got from the start. So from there it just devolved into nastiness. A lot of those cards aren't even for hard fouls though luckily and the truly terrible tackles mostly died down. If the ref had done what that Spanish idiot did this time around there may have been several more injuries by the end of that game.

Also its been obvious that FIFA gave some strange directive to the officials. They are basically never ever across all matches carding someone in the first half hour. No matter how terrible the foul. Most refs seem to have basically put the cards away for the first half.

While I know this may be an unpopular opinion, I think letting players play is almost always a better decision than letting the refs determine the outcome of a match.  

On a separate note, I'm surprised at how many people still have Brazil as the favorite despite missing two key players.  That either speaks to their depth, the value of home advantage, or both.

Maybe what you call 'play', is what everyone else calls 'kicking the shite out of each other'.

I did play American football at a pretty high level.  That may influence my opinion.  

Those men on the field are at war.  Let them sort it out.

Speaks to the fact that Brazil as a country may devolve into mass chaos if the team gets bounced. I am not claiming any overt advantage to the Brazilian team, but it would not surprised me in the least if they are given a pass on some things.

Sure in American football or maybe hockey that attitude is all well and good but it doesn't work in soccer.

That would be akin to saying, you need to let pitchers bean motherfuckers all day and do nothing and let batters rush the mound all day and do nothing. The war isn't really closely tied to the actual playing of the game in soccer. Where in football you are just randomly calling 20% of the committed penalties of a given type based on who the fuck knows what criteria. There is holding every play but only some holding is holding. There is illegal contact every play but who cares most of the time. There are rub routes and pick plays all the time but that's like nba traveling. etc. etc.

What happened in the Portugal vs Netherlands game was the result of targeted dirty play at a star player, then retaliation and then all hell breaking loose. I wonder what would have happened if the ref had shown a straight red for the tackle on Ronaldo. It was studs showing high and late. It wouldn't have been unheard of.

It's blatantly obvious this World Cup that the refs have been told NOT to award yellows early. Some refs, like the one in the Brazil/Colombia game just simply refused to hand them out until he just couldn't get away with it anymore. And it isn't even about handing out yellows so much as getting control over the game and cutting some of this shit out. Both sides in that match were just chopping the FUCK out of each other. And there should have been at least 4-5 more yellows handed out in that game but not a one was given until well into the second half.

I'm hardly one who wants to see the idiotic reffing that went on in 2006 - that was an example of really shitty, overly card-y reffing that really hurt that tournament. This is to the other extreme, however, and there are way too many shitty, clearly intentional fouls going on. I watched a little of the Colombia/Uruguay game last night and Uruguay were just kicking the shit out of shins and getting nothing from the refs, not even a real good talking to.

Hoax you are spot on, ref loses control of a football game and it devolves into a different sport. Not pretty to watch for the purists like myself. The real calamity was that Brazil knew they weren't set up to beat Colombia by playing football, so knowing that they would get a lenient ref played professionally
They need to stamp out persistent fouling like that and persistent diving it bloody ruins the spectacle. At least they brought in goal line technology and shaving foam all the same.

The beautiful game (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5HbmeNKino) as it once was.

Read what I said again.  I stated that I would rather let the players dictate the outcome than the refs. 

Haemish has it right.  The refs need to play a role of controlling dangerous behavior without carrying it to a point where they alter the game play significantly. 

Wonder how much of this ref inactivity is due to the specter of match fixing. So they are letting the teams play a little rougher until it becomes so blatant, that NOT carding it becomes suspicious - whether that is coming down from FIFA or just personally with the refs themselves. Just a thought.

This is the key to a lot of it I think. If Brazil is still in the tournament, it keeps Rio from burning down around FIFA's heads. There is a lot of discontent with the way FIFA is basically stealing billions from the pockets of the Brazilian people to line their own, Brazil still having a spot in the competition keeps the masses placated a bit. As we get later in the tournament the danger of unrest if Brazil loses get higher and higher. It would be entirely different if Brazil had fielded a team of the caliber of the ones from before 2010 as they would be able to play on a less "dirty" level. But this Brazil team has almost no offensive depth and they have basically from the first game taken advantage of the officiating allowing them to play the rough and tumble way.

Didn't Brazil build a $400 million stadium in the middle of nowhere for what amounts to 4 matches?  I can see that causing some "unrest".

Yeah, that was the stadium the US played their first game at - the one that is basically jungle humidity conditions ALL THE TIME. The Brazilian government and FIFA fucked over the economy but good in a money-sucking pyramid scheme. John Oliver's discussion of the subject was spot on.

Since you've played American Football you know that even in AF there are clear rules what the offense and defense is allowed to do and what it doesn't. What is a correct and legal tackle and what isn't, what is considered legal blocking and what isn't and so on. You also have referees that can penalize teams if they step over the line.

Just imagine for a second a Super Bowl game with two NFL teams that already bend the rules by playing dirty and a ref team that has the order to not use any flags for the first two quarters unless absolutely necessary. Watch the game degenerate into a free for all brawl where everyone that is not a 300 pound defensive end will get hurt quite severely.

The rules are there for a reason and it's mostly to make sure that the teams are still playing the game of football and not something else that just involves some kind of round object. Especially since they are not wearing any body armor as protection and aren't tackled like in American Football. Being kicked in the face by  players wearing shoes with metal spikes on the soles can lead to severe injuries.

Refs have leeway and a good ref will probably not card any shenanigans that are considered 'tactical'. The ref's responsibility is also keeping control of and being in control of the game and making sure that itt actually stays the game of football.

If he doesn't assert control then what usually happens is what you could experience in Brazil vs. Colombia and I can cite countless examples of games that went exactly that way because the ref wasn't assertive enough.

Jeff,

Trust me when I say this:  Players rarely behave because they are afraid of a 15 yd penalty.   

I also realize that Soccer and American Football are a very different beast.  My point was more toward stating that players should determine the outcome of a match rather than the officials.   

Refs not calling clear fouls and letting all sorts of shit go that would have otherwise earned a free kick (or flat out calling shit wrong)... that can determine the outcome of a game just as much as calling too many ticky-tack fouls. See Green Bay v Seattle in the game that ended the replacement refs fiasco. What should have been pass interference by the offense wasn't called on the last play, Seattle catches a last second TD pass (debatable but not the point) that wins them the game. As a result of that 1 loss, Green Bay didn't win the division and had to play San Fran on the road in the playoffs - a game which they lost.

Not choosing to call fouls can have just as much impact as calling too many.

I agree with you 100%.  I said as much earlier.

I agree with the "let them play" idea in one sense - the refs are blowing the whistle ALL THE TIME for ordinary fouls that just should not be called.  This is partly due to diving, and partly because of...I have no idea why.  So yeah, give a yellow or a red on a clear, nasty violation.  But keep the whistle away for all the bullshit.  A very large portion of those "fouls" that are causing players to fall down are not fouls at all, they are players who fall down specifically to draw the foul.  There is the obvious, classic diving, but there is also the far less obvious fake bullshit happening all the time where minor contact is created and the player falls.  Because the player chooses to fall.  These guys are world class athletes who have been playing the game their entire lives, and the more offensive minded of them have INCREDIBLE balance and agility in their legs.  Minor contact is not going to make them fall. Part of the reason Messi doesn't fall down all the time is because he choses not to.

Also, getting kicked in the shins or getting your foot stomped...the natural human reaction to this is not to cover your face with both hands.  That is what a faker does.  

I don't mind either way, as long as it is consistent so the players know ahead of time what sort of sanctions (if any) their actions will earn. If a ref is calling it very close and you dive in with both feet, it is your fault your get to shower early. I hate to see the flow of a game retarded by incessant whistles, but as long as it works the same for both teams everywhere on the pitch and at any time of the game, I can live with it. It is shit that is a foul at 27 yards but not at 17 that drives me insane.

Good point.  I also loathe seeing the falls called on the offense in the penalty area on free kicks for little or no contact.  Fouls that would never be called anywhere else on pitch.

This is going to be a fun game to watch if this pace keeps up.

How in the world do you let Mueller stay open in the penalty box on a corner?  These Germans are so good with these dead ball situations.

Jesus. 2 nill to Germany after 22 mins. Where the hell are the Brazilians?

Ballgame. 3-0.

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHAHAHA.

I wish I were there.  Think of all the beautiful Brazilian women that will need consoling.  

Now it's getting silly.

Um.  3 goals now in 24 minutes.

Wat

(http://i.imgur.com/Ts3IyIf.jpg)

Guess which team has the superior midfield?

4-0.  Nebu is booking his tickets as we watch.

Er.  4.  Goals.

Should be 6-0 by the time I get to the airport.   :why_so_serious:

I am short on words.  :ye_gods:

So 2 minutes ago I got up from my desk and it was 2-0...

um wtf

Also, if you are a Brazilian fan and are actually sitting in the stands and crying...maybe you need some perspective.

Zomg

Maybe they're thinking they forgot to board their windows or put the security door down at the shop.

And... 5-0.

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/82533/hehehe.gif)

ROFL this is fucking hilarious. Brazil 2014 or Poland 1939?

Wow- that 4th goal.  :awesome_for_real:


I honestly think it's part of the culture - watching a UFC fight from Brazil, every single fighter cried after their match.

It's Hawaii 5-0!

you mean fifth goal?

Is the airport 500 feet from your front door?   :awesome_for_real:

well, when I was originally typing that I meant 4th.

Commentator: "It's almost as if Brazil has stopped playing!"

WTF is going on here? Brazil is not defending at all... looks like they are protesting. Surprised Germany is not just sitting on it.

You know if I'm a German fan in Brazil right now I'm very quietly heading to my hotel, locking the door, barricading it, then celebrating all out...

I know.  They have been scoring faster than I can fucking post!

People better have their 6 nil comments waiting with their enter key ready to be pressed at this rate!

Commentator "they are playing like they have never had the experience of being 5 goals down"  :why_so_serious:

To be honest, with all the talk there has been of potential rioting with a Brazil loss in this tournament...this is probably the safest way for them to lose.  If they get absolutely crushed, I think there will be more of a depressed melancholy from the people.  This beating might just take the emotion out of them.  

Of course, the problem now is that the next 55 minutes of this game might just suck huge balls.

Karma's a bitch.

You know who the happiest man in Brazil is right now? Your local Prozac sales rep that's who.

Or the guy betting riot futures.

Scolari found out again, terrible manager with a terrible attitude to the game.

Since watching these round of 16 games where no team does anything till the last 10 minutes of the match, this is quite refreshing. However this is just begging for a mercy rule.

I have to admit, it's kinda hard for Germany to score with the entire Brazil team in the Penalty Box.  :oh_i_see:

You can see huge difference with Muller on the right and Lahm right back, also a natural CF up front.

This.

While I feel bad for Brazil, I am relieved that their tournament will end in a way that will hopefully not lead to mass hysteria.

Brazil: Ready to play?
Germany: I don't want to play football, let's recreate the Mr. Hands video
Brazil: Ok! I'll be Mr. Hands, you can be the horse.

The only thing that would make me happier now would be seeing Hummels break Fernandinhos leg for shits and giggles, then say to him "that's how you tackle bitch".

Well, that just happened.

Now that you mention it, were I the German trainer I would seriously think about getting a couple of my key guys off the pitch shortly into the second half.  I can just see a brute like David Luiz going after Mueller with two legs or some shit like that.  A few of those guys have got to be pissed.

"Brazil has not given up more then five goals total in any world cup tournament since 1998"

 :ye_gods:

Germany has definitely taken their foot off the Gas so far this half. Brilliant goalkeeping by the German goalie.

Yeah, Neuer (spelling?) is great.  Brazil could easily have a couple goals right now.

But you know who is not great?  Fred.  I don't know why the keep playing that douche.  I mention it only because of that sorry ass finish he just made.

As Steve McManaman said on the air "it is easy when there is a guy on the bench who is even worse."

Oh dear

And that's the nail in the coffin.

Sheesh, took them long enough to get number 6  :oh_i_see:

Just shows you what a crap team Germany is.  :why_so_serious:

(http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BsDKxQ7IQAMmv1e.jpg)

(http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BsDSu7FCYAALE0X.jpg)

Mourinho looks like a genius selling off Luiz before the WC.

I wasn't able to watch the game due to appointments. Has anything interesting happened yet?  :why_so_serious:

Well, my prediciton of David Luiz wanting to murder Mueller almost just played out.

Just a 7 goal game

 :oh_i_see:

... and that 7th goal was beautiful.  What a strike.

God damn.  That was also a nice goal.

This must be a historic ass kicking now.

I went back to work at half.  :awesome_for_real:

German fans are now singing the German national anthem in the stadium. This won't end well...

Hey, at least it's a football score.



Kinda.

Rams v. Browns

Aww they scored.

So looking towards the final...with the way the Germany team plays a team like Brazil, I think they would smash Argentina pretty good as well.  Argentina has more bright spots on offense, but they have looked shakey overall.  I think only Netherlands can make it a good final.

Well at least Brazil didn't get shut out  :drill:

Worst Brazil team in modern history, playing the worst type of football. Scolari better step down or be ousted.

(http://i.imgur.com/IITTEf9.jpg)

http://sadbrazilians.tumblr.com/

Fav pic;

I'm here for links to riot pictures.

http://isbrazilonfireyet.com/

That was some Skaven vs. Halflings shit right there.

Schadenfreude Cup

(http://i.imgur.com/QtNMIj4.png)

Welp, I wanted Germany to advance. Soooooo there's that.  :why_so_serious:

 ;D

German scorers needed a scroll bar.

(http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BsDf0uHCUAAxNU9.jpg)

They had to scroll even with two of the scorers hitting twice.

So we were at an important event during the game and I recorded the game. We were good, avoided all social media and other spoilers, got home and I said, "let's fast-foward to the first goal or the first 20 minutes, whichever is first." So we do. Then we're like, "ok, game on!" I watch the goal and the replay and I'm like, that doesn't look good.

And then. And then. And then. And THEN.

Wow.

The worst side in this entire World Cup didn't look that bad. I'd accuse the Brazilians of giving up except that I think a good team could give up more subtly than that. That made the most overmatched moments in any of the rest of the tournament look even. That is not in any way about not having all your players in the game, that's something way way way worse.

What a fucking atrocity. Seriously, there were Jews in Germany at half time going, "Never again."

I knew after the 2nd game in the tourney, Fred was an utter waste of space. Brazil had been coasting on Neymar's talent, Thiago Silva's defensive know-how and set pieces and holy shit did they get exposed. I mean, even in the absence of Neymar, why not put Hulk in the center and just start lofting balls into the box at him? He didn't do shit playing out wide and Fred missed more goals than Germany scored (HEYYO!). The rest of the crew just ran around fouling the fuck out of everything with legs. After the 2nd goal went in, what the fuck was the Brazilian defense doing? I mean there were 2 or 3 goals where the ball just got passed around the box by 3 different German players before the one that was most open slots home an easy finish. I've seen FA Cup matches between Premier League and Conference teams that were less lopsided.

Scolari needs to be shipped out the country in secret before some crazy fucker shoots his ass. That was appalling.

Meanwhile in Singapore
(http://d21bzkyvtgfaaf.cloudfront.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/NPG-World-Cup-Ad.gif)

I think they need to update...

Most of the videos and pictures of riot-type stuff in Brazil people are sharing around are not actually from today. Not seeing anything about riots on any real news sites.

My guess is a close heartbreaking loss or controversial loss would have led to rioting. I think a loss like that probably just leads to depression and drinking in sadness.

WWE commentator 'JR' Jim Ross calls the goals. (http://screamer.deadspin.com/here-is-j-r-jim-ross-calling-the-brazil-germany-firs-1601968953)

I still can't quite believe yesterday's game really happened. I'll have to rewatch it this evening to take in the finer points of the match probably. As far as Brazil is concerned I hope that this loss will give them the will to change things up and work on the problems the Brazillian football faces/faced even before the half final. As Germany had to.

Regardless of us winning or losing on Sunday, this kind of performance has been 24 years in the making and needed us to completely rethink and redesign our approach to football on all levels of competition from 1st division all the way down to the lowest.

After the 1990 World Cup win Franz Beckenbauer gave a now infamous quote: "With that kind of talent available and with the influx of talent from the new east german states, the German team will be undefeatable for years to come" (paraphrased). It was an arrogant quote and he also didn't take into account the realities of German football at the time. The reality was that the Cup winning team was already quite old. Also many players of that team, as well as the team manager outright resigned from the national team after the final as to not damage their own legacy. Even just two years later at the Euros most of the players that won the World Cup were already retired. The realities of the German national leagues at the time - lots of income from TV rights, ticket sales and merchandising - also meant that teams would rather buy star players from all over the world than to groom and invest in young domestic players.

Germany was in fact behind the curve on almost all aspects of football. Training standards, tactics, how to bring up and develop the skills of young players, club setup and management etc. The teams were also reluctant to change since their approach worked even though it meant that there was a much smaller pool of German talent to choose from. See the current situation in England for reference. It took the German national association more than twenty years to turn things around and it had to do so against heavy opposition from our own teams.

As late as 2006 Klinsmann critizised German players for not being fit enough when compared to players of other national teams and to not be as savvy tactically. He devised fitness tests to weed out weak players and he focused much of the national team training on improving general fitness and to get the tactics up to snuff. He got huge flak from the German team managers which saw it as an insult to them. The loss against Italy was almost a turning point because Italy won with an 'old school approach' to the game and the main critique at that time was why Klinsmann wanted to change the 'German way' of playing so desperately when it obviously could still work to win a Cup.

Only when the big teams like Schalke, Bayern and Dortmund started to really get their head into the type of play Klinsmann and Löw were promoting and saw that it worked did things change dramatically. They basically had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

So what did change?

The probably two biggest changes were

1. The German FA made it a requirement for every first and second league club to run its own football academy and to invest a certain percentage of their earnings into training and educating young German players. Without such a training academy a club would not get a license for the second and first league and wouldn't be able to compete.

Almost all of the players on the current roster: Lahm, Müller, Kroos, Schweinsteiger, Badstuber, Özil etc. come from one of those football academies. Bayern and Dortmund have been especially successful with this model and it has also saved them millions on transfer market money and even brought money into their clubs when a home-grown talent eventually did transfer to another club

2. The German FA completely changed the way licensing and education of prospective team managers and trainers worked. The curriculum was heavily updated, extended and revamped, a lot of talent was brought in from all over the world to consult with and give advice to the German FA.

Many of the younger crop of trainers and managers: Klopp, Löw, Klinsmann, Tuchel, Rangnick as well as their support staff have been educated and trained under this new curriculum and had the opportunity to bring that knowledge into the national league. They usually started managing smaller teams (Klopp started out at Mainz for example) and improved their teams game to such an extend that they suddenly could compete with the big powerhouses like Bayern.

It still took two decades though for those measures to have an effect and for the teams to rethink their approach and to accept that the updated way might not just work but be better.

A lot of it has to do with Scolari getting his tactics completely wrong. For a start he continued to play Fred, Hulk and others who were having a miserable tournament. He didn't have great options off the bench leaving behind form players like Coutinho, Filipe Luis and not taking a chance on experienced talent like Ronaldinho, Robinho and Kaka, I think also Pato could have offered something different in attack. In the end his options coming off the bench were limited, the one player who deserved a starting place,Hernanes one of the only technically gifted midfielders in the squad. That was not a vintage Brazil team, but we knew that from the Colombia game, the fact they were beaten so badly is surprising.

On the flipside Low could not have gotten his tactics better, against Algeria Germany looked frail at the back without Lahm the best right back in the world playing an advanced role. Moving him back stabilised the German defense, Khedira coming in his place looked hungry and fresh, Muller moving out to his natural right wing position cutting in, looked more threatening and then Kloses intelligent movement up front allowed the midfield players to link up around the box. Against an absolutely dreadful defense, can't believe PSG paid that much for Luiz. Myself and a Chelsea supporting friend were both laughing about it recently and now it looks like an awful transfer.

Have to agree with you Jeff the way Germany have nurtured their talent and the players they have coming through the ranks are technically gifted and mentally strong like you would expect from German players anyway.

"we killed all those kids in the slums for THIS?!"

I find it hilarious not only that PSG paid so much for him, and did so after seeing Mourinho play him in the midfield more than defense. I always though Luiz was a better holding/box-to-box midfielder than a central defender.  He wants to go forward too much and is too undisciplined for tackling and marking in the box. And you saw what he did on set pieces.

England is in a lot worse shape than Brazil is, IMO. Premier League teams let English players languish on the bench then spend BILLIONS bringing in big-name foreign talent. Hell, you don't have to look further than guys like Daniel Sturridge, James Milner, Jack Rodwell, Ross Barkley, Scott Sinclair, Ryan Bertrand, Wilfred Zaha, or Victor Moses to see that. All of those guys have talent, get bought by big clubs who sit them on the bench while big-money transfers start over them. Now, not all of those names are star caliber - I mention them because they have obvious talent that needs nurturing and needs games. Of those two, only Barkley is really getting any time in the starting 11 at their first club and that's as much because of Everton's low transfer budget and Roberto Martinez's ability to spot a player. Sturridge had to go through 3 transfers to find a team that would play him regularly and he exploded. Bertrand is about to go out on loan AGAIN to a lesser league. Zaha and Moses would have done better staying at Wigan and Palace than moving to big clubs where they can't get games.

Yeah blame the Premier League again England. That always goes well. Better keep Hodgson.  :awesome_for_real:

Jeff - I am sure you are right about the recent history of German football, but you make it sound like it was some dramatic turnaround.  All that has happened is that Germany has gone from being an outstanding football nation to being a slightly more outstanding football nation.  In fact, unless and until Germany wins the final in this tournament, this is absolutely par for the course for Germany.  What I am saying is that they so far haven't really accomplished anything that they haven't pretty much been doing over the past few decades.

You are looking at this throught the critical lens of a native.  To the rest of us, this looks a lot like the same old Germany that beats the shit out of everyone.  They had a "dry spell" in the 90s, where I think in 94 and 98 they only made the top 8 or something (woe and agony!) instead of their usual position within the top 4.  Germany has basically been a football powerhouse my entire lifetime.  This only looks like a turnaround if your expectations are unrealistically high.

The same could be said for Brazil.  This is yet another top four finish for the other team in the world that always kicks ass.  We are nitpicking a team that still tends to win almost all the time.  It's easy and fun to nitpick when they get stomped like they just did, but the truth of the matter is that they are still one of the best teams in the world.

The talking heads on Irish TV last night were kind of saying something similar after the game. Basicly they were pointing out that Brazil has no domestic league. That's partially because its largely too freaking dangerous to have kids on a street kicking a ball around in Brazil these days. Every member of that team is off around the world playing for foreign clubs. That means there's no home grown environment to nurture people who what to play the game.

England as Haemish said are in the other end of the problem. They have "local teams" filled with highly paid Foreigners and there's no reason or desire to help locally grown talent, nor is there anyone for inglish kids to look up to and decide their want to invest their time in playing soccer, and even if they do their no investment in the kids leagues as the money is all going into big name salaries. Its the whole problem of capitalist sport. Everyone wants someone else to invest in growing talent, they just want to rob it when its developed.. No-one wants to pay for growing that talent themselves, as 20 years down the line someone else benefits. Ireland and Scotland have No national league either, anyone who is any good fucks off to England.

The other thing is the phenomenon of Overcoaching. Guys are brought in, have the innovation hammered out of them and then told to play this way or not at all by their clubs and coaches. Then they are jammed together in another team and they don't know how to play any different to how they have been told to play in their home team anymore, and they cant think on their feet on the pitch.

So the game gets less technical and much more physical.

And FIFA are doing jack all about it.

Hodgson wasn't the only reason England lost but he was a good portion of it. Playing guys like Rooney and Welbeck in wide areas rather than up top or in the middle, bringing a back 4 that can't defend its way out of a paper bag, etc. England's best home-grown products have come out Liverpool and Southampton's academies in the last decade (Sterling, Lallana, Bale, Oxlade-Chamberlain) or out of teams not in the big 4 (Barkley, Jordan Henderson, Zaha).