Topic: FIFA world cup in South Africa

[Pugnate]

Yea unfortunately if you desperately need to score, and are attacking with wing backs (defenders on the wings) and center backs up front, then you will be vulnerable to a break and a counter.

[Cools!]

Well that was interesting.... Italy's out... I have to admit I'm happy for my Slavic brothers but I still didn't expect Italy to lose even though they've been pretty boring the first two games.

[Pugnate]

Yup. Shocking.

[Pugnate]

Stunning free kicks from Japan!

[Cools!]

That was a great game. Denmark had some great chances but it was all Japan in the end. The first two goals were just amazing! Glad to see Japan make it to 16 with South Korea.

[Pugnate]

So first knockout matches today...

Korea play Uruguay and USA play Ghana!

Tomorrow are the really exciting ones.

England play Germany, and Argentina play Mexico.

Eng vs Germany is always a HUGE game. Expect to see broken hearts followed by riots.

[nickclone]

Can anyone explain to me why the games always start a good 30 minutes after they're scheduled? Anyways...

I'm worried, yes we did blow some easy goals, but we've made many good goals that were taken away from us. The refs seem to have it in for the US.

[Cobra951]

US down by 1 to Ghana already.

[Pugnate]

Yea at the 24:00 mark Ghana is leading 1 nil.

That was a good first strike from Ghana. They are really fast, but the keeper left a bit too much room for him to strike.

Nick, I suspect the scheduled time takes into account the opening national anthem stuff.

Anyway, USA seem to be under fire here. I'd expect them to defend their hearts out till the first half ends and then the manager/coach will tell them what they are doing wrong.

edit:

USA are getting killed on the wings. They haven't got anyone marking the dude on the left wing.

edit:

The US striker Finley really really messed up that opportunity.

[nickclone]

Is the left on the bottom of the screen? I've seen Ghana go for that same spot just about everytime to take a whack at our goal. Luckily, Ghana lost a man...we need all the help we can get.

[Pugnate]

Yea... that's where they've been consistently pressurizing the US side...

edit:

End of the first half and US are still trailing 1-0.

Expect the Americans to come back strongly in the second half... at least from how they've played through out this tournament. They've come back against every team after being a goal down. Let's see if that happens here.

Remember, if the US score and the two sides are deadlocked, there will be extra time. Extra time is two segments of 15 minutes.

If they are still deadlocked, then there will be penalties.

5 shots each at the goal defended only by the keeper from the penalty box. It can be exciting.

[nickclone]

I've also noticed that the US comes out stronger in the second half, I would love to hear that pep talk. We also look sluggish, but Ghana looks like they've been running at full speed for the first half, I don't think they can keep that up for too much longer.

I'd take the safe win, but if it comes down to the overtime scenario, I hope we whip their ass.

[Pugnate]

There is a tendency in football (especially amongst Euro teams) to sleep on a lead when the first half ends.

It may have worked in the US's favor in the group matches because those teams were concentrating on defending their slim lead, and the US were more aggressive in the second half.

African and South American teams tend to attack constantly, but it really depends on the coach's strategies.

[nickclone]

Well the US is looking a lot better already, they're definitely "awake" now. Let's see if they can now focus it.

On a different note, I've heard a lot of the players saying that the soccer balls being used suck. They go uncontrollably high or something.

[nickclone]

Ghana has been playing pretty roughly, good to see them get called on some of it.

[scottws]

Yeah but that last yellow was totally bogus.

[Pugnate]

Yea these balls have been developed newly for this world cup by some university in the UK (Cambridge?). The Germans have been using them in their club season, but most countries aren't used to them.

Ghana have been good with most of their tackles, though the penalty was pretty on.

If you are making a sliding tackle, and you make contact with the ball first, you are mostly good.

...

Ghana just scored. Great goal.

I just don't see USA coming back from this. They look really tired. Let's see.

[nickclone]

Its almost as if the US must be down to do anything significant, if they somehow pull this off, I don't see them going much further.

[nickclone]

Let me tell you why soccer will never catch on in America, we like tough players and fair calling. We love it when a player is hurt and keeps on keeping on. However, in soccer, it seems like the more you exaggerate and pretend to be hurt, the better chances you have of winning. You're rewarded for acting like a pussy and the refs don't seem to do anything to stop it.

[Pugnate]

This ref is a bit of a pussy actually. If you fake an injury or do a fake dive, you get a yellow card.

edit:

Well, it is over. The US did well to get so far, but aside from Donavan, lacked world class talent. Worked with a lot of heart though.

[nickclone]

I can't wait for American football to start...but in the meantime, I can always root against those assholes on the Ghana team. I'm black, so it's not racist.

[Cobra951]

Honestly, as much as Ghana were assholes and the refs were either idiots or wimps, the US deserved to lose this one.  They just could not get anything going in extra time.

[nickclone]

Honestly, as much as Ghana were assholes and the refs were either idiots or wimps, the US deserved to lose this one.  They just could not get anything going in extra time.

It didn't seem like the US showed up for any of their matches until the second half.

[Cools!]

The USA seemed caught of guard in the first half, like they didn't expect Ghana to be that good. They didn't really take a lot of chances, played too safe, almost afraid, especially after the quick goal. You can see it a few times with their passes when they gave the ball away because the players didn't create good angles for the ball to stay in their possession. Not enough aggression.

The 2nd half was much better but they ran out of juice in the end.

[Ghandi]

The US team missed about 6 golden opportunities in their last qualifying match. This game they missed 3 or so. They were constantly bad in the first half throughout the cup.

Basically if you watched them in previous games nothing that happened today should be surprising.

[Pugnate]

Are you guys watching England vs Germany?

Now THIS is a football match. Fucking incredible.

[Pugnate]

HOLY FUCK!

Germany leading 2-0 and dominating and then England come back out of nowhere.

England scored and then scored AGAIN and the ref ruled against them. The ball went in, and the ref didn't see it. WTF?!

Hope you guys are watching because this is what good football is. And this is just the first half.

edit:

It was terrible refereeing, and yes Germany scored on two breaks because England were behind and attacking, but England were still completely outclassed. Even if that goal would have been allowed, I still think England would have gotten defeated heavily.

[angrykeebler]

really, now...almost every major sport in the world uses technology and instant replays for referee review when a call is disputed. Tennis, NFL, NBA and the NHL all overturn bad calls if a replay shows it. It's time for FIFA to join the 21st century.

[Pugnate]

Yea there has to be a way to use tech without interrupting the game too much.

They use it in the second most watched sport in the world after football, as well: Cricket.


edit:

So Argentina are leading 3-0.

Awww yea...

[angrykeebler]

Germany vs Argentina will be staggering.

[Pugnate]

haha yea... Germany had a warmup with them before the cup, and Argie won 1-0, though they were playing quite defensively then.

I think Germany may get quite a few goals against Argentina.

[angrykeebler]

In my opinion, this world cup has already been a failure for the following reasons.

1. Vuvuzelas.
2. Terrible officiating. I mean, worse than normal.

[Cools!]

I'd have those two as my highlights.

[Ghandi]

Yeah the officiating is shockingly awful. Where did they get these guys? Do they normally call games in the premier league?

[Pugnate]

No no, these are some of the worst decisions I have seen in international football.

Had England equalized with Germany then as they deserved to, things might have been different.

I saw might because Germany were just incredible.

[angrykeebler]

Yeah the officiating is shockingly awful. Where did they get these guys? Do they normally call games in the premier league?

I'd wager there are only a few officials from the Premier league at the world cup if any

[Ghandi]

Well maybe they are making good calls and people cant hear them because BZZZZZZZZZZZBZZZBZZZZZZZBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[angrykeebler]

Argentina dismantled by Germany. Germany has to be the new favorite to win it all. Hopefully, this humiliating loss means the last we see of Maradonna.

[Pugnate]

Yea it was fucking depressing.

How many teams play four forwards, four defenders, one defensive midfielders and one midfielder?

That worked against poorer teams, but not against an organized team like Germany.

Argentina had no playmaker, because Maradona had a fight with Riquelme.

[beo]

england did better against germany than argentina. haha, pug you suck, etc.