Topic awaiting preservation: Let us talk SOCCER!!!!!!

Yeah folks, the World Championships are underway, and the US boys are off to a good start with a 1 - 1 against favorite England!!!

W00t!

Go go USA!!!!

Also, South Korea crushes Greece in a demonstration of speed and accuracy 2 - 0.

For those Argentinian fans out there, the first game certainly did not disappoint against Nigeria (although certainly there was much more "in" the game for Argentina!). 1 - 0 was a well-deserved result.

South Africa got very lucky in the 1 - 1 against Mexico. Looks like the mexicans need to work on their accuracy. After sooooo many goal chances, one would have expected a much higher result.

So sound off, everyone!

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

I wouldn't go so far as to say England are favourites, oh unless you mean for that particular game. I've just watched the game between Algeria and Slovenia and fallen asleep! Slovenia won so go top of our group. If the group pans out the way statistics suggest both USA and England should get through to the next round.

Loved watching some of Messi's touches.

Man! Those horns are hard to love.



Looking forward to Germany v Australia to-night

(Edited by Tao on 06-13-2010 17:09)

Ah the punctuation squid has escaped again I see. '':

Indeed I meant England was the favorite ONLY for that match!

Obviously Spain, Argentina, and Brazil are favorites for the WC title.



The US boys need goals now, against Slovenia and Algeria (and to win, of course).

Then we can hopefully advance as group winner!

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

FOOTBALL!!

Poor Australians... getting that guy booted was a tad bit too much... not that they had much chance after the first five minutes against that amazingly well coordinated german team (for being such a young team, both in terms of players and time they spend on the field together)...

A friend of mine put it well...

"Poland 2, Brazil 1, Germany 1 - Australia 0"

Yes, the Aussies should have at least put together a competing team...

It is the WC, after all!

Germany destroyed them 4 - 0.

I was frankly surprised at the Serb vs Ghana result 0 - 1.

All I can say is...GOOOOOO AFRICA!!!!!!!!

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

I picked Ghana to win that match, they're the only African team I think will progress to the next round, I imagine Italy, France and England will sort themselves out too, but there's always an upset at the World Cup, so who knows!

Even though Holland won 2-0 last night they struggled, the Danish aren't a terrible team, but I would have thought the Dutch would have made lighter work of them.

Today should be straight forward though, Slovakia, Portugal and Brazil to win

My inner Hobbit was delighted with the last minute equaliser Middle Earth managed in suitably heroic fashion over Slovakia



(Edited by Tao on 06-15-2010 15:38)

Oh BTW, Vive La Suisse!!!

WOOHOOO!

speaking of hobbits... that Urugaynese they swapped in in the last 15 minutes...

USA is down 0 - 2 in the first half

I need a sobbing slimy.

All I can say is....GOOOOOOOOO USA in the second half!

We desperately need a win here if we are going to make it to the next round...

Oh, and a big OLE! to Mexico for punishing France 2 - 0!

Bye-bye, France.

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

USA all the waaaaayyyy!

What a comeback in the second half!

USA vs Slovenia 2 -2!!

And after the stunning 0 - 0 England vs Algeria, things are looking very positive for our boys now.

Go out there and beat Algeria boys!

Oh, and for our german fans out there...ok, nothing

Serbia beats Germany 1 - 0!!! Whodda thought?!

That means that Germany MUST win against Ghana in order to take the group...ouch! And should Germany lose against a highly motivated Ghana team...well, that could be the end.

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

I'm having fun cheering for the U.S. but it's easy to see why this will never catch on in North America.

^ I heartily agree with that sentiment!

I find the most disturbing thing about Soccer is that one call from a ref can decide the match (and that bullshit call against the US boys taking away the winning goal without even an EXPLANATION!!!!! is a perfect example of this).

There desperately needs to be a replay system implemented, and an automatic goal sensing system IMHO.

Not that the Europeans would ever agree to this. For some strange reason, they seem to like and enjoy the sadistic side of Soccer...

Back to the WC!!!!

GOOOOOOOOO USA!

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

Well we, England, managed a half decent performance to get through to the next round. Well done USA too.

I think it is only a matter of time before some kind of forth official can sanction the use of video replay in-game. Too many spondulicks are resting on the result of a "good" call.

I came upon This Site in my perusings. It has a list of the World Cup posters since 1930. I have to admit that I found the Uruguay 1930's poster the most appealing on first scan.

USA shoots itself into the cutthroat rounds!

W00t!!!!

Way to go Donavan!!!!!!!

I must say, I am really impressed with the USA this time around. Decent defense (not world class, but decent), ok middle field (needs work), but an astonishing ability to score goals!

And that is what Soccer is all about (ok, not really, but one can't win without goals).

Go get Ghana, boys!

All I can say, hope, and pray for England is....


DESTROY Germany!

Because we all know that Argentina is the last stop...hehe. Not that the USA has it any better, mind you. We will have to face Brazil, and that record is not very encouraging....

Oh, and for those Italian fans out there *crickets*

Enjoy the view from back home!

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

Seriously, it's football, don't get me started on hand-egg :P

Finally we're starting to see some goals though, that's really encouraging, really impressed with Japan last night, and I'm expecting good things from Switzerland tonight in their game against Honduras, unfortunately scoring goals isn't one of the Swiss' strong points.

The England Vs Germany game will be big, and I believe England can beat them, and who knows maybe Argentina too, it certainly makes a game interesting if the two teams come from countries that have gone to war together

Love that link Tao, the Uruguay and the early Swiss ones looks great, but I'm always a fan of the Mexico 86 mascot and logo.

Here the 16 teams that have made it into the knockout rounds :

Uruguay and Mexico
Argentina and South Korea
USA and England
Germany and Ghana
Netherlands and Japan
Paraguay and Slovakia
Brazil and Portugal
Spain and Chile

Coming matches :

Uruguay vs South Korea
USA vs Ghana
Netherlands vs Slovakia
Brazil vs Chile
Argentina vs Mexico
Germany vs England
Paraguay vs Japan
Spain vs Portugal

It is certainly going to be interesting!

The USA should have a good chance to get through to what I believe will be Brazil - and that will be the end. Brazil just finds ways to beat the US boys, as history shows.

On the other side, regardless of whether Germany or England wins (should be a classic match, however - I hope the refs are good), they will be going up against what I believe will be Argentina. End station.

Match of matches will be what I believe to be Argentina vs Portugal and Brazil vs Netherlands. If things go as I see them, I think there will be a Brazil vs Argentina final (pure South American final! W00t!).

Of course, I can always dream that the US boys will finally beat Brazil, and make it into the finals...

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

(Edited by WebShaman on 06-26-2010 16:53)

pfft. as they say here 'the ball is round, a match takes 90 minutes and in the end, the germans always win'

Stunning game with Ghana and USA, great day of footy for the first set of matches in the knockout round!

Finally looks like this World Cup is starting up.

Crap

Oh well, I guess I will have to wait another 4 years to dream again

Grats to Ghana, they did what they had to do to win.

Onwards.

The Germany vs England game is heating up! 2 - 1!

England was robbed a goal by the ref...I still cannot believe it!

This WC has got to have the worst refs I have yet to witness! It is long overdue that automated systems take over some of the calling in Soccer. I just cannot take it seriously anymore with such total incompetence! The ball was CLEARLY in the goal, behind the line! The US was robbed two goals so far, now England in a knockout round...

Not to mention the discrepancies between how the refs call things...these are supposed to be professionals?

I can see some England fans howling for blood if England loses...and they unfortunately will have grounds for their emotions.

Ok, scratch that.

England is getting the crap stomped out of it by Germany.

Bye-bye, England. 4 - 1 now, and I suspect it will just get worse.

Worst defense I have ever seen.

Bleh. Thank the gods I am not english, being here in Germany. Bad enough that I will have to listen to all the crap now for the next week or two, until Germany faces off against Argentina and gets stomped.


WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

(Edited by WebShaman on 06-27-2010 17:30)

And the ref madness continues!

Argentina vs Mexico, 2 - 0 at the half, with a 1 - 0 lead AWARDED by the ref!

Clearly, abusively, off-sides, but hey, the refs are blind, right?

Un-fucking-believable!

Well, I am fed up with the crap. Soccer is definitely a bullshit game, due to the total lack of technological aids in this day and age. Every other major sport has added technological aids, but not Soccer! Nope, they seem to LOVE the huge errors.

Hey, let us add even MORE human refs to the game! One for every meter! One for every player!

I'll be sticking to sports that are exactly that - sport, and not some fickle judgment or human error prone activity.

What a waste of an international endeavor.

A little bit of advice to FIFA - introduce some technological aids into the game. At least an auto Goal detector.

And yes, I am bitter and frustrated at what I see to be a total waste of what good be a really great competition.

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

Aaaaaaand...another screwed up decision results in a team advancing!

Way to go!

If I was Spanish, I would be embarrassed.

Spain marginally over Portugal 1 - 0 due to an off-sides goal.

Well, at least the Brazil - Chile game was free of such things (though one could shake a finger at the lack of some calls - Brazil was often hit pretty hard by Chile players).

I must admit, Brazil is playing some of the best Soccer I have ever witnessed. If they perfect this new mix of Soccer, they will truly be invincible. I guess we will see the true test coming up against the Netherlands. If Brazil can shutdown Robben, well, then they truly are going to the final - and the WC.

Although I am looking forward to some of the matches coming up (Brazil vs The Netherlands), there are some that I think are really not going to be very good. Spain vs Paraguay for example. Uruguay vs Ghana for another.

Onwards, despite the horrible, terrible wrong calls, decisions, and...yeah.

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

Huh? Did we watch the same uninspiring Brazil vs Chile match? That was some 'orrible football, not the graceful performance you'd expect from a Brazilian team!

No, we saw the same game, TP. But perhaps what you did not see is how Brazil accomplished their win.

Brazil has pretty much perfected the frustration defense. What is that? Well, one of the main goals of Soccer is to keep your opponent from being able to play their game, all the time trying to get them to play yours. The team that succeeds will normally ultimately win (barring luck and unfortunate judgments from refs).

Of course, one still has to shoot goals to win.

Brazil's main strategy on defense is a totally frustrating, game-destroying opposition. Yes, it is very boring to watch. That is exactly the point. It is totally boring and frustrating to the other side to try to defeat it. At the same time, Brazil maintains it's beautiful offensive strikes, and seems to score at will, whenever they wish to. It is this ability to go from the one to the other, seemingly effortlessly, that makes this Brazil team so deadly IMHO.

Perfecting this ability to flow from one to another effortlessly I think will be a high mark for Brazil. Granted, it is not always pleasant to watch - I think that experienced Soccer players (like Khan, for example) are calling it "brutally effective" etc. But recognizing what Brazil is doing here, that they are purposefully doing this, and successfully, is what puts me in awe.

It is why the Brazilian goals come later in the game. First they destroy your game, get you to play theirs, then they rip your defense apart. Almost without sweating.

Scary and awesome.

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

quote:

---

Tyberius Prime said:

pfft. as they say here 'the ball is round, a match takes 90 minutes and in the end, the germans always win'

---

It's starting to look that way. Germany looked great yesterday.

I don't think it's ever a sport I'm going to get into but I'm having a lot of fun with the World Cup. It's a little disappointing that both the United States and England were eliminated but it's fun nevertheless. I can't say I would bother going to a MLS match here in the states but I wouldn't mind catching an English Premier League match the next time I'm on the other side of the Atlantic.

(Edited by Jestah on 07-04-2010 19:50)

A great Brazil vs The Netherlands match! Robben was brilliant, and Schneider capitalized on that. They did what was needed to crack the nut that was Brazil (little pun there...think about it).

A well deserved win.

Germany is hot at the moment - it will be interesting if Spain can do anything to change that. The Serbs showed the world how to beat the Germans...and the Ghanans showed how to hold the Germans down. I wonder if Spain was watching?

Uruguay vs The Netherlands and Germany vs Spain. Looks to be some interesting Soccer. My interest in the WC is, of course, waning - due to the horrid refs. I know that FIFA has received tremendous pressure, because they are now talking about implementing technical aids...we will see.

Of those remaining, I would like to see Uruguay make it.

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

i'll make it quick:
URUGUAY FTW!

Great game last night, pleased with Netherlands going through, they deserved it, but well done Uruguay for fighting to the bitter end, that was an exciting game.

now tonight... it's payback time

German 'psychic' octopus predicts Spanish win
Enjoyed the match last night and I be looking forward to the penultimate game tonight, especially in light of the tentacled prediction.
Torres has been a shadow of his usual self so I am thinking he will be a substitute tonight, which I think will, if it happens, be just the boost he needs.
I'm up for Espagnol, mainly because of the Liverpool connection within the squad, but Germany are going to be a hard team to break down.

Once again, ref madness rears its all too ugly head!

What a disgrace for the game! 3 (yes, count them, folks!) off-sides calls flubbed up! 2 against Uruguay that probably would have lead to goals (and that is really bad), and one for The Netherlands that didn't get called (bad enough).

So The Netherlands gets through once again with help from the Refs. Bleh. Though I will say that Robben was brill!

I hope the Spain vs Germany game gets reffed well.

Spain ftw! Gotta go with the Octopus!

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

GOOD-BYE GERMANY!!!!!

WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!

Man, after the horrid WEEKS of pure German arrogance that I have had to endure here in Germany, this feels SOOOOOO good!

Gonna have a FIELD DAY tomorrow at work...all those glum faces! They have sooo many words to eat!
Schweini's face was priceless!

GO SPAIN!

And btw - the Octopus was right again!

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

It seems that that game has spawned a new recipe here in Germany - the Paul (cooked octopus in garlic sauce)!

Paul has even been receiving death threats! Good thing that Spain has stepped up and offered to protect poor, hapless Paul!

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

It seems the Octopus has spoken. Spain to win

The countdown to Germany vs Paraguay is on!

Gooooooo Paraguay! (note that teh Octopus has picked Germany here...bloody thing! )

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

Got your guays in a mix there WS

Oops, I meant Uruguay...hehe

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

Spooortss....I luv sports in a way they remind of the following:

Opinions are not permanent.....just observe the luv/hate relationship between the Fans and their favorite players

Secondly both extremes of human emotions joy/sadness can exist at the same time-space

Thirdly for there to be a number one there must be a number two

Lastly humans really dont change.....consider the coliseum....stadiums are built the same way and the games are almost similar though less bloody

Go football/soccer

~Sig coming soon~

Well, congrats to Spain...and once again, tought luck Holland!

Man, Spain has won everything there is to win in Soccer! They hold the EC (European Championship) title of 2008 (where they trounced Germany), Real Madrid won the Champions League, their own Premiere League, and the Trophy, as well as the World Championship!

I believe (correct me if I am wrong) that that is a first!

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles

(Edited by WebShaman on 07-13-2010 15:12)

Importantly they're the 8th country to hold the World Cup, and the 1st European country to win the World cup when it has been hosted outside of Europe, well done Spain you truly are the greatest football nation.

No doubt about it, this Spain team is the best Soccer team of all time. Gonna be interesting if it can ever be topped in the area of accomplishments - about the only thing missing is that it did not win every game of the WC...

WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles