WORLD CUP 2010

[CrackerRiley]

I could tell Ghana was the much better team as soon as the game started. I had no confidence that the US was going to score going into extra time. Their only goal was a PK in 120 minutes of play! See you in 4 years soccer.

[Grizalltheway]

MIROSLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAV KLOOOOOOOOOOOOSEEEEEE!!!

[tribe_pride]

Wait for the calls for NHL style replays on goals. England just got screwed against Germany. Ball hit off the crossbar, went in and the bounced out. No goal was counted. Should be 2-2 but is now 2-1 Germany.

[Grizalltheway]

Wait for the calls for NHL style replays on goals. England just got screwed against Germany. Ball hit off the crossbar, went in and the bounced out. No goal was counted. Should be 2-2 but is now 2-1 Germany.

Payback for '66.

[Grizalltheway]

Now THAT was a good old-fashioned ass whoopin'!

[Biff]

Now THAT was a good old-fashioned ass whoopin'!

Ass whoopin' ... I certainly agree, but had the second England goal counted, they would not have pushed up as much and would not have let those last two goals in from a counter attack.

[Grizalltheway]

Now THAT was a good old-fashioned ass whoopin'!

Ass whoopin' ... I certainly agree, but had the second England goal counted, they would not have pushed up as much and would not have let those last two goals in from a counter attack.

You could certainly argue that, but let's not forget that Germany scored twice in the first half when England weren't yet desperate to score. I think we can all agree that Fifa are a bunch of dickheads for not implementing goal-line technology.

[Grizalltheway]

Argentina get a goal that was offside by a mile. The officiating in this tournament is downright embarrassing.

[93henfan]

Argentina get a goal that was offside by a mile. The officiating in this tournament is downright embarrassing.

It certainly makes it impossible to take the sport seriously.

I always thought that the NHL was the worst, but this FIFA nonsense takes the cake.

[Grizalltheway]

Looks like it might be a race to 5 goals in the Germany-Argentina quarterfinal.

[Hansel]

if you look at the finishes on the goals by Argentina, Germany and even Uruguay and Ghana and compare them to the US goals it is pretty clear the US is still not an elite team.

[Grizalltheway]

if you look at the finishes on the goals by Argentina, Germany and even Uruguay and Ghana and compare them to the US goals it is pretty clear the US is still not an elite team.

Yep. Every time they had a decent chance in front of goal, they turned into schoolgirls and basically passed it to the keeper.

[AZGrizFan]

if you look at the finishes on the goals by Argentina, Germany and even Uruguay and Ghana and compare them to the US goals it is pretty clear the US is still not an elite team.

Yep. Every time they had a decent chance in front of goal, they turned into schoolgirls and basically passed it to the keeper.

I disagree. At least against Ghana, the US scoring chances were MUCH better. There were at LEAST 4 times where a goal missed by a foot or less....Ghana didn't impress me.

[Grizalltheway]

Yep. Every time they had a decent chance in front of goal, they turned into schoolgirls and basically passed it to the keeper.

I disagree. At least against Ghana, the US scoring chances were MUCH better. There were at LEAST 4 times where a goal missed by a foot or less....Ghana didn't impress me.

We had 20 shots total, and only six on goal. But you're right, Ghana really aren't an elite team on the level of Brazil, Germany, etc, which makes the loss that much more disappointing.

[Biff]

Ass whoopin' ... I certainly agree, but had the second England goal counted, they would not have pushed up as much and would not have let those last two goals in from a counter attack.

You could certainly argue that, but let's not forget that Germany scored twice in the first half when England weren't yet desperate to score. I think we can all agree that Fifa are a bunch of dickheads for not implementing goal-line technology.

They really should. In this case, the Germans were better so the result doesn't bother me that much, but I think the score would have been closer with the third German goal coming a little later and more hard fought.

[GannonFan]

Great games this past weekend. That Suarez guy for Uruguay is pretty impressive, and after seeing what Ghana has, you have to like Uruguay going forward (although keep an eye on Ghana - that's a team that's going to be even better in 4 years with the talent they have coming up - not a bad side at all).

US just flat ran out of gas and got bad games (well, not good games) from their best players - Donovan, Altidore, and Howard weren't special (I thought Dempsey played well enough) and they can't win without those guys carrying them. Still, pretty decent tournament for the US and certainly better than the debacle in '06. 2014 is outside of Europe so that's another chance to do well.

Loved the German game, beautiful team to watch. And frankly, I never liked England much. And for all the boasting, England really isn't any better than the US these days. So many guys to like on Germany though, between Klose and Podanski and Ozil.

And while I like the aggressive offensive game that Argentina plays, and the ability of guys like Messi to just keep pushing it, I always get the sense that Argentina is just a flat out dirty and whining and playacting side. It's just hard to watch them play, do what they do, and still root for them.

As for today, I got the kids all dressed in orange to root on the Dutch - although I normally don't like European sides, I can actually root for both the Dutch and the Germans - good offensive soccer is always good to watch.

[GannonFan]

Argentina get a goal that was offside by a mile. The officiating in this tournament is downright embarrassing.

It certainly makes it impossible to take the sport seriously.

I always thought that the NHL was the worst, but this FIFA nonsense takes the cake.

That's the part I agree with - the total ineptitude of soccer refereeing certainly is a major drain on people liking the sport. I've gone on and on about the ridiculous amount of power the refs have with cards - being able to send a guy out of the game at any moment and reduce that team to 10 men or less for much of a game is an insanely powerful tool for a ref and often misused. Cards carrying over to other matches are way to impactful as well. And then yes, the total lack of replay. Heck, even just adopting the NHL method to use it on goals only would be a huge step.

It says a lot when I seriously thought that Bud Selig held an advisory role for the FIFI rules committee.

[Rob Iola]

Robben!

[bandl]

Robben!

Nice correction there, sir.

[GannonFan]

My kids like that song "The Double the Dutch" (or whatever the title is). They actually think the Netherlands soccer team is the the Double the Dutch team.

Nice goal by Robben, btw - a Dutch/Brazil matchup would be sweet.

[Hansel]

Yep. Every time they had a decent chance in front of goal, they turned into schoolgirls and basically passed it to the keeper.

I disagree. At least against Ghana, the US scoring chances were MUCH better. There were at LEAST 4 times where a goal missed by a foot or less....Ghana didn't impress me.

The US gets plenty of scoring chances but don't have world class finishing. As GATW said the US had chances where they essentially dribbled it to the goalie (I can remember at least Findley and Bradley doing that). Dempsey has moments (but not in this world cup) and while Donovan had a nice first goal against Slovenia I haven't seen many great finishes from him in the run of play. Altidore may have potential though

[BlueHen86]

My thoughts on the officiating:

Seems to me that politics enter in to the referee selection process. This is the premier soccer event in the world, they should be using the best refs, not using quotas so that every country is represented. Only refs that work in the top professional leagues should be chosen. No way that a guy like Coulibaly should get to work the World Cup.

The refs have a tough job, especially when you consider that many players embellish whenever there is contact in an effort to get a call. FIFA needs to allow for replay, at least on goals in order to make the refs job a little easier. I would also consider replay in cases involving red cards. If you are going to make a team play short handed for the rest of the game, it's worth a look to make sure that the card was warranted.

I don't buy the argument that refs add a "human element" to the game. I get all the human element I need from the players, I don't want to notice the refs - in any sport.

If they aren't already doing so, the various professional leagues (MLS, English Premiership etc.) should start using replay. FIFA would look even sillier if they continued to eschew replay when the top European leagues were using it.

[Rob Iola]

My kids like that song "The Double the Dutch" (or whatever the title is). They actually think the Netherlands soccer team is the the Double the Dutch team.

Nice goal by Robben, btw - a Dutch/Brazil matchup would be sweet.

"Double Dutch Bus" by Frankie Smith?

[youtube][/youtube]

[Rob Iola]

Robben almost nets an identical goal...

BTW, what's with some of the kit numbers? The Dutch jerseys look like peewee league t-shirts with taped on numbers...

[Grizalltheway]

Podanski, GF?