WORLD CUP 2010

[GannonFan]

Getting Klose back makes Germany incredibly dangerous again. Considering England's problems along the back line, that could be a real difference maker right there.

[Grizalltheway]

Boy, the English press really love to put their collective foot in their mouth. From the last time Germany played England in the knockout stage of a major tournament:

[Grizalltheway]

Damn, what a free kick from Japan! Denmark are really behind the 8-ball now.

[Grizalltheway]

Another beautiful direct free kick goal from Japan. Sayonara Danes.

[GannonFan]

Yup, although not a major power, it looks like another European team is crashing and burning as Denmark looks likely to exit - they need to win so scoring 3 goals now would be beyond shocking.

[UNHWildCats]

why, why, WHY must I always be such an idiot and leave my cell phone home.

Little bit of background here first. The neighborhood I live in is very heavily Chinese and Italian. 4 years ago this place was partying when Italy beat France for the Cup...

I just picked up the little one at school and a parent was picking up her son... probably 9 years old or so and he had on an Italy jersey and she said to him "we lost" the kid just sat right down where he was and started crying....

[Grizalltheway]

why, why, WHY must I always be such an idiot and leave my cell phone home.

Little bit of background here first. The neighborhood I live in is very heavily Chinese and Italian. 4 years ago this place was partying when Italy beat France for the Cup...

I just picked up the little one at school and a parent was picking up her son... probably 9 years old or so and he had on an Italy jersey and she said to him "we lost" the kid just sat right down where he was and started crying....

[GannonFan]

why, why, WHY must I always be such an idiot and leave my cell phone home.

Little bit of background here first. The neighborhood I live in is very heavily Chinese and Italian. 4 years ago this place was partying when Italy beat France for the Cup...

I just picked up the little one at school and a parent was picking up her son... probably 9 years old or so and he had on an Italy jersey and she said to him "we lost" the kid just sat right down where he was and started crying....

See, that's not cool, man, laughing at a kid crying over his team losing.

It's only cool to do that when the kid's team is either the Yankees (heck, any NY team for that matter) or the cowboys. I would say nova football too, but we all know there isn't a kid among the group of 4-5 nova fans and the likliehood of them meeting a girl and procreating is pretty slim.

[Grizalltheway]

BREAKING: Italy meet France in a re-run of the 2006 world cup final- at the airport.

[bandl]

Yup, although not a major power, it looks like another European team is crashing and burning as Denmark looks likely to exit - they need to win so scoring 3 goals now would be beyond shocking.

There are still 6 European teams in it so there's no need to throw an entire continent under the bus just yet. Because without fail, in every single World Cup thus far, every continent but one fails to send a country on to win it all. Also, if history is any indication, a country from either Europe or South America will win the WC again this year.

[Col Hogan]

Yup, although not a major power, it looks like another European team is crashing and burning as Denmark looks likely to exit - they need to win so scoring 3 goals now would be beyond shocking.

There are still 6 European teams in it so there's no need to throw an entire continent under the bus just yet. Because without fail, in every single World Cup thus far, every continent but one fails to send a country on to win it all. Also, if history is any indication, a country from either Europe or South America will win the WC again this year.

...one of the 'guay's

[UNHWildCats]

USA USA USA USA

[GannonFan]

Yup, although not a major power, it looks like another European team is crashing and burning as Denmark looks likely to exit - they need to win so scoring 3 goals now would be beyond shocking.

There are still 6 European teams in it so there's no need to throw an entire continent under the bus just yet. Because without fail, in every single World Cup thus far, every continent but one fails to send a country on to win it all. Also, if history is any indication, a country from either Europe or South America will win the WC again this year.

Of course I can. Europe bemoans how hard it is to get into the World Cup from Europe because it is the epicenter of soccer in the whole world, it was born there, yada yada yada, and that they should be allowed to get more teams into the tournament than they do now (and they get 13 of the 32)and the tournament should be in Europe every 8 years (well, I'm sure they want it to be there a lot more than that). And so now they're looking at a max of 6 teams into the final 16, so that's already less than half of the 13 teams that qualified for the tournament to begin with. And with how the brackets are falling out, with teams playing other teams from Europe and one of them having to play Brazil, it's likely that we're only going to see 3 European teams in the final 8.

And once again, the tournament is held outside of Europe, as it's been done 8 of 18 times before this, and nary a European team has won the title in those cases. And while I'm rooting for the Dutch to do well (they tend to be far less arrogant than the traditional European powers), it's likely to be 9 times in a row that a European nation has not lifted the trophy outside of Europe. And with it being in Brazil in 2014 that streak is likely to continue.

I mean, this isn't like the CAA's dominance of FCS in the playoffs. CAA teams win on the road all over the place (at UNI, at Montana, at App St, etc etc). European teams win at home.

[bandl]

There are still 6 European teams in it so there's no need to throw an entire continent under the bus just yet. Because without fail, in every single World Cup thus far, every continent but one fails to send a country on to win it all. Also, if history is any indication, a country from either Europe or South America will win the WC again this year.

Of course I can. Europe bemoans how hard it is to get into the World Cup from Europe because it is the epicenter of soccer in the whole world, it was born there, yada yada yada, and that they should be allowed to get more teams into the tournament than they do now (and they get 13 of the 32)and the tournament should be in Europe every 8 years (well, I'm sure they want it to be there a lot more than that). And so now they're looking at a max of 6 teams into the final 16, so that's already less than half of the 13 teams that qualified for the tournament to begin with. And with how the brackets are falling out, with teams playing other teams from Europe and one of them having to play Brazil, it's likely that we're only going to see 3 European teams in the final 8.

And once again, the tournament is held outside of Europe, as it's been done 8 of 18 times before this, and nary a European team has won the title in those cases. And while I'm rooting for the Dutch to do well (they tend to be far less arrogant than the traditional European powers), it's likely to be 9 times in a row that a European nation has not lifted the trophy outside of Europe. And with it being in Brazil in 2014 that streak is likely to continue.

I mean, this isn't like the CAA's dominance of FCS in the playoffs. CAA teams win on the road all over the place (at UNI, at Montana, at App St, etc etc). European teams win at home.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sarcasm

[GannonFan]

Of course I can. Europe bemoans how hard it is to get into the World Cup from Europe because it is the epicenter of soccer in the whole world, it was born there, yada yada yada, and that they should be allowed to get more teams into the tournament than they do now (and they get 13 of the 32)and the tournament should be in Europe every 8 years (well, I'm sure they want it to be there a lot more than that). And so now they're looking at a max of 6 teams into the final 16, so that's already less than half of the 13 teams that qualified for the tournament to begin with. And with how the brackets are falling out, with teams playing other teams from Europe and one of them having to play Brazil, it's likely that we're only going to see 3 European teams in the final 8.

And once again, the tournament is held outside of Europe, as it's been done 8 of 18 times before this, and nary a European team has won the title in those cases. And while I'm rooting for the Dutch to do well (they tend to be far less arrogant than the traditional European powers), it's likely to be 9 times in a row that a European nation has not lifted the trophy outside of Europe. And with it being in Brazil in 2014 that streak is likely to continue.

I mean, this isn't like the CAA's dominance of FCS in the playoffs. CAA teams win on the road all over the place (at UNI, at Montana, at App St, etc etc). European teams win at home.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sarcasm

I'm allowed to rant and be cynical no matter the sarcasm!!!

[EPJr]

North Korean TV reports their team won World Cup

Congratulations to North Korea on winning the World Cup and becoming new world champions of soccer.
Huh?
That’s what’s being reported on North Korean TV. To see for yourself:

http://www.yapfiles.ru/show/103979/347a ... 1.flv.html

North Koreans–those who can afford a TV–were treated to video of their team’s match with Brazil. It was edited to make a a 2-1 Brazil victory appear as if North Korea won in a rout to the delight of 40,000 delirious countrymen. They were actually Chinese actors, because North Korea does not allow its people to leave the country. No one would return.
As an added treat, highlights of the game were followed by midget tyrant Kim Jong-Il’s visit to a biscuit factory.

[Rob Iola]

North Korean TV reports their team won World Cup

Congratulations to North Korea on winning the World Cup and becoming new world champions of soccer.
Huh?
That’s what’s being reported on North Korean TV. To see for yourself:

http://www.yapfiles.ru/show/103979/347a ... 1.flv.html

North Koreans–those who can afford a TV–were treated to video of their team’s match with Brazil. It was edited to make a a 2-1 Brazil victory appear as if North Korea won in a rout to the delight of 40,000 delirious countrymen. They were actually Chinese actors, because North Korea does not allow its people to leave the country. No one would return.
As an added treat, highlights of the game were followed by midget tyrant Kim Jong-Il’s visit to a biscuit factory.

These guys are hysterical - even poor editing, as they had Maicon's shot, though without it actually hitting twine - try clicking on one of the other soccer links on there, you'll even hear Andres Cantor's trademark GOOOAAALLLLLLL!!!!!!

[EPJr]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbn3rOPm ... embedded#!

[CrackerRiley]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbn3rOPm ... embedded#!

Hell yeah! that's awesome.
USA USA USA!

[UNHWildCats]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbn3rOPm ... embedded#!

Its amazing some of those crowds of people on a weekday afternoon, and in some cases morning. Folks Soccer is alive and well in THE United States of America!

[griz37]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbn3rOPm ... embedded#!

Its amazing some of those crowds of people on a weekday afternoon, and in some cases morning. Folks Soccer is alive and well in THE United States of America!

Until the US loses, then nobody will give a shit for another 4 years.

[GannonFan]

Its amazing some of those crowds of people on a weekday afternoon, and in some cases morning. Folks Soccer is alive and well in THE United States of America!

Until the US loses, then nobody will give a **** for another 4 years.

This ain't bobsledding, there are plenty of people who care. Granted, it's nowhere near and will never be near the size of fandom that basketball, baseball, and even more importantly football get in the US, but you'd have to be blind not to see that soccer is probably at an all-time high in the US in terms of interest and certainly on par, if not even more so, than something like ice hockey. MLS is healthy in the US, youth soccer is in great shape, the national team and the system that feeds it is better than it's ever been and certainly capable of competing against most anyone, and you see channels like ESPN and FOXSports clammoring to get more and more top level club soccer games (i.e. Premiership) on TV. Soccer will always be plaugued by the same problem hockey has - both are import sports and both can, at times, be terribly boring and low scoring - but there's plenty of people who still watch it, even when the World Cup is over. The US will never be a soccer nation - not even close to it either - but that doesn't mean we can't be good at it and people enjoy it.

[bandl]

Spain goes up 1-0 on Chile on a fantastic goal from Villa from about 50 yards out.

[Grizalltheway]

Spain goes up 1-0 on Chile on a fantastic goal from Villa from about 50 yards out.

Dumb-ass mistake by Chile's keeper, but Villa definitely did well to put it away.

[bandl]

Spain goes up 1-0 on Chile on a fantastic goal from Villa from about 50 yards out.

Dumb-ass mistake by Chile's keeper, but Villa definitely did well to put it away.

That is NOT an easy kick to make by any means...