The World Cup thread

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Re: The World Cup thread

Postby BrigitDoon » Fri Jul 02, 2010 7:08 am

:D
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Re: The World Cup thread

Postby banjo » Fri Jul 02, 2010 3:41 pm

8 minutes to go and it looks like its all over for brazil[my tip to win it] :oops:
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Re: The World Cup thread

Postby Josef » Fri Jul 02, 2010 9:52 pm

How fucking dramatic was that?

Last minute of extra time, your star striker gets sent off for punching the ball off the line, penalty!

Last kick of the ball in the entire match. Score it, and they're the first African team ever to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup.

He misses.

I had (he proudly confesses) Uruguay down for the semis before the tournament started (followed, since you ask, by a loss to Holland and a Spain victory in the final). But I'd actually really like to see them win it now.
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Re: The World Cup thread

Postby Glesga_Steve » Fri Jul 02, 2010 10:22 pm

I can't remember the last time I felt as sorry for a team or player as I do tonight for Ghana and Asamoah Gyan :(

Missing out on a semi-final place after failing to score a penalty in the last minute of injury time; in football terms, heart-breaking disappointment doesn't come much worse than that. Huge praise to Gyan for showing the guts to not only take the first Ghanian spot-kick in the shoot-out but to dispatch it so emphatically. If only his injury time penalty had been just 3 or 4 inches lower :cry: For me, he has been one of the players of the tournament and I think it's a shame that in the long run he will probably be remembered more for his penalty miss than everything else he contributed to Ghana's cause.

I can't say I fault Suarez for handling the ball - I think every other player on the planet would have done the same thing in his boots. I know it's cheating but I don't consider it to be of the same degree as many other ways of cheating such as handling the ball to score (e.g. Henry; Fabiano; etc), diving (TOO many to mention) and feigning injury (e.g. Rivaldo; Keita) to get opponents booked/sent-off - these other methods are all employed by sleekit players who try to gain an advantage by deceiving the officials.

Although I don't wish to castigate Suarez, I have to say that I wouldn't like to see Uruguay make it past the Dutch as I don't think he deserves the opportunity to play in the final. Also, I thought the Uruguayans demonstrated a lack of class in failing to shake hands and console their opponents at the end; I know they were caught up in the emotion of the moment, and I don't blame them at all for celebrating so wildly, but still, showing some sympathy for their opponents would have been a nice touch.

I'm hoping for a Netherlands v Spain (or Argentina) final.

By the way, what about that balloon of a ball at Forlan's free kick?!? It moved about as though someone was remotely controlling it!!
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Re: The World Cup thread

Postby Glesga_Steve » Fri Jul 02, 2010 10:31 pm

Josef wrote:I had (he proudly confesses) Uruguay down for the semis before the tournament started (followed, since you ask, by a loss to Holland and a Spain victory in the final). But I'd actually really like to see them win it now.

How can you want Uruguay to win the tournament - don't you remember Batista and his thug teammates in the game against us at Mexico '86? They spent the entire game kicking us all over the pitch - how they didn't finish the game with only 7 or 8 players I'll never know!

I know, I know, it's been 24 years, let it go you say... we could have made it to the second round with just one goal though - those cynical bastards were never going to let that happen.

Anyway, I can't see them getting past the Netherlands - I fancy the Dutch to win by a couple of goals (not that my predictions have been any fucking good over the course of this tournament).
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Re: The World Cup thread

Postby BrigitDoon » Sat Jul 03, 2010 6:00 am

Glesga_Steve wrote:By the way, what about that balloon of a ball at Forlan's free kick?!? It moved about as though someone was remotely controlling it!!

That ball was going in the moment the lad was brought down. I could feel it in my water. Someone was definitely using the force.
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Re: The World Cup thread

Postby hungryjoe » Sat Jul 03, 2010 8:55 am

Glesga_Steve wrote:
Josef wrote:I had (he proudly confesses) Uruguay down for the semis before the tournament started (followed, since you ask, by a loss to Holland and a Spain victory in the final). But I'd actually really like to see them win it now.

How can you want Uruguay to win the tournament - don't you remember Batista and his thug teammates in the game against us at Mexico '86? They spent the entire game kicking us all over the pitch - how they didn't finish the game with only 7 or 8 players I'll never know!

I know, I know, it's been 24 years, let it go you say... we could have made it to the second round with just one goal though - those cynical bastards were never going to let that happen.

Anyway, I can't see them getting past the Netherlands - I fancy the Dutch to win by a couple of goals (not that my predictions have been any fucking good over the course of this tournament).

Cunts forever in my book.
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Re: The World Cup thread

Postby Josef » Sat Jul 03, 2010 11:49 am

I've forgiven and (partially) forgotten. Although I did look up the 1986 game on YouTube, I confess.

Anyway, I'm remembering several incidents involving Graeme Souness in a Scotland jersey from about that time that were substantially worse than anything Uruguay did in that game. They probably still burn effigies of him in Iceland.

Anyway. A country with a population about the same as Central Scotland, playing attacking football in the quarter-finals? What's not to like?

And they've already won it as often as England and France combined. And don't give me any of that 'no-one took it seriously in the early days' shite either. Two hundred thousand people that were at the Maracano might beg to differ, for a start.
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Re: The World Cup thread

Postby engineer » Sat Jul 03, 2010 12:44 pm

finally a game worth talking about in this world cup. I've been enjoying it, but there hasn't been many great games or goals.
wouldn't have minded seeing a replay of the foul which gave ghana the last minute free kick, didn't look like one to me
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Re: The World Cup thread

Postby potatojunkie » Sat Jul 03, 2010 3:59 pm

Oh, Germany.
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Re: The World Cup thread

Postby 2HB » Sat Jul 03, 2010 4:26 pm

I've done it myself!! my apologies for anyone who read the stuff here.Seems my mate is a cunt......................
Last edited by 2HB on Sat Jul 03, 2010 6:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The World Cup thread

Postby Glesga_Steve » Sat Jul 03, 2010 4:35 pm

4-0... what a result for the Germans!!!

That has to be one of the best all-round team performances I've seen at any World Cup. This side is unlike any other German team I can remember - they're all about fluid passing, great movement and an attacking mind-set whereas in the past they've always concentrated, first and foremost, on being solid and dependable from back to middle. Team of the tournament so far, absolutely no question.

They played Messi better than any other team I've seen; they didn't give him any space at all in their defensive third nevermind a sniff of a chance of creating or scoring a goal. Any time he got the ball in their half, the Germans pressed and crowded him and eventually regained possession almost every single time.

Messi has been pretty good in this tournament (he might not have scored but he was very creative) but he didn't live up to the billing everyone gave him. I think, until the next tournament at least, that the ridiculous comparisons with Maradona should stop. El Diego almost single-handedly won the World Cup at Mexico '86 with an Argentinian team that, without him, wouldn't have been much better than a decent (in terms of comparison with the other top nations of that era) side; he also very nearly won it again 4 years later, albeit with, ironically, a more talented side. Maradona also led an ordinary (without him) Napoli side to two Scudettos, an Italian Cup and a UEFA Cup; other than the period Maradona spent there, Napoli haven't came close to being a consistent top Italian side. I remember several sides adopting similar tactics against Maradona that the Germans employed against Messi today, in particular the Belgians in the 1986 semi-final; Maradona was simply too good though, he would dance and dribble his way out of almost any situation even when players were desperately trying to foul him - it sometimes took outright assault (e.g. Goikoetxea of Bilbao during Maradona's spell at Barcelona) to stop him. Messi, for me at least, isn't anywhere close to Maradona's level (yet).

As a coach though, it doesn't look as though Maradona is going to cut it. Things were rosy when his superbly talented side were dismantling opponents through sheer skill but when he came up against a tactically astute, and similarly talented, opponent he evidently didn't know how to change the course of the game.
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Re: The World Cup thread

Postby Glesga_Steve » Sat Jul 03, 2010 4:45 pm

We could end up watching a final with the strange sight of a traditionally German-style Netherlands side squaring up against a more traditionally Dutch-style German side. Throw in the always-obvious animosity between these bitter rivals and we could have one of the most entertaining finals of all time.
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Re: The World Cup thread

Postby BrigitDoon » Sat Jul 03, 2010 6:17 pm

I remember those two going for it, ten against ten after Völler and Rijkard were sent off. I think it was 1-1 in the end, Italia '90. More of the same please.
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Re: The World Cup thread

Postby Glesga_Steve » Sat Jul 03, 2010 6:34 pm

BrigitDoon wrote:I remember those two going for it, ten against ten after Völler and Rijkard were sent off. I think it was 1-1 in the end, Italia '90. More of the same please.

I remember that too, though I can't recall Voller doing anything worthy of being booked nevermind being sent off. Rijkaard spat in Voller's hair not once but twice; Voller was remarkably restrained in his reaction IIRC yet the referee bizarrely decided to send both of them off. I had always hugely admired Rijkaard as a player up until that point but that besmirched his reputation.
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