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WORLD CUP 2010 a whole new bunch of frenchies... posted by: publius 14:53 7.23.10 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/8849972.stm wow posted by: publius 14:57 7.22.10 that is truly awful... can you now understand, maybe just a little bit, my francophilia? publius posted by: horsebeater 13:46 7.22.10 you may owe it to mr. henry to go to a game to make up for this abomination of an interview. http://soccer.fanhouse.com/2010/07/21/thierry-henry-suffers-through-awkward-interview-on-fox-morning-s/ To HB posted by: camdolphin 15:31 7.20.10 I assume your "hard time reconciling how one would be described as 'beautiful' and the other a snooze" is directed at me. I thought I was clear. Spain v. Germany was beautiful to watch for 10 minutes. The soccer was so crisp the marking so good, that it was like a ballet across the field. But then you realized that five spot-on wonderful passes to space merely moved the ball sideways across the field and maybe 10 yards upfield. That's why I said it wasn't riveting. It was more mechanical. Spain v. Netherlands was a snooze in the first half; I felt it picked up in the second and became a real contest, with more open play and attacking. this may be enough... posted by: publius 10:58 7.14.10 to coax me to an mls game... http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jul/14/thierry-henry-new-york-barcelona since we're all giving our post mortems... posted by: horsebeater 11:31 7.13.10 ... the dutch/spain game was more interesting -- and had more chances -- than the germany/spain game. I have a hard time reconciling how one would be described as "beautiful" and the other a snooze. on the scale of shit games (0) to best games (10), the semi was a 4 (i.e. approximately equal to a more interesting MLS game) and the final a 5 or a 6, but the problem is that the expectations for a game like this are huge. ... howard webb, the ref, had a very tough time and I don't envy him; the dutch dared him to call fouls, and he did, but it really chopped up the game and began to encourage diving; i felt the 2 semi final refs established early on that they weren't calling ticky-tack stuff and it led to better games. Gotta miss Collina on some level. I'm not sure we've ever had the equivalent in U.S. sports: a ref that was nearly as revered/respected at the top players. ... I absolutely agree that of robben's two missed chances, the puyol non-call was probably the worst call by the ref. He HAD to get a yellow for it, but the real question is do you whistle it or play the advantage. I liked the advantage call, but there's no reason you can't play the advantage and give the card at the next stoppage (something refs don't do enough of IMHO). ... I don't really agree with publius' retweet of the guardians' analysis of tiki taka. this goal is roundly cited as a great all-time team goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5W6vBI3mGE&feature=related i count maybe 2 passes you could even describe as medium length. otherwise all tiki taka short passes. really, you can play an offensive short passing game or a defensive-minded short passing game. i felt like spain split the difference and could've done more with their talent, but to me it's like west coast short-passing offense in football -- whether it is good or bad depends upon who is executing it and what they're trying to do. ...the dutch were a bizarre side. it's weird to see a team so split, almost a (us) football team, with 3 offensive minded players, 6 defensive minded players, the keeper and then every announcer's favorite, dirk kuyt, the only player on the dutch that actually played both ways, except he basically sucked at defense, so really I count him as part of the "offense." ... i love the spain vs. fc barcelona angle and how it lets us compare great club teams with great national teams (the afficionados almost claim the club teams are better, but I'm not so sure). spain and fc barcelona had 7 common starters. the only differences were: messi for xabi alonso (big barcelona adv) dani alves for sergio ramos (slight barcelona adv) victor valdez for iker cassilass (big spain adv) milito for torres (probably even or slight spain adv, although not as much as I would've thought before the world cup) (this cheats a bit and counts david villa for barca even though he just signed) so i think you have a pretty good argument that spain and fc barcelona are pretty comparable. while spain won the world cup, they didn't win by much, and while barca lost in the semis, many would argue that they were the best team so i think you can make an argument that the best club teams and best national teams are comparable, with the club team advantage largely from the club teams' ability to train and get to know one another. The Final posted by: camdolphin 23:19 7.12.10 I was just happy to have one more game to watch. Yes, all the commentators like to crap all over the game, but it wasn't that bad of a game. I did snooze during the first half, but the second half had some intensity. The moment of irony was when Robben, flopper of floppers, didn't flop when Pujol tried to yank him down right outside the box, played the advantage, and couldn't get a shot off. He got so pissed that Pujol wasn't carded that he was carded for dissent. (It was a big non-call, as that would have been the second yellow for Pujol). I would have split the baby and given him a free kick after the ball got away from him and he lost the advantage. Sneijder played well in the first half, but was nowhere to be seen in the second half (except for a great defensive stop that kept the game scoreless). Robben played well when he wasn't diving, he can really dart through 2 defenders (problem is he usually tries to take on three). Extra time was also kind of a snooze (with periods of energy) as I thought kicks were a foregone conclusion and was dreading them. Iniesta was the best player in the biggest game and he really saved the game. Spain was the better team, they deserved to win, and kicks wouldn't have been fair to anyone. Plus he helped my chances in my pool. Holland beat Brazil and won't hang their head on this one. They didn't choke on their talent and just ran into a more talented team. Qualifications for Euro 2012 start next month. On to Poland/Ukraine! 3rd Place Game posted by: camdolphin 23:05 7.12.10 Like the best all star game, it was exciting to the finish. Germany deserved to win, even without Klose or Podolski (back and flu), although Uruguay played a nice open style. Uruguay was up 2-1 until their keeper whiffed on a punch out and once Germany got level they took control. Mueller had a hell of a game. Forlan was the man, though. His goal came on a side volley - the one you see tried at least twice a game and no one ever hits it. Well, he hit it, kept it down and just inside the near post. A beautiful thing. The last play of the game was a Forlan free kick that he struck right off the crossbar. Would have sent it into extra time. Crowd booed Suarez at every touch for keeping Ghana out of the semis. He blew a great chance, but also played very well. Despite their soft schedule, Uruguay showed they deserved to be among the top six (though not four). Good showing by them. Germany got their win, maybe it will keep them from invading someone for another four years. quite right, i think.... posted by: publius 11:16 7.11.10 the comment below from the linked article on the guardian web site sums up how i feel about spanish football much better than i was able to: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/jul/10/world-cup-final-spain-holland ___________________ I must say that I think that the tiki taka style is the end of football as we know it. First of all, it is NOT spectacular. it's away of controlling the game and to excluding the opponent from it. So it is not meant to set up a show but to get your hands on the game and kill it off. Second, if everyone were to play with this style, the better team would always win. At a first sight this seems very fair and finally a way to get rid to those annoying weaker sides, but if you think about it, the most important beauty of football that makes it the most followed sport in the world, is exactly the opposite: it is the most unpredictable sport. In basketball, American football, rugby, volleyball, tennis, etc., if you are stronger, even more so if you are stornger on the day, you always win or so. In football that's not true and anyone can have hope. But when Malaga goes to Camp Nou and starts playing tiki taka versus Barcelona, you know for sure that they will get overwhelmed, there's no reason to watch it unless you like predictable shows. Third, it is not attacking but it is a refined art of defending. Nils Liedholm was among the first ones to consider this style and he used to say "If we always keep ball possession they are never going to score us". He did not say "..we will score more". Fourth, if you are the stronger team, unless the opponents are idiots, you force them to sit back and defend. Proof? Even the hyped and "attacking" Germany of Loew basically sat back all the game versus Spain. It was not by choice, it's the natural reaction to tiki taka unless you are better than Spain at it, but at the moment no one is. Even Brazil would have sat back in order to press, steal ball, and go on quick counterattacks any time feasible. Fifth, with tiki taka the scoring rate of a game is less and the game gets quite dull and they look very similar to each other. Spain (or the stronger team) with 70-75% ball possession and hours of horizontal passes, the others sitting back trying to get them frustrated. If people have fun this way, fine. I don't. But if well made, the tiki taka can be a style that makes you win, without any doubt. So it is definitely not about "attacking" or "jogo bonito" or "spectacular", it is about "winning", and in a pretty cynical way. Sixth, Mourinho's style of football (a non-ball possession 4-2-3-1) is the perfect antidote to tiki taka, and the most efficient way to beat it. And it's a development of the old and much disliked "catenaccio", or Italian way to football. At this world cup and lately, Dunga's Brazil, Holland and Paraguay used this style with some success. Holland are not playing AT ALL attacking football, but they are playing very efficient, high quality, "Italian football" (I will say "Mourinho's" because "Italian" is a bad word for many purists and they get horrified and offended). It's not enough to wear orange and have Robben, Kuyt, Van Persie and Sneijder to be a total football side. Holland very often sit back and wait, even versus inferior sides (Japan, Denmark, Slovakia, Uruguay) and score on episodes and counterattacks. Watch their previous games with unbiased eyes. Spain will suffer this Holland that will mostly sit back (they will may try to surprise them at the beginning but if it won't work they will go back to their winning style), but will eventually win because they are too superior man on man. So, as I said in brief in a previous post: Spain will win 1-0 a dull and constipated game with 70-75% ball possession: very similar to Spain - Germany. the best article i've seen posted by: publius 15:05 7.9.10 dealing with comparative tactics and formations of the teams at this world cup.... all hail the 4-2-3-1 http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/jul/09/world-cup-2010-tactics-the-question My take on Spain v. Germany posted by: camdolphin 23:19 7.8.10 In my book, the best team in the tournament won. Spain has the most talented players and the most cohesive team. Germany has the most devastating attack and a very solid defense. But they are vulnerable to any team who can keep them from counter-attacking (I think Portugal could have beat them too - but I acknowledge that they kicked the crap out of Argentina, which is a knock on my theory). There's no team who could beat Spain, except maybe Brazil. I do totally agree with Publius that Germany missed Mueller badly. Once you get to the semis they should abandon the 2 yellows means you miss a game rule. That would also make the quarters more fun because players on a yellow wouldn't have to be so timid. The Spain/Germany match was beautiful, amazing, wonderful soccer - but it wasn't riveting. It needed a goal earlier to force Germany to change their strategy and not just wait for a break. Still, watching Spain build and build, knowing a goal was coming was something to behold. And Germany played very well, the lack of fouls had little to do with the referee and nothing to do with any absence of intensity - it was just top players knowing how the game is played. Here's where I want to plug the 3rd place game again as the best meaningless game in sports. Both teams try their hardest - it's the last game they will get to play in the world cup for 4 years and they want to out on a win. But because there's no real difference between 3rd and 4th, both teams play more openly. They don't sit back trying not to lose. And these two teams actually match up pretty well. Suarez and Mueller will be back. Provided Forlan is healthy (haven't heard any reports) Uruguay is a really good team. They impressed against Holland. Germany will be a heavy favorite, but Uruguay will not lay down. Chances are, that game will be better than the final. I'm declaring victory posted by: camdolphin 12:07 7.8.10 In my pool, I picked a final of Netherlands-Spain! Bow to my superior football prognosticating! Prepare yourself for a Dolphins-Lions superbowl! As a full disclosure, I also had Nigeria and Argentina in the semis. Oops. My final eight were: Netherlands Brazil Nigeria (oops) USA (but for a better strike on the ball) Argentina Ghana Cameroon (oh, Africa) Spain 5 of 8 isn't so bad. Totally blew it with Germany, but didn't have France or Italy making the quarterfinals (did have both of them making the knockout round). One other guy in my pool of about 40 people picked the final as well, but he has Holland and I have Spain winning it all. Come on, you Spaniards! I'm probably not in line to win because my picks in the group stage were so bad - which is why I didn't look at my picks again until we reached the semis to discover just how smart I am. it's funny... posted by: publius 10:56 7.8.10 below is the wrapup of the game sent around by the italian-living-in-argentina guy who's managing our office pool: _________________________ Fantastic! superb! football at its best. Don't let you fool by the score, to me it has been the best match I have seen so far in this world cup. Two great teams: the Germans playing like Italians: defensive football, waiting the opponent and then counterattacking at double speed and the Spanish, just amazing amazing unbelievable possession of the ball. Tic-toc tic-toc. It is just sheer pleasure for anybody that loves this game to see how Iniesta and Xavi can control the ball as if it were an extension of their foot. If they only had el niño Torres at his best to put the ball into the net they would not have to suffer this endless streak of 1-0 and pin their hope on a header by a defender. At the end the better quality of Spain prevailed stopping the seemingly unstoppable German express train dead on its track. But congratulations to the German team, they might have shown the best moments of this world cup. _________________________ now, i've watched a lot of football in the last decade, and i've seen some great games. i'll have to stop short of saying i "love" the game, but i do really enjoy watching and i think i have a pretty good understanding of it. you couldn't convince me that the first of half of that game was anything resembling "sheer pleasure". yes, you can appreciate that you had two very good teams running their strategies into each other and seeing whose was better...and yes there was a lot of individual skill on display...but that does not a great football match make. but maybe i'm just an american philistine when it comes to football after all... agree with publius generally posted by: horsebeater 10:21 7.8.10 and it certainly was a boring game. (it was the 4th world cup game i watched at parnell's this cycle) thoughts on spain-germany posted by: publius 17:39 7.7.10 i watched pretty much this whole game at a bar around the corner from my office - first game that i've cared enough about to duck out for almost two hours. short sweet take on the game? the better team lost, but the better team on the day definitely won. spain did a great job of controlling the ball. you knew they were going to have tons more possession because of germany's "hang back on defense and launch blitzkrieg counter attacks" strategy. only problem for the germans is that the counter didn't work for them today. if you ask me, the reasons for this are 3: 1. the absense of thomas mueller. they really needed him out there. 2. lower overall quality of passes and touches than they had shown up to this point. you saw a lot more balls just kind of drift away as they tried to get the ball upfield. at points they almost looked like england. 3. spain did a great job of shutting down the transition zone in the middle of the pitch as opposed to just dropping back and playing what defense they could when the german break opportunities happened. they never let it develop and it never had a chance to sting them. overall this game was a pretty boring affair, as games between two very good teams often are. everyone (including myself) gets excited for them, but really it's the matches that are a bit asymmetric (see germany's other games) that get exciting. in this match each team had a very set and evident strategy and it was just a matter of who took best advantage of their tactical options. and that was clearly spain. look at shots on goal. i feel like it was 50-3. granted, some of that is a logical result of the strategy played by the germans, but not all of it. germany were lucky that spain didn't score 3. i could never cheer FOR a german team, but i was hoping that they would show more of the flair and class that they did against england and argentina. they didn't play badly but they looked flat and never really got in gear. tough to tell how much of that is them having an off day and how much is attributable to spain flat outplaying them...i'd call that one a toss-up. so now some team is going to win the world cup for the first time. i hope it's the dutch, but when it comes right down to it i don't care all that much either way. hooray for spain! posted by: simplicissimus 16:51 7.7.10 any time the germans lose, i'm going home happy. i may like germans individually, and it's hard not to like and respect this german team an awful lot, but as far as the german nation-state goes: i'll never be a fan. that said, spain vs. the dutch is going to a pretty technical affair no? pretty interesting analysis of team deutschland... posted by: publius 13:12 7.7.10 http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2010/jul/07/world-cup-2010-germany-celebrating but let's not get carried away...the world is never going to like germans... The final is this afternoon posted by: camdolphin 11:28 7.7.10 Watching bits of Holland-Uruguay, I'm convinced whoever wins today is the best team, even if they take the final off and lose. Uruguay played surprisingly well, even without Suarez. I suppose the final score was a just reflection of the game. Holland played better - the first goal by von Bronkhorst was a sight to see, I'm sure it will be replayed several times today. Just a great strike by a defender from 40 yards out that the keeper could do nothing about, glancing off the top right corner post and into the net. Sneijder's goal was a weak deflection, but Robben's header was great form. There was a real scramble at the end. Uruguay scored unexpectedly in injury time and then had a series of almost-real chances to tie it until the whistle blew. Made it exciting. Both of Uruguay's goals might have been saved from a better keeper. That would sink Holland against Germany, b/c if they're allowed to add long range shooting to their repertoire, Holland's done. Forlan is fun to watch, no matter how you feel about Uruguay. I was impressed how Uruguay did even without Suarez and then without Forlan when he went off injured. Impressive performance and they could make a game of it in the third place game, which I thought they had no chance of doing before this game. Props to ESPN3 again, for letting me get a flavor of the game, after my magnetic recording device captured 3 hours of blank screen. gawker nails it posted by: publius 12:55 7.6.10 http://gawker.com/5579865/the-soccer-ignoramus-guide-to-the-world-cup-semifinals?skyline=true&s=i My comments are irrelevant posted by: camdolphin 10:37 7.6.10 in light of the fact that I got every pick-em quarterfinal game wrong. Oh, Germany. How I loathe you. How you have come to be head and shoulders above the rest. Coming into the quarterfinals, I thought the cream was Argentina, Brazil, Germany, and Spain. Now it's Germany and then everyone else. Ugh. Not much more to say about poor Ghana. I assume Suarez will be suspended for the semis, and that actually guts their offense and will hobble Forlan. Holland wins easily. I'm so glad Spain beat Paraguay. The thought of having to watch Paraguay in the semis and then again in the third place game (traditionally well worth watching) made my stomach turn. HB's right, Spain has the talent to beat Germany. But Argentina is no England and Germany absolutely destroyed Argentina. Germany-Holland would be sad because of the ramifications from the likely German victory. It would be like killing Anne Frank all over again. in general... posted by: publius 09:05 7.6.10 i'm with horsebeater on germany (and, as anyone who knows me can attest, germans in general - we just don't click). but i've actually gone the opposite way with respect to this german team. while i most definitely want the dutch to win the cup, this german side is entertaining, playing beautiful football and while still very teutonic, much less the model of boring, ruthless efficiency that tends to characterize german sides. at this point if i had to rank the remaining teams in terms of personal preference of them winning the cup? netherlands germany spain (anyone else...a team assembled from the grounskeepers, etc.) uruguay as for horsebeater's comments about the uruguguayan handball...yes, he was playing within fifa's stupid rules and yes he did the "right thing" and yes, as lexi lalas couldn't stop telling the world "any player from any team in that situation would have done the same thing". that doesn't mean i have to like it and it doesn't mean that i can't call it cheating. the fact that punishment doesn't fit the crime is fifa's fault, not mine. which is basically to say that horsebeater and i agree...i just take a harsher view of playing "within the rules" when those rules are idiotic. in general... posted by: publius 09:05 7.6.10 i'm with horsebeater on germany (and, as anyone who knows me can attest, germans in general - we just don't click). but i've actually gone the opposite way with respect to this german team. while i most definitely want the dutch to win the cup, this german side is entertaining, playing beautiful football and while still very teutonic, much less the model of boring, ruthless efficiency that tends to characterize german sides. at this point if i had to rank the remaining teams in terms of personal preference of them winning the cup? netherlands germany spain (anyone else...a team assembled from the grounskeepers, etc.) uruguay as for horsebeater's comments about the uruguguayan handball...yes, he was playing within fifa's stupid rules and yes he did the "right thing" and yes, as lexi lalas couldn't stop telling the world "any player from any team in that situation would have done the same thing". that doesn't mean i have to like it and it doesn't mean that i can't call it cheating. the fact that punishment doesn't fit the crime is fifa's fault, not mine. which is basically to say that horsebeater and i agree...i just take a harsher view of playing "within the rules" when those rules are idiotic. quick predictions posted by: horsebeater 01:05 7.6.10 it's odd, i don't go into a world cup hating the germans, i really don't, but just watching them play a match or two, and i just start hating them. and uruguay are despicable. so my primary rooting interest is to see spain and the dutch win (hopefully with a dutch win in the finals, but a spanish victory would be just fine). and i think the dutch will beat uruguay (2-1). what i'm sure of is that a dutch/german match-up is a disaster for the dutch. the dutch are weak defensively, with 4 attacking players, none of whom is renowned for willingness to track back, and no van der saar in goal anymore. i just see them getting shredded. they'd have a chance again spain, but their defense won't hold up against the germans. so i think if there is any hope to take down the germans, it's with spain. puyol and pique are damn good. iker cassiass is probably the best in the world. and you figure since the spanish will be holding the ball 60% or more of the time, the germans are likely to have fewer counterattacking possibilities. i'm saying 2-2 game, germans win on penalties, but i'm praying for david villa and luke perry's facial hair to get it done. goaltending re uruguay/ghana posted by: horsebeater 00:51 7.6.10 what if goaltending in basketball wasn't an automatic basket, but instead gave you 2 free throws? And then, if a team was winning by 1 point, and the other team shot the ball with one second left, and it was going in, and they reached up through the hoop and just knocked it out ... and then the team trying to come back missed one of the two free throws? That's basically what happened in uruguay/ghana. the difference is that the NBA realized that the only meaningful penalty for goaltending in basketball is to count the hoop ... even if you aren't sure if it was going to go in. why soccer doesn't have an identical rule is just crazy. FIFA can ban suarez if they want for playing goalie, but he's playing within their stupid, embarrassing rules, and it's absolutely the smart play in his situation. In fact, why not just put 5 or 6 people on the line for a penalty kick and just wait for someone to hit it over the crossbar? nike curse posted by: publius 19:56 7.5.10 i had been meaning to post about this, but this article sums it up pretty well... http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/05/nike-write-the-future-advert-curse let's see: drogba: broke his arm in training the week before the cup started and ivory coast doesn't make it out of the group stages cannavaro: we all know how well italy fared, and cannavaro looked old, lethargic and culpable in defense rooney: i'm convinced they keep that particular bit of snarling nastiness in a cage when there isn't a game on. the less said about the missing link the better as far as i'm concerned, and in this world cup that's easy. he did nothing of note except swear at the england fans and shave his chest. ribery: perhaps his attention was elsewhere (like with underage hookers) but he and france, as has been discussed at length, were the laughingstocks of this tournament. federer: as the article mentions, fails to make the wimbledon finals for the first time since nixon was president ronaldinho: wasn't even in south africa (think he's happy about dunga getting axed? yeah, i think so) kobe: well...things actually went ok for him...exception that proves the rule (so far) ronaldo: at least he scored a goal (the last goal in a 7-0 drubbing of north korea). portugal goes out to spain in the second round. ronaldo cries. has a baby. becomes a single dad. that's a pretty impressive record of futility.... why colombia should always "make" the world cup... posted by: publius 08:51 7.4.10 http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/07/04/world.cup.cocaine/index.html?hpt=T2 spain-paraguay posted by: publius 16:48 7.3.10 that game was...interesting... mostly boring stuff up until penalty-palooza in the second half. as far as that goes, i think the first penalty against spain was unmerited, so it seemed right that the goalkeeper saved it. the second penalty against paraguay was merited. i'm still a bit amazed that xabi alonso's first (successful) penalty was called back because of encroachment (yeah, maybe the spanish players were early into the box...but still). the keeper saved the do-over and a scrappy minute or two followed in which it seemed like just about anything could have taken place. steve mcmenaman in his classic english post-colonial way said "with all respect, the guatemalan referee really wasn't up to the task" (and if you couldn't read between the lines to see his intent as "a referee from a nation like guatemala has no business refereeing a world cup quarterfinal match" and not, as he would claim "this particular referee just wasn't up to scratch" then you're erring way too far on the benefit of the doubt's side). i don't know. he wasn't great, but he didn't make any howlers. the first penalty awarded was harsh but not unheard of in that situation...the officiating has been all over the show at the world cup by officials from all nations great and small. this certainly wasn't the worst of the lot by a long way. so the semis are set. everyone should be cheering for the dutch while at the same time understanding that germany is easily the team to beat. predictions? germany-spain germany are going to be missing a few players (most notably mueller) but i think they handle spain pretty easily. nice job on making it to the semis team iberia. take a siesta, have some tapas and say hello to german precision and endlichmitderballindasgoalichkeit. germany 3 - spain 1 netherlands - uruguay the dutch should win this one no matter how you analyze it. and after the low-down cheating way the uruguyuans (i realize i spell this differently just about every time i write it - i just sprinkle around u's with some of the other letters i know are in there and let them fall wherever they do) knocked out ghana, no dutch beating could possibly be too harsh. netherlands 4 - urugauya 0 i simply can't help it... posted by: publius 14:03 7.3.10 i will never be able to watch a group of germans in uniforms singing their national anthem without feeling very, very nervous... who'd've thunk... posted by: publius 13:18 7.3.10 that with one quarterfinal left we'd only have one south american team through...and that it isn't brazil or argentina but uruguay (who cheated their way past ghaha...i now technically the guy on the goal line did the right thing and that ghana did get their chance at a penalty...but it's cheating pure and simple. and reading the comments from the guy who did it makes me hope that uruguay lose 7-0 to the dutch): http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jul/03/world-cup-2010-hand-god-suarez you have to figure spain will take out paraguay (though there is that perpetual underachievement speed bump which could still show up in this game). in that case you have 3 european teams and 1 south american team who cheated their way in. so much for a south american world cup. i just don't see anyone beating germany if they continue on the form they've shown for pretty much the whole tournament, though the last few games in particular. they embarrassed argentina and looked like they were just out there having fun (and when was the last time you saw a german have fun that didn't involve assless chaps and a couple of chickens?) i think the commentators got it right today when they were musing that perhaps losing michael ballack to injury before the world cup was a blessing in disguise, as a team built around his style would be different - likely a bit slower and not as devastating on the counter. this means... posted by: simplicissimus 17:50 7.2.10 that you have seen the worst michael jordan mural ever? (i'll post a pic for the rest of you next week). excellent. marquette inn on lasalle and madison posted by: rabble-rouser 14:14 7.2.10 Simpli, when I worked in the Harris Bank building I went to that Marquette all the time. In fact, I have been one of the mid-morning white-collar beer drinkers at that location for many NCAA tournaments and the 2002 World Cup. You should know that on Fridays they have quite the food spread for happy hour, including fried chicken and sliders. (At least they used to before I moved offices about four years ago.) I will gladly meet you there for the semis. publius... posted by: simplicissimus 12:58 7.2.10 how did you forget no. 12: "Question No. 12: Come on, it can't TOP Cleveland fans -- at least say it's dead even, right? Good point." --- but enough with the english. (which reminds me, when i was watching the match today i had a thought and it was this, "english soccer is like nebraska football circa 1999." so then i got thinking, what would the other analogies be. granted, i couldn't come with any other "world cup teams as college football teams" but that's probably because i don't know enough. --- mr. rabble-rouser: you really must join me next tuesday or wednesday afternoon to watch a semi in the basement of the marquette inn on lasalle and madison. it's surreal, but sort of awesome. --- as for the match today? WATCH IT. AND THEN WATCH IT AGAIN. there's something about dutch soccer that is so fucking awesome to watch when it's working. it's really unlike anything else. congrats on your slump breaker posted by: rabble-rouser 11:59 7.2.10 apparently the rabble curse is stronger than the hb curse posted by: horsebeater 11:53 7.2.10 the brits posted by: publius 15:07 7.1.10 Question No. 11: What was the funniest thing you've read about the World Cup this month? I liked Michael Davies' take on England's demise: "Americans will never completely understand how crap it is, most of the time, to be English. We might have cute accents and be good at cocktail parties. But we are mostly losers." That slayed me. England's fatalistic, self-loathing, S&M-style attitude toward its national team tops Buffalo Bills fans, Minnesota Vikings fans or even Cleveland fans. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100701 posted by: rabble-rouser 16:46 6.30.10 Argentina Brazil (I was going to go with Holland until HB laid his curse down) Spain Uruguay My picks posted by: camdolphin 15:36 6.30.10 Ghana (for Africa!) Brazil (how I wish it were Holland) Argentina (game will be decided by ball striking ref's hand and deflecting into net) Spain (only one I know for sure; Spain beat the crap out of Portugal, and Portugal played a damn good game) replies to horsebeater posted by: publius 15:01 6.30.10 with you on tevez. i love him not just for this tournament, but because he plays for manchester city, my favorite premiership team going back to 2002 when nicholas anelka was there. tevez is a force. i disagree on the last pass for germany's second goal against england. it took it from a shot at the goal keeper (granted, with a decisive advantage to the attacker) to a shot at basically an empty net. to realize where your teammate is and where the defense is and make that pass takes balls, vision and huge amounts of confidence. a bit risky perhaps, but nothing like the lucky outcome of a tactical blunder you make it out to be. i'm calling germany 3 (klose, podolski (2))- argentina 2 (tevez, messi - finally) i'd love to see the dutch pull that one out, but brazil is too good (even playing dunga-style counterattack football as opposed the jugo bonito - in fact that they may even be better that way from a pure results standpoint) brazil 3 (a couple of one-named guys) - holland 1 (van persie) spain should walk all over paraguay. paraguay is the team that least deserves to be where they are. spain 2 (villa 2) - paraguay 0 i agree that uruguay is overhyped and are benefitting from their relatively easy draw to this point...but they're better than ghana. uruguay 2 (forlan 2) - ghana 1 (gyan, pk) as far as the us game being even...it is if you score the first half decisively to ghana, the second half decisively to the us, and then a bit better stamina and stick-to-it-iveness by ghana in the overtime. i agree that the two teams were fairly evenly matched and just think on the day ghana was that little bit better. and as you say, tough to complain about the result. seemed fair to me. ack posted by: horsebeater 14:40 6.30.10 I referred to donovan shitting himself before a "corner." i meant "penalty" of course. semis posted by: horsebeater 14:39 6.30.10 (1) argentina over germany: these are likely two of the top three teams in the tourney. tevez has been the best player of the tournament thus far. i fucking love that guy. and maradonas suits are awesome. plus i thought mueller NEVER should have made that extra pass on the second goal in the england game. dumb fucking move. (2) dutch over brazil: my upset special. the orange have never had firepower like this: kuyt, van persie, robben, sneijder, elia. they clearly HATE each other, but they are fun to watch actually, can we just call the two games above the semis and ignore the others? (3) spain over paraguay. the spanish are trying to channel barcelona as a nation, as the top 4 leaders in "passes" in this world cup are all spanish : http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/statistics/players/passes.html (4) uruguay over ghana: i'm not sold on these guys being a great team, but they are better than ghana. u.s. ghana quick thoughts posted by: horsebeater 14:31 6.30.10 (1) why does the entire world hate clint dempsey? all they do is foul him again and again and again (2) landon donovan looked like he was ready to shit himself before taking that corner. i would've pulled him off the ball (3) I felt the game, overall, was even. u.s. was better in the second half, but were gassed by extra time. Tough to complain about the result (unlike 2002 when we kicked germany's ass and had the game stolen from us by an uncalled handball) (4) I LOVED the Clark for Edu substitution. I thought starting Clark was the right move, but the defensive midfielder is probably the most aggressive guy on the pitch. he's allowed to take risks to dispossess people unlike defenders. when your defensive mid has a yellow, he's worthless. i though pulling clark in the first half was a great call. fuck people who say bradley wasted a sub due to poor roster decisions (i'm looking at YOU lalas) (5) anyone that doesn't think the us team works hard should check out the distance covered stats: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/statistics/players/distanceandspeed.html bradley and donovan 1-2 with dempsey # 5 (although they don't break it down per game, bradley-donovan would be 1-2 per game as well). (6) I don't see this US team getting better for the next round. Bradley and Jozy are the only young guys likely to improve, and you get the sense that Bradley -- as a guy that had been raised with the game and has learned what he's going to learn -- isn't going to get much better. Onyewu and Donovan and Dempsey will be 31-32, slightly past peak. Howard, who was fucking shaky, will be 35. unreal this cup of south america year posted by: horsebeater 14:15 6.30.10 nearly every year for the NCAA tourney I do a "big ten" sheet in which i pick every big ten team to win every game it plays (except against other big ten teams), so i end up with final fours that look like: ohio state/michigan state/wisconsin/iowa. Let's just say I've lost a lot of money on this over the years, but I've gotten damn close to the pot in 1999 and 2000, when the big ten had 2 teams in the final four (in 2005 they had two, but I had the wrong big ten team in the final four). What if this is the case for South America this year? The only team knocked out thus far from south america is chile -- it was knocked out by brazil. this round, certainly Uruguay and Brazil are favored, Argentia is a pick 'em against germany and while Spain losing to paraguay would be a big upset, any given sunday... semis posted by: publius 11:45 6.30.10 germany brazil spain uruguay Finally a break posted by: camdolphin 10:07 6.30.10 My house is a mess, wife has double pneumonia (still), I'm behind in work, I'm exhausted, but on the plus side I've watched a lot of soccer. Now for dessert, the quarterfinals. 2 great matchups that truly could have been the finals if things worked out differently. Brazil-Holland on Friday and Germany-Argentina. Those four teams (plus Spain) are easily the best left. Holland's going to have a tough time against Brazil. Of course, I only saw one Holland game and they looked sluggish then and didn't have Robben. Maybe they're reversing course and getting better in the tournament as time goes on instead of worse. Should be fun. Then we have Germany-Argentina, two teams I really don't like, but two teams who are unarguably playing well. I think Argentina is the better team, but I keep betting against Germany and paying for it. It's really like having the semifinals twice this year. And I still think Spain's going to have something to say about the outcome (they looked really good against Portugal yesterday - so many options). As for me, no news blackouts for two whole days! ESPN3 posted by: camdolphin 11:35 6.29.10 Publius, if you go to the replay on ESPN3, the bottom has flags for highlights in the game; click on the flag for Manseh's yellow card right before Donovan's penalty kick. That shows the foul on Dempsey in slow motion from two angles. Brazil looked good yesterday. As much as I hate to see them win the same way I hate to see the Yankees win, I love to watch them play (as opposed to how I still hate to watch the Yankees play). They weren't as good as they can be. They still have the classic Brazilian weaknesses in defense and keeper, but boy do they know how to finish. Excited for Spain-Portugal, which is patiently waiting on my magnetic recording device. My dad's take on his beloved England's clash with Germany posted by: camdolphin 09:44 6.29.10 (on the football pitch) Here's his analysis of the game for my brother, who was camping and unable to watch: "Re: England. It was wrenching. Certainly the Germans were faster and better, but England always seems plagued by bad luck. How many goalies can claim an assist at the World Cup? A lucky bounce from this wretched beach ball, and Klose did a great job in putting it away. Then they got another goal - lovely move, and we were 2 - 0 down. We got one back, and then 3 mins. later we had one disallowed - a chip by Lampard over the goalie, and it hit the cross bar and clearly crossed the line but the goalie grabbed it and put it in play, and the assist. ref couldn't call it a goal. So we should have started the second half 2 -2, but started 2 -1, and we pressed a lot, but they got two terrific breakaways, one from our corner, one from our free kick on the edge of the penalty area, and their passing at breakneck speed was inch perfect. When it got to be 4-1, we had too much of a hill to climb. I was glad to see Robert Martinez (Wigan manager) make this point, (that we wouldn't have had to press so much if we were even) but everybody else has just been horrible on England. The Trib called them Arrogant, which I think is unfair - the fans, maybe, but not the players. The big question-mark is what happened to Rooney - not only did he not score, but he showed none of the spark and flair with which he plays at Man U - first touch often poor, no tracking back, no assists, it would have been better if we hadn't played him. I wonder if we'll ever get to the bottom of this. Some nice match-ups coming, and it's rather a relief just to watch the games without any more heart-ache." Netherlands posted by: rabble-rouser 08:33 6.29.10 I haven't heard much talk about this squad in, well, about ten years or so, but I watched a reply of their game against Solvakia last night and they appeared fast and strong. Would love to seem them really push Brazil on Friday. This is good to see posted by: spacehippie 01:52 6.29.10 http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/28062010/63/offside-tevez.html I guess having a second goal as outrageously awesome as his was allows room for some humility. But when you have commentators lamenting the "culture of complaining" in your sport, it's refreshing to hear some honesty from the players. ny post posted by: publius 16:17 6.28.10 front page on saturday front page on sunday camdolphin posted by: publius 11:56 6.28.10 i suppose it could be bias showing, but i seem to remember on the replay of that challenge that the ghanian guy did get a good chunk of ball...i can't find a quality replay of it after 30 seconds or so on youtube...but i'm willing to give on that if there's a video out there... in any case, as i said, it doesn't really matter...in almost any game when the last defender is beaten in the box and makes a challenge, even the cleanest of clean challenges is very likely to result in the referee pointing to the spot. Didn't see Simpli's post posted by: camdolphin 11:43 6.28.10 Totally agree. Argentina-Germany should be the best match of the quarterfinals. A few points of clarification posted by: camdolphin 11:28 6.28.10 Publius: Your bias is showing. That was a totally legit penalty against the US. He was fouled in the box, defender didn't get any of the ball. That's a penalty in any language, any competition. You're right, though, that the US play in the second half was absolutely good soccer. However, good teams capitalize and the US just isn't a good team right now. I think they played even or even better than Ghana, but I can't dispute the outcome. The US didn't quite deserve it or they would have won. I thought Ghana would be better - how they played in their first game against Serbia showed promise. They might yet get it together and make the semis. Simpli: One random internet person is what you're banking your silly Turk argument on? It could be your retarded half-brother for all we know. Puh-leeze. And your Villa-Iniesta beef is with HB, not me. But both of you need to watch the Tevez strike against Mexico, a goal from about 30 yards that would be a goal in any game, any planet. Wow. England was a great disappointment. I'm scared to call my english father, for fear it will only reopen his wounds. I mean, I knew they'd lose, but for my father's sake I always hope. There's a whole group of English nonagenarians waiting until England wins the Cup to die. Seriously, I think England's financial problems could be cut in half if it wins the Cup. They do need to clean house. Publius might be right; except the Italians and French play pretty ball-controlled soccer. But South America's emergence cannot be ignored. It's at the point that the slate of games gets better and better. Let's face it, there are only 8 teams that can actually win the Cup any year. Now those 8 are being whittled. Argentina is second-best thus far to Brazil in my mind. Will Spain and Holland wake up? I'm thinking yes and no (mostly b/c I have Spain winning it all in my horribly corrupted bracket). The games get better but I'll still miss the frenzy of the 3 games a day early stages. to quote lexi posted by: simplicissimus 10:38 6.28.10 (all apologies publius) "the english team is not as good as its fans, and itself, thinks." and who was it, defoe (?), who said after the match that germany would have "crumbled" if that goal had been correctly tallied? are you fucking kidding me? was that some sort of joke after a 4-1 loss? naturally, though, my england as cleveland analogy holds perfectly once again. and don't forget argentina. they manhandled a pretty strong mexican side yesterday, and looked good doing it. the next match with germany is going to be awesome. the england game... posted by: publius 10:11 6.28.10 was kind of like the us game, only more so. england, like the us, was dominated early, then decided to play for a while (though in the case of the brits it was only about 10 minutes, as opposed to the entire second half for the us). while ghana and the us i would say are somewhat evenly matched overall, there is just no question that germany is a better side than england. the english defense was a horror show and the team as a whole was completely outclassed. as the commentators correctly pointed the fact that germany's first goal was a direct "pass" from a GOAL KICK is unbelievable schoolboy stuff. the one thing i think you see, and this won't change any time soon, is that premiership-type football doesn't match up well to the flavor of the game played in other leagues and countries. yes, it is the richest league in the world, and yes, a very high percentage of the best players on each team at the world cup play there, but england is about the only "elite" (?) side that plays that style. watch the ball control of the german side, the patience, the passing...you rarely see that in the premiership (as opposed to the continental and south american leagues). that's the sort of football that works at the world cup level...the long ball to a streaking striker and/or sending crosses in from the flanks is fine when it presents itself (like the first german goal), but if your whole team is built around that style of play you're not going to win the world cup. i think germany is the team to beat in this tournament. their control around the box and their vision (how many teams would have made that last pass leading to the second goal? not many) are as good as any team i've seen so far. are they good enough to beat brazil? tough to tell, but i wouldn't rule them out... and all that aside...did anyone really think england was going to win that match? it would have been downright un-english of them...that country is nothing if it can't underperform on a grand scale at every major tournament and then go through a few years of national self-recrimination. no sooner i write that... posted by: simplicissimus 10:38 6.27.10 but england makes a nice rush at 35 minutes and then scores on a textbook header at 37. ....and just got ROBBED at 38 minutes. this game IS 2-2, regardless of the score. wow posted by: simplicissimus 10:34 6.27.10 the brits are being exposed right now. not only is it 2-nil, they haven't mounted a serious run in 33 minutes and germany could easily have 3. i've been waiting 4 days for this? klassy... posted by: publius 16:50 6.26.10 chant of "bullshit bullshit" from the us fans for the guy from ghana who refuses to get up so play can restart (granted, it does look to be bullshit, but still...when you can hear that chant on tv over the vuvuzuelas?....) that goal by gyan... posted by: publius 16:29 6.26.10 to put ghana up 2-1 is as excellent a finish as you will see at this world cup...true class ghana 1 - us 1 at full time posted by: publius 16:23 6.26.10 who were those guys in white and what did they do with the us team from the first half? the us were unlucky not to get more than one goal in the second half. as i figured, they had at least 3 moments when a lone attacker got the ball in stride behind a beaten defender. one of them led to the penalty (was it really a penalty? i'd call it 50/50, but when the last defender is in the box even a clean tackle will get a penalty pretty often). regardless, they looked very good... so now we have overtime. i think it's very unlikely that we don't see at least one more goal, and with the run of play at the moment you'd have to have the us as odds on favorite... ghana 1 - us 0 at the half posted by: publius 15:18 6.26.10 that's a scoreline that fairly reflects the course of this game so far. ghana look great in attack and us defense looks lazy and error prone. that said, ghana looks very vulnerable in defense as well. there have been some questionable clearances and plays back to the keeper..if the us scores you get the feeling it will be a long pass that one of their strikers picks up in stride in the box behind a beaten defender.. but if the us doesn't have more possession in the 2nd half than the first their odds ain't good... gotta love... posted by: publius 15:04 6.26.10 william jefferson clinton sitting with sir mick at the game...that's a lot of ladies man in one place... and another thing i disagree with camd about... posted by: simplicissimus 00:54 6.26.10 inesta's goal was *much* prettier. what was that, like 15 delightful touches before the perfect strike? algerian goalie posted by: simplicissimus 21:16 6.25.10 ...consider this donovan from 3 feet out: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=%22algerian+goalie+looks+like%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= 1 mention of jarrett jack (with an embedded comment re: willis from diff'rent strokes) 1 mention of aj moye 1 mention of TURK FROM SCRUBS 0 mention of lawrence fishburn. or not posted by: horsebeater 15:42 6.25.10 make sure to check out david villa's goal from the spain/chile game. one of the top 5 goals of the tourney thus far prediction posted by: horsebeater 14:38 6.25.10 honduras will win today and put spain, who will only manage a draw, through cam posted by: horsebeater 14:32 6.25.10 I was voting for you as well (sorry that wasn't clear). So you have a 2-0 victory, which would be safe, except simpli is from the u.s. baby, and 2-0 leads are nothing for guys like him. Italy goes down posted by: camdolphin 10:03 6.25.10 HB: close, but not quite Simpli: one of our paralegals has confirmed that I am right and you are wrong. His job did depend on it, but I'm declaring victory. So is Slovakia. That was a great game. Slovaks win 3-2. Italy finally gets back in the game after about 70 minutes, scoring to cut lead to 2-1. Then it's just a flurry of activity. Haven't read any press reports, but I think Italy had a goal stolen by a bad off-sides call. To be fair to the ref, it was a weird situation where the Italian was leaning toward the goal and the defender was leaning toward the field, but the defender's back leg kept the Italian even; tough to see if you're looking at the upper bodies, which made it look like he was off sides. But a real cracking game. There's also the question whether the outcome would have been different with a healthy Buffon. But that's what happens when your team averages 47 years old. Didn't really watch Japan-Denmark, the other meaningful game of the day, but clicked through some highlights. Japan murdered Denmark. Their first 2 goals were beautiful direct kicks into the net. So few of those this tournament, Japan gets 2 in the first half. The US and the England games seem to be the matches to watch this weekend. I'm still sad that Portugal-Brazil won't be meaningful. camdolphin posted by: horsebeater 20:03 6.24.10 what i want to know is what is sandy alomar doing in that close-up at&t commercial Can I get a ruling on this one? posted by: camdolphin 15:40 6.24.10 Who's right? you got it all wrong posted by: simplicissimus 13:03 6.24.10 algeria's goalie plays Turk on the TV show Scrubs (as well as the boyfriend in Clueless). onyewu, the us defender, is lawrence fishburn. get it straight. How did Algeria posted by: camdolphin 12:58 6.24.10 get Lawrence Fishburne's son to play goalkeeper for them? Truly amazing. The US deserved to win that game, but Ghana is shitloads better than Algeria. They best watch out. But the US is playing very exciting soccer. Donovan in the first half was a true international star. Bocanegra redeemed himself on that great defensive play. Howard twice distributed the ball perfectly to spark attacks, including the goal that won it. That game was exciting, open, and miles from the old US style of trying not to screw it up. Germany-England should be a good match. I always hope that England have finally put it together, but they'll screw it up. I see Germany winning 2-0. a few things posted by: horsebeater 17:40 6.23.10 This is funny: Right now, our "quarter" of the draw is Uruguay/South Korea US/Ghana But then on the other half of the draw you have: England/Germany Mexico/Argentina Which looks awful, but if you look at the current standings (assume everyone draws the next 2 days),the bottom quarter of the US part of the draw would be: Netherlands/Italy Brazil/Spain Holy shit! Brazil vs. Spain in the fucking round of 16?!?!? This can change, but that's crazy. And then the fourth pairing would be: Paraguay/Japan and Chile/Portugal what more can you say? posted by: publius 14:33 6.23.10 "France striker Thierry Henry will meet President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday to discuss the debacle. Government spokesman Luc Chatel said Sarkozy also is holding a meeting with ministers later Wednesday on how to reform French soccer." http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/5318209/ce/us/france-winger-florent-malouda-says-team-wants-restore-reputation-thierry-henry-meet-president-nicolas-sarkozy?cc=5901&ver=us question... posted by: simplicissimus 13:51 6.23.10 couldn't watch at the regular spot today, as the cable was out. so i wound up at the marquette on madison / clark (everytime i think i've been to every marquette in the city, another pops up). believe it or not, the basement is "sports themed" and i was shocked to see a good 30 people down there. about 6 or 7 "international" types - east asian or brits watching the england game. the rest? clean cut, white, males, in suit(-ish) attire, 30 - 55 in age. nearly all of whom (like me) were sitting alone at a table, sipping coffee or soda. they looked like lawyers, they acted like lawyers, and in the mass exodus after the match i heard words like "consent decree", "settlement", and brief uttered on 20 separate blackberrys. so i have to ask: why the hell are so many us soccer fans attorneys? don't look now... posted by: horsebeater 13:29 6.23.10 ... but if the US win their first match (against Ghana, Germany or whoever) then they'll be playing the Uruguay/South Korea winner. They probably are FAVORED in that match. Semis here we come! http://www.tentfort.com/show_thread_posts.asp?thread_id=1154 wow posted by: simplicissimus 12:07 6.23.10 ps: hercules gomez = astrubal cabrera (i'm not sure why, it just does) ah...super eagles. posted by: simplicissimus 09:51 6.23.10 i nearly collapsed when i saw the openish net non-goal. i tried to refrain from snap judgments on domenech until he refused to shake the south african coach's hand. pure douche move. sad i'm going to miss the england-slovenia match in about 10 minutes. mainly because england is always the 1A side in my heart, but also because i love how slovenia is redifining the charlie brown look (and i jest ... i think their uniforms are among my favorite this year). is anyone goign to beat the south americans this year? really? Poor Africa posted by: camdolphin 01:25 6.23.10 Nigeria had a man 2 yards from an empty goal, ball rolled to him, stuck his foot out and pushed it 6 inches wide. But for that, Nigeria would be through to the second round for a winnable game against Uruguay. Ugh. Particularly painful for me because my family lived in Nigeria for a couple years when I was a young 'um (and made forays into Cameroon), so it's sad to say goodbye. C'mon, Ghana, beat those stoic Germans! agreed, agreed and agreed again... posted by: publius 16:50 6.22.10 as if i needed another reason to hate alexei lalas, apparently he's also been talking trash about my favorite player who is named freddie ljungberg... lalas has now definitively moved ahead of apolo ohno as my most hated american sports figure of all time. http://www.the12thmanblog.com/2010/03/alexi-lalas-is-tool.html [thanks to airport girl for the tip] i feel a bit dirty... posted by: publius 16:44 6.22.10 posting an article by uk rag the sun...but something about this rumor feels like it could be true.. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/worldcup2010/3023757/thierry-Henry-blamed-for-french-revolution-at-world-cup.html patrice evra, the un-captained captain has promised to tell all about the last few days... http://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2010/06/22/c-est-vraiment-une-catastrophe_1377124_3242.html#ens_id=1371076 adding to publius' list posted by: horsebeater 16:11 6.22.10 1 happy happy small island in the northwest of europe ********* unbelievably, domenech refused to shake the hand of the south african coach post-match: http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/blog/dirty-tackle/post/Domenech-refuses-to-shake-Parriera-s-hand-wags-?urn=sow,250450 he's just awful. david trezeguet... posted by: publius 13:45 6.22.10 as i was thinking about this horror campaign by france, i began to wonder what ever happened to david trezeguet... according to his wikipedia entry he looks positively clairvoyant... "On 19 October 2007, Trezeguet threatened to quit France after being overlooked for two Euro 2008 qualifying matches by French manager Raymond Domenech. Trezeguet was selected to the French team in March 2008 for a friendly against England to replace the injured Karim Benzema, but then was not chosen for the French team that competed in Euro 2008. On 9 July 2008, Trezeguet announced his retirement from international football. He cited 'the awful Euro and the reappointment of the coach' being the main reasons for this decision. He also added 'I see football differently from how they see it in France. The Euro was very negative, but what annoys me more is that Domenech is staying.'" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Trezeguet the french posted by: horsebeater 12:32 6.22.10 at least they scored more goals than they did in 2002. a fitting end... posted by: publius 11:58 6.22.10 to a miserable world cup effort by les bleus - a 10 man loss 2-1 to south africa.... there's really not much more to say about this team....they sucked as few major teams have ever sucked at a world cup...the only bright side (if you can even call it that) is that they finally scored a goal. so on balance: 1 player sent home 1 team rebellion 1 demoted captain 1 lame duck coach 1 goal 1 round 0 wins a 2014 garcons..... By now posted by: camdolphin 11:46 6.22.10 I've seen every team play except Spain and Honduras. I'm really disappointed that Portugal-Brazil may not be a real game b/c Brazil will be resting players and looking for a tie. Although Brazil really likes to win; you never know. HB's point about video review of dives is a good one, but I think I'd only like to see it used against the players who fake injury to get another player red carded. It happened to Brazil by an Ivory Coast player, and it happened to the Swiss by a Chilean. Both times marginal contact below the jaw led to grabbing of the nose and going to the ground, followed by red cards. If you fake injury causing a player to leave and miss the next game, at the least you should be suspended for the next game. The South American dominance continues. I don't really have a good sense of who will go through any of the groups b/c I've spent no time looking at the tables due to my self-imposed news blackouts every day so I can watch games at night. So this last round is kind of a mystery for me. The good news is that the third round of group play can lead to the most exciting games (as well as some of the most boring). And this tournament needs some excitement. I've seen enough pretty midfield play to satisfy a million Italians. I want to see some slashing runs and crosses that actually land somewhere in the box. Tough call today on what to watch. Because of technical limitations, which I won't detail here, I can only record games on ESPN or ESPN2, but cannot switch between the two. So I picked Mexico-Uruguay followed by Argentina-someone else. Will only have time to watch one, though. Hoping I chose wisely. unsurprisingly.... posted by: publius 09:58 6.22.10 there are a number of changes to the french side which the odds say will soon be eliminated from the world cup. most notable is the exclusion of the (once and future?) captain, patrice evra. what i find even more odd is the continued non-starting role of thierry henry. granted, he's not the same thierry henry who more or less redefined english football when he played for arsenal in the early 2000s and he IS the theirry henry whose cheating tactics kept ireland at home for the world cup....but with anelka sent home are you really going to tell me that your other options are better? that with a team in utter disarray getting an older, more experienced guy on the field might not be a good idea? what do i know...but i was domenech i would have been starting both anelka and henry from the beginning, and i would certainly be starting henry today (my guess is we see him early in the 2nd half anyway) allez les bleus! sorry, wasn't clear posted by: horsebeater 18:37 6.21.10 i was responding to myself more than anything, not anything you specifically said. oh bother... posted by: publius 18:01 6.21.10 horsebeater says: "but hating the team because the fans are annoying is just way too 10th grade" i thought i had addressed this in my response to simplicissimus....but i went back over what i wrote and it was this: "most importantly, i'm in no way detracting from the folks who DO like and get involved in US soccer, nor do i in any way think that there is a (relatively small but clearly growing) base of fans who are as dedicated and knowedgable as fans in brazil or germany or england." and it should have read: "most importantly, i'm in no way detracting from the folks who DO like and get involved in US soccer, nor do i in any way think that there isN'T a (relatively small but clearly growing) base of fans who are as dedicated and knowedgable as fans in brazil or germany or england." can we put this one to bed now? i'm not hating on fans of us soccer. i just hate us soccer. and as much i appreciate your very horsebeater attempts to convince me why i should just cowboy up and love the team...it ain't gonna happen... and that's all i have to say about that. agree with everything camdolphin says posted by: horsebeater 17:02 6.21.10 on diving, go watch the brazil game or the italy game from the weekend and then come back and talk to me about diving, publius. i've always tried to stand up for soccer when it comes to the cheap jokes, but those were tough games to watch. it's nice having the british announcers bitch about it to make it feel like it's not just me. they really should start instituting after-match penalties for divers. the solution is easy: just hold them out of the next match if video replay shows that your dive has led to any kind of card for the other team (any foul seems like too much, but you could go that far). why is this so hard to figure out? regarding altidore, camdolphin is 100% right. altidore was definitely fouled and almost definitely played it up. frankly, i don't use the word "dive" when the player was fouled, and I don't think most do either. the french saga is just ... so ... french. it's just so expected it's unbelievable. it was like watching the 2004 u.s. men's basketball team playing an individualistic game like they didn't care if they won or not. regarding the u.s. team, the whole sam's army thing has always been a bit annoying, a little too frattish. then again, that's a problem of soccer fans generally, not really a u.s. problem. although the world war I song is great, if you ask me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCqZsFM7Sg8 but hating the team because the fans are annoying is just way too 10th grade. the team itself is great. our goalie has fucking tourette's and goes after people: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe_xMgeKCoA the team was always workmanlike -- bradley epitomizes that this year -- and even our "creative" player, donovan, is creative in a kind of workmanlike way. and soccer if it needs anything has ALWAYS needed more workmanlike. but now we even have in altidore and dempsey players that are 90% as good as the world's prima donna strikers but only have 40% of the obnoxiousness. and clint dempsey's got a rap video!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6Di8QT98Zk We have supersub HERCULEZ GOMEZ, a name out of a jack black movie. c'mon publius. we fucking rock. got on the 'wagon. [if we win wednesday, our most likely round of 16 matchup is GHANA, which is oh-so winnable] I was too hard on Publius posted by: camdolphin 11:00 6.21.10 Obviously, his anti-American sentiment is simply a vestigal outgrowth of his angst over France's poor performance and Ireland's lost trip to the finals. Anelka going home was the last straw. Not only is Anelka an inventive striker, but no one in South Africa wears a jersey quite as well as Anelka, who appears to have painted it on over his chiseled chest. At least the French are not alone. Most of Europe is under some sort of ash cloud, origins unknown. The French, Italians, English, Germans, Spanish have all had problems - this is the who's who of European soccer. The South Americans are kicking the shit out of everyone. Saw both of Brazil's games, no one is playing nearly as well. Seems like this cup everyone has figured out how to hold the ball, pass it around, but few have had really imaginative offensive attacks. It's what separates the wheat from the chaff. So you get a good deal of parity and then the few bright shining stars. Fortunately, the bright shining stars alternate, and the victors of the group stage do not always correlate with success later (see, e.g., Netherlands). The English are in trouble. Rooney was terrible against Algeria, not tracking back for balls, standing around waiting for garbage by the goal, not being the difference maker that he can be. It's a shame b/c he can make everyone around him better with his strength and vision. I can't post without mentioning how much I love the coaches' garb. It's as if the Simpsons writers picked out their wardrobes. The Germans wear matching so-European looking sweaters, each buttoned up to the top. The Dutch wear matching beautifully-tailored suits with no ties and button down shirts unbuttoned at the top. The Japanese look like business men. Maradona looks like an Argentinian Nazi sympathizer. My hopes for a Slovenia-Slovakia/N. Korea-S. Korea semifinals are dwindling. french circus posted by: publius 13:16 6.20.10 on 11.13.09 i wrote: "(nicholas [sic] anelka has been my favorite player not named freddie ljundberg [sic] for years)" (apparently i have a problem with spelling my favorite players' names correctly) so now my favorite player not named freddie ljungberg (who by the way was profiled last week in the nyt sunday magazine: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/magazine/13FOB-Domains-t.html?scp=1&sq=ljungberg&st=cse ) has been kicked out of the squad and sent home after blowing up at the french coach at halftime of their 2-0 loss to mexico (it truly is a mystery how domenech is still in charge) and refusing to apologize. good for anelka. and in today's latest development the entire french team is refusing to train in support of anelka: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/20/world-cup-2010-france-training-ground-refuse-train this is all of course highly entertaining and very french...except it's also pretty irish. not sure how many non-ireland fans remember the situation at the 2002 world cup with roy keane, but it's pretty similiar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Roy_Keane_incident so what does this all mean for france? well, they've been playing like garbage, so they really don't deserve to make it to the second round and their odds of doing so are slim. they need to thrash south africa and hope for a positive result between uruguay and mexico. if those two teams tie, france is out no matter what. and bear in mind france hasn't scored a goal yet and they've just sent their starting striker home. odds are very very good that les bleus are going home after their next match.... dommage, but the circus side-show aspect is worthwhile...and as much as i'd like to see them go through, there's definitely some karmic retribution going on for their cheating victory over ireland in qualifying... one second... posted by: publius 17:18 6.18.10 i will give you that it's not normal to mention inconvenient fact like your free kick being set up by a dive...but i hate it when french or german media do it just as much as i hate it when american media does it. it's an equal opportunity annoyance. most importantly, i'm in no way detracting from the folks who DO like and get involved in US soccer, nor do i in any way think that there is a (relatively small but clearly growing) base of fans who are as dedicated and knowedgable as fans in brazil or germany or england. all i'm saying is that i just can't get into the us soccer team and, try as i might, can't quite bury my schadenfreude towards them. attribute it to whatever you like. i'm just telling it the way it is. come on... posted by: simplicissimus 16:54 6.18.10 "unsurprisingly none of the american media outlets mention altidore's dive...cuz we likes our heartwarming stories pure 'n patriotic-like...." is this for real? first, if you can show me a single video mews clip or newspaper article from anywhere in world that mentions -- in a similar situation -- how the home team's getting gored on a call was not such a big deal because it was set up by a dive ... i will impressed. otherwise, the american angle needs to be retracted. second, i watched the second half in the bowels of a state building food court with 2 other lawyers, the mexican guy that cleans the coffee shop, two central american janitorial workers, a homeless black guy, a bike messinger, and a couple of other white professional-looking dudes. and i can assure you that (save for the homeless dude, though even he seemed to raise his eyebrows, etc. at all the right moments) the level of interest, knowledge, excitement and sheer joy in that second half was about as pure as i've experienced. it was pretty awesome when they scored those 2 goals and the place went insane -- all of us strangers -- when they scored the 3rd one. Yeah, Publius and the Times can go f themselves posted by: camdolphin 15:50 6.18.10 Marginal contact fouls are given all the time - you live and die with the consequences, unless they are penalty kicks. Then everyone can yell at the ref. When a victory is nullified by a terrible call, then the Americans (slovenians, japanese, whoever) are justified in being outraged. The Altidore foul was marginal; he dove, but he was also fouled. The defender had his arms spread preventing Altidore from running past him onto a ball behind the defense. Not out of the question to give that foul. Up till today the officiating had been very good. US lost two points (really a three point swing with a point to Slovenia). Germany loses Klose and I don't know who else for the crucial next leg because of too many yellow cards. Two neighboring groups affected by referreeing. All that said, I was proud of the US. Cherundalo was great again, Bocanegra has to go (and I loved him all those years w/ the Chicago Fire), Donovan is top flight, findley is beasley all over again (and not so positively). After dubbing howard their best player, I don't know why he didn't make a move on that first goal. He didn't look to be screened and it wasn't such a rocket that he couldn't react in time. It was kind of weird. It was an exciting game. On balance, I think a tie is probably fair to both teams. Could have 3 teams with 5 points in the group. as for the disallowed goal... posted by: publius 13:34 6.18.10 here's what the time has to say... "After Michael Bradley equalized off a brilliantly headed setup from Jozy Altidore in the 82nd minute, Maurice Edu seemed to put the United States ahead three minutes later. But the Malian referee, Koman Coulibaly, waved off the goal, calling what seemed like a phantom foul against the Americans. However, the free kick that led to Edu’s nullified goal was also the result of an apparent error from Coulibaly, who was fooled by Altidore’s dive." i didn't see any of it, but unsurprisingly none of the american media outlets mention altidore's dive...cuz we likes our heartwarming stories pure 'n patriotic-like.... i know it makes me a bad person posted by: publius 12:38 6.18.10 but i can't get over my schadenfreude with regards to the us soccer team. while i certainly give them a lot of credit for fighting back from 2-0 at the half...i'd be lying if i said i was rooting for them. usa-slovenia posted by: simplicissimus 11:59 6.18.10 i don't watch nearly as much as you guys. but that second half has got to be the most exciting i've ever seen. and, man, did the ref shit the bed on the offsides call (and non-call on the take-down). it's incredible but true: we should be discussing a miraculous usa win and a near-definite march to the next round. Beware Ghana posted by: camdolphin 11:17 6.18.10 Saw second half of Germany-Serbia. First off, have to just say that ESPN3 is pretty cool. Saw the game on computer w/ closed captioning so didn't wake family in hotel room. ESPN3 also has in game highlights so I could go back and look at the prior high and lowlights, like the two yellow cards given to Klose. And it has picture in picture (which my 25 year-old TV does not have, and my VCR cannot record anyway) which will be very helpful for the third round when they have all 4 teams in a group playing at the same time on different channels to prevent collusion. Okay on to Germany-Serbia. Klose's early red card - Yeah, the ref was giving abnormally high number of yellows, but the players knew the ref's rep coming in, and Klose was stupid for attacking from behind with a yellow card already in front of that ref. Quit whining Germany. I didn't see what the teams were like when both were full strength, so hard to judge. Germany was better, a very talented team. Deserved to tie, but Serbia's pretty good. It was a great game. Podolski missed a penalty. I always liked Podolski better than Klose. Except that Podolski turned his back on his polish heritage to play for Germany. This might have been karma. Ryan Giggs may forever regret choosing Wales over England, but at least he had the nuts at age 17 to saw I'm welsh not fucking english and even if it means I'll never play a meaningful international game, I'm playing for wales. If Germany thought Serbia was tough, Ghana has even more in store for them. Saw second half of Argentina-South Korea. Closer game than 4-1 score suggests. South Korea is pretty good, but Messi is great. Oops, second half of US is on. Old soccer proverb is that an early 2-0 lead is the worst lead to have - winning side thinks it's over, if loser scores 1 then winning team becomes terrified that a second goal will erase the 3 points they already think they have i will join a world cup pool once they improve world cup pool technology posted by: horsebeater 13:43 6.16.10 because right now it's at the level of camdolphin's magnetic game recording devices. and just like (cuckoo) clockwork.... posted by: publius 12:17 6.16.10 "You know what the fellow said – in Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock." now add to that a famous victory of spain at the world cup... spain continues to underachieve at the world cup and loses 1-0 to switzerland (i had the result switzerland 2 - spain 1 in my world cup pool, but so it goes...) i think you're misreading what i meant... posted by: publius 12:15 6.16.10 my point was that yes, they do have a lot of heart...but the "propaganda by disparaging" is in pretty full effect with them... i'm not knocking them in any way...just reporting what gets said... publius is dubious posted by: simplicissimus 12:06 6.16.10 come on man. north korea is bizarre and sad (i was going to write a lot more and then realized there's really no point). however, i have to say: that side has an awful lot of heart. i'd even say they're plucky. and fucking fast. Oh, I did. posted by: camdolphin 11:58 6.16.10 You're right, HB, good action end to end from Portugal-Ivory Coast. Trying to sort out what I've watched recently... Caught the end of Holland - Denmark. Reports say Holland underperformed but they certainly overmatched Denmark. Saw Japan - Cameroon Bitterly disappointed that Cameroon didn't play better. They can be so fun to watch, but HB's right. They spent the end of the game serving balls into the middle ala Germany. Not an African effort. Japan surprised, deserved the win. Can't remember if it was the Cameroonian keeper or the Ghanian keeper who was unreal. Whoever it was, made some great saves. Saw Italy - Paraguay Great goal from Paraguay to throw the Italians into a tizzy. Best header I've seen thus far. Italy deserved to tie it, but Paraguay played a very disciplined game against a better opponent. Obviously Italy's a good squad, but not going to go far. Finishing just wasn't there. Saw Portugal-Ivory Coast Good game, the blast from Ronaldo off the post early on was phenomenal. Would have liked to have seen the game with a fit Drogba, but it was entertaining. Saw the second half of Chile-Honduras this morning. Chile looked really good for a side that used to be written off as a laugher. Chile looked like they had a 2 man advantage against Honduras, who looked happy just to be there, although some gritty defending and a great save by the Honduran keeper kept the score 1-0. portugal / ivory coast posted by: horsebeater 10:28 6.16.10 although a nil-nil, the second half of that game was excellent. cam: i advise you to dust off your VCR and watch that tape nk comments.... posted by: publius 15:29 6.15.10 just to catalog some of them... _________________________ "It has been suggested that North Korea leader Kim Jong-il gave the coach advice on how to reach the World Cup. Kim Jong-Su, the general secretary of the North Korean FA, has said the Dear Leader gave 'in-depth guidance' on how to develop the game in the country and the coach himself has claimed he received regular tactical advice during matches, apparently using mobile phones that are not visible to the naked eye." "Kim jong-il must have got on the invisible mobile and asked for more attacking impetus." "Nice jogging bottoms on North Korea keeper Ri Myong-guk, you don't often see that at the World Cup." "There are suggestions of course that North Korea have employed 1,000 Chinese nationals to act as cheerleaders for the side, as so many of the North Korean natives cannot leave the country. Bizarre." "North Korea's aim this time is simply to "bring great happiness to our Dear Leader (Kim Jong-il)", according to coach Kim Jong-hun. In fact, the Dear Leader played his own part in qualification." "Comment from John Brewin in Johannesburg: I am sat next to fifty or so Korean fans. They cheer randomly and use some type of castanets to encourage their team." "If this carries on, there will be no need for North Korean state TV to censor the highlights. This has been a fine display from a team that few knew anything about prior to tonight." "As for North Korea, it has been a fantastic performance, and this from a country that tried to register a striker as a goalkeeper, rendering him useless for the tournament. Jong Tae-se has caught the eye - a really sparky player. Incidentally, this is the brilliant excuse that coach Kim produced to explain that whole debacle: 'He (Kim Myong-won) was a striker and now he's registered as a goalkeeper. He is really a goalkeeper but he's really fast, so we switched him to a striker. But this World Cup, he said he wanted to be a goalkeeper again.' Amazing stuff." ____________________ as i said, it's not that some of this stuff isn't merited, as there certainly is a huge measure of strangeness associated with the north korean team...i'm just saying that it all feels like a bit of deja vu from my childhood memories of what we were constantly told about the pesky red russians... all the commentary about the brazil/nk game... posted by: publius 14:46 6.15.10 is eerily reminiscent of everything we heard about the russians during the cold war...same emphasis on how strange everything they do is, how little freedom they have, how they crave information from the "outside world".. not passing any judgement here...but if they had a 6'-5" behemoth of a striker who came out before this came and said to kaka "we must break you" in korean i wouldn't be all that surprised.... this made me laugh posted by: horsebeater 10:03 6.15.10 So the goalie for England let an easy shot slip out of his hands and get behind him—what is it with you people and leakage?—and then forfeited any claim to sympathy, as the ball rolled through the pipes, by going fetal on the goal line. Foetal. Screw you, England. We're as good as you, now. And when we're done gloating, it'll be time for the Home Run Derby, and we'll forget about soccer again for three years. Three years and 11 months, if you're counting, which we will not be. is it just me... posted by: horsebeater 09:58 6.15.10 ... or does it feel like in this world cup, every nation is playing something very close to a similar style? in the past, i felt there were greater differences. more short passes and on-the-ball work from brazil and argentina, long ball from england, work on the wings from the dutch, germans keeping the ball in the air. This year, there are teams that generally play a mid-range passing game mixed in with some runs down the wings and crosses and ... well, that's the main style, really. I guess there is a difference between defensive focus. Certainly a Uruguay didn't look like it was trying to win 3 points. But even then it wasn't completely a "pack-it-in" mentality and it almost seemed like Uruguay didn't have the ball all that much because France was just better. I don't know that this is a function of soccer, either. In the Champions League, Barcelona -- arguably the best team in the world -- plays a very different style than Inter Milan, the team that beat them in the championship. In any event, I've watched a portion of nearly every game (although not Nigeria/Argentina or Netherlands/Denmark). Germany is the only one that has impressed, which is really somewhat depressing (although maybe that's just because I didn't watch Argentina or the Dutch). South Korea was fun to watch, but only because they are the scappiest team out there. I do have to second HLK-Rumsey's comments. Knowing I can queue up a game on the TIVO and be done 100 minutes later is very very nice. breaking news posted by: simplicissimus 23:39 6.14.10 (the gratuitous lawless dig is for publius) http://www.theonion.com/video/soccer-officially-announces-it-is-gay,17603/ I don't fancy myself much of a football fan posted by: hlk_rumsey 13:01 6.14.10 In preparation for the world cup, I just read the book among the thugs. Good stuff. I have been watching as many WC games as I can and I think I have seen just about all of the matches so far. Some in real-time and some on the tivo. Trust me when I say that I am not a sports guy. I have never participated in a fantasy league and I can't remember the last time that I have actually sat through an entire t.v. broadcast of any sporting event. But I am really enjoying the coverage of the world cup. I really like that the games are 90 minutes (give or take a few) and the game is over. None of the nonsense that you get at the end of an NBA game with endless tv timeouts, weak-sauce fouls, promo's for some god-awful show staring jada pinkett smith etc etc etc. Don't even get m started on the 4 hr debacle that is a MLB game. And the breakdancing robots on fox NFL coverage? fuck that noize. I can set aside 2 hours to watch the match and be done with it. I have also been enjoying the the commentary and play-by-play announcers. They stick to the game. There is none of the human interest angle that I find so repellant in just about every other sports broadcast. "Didja know that that linebacker was actually one of 7 children raised on the mean streets of tulsa by a crack head mom?" "Lets send dick enberg out to meet with that quarterback's first grade teacher!" Also, to ESPN's credit, they never cut to close up shots of the players wife's/family etc. Those air horn things are kind of annoying. I treated myself posted by: camdolphin 00:43 6.14.10 to a weekend of soccer, including taking Friday off. I saw: Mexico-South Africa South Africa was very very lucky to get a point, Mexico has talent but has to finish. It's the best team they've had, I think. France-Uruguay What a crappy game, although I mostly think that because I watched it with a non-soccer fan on his computer. Not really the way to do it. I instinctively had the same thought as publius when Henry yelled for a hand ball. I thought Uruguay would be better. Nigeria-Argentina I hoped Nigeria would be better, but Argentina is one of the class teams of this cup. Hopefully, that won't be the last we hear from Nigeria (or my pool is going to be in some trouble). US-England I was proud of the US. They played like a real professional side. They're not in the same class as England and the like, but they won't embarrass themselves either. Howard is their best asset, particularly given Green's problems (I forgot to check the British papers for their headlines; as soon as the goal was scored I imagined a thousand editors racing to be the wittiest). Algeria-Slovenia Decided on a goal that was just as poor as the one Green let in. Crappy game; neither team is going to do much. Algerian sub managed to get two yellow cards and sent off in a very short amount of time. Are they still doing the red card means you miss the next game too thing? If so, I forget his name, but that sub was Algeria's best offensive threat (mostly because he didn't mind running over people, hence the 2 yellow cards), meaning he won't be available against England but will be around for the US. Ghana-Serbia Easily the best game I've seen thus far. There was a stretch when both teams opened it up and were going back and forth. Ghana deserved to win (although it came on a penalty kick, but the PK was pretty much undisputed). Serbia was no pushover either. I hope Germany is overconfident after Australia (I skipped that game b/c it looked like a laugher). Both of these teams will give people trouble. What would Ghana be like with Essien? Best goal I saw (and there were precious few; maybe 6 all weekend?) was the South African goal, a thing of beauty. One touch to settle the ball at the end of a run and then blasting the ball on a small bounce into the top corner of the opposite side of the goal. Beautiful. My plan is to watch Netherlands-Denmark in the a.m. and then tape (yes, I'm using my 11 year-old VCR to watch games on my 25 year-old TV; what of it?) the next two games, hoping I can rely on my old man to watch them and then tell me which I should catch. I'd be shocked if it wasn't Japan-Cameroon. Not sure how long I can keep this pace up, but we'll see... some things never change posted by: publius 12:35 6.13.10 if there is one thing that has been reconfirmed for me in the strongest possible terms in these opening days of the world cup, it is my hatred of alexei lalas. i hated him when he was a neo-hippie player, i've hated him as he's positioned himself as the face of football in the us, and i really, really hate his commentating this year on espn. his job seems to be the international scold. the height of his insight and creativity is criticizing every player, coach and referee for not playing the game correctly and not living up to whatever standards lalas decides to hold them to. you would think by his high and mighty pontificating that there was actually a point when he was relevant on the world stage. but you know what? he never was. he was the andre agassi, image is everything, self-promoting whore at the 1994 world cup, and he's still the same guy, except instead of some easy-going hippie free spirit, now he's the voice of cold hard "reason" and "the world is a hard place and you have to take responsibility and perform or you don't deserve to live" brand of republican ivory tower moralism. got i hate him. i think i hate him more than apolo ohno, though really that one is a toss-up. i do not wish alexei lalas was not dead. what a douche. http://fulhamexiles.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/lalas.jpg a pretty good day... posted by: simplicissimus 22:02 6.12.10 the us didn't look half bad, but the goal was about as lucky as it gets. england looked like england. watching nigeria/argentina now. sadly, i caught the result earlier today. there's really only two types of teams i start out rooting for: 1. Those analogous to the Cleveland Browns (the Dutch and England); and 2. African teams. It's a lost cause, I know, because for an African team to win it all it seems like they would have to be a supremely talented side, and that never happens. But it would be awesome. and, yes, i share hb's fascination for the north korean side. every time i see one of their players i think of that tom waits song where it's just him repeating "what's he *doing* in there". seriously, what goes through that team's mind? ps: which one should i be wearing? http://www.zazzle.com/naija4life/gifts most ironic world cup moment to date posted by: publius 16:19 6.11.10 88' Henry claims for handball! favorite color commentary so far... posted by: publius 15:05 6.11.10 soccernet game cast just described uruguan diego forlan as "lively and full of running" we should all be so lucky... i crack myself up... posted by: publius 14:59 6.11.10 franck ribery just got a yellow card...for playing the ball in an area of the field where there's no grass.... roman polanski strenuously disagrees... look it up... gotta say I'm getting pretty into it posted by: horsebeater 09:58 6.9.10 This world cup seems a bit thin up top. Brazil playing defense first. England and the Dutch with their historic problems (and both somewhat injured). TONS of European teams -- Italy, Portugal, Germany, France -- all seem a few notches weaker than in the past few decades. Same with Argentina, plus they have the Maradonna factor. There's no real strong African side to pick as a sleeper. So really, there's Spain, and then kind of Brazil and then a group of 8 or 10 or so teams that maybe have a chance (with U.S. and Mexico on the fringe or just outside that group of 8 or 10). The oddsmakers seem to have it close to right (surprise, surprise): http://www.oddschecker.com/football/internationals/world-cup/win-market Regarding the bets on that board, Holland at 9-1 or 10-1 seems like a nice bet. France at 20-1 is appealing (publius?). Serbia at 50-1 seems like a nice $20 bet to potentially win $1000. And of course I'd take a bet on the U.S. at 80-1 any time (you would think that if they expect a lot of rich people from the U.S. to bet on the U.S., they'd want to lower these odds to attract bets on the other side, but maybe europe loves betting against the U.S. soo much that they don't need to do that). On the flip side, I can't say I like the 50-1 Ivory Coast odds. Chile seems high. Argentina at 6.5-1 seems like a stretch. Germany too. ******** Regarding early games, the South Africa / Mexico opener isn't a dud, which is nice. Saturday's two later games are both great. Argentina / Nigeria is always interesting, as the South America vs. Africa angle always confuses me regarding how it should fit together. Nigeria isn't the same side it was in the past decade, but I feel like any of the African nations (except Algergia) always have a chance against anyone in the world (unlike the Paraguays and the Honduras and the like, which should always lose to the very good team). And U.S./England, of course. This U.S. side still concerns me, particularly the defense. Onyewu looked weak in the friendlies and is just not 100%. Demerit plays First Division in England and simply isn't world class. Cherundelo, to the extent he ever was world class, isn't at his current age. We have no real holding midfielder (like Reyna and O'Brien in 2002). We have no experienced striker (a la Brian McBride). The Spain match last summer should never have been a victory and has made them overconfident. I'm predicting a 2-1 England victory, with all three goals in the second half. Other notable games for me out of the first run through the groups are Germany/Australia (Sunday 2:30 p.m.), Serbia/Ghana (Sunday 10 a.m.) and, fascinating to me, Brazil/North Korea (Tuesday 2:30 p.m.). I wouldn't be surprised by any outcome in the last match. Brazil scoring 10. North Korea players dropping dead on the pitch. should be a good cup. drogba posted by: horsebeater 09:37 6.9.10 this is only positive for him, as it will teach him more legitimate ways to writhe on the ground and emulate being in pain. lastest on drogba... posted by: publius 12:29 6.8.10 is that he will play....he had surgery and will probably not be in the first game, but he'll be available for the tournament...or so the internets tell me... meant to say... posted by: camdolphin 11:50 6.8.10 Drogba's broken arm keeping him out of the cup? Nike curse, perhaps? Publius - what about Drogba? posted by: camdolphin 11:48 6.8.10 US / ENGLAND REF posted by: horsebeater 11:27 6.8.10 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/793587/ce/uk/?cc=5901&ver=us ********* The referee chosen for the Group C match between England and USA - Brazilian official Carlos Simon - was suspended for the final month of the domestic season by the Brazilian FA last season after making a number of errors. In 2009, club side Flamengo wrote to FIFA demanding Simon not be put forward for the World Cup after he sent off one of their players for diving. They said that he was guilty of "unambiguously inconsistent, unfair and inequitable technical performances". The president of Palmeiras subsequently described Simon as "a crook, a scoundrel and a shameless bastard ... if I met him in the street, I would slap him. He should be driven out of football." Simon is one of the most experienced FIFA officials and refereed at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. In the last tournament he was criticised for allegedly grinning when he sent off Sweden's Teddy Lucic against hosts Germany. re: camdolphin's video post posted by: publius 13:38 6.7.10 how annoyed do you think the folks at nike are that ronaldinho was left out of the brazil squad for the world cup? probably pretty annoyed. north korea is really fucking weird posted by: horsebeater 14:35 6.3.10 they put a striker in as goalkeeper http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/792257/ce/uk/?cc=5901&ver=us Actually, this should really go posted by: camdolphin 13:44 5.22.10 here. http://vimeo.com/11896489 fucking france posted by: horsebeater 14:09 12.4.09 so fucking lucky. drawing into south africa's group. U.S. draw is quite nice. Would've liked South Africa or Argentina, but England isn't quite Spain or Brazil either. No real group of death, it doesn't seem, as each group has at least 1 weak team (Group G is the closest, but a weak North Korea squad DQ's it). I see. posted by: camdolphin 17:09 12.3.09 That's done to get the host past the group stage. I like it. It creates a little more imbalance in the groups, to ensure a group of death by keeping a france in a lower tier, and creates an easier pairing which, combined with home field, gets a South Korea into the next round. So the host fans have more to cheer for, and you give an upstart a chance. When the host country is a power, like France, it doesn't matter because 1) they'd be a #1 seed anyway and 2) they'd likely get past the group stage regardless. they do not seed within pools... posted by: horsebeater 14:52 12.3.09 ... but pool A is the 7 best teams in the world and also South Africa. Which means that South Africa is guaranteed to not be in a group with Brazil, Spain, England, etc. I was unclear. I was really just complaining that South Africa was in pool A. That's all. Can someone explain posted by: camdolphin 13:39 12.3.09 how the seeds work? I mean, if you're pulling from each of the four pools, does it really matter if you're the first seed or the last? Or is it more likely that you get stuck with an extra European team at the end because of conflicts that might arise while the first several picks are made from each group? oooo posted by: horsebeater 12:50 12.3.09 the dutch made the top pool; espn had been predicting that france would nab the 8th spot. i need a south africa, uruguay, u.s. and slovenia pool ! I can understand the hosts automatically being in teh world cup, but why an automatic # 1 seed? That strikes me as odd. We're getting closer posted by: camdolphin 10:28 12.2.09 The draw to set the groups will be on Friday. Here's a link to the pools from which each group will be drawn from. France is probably the top-ranked non-seeded team, putting them one step closer to a fitting fate in a group of death. http://tinyurl.com/yegk9xx it just doesn't end.... posted by: publius 09:39 12.1.09 until it does... http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/dec/01/sepp-blatter-embarrassment-fifa-liam-brady "well then.... posted by: publius 12:41 11.30.09 ...could we at least get good seats for the final match?" http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=706016&sec=worldcup2010&cc=5901 awwwww.... posted by: publius 09:27 11.23.09 poor thierry henry...i'm sure the millions of irish fans who have wait another 4 years for a shot at playing in the world cup are terribly empathetic... http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/nov/23/thierry-henry-ireland-handball-france what henry has to say... posted by: publius 09:17 11.20.09 http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/nov/20/thierry-henry-ireland-world-cup of course, it is notable that he waited until after fifa had officially turned down the fai's demand for a replay...easy to play the penitent when there is little on the line... revising my replay odds... posted by: publius 09:02 11.20.09 down to 500-1 it is still extraordinarily unlikely, but the outcry and the scope of this thing is pretty crazy....when a soccer match makes top story on cnn, you know the story has a head of steam... and now there's this little teaser on the guardian web site: LATEST: France captain Thierry Henry admits replaying World Cup play-off against Ireland would be 'fairest solution'. More details soon ... (granted, henry is just doing what he can to protect/clen of his considerable brand, which has taken one hell of a beating in the last two days, but still...) of course, my favorite take is by the ever warm and fuzzy former irish and man united captain roy keane (most definitely NOT to be confused with current irish captain robbie keane): http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/nov/20/roy-keane-ireland-thierry-henry as i say, i think the odds of any replay are still very very long (and fifa has already come out and official rejected the fai's call for a rematch) but whereas yesterday i was willing to reject the idea out of hand, today i think that if the pieces fall just exactly right, someone could make a decision that could lead to what would one of the oddest matches of all time. cue righteous indignation... posted by: publius 06:56 11.19.09 http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/nov/19/thierry-henry-handball-ireland-world-cup odds of a replay: 10000-1 Link's not working posted by: camdolphin 00:35 11.19.09 But my dad came back from watching the game and even his intoxicated viewpoint could tell it was a handball. i'm no expert... posted by: publius 23:02 11.18.09 but that certainly looks like (double) handball to me... fifa made the call at the end of full time - more money to be made with france in the finals than ireland...or not...but it sounds nice and we need a touch of conpiracy around here.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qZJrOcgkYM you know it was a clear handball... posted by: publius 18:03 11.18.09 when all of the comments about the match on the le monde website are negative... most common words: honte (shame) and tricheurs (cheaters) http://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2009/11/18/suivez-france-irlande-en-direct-commente_1268991_3242.html on henry's handball... posted by: publius 17:57 11.18.09 the guardian: ET15: It's half-time in extra time. That's a real sickener for the Irish. The referee had been excellent up to that point, but now he's kicked the whole nation of Ireland in the bollocks. soccernet: has a headline "henry hands france final spot" France: A blatent handball by Thierry Henry was the difference as France drew 1-1 with Ireland in Paris, after beating them 1-0 at Croke Park, to seal their place. Leaves a sour taste in the mouth. damned cheating frenchies...the fix is in if you ask me...uefa wants france, uefa gets france... oh well... allez les bleus! and of course... posted by: publius 17:44 11.18.09 france scores in ot to go to the world cup and send ireland home. and of course, since it's ireland, they need to be hard done by, and from everything i've read, they seem to have truly gotten screwed over here...henry apparently clearly handled the ball on it way to gallas who scored the winning goal... oh well...over the long haul, i think i'd rather watch france in the world cup, but it would have been nice for the boys to pull one out. but it all works. france goes through, and the irish have something legitimate to gripe about for the next four years...same as it ever was... ________ ET30: Peep! Peep! Peep! It's all over. Ireland have performed heroically and - with monotonous predictability - failed to qualify. They've been well and truly cheated out of a place at the World Cup finals, but spurned more than enough chances to win the game in normal time. _________ http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/nov/18/republic-ireland-france-world-cup-qualifier 1-0 ireland at full time... posted by: publius 16:55 11.18.09 so they're tied on aggregate each with one away goal...on our way to overtime.... true story. posted by: simplicissimus 16:50 11.18.09 last night i had a long and involved dream that i was with my family at a hotel and there was a killer on the loose. from what i gatherned from the clerk, he was an "ex marketing guy" and very, very dangerous. his name? which everyone kept repeating in terror: johan rosengard SENTENA. take that frenchie! posted by: publius 16:31 11.18.09 publius... posted by: horsebeater 15:44 11.18.09 ... now you can run out and fork over $20 to setanta, for only one HALF of soccer! Even better! come on ireland! posted by: publius 15:37 11.18.09 keane scores on 30 mins to put ireland up 1-0 in paris...the series is all tied up for the moment. i doubt ireland gets out of this without france scoring though, so another goal would be welcome... come on lads! well that was boring... posted by: publius 08:29 11.15.09 france wins 1-0 at croke park, which should leave them fairly comfortable going into the return match in paris on wednesday with an away goal in hand... watching ireland play is a lot like watching the us play...they're plucky, they work really hard, they got great team spirit...but they're really just not level talent-, skill- or excitement-wise with the best teams in the world, of which france is definitely one. you rarely see the beautiful game with an irish or us side, whereas you will see france or italy or brazil occasionally lose matches because they simply aren't capable of playing the workmanlike, grinding football that you need to win on those days when it seems like your side's talent and artistry have gone missing. ireland had a couple of chances, in particular one flurry in front of the french goal in the second half when it seemed every player on the irish side took a shot in the space of 15 seconds or so, but it looked and was about as effective as a keystone kops routine...and you never really had the impression that ireland (or france for that matter) was building much in the way of momentum. it was a pretty ho-hum game for france as well. my favorite-player-not-named-freddie-ljundberg, nicolas anelka, scored the game's only goal (though it was off a deflection, and setanta was scoring it as an own-goal for a while, anelka deserves credit for it), but the match never really flowed. france definitely looked better, and they deserved the win (and it should have been 2-0, but gignac missed a more or less open goal), but it was far from exciting or convincing. so on to paris on wednesday...the match is at 3pm et, so at least i won't be tempted to fork over another $20 to those cunts at setanta.... just to rail against setanta once again.... posted by: publius 10:05 11.14.09 FUCK YOU SETANTA! once more there is a rare occasion where i would actually like to venture out and watch a bit of sport at a bar...but of course, the fucking cunts at setanta have it on their premium channel, so the only way to see it is to go to a bar which carries setanta premium and pay $20....or try to find a shady russian streaming site and hope that it actaully works. and you know what...i'll probably end up paying it... so once again... FUCK YOU SETANTA! for previous setanta rants, see here: http://www.tentfort.com/show_thread_posts.asp?thread_id=570 my brother just forwarded this one to me... posted by: publius 12:46 11.13.09 it may not be real, but it's entertaining nonetheless... http://irishsoccerinsider.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/french-and-irish-fall-out-over-box-incident/ i've been putting quite a bit of thought into this actually... posted by: publius 11:09 11.13.09 and as much of a francophile as i may be (and i definitely am that) i have to go with ireland here. the consolation comes in the fact that if ireland lose, i certainly won't be sad to see france through... i haven't followed international football all that closely as of late, but with robbie keane and damien duff and arguably the premiership's best goalkeeper in shay given, i wouldn't count ireland out. and as much as i love some of the players on the french side (nicholas anelka has been my favorite player not named freddie ljundberg for years) they do have a tendency to underperform in very gallic fashion (which is funny to say about a team that missed winning the last world cup in a penalty shootout, but anyway)... http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=697934&sec=worldcup2010&cc=5901 the bookies have france the favorite, but not by a ton (7/5 france as opposed to 21/10 for ireland at william hill)... It's fast approaching posted by: camdolphin 10:21 11.13.09 The playoffs for the final 4 spots from Europe begin this weekend, creating Publius's nightmare matchup - Ireland v. France. Well, Publius, when push comes to shove, which side of the fence are you on?