The unofficial World Cup Thread,

[Ronin]

Ghana was robbed. Another team goes through thanks to intentional cheating, pure and simple. There really should be an automatic penalty goal for a hand ball on the line.

Robbed? hogwash! If you can´t put a goal in from the penalty line you have no place at this stage of the tournament anyway.

and besides....why not look at this from the "glass half full" perspective? The Uruguay player took a bullet for his team! He sacrificed himself possibly for the rest of the tournament just so that his team had a small chance of surviving....that's the stuff movies are made of right there! imagine it with the rocky soundtrack behind it...he gambled and it payed off, it's not his fault the Ghana players aparently can´t score penalty kicks.

That said, it will be easier without Suarez. Not because he's that good, but because of his sick ways of spoiling the game. He was faking fouls the entire game against Ghana, whining for cards and in the end making a disgusting handsball, on purpose. If that's the way you want to win, you don't deserve it. I hope we slaughter these guys in the next round, because they don't belong in the semi-finals, at all.

If you ain´t cheating...you ain´t trying....

but anyway I´m hoping we get Holland - Germany in the final.

[LeftEyeNine]

Ronin gets my vote. He be the mayor.

[Tellos Athenaios]

Robbed? hogwash! If you can´t put a goal in from the penalty line you have no place at this stage of the tournament anyway.

Ghana was robbed in the sense that it was a foul, and that it would otherwise have been a goal. More precisely they were unlucky in that the penalty hit the bar rather than the net.

and besides....why not look at this from the "glass half full" perspective? The Uruguay player took a bullet for his team! He sacrificed himself possibly for the rest of the tournament just so that his team had a small chance of surviving....that's the stuff movies are made of right there! imagine it with the rocky soundtrack behind it...he gambled and it payed off, it's not his fault the Ghana players aparently can´t score penalty kicks.

He didn't “take a bullet for his team”. He played volleyball.

If you ain´t cheating...you ain´t trying....

Or you are being honest. Naive, I know; but I preferred the Ghanese who showed much more effort towards winning than Uruguay did IMO and they did it with considerably less of Schwalbe, gross physical fouls, or handballs.

[Fragony]

I'm with TA, poor sport. Maybe the rules should be stricter to unleash the inner gentleman. The best team should win, not the best lawyer.

[Ronin]

This is modern football....you field backup goalkeepers....2 of them!



I wonder who gets the Yashin award for best goalkeeper of the tournament? :P

[Ronin]

wow...germany just steamrolled Argentina...4 - 0

I say zee germans are going all the way.

[Ser Clegane]

Still can't believe it ... incredible ...

[LeftEyeNine]

You can't expect to win the tournament with a formation such as 5-0-5.

I thought from the start that Maradona was given the ropes of Albiceleste so that he wouldn't find time to OD. They have saved their hero yet suffered the inevitable humiliation.

When you consider this tournament, Deutschland ist über Alles.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Great game, shame about that ridiculous yellow card on muller...the "miss a game if you get a yellow card in two games" rule is very weird.

[naut]

Hah! I said die Mannschaft would get 4, but who would have guessed the Argies would be so poor. Argie tactics summed up when they went 2 behind, Maradona's solution? Bring on 2 more strikers. Haha. I wonder who Maradona will insult in the post game interview...

Argies, just so unbalanced and lop-sided. They lacked invention and width. They gave Germany so much time in the middle of the park, Schweinstieger and Khedira could play at a walking pace. Germany, fantastic, so much talent and skill, but enough graft. And the key thing is that Loew has built a team, not just assembled a bunch of individuals. A lot has to be said for the work of the Bundesliga and Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. They've put so much effort in to improve the grass-roots and the youth set-ups in Germany. The results were on display tonight, and the whole of the last couple seasons, with club sides other than Bayern starting to do well and bringing through exceptional talent.

[Husar]

Yes, great victory, well done.

I have to say I'm a bit sorry for Maradona though, not a big fan of his but he grew on me a bit, little happy ball of fur on the sidelines that he was until now.

[Rhyfelwyr]

To win 4-1 and then 4-0 in the second round/QF of the world cup is simply insane.

Although they are a young side, I wonder how they would cope if they go behind and things aren't going their way.

A v final would be a spectacle given the rivalry between them...

[Sasaki Kojiro]

To win 4-1 and then 4-0 in the second round/QF of the world cup is simply insane.

Although they are a young side, I wonder how they would cope if they go behind and things aren't going their way.

A v final would be a spectacle given the rivalry between them...

It seems like their games are close for a fairly long time, and then they get a run of goals late as the other time is more vulnerable to the counter attack. It makes them hard to catch but it I guess getting an early lead is important for them.

[Rhyfelwyr]

It seems like their games are close for a fairly long time, and then they get a run of goals late as the other time is more vulnerable to the counter attack. It makes them hard to catch but it I guess getting an early lead is important for them.

Aye, they might have found it less comfortable if the Argie defence didn't have the strangest ever set up for that first goal from the free kick. Talk about failing to hold a solid line.

[Fisherking]

It seems like their games are close for a fairly long time, and then they get a run of goals late as the other time is more vulnerable to the counter attack. It makes them hard to catch but it I guess getting an early lead is important for them.

Not really! Their biggest blessing was that Ballack is not playing.

The core of the team all play for FC Bayern and they have now adopted that playing style.

They won’t be too flustered if behind if that comes to pass.

Spain and Holland would both be hard fought games I think but they might pull it off.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Poor Argies! But Germany was incredible today. Hopefully Paraguay exhausts the Spaniards enough to make it easier for Germany.

[Fragony]

absolutely awesome

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Robbed? hogwash! If you can´t put a goal in from the penalty line you have no place at this stage of the tournament anyway.

and besides....why not look at this from the "glass half full" perspective? The Uruguay player took a bullet for his team! He sacrificed himself possibly for the rest of the tournament just so that his team had a small chance of surviving....that's the stuff movies are made of right there! imagine it with the rocky soundtrack behind it...he gambled and it payed off, it's not his fault the Ghana players aparently can´t score penalty kicks.

It should be like goaltending in basketball. The mindless "that's the rule that's the rule that's the rule" droning is dogmatic.

Soccer desperately needs instant replay.

[spmetla]

Too bad that the Germany Argentina game is too early in the morning for me, what a smashing victory! Been enjoying this Spain Paraguay match, I've got a beer bet on Spain but my natural support for the underdog in sports finds me rooting for Paraguay. They've had so many nice opportunities against what I'd say is the better team.

I'm hoping for a Germany vs. Netherlands final as well! It'd be nice to see the Oranje with a World Cup victory.

[Ronin]

It should be like goaltending in basketball. The mindless "that's the rule that's the rule that's the rule" droning is dogmatic.
Soccer desperately needs instant replay.

in my view you cannot award by rule points that were not actually scored.

why instant replay in this case? the foul was spotted by the referee and the proper penalty given.

[Proletariat]

What's the animosity against instant replay? In the chat I heard football 'purists' don't want their sport Americanised. This tournament is all about who can most cleverly dupe the referee, handball at the correct times, and then it comes down to phantom offsides calls. At first it was ruining it for me but I think I'm getting used to it now.

I don't mind what Suarez did, tho.

Sasaki, even in basketball, when you're fouled you have to make your foul shots. Ghana missed their penalty kick. I don't think it should be like goaltending tho but I'm also sick of the 'it's the rules it's the rules it's the rules' line.

[LeftEyeNine]

WHAT. A. MATCH.

2 PENALTIES IN 2 MINUTES, BOTH MISSED ONE OF WHICH WAS RE-TAKEN.

WOO.

[Ronin]

What's the animosity against instant replay? In the chat I heard football 'purists' don't want their sport Americanised. This tournament is all about who can most cleverly dupe the referee, handball at the correct times, and then it comes down to phantom offsides calls. At first it was ruining it for me but I think I'm getting used to it now.

I don´t have a problem with instant replay...but I don´t think it would be the magical bullet to take away problems many people think it is.
I see people arguing in football debate shows over here...and even with video replay they always think their team was right and was robbed.


[QUOTE=LeftEyeNine;2517230]WHAT. A. MATCH.

2 PENALTIES IN 2 MINUTES, BOTH MISSED ONE OF WHICH WAS RE-TAKEN.

WOO.[/QUOTE

if the referee is being such a stickler for the rules then Paraguay's penalty would also have to be re-taken.

[Secura]

I'm holding out my hope for a Netherlands-Spain final; I don't think another controversial World Cup final in a row would be good considering 2006's, and you just know that Holland vs. Germany is going to be an absolute field day for the match officials.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Sasaki, even in basketball, when you're fouled you have to make your foul shots. Ghana missed their penalty kick. I don't think it should be like goaltending tho but I'm also sick of the 'it's the rules it's the rules it's the rules' line.

I mean, it literally is goal tending though. It takes a sure goal into a possible goal. In the tournament so far we have a 75% success rate for PK's right? So late in the game (aka at the most dramatic moment) you give a huge reward to a player who commits a blatant foul. Make it red card + goal allowed automatically and then no one will do it. It shouldn't be a tactical decision.

WHAT. A. MATCH.

2 PENALTIES IN 2 MINUTES, BOTH MISSED ONE OF WHICH WAS RE-TAKEN.

WOO.

Final goal was incredible too, 3 posts.

[Pannonian]

Robbed? How so?

You are allowed to stop the ball with your hands in your own penalty box. One player is allowed to. As a matter of courtesy, one is expected to state in advance in writing, which of the players that is. The Uruguay FA regretably failed to properly inform Fifa in time which player they had in mind. A tournament is more paperwork then one might expect, I guess.

I do think it is a bit unfair to call this smallish administrative oversight a matter of robbery. South American countries simply have less administrative fixiation than Northwest European 'classify - count - register' societies. If Fifa wants a truly multi-regional sport, then we ought not to go administrative-nazi on them.

Suarez: "I made the best save of the tournament. Sometimes in training I play as a goalkeeper so it was worth it"

[Ronin]

I mean, it literally is goal tending though. It takes a sure goal into a possible goal. In the tournament so far we have a 75% success rate for PK's right? So late in the game (aka at the most dramatic moment) you give a huge reward to a player who commits a blatant foul. Make it red card + goal allowed automatically and then no one will do it. It shouldn't be a tactical decision.

In basketball the goal tending rule makes sense because the basket is small...and if no such rule was in place you could make scoring practically impossible..you just have to hire a really tall dude and tell him to stand with his hand in front of the basket entrance.....since there are no other rules that would make it ilegal.

This is not the case in football.... because for a non goalkeeper player to use his hands to handle the ball is already illegal....a penalty kick + a red card for the player is a perfectly rounded punishment for such an action.

First of all because I believe that any professional football player has the obligation of being able to hit the goal from 11 metres.....if the goalkeeper can defend that's tough luck for the goal kicker..but outright missing the goal doesn´t seem acceptable from a professional player to me....thus he has a more than fair chance of scoring.

Second if this happens at minute 60 of the game for instance...then the offending team has to play 30 minutes with -1 player......that is a huge disadvantage....and we can´t go around changing the rules because a foul happens in the last minute of a game instead of on the first...the rules should be consistent.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

I think it's a fair thing, and brilliant play by Suárez. He did what he had to do, and when the penalty kicker misses the goal, I can't see why to whine about it. There should not be any secure goal. A penalty already gives a huge probability to score.

Why is all the world looking to a football world cup, but virtually no-one to a basketball world cup? Because football is drama. It's not the whole truth but an important part of it. That doesn't mean that many of the referees' decisions haven't been a fault. But to be honest, how often does it occur that there is uncertainty on the matter if the ball's behind the line or not? It's rather seldom.

The offside thing is another point. I would advocate 4 instead of 2 assistants on the line, of whom two are respectively obliged to take special care of the goal line. When one on every side respectively is obliged to stay where he is (let's call him goal-referee), there could also be greater security in decisions concerning possible offside situations.

[edyzmedieval]

Somebody award Suarez the Player of the Tournament.

No seriously, award him that. Cheater no cheater, he saved his team. He sacrificed himself, he gambled, and he won. Stop the "he's such a cheater" bull****. So many guys are diving it's incredible. About time somebody did a daring thing like that, it spiced up this incredibly boring World Cup.

Thumbs up Suarez, I hope you will stay with Ajax.

[gaelic cowboy]

I am just gonna throw a piece of info in the ring here for some people about the whole technology in football arguement. The entire tournament has been marred by the talk of technology or the lack of said technology. Some people are opposed to the Americanisation of the sport well here is my solution all the way from little old Ireland.



There is a game in Ireland called Gaelic Football it is run by an amateur organisatin called the Gaelic Athetlic Association

This is what Gaelic for short looks like


Here the two team captains are included in this photo here with one referee and two linesmen same as soccer.



However here are four men in white with the referee, these men two for each goal are umpires they stand beside the goals similar to Aussie rules. If you look back at the earlier video you can see them in action beside the goalpost,



Here in these next two pictures we see the two umpires drawing the referee's attention to an infringement on the field of play.






My question is if an amateur organisation like the GAA has the brains to use one ref two linesmen and four umpires why can't soccer. It will hardly cost more than expensive technology plus it can be done on the smallest to the biggest scale anywhere regardless of facilities.