The unofficial World Cup Thread,

[Sarmatian]

As much as I hate what Henry did, I have to side with Louis - referee's mistakes are and have always been a part of football. Just because replays have shown a particular goal should have been given that doesn't warrant a replay match. Should Germans demand to replay 1966 final because third English goal shouldn't have been given? It has happened million of times in football I don't really see why should different rules be applied in the case of Ireland.

[Joooray]

Man Germany - Serbia was a frustrating game to watch. The Referees are not as their best this time around, but Congratulation to Serbia, they deserved because Germany didn't use the chances they got.

Anyway, let's see if NL also slips up tomorrow:
2 - 1
2 - 1
1 - 1

[Louis VI the Fat]

Does FIFA take us for fools?

Those with an eye for the game have insisted since the beginning of the tournament the new ball ruins a passing game. And that the ball creates less goals instead of more, because the unpredictability is offset by players failing to shoot it straight, especially when trying to keep the ball from flying way over.

Statistics now prove us correct!

The Jabulani may not have hit the back of the net very often in this World Cup, but the net of public opinion is closing around it. To the naked eye, the controversial Adidas ball that was introduced for this tournament has been a significant factor in the lack of goals so far, and that perception is supported by statistics taken from the first round of group matches.


Opta figures show that, so far, only 33.44% of shots have been on target. That is down by almost 10% in comparison with the Premier League and Champions League last season, and also the World Cup in 2006. While this may be partly attributable to the small sample size, the fact the difference is so pronounced suggests that it is more than a statistical anomaly. Only four sides – Italy, Japan, Slovenia and Germany – have hit the target with more than half of their shots.

The Germans are at the top of most positive lists, as you would expect of a side who have scored twice as many goals as anyone else. Their passing accuracy of 91.54% is the best of the tournament so far.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/b...tatistics-ball

To which I would like to add, that the ball has been used for several months in Germany, Argentina and the USA. Not surprisingly, these teams have so far seemed the least affected by the ball.

~~o~~o~~<<oOo>>~~o~~o~~

Speaking of a passing game, below what Spain is capable of. A friendly against Poland earlier this month. The beautiful game! Check out that second goal between 0:28 and 0:40.

~~o~~o~~<<oOo>>~~o~~o~~

As much as I hate what Henry did, I have to side with Louis - referee's mistakes are and have always been a part of football. Just because replays have shown a particular goal should have been given that doesn't warrant a replay match. Should Germans demand to replay 1966 final because third English goal shouldn't have been given? It has happened million of times in football I don't really see why should different rules be applied in the case of Ireland.

Henry's handsball remains emberassing.

But no legs were broken, no elbow was planted in a face. On any given weekend, in any league, one will see far worse. Still I feel sorry for the Irish, embarrassed. The stakes were high, Ireland was the underdog, they put up such a phenomenal performance. It felt like an eightteen year old who has to resort to cheating to beat a twelve year old. Painful to watch.

What is football? I don't know any of these guys who play. I don't have any 'objective', material gain from them winning a game. What football is about, is pride and joy. When these are stripped by cheating, whats left? What's the point then? So, it doesn't pay to cheat. (Well for a professional player it does. But not for a fan. Except for fans who are good in mental exersizes about how the others 'deserved' it. Which, come to think of it, Lyon, Marseille and Italy always do...)


I must say a fair bit of my guilt was assuaged ever since I saw that video of Ireland, too, robbing a much smaller nation of their chance of victory, in the very same campaign no less. It puts it all in an entirely different perspective.

[gaelic cowboy]

Eat this instead:

The same Irish team, the same qualification campaign, shamefully robbing a smaller football nation of their victory.




What matters is not the ref making a bad call. No, the problem here is the Irish captain reflexively raising his hand to call for a penalty. He knows very well it isn't anywhere near a handsball. There was every opportunity to admit he tricked the referee. He didn't, no apology was issued afterwards, no campaign for a replay. The points were happily collected, and with collective amnesia the greens all cried murder when three months later karma got its sweet revenge with the Hand of Gaul.

Yet interstingly Georgia did not lose out on qualification because of Ireland they did that themselves coming last an Bulgaria still would not have made the qualifiers.



By the way Louis dont feel too sorry for Georgia they fully deserved to be cheated out of the game after this incident in a previous game.

Clickable1 Clickable2The game was bad tempered and hostile a thing that would never never be seen in Dublin against the same side

Now to show there is no bitterness I give you this
Clickable Hurrah for Henry -- he has spared us a double dose of southern hemisphere humiliation

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Hurrah for Henry -- he has spared us a double dose of southern hemisphere humiliation
By Kevin Myers
Thursday June 17 2010
YES, indeed, the Irish rugby tour in the Southern Hemisphere is going rather like Paraguay's armed attack on Texas. But only the visionary generosity of Thierry Henry's hand has prevented a far worse catastrophe: of our having to endure, alternately, both rugby and soccer news from the southern hemisphere, as the shallows of our sporting talent were ruthlessly plumbed -- by the Maoris one day, the Uruguayans the next, the Mexicans on another day, and one-legged Aborigines the day afterwards.

Now, we all know that Ronan O'Gara can't tackle. If you play him at out-half away to teams like France or New Zealand, his selection is more probably for reasons of squad-politics or some strange subconscious renal urges than for a desire to win. When this column criticised his selection after the French debacle, he wrote a letter of complaint to this newspaper. This triggered off an internet storm of the usual infantile vapidity.

Irish soccer has its own Ronan O'Gara, by the name of Robbie Keane: spot-on at the spot-kicks, and quite outstanding in the Sunday morning pub-league. Put Mr Keane up against The Red Lion, Crewe, or The Palsied Bishop, Lincoln, and he will score goals galore, followed by some neat forward-rolls in celebration. But put him up against a well-drilled defence, and he will wander round, baffled, like David Norris at an orgy of Catholic lesbian nuns.

However, at least he's not as woeful as Emile Heskey, the worst striker to play for England since Douglas Bader lined up as centre-forward against French POWs in Stalag Luft Legless in 1944. Indeed, two international goalkeepers, Colombia's Rene Higuita and Paraguay's Jose Luis Chilavert, have actually scored more international goals (and no, not own-goals) than Heskey has.

So actually, Ireland's soccer plight could be far, far worse: Emile Heskey could have had an Irish grandmother, and so too could Robert Green and Peter Crouch, and then where would we be? Where we are at the moment, probably, at home, which is where the Irish rugby team should also be, instead of serially re-enacting Custer at the Little Big Horn across the southern hemisphere.

Yet it could all be far worse. If the Republic were now playing in the soccer World Cup, there might be chaos in Montrose, as Eamon Dunphy and George Hook and Brent Pope and John Giles conducted endless post-mortems on the respective Irish football teams. But what with Georgie being the age he is, and with Eamo being a self-confessed explorer in the world of mind-altering drugs, it would be quite possible for the two of them to wander into the wrong studios, and end up discussing the wrong sport, with the wrong co-expert.

Mr Dunphy would be gazing in speechless horror at Brent Pope, wondering what on earth he had popped the previous night that has turned John Giles into an Antipodean Incredible Hulk. And an hour or so later, Mr Hook's Desperate Dan jaw would sag even more leadenly than normal as he surveys the wizened deep-sea crustacean that is Eamon Dunphy, and tries numbly to work out the nature of the overnight catastrophe that could have reduced poor Brent Pope to this. (What? Chernobyl? Global Warming?)

Moreover, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France are all competing in this World Cup, just as rugby teams from all four countries are simultaneously playing one another in the southern hemisphere.

Thus Eamon Dunphy might find himself struggling to do soccer studio punditry, as on-screen, the Australians are actually throwing the ball to one another, and the bleeding referee's whistle stays silent. Meanwhile, George's Hook's lower-mandible is resting firmly on his toes, as he sees a New Zealander hoof the strangely round ball upfield to a clearly offside player, who traps it with his feet, and the referee merely waves play on. With 20 minutes gone (and still no sign of a scrum) he erupts at a throw-in: "Oh, for f*%@'s sake, ref, you call that a bloody line-out?"

Be grateful, then, that we are spared such possible confusion, thanks solely to Thierry Henry's blessed hand. Yet there is one team with a green-white-and-orange flag that we might all now support: the Ivory Coast. This is probably the only version of the Tricolour -- though with the orange alongside the flagstaff -- that henceforth will ever again be in the World Cup. It is for the same reason that hapless incompetents like Emile Heskey and Peter Crouch are playing for England, and Scotland have made their last appearance in the World Cup finals.

The Brirish McProletariat has arrived: the total obesification of the Big Mac-eating, working-class young of these islands is now well under way. Meanwhile, West Africa has become the new world home of athletic excellence, and, henceforth, the standard-bearer of green-white-and-gold. Côte d'Ivoire go brath.

kmyers@independent.ie

- Kevin Myers

Irish Independent

[Marshal Murat]

2 - 0
1 - 0
2 - 1

[Wishazu]

Englands performance today was the most boring and shocking one I've seen in years. Rooney did nothing at all apart from hand the ball to the Algerians and Johnson should be booted out of the team, or at least forbidden from ever passing the ball again. Algeria played really well and seemed to be first to the ball 90% of the time.

The way Slovenia has played can only point to a slaughter of England in the final group match.

Sometimes I really hate being an England fan.

[tibilicus]

Rooney's comments about the "loyal fans" booing the team says it all.

It's ridiculous how he can come out with such a snarky comment straight after he, and the rest of the squad for that matter, had put out one of the worst England performances in a long time. The sheer lack of interest and inability of the England team to communicate in the game was also shocking. If Capello can't lift the England squad, then no manager can. It generally seems to be the English mentality to criticise the manager when things go wrong but its not his fault, the players lack passion and can't seem to gel together.

Back to Rooney's comment, ridiculous. Perhaps Wayne can't understand the situation; unlike him and his pals who get paid huge sums of money for doing their job, most people don't. Most of the fans are regular people who save up for the World Cup and hope to see the team do well. If I had flown to South Africa, invested a substantial amount of my own money to see England play and then had to see a performance like that, you can bet I would boo the team. The performance was completely uninspiring and inexcusable, Algeria are a a pale comparison to what this England squad should be capable of.

Unfortunately the team seems to take no pride or passion in representing their country. They seem completely indifferent. Or perhaps they struggle to play when they don't see a lavish match bonus at the end of the game. Rooney has been full of flair for United this season and yet he seems to half-heartedly play for England.

[gaelic cowboy]

I have a theory here that needs developing but bear with me here

1 Premier league is much played at a much faster pace than international football.

2 The other worldclass foreign players in the league enhance the english players giving them the ability to excell at this fast game.

So therefore it is not that the top english players are bad but there playing a differant style.

agree/disagree yes/no

The League both domestic and champions league is too long and ye played friendlies before ye left for south africa, there were men who showed up well but stayed at home.

Yer all missing Rio and Becks

Oh and I almost forgot it doesnt help when you play friendlies beofore a tournament to try players your squad should be settled at that stage

Basically Capello is an eejit he is as much a spoofer as Sven was before him and sadly the players are gone soft they have no bulldog spirit like Paul Ince who wear a bandage on his head to play on

I fear the plane awaits England, unless they destroy Slovenia the cloud will hang over the squad and get beat in next round.

[tibilicus]

Yes, but that doesn't explain why England can play so well in qualifying and yet sink when it comes to World Cup itself. Also, the pace theory, it would be valid if they weren't so slow on the ball tonight. Rooney regularly has to take the ball past some of the best defenders in the world week in and week out for united, and yet he struggled to get past the Algerian defence.

To be honest England seem like they're out of ideas. There were times tonight when they were playing the long ball and no one was even on the end, not even within a solid 20 yard radius. The better teams will punish you for not having the greater possession too; Algeria couldn't execute as perhaps they lack the quality of the better teams and the skill needed to break the back four, teams like Germany, Spain and even The Netherlands would make quick work of them however. You have to have players with solid ball control to play the long ball game too, and England seems to lack that. It's been shown time and time again that they play better with the ball on the ground and when they're making runs and passing play which break up the defence, all the long ball game ends up doing is giving the ball to the opposing back four who kick it straight back out.

[gaelic cowboy]

I think Capello has decided to have them hoof the ball because he believe's he does not have the players to build an attack on the ground.

Lampard and Gerard are not natural midfielders they are attackers by hoofing the ball Capello hoped they maybe bag a goal as it came in on top of them.

Next time England play watch Lampard especially close, he does not demand the ball or try to win it to build an attack or at least only half heartedly. He wants to benefit from said build like an attacking player does, this is a big problem you can have one but not the other.


Also the Algerians they are like a big long distance running nation if any team could keep up with English tonight it was a team from there, ye were slow and looked shagged out.

[Pannonian]

Invictus trailer, pt 1
Invictus trailer, pt 2

[Marshal Murat]

The Serbia - Germany game was a good match, even if it was marred by misguided refs. It speaks to German defense that they were able to hold off the Serbians, and the Serbs to keep the Germans off-base. Polanski wasn't making the cross-kicks and the strikers weren't there to drive the nails in. Serbia has made that group more interesting and I'm hoping for a more inspired Cameroon performance to make that bracket even more competitive.

As I watched the Algerian - England game, I can only say that aside from individually impressive performances the team lacked that "connection". I thought that perhaps it was some good American defense that held off Rooney, but in the Algerian game he just wasn't there. Brilliant sparks failed to ignite the English team. I don't think there was any serious leadership from those on-field, no real direction or impetus to their play. If the captain isn't providing it, then someone should step up or I'll be forced to watch another adrift English ship wreck itself against an inspired and motivated Slovenian team.

[johnhughthom]

Update:

Louis: +1 = 17
Little Grizzly: 2
Psycho: 9
Sarmatian: 3
Insane Apache: +1 = 17
Ser Clegane: 10
Romanic: 9
Joooray: 5
Rhyfelwyr: +1 = 5
LEN: +1 = 10
Moros: 2
Marshall Murat: +1 = 6
Craterus: 3
Crazed Rabbit: 2
Beefy: 3
Centurio Nixalsverdus: +1 = 5
Ronin: 1
||Lz3||: 6

[Strike For The South]

Some thoughts
England is a joke
The French need to shoot there manager lest he gets a job somewhere else
America was robbed because god hates me
I will have a stroke before the cup is over
I need to stop drinking at 7 in the morning
Maradona looks like a troll
Why findley is starting instead of edu is mind boggiling
For some reason I have devolped a hatered of the Italians

[Beskar]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldhave...yo.html#224165


England deserved to get boo'd. They are all overpaid wastes of space. They earn £160,000 per week (a doctors annual wage) just to kick a ball around and contributing nothing to society other than resentment. Excesses of capitalism.

[naut]

Netherlands 3 - 0 Japan
Ghana 2 - 0 Australia
Cameron 0 - 1 Denmark

[Ser Clegane]

Netherlands - Japan 2:0
Ghana - Australia 1:1 (wishful thinking )
cameroon Denmark 1:1

[InsaneApache]

Netherlands 2 - 0 Japan
Ghana 2 - 0 Australia
Cameron 1 - 1 Denmark

[Pannonian]

South African Vuvuzela Philharmonic Angered By Soccer Games Breaking Out During Concerts

Spontaneous high-caliber soccer games have thus far plagued every orchestral vuvuzela performance of the season, which opened June 11 at Cape Town Stadium. As musicians took their places in the stands and began warming up for the evening's performance of lighter pieces by post-minimalist composers, they noticed the audience was not sitting in its traditional place in the stadium's central area.

As the Philharmonic learned later, its only spectators were the national football sides of France and Uruguay, who played to a 0-0 tie as the frustrated vuvuzela virtuosi played a full program of concerti written for the distinctive straight plastic horn.

"A virtually empty house is highly unusual in a vuvuzela-mad nation such as South Africa," said first-chair vuvuzela player Moses Mtegume, who is known as the "Father of the Vuvuzela" and considered a national treasure. "And because concerts are held in the round—the better to appreciate the sonorous tonality of the massed instruments—a performer gets a sense of the crowd early."

"It doesn't even seem like these football players are paying attention to us," Mtegume added. "In fact, I would go so far as to say they are trying to ignore us."

The following days, during which a string of large-scale vuvuzela performances were held, saw the unusual events repeat in Johnnesburg, Durban, Pretoria, and Port Elizabeth as audience after audience was driven away by FIFA national football teams. As a result, the South Africa Vuvzela Philharmonic, which is supported solely by money from ticket sales, has suffered staggering losses financially. And the musicians, many of whom trained for years and underwent a harrowing audition process to earn one of the orchestra's 50,000 seats, said the biggest blow was to their professional pride.

[InsaneApache]

*must remember to bookmark the Daily Mash*

[Romanic]

2 - 0
2 - 1
1 - 0

[Rhyfelwyr]

2 - 1
2 - 1
0 - 1

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Japan is doing good job ruining every Dutch attack.

[Beefy187]

So close... yet so far.
Tulio wasn't pleased with Nakumura. He was rather lazy for someone who wasn't in the starting 11..

[Fragony]

Why so defensive we don't get to play that way where are your manners

[gaelic cowboy]

Shock news breaking that Anelka is to be sent home from world cup just like the Roy Keane thing in 2002 will someone just shoot or sack or something anything with that Domench this is devolving by the minute.

No news as of yet but RTE sport just announced a commitee will be convened due to a bust up at half time last night

unbelievable stuff


clickable World Cup 2010: France forward Nicolas Anelka could be sent home after swearing at coach Raymond Domenech

clickable Anelka and Domenech clash - report

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Anelka and Domenech clash - report
Saturday 19 June 2010

France striker Nicolas Anelka launched an astonishing verbal attack on coach Raymond Domenech at half-time of Thursday's 2-0 defeat to Mexico, according to reports. France striker Nicolas Anelka launched an astonishing verbal attack on coach Raymond Domenech at half-time of Thursday's 2-0 defeat to Mexico, according to reports.

The Chelsea forward, who has now not recorded a shot on target in 429 consecutive minutes' play for Les Bleus, was apparently criticised by Domenech for straying out of position during a goalless first half.

According to French sports newspaper L'Equipe, Anelka exploded in rage in the dressing room, verbally abusing the coach.

L'Equipe claim Domenech responded by substituting the player.

The coach, strangely, returned to the team's dug-out for the second half at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane a good minute or so before his players came out of the tunnel.

And Anelka was replaced by Andre-Pierre Gignac before the re-start.

The reported bust-up is just the latest in what has been a string of rumours about unrest within the France camp and claims Domenech has lost the support of his players.

Under-fire Domenech has brushed aside concerns rivals Uruguay and Mexico may manufacture a draw in their final Group A match to ensure they progress to the knockout stages at the expense of Les Bleus.

France have to convincingly beat hosts South Africa on Tuesday and hope there is a positive result in the other fixture.

With so much at stake it has been suggested the two teams from the Americas are more likely to settle for a stalemate rather than risk elimination.

It is not something which concerns Domenech, who has plenty of problems of his own to deal with.

'I am not bothered about the others,' said the 58-year-old, whose six-year reign as coach will come to end at the same time as France's participation in the tournament.

'We have to play and do our thing and the other match is not my problem.'

Midfielder Jeremy Toulalan, who is suspended for next week's game, hinted that dressing room disharmony were at the heart of France's problems.

But he admits it is time for the players to start delivering after two woeful and goalless performances.

'We've three or four days left to figure out what went wrong,' he said.

'You can talk for a long time but it's the pitch that counts.

'But if we don't all make the effort for each other it's hard.

'Everyone has to do their own self-analysis. I'm not going to do it for them.'

Reports in France suggest a disciplinary hearing has been convened by France Football Federation officials this afternoon.

Canal+ claim Anelka will be sent home from South Africa on Sunday.

[Beefy187]

Why so defensive we don't get to play that way where are your manners

If I was the manager, I would've swapped the entire team from the first match and did a offensive game.

But for our boys sake, I'm proud of them that we had Netherland on the toes for the last few minutes.

EDIT: Socceroos down to 10 players. That was so not worth a red

[Tellos Athenaios]

Japan played a good game (considering the end result). Now they may even go through if they only manage a tie against Denmark.

[Fragony]

Katana -> pinkie isn't needed, Dutch team is about relentingly attacking so it makes sense to play defensively. We can't be outclassed in the attack department but we are sooo vulnerable

[Husar]

Well, what i heard was that the Dutch just dominated the Japanese and let them run, tactical victory but still a victory.
Japanese came somewhat close towards the end but nothing too dangerous from what I saw, the dutch just kept that 1:0 and that's sufficient.

I thought they were a bit passive to the end but perhaps it's correct and they just wanted to win with minimum effort, save their energy for more important games.