The unofficial World Cup Thread,

[Louis VI the Fat]

It's not the most exciting tournament evar, is it?

Very few goals. Too many matches decided by some defensive howler. Boring, weak teams.

Not enough fans travelled to South Africa. What little atmosphere they wish to create is frustrated by those vuvu******zelas. And what little we hear of this little atmposphere I can't hear because I turn down the volume of that awful monotenous noise.
Imagine what Saturday's game would've been like with a sing-off between God Save the Queen and the Star Spangled Banner. The players would've fought twice as hard.

The ball is a disaster. Players are looking for long distance shots, and defenses are kept tight to block attempts. Once again, Fifa managed the opposite of what it intended with some weird supermarket beachvolleyball - rather than more goals, we see fewer, of lower quality, with less of a passing and attacking game.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

One would almost think the lack of atmosphere is standard. Not so. Here's what a football game should be like, for atmosphere, audience participation, sounds, oohs and ahs, anthem sing-offs, taunts:

[Sarmatian]

Freakin' trumpets ruin my enjoyment of every match. The sound feels like a giant swarm of mosquitos is circling around the stadium.

Africa unfortunately wasn't ready to organize a tournament of this magnitude...

[Pannonian]

England 1 - 1 USA

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

In Lego

[naut]

Is every world cup this mind-numbingly boring? Maybe hindsight is blurring my perspective, or not following a team is reducing my involvement, or the "World Cup Fever" hasn't grasped me. But, I don't remember being so bored watching football before....

[drone]

The sad thing is every USian that went to South Africa for the Cup (and supposedly there are a lot of these) is going to come home with a vuvuzela. We'll be hearing these in MLS and national qualification matches for a few years.

The ball is a disaster. Players are looking for long distance shots, and defenses are kept tight to block attempts. Once again, Fifa managed the opposite of what it intended with some weird supermarket beachvolleyball - rather than more goals, we see fewer, of lower quality, with less of a passing and attacking game.

Why use a ball that makes it impossible to maintain a decent passing game or make simple crosses into the box?

Tin foil hat time:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Adidas gave the Germans Jabulanis months before other teams got a hold of them. It's the only explanation for their clinical performance while other teams are flailing about.

[InsaneApache]

That Kawaksaki Yamaha Honda goal must be the softest ever and the goal awarded to Cameroon IMO.

[Marshal Murat]

"World Cup matches have had lots of zeroes

I would like to say that for many Americans not totally initiated, these games seem to be "soccer as usual", vuvuzelas aside. I thought the glory of the game was scoring that one lone goal...not a high-scoring match like Germany - Australia.

In regard to Vuvuzelas, I don't really know what a regular soccer game "sounds" like, so I'm not seeing the vuvu's as a problem, even though every match sounds like a beehive. I figure (and many Americans the same) that the vuvuzelas are simply "part of the game", especially since the games are in South Africa. Meh. Besides, if it annoys the Europeans, it has to be good.

I think that the more "erratic" balls are making the game so much more intriguing because luck and skill makes every game a toss-up. Who could win, who loses, because the possibility of correctly predicting these games has become more difficult.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I would hope that the reasons for some of the poor games have been the poor teams.

The USA-england match was good and the Germany-australia match was great. I remember argentina looking pretty good too. And I liked the opener because it's fun to watch the host country and the announcer kept saying "tshabalala--Owww" which was entertaining because I didn't know what the hell he was talking about...

Also, the games that decide for sure whether a team advances will be more tense.

[LeftEyeNine]

For those that were looking for streamless entertainment: Back to your WWEs, UFCs, NFLs or whatever please. This is football and there is a serious trophy up there.

Paraguay leads the game for the moment and it'll end that way after the second half. YAAAARRRR !

[Pannonian]

In regard to Vuvuzelas, I don't really know what a regular soccer game "sounds" like, so I'm not seeing the vuvu's as a problem, even though every match sounds like a beehive. I figure (and many Americans the same) that the vuvuzelas are simply "part of the game", especially since the games are in South Africa. Meh. Besides, if it annoys the Europeans, it has to be good.

A general background murmur, with waves of songs periodically washng across the stands. An intake of breath when there's a chance, followed by an ooh if it stays out, applause if there's good play, or a roar if it's a goal. Having only watched genteel and even parochial clubs, I haven't really experienced them, but I've heard that some of the bigger clubs have atmospheres that one can feel. However, I did once watch a 3-3 which had some pretty decent atmosphere for such a small club.

[gaelic cowboy]

In fairness lads yer all being hard on USA they have supposedly one of the biggest if not the biggest traveling contingents at the games.

Well that Italy game was a bit better but that was only because there was a second goal.

I was gonna say I would turn of telly till the 1/4finals but seeing as portugal and brazil out tomorrow I will be still tuning in.

[Rhyfelwyr]

The ball is a disaster.

It's because it's too round.

Honestly, apparently one of its special features is that it is the roundest ball ever.

As for the vuvuzelas, I don't think they're annoying of themselves, but they ruin all the atmosphere. I think a fair compromise would be to let them be used in games were African teams are playing. But other than that, no, let all the supporters be heard in their own style.

[Afonso I of Portugal]

It's not the most exciting tournament evar, is it?

Very few goals. Too many matches decided by some defensive howler. Boring, weak teams.

Not enough fans travelled to South Africa. What little atmosphere they wish to create is frustrated by those vuvu******zelas. And what little we hear of this little atmposphere I can't hear because I turn down the volume of that awful monotenous noise.
Imagine what Saturday's game would've been like with a sing-off between God Save the Queen and the Star Spangled Banner. The players would've fought twice as hard.

The ball is a disaster. Players are looking for long distance shots, and defenses are kept tight to block attempts. Once again, Fifa managed the opposite of what it intended with some weird supermarket beachvolleyball - rather than more goals, we see fewer, of lower quality, with less of a passing and attacking game.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

One would almost think the lack of atmosphere is standard. Not so. Here's what a football game should be like, for atmosphere, audience participation, sounds, oohs and ahs, anthem sing-offs, taunts:

Agreed! did you record that video Louis? Euro 2004 was in fact a great tournament...too bad we lost in the final. I remember the greeks saying terrible things about the ball...in the end they won.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Agreed! did you record that video Louis? Euro 2004 was in fact a great tournament...too bad we lost in the final. I remember the greeks saying terrible things about the ball...in the end they won.

I wish I took it! I just grabbed that video of the internet. Was just looking for some football atmosphere. I was beginning to wonder whether I was imagining things, or maybe suffering from nostalgia, or whether there really is a slight lack of (Euro / South American?) atmosphere in this tournament.

Needless to say, I was rooting for Portugal in the final. I was perfectly happy for the Greeks to have their party, but not with that team.
Euro 2004 was a great tournament. Germany's World Cup was fantastic too, as was Euro 2008. We really should just invite Brazil and Argentina over to the EC in Poland in 2012. Cheap beers, fun girls, lots of fans everywhere - it'll be great.



Ah well, 'nuff of this complaining. The tournament will kick up a notch when the pressure is on in the deciding group matches, certainly in the knock-out phase - which is really what football was meant to be. One game, two teams, best on the day takes all.


I thought Drogba would be fit for tomorrow....if not, I might regret predicting 1-1.

[edyzmedieval]

It's not the most exciting tournament evar, is it?

Very few goals. Too many matches decided by some defensive howler. Boring, weak teams.

Not enough fans travelled to South Africa. What little atmosphere they wish to create is frustrated by those vuvu******zelas. And what little we hear of this little atmposphere I can't hear because I turn down the volume of that awful monotenous noise.
Imagine what Saturday's game would've been like with a sing-off between God Save the Queen and the Star Spangled Banner. The players would've fought twice as hard.

The ball is a disaster. Players are looking for long distance shots, and defenses are kept tight to block attempts. Once again, Fifa managed the opposite of what it intended with some weird supermarket beachvolleyball - rather than more goals, we see fewer, of lower quality, with less of a passing and attacking game.

The groups are not too interesting either, come on. The only one worth watching from beginning to end is Brazil's group, with Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea which will put up a serious fight. Most of the teams are boring too, the game is too tactical. Netherlands - Denmark. I expected some high flying attacks from the Dutch with Sneijder, Van Persie and Co...

Right... Very boring game. The best part was Poulsen's own goal.