The World Cup Thread! [please use spoiler tags!!!]

pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#121
#121
wow. just wow.

The Dutch showed a ton of resiliency but did Brazil ever just completely lose it after Holland took the lead? Felipe Melo... just wow.

Check out the Brazilian wiki page before it gets fixed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_national_football_team
They fixed it but here is the vandalized version. Seems the wikipedia mods and the vandals are in an editing war this morning.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brazil_national_football_team&diff=prev&oldid=371396632
 
Last edited:
jalfa

jalfa

Starter
#122
#122
pdxKingsFan said:
wow. just wow.

The Dutch showed a ton of resiliency but did Brazil ever just completely lose it after Holland took the lead? Felipe Melo... just wow.

Check out the Brazilian wiki page before it gets fixed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_national_football_team
They fixed it but here is the vandalized version. Seems the wikipedia mods and the vandals are in an editing war this morning.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brazil_national_football_team&diff=prev&oldid=371396632
Click to expand...
Thing is, the Brazilians were whining even when they were in the lead. It's the thing that Mark van Bommel said after the game: Both teams played the ref more than they played the game, it was really annoying. Anyway, congrats to the Netherlands, they should be capable of beating either Ghana or Uruguay (at least if they don't give either van persie or huntelaar the ball. god, they sucked!), so now, I'm very much rooting for a Germany-Netherlands final. That would be awesome!

Btw: what were the edits on the wiki page?
 
ArcoKings

ArcoKings

Starter
#123
#123
Incredible victory for the Orange. After the tie Brazil wasn't the same. The Orange just kept cool and eventually scored their second goal which was a gorgeous goal. Now, if only the trash talking Argentines can lose it'll make my day!!! Go GERMANY!!!!!!!!!
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#124
#124
jalfa said:
Thing is, the Brazilians were whining even when they were in the lead. It's the thing that Mark van Bommel said after the game: Both teams played the ref more than they played the game, it was really annoying. Anyway, congrats to the Netherlands, they should be capable of beating either Ghana or Uruguay (at least if they don't give either van persie or huntelaar the ball. god, they sucked!), so now, I'm very much rooting for a Germany-Netherlands final. That would be awesome!

Btw: what were the edits on the wiki page?
Click to expand...
I only saw about the second half. I thought Brazil were playing like jerks in the CdI match and yet the Ivorians walked away with all the bad press thanks to the official blowing the call on Kaka.

I guess they have deleted the image from the edit, it said "Greetings from the country where lions EAT canaries!" in bold text above a makeshift orange flag with two Dutch flags in the top corners, the KNVB crest in the center and the message "Don't F*** with the Orange Lions". It rather prominently took up a full screen right above the team history section.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#125
#125
Wow.
I think my kid could have put more on the ball than Mensah did and then after Uruguay gives Ghana some life the next guy goes and puts it in the same spot that just got blocked??? I really would have liked to see an African side through to the semifinals but I am not really a fan of Ghana so good riddance.
 
PurpleHaze

PurpleHaze

All-Star
#126
#126
Argentina has been cocky in this World Cup but now they must be really salivating with bitter rival Brazil knocked out. Germany stands in the way, and it's a big mountain with all the animostiy between those two teams. Holland should now get by Uruguay, you'd think. Paraguay may as well start packing their bags too. Seems like Spain (#2 FIFA world ranked) has just been hanging around playing boring, barely noticed football. One of these teams takes the 2010 World Cup - Argentina, Holland, Germany, Spain - just don't know who gets to the big championship game and wins it all on July 11.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#129
#129
Great game by Germany. I don't understand how they came out so flat for their second game because that appears to be a complete anomaly at this point. A Germany - Holland final would suit me just fine. At this point my cautious anyone but Brazil is now sincereyly Anyone But Spain.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#130
#130
No spoiler needed for this observation: I think the 2nd half of Paraguay - Spain may have topped the drama of the other 3 quarterfinal matches. What a great round all around!
 
jalfa

jalfa

Starter
#131
#131
pdxKingsFan said:
Great game by Germany. I don't understand how they came out so flat for their second game because that appears to be a complete anomaly at this point. A Germany - Holland final would suit me just fine. At this point my cautious anyone but Brazil is now sincereyly Anyone But Spain.
Click to expand...
I think it was a combination of a pretty good and aggressive Serbian defense, the team being unable to adjust to the way that ref called the game and Badstuber being completely overmatched on his side. Personally, I'm very glad that he appears to not be in Löw's plans for this World Cup anymore. If he were, he would've been subbed in when his far superior replacement Boateng was hurt today (we were sitting around my flatmates tv set going: "boateng is hurt? great, now badstuber is coming back, so we will end up losing the game anyway." we were very glad when jansen subbed in).
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#132
#132
^I forgot about the high quality officiating in that match.
It was a bit funny today the US announcers were complaining about the ref not issuing reds on the two PKs or awarding a 3rd PK on the Paraguan goalie challenge, I was going, for once we have a ref that hasn't decided to just completely dictate who is going to win today and they're still complaining!
 
PurpleHaze

PurpleHaze

All-Star
#134
#134
Ok make your prediction for the World Cup final. That is be an expert, be as dumb as you wish or just be somewhere in between like most.

My call: On Tuesday Oranje-boom express continues to methodically roll on to championship game with 3-0 over Uruguay, the 3rd best team in South America, or fourth. Actually, maybe fourth best in overall Latin America since Mexico or even Chile may actually be better than the mighty U's. But they've been there before winning the inaugural Cup in 1930 over Argentina and then beating Brazil to win again in 1950 - which accounts for very little now. Later on they had two 4thplace finishes which is worst they could do in South Africa. No way Holland loses this game! Wednesday game pits Euro powers Germany v. Spain. If Spain scores first they win - I think. If Germany scores first they win - I'm predicting. None of this 4-0 or 4-1 Germany wins stuff repeated - against Spaniards and their solid D. 20-year-old "ball boy" Muller having to sit out slows the German blizkrieg down a little bit but they fight their way into final with 2-1 close (or Klose!) methodial dispatch of Spain. Final on July 11: Muller returns, Schweinsteiger amazes even more as Deutchland makes clockwork of Oranje boom with 3-1 win to be crowned champion of 2010 FIFA World Cup.
 
jalfa

jalfa

Starter
#136
#136
The way Spain played yesterday, they don't scare me one bit. Remember, Nelson Valdez' (former werder bremen player, represent!) goal in the first half should never have been called off. In that case, the Spaniards need to score on that d, which then becomes even more desperate. Also, their defense doesn't scare me either, simply because they haven't faced any serious offense. This, even with Thomas Müller out, will change on Wednesday and they'll have their hands full with Klose (like he signalled to an assistant coach after the game: two more goals and he is in sole possession of the number one spot for most goals scored in the world cup). The Netherlands (and yes, i do expect them to advance, even though i also wouldn't have any problem with uruguay) would be something else. There, I 'm not sure whom the familiarity with their game, both Van Bommel and Robben (the two best players from the team) playing for München, would help out more. In the end, I do hope and believe that Germany wins it, resulting in complete madness here for at least a week (yesterday was already intense).
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#137
#137
Valdez wasn't offsides but his teammate who attempted to head the ball was. I guess it could be called either way because the teammate didn't touch but I think it was a fair call.

But Spain has had to battle in 2 games and Germany has been coasting since Ghana. I think that will be a decisive edge in their favor.
 
jalfa

jalfa

Starter
#138
#138
Well, it did look like passive offside to me, but my perception may be skewed, as I really wanted Paraguay to advance. Anyway, they should have scored their penalty, so it's not like they really deserved to advance (although i could've sworn that the spaniards had players in the penalty area, so that one might have had to be done again, as well).
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#139
#139
I wanted Paraguay too so it took a few replays to convince me that it was a judgement call. The PK really did them in though. After that it was all downhill, even though they thwarted the re-kick on the other end the momentum completely swung.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#142
#142
Go Oranje.

Sucks Germany had to play without Müller, not sure he would have won the game but their offense wasn't clicking at all, they weren't the same team.
 
jalfa

jalfa

Starter
#144
#144
Well, of course I'm not very happy about the result -in fact, I'm unhappy to the extent that, immediately following the match (and during it to be quite honest) I got drunk out of my skull and have been hungover ever since- but I have to admit: Spain deserved this. The German team just seemed scared and didn't do anything until Puyol's score and then it was too late. Had they played like they did after the goal from the beginning, this would have been a completely different ballgame. Had we had Müller, things might have been a bit different as well, but we'll never know. In the end, I'm happy with how the team carried itself and am very much looking forward to the Eurocup in two years and the World Cup in 2014, by which time this team should be at its peak. Anyway, let's at least beat Uruguay now.
 
PurpleHaze

PurpleHaze

All-Star
#145
#145
Enjoy the final everyone from Johannessburg starting with coverage at 10:30 AM PT on ABC-TV and ESPN radio. Paul the Octopus who is undefeated in picking winners in this World Cup says Spain... the Espana that opened up losing to Switzerland and then went on a medodical if not boring parade of 1-0 victories to get to this championship match. The Netherlands, The Dutch, The Holland, The Oranje' - BOOM! They've won something like 24 straight int'l games to get to where they are now - to lose this one?!?! Who knows? Hope it's a good climax since Saturday's 3rd place win by Germany over Uruguay was pretty exciting in the rain from Port Elizabeth. OK, why not predict. Netherlands 2 Spain 1
 

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jalfa

jalfa

Starter
#147
#147
#$%§. This really pissed me off. Especially the conduct of the Spaniards. I hate teams mobbing the ref after every whistle, nearly as much as I hate diving and then this goddamn goal...and Robben first missing on the first breakthrough and then not diving for the first time of his life (i know, i contradict myself, so what). This was just really, really annoying and I have never been as invested in a game that didn't feature one of my teams as I was in this (at least as far as football is concerned, i have been rooting even more strongly against the lakers of course).
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#150
#150
I must confess I enjoyed watching yesterday's game and thought the more deserving team ultimately won even though I was rooting for Holland. That said both teams disgraced themselves with their play yesterday, between Spain diving all over the field and Holland's over the top physical play (deJong's karate kick in particular which deserved a straight red). Puyols (uncalled foul on Robben) and Iniesta (cheap shot) both should have been sent off as well. Still despite the antics as the game got progressively uglier the scoring opportunities kept it interesting the whole way through. It did seem a shame that the Dutch were not given an extremely obvious corner off a free kick and Spain proceeded to march down field off the goal kick and net the winner, not that I would have preferred PKs to a real goal but how did the ref blow that call?
 
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