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

Superman said:
USA's goalie Tim Howard is really, really good. I swear he threw a pass 60 yards in the second half, and he's got one hell of a leg.
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Yeah that pass was very impressive I was thinking he should be throwing the brown footballs.
All in all a very favorable set of results for the USA. Ghana will be no cakewalk, they kept us from advancing in 06 and they are now "Africas team" unless Ivory Coast can drop a bomb on NK. While the road will be tough we might have a legitimate shot at the semi finals now.
 
Larry89 said:
what an embarrassing showing by Ghana
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I am not too sure that you are refrering to the same thing I am about to comment on, so I apologize if I take your words out of context...

I have played soccer for 20 years on all the way up to semi-pro levels and NEVER have I EVER seen a team so grossly embellish fouls and injuries (besides my home team of course..I will refrain from commenting on whom they are because Piksi and I will be at ends :-)). I came to terms with the refs being against us, but come on. That was absolutely disgusting. I will never root for Ghana after that poor display of sportsmanship. It puts a scar on soccer and I wouldn't blame any newcomers to the sport if it deters them from sticking around as fans.

Seriously though, I am proud of our boys. The potential was there to at least make the semi's (where Brazil would have squashed us), but at least they reached the World's spotlight and put US soccer on TV screens around the country. We may have lost, but it's still a good day to be an American and I am very proud and honored to be able to say that.
 
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I think everyone's seen it but we did say 24 hours so to be safe...
Ghana was the same way in 06, I wanted an African team to do well but they seem to be the most cynical. Ivory Coast got a lot of negative press because of the card on Kaka in the match with Brazil but that ref was against the Ivorians the entire match it was embarassing.

All that said, while I am proud of our boys those were two awful goals to let in and it was a sad end. Hopefully they can get whatever early goal syndrome they have out of their system for Brazil in 2014 where I think they will have a splendid chance at a strong showing. That will be 20 years from the US cup meaning many of the youngins inspired by that event will be in their athletic primes and I suspect the Euro teams will struggle playing in a distant time zone as they have in the past.
 
Well, that was awesome! Although
it should most definitely have been 2:2 at halftime. Anyway, next up Argentinia, I presume. Luckily, I be very relaxed, watching the game this evening. Also, Thomas Müller is amazing, glad that his game against Serbia was an abberation.
 
jalfa said:
Well, that was awesome! Although
it should most definitely have been 2:2 at halftime. Anyway, next up Argentinia, I presume. Luckily, I be very relaxed, watching the game this evening. Also, Thomas Müller is amazing, glad that his game against Serbia was an abberation.
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1966 called and told England to suck it. Ok, maybe I felt marginally guilty about it but watching England get rolled was pure gold.
 
So who am I rooting for now?

Greece is out, USA is out, Ivory Coast is out.

Im glad england lost, but Im not a huge Germany fan. I hate how Ghana played at the end of the USA game. I hate Maradona, Brazil always wins .. Spain .. eh. Is it possible for everyone to lose?


Im going to have to get behind Netherlands or Uruguay for the rest of the Cup. Watching Uruguay play this year I've really become a fan of Diego Forlan.
 
pdxKingsFan said:
1966 called and told England to suck it. Ok, maybe I felt marginally guilty about it but watching England get rolled was pure gold.
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Yep, everybody around me was chanting Wembley. Karma is a *****, I guess :p Anyway, if you lose by three goals, you can't complain too much.

Watching Argentinia at the moment, I'm not all that scared. Their defense looks shaky, at least they're giving the Mexicans too much room on the wings, do that against Özil or Müller and you've got problems. Moreover, their one goal wasn't one and the other was pure coincidence. Also, it looks as if there's going to be a riot at the game, I'm curious how many players are going to make it out of the match.

Right now, I'm most worried about the German defense. Mertesacker isn't looking very steadfast and Lahm had more problems with Gerrard than I would've liked. However, I am very happy about Boateng and how much better he looks than Badstuber (whom i've been scared of, ever since bayern münchen played manchester in the champions league this year).
 
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jalfa said:
Yep, everybody around me was chanting Wembley. Karma is a *****, I guess :p Anyway, if you lose by three goals, you can't complain too much.

Watching Argentinia at the moment, I'm not all that scared. Their defense looks shaky, at least they're giving the Mexicans too much room on the wings, do that against Özil or Müller and you've got problems. Moreover, their one goal wasn't one and the other was pure coincidence. Also, it looks as if there's going to be a riot at the game, I'm curious how many players are going to make it out of the match.

Right now, I'm most worried about the German defense. Mertesacker isn't looking very steadfast and Lahm had more problems with Gerrard than I would've liked. However, I am very happy about Boateng and how much better he looks than Badstuber (whom i've been scared of, ever since bayern münchen played manchester in the champions league this year).
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I wish I shared your confidence as like MKF now, if Germany is out I start grasping at straws on who to root for. Holland I guess but their style of play has never thrilled me. Other than that I'd just root for a giant killer.
 
pdxKingsFan said:
I wish I shared your confidence as like MKF now, if Germany is out I start grasping at straws on who to root for. Holland I guess but their style of play has never thrilled me. Other than that I'd just root for a giant killer.
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Well, the last time I showed confidence in this thread, it kind of backfired, so I guess caution is warranted. Also, Argentinia still has to avenge their elimination in the last world cup and then there is their individual stars (that 3rd goal was incredible, i'm feeling really sorry for mexico's goalie)...hmm...I think I'll still remain hopeful though, everything will be alright and so on.

As for a team to root for: I strongly suggest watching Uruguay. As MKF pointed out, Forlan is great and they're pretty damn good, all things considered. Also, u r gay? Priceless!
 
Well Uruguay would probably be the team I'd root for if they got by Ghana if the other two teams I mentioned are out. Though they are the "original football giant" they'd still be heavy underdogs. Mainly I don't want Portugal or Spain to win. And I'd like to see someone other than Brazil win if it isn't them. Nothing against Brazil, they've just got enough stars on their crest.
 
ever since i've started watching soccer (since like i was 3) i've always wanted the use of replay technology. It is not fair to disallow/allow goals because of a mistake by a referee. I think the 4th official should actually do something during the game besides being inbetween the two benches in case a fight breaks out.
 
Finally a blown referee call goes my way and I kinda felt dirty about it, but since Germany blew the game open in the 2nd half, I didn't care as much.

Deutschland > all!
 
Something must go very, very wrong in order for Brazil not to win it all. They are scary good - it isn't even fair.
 
Brazil has Holland next - no easy task. Most observers of this World Cup rank Argentina, Holland and Brazil as best in this tourney so far - and in no particular order. Germany may be fourth in that knockout round of teams left. Looking at the brackets Argentina has a clear path to final game and might well meet its bitter South American rival Brazil. Spain and Portugal meet in another big European rivalry (so-called Iberian Cup) in about half hour and neither of them is a pushover in this tourney - ranked #2 and #3 in the world by FIFA.
 
Argentina will play Germany and then Portugal/Spain - that is anything but a clear path

Brazil has owned Dutch so far at the WC.

An European team has never won WC outside europe.
 
I think you can throw the European team outside Europe out the window for this tournament since it is being played in the same time zones and that is perhaps their biggest hurdle to overcome. But right now Argentina and Brazil are looking like the top two sides. Argentina definitely has a much tougher draw. If Brazil beats Holland they are a lock for the final and should face a team that had to exert much more effort making them heavy favorites.

I'm kind of on an anyone but Brazil kick right now though. Though ABB most certainly doesn't include Spain and Portugal :)
 
4740380764_daf7312d65_o.png
 
You guys are underestimating Germany. They're young and stupid, they can beat Argentina.

Spain/Paraguay didn't impress at all yesterday, so I can see Germany getting to the final.

Brazil looks good and so does Holland. Those teams are going to be tough for anyone from the other side. I'd love to see a Ghana/Uruguay upset in semi-finals but there is a better chance of the Kings making the playoffs next season than that happening.
 
Interesting that the ranker can have Chile so high despite their loss and Mexico at 15 and still put Argentina over Brazil. I think it goes Brazil-Argentina-Germany with Spain and Holland tied.
 
Here's another set of rankings (this based on a relatively sophisticated stats based ranking system):

spi623a.png
 
All the elements are here for a Brazil - Argentina final. :o

Prediction:

Semi-final:

Brazil - Ghana

Argentina - Paraguay


Final:

Argentina over Brazil
 
uolj said:
Here's another set of rankings (this based on a relatively sophisticated stats based ranking system)
Click to expand...
I looked up their power soccer index to see how they came up with these odds, with all due respect if they insist on ranking England 8 after their showing I don't know that I can trust their system. Too much focus on individual talent and not actual results is my guess.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/spi/rankings?cc=5901&ver=us
 
pdxKingsFan said:
I looked up their power soccer index to see how they came up with these odds, with all due respect if they insist on ranking England 8 after their showing I don't know that I can trust their system. Too much focus on individual talent and not actual results is my guess.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/spi/rankings?cc=5901&ver=us
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It's based entirely on actual results I think, although it's an almagamation of results over the last few years, including individual results. They did drop England from 3 to 8 after this World Cup so obviously their poor performance had an impact. FIFA still has them ranked 8 as well. And SPI was pretty accurate on the rest of the teams, including Uruguay who they have had near the top 10 for awhile. I think 6 of the 7 teams with the highest chance at the semi-finals based on their rankings from before the tournament started are still in it.

It's not a power ranking based on observation, it's just stats. That's kind of a different thing. And it's more interesting to me than somebody's subjective opinion that changes based on a single match or tournament.
 
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