World Cup 2010!

[MarkW]

Fucking foreign manager.



;)

Seriously, that was amongst the worst England performances I've ever watched.  No heart.

[BH]

America is dominating this World Cup.

Unfortunately it's South America.

Seriously though, I've enjoyed watching these games sooo much.  The skills are just sick.   I guess I'm down to rooting for Germany and Japan.  I like the way Japan plays.

[iLikeBeer]

So.  Did Bob Bradley do enough to save his job with the US performance in this World Cup?  Personally, I have mixed feelings on the matter.  I am strongly of the opinion that the US won their group DESPITE of Bob Bradley.  Every match left me scratching my head as far as the starting 11 he was putting out there.  Things like continuously starting Findley when I felt he would have been far more effective coming off the bench.  And then his biggest gaff of continuously going with Ricardo Clark??  I guess Bradley hadn't seen enough of an abysmal performance from Clark in the first half of that Slovenia match so he had to give him another shot?  And Ricardo Clark obliged in full by creating the turnover that directly led to Ghana's first goal?!  :-/

Personally, I think Bradley was fortunate his players pulled out the group win.  Sure he seemed to make the correct adjustments at the half, but had he put out the correct starting 11 at the start of the match, would the US have had to continue to fight from behind in each and every match?

All in all, I would not be surprised in the least to see the US go in a different direction.  This pattern of giving up early goals didn't just start in this World Cup.  It has been a recurring problem all throughout qualifying.  If it wasn't for the never quit attitude of his players, who knows if the US even qualifies for South Africa?  

I just think it is time to see what someone else can do.  Perhaps Juergen Klinsmann?  I know he turned down the job before Bradley got the job, but that was because the MLS wouldn't cooperate and release players to play in the Gold Cup and Copa America.  He still lives in Cali where he is raising his family.  I think US Soccer has really made incredible strides since he turned down the opportunity and I think Klinsman just might be the man to take the US to the next level.

BTW, U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati apparently isn't all to happy with the early exit for the US either:

Gulati says U.S. 'capable of more'

[iLikeBeer]

Even though my two favorites (US and England) are out, there are still some real juicy matches coming our way!

I can't wait for Spain v. Portugal tomorrow!  Amazing that one of those 2 tournament favorites will be gone after the first round of the knockout stages.

And then there's a couple of dandy quaterfinal matchups with Argentina v. Germany and the Netherlands v. Brazil (I'm assuming they go through as they are leading 2-0 over Chile as I type this).  IMO, this would make a fantastic semi final but these four teams are meeting in the quarters?!

Should be some incredibly entertaining football to watch over the next few days and it will only get better!   8-)

[Ruckus]

I will add that I was very happy with Michael Bradley.  I have always been indifferent about him but he had a fantastic tournament and has plenty good years left in him.  

I totally agree with you man.  I was quite indifferent to Bradley and had never really seen any of the qualities that he supposedly possessed.  He wasn't spectacular but he certainly held his own at times in the middle and of course that goal was special.

[Ruckus]

America is dominating this World Cup.

Unfortunately it's South America.

Seriously though, I've enjoyed watching these games sooo much.  The skills are just sick.   I guess I'm down to rooting for Germany and Japan.  I like the way Japan plays.

Well it was a fun ride for the Blue Samurai while it lasted.  Hopefully they continue to make strides to become more dynamic offensively.  Wouldn't be surprised if the likes of Honda and Endo get calls from other European clubs now though I guess Honda plays for CSK Moscow already.

My newest man crush is clearly for Mesut Ozil of Germany.  That 21 year old Turk/German is simply amazing.  His composure on the ball, ridiculously deft touches, big left foot, and fluidity have been a joy to watch.  Now if he'd stop going to ground so easily :-/

[Ruckus]

So.  Did Bob Bradley do enough to save his job with the US performance in this World Cup?  Personally, I have mixed feelings on the matter.  I am strongly of the opinion that the US won their group DESPITE of Bob Bradley.  Every match left me scratching my head as far as the starting 11 he was putting out there.  Things like continuously starting Findley when I felt he would have been far more effective coming off the bench.  And then his biggest gaff of continuously going with Ricardo Clark??  I guess Bradley hadn't seen enough of an abysmal performance from Clark in the first half of that Slovenia match so he had to give him another shot?  And Ricardo Clark obliged in full by creating the turnover that directly led to Ghana's first goal?!  :-/

Personally, I think Bradley was fortunate his players pulled out the group win.  Sure he seemed to make the correct adjustments at the half, but had he put out the correct starting 11 at the start of the match, would the US have had to continue to fight from behind in each and every match?

All in all, I would not be surprised in the least to see the US go in a different direction.  This pattern of giving up early goals didn't just start in this World Cup.  It has been a recurring problem all throughout qualifying.  If it wasn't for the never quit attitude of his players, who knows if the US even qualifies for South Africa?  

I just think it is time to see what someone else can do.  Perhaps Juergen Klinsmann?  I know he turned down the job before Bradley got the job, but that was because the MLS wouldn't cooperate and release players to play in the Gold Cup and Copa America.  He still lives in Cali where he is raising his family.  I think US Soccer has really made incredible strides since he turned down the opportunity and I think Klinsman just might be the man to take the US to the next level.

BTW, U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati apparently isn't all to happy with the early exit for the US either:

Gulati says U.S. 'capable of more'

I never really liked Bradley but I guess I'm not too knowledgeable as to who some potential replacements are going to be.  Is Klinsman going to be offered it again Beer?  Not that I'm a fan of his commentary but Lalas did not mince his words concerning his less absolute admiration for Bradley.

[BH]

America is dominating this World Cup.

Unfortunately it's South America.

Seriously though, I've enjoyed watching these games sooo much.  The skills are just sick.   I guess I'm down to rooting for Germany and Japan.  I like the way Japan plays.

Well it was a fun ride for the Blue Samurai while it lasted.  Hopefully they continue to make strides to become more dynamic offensively.  Wouldn't be surprised if the likes of Honda and Endo get calls from other European clubs now though I guess Honda plays for CSK Moscow already.

My newest man crush is clearly for Mesut Ozil of Germany.  That 21 year old Turk/German is simply amazing.  His composure on the ball, ridiculously deft touches, big left foot, and fluidity have been a joy to watch.  Now if he'd stop going to ground so easily :-/

I wish I could go back in time so I could name my son Mesut!

[MarkW]

My newest man crush is clearly for Mesut Ozil of Germany.  That 21 year old Turk/German is simply amazing.  His composure on the ball, ridiculously deft touches, big left foot, and fluidity have been a joy to watch.  Now if he'd stop going to ground so easily :-/

David Villa.

[capt. scotty]

http://www.411mania.com/movies/news/143977/%5bGossip%5d-Larissa-Riquelme-Busts-Out-Major-Cleavage-For-World-Cup.htm

Here's Paraguayan lingerie model Larissa Riquelme cheering on her team in the World Cup. She's already promised to run the streets naked if Paraguay wins....

I want to be reincarnated as her cell phone  :o

[jones]

http://www.411mania.com/movies/news/143977/%5bGossip%5d-Larissa-Riquelme-Busts-Out-Major-Cleavage-For-World-Cup.htm

Here's Paraguayan lingerie model Larissa Riquelme cheering on her team in the World Cup. She's already promised to run the streets naked if Paraguay wins....

[highlight]I want to be reincarnated as her cell phone[/highlight]  :o

;D

[Taxman]

Those fucking Germans...
Losing their star-player (even if he's a cunt) and then proceeding to play the best football of the tournament, game after game! Maybe it was a blessing!
No fucking way!
There's a deep trauma surrounding footbal, in the Netherlands, it's called the 1974 world cup final. Holland should've won it..but the Germans did.
I wasn't even born then, but I can't stand to watch those images...
Holland played the best football then...Germany does now.
Every game the German's played so far, I was rooting for the opposing team; but they deserved every win; great team-playing!
Fuck!
And that Suarez; what a fucker. I hated him already, but he's got the only red card in world cup history to make someone a hero...
Normally you'd hit the brakes when someone appears in front of your car, in his case I'd hit the gas. I hope he performs well in the world cup, so he gets the fuck out of the Netherlands. Scamming the game with every step he takes; urgh, I can't describe my distaste of playesr like him!!!!
Roll on 1/2 finals!!!!!!  8-) 8-) 8-)

[Ruckus]

Those fucking Germans...
Losing their star-player (even if he's a cunt) and then proceeding to play the best football of the tournament, game after game! Maybe it was a blessing!
No fucking way!
There's a deep trauma surrounding footbal, in the Netherlands, it's called the 1974 world cup final. Holland should've won it..but the Germans did.
I wasn't even born then, but I can't stand to watch those images...
Holland played the best football then...Germany does now.
Every game the German's played so far, I was rooting for the opposing team; but they deserved every win; great team-playing!
Fuck!
And that Suarez; what a fucker. I hated him already, but he's got the only red card in world cup history to make someone a hero...
Normally you'd hit the brakes when someone appears in front of your car, in his case I'd hit the gas. I hope he performs well in the world cup, so he gets the fuck out of the Netherlands. Scamming the game with every step he takes; urgh, I can't describe my distaste of playesr like him!!!!
Roll on 1/2 finals!!!!!!  8-) 8-) 8-)

;D  I love that you guys call it the half finals.  I'm not busting your balls.  My sister in law, who is German, can't stop talking about the halb finale.  In English, we call it the semifinals.

Congrats to your men in orange Tax.  I think they deserved the win over Brazil but it was a tough game to watch.  No man with a set of balls can genuinely root for the shenanigans of Arjen Robben.  I would have stepped on him too.  Way to recover from the defensive lapse in the 1st half.  The second goal was a set piece gem.  Kuyt's flick on was money.

It has been a joy to watch this young German team come together and play at such a high level.  Eight goals against England and Argentina?  That bullshit yellow card for the hand ball on Mueller is going to hurt a lot.  He has been so instrumental for the German side and was not deserving of missing the next match.  I gave Schweinsteiger grief for his performance in the Champions League final but he as been excellent all tournament.  My apologies Bastian.

[Paulie_Walnuts]

Those fucking Germans...
Losing their star-player (even if he's a cunt) and then proceeding to play the best football of the tournament, game after game! Maybe it was a blessing!
No fucking way!
There's a deep trauma surrounding footbal, in the Netherlands, it's called the 1974 world cup final. Holland should've won it..but the Germans did.
I wasn't even born then, but I can't stand to watch those images...
Holland played the best football then...Germany does now.
Every game the German's played so far, I was rooting for the opposing team; but they deserved every win; great team-playing!
Fuck!
And that Suarez; what a fucker. I hated him already, but he's got the only red card in world cup history to make someone a hero...
Normally you'd hit the brakes when someone appears in front of your car, in his case I'd hit the gas. I hope he performs well in the world cup, so he gets the fuck out of the Netherlands. Scamming the game with every step he takes; urgh, I can't describe my distaste of playesr like him!!!!
Roll on 1/2 finals!!!!!!  8-) 8-) 8-)

Why such a downer on Suarez? Because he cheated? What hypocrisy there is at the moment regarding Suarez's handball. Some were comparing it to Maradona's "hand of God", some calling for Suarez to get a two match ban so that he misses the final if Uruguay beat Holland. What a load of rubbish! Suarez cheated like any other player would. A Ghanaian player would have done the same in that situation. It only got so much attention because it spoiled Africa's party!

What about players who feign head injuries and then look around before getting up? Didn't Mensah get tickled in the throat and then roll around for a few minutes as if he'd been hit by Bruce Lee during the same game?

Let's face it - football is now based on cheating. Teams are so evenly matched they will do anything to try to gain the slightest advantage. Most footballers now cheat in some way. Whether it's diving, screaming in agony, feigning injury, or trying to get fellow professionals sent off most of them do it. What makes me laugh is that when it is done to them they react like the cheat has committed the most outrageous act imaginable. Then in the next few minutes they will do exactly the same thing themselves. Look at a Manager's reactions when a player of his own side dives - the Manager reacts as if his player has been hacked down. If his own player commits a bad fould he reacts as if the opponent has dived.

NOBODY with any power wants to do anything about cheating in football. Not the players, not their Managers, not the club Chairmen, and not the custodians of the game. Mr Blatter loves the controversy, the newspaper headlines and the media coverage of his "great game".

The only people who do seem to want to cut cheating out of the game are the fans. But the fans are too stupid to do anything about it. It made me laugh the other night to see two Captains, before the biggest football match of their career, have to read out a pre-written statement about "kicking racism out of football."

How about FIFA starting up the "Let's Kick Cheating Out Of Football" campaign? FIFA's current view is that we don't want our players being racist....but we don't mind them being devious, conniving con men!

As for the football I've given up predicting! Everyone was saying it was going to be Brazil or Argentina picking up the trophy. Now it looks like Germany can't lose. Interestingly enough, on the betting site I use over here Spain are still slight favourites but I'm not sure why. Spain are winning ugly (like the Germans used to), and Germany are playing like Brazil.

Anyway, I hope it's a great bit of quality cheating that wins the final!  ;D Maybe the Uruguayans kidnap Klose before the final and put in a stooge Uruguayan lookalike to miss the deciding penalty in the shootout!

[Taxman]

Ok, it wasn't pretty, but for the first time in 32 years, we're in the final. Probably gonna lose it again, but wtf.

And I never liked Suarez, paulie_walnuts. He cheats with EVERY move he makes. ALWAYS! (ok, I don't really know why I don't like him...)

But yes, everyone faking an injury to get a free-kick or get someone else a yellow/red card should get sent off themselves.
How about that kick De Zeeuw got in his face though?  ouch! :o

[Paulie_Walnuts]

VIVA ESPANA!!!!

What a performance from Spain. That was a superb display - the way they passed the ball around was superlative, their control was impeccable, and after they had got the goal their defence was immense. If Torres had been fully fit I believe that Spain would have been unbeatable this tournament. The fact he is not has given the other teams a chance against them because they aren't putting away teams with lots of goals.

For me though that was the best game of the tournament so far. Did anyone notice the lack of diving and cheating? It was just two great teams pitting skill and technique against each other. Kudos to the Germans - they are a great team too and threw everything at the Spanish after the goal.

Favourite moment of the game was when Iniesta, surrounded by four Germans, took a fifty yard throw from Casillas on his chest, took one touch with his foot and laid it off to a team mate.

I hope the final is as good, and it will be nice to have a new country as World Cup holders.

[Ruckus]

That boot De Zeuw took was nuts.  You're right about the match PW.  There was no fouling and no diving.  A joy to watch really.  It played out as expected and similar to the Euro '08 final.  Germany just couldn't launch a good counter except for the one at the end of the 1st half where Ozil went down.  Dee Snider should have scored in the 1st half on his header so it was nice to see the old man redeem himself in the 2nd half with that great header.

I guess I don't really care who wins as long as it is a good match.

[Paulie_Walnuts]

Spain used to be the biggest choke artists but I don't think they are anymore. They have such technically gifted players, and players playing at the top of their game. They deserve to be favourites. And you're right, don't rule out Brazil or Argentina. My doubt with Argentina is that they have Maradona in charge. It would be hard to find a worse candidate for a football manager than that!

Switzerland - 1
Spain - 0

If Spain have removed the tag of biggest choke artists at the World Cup, they sure aren't doing a very good job of showing it...  :P

How are they doing now?  ;)

Congratulations to Spain - deserved winners for sure. Technically the most gifted team in the tournament, and they also showed tremendous resolve in defence. They won the tournament without a recognised centre forward being full fit.

All in all though one of the poorest World Cups I can remember. FIFA need to address the issue of using technology to get the important decisions right. But most of all they need to address the cheating, diving, screaming, and conning of nearly all the players.

Next year the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand......now that's a proper tournament! Does the USA look like qualifying?

[Ruckus]

Spain will be fine I believe.

Yup, they were the best side and deserved it.  It could have been prettier but the Dutch did it to themselves.  So glad Arjen Robben  wasn't crowned a World Cup Champion.  It'll now be interesting to see the moves that are made.

I'm looking forward to seeing Inter/Man City in 3 weeks but I wonder who will even be on those sides.  Hopefully I can see Sneijder, Maicon, Tevez and the like.  When AC Milan and Chelsea played last year, all the top players started so here is to a repeat of that.

[capt. scotty]

What a boring game. Not the kind of game that makes a semi-casual fan like me want to waste 3 hours again. Best part of the game was when De Jong Bruce Lee'd that dude in the solarplexus  ;D