quote:

Originally posted by Imprezu21:
argentina's going to the finals.

If Argentina get to the Final then Frank is a rich man...

i really hope portugal starts working together better.imo christiano ronaldo is just as exciting as ronaldinho, he just needs to remember hes playing for portugal now not manchester u.

as far as the u.s goes, i hope all the chips fall in the right place, but i dont see it happening.ghana is tough, they have a strong attack.

one thing that boggled me though was why didnt arena bring in eddie j, we had an extra sub...god knows playing with 9 men is tiring.fresh legs between him and beasley may have garnered 1 or 2 more attacks.especially for mcbride, man was running like a midfielder, i know a sub for him would have been a good idea.

Those refs in the US/Italy game were terrible. They were giving cards out like candy at a kid's birthday party.

I really hate it when the officials become the focus and not the game itself, which was pretty exciting.

quote:

Originally posted by philosopherEric:
Those refs in the US/Italy game were terrible. They were giving cards out like candy at a kid's birthday party.

I really hate it when the officials become the focus and not the game itself, which was pretty exciting.

Erm... that match was brutal and the players deserved every single card they got...

Ghana 2, Czech Republic 0
-amazing game, easily in my top 5 for best games so far. Ghana found a combination of offense and defense that worked really well, got it done, and took down a world class team. The U.S. team shouldn't take them too lightly in game 3.

quote:

Those refs in the US/Italy game were terrible. They were giving cards out like candy at a kid's birthday party.

lol, one of the commentators on World Cup Live said he was dealing out cards like he was at the World Series of Poker. I think the red card on Italy and taking away that U.S. goal for offsides were good calls, but everything else was terrible.

Such a waste of a good game after they built it up so much.

Ah come on, it's not gridiron shit dudes! The fact that America went down to 9 men is their own fault, as anyone familiar with the rules will tell you. It was a needlessly vicious game on the part of both sides...
I agree with you on the Ghana game Smoogsbottom. I recon it was one of the best so far as well...
I'm looking forward to Brazil and Australia in an hour's time. My old friend Ze Roberto will be sorting the shit and getting none of the credit as per usual. Watch as he is ignored, and the flair players are fawned over...

quote:

Erm... that match was brutal and the players deserved every single card they got...

I couldn't disagree more. Although the ref’s poor performance ended up costing Italy more on the scorecard, both reds against the U.S. were despicable. Italy was outplayed from start to finish but capitalized on their limited opportunities better and would have scored at least 3 had it not been for horrible offsides calls.

For the record, I hate offsides and would love to see the rule abolished. The playing field is level and the teams start even: Let ‘em run.

If offside was abolished, strikers could, and would, just spend an entire game in the 6 yard box, forcing defenders to stay there marking them. Midfield would become irrelevant, as both teams punted the ball from one end to another, and the only action took place around the goal mouth. You've mentioned Argentina earlier, as have I. Can't you see that Riquelme's genius lies in his ability to beat the offside trap and set players free, with his perfectly timed delivery.
Offside needs adjusting, because the active/passive rule is confusing players and spectators alike, but abolishing the rule would kill the game as we know it. It prevents what is known as "hatching," ie. spending the whole match rooted to the opposition goal-line, waiting for a tap-in...

Good point. It just always bothered me and slows down play way too much. Much like the two line pass offsides in hockey, the rule needs to be rewritten. I would love to see speed and skill combined creating some additional offense and better scoring opportunities.

I would also like to see diving penalties called on these horrible actors. Nothing is more pathetic than seeing a full grown man, in peak physical shape, hit the deck and hold his knee, ankle, or hamstring, only to realize no foul was called and return to his feet. It's like the Little Boy Who Cried Wolf. My solution would be this: If you go down and give the impression that you're hurt, you sit your ass on the bench and are replaced by a "healthy" player. Leave the diving to Greg Louganis and the Buffalo Sabres.

Great tournament so far. If the US can hold off Ghana and make elimination, I like their chances against anyone. They have tremendous upside (see Onyewu, Lewis, Donovan, Beasley).

quote:

Originally posted by P-Bo:

quote:

Erm... that match was brutal and the players deserved every single card they got...

I couldn't disagree more. Although the ref’s poor performance ended up costing Italy more on the scorecard, both reds against the U.S. were despicable. Italy was outplayed from start to finish but capitalized on their limited opportunities better and would have scored at least 3 had it not been for horrible offsides calls.

For the record, I hate offsides and would love to see the rule abolished. The playing field is level and the teams start even: Let ‘em run.

This may be the funniest thing I have ever seen. This rule would change the game as much as allowing players to use their hands. Goddamn that's good.

Dammit, why are they doing two games at the same time?

So teams can't know the result of the other game in their group dude, and therefore play accordingly . Always happens like that with the last round of group games...

quote:

Originally posted by Punkcow:

quote:

Originally posted by philosopherEric:
Those refs in the US/Italy game were terrible. They were giving cards out like candy at a kid's birthday party.

I really hate it when the officials become the focus and not the game itself, which was pretty exciting.

Erm... that match was brutal and the players deserved every single card they got...

u must be blind?

the only deserved red card was the blatant obvious elbow to the face drawing blood on mcbride.our defender got robbed on half of his yellow cards.

that ref will not be in any other games ever.
at least none affiliated with fifa, he was under controversy before for doing the exact same thing.

too many cards all around...

cant wait till it gets to 16...tired of seeing hack teams.

quote:

Originally posted by Imprezu21:
cant wait till it gets to 16...tired of seeing hack teams.

I agree, but the England/Sweden match today was sweet!

quote:

Originally posted by PRG:
I agree, but the England/Sweden match today was sweet!

Not for the British Media is wasn't. You've gotta love our press. They spend the first two games attacking the team for giving the ball away too much unlike other teams like Spain and Holland and when we finally do play with some style they attack the team again for shoddy defending. Stupid unpatrioctic papers .
Why can't we all get along?

i really really hope england loses.

thats all.

rooting for

sweden or portugal

wait till ibrahimovich decides to "really" play.

Hey, crazy thought here, but did anyone see that USA-Ghana game?

Pretty good game. The people at ESPN kept saying the Ghana penalty kick was a bad call, but if you took that goal away it would be 1-1 and the same result would have happened. As dissapointing as it is for the US team, it's incredible for Ghana to get to the second round in their first ever World Cup.

I predicted 2-0 Italy and 2-1 United States, so at least I was half right on the latter.

Yeah the US and Czech Republic being knocked out so soon was a shock, I expected at least one of them to go through especially that they're rated fifth and second in the world respectively.
and Serbia, unbeaten in qualification, above Spain no less, and they don't get a point. Full of suprises this one.

ghana is not a real surprise, they had a chance being in the same group as us.their history in football is one of the best in africa, they have won numerous african cups...but the world cup has eluded them until now.

look at their lineup, it is quite stacked with internationally known players, i certianly didnt think they would win 2 games, but i was expecting them to win one and contend for the second spot in the group.