*World Cup Game Discussion Thread* (SPOILERS)

[ausonny]

Well, my flight for Nuremburg leaves in a few hours. For those who don't remember I got tickets for the USA-Ghana match. I was worried a few days ago that the match wouldn't matter, so it's great that it does.

My seats for the game are second row, about the 40 yard line, so we're pretty happy about that! We're sitting right behind one of the teams, so probably no TV exposure or I'd take a sign or something. Also the stadium has a running track around the field so we'll be a little farther back than I would like, but that's ok. I'll post pictures when I get back on Sunday, or Monday maybe.

Soccer (Yes, I said Soccer, bite me! ) has been my favorite sport since I was little,and I've already got butterflies.

Anyway, just wanted to make y'all a little jealous.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by ausonny

Anyway, just wanted to make y'all a little jealous.

Just a 'little' jealous? You're killing me.

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by ausonny

Well, my flight for Nuremburg leaves in a few hours. For those who don't remember I got tickets for the USA-Ghana match. I was worried a few days ago that the match wouldn't matter, so it's great that it does.

My seats for the game are second row, about the 40 yard line, so we're pretty happy about that! We're sitting right behind one of the teams, so probably no TV exposure or I'd take a sign or something. Also the stadium has a running track around the field so we'll be a little farther back than I would like, but that's ok. I'll post pictures when I get back on Sunday, or Monday maybe.

Soccer (Yes, I said Soccer, bite me! ) has been my favorite sport since I was little,and I've already got butterflies.

Anyway, just wanted to make y'all a little jealous.

There is your sign. Make it, take it, hold it up the entire game!

[MikeVic]

Help me understand something please...

TNT have 1 point, and Sweden have 3. So if Sweden loses and TNT wins, TNT advances right? What if Sweden ties and TNT wins... what order is the tie-breaking?

[Fighter of Foo]

In Order:

Head to Head
Goal Differential
Goals Scored

[Narcizo]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

Help me understand something please...

TNT have 1 point, and Sweden have 3. So if Sweden loses and TNT wins, TNT advances right? What if Sweden ties and TNT wins... what order is the tie-breaking?

Not necessarily. Sweden actually has 4 points so a Sweden loss and a T&T win doesn't necessarily mean T&T go through.

As pointed at the next decider is goal difference. If T&T win 1-0 and Sweden lose 1-0 then Sweden will still go through because their goal difference is 0 while T&T's is -1.

However if T&T win 2-0 and Sweden lose 1-0 then T&T will go through. Both team will have 0 goal difference but T&T will gp through on more goals scored.

Should Sweden lose 2-0 and T&T win 1-0 then it will be down to a lottery. Same goal difference, same goals scored -> lottery.

[MikeVic]

Ah thanks... realized they had 4 points a minute ago. Should be exciting.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by Fighter of Foo

In Order:

Head to Head
Goal Differential
Goals Scored

Unlike I claimed about a week ago :o, it's:

1. goal difference all games
2. goals scored all games
3. head to head points
4. head to head goal difference
5. head to head goals scored
6. a lottery

[Huckleberry]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

Unlike I claimed about a week ago :o, it's:

1. goal difference all games
2. goals scored all games
3. head to head points
4. head to head goal difference
5. head to head goals scored
6. a lottery

If the third tiebreaker doesn't work then what in the world is the point of 4 and 5?

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry

If the third tiebreaker doesn't work then what in the world is the point of 4 and 5?

In case three teams end up tied. I'm not from the FIFA, so don't ask me whether it's fair, but it could happen.

h-t-h goal difference scenario
Team A - Team B 4-0
Team A - Team C 2-3
Team B - Team C 2-0
Team A - Team D 2-1
Team B - Team D 6-0
Team C - Team D 5-0

h-t-h goals scored scenario
Team A - Team B 2-2
Team A - Team C 1-1
Team B - Team C 0-0
Team A - Team D 1-0
Team B - Team D 2-1
Team C - Team D 3-2

[kingfc22]

So will Sweden continue their pwnage of England today?

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by ausonny

Anyway, just wanted to make y'all a little jealous.

Uh that is not cool.


Man you are going to have an awesome time. Lucky.

[TazFTW]

Owen injured?

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by TazFTW

Owen injured?

Yea, his knee just buckled.

[TazFTW]

Well, Owen is being carried off the field. Not looking good.

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Uh that is not cool.


Man you are going to have an awesome time. Lucky.

That last part of course has to be read in the voice of Napoleon Dynamite.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by Cringer

That last part of course has to be read in the voice of Napoleon Dynamite.

That was my intention

[Coffee Warlord]

Any word on Owen's injury? Pissed off I can't watch this.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Any word on Owen's injury? Pissed off I can't watch this.

Not yet. I'm sure they will announce something at half time. If not sooner.

[MJ4H]

Watching Crouch drives me absolutely insane.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Not yet. I'm sure they will announce something at half time. If not sooner.

Hopefully he's alright. Gotta feel for the dude. Massive deal to get him to Newcastle, gets hurt rapidly there, and now goes down again early in the WC.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Any word on Owen's injury? Pissed off I can't watch this.

I found a good site that actually has radio coverage of WC games:

http://clients.mediaondemand.net/theSun/?Channel=1

[kingfc22]

Paraguay up 1-0.

[kingfc22]

Does Joe Cole ever go out wide down the wing? He seemingly tries to cut the ball back to the middle every time.

[Lathum]

OMG

[kingfc22]

Wow

[ISiddiqui]

Joe Cole has really become quite a player in the last couple years hasn't he?!

[Celeval]

1-0 England; they need one more goal, and T&T needs to pull out 2-1 to advance.

[hoopsguy]

1-1, Sweden scores off a header on a corner kick. Pretty.

[kingfc22]

Sweden ties it up off a corner.

[Fighter of Foo]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Any word on Owen's injury? Pissed off I can't watch this.

Why? England are the most boring team on the planet. I continually fail to understand how a team that talented can consistently play so dull.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by Fighter of Foo

Why? England are the most boring team on the planet. I continually fail to understand how a team that talented can consistently play so dull.

Frankly, I think that award goes to Italy.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Any word on Owen's injury? Pissed off I can't watch this.

Rumored to be torn ACL, he'll be out til after xmas at least.

[hoopsguy]

Wow, late goal for England! 85th minute.

[terpkristin]

That was a nice header goal by Gerrard.
Seems to have been a good time for me to get home!

/tk

[hoopsguy]

And Sweden comes back to tie it in the 90th minute! All those pretty goals earlier? Well, this was not one of them ...

Both teams are moving onto the next round, but England still has not beaten Sweden since 1968 (assuming nothing funny in stopage time).

[Katon]

Okay, when did England forget how to defend set pieces?

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Critch

Rumored to be torn ACL, he'll be out til after xmas at least.

Yeah, seeing that replay made me turn my stomach and have sympathy knee pain.

I cringe seeing injuries like that, that's how I messed up my knee in high school.

/tk

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Katon

Okay, when did England forget how to defend set pieces?

In the 89th minute or so...

/tk

[Katon]

You're at least half an hour late there. Take another look at Sweden's first and the chance off the bar.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Katon

You're at least half an hour late there. Take another look at Sweden's first and the chance off the bar.

Heh. I only got home for the last 10 minutes or so of the match, so didn't see too much other SP meltdown in the highlight reel. I did see the Owen injury in the highlight reel. Owie.

/tk

[MIJB#19]

Good thing Sweden didn't even look like they tried to win. Apparently playing in Germany against Germany is more appealing than playing Ecudor in the next round.

[MIJB#19]

Latest news from the Argentina-Netherlands game tomorrow: half of the starters on both ends not playing, both teams hoping to lose to avoid Germany in the quarterfinals. That's going to be a funny game to watch.

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

In the 89th minute or so...

/tk

Half time I think would be more accurate

Pissed off now! We were decent again in the first half, and if someone tells Lampard he doesn't HAVE to shoot every time he's within 30 yards, who knows, maybe we might have created one or two better chances. He has had more shots through the first two games than anyone else, and what do we have to show for it? Bugger all. Having said that, he played better today than the other 2 games.

Even 2nd half, we defended well, but it often led to a corner or long throw, and for some reason we just looked like these were new introductions to the sport - what gives? England's strength is set-pieces, and we could have easily lost today because of them.

But we're in the next round, should be OK for the QF, although Delgado and Tonorio (sp?) look like they could cause us problems in the air and set pieces (have I really just written that a SA team will cause England problems in the air and set-pieces )

What pissed me off more than anything is our commentators kept saying now we have avoided Germany until the final - unless we pick it up we have no chance of facing Germany: we need to focus on now, not two or three weeks.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by Jari Rantanen's Shorts

Half time I think would be more accurate

Pissed off now! We were decent again in the first half, and if someone tells Lampard he doesn't HAVE to shoot every time he's within 30 yards, who knows, maybe we might have created one or two better chances. He has had more shots through the first two games than anyone else, and what do we have to show for it? Bugger all. Having said that, he played better today than the other 2 games.

Heh, heh. Lampard shoots from 30+ yards all the time, but perhaps more frustatingly he's missed more sitters in this WC than many teams combined. Gerrard gets a few chances and by comparison has two goals to show for it.

But who does Sven play as the defensive midfielder. Well, I'm sure Gerrard will be sitting deep next game as well (unless of course, Sven decides to only start one striker).

BTW - it's tough to argue with the Gerrard substitution (especially given the results) but I wonder why he didn't put Walcott in instead to at least get some jitters out. I mean with Owen potentially out, he may have to play him at some crucial point. Or perhaps, Sven is admitting he made a mistake in selecting the teen.

[Critch]

Bruce Arena asked about goalkeepers complaining about the new ball - "Let's face it, they never like the ball. The only time they would be happy is if it was square and heavy."

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by moriarty

Or perhaps, Sven is admitting he made a mistake in selecting the teen.

Took him long enough. Hell most people realized it was a mistake 2 seconds after he was picked (the first second after being utter shock).

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

Latest news from the Argentina-Netherlands game tomorrow: half of the starters on both ends not playing, both teams hoping to lose to avoid Germany in the quarterfinals. That's going to be a funny game to watch.

I haven't been watching every game, but I'll have to be sure to catch that one tomorrow

[Crapshoot]

From Gabrielle Marcotti, over at SI - he's probably one of the bigger football journalists out there:

Posted by Gabriele Marcotti

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Memo to Bruce Arena and everybody else ready to crucify Uruguayan ref Jorge Larrionda: Do a bit of homework before stepping on the pitch.

There is a parallel competition at the World Cup, one which doesn't feature teams, but referees. First place is officiating the final or, at least, going as far as possible. And the way you do it is by pleasing FIFA. Pleasing FIFA means interpreting the Laws of the Game EXACTLY the way the people who run FIFA (read: FIFA supremo Sepp Blatter, Spain's Angel Maria Villar Llona and Brazil's Ricardo Texeira, president and vice president of the Referees' Committee) want them interpreted.

Had the U.S. kept this in mind, had somebody told them that Blatter himself was up in the stands at the Fritz Walter Stadium in Kaiserslautern watching Larrionda's every move in the Italy vs. U.S. match then, perhaps, the Americans would have behaved a little bit differently on the pitch and gotten the three points their heroic efforts warranted.

There is no point debating whether Pablo Mastroeni's late tackle on Andrea Pirlo should have merited a red card. It was late. It was two-footed. It nailed Pirlo squarely on the ankle. According to FIFA's directives -- clearly laid out to referees and teams before this World Cup -- that kind of tackle is a straight red. Period. It doesn't matter one bit whether that's fair or not. It matters what FIFA says. And, before the game, they made their position extremely clear. Anyone with a bit of gumption would have understood that -- particularly with Blatter watching -- Larrionda was going to apply FIFA's directives to the letter.

The same applies to Eddie Pope's booking. Arena said after the game that it was harsh, that "Eddie [Pope] says he got the ball." Well, it doesn't matter that he got the ball. It matters that he got the man, too, and it matters that he was guilty of persistent fouling throughout the game and that Larrionda clearly warned him. Here too, FIFA's directives (which are far more detailed than the Laws of the Game) are crystal clear.

A modicum of common sense would have helped. Pope must have realized that, time and again, Larrionda was calling fouls against him. At that point an experienced defender such as Pope should have seen that it was time to defend differently, otherwise he would simply continue to get nailed by the ref. Instead, he did not change his ways one jot and, predictably, was sent off.

Brandishing the Laws of the Game and screaming bloody murder, as a portion of the U.S. press has done, lies somewhere between the futile and the idiotic. The World Cup isn't run based on the Laws of the Game, it's run based on FIFA's interpretation of the Laws of the Game, which is an entirely different matter altogether. Those three guys -- Blatter, Villar Llona and Texeira (the rest of the refs' committee are basically there to warm seats) -- decided beforehand what was a foul and what wasn't. What's more, they made it very clear to everyone, including Arena and the U.S. team.

From FIFA's perspective, Larrionda made very few "technical errors." Daniele De Rossi's brutal elbow on Brian McBride was spotted and punished with a straight red (and will probably be followed by at least a four-match ban). DaMarcus Beasley's goal in the second half was rightly ruled out because McBride's offside position was clearly interfering with play (he was in the goalkeeper's sightline and lifted his leg to let the ball run past). And both Mastroeni and Pope had to go, albeit for different reasons.

The rest of Arena's accusations are rather empty. Yes, bigger teams do often get the benefit of the doubt from the officials (in every sport). But right now, with Italy's representation within FIFA decapitated by the domestic scandals and powerbroker Chuck Blazer flexing his muscle on FIFA's Executive Committee, the U.S. can hardly claim to be underrepresented in the corridors of power. And yes, some Italy players went down easily (NEWSFLASH: Landon Donovan sometimes goes down easily too), but that's soccer today: Players get away with as much as they can.

Every team in the World Cup can learn something valuable from the Italy vs. U.S. game. The lesson is that, particularly at this World Cup, understanding how to play the referee is as important as figuring out how to play your opponents.

[MrBug708]

I think this board probably deserves to give this article a collective shrug