FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa

[Mentar]

What was the best thing about the Japan-Cameroon game? That it's over now. >_<

Congrats to Japan, honest, but from a football perspective this game was an unmitigated disaster... no structure, no gameplay... argh.

I don't expect much from the Italy-Paraguay game either. Two very defensive teams slugging it out. I smell alot of fouls and few chances. Ah well. Can't be sunshine all the time.

[Evil Rick]

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

I am bit late for this result but men USA are awesome at socceball kicking!

Spoiler for for size:

USA "wins"?

Funny, I tough it was a draw.

[hinakatbklyn]

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

I am bit late for this result but men USA are awesome at socceball kicking!

Spoiler for for size:

The US got at least a tie, now they should try and win the other 2 games or that tie won't count. Then maybe the newspaper can start celebrating.

[ClockWorkAngel]

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

I am bit late for this result but men USA are awesome at socceball kicking!

Spoiler for for size:

I think "Win" is a strong word for it , though to be fair, the brits placed their third goalkeeper.

[solomon]

It's an achievement for us Yanks but remember WE DONT BELIEVE IN TIES!!

We are very win or go home, gridiron used to have ties but they got rid of it.

[Highman]

Originally Posted by solomon

It's an achievement for us Yanks but remember WE DONT BELIEVE IN TIES!!

We are very win or go home, gridiron used to have ties but they got rid of it.

Always take down in shootouts that's why FIFA should change the rules of soccer so the world can understand the acceptance of losing.

[solomon]

Bah, leave the game alone.

We Yanks would scream BLOODY MURDER if someone told us to change gridiron. I don't loose sleep over ties anyways.

[Kusa-San]

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

I am bit late for this result but men USA are awesome at socceball kicking!

Spoiler for for size:

ROFL, It's only a draw not a win And even for a draw, it's not a good one so, there is nothing to be happy.

[SeijiSensei]

As an American who has watched very little soccer (okay, football) in my life (well, except when my daughter was playing at around ten years of age), I'm always amused at the degree of nationalism the World Cup seems to engender in other parts of the world.

In 1974, I happened to be in London during the finals between Germany and Netherlands, so I watched it on the BBC with some friends. Both sides played well throughout the game, but when the first half ended and the coverage returned to the BBC's studios, the commentary was hilarious. Did they focus on the excellent play by the Dutch or the Germans? No, they reviewed the performance of the Scottish umpire focusing on some of his supposedly excellent calls!

Earlier TRL observed that Americans seem fixated on statistics in sport to a degree unknown in other societies. I'll venture to guess that's a result of baseball, which has been statistically oriented since its earliest days. We even have a word for it, "sabermetrics."

As for our 1-1 "victory" over England, that's nothing compared to this one. (Yes, it's the same Tommy Lee Jones.)

[Evil Rick]

Originally Posted by Kusa-San

ROFL, It's only a draw not a win And even for a draw, it's not a good one so, there is nothing to be happy.

On the other side, here at my countru, people is not happy at all with the draw with South Africa. The newspappers called "The team tied with the weakes of the group, facing France and Uruguay only shows a hard way up to the second phase of the tournmament"

[Kusa-San]

Originally Posted by Evil Rick

On the other side, here at my countru, people is not happy at all with the draw with South Africa. The newspappers called "The team tied with the weakes of the group, facing France and Uruguay only shows a hard way up to the second phase of the tournmament"

Well for my country we're not happy or unhappy. Most of the people don't like Domenech and don't see the France going really far. Personnaly, I think we can do the same as 2006 which means that we'll have a hard time in the pool and then after that, doing better and better.

[CuXe]

Italy v Paraguay up ahead!

[Zwei]

Originally Posted by CuXe

Italy v Paraguay up ahead!

Yup, it's starting....

FORZA ITALIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! FORZA AZZURRIIIIIIIIII!!!!!

[solomon]

This is match for a patience deprived yank, I hear these teams are normally really "high flying"

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

As for our 1-1 "victory" over England, that's nothing compared to this one. (Yes, it's the same Tommy Lee Jones.)

BEEP. Wrong "football". Get with the programme already!

There are storied rivalries between football clubs all over the world that are the stuff of epic dramas. In England alone, there's the eternal rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United. Spain boasts the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona, with an added dash of nationalistic showsmanship (Barcelona being supposedly Catalans, who have long maintained an independent-minded streak). Italy has the derby rivalry between AC Milan and Inter Milan, with a documentary about the two teams aired on the BBC World Service just this week.

I'm far from knowledgeable about football history, but I'm more than certain that the relevant fans of any of these clubs (and more) can regale you about gripping ties in their various league histories.

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

As an American who has watched very little soccer (okay, football) in my life (well, except when my daughter was playing at around ten years of age), I'm always amused at the degree of nationalism the World Cup seems to engender in other parts of the world.

Ah, but that's part of the beauty of the sport which the Americans, being the traditional isolationists that they are, don't get. When else can the world's nations blow off steam without firing guns, if not during a World Cup tournament (and to a lesser extent, the Olympics)?

Part of football's global appeal lies in the fact that the sport's talent is so broadly distributed across the world. No single nation dominates the sport any more, not even the traditional favourites Brazil. So, there's a far greater element of suspense and surprise at a World Cup than even the Olympics. In this sense, football is arguably the most democratic game in the world (even if it suffers its fair share of capitalistic problems, as do most modern sport).

You want to feel a part of the global village? Play or watch football.

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Earlier TRL observed that Americans seem fixated on statistics in sport to a degree unknown in other societies. I'll venture to guess that's a result of baseball, which has been statistically oriented since its earliest days. We even have a word for it, "sabermetrics."

Football does produce its own set of statistics but the obsession over numbers is nowhere near as strong. I mean, there's no one set of numbers that can encapsulate the kind of teamworking brilliance displayed by Germany last night, for example. And that's where I suspect part of the difference lies: American sports seem to favour the performance of individual players over that of team play, a more elusive quality that is hard to express with numbers alone.

Of course, maybe it's simply because the number crunchers haven't got around to the game yet. For all I know, if football (OK, soccer to you Yankees) does indeed gain mainstream popularity in the United States, a whole new cottage industry of statistics might just arise.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by solomon

This is match for a patience deprived yank, I hear these teams are normally really "high flying"

If "high flying" is the new "incredibly defensive-minded and boring".

[Evil Rick]

Dam, it's rainning hard on the Italy-Paraguay match, hope this doesn't afect the players too much.

[CuXe]

OMG! YAY! Paraguay hits gets the first one in! who would have thought?

[Zwei]

Cannavaro is too fucking old for playing in the World Cup.

I don't know what Lippi was thinking when he called him up. He should be with his grandchildren watching the game on TV, and not playing it (I know he isn't THAT old, but still...). We need more young and experienced players, rather than old, dull-witted ones.

We had the most possession during the game, but it was fairly balanced and Paraguay isn't playing half-bad.

Damn, I hope we recuperate during the second half.

[Saturn Beaver]

So it's halftime with Paraguay leading 1-0...Can't say I expected this, I'm not that hopeful for Italy but I expected them to win this. Still, it's only the first half, let's see how Lippi will try to fix their playing to turn it around...