The Official Football Thread

[ChampDream]

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

Obviously, this applies to like 90% of nations around the world.

And don't understand how Mexico is overrated. They are a team that gets to World Cup constantly and gets out of the group stage frequently. Not only that, they have won the gold medal in the Olympic, against freaking Brazil. You could argue, outside of South America and Europe, they have the best team because of their success.

I think that because of the fans, they make the team seem really overrated.
I'm pretty sure that Mexico team is a little different from this Mexico and the same is for Brazil, specially because of the manager.

[Bri]

Originally Posted by germanturkey

yeah. i'm pretty happy that Altidore found his feet. with donovan out of the picture, i think this US team is stronger than it has been in ages.

Altidore's progress at AZ has been quite amazing. When he arrived 2 seasons ago he could hardly control a ball and was way too bulky, couldn't even play 90 minutes. At the end of the second season, he's one of the best strikers in the league. The coach Verbeek really managed to bring out the guy's potential.

[Terrestrial Dream]

I pray to god that piece of shit Lee Dong Gook never never fucking plays for KNT. And Choi Kang Hee can fuck off as our manager. I don't give a fuck we qualify, we played like shit and the display, to be honest we should have not qualified the way we played.

This whole fucking situation showed how corrupt and shitty the KFA and how retard Korean hierarchical system is. Why would you keep on playing the shittiest striker we have, who have proven over and over, he is fucking shit and can't score to save his fucking life.

After this I hope we get Senol Gunes as our manager. Because as now if Korea went to World Cup we are just going to get fucked in the ass. Jesus fucking, I am so fucking pissed even though we qualified.


FUCK KFA, FUCK Choi Kang Hee, Fuck Lee Dong Gook, Fuck Lee Kuen Ho, they all should just fuck off. Disgraceful....

[Neki Ecko]

Originally Posted by solomon

Well this has to do with the demos of Seattle, which has less penetration of people from rival soccer nations.

Frankly, it's why people in LA, Dallas, Houston and possibly even some East Coast cities are gonna get screwed out of hosting, due to demos of fans showing up. Here in DC, we would have a pretty high population of Central Americans come out for their team. And of course we've seen what happens in LA......

Actually its a combination of that and very bad luck that Seattle has with pro teams. When the NBA team left(stolen) to go to OKC and Mariners contiuned to suck and around that time, Seahawks was the only ticket in town, those fans turn away by NBA/MLB got into soccer with the Sounders and contiunes today.

[ChampDream]

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

This whole fucking situation showed how corrupt and shitty the KFA and how retard Korean hierarchical system is. Why would you keep on playing the shittiest striker we have, who have proven over and over, he is fucking shit and can't score to save his fucking life.

that easy to answer is because of the money, they just want profit.
that happen to a lot of national teams, so I know how that feel, it used to happen in my country, until they decided to bring a foreign manager

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by ChampDream

that easy to answer is because of the money, they just want profit.
that happen to a lot of national teams, so I know how that feel, it used to happen in my country, until they decided to bring a foreign manager

Nah, this goes beyond that. This is classic example of retarded Korean politic and favoritism. What Korea right now is another manager like Hiddink, who will pretty much have complete control over the national team, instead of the KFA.

Right now I am hearing that the legend himself, Hong Myung Bo, the coach of 2012 Olympic team, will take over. If that were to happen I will be happy as he will bring some much needed discipline in our back line. Furthermore, because of his status as legend should get lot of public support, meaning more control for the national team.

Anyhow, so far 4 teams from Asia have qualified. Japan, Australia, Iran, and South Korea, the usual powerhouse of AFC.
Uzbekistan is likely to face Jordan, in order to get the chance to face one of the South American teams.

[germanturkey]

so, neymar is pretty good.

[Blaat]

That assist for the 2nd goal against Mexico was pretty good, a surprisingly fun match to watch considering it looked like Brazil would run riot against Mexico in the early minutes of the match.

[germanturkey]

shame about japan. my prediction of "brazil wins, Italy squeaks by japan" was spot on.

[Sakuratsuki]

Damn the mach between japan - italy

Italy got Lucky at the end. But I have never seen Japan playing like this before. in the end they lost but they should be proud. They played a wonderfull match.

EDIT: This was an Capitán Tsubasa match!!

[ChampDream]

Japan and Italy was really a good match, so far the best match of the cup.

[solomon]

Indeedy do, that was a real fun match. First match between Brazil and Mexico was kinda bleh (even if BRazil werent 100 percent, they still handled their buisness).

But that was a great match. Japan should feel proud.

[Blaat]

Man watched 20 minutes of the match (should have been in bed by then) and it was great, Japan were fantastic and in the morning I found out they lost.

If Japan continue to play like that they'll definitely reach the quarter-finals next year (with a bit of luck with their opponents of course).

[Shinndou]

Japan deserved to win, no doubt.

For once we got lucky, though I have to say that I wish Prandelli would realize that Aquilani is far from being national team material. With a slightly different starting eleven (Abate rather than Maggio and Diamanti or Candreva in Aquilani's role) the match might not have been so one-sided for most of the first half.

Giaccherini is a bit of a surprise though. Even though I know him I wasn't expecting him to be so positively active so far, it means that he's finally mature and ready for being a starter even in a delicate role like the trequartista.

Another thing that I think is clearly lacking is stamina. Most of the players seem way too tired and we have too many virtuosos and not enough "tough guys". De Rossi got his second yellow card so he won't be able to play vs Brazil and this is going to hurt because his possible replacement, Marchisio, right now is far from being physically fit.

Prandelli should have definetely brought some of the U-21 youngsters (Verratti, Florenzi, Marrone) atleast among the midfielders.

As for Japan, props to the japanese players and props to Zaccheroni. I knew some of the players were great but to see the whole team so well organized was really impressive. I hope the JFA won't sack him and will let him continue his job, it's pretty clear how their national team is improving in the right direction.

[Fahd]

For an outside observer the Italy-Japan game was all kinds of fun (), but I guess at a Japan or Italy supporter it was edge of your seat, nail-biting torture . I loved how the game swung one way and then the other, I loved how Japan were relentless in their passing & attacking, and I loved how Italy were able to soak & absorb that pressure (in the 2nd half) without completely breaking down.

Originally Posted by Shinndou

Another thing that I think is clearly lacking is stamina. Most of the players seem way too tired and we have too many virtuosos and not enough "tough guys".

Aye, I was thinking Italy should've gone for the 4th goal as soon as they had got their 3rd. It almost felt like they were adopting a turtle-shell mentality, and that allowed Japan to come back into the game. But I guess that's because the heat/humidity were tiring them out, so (I guess?) they felt it'd be easier to defend out the rest of the 2nd half...

As for Japan, props to the japanese players and props to Zaccheroni. I knew some of the players were great but to see the whole team so well organized was really impressive. I hope the JFA won't sack him and will let him continue his job, it's pretty clear how their national team is improving in the right direction.

The Japanese forwards need to be more clinical in the last (few) moves. I mean, they had two or three opportunities in the 2nd half to get their 4th goal and take the lead, but they skimmed or hit the wood-work. Italy on the other hand managed to get their (4th) counter-attack goal in without too much drama.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing both teams play in the world-cup now

[KiraYamatoFan]

Shinndou knows the Italian NT way better than I do and he was already spot on about them. No need to add much more.

Originally Posted by Fahd

The Japanese forwards need to be more clinical in the last (few) moves. I mean, they had two or three opportunities in the 2nd half to get their 4th goal and take the lead, but they skimmed or hit the wood-work. Italy on the other hand managed to get their (4th) counter-attack goal in without too much drama.

It's something that people who are following Japan have been crying out loud for quite a while now. What Japan clearly needs is someone in the exact same mould as your Owens, Inzaghis, Solskjaers, Henrys, Zolas, Shearers and Van Nistelrooys in order to have the right tools to finish off most opponents and also benefit from individual moments of brilliance.

Sometimes, I curse the fact that Tsubasa Ozora was created as a midfielder back in the 80s instead of a striker in the mould of Gerd Müller. I'm sure it would have helped a lot in inspiring more Japanese kids to become clinical forwards instead of midfielders.

On a more serious tone, it looks like there are not enough pure forwards on the team (3 out of 23 players from what I can count) and that's a worrying fact when they are not particularly known for their finishing. I hope the Japanese program is currently glorifying the striker's role a lot more right now because that's where the future goes in order to reach that next step.

[Shinndou]

Originally Posted by Fahd

Aye, I was thinking Italy should've gone for the 4th goal as soon as they had got their 3rd. It almost felt like they were adopting a turtle-shell mentality, and that allowed Japan to come back into the game. But I guess that's because the heat/humidity were tiring them out, so (I guess?) they felt it'd be easier to defend out the rest of the 2nd half...

Honestly, while the climate might not have been helpful there's still two teams playing on the pitch, and Japan didn't seem to suffer the heat. This is a problem that IMHO lies in the physical preparation done during the weeks prior the tournament: it's clear that the whole team is far from being fit and they probably understimated a lot of factors when the coaching staff organized the training schedule.

This can be a major mistake given the fact that it's not easy to regain the right form in a short span of days, especially when each match is going to be so intense.

It's going to be a constant uphill battle from now on. Although we are used to fight this kind of battles I don't think we'll last long like we did in the Euros, not if Prandelli will stubbornly keep picking the wrong candidates for the starting eleven.

The Japanese forwards need to be more clinical in the last (few) moves. I mean, they had two or three opportunities in the 2nd half to get their 4th goal and take the lead, but they skimmed or hit the wood-work. Italy on the other hand managed to get their (4th) counter-attack goal in without too much drama.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing both teams play in the world-cup now

Japan needs badly a real first striker. Mike Havenaar might become that sort of player but he's still really unpolished, and you can't rely on one single player anyway. In terms of trequartistas and playmakers they're full of talented players, but they really need an ice-cold poacher. Besides that, they also need two strong centerbacks, they have good fullbacks and wingers but the centerbacks still lack tactical awareness (and that's why we managed to score 4 times despite playing worse). Maybe Zaccheroni should recommend some of the young promising Japanese defenders to any Serie A team in order to get valuable experience (look at Nagatomo).

Once they manage to fix these areas they'll really turn into a powerhouse capable of making it even farther than quarterfinals of a WC. Still, they're a delight to watch even when you belong to the opposing side.

[Bri]

Originally Posted by Shinndou

This can be a major mistake given the fact that it's not easy to regain the right form in a short span of days, especially when each match is going to be so intense.

It's going to be a constant uphill battle from now on. Although we are used to fight this kind of battles I don't think we'll last long like we did in the Euros, not if Prandelli will stubbornly keep picking the wrong candidates for the starting eleven.

Given the trivial nature of the tournament, now is the time to make the mistakes and experiment in preparation for the World cup. I'm sure the countries participating in this tournament will have a serious advantage of having experienced what the conditions will be like next year in Brazil.

[boggart]

The U20 World Cup is currently on as well. Pretty proud of how our young lads performed against the South American champs Colombia the other day/night. The way the Aust U20 team is playing is how the majority of us hoped our senior team would be playing: an attractive, attacking, possession brand of football.

[germanturkey]

Uruguay vs Brazil was closer than i thought it'd be. if spain don't screw up against italy, they'll take the whole thing.