OT: World Cup Begins

[elocomotive]

Now you are correct in that the Brittish are ignorant and think they are beter than they actually are, because they think they are a World Cup Championship caliber team, but if they play anything like they did yesterday, they won't get passed the quarters

They think this pretty much every World Cup. Of all the countries in the world, their expectations are consistently most out of line with the their team's ability. Since winning in 1966, they have made the semis ONE time. You'd think since they see many of the best players in the world from other countries in the Premier, they'd be more aware of their own limitations. They have a very good squad this year, but they are a second tier soccer nation these days, and I think it pisses them off that the couldn't-care-less-for-football U.S. is hovering right around the same space.

Given all this, they shoudn't be so "gobsmacked" by the first round game.

 

[elocomotive]

Can't believe Italy's losing 1-0 at the half.

Yeah, it was a good game. I really didn't like Paraguay's spacing though. Everything was way too tight, but that could be a reflection of being on the short end of talent as much as game plan. They made a brave effort and earned a point. Could be crucial to them.

 

[dash]

James Sharman (The Score) in Toronto hosts the Footy show and he's a tad miffed at Toronto Hydro who are cutting his power for four hours tomorrow morning. What a great sports town lol.

 

[puckhead]

Ultimately, it just pisses me off the way the Euro media is treating our tie. They're acting like it's a gift, but outside of the first 5:00 of the game, U.S. dominated in pretty much every facet of the match.

really? I have no horse in that race (I dislike both teams), but I thought England carried the majority of the play.
I thought England played like crap, but still had the better team.


also, Hup Holland!!

 

[ritari330]

He shouldn't have let it in, but he did. Green got extremely lucky Jose's shot hit the post the way it did. If that redirects straight out, or hits and goes in, we'd have sown up the monumental upset. The new futbol is hard to read in the air which way it's going to travel, and it's also hard to tell which way it's going to go after it bounces, so I cut green a little slack. But, there is no way Howard would have done something like that.

Ultimately, it just pisses me off the way the Euro media is treating our tie. They're acting like it's a gift, but outside of the first 5:00 of the game, U.S. dominated in pretty much every facet of the match.

I don't cut Green any slack there, I played goalie for 8 years, and I could have made that save the first time I tried to play soccer at 5 years old. The ball is over-hyped more than anything this world cup. It's still round, and the way it bounces isn't affected, it's flight path is. Fact is, he was lazy and didn't move 2 feet over and get his body behind it, like a grounder in baseball.

And England played beter for about half the first half, and all but a few chances in the 2nd. I'm not sure what you were watching, but the ball was in the US defensive 3rd than any other part of the pitch. England either should have won or gotten what happend, a tie. But at no point did the US really deserve to win that game.

 

[elocomotive]

Related to this thread, here's a funny "how to" video on performing cool soccer tricks. Among the things I learned...

-Watch pros to learn how to do tricks
-You should do them on the field when it's appropriate
-Many of these moves are done with your feet and sometimes with other parts of your body
-Ronaldo and...uh.... other foreign players are hard to defend

 

[elocomotive]

Hahahaha! I found another ridiculous one called "How to Become a Pro Soccer Player."


The advice borders on the insane - sign up for a team (wow, stellar) or play in high school, but the real charmer is the people in the video. Look at the kid at the 0:47 mark. He looks like he is about to sign on with Everton or Chelsea any day now.

I'm fairly sure a 4th grader writes his scripts.

 

[dash]

Update on today's games:

Kiwis get a late strike to draw with Slovakia 1-1
Portugal (or as jstew calls them Pork n' Cheese) and Cote d'ivoire (Ivory Coast) draw nil-nil
Samba Soccer plays North Korea later

 

[puckhead]

Ivory Coast held Portugal to a scoreless draw.
and wounded Drogba had a great chance in extra time. Looked like he was playing with a cast on his arm. (I only saw the laast 10 minutes or so)

NZ tied it up against Slovakia in injury time in the early game.

what's the over-under on the Brazil - N Korea game later? 5-0? 6-0?



edit: shakes tiny fist at dash

 

[dash]

what's the over-under on the Brazil - N Korea game later? 5-0? 6-0?

I think North Korea keeps it close, they have a guy on their squad they call the Asian Wayne Rooney. I'm still trying to figure out if that's a good thing or bad.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

what's the over-under on the Brazil - N Korea game later? 5-0? 6-0?

I see a goal spread of 2.5 on one website although i think theres alot of money going on a "correct final score" of 5 - 0

Brazil
1:0 - 7.75 to 1
2:0 - 4.75 to 1
3:0 - 5.00 to 1
4:0 - 7.50 to 1
5:0 - 5.90 to 1

i wouldnt discount North Korea ... they are a virtual unknown ... they play a communist team game (ie no individual play or else theyre strapped to a nuclear warhead) ... and Ive heard they may be the only other team that has been playing with the new ball for an extended period (Germany has been playing with it in the Bundesliga since December)

 

[puckhead]

I think North Korea keeps it close, they have a guy on their squad they call the Asian Wayne Rooney. I'm still trying to figure out if that's a good thing or bad.

I am still trying to figure the same thing out about our own "Austrian Pavel Bure" (Grabner)

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Im making a list of canadian contributions to this world cup ... so far I got this (feel free to add to the list)

Danny Fernandes, portugals 3rd keeper, is from South Vancouver
the grass/turf is from a company in Ontario
theres a linesman from Winnipeg
they stole the vuvuzelas from the CFL
Steve Nash is doing online reports for CBS
and now one of our whoores is distracting an already bad keeper to begin with

British tabloids blame Canada for lovelorn Green - Dirty Tackle - World SoccerBlog - Yahoo! Sports

 

[jstewismybastardson]

game time temp for Brazil v. North Korea - 2 degrees celsius

has to favour Kim Jongs boys

 

[puckhead]

Officially the biggest miss-match in World Cup history.
104 spot difference in the FIFA rankings.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

its now 0 degrees ... could be a brazilian nipple fest in the stands

 

[puckhead]

its now 0 degrees ... could be a brazilian nipple fest in the stands

I was hoping the vuvuluvuvuas would all freeze and crack.

You are right about the NK defense though. In their 16 games to qualify for the tourney, they only allowed 7 goals. I guess it all depends on how early the inevitable flood gates open.
brasil still trying to be too cute when they get inside 35 yards.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

I was hoping the vuvuluvuvuas would all freeze and crack.

i read that initially as vulvas (lol)

 

[Slimpikins]

Anyone have a feed for this game? I can't seem to bring up espn radio at work today...

 

[puckhead]

Jesus - Brasil hasn't lost an opening game in the world cup since 1934 (Spain).
the last tie was 1978 (Sweden)