OT: soccer thread

[fatlever]

fox soccer channel shows about 5 PL games each weekend here in the US, usually 4 live games and 1 tape delay. espn starting showing 1 or 2 PL games each weekend as well. the timing of the games on the weekend is usually good, games come on around 10am EST or noon. occasionally they will have an 8am start which is rough. usually i just dvr the games and catch them when i wake up. perfect for filing the gap until football starts a 1pm. as for CL games, i dvr all those. its pretty easy to avoid scores during the day (unlike WC, which is impossible).

[BigSlam]

I'm going to be on the plane back to Ottawa (via Toronto) from NYC when the Germany Vs Argentina game kicks off.

ALL SORTS OF PISSED OFF ABOUT THAT!!!

[Thaliontil]

I wonder whether this type of penalty kick shot is called after the original one in US too (and whether they mentioned it on EPSN or whoever broadcasted it).

Suarez probably made himself public enemy in whole Africa with that save. He kinda sacrificed himself for the team.

If you refer to Abreu´s shot in the penalties it is called "Panenka"

Here in Spain we say: "Tirar el penalti a lo Panenka"---"Shoot the penalti like Panenka"

I hope Germany beats Argentina today,I´m starting to hate Maradona and his insufferable arrogance (yeah,quote from 300! xDD),now he is saying that Villa´s goal against portugal was in offside,guess he didn´t watch his pupil Tévez against México.

And then we face Paraguay,I´m scared they start playing ala Italy,we just got beaten by Switzerland when tey "park the bus" in front of their goalkeeper,fortunately our team is starting to play better and I expect to find Germany on the semifinals.

Go Germany,Go Spain (Go Europe! ^^)

[Thaliontil]

Eat that Maradona!Go Germany!

[Walt Cronkite]

Floppin ass Argentinians.

[Fred Williamson]

[fatlever]

WOW!!!! that was awesome. unbelievable performance by germany. that was simply beautiful to watch.

[fatlever]

my dream matchup of netherlands vs germany is still alive... a rematch of 1974 world cup finals?

[SWedd523]

Watching the Germans attack (did I really just say that?) really makes me feel embarrassed at how weak the Americans are at that aspect of the game.

[fatlever]

paraguay is definitely going to park the bus today. spain will have 85% possession and 20+ shots, while paraguay keeps 10 guys behind the ball at all times. spain will sneak one through and then the floodgates will open as paraguay is forced to attack. i smell a boring first half though.

[Tupik]

Very, very impressed by Germany. They're my obvious pick to win it all now.

[e4Nf6]

Watching the Germans attack (did I really just say that?) really makes me feel embarrassed at how weak the Americans are at that aspect of the game.

If not for the refs, we would have had 7 goals in 4 matches, our main problem wasn't scoring goals.....

It's funny to me to see a lot of the same people who crucified Thierry Henry talk about how "heroic" Suarez was for Uruguay. To me it was exactly the same thing, a guy sees a ball that he can't get to, that might eliminate his team and he made a split-second decision to handle it. Neither guy deserves any criticism IMO. It should all go to the refs and (mostly) FIFA.

This kind of thing would be easily solved by a "goal-tending" rule that says if a ball is clearly going in and is handled intentionally its a red card and the goal counts without a PK. Of course we can't do this because according to FIFA no rule can ever change in the slightest...

[SWedd523]

The goals we did score:

Luckiest goal of the WC after the English keeper fumbles it.
Donovan aims for the keeper's head from point blank
Second chance sliding kick with the spikes from Bradley
Second chance open net goal by Donovan
Donovan PK



Called back goals:

set piece (Edu)
cross (Dempsey)



Every goal by a midfielder.

[SWedd523]

I'll let Bill Simmons (that's right, Mr. Basketball) take it the rest of the way:

And what's what worries me about the ceiling of American soccer. We reached a certain plateau in 2010, a little like a 47-win NBA team that everyone knows can't make the Finals. Watch how those crafty Germans bang home scoring chances, or the blinding speed of their young stud Mesut Ozil on the wing. Rewatch that "WOW!!!!!!!!!" goal scored by Uruguay's striker to beat Korea Republic, or the one by Tevez in the Argentina-Mexico game. Team USA never made you scream "WOW!!!!!!!!!" for a really good reason: We don't have a player with that kind of chops. This was a team of grinders and overachievers. We didn't have enough speed without Charlie Davies, and we certainly don't have a world-class striker who creates scoring chances out of thin air. In four Cup games, our forwards scored zero goals. That's why we went home over everything else.

By 2014, maybe young Jozy Altidore (only 20) will get there; he certainly has the physical gifts, although it's unclear whether he has any scoring touch. (It's the difference between Dwight Howard's low-post game and Pau Gasol's low-post game; you can work at it all you want, but you'll never be as good as the guys who are born to put it into the net. A guy like Germany's Miroslav Klose could find the far post falling out of a wheelchair when he's 60. It's a DNA thing. I am convinced. So the worry is that Jozy has too much Howard in him and not enough Gasol.) Maybe Davies and Fast Young Guy X will provide that missing burst on the wing. Maybe Teenage Prodigy X is four years from saving us and we don't even know his name. But you can't advance to the semifinals without the "WOW!!!!!!!!!" factor. Impossible.

[fatlever]

i guess the difference is that henry didnt get caught. haha.

with what was at stake and the timing of the shot, i think i would have done the exact same thing that suarez did.

but your idea is a good one e4 as long as it was limited to plays that happen on the goal line. but as you said, fifa will never consider it.

is it fair that maradona's "hand of god" goal is considered one of the greatest goals of all time even though its cheating?

[fatlever]

swedde, please make sure you post article links when quoting direct content from other sources. thanks.

here is the simmons article. bill has admitted to becoming a soccer fan because of the fluidity of the game, much like the nba was back in the 80s (thats his stance).

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... ons/100701

[Thaliontil]

Just one question: PK = Penaltie kick?

Thank you ^^,our game starting in ten minutes...I think we are going to move on.

Go Spain

Spain 2 (Villa x 2)-Paraguay 0

[fatlever]

i agree our forwards are a main problem (if you consider dempsey and donovan as mids). like swedde said, all our goals game from our mids. we are a decent offensive team but we seriously lack talent up front. i really wish our next coach will consider changing our formation to a 4-5-1 or moving donovan or dempsey up top, next to jozy full time to make room for our ever-growing talented midfield. guys like torres, edu, bradley, benny and holden all deserve time.

4-5-1 is the formation i want to see for us on a consistent basis, not just in the second half when we are chasing games.

[SWedd523]

I thought attributing the quote to him would be enough. I apologize for my mistake. Please don't hit me this time



Before this game starts, I'd like to go on record to say that Iniesta is my second favorite player in the world.



The biggest problem I see with our team is our possession. You really don't see any guys on our team control the ball or have the ability to break opposing players down off the dribble. We have to pass, pass, pass--making it very hard for us to dictate the type of game being played. We simply aren't the most technically gifted team out there. If we added that to our superb teamwork and heart, we'd be a serious contender.

I'd like to see us run a 4-3-3 with Dempsey/Donovan up front, or even a 4-2-4 like Germany does, with both up, though that'd somewhat neutralize our midfield talent. We just need guys like Torres and Feilhaber on the pitch with their ability to create chances.

[SWedd523]

Holy crap.

Pique drags the guy down. They miss the PK. Villa immediately gets dragged down where a red card should've been awarded. They make the first PK but called back for encroachment. Miss the second one where another PK should've been awarded when the keeper took Cesc down. Still 0-0


Wow.