OT: soccer thread

[fatlever]

wow. go dutch go. maybe this is their year. i really thought brazil was the team to beat.

why so much confusion over the spelling of ozil? some places show as oezil.

i guess i spoke too soon about adu and aris. rumors point to him leaving. unbelievable. will he ever find a place to play. that benfica deal he signed was his worst nightmare.

[Paydro70]

What an awesome match that was. If only that Brazilian guy hadn't gone all Albert Haynesworth, both teams were really going at each other. I am kinda surprised the Dutch didn't score a third the way they were getting chances at the end. Just some beautiful soccer, they couldn't stop making incredible plays.

Still, I can't help but think that whoever comes out of the other side of the bracket is going to win the cup. Most likely Argentina.

[fatlever]

i think you are right paydro. my new pick to win it all is argentina.

[Det the Threat]

What an awesome match that was. If only that Brazilian guy hadn't gone all Albert Haynesworth, both teams were really going at each other. I am kinda surprised the Dutch didn't score a third the way they were getting chances at the end. Just some beautiful soccer, they couldn't stop making incredible plays.

Still, I can't help but think that whoever comes out of the other side of the bracket is going to win the cup. Most likely Argentina.

Not so fast my friend.
The octopus has decided again and he/she's been right at every match.



Therefore Germany will make it to the semi-finals, which means no Argentina anymore.

Though, i'm not sure if we'll be able to field a solid team(if we're to go on) because we've got seven guys already being booked and another yellow card would mean a supsension for Oezil(normally being written Özil), Mueller, Schweinsteiger, Khedira, Lahm, Mertesacker or Friedrich.

[fatlever]

i hope you are right det. i am hoping for germany to win.

did you see the rumor of schweinsteiger to real for 50mil. UGH!!! i dont know who is worst real madrid or nba owners, throwing money around like its free.

[Det the Threat]

i hope you are right det. i am hoping for germany to win.

did you see the rumor of schweinsteiger to real for 50mil. UGH!!! i dont know who is worst real madrid or nba owners, throwing money around like its free.

Yeah, i've seen this rumor but it's always tough to get German players away from Bayern especially now that van Gaal is the coach and made Schweinsteiger a defensive midfielder.

Though, i wouldn't mind if he'd go and play in England or Spain, because it's always good for players to play abroad.

As for Real spending money. They're pretty much allowed to spend what ever they want and even tough they're in depts it doesn't seem to matter.

BTW: Some of our younger players really got into the spotlight and there are rumors about Thomas Mueller(doubt he'll leave Bayern) and Sami Khedira being on Man Uniteds list. I also believe that Mesut Oezil will sign with another club(he only has one year left on his contract) and the hottest topic right now is Barca buying him from Werder Bremen, but sending him on loan for one year back to the German side.

[fatlever]

from out outsiders pov about bundesliga... i think it would be great to see 2 or 3 other teams besides bayern to step up and become a consistent power, year in and year out. i always prefer for leagues to keep their talent, instead of everyone ending up at real, barca, man u, inter and chelsea etc... i would love to see ozil stay in germany, but only if he can play for a team that is willing to do what it takes to compete at the highest level. it seems that only bayern has that kind of ability in germany and certainly not everyone can play for bayern. am i crazy?

[Paydro70]

I'm rooting for Germany all the way, ever since that Australia game. They play some fantastic soccer, Ozil is my new favorite player and I've always like Schweinsteiger and Lahm. On the other hand I have also always loved the Dutch, if the two of them are in the final I don't know what I'll do.

[Det the Threat]

from out outsiders pov about bundesliga... i think it would be great to see 2 or 3 other teams besides bayern to step up and become a consistent power, year in and year out. i always prefer for leagues to keep their talent, instead of everyone ending up at real, barca, man u, inter and chelsea etc... i would love to see ozil stay in germany, but only if he can play for a team that is willing to do what it takes to compete at the highest level. it seems that only bayern has that kind of ability in germany and certainly not everyone can play for bayern. am i crazy?

That's the thing with the Bundesliga.
Bayern's the richest club and they always seem to buy the best players from other clubs, even if they aren't gonna play, to weaken their competition.
Still every team can beat it's opponent on any given day in this league.

I mean, the last three years we've had Stuttgart, Wolfsburg and Bayern winning the league and teams most of the time making it into the top five are Bayern, Bremen, Stuttgart, Schalke, Hamburg and Leverkusen.
So there's a lot of excitement, and not seldomly about 4 teams playing for the title till the last couple of games, but it also means different teams(besides Bayern) making it to the Champions League every now and then.

As far as Oezil staying in the Bundesliga, I just can't see that happening.
The only step above Bremen in that league would be Bayern and they don't really need him, cause they play Mueller behind their striker(mostly Ivica Olic) and they've got Tony Kroos(also on the national team) coming back from Leverkusen.
That's why he'll probably go and play someplace else, if he doesn't stays at Bremen.
Also, talking about Bremen, if you're into an attacking style soccer(though, they always lose at Gladbach ), then Bremen is the way to go for you(in the Bundesliga) because they're scoring the most goals nearly every season.

BTW: I really like talking football(soccer) with you guys and i'll try to keep you updated about German Bundesliga if you're interested.

[doc.end]

I'm just glad Morávek finally got on loan to 1.FCK. I hate Magath because of him. He was killing his improvement.

(Hannover and Eidhoven were in talks too, but Schalke decides not the player)

[fatlever]

det, i definitely hope you stick around for the soccer talk. i am always looking to chat about soccer. most of my friends here in the US could care less about soccer so i dont have a good soccer outlet outside of this OT soccer thread. soccer has been closing in on basketball as my fav sport over the past 2 years. the gap is definitely closing. nfl now sits as a distant 3rd (which makes me rare in the US), even though i am still a panthers nut and fantasy football junkie.

i guess as a german (or fan of bundesliga) who is not rooting for bayern i can see how a person would hate bayern, sinec they are like the yankees of germany. really, i started rooting for bayern cause i always liked the german national team and half the national team is from bayern is always seems. so when it comes time for champions league, bayern is always my number two team. and before this year, even during champions league i never go to see them play much. espn always showed other games. but fox soccer showed every single champions league game this year (some on delay) so i was able to watch every single one of bayerns champions league matches. i started following bayern much closer after 2008 euro when i became a huge schweinsteiger fan.

[Paydro70]

The problem I have with following soccer is that regular-season league matches are pretty boring to me unless there's significant pride at stake (i.e., Man City v. Man Utd.). So I mostly just watch Champions League and major competitions (Euro, Confederations, Olympics, WC).

It'd be one thing if I could actually have "a team," but the competitive balance in European soccer is so skewed that it's basically impossible to have real loyalty if you aren't born there. If you want a Premiership team, for instance, you either pick a scrubby squad that will never, ever, ever win, or one of the powerhouses: Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea. Other than the one year of Blackburn, nobody else has won a title since 1991.

[fatlever]

paydro, you just gotta pick a PL team and go for it. walt is on board the everton train. who's gonna be your team?

but it can be a bit tough to watch a random bolton vs stoke city match in november. other than the chelsea games i will usually watch any match that involves one of arsenal, liverpool or man u (as long as the teams are w/in one goal). i also enjoy watching man city, tottenham and everton. i'll also watch fulham when dempsey is playing. i'll probably watch bolton next year to see stuart holden. and if donovan makes it to PL again i will try to catch all his matches. the big matches between the big 4 teams are always terrific though.

and champions league is just awesome, unless one team is parking the bus looking for a particular result at home or on the road.

[Paydro70]

I tried this once, with Liverpool shortly after that incredible comeback from 0-3 in 2005. It just doesn't stick, they aren't on TV very much and there's just not much reason to throw myself into a team I have no real connection to.

[fatlever]

most bizarre ending to a WC so far. that was nuts.

[doc.end]

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.

[fatlever]

best red card ever?

[Det the Threat]

det, i definitely hope you stick around for the soccer talk. i am always looking to chat about soccer. most of my friends here in the US could care less about soccer so i dont have a good soccer outlet outside of this OT soccer thread. soccer has been closing in on basketball as my fav sport over the past 2 years. the gap is definitely closing. nfl now sits as a distant 3rd (which makes me rare in the US), even though i am still a panthers nut and fantasy football junkie.

i guess as a german (or fan of bundesliga) who is not rooting for bayern i can see how a person would hate bayern, sinec they are like the yankees of germany. really, i started rooting for bayern cause i always liked the german national team and half the national team is from bayern is always seems. so when it comes time for champions league, bayern is always my number two team. and before this year, even during champions league i never go to see them play much. espn always showed other games. but fox soccer showed every single champions league game this year (some on delay) so i was able to watch every single one of bayerns champions league matches. i started following bayern much closer after 2008 euro when i became a huge schweinsteiger fan.

Yeah, i'll try to keep you informed about Bundesliga.
The German Cup will start in about 5 weeks(August 13th - 16th) and we'll play at Erzgebirge Aue, which is pretty close to where i live.

As far as Bayern goes.
It's probably a BFC Dynamo Berlin(Erich Mielke, the head of the East German "state security", was pretty much it's chairman) complex that keeps me from liking anything about a team that's nearly always winning the title(they've got nearly 25 of them, i think) and sometimes winning it thanks to very late goals.
On top of it, Bayern's a rival of old times of my team(Gladbach) because both teams pretty much split up championships in the 1970's.

The problem I have with following soccer is that regular-season league matches are pretty boring to me unless there's significant pride at stake (i.e., Man City v. Man Utd.). So I mostly just watch Champions League and major competitions (Euro, Confederations, Olympics, WC).

It'd be one thing if I could actually have "a team," but the competitive balance in European soccer is so skewed that it's basically impossible to have real loyalty if you aren't born there. If you want a Premiership team, for instance, you either pick a scrubby squad that will never, ever, ever win, or one of the powerhouses: Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea. Other than the one year of Blackburn, nobody else has won a title since 1991.

Yeah, I can see that.
It's probably tough for you guys to follow european soccer because it's pretty early in the states and even Champions League games start about 2:45 p.m. on week days, i think.
You also don't really have the chance to attend a game, which would help getting attached to a team and it seems like it's not that easy to get games on TV for you guys.

Here in Germany i've got a nice TV package that broadcasts every single game of the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga(you can even choose to watch on something called Konferenz which doesn't lets you miss any goal or red card during the games), every single German Cup game, every single CL game, every Europa League game and up to five English Premier League games per week.
On top of it, you can also go to the games, but i'd have to drive about 200 kilometers to Nuremburg, because that's the closest 1st Bundesliga side to me.

most bizarre ending to a WC so far. that was nuts.

Yeah, that handball and red card kept Uruguay alive and helped them reach the semifinals.

[fatlever]

i just realized that all the changes/transfers i made for this round did not save. i am still stuck with my r16 team. that sucks.

[doc.end]

I kinda quit knowing I will be offline in next days anyway, so...