Which of these two countries in which football is not the number one sport will win?
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by Randinho| 131 Comments
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Which of these two countries in which football is not the number one sport will win?
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D-Chance.
Cole,
You retweeting Colbert?
Toast
What are you talking about? Football is absolutely the number one sport in America. ;-)
QDC
What’s the number one sport in Solvenia?
stuckinred
@QDC:
Punchy
/prays to the FSM that there is NOT a bitter, vindictive Spanish referee for this game…
I havent seen that much yellow since I babysat my 6 month old nephew.
Edit: From ESPN Gamecast: Apparently the referee handed out 11 red cards in 17 La Liga matches last season. Hmm.. WOW.
J.W. Hamner
Based on what I saw in the Slovenia-Algeria snooze fest… a team that couldn’t muster any offense against a fairly inept side until they were up a man… I’d say the Americans should easily win… but then, the US pretty much always lays an egg when they’re the favorites coming off a strong performance.
My big worry as a US fan is an early red card… since they’ve had problems keeping all their guys on the field… especially after watching a stadium bathed in yellow a few moments ago.
Hope Gomez starts.
stuckinred
@Punchy: So, if you are a world class athlete you are not aware of the officials tendencies before the match starts? Stupido
Punchy
@stuckinred: Did you watch the game? Being aware is one thing, but they were simply playing aggressive but fair soccer. Calling fouls would have been correct; booking them was ridiculous. Pretty much any contact at all was drawing yellows in the first 30 minutes, which is absurd.
I cannot wait to hear the German coach speak. I suspect he will drop more F-bombs than Early 80’s Eddie Murphy.
stuckinred
@Punchy: I don’t know enough about the game to judge. That’s why I thought it would be good to ask. I can tell you that in the NBA Championship game last night the officials “let them play”. If they were allowed to be that physical all season in the NBA there would be no one left standing.
Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle
@Punchy: I doubt the German coach will be as colorful as Maradona.
Randinho
@QDC: IIRC it’s ice hockey.
Football is not the most popular sport in France either. Domenech seemed bent on demonstrating that yesterday.
Cyrus
In defense of the annoying Obama critics… while it’s true that he’s accomplished a lot, it seems like it’s nowhere near as much as we need, and if this is the best Obama can or will do, then regardless of why, then we’re fucked.
Obama is obviously politically skilled, and the worst dirt they’ve got on him is maybe-shady-but-definitely-legal political horsetrading. Republican leaders are completely insane, incompetent at at least some important things, and marginalized down to levels not seen in decades. Here and there it almost seems like circumstances are conspiring to highlight the important of the left-wing agenda – an economic crash that quite clearly began while Bush was in office and began in the financial sector itself, an oil spill, etc. (Yes, obviously those things are horrible, insert boilerplate disclaimers here. I’m just saying they are consequences of, or exacerbated by, conservative policies, so they should provide a perfect excuse to change those policies.)
And yet despite all that, this is what we get? Health care reform that strengthens the current system and happens to subsidize a few people as an afterthought? More than a year and a half to repeal DADT? Unemployment at 9 percent and everyone being grateful it isn’t even worse? Again, no offense to Obama, he definitely has done a lot and I accept the arguments that he couldn’t have done much more. But if this is the best we can do, then what’s going to happen when the Republicans are a bit more competent or a Democrat with genuine skeletons in his closet gets elected? No, it’s not Obama’s fault, but this country is fucked.
Sorry to bring this up here, but I skipped the “This” thread and didn’t feel like reading all the way down through 500+ comments, and it DOES say “open thread”.
Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle
@stuckinred: Bingo!! Just like in baseball, you have to know if the ump has a big or small strike zone.
sbjules
Sasha Vujacic’s from Slovenia. He won last night. Come back next year, Phil, we want a three-peat.
stuckinred
@Randinho: That’s funny, this site doesn’t even list hockey
http://www.mapsofworld.com/slovenia/culture/sports.html
ChrisZ
The card system is the worst thing about soccer.
stuckinred
@Cyrus: shooo, we’re trying to learn something here.
West of the Cascades
@stuckinred: Is Randy thinking of Slovakia? Hockey is definitely # 1 in Slovakia. Slovenians play some decent basketball, but I think soccer is probably their number 1 sport (can’t say for sure) …
J.W. Hamner
@ChrisZ:
I dunno… as a casual fan I find it kind of amusing when the refs may a big show of I PUTIN U IN MAH BOOK!!! It’s like it’s middle school or something.
stuckinred
@sbjules: It’s interesting that basketball has become so internationalized and what I got here was “I can’t watch that hip-hop”. I mean it’s not as popular as soccer but goddamn, the international influence is great and has changed the game for the better.
stuckinred
@West of the Cascades: Maybe so, them eastern Europeans all look the same!
burnspbesq
Torres replaces Clark in the starting lineup.
Lawnguylander
This wasn’t the equivalent of an umpire giving a few inches off the plate or below the knees. This was more like an umpire deciding the strike zone was the chin to the ankles and the outside edge of both batters’ boxes. How are players going to adjust to that? What a joke that ref was.
stuckinred
JOHANNESBURG — Police say a South African man who wanted to watch a World Cup match instead of a religious program was beaten to death by his family in the northeastern part of the country.
David Makoeya, a 61-year-old man from the small village of Makweya, Limpopo province, fought with his wife and two children for the remote control on Sunday because he wanted to watch Germany play Australia in the World Cup. The others, however, wanted to watch a gospel show.
Randinho
@stuckinred: I had a brain cramp. The most popular sport in Slovenia is skiing.
burnspbesq
@stuckinred:
Yahoos like the NBA. Knowledgeable basketball fans prefer the Euroleague.
jwb
Go USA!
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! ! !
PanAmerican
Fernando Fiore’s US keys:
Conjuncto, Orden, Landon Donovan.
“El gringo” Torres is starting. Bradley is anticipating a lot of possession.
Lawnguylander
Yahoos like the Premier League, knowledgeable fans prefer the MLS. Sniff.
TR
First blood!
jurassicpork
Not that I care but I think Slovenia will upset us.
Look, I could use a spot of help, guys. I can’t stay online much longer but I’m in a bit of a spot and I’ve gone into a bit of detail at my place. Any help, however small, would be greatly appreciated.
stuckinred
@burnspbesq: Just jam it.
Violet
The US fans in the stands are loud!
cmorenc
@JW Hammer
The manner of showing yellow or red cards to players by soccer referees isn’t simply a stylish affectation or frequent tendency to go ego/power-tripping by soccer refs. Actually, it’s the procedural style refs are formally trained and encouraged to use by FIFA and most of the various national associations (e.g. the USSF- United States Soccer Federation). You are supposed to summon the player to face you and somewhat near his proximity, and then display the card clearly held up at least around head-high for all present to see. The purpose of the card in fact is to announce to everyone clearly that a specific player has been cautioned (or sent off if it’s a red card).
Refs who depart from this procedure for insufficient reason risk being marked down on their postgame assessments.
TR
God, that was dangerous.
Just once, can we get the first goal?
ETA: I guess not. Fuck.
Davis X. Machina
@Lawnguylander: The Scottish Premier League, of course. Glasgow Celtic are playing a friendly against Sporting Lisbon at Fenway this summer. It’ll be the first time since 1966 I’ve gone to a soccer game at Fenway….was going to be Celtic-Rangers, which could have been….ahem…’interesting’.
stuckinred
rut ro
Violet
Ugh. Good goal for Slovenia.
Morbo
@TR: No.
J.W. Hamner
@cmorenc:
I know. I just think it’s funny.
fbihop
God damnit.
Ron
Yikes, this is not a good start.
burnspbesq
Fuck. How does a guy pop up totally unmarked there?
stuckinred
This goal keeper is “one of the best in Europe”. Swell.
stuckinred
@burnspbesq: I thought you were all knowledgeable and shit. You tell us.
Scott de B.
Couldn’t they just announce the penalty on their microphones?
fucen tarmal
ok, so thats it, its over, slovenia scored the goal, now they will kick the ball back and forth and ponder deep furren thoughts we americans don’t understand like the interplay of overt and subtle symbols within the overall symbolism of a bergman movie,and the philosophy of soft power, and measures of power not marked by offensive force, but rather one’s ability to withstand damage and continue to fight.
stuckinred
@Scott de B.: Yea, if everyone in the world spoke the same language.
stuckinred
@fucen tarmal: miles and miles of herring
Punchy
Game. over.
stuckinred
Woody and Diane on life.
mcd410x
Wonder if Alexei Lalas will talk about how this is good for the game …
Scott de B.
They seem to manage it in the Olympics somehow.
Miss Kitka's Comrade Wayne
I like to think of it as Charlie Browns versus Miss Americas. Everybody wins.
Randinho
@Scott de B.: No they use the card system in the Olympic soccer games as well.
stuckinred
@Scott de B.: The announce penalties on a microphone in the Olympics? Funny, I went to every game here in Athens in 96 and I don’t remember that. I do remember thousands of people doing
Y
M
C
A
the universal language of luv
Face
It sucks losing to a country I’ve never even heard of before.
J.W. Hamner
As I thought, the ESPN feed is essentially unwatchable. If it’s still 1-0 maybe I’ll go to a bar to watch… and pray to the FSM… for the second half.
Peter J
During track and field sprint events, if there has been a false start, an official shows every athlete a yellow card. That’s how they manage it in the Olympics.
fbihop
Altidore and Findley have touched the ball, what, two times combined so far?
Scott de B.
In soccer, maybe. But there are a lot of team sports in the Olympics and I don’t remember the refs doing elaborate pantomine routines for each.
Rekster
Perhaps this US team is just not very good.
Randinho
@Scott de B.: Showing a card is an elaborate pantomime?
As opposed to what? NFL penalty calls? NBA foul calls?
Don’t be a hater.
Violet
@Randinho:
I love the cards. In fact we have a set in our household and if someone misbehaves, we haul them out and put them to use. Never fails to get everyone laughing and that diffuses whatever is going on. Works every time.
calling all toasters
Findley plays like a confused middle-schooler.
stuckinred
@Randinho: What was that?
NobodySpecial
Damn that was close
Violet
That was a bad call.
Scott de B.
Football penalty calls are done over loudspeaker, except at lower levels where they can’t afford a P.A. In basketball, when a player is substituted, he has to report to the scorer’s table, who presumably right down his name and number. There’s no reason a soccer ref couldn’t say the player’s name and number (in whatever language), while using his fingers to repeat the number (as NFL refs do).
stuckinred
I don’t speak Spanish but the Univision feed is awesome!
J.W. Hamner
@Randinho:
Oh please… don’t be so touchy. Ref’s carrying around a little notebook around to write down notes about who’s been a naughty school boy is funny.
NobodySpecial
Ref screws US again.
Violet
Oh no. This is awful.
Peter J
Fail.
Randinho
@Scott de B.: Horseshit. It works fine. No reason to change.
Stick a fork in them. They’re done.
Tom65
We’re fucked.
J.W. Hamner
Well now it’s really over. Damn.
A typical US performance when favored. Sigh.
Davis X. Machina
US back four was supposed to be a plus for them. Age and injuries catching up with them?
calling all toasters
Ha ha. USA suck. Maybe next time they’ll slide into a tackle or at a loose ball in front of the goal. Motto: “We keep our uniforms clean!”
Randinho
@J.W. Hamner: Not being touchy. Just getting tired of the nonsense.
stuckinred
@Scott de B.: What the fuck? Is this really bothering you that much. Take a fucking hike and you’ll feel better.
Breezeblock
Yay, out in the first round again. I predict US loses to Algeria.
Violet
This is really awful. Slovenia is looking really good. Who would have thought they’d be on top of the group.
Davis X. Machina
.
Not cruel enough. Beat Algeria, but fail to advance on GD or some other damn thing.
Violet
Ugh. Depressing. The Slovenians are looking very sharp.
Violet
Hey, maybe England will lose to Algeria. The way things are going this World Cup, anything could happen.
Peter J
Slovenia defeated Russia, the highest ranked team not to appear in the World Cup, in a two game playoff to advance to the World Cup.
They should not be underestimated.
Scott de B.
I didn’t say there was a reason to change. I have no problem at all with the current system. You mistake my argument.
Hamner complained about the card system. Your reply was as follows:
But that doesn’t respond at all to his comment. It only would be an adequate reply if there were no other ways to communicate that information. Your response to my replies suggests that you concede that there are other possible methods, indeed an infinite number of them.
You can make a pragmatic argument against Hamner’s comment, or an aesthetic argument, but you failed to make either.
handsmile
Hey folks, just a reminder, John Harkes and Ian Darke will be performing here all week….Don’t forget to tip the waitresses!
J.W. Hamner
With a defense as poor as ours, we really can’t play from behind at all. Tim Howard can’t stop everything.
fucen tarmal
@Peter J: fail blocked. double fail to you.
4jkb4ia
If this was not at the US’s expense, Slovenia would be a terrific story.
Violet
@4jkb4ia:
I’ll probably be pulling for Slovenia after this, anyway. They’re really impressive and for such a small country they’re especially good.
Randinho
@Scott de B.: Have you ever been to a soccer match in a major league? IIRC at the ones I attended they announced who was carded, but through the PA system.
It wasn’t me who made the comment you quoted, it was cmorenc.
Moreover, the referee is obliged to submit a post-match report in which he indicates all yellow and red cards and the time in the match they were awarded. That’s why they mark them down in the booklet. Would anyone expect them to rely on their memory?
SLKRR
Looking very bad for the gringos. Well, there’s always 2014…
J.W. Hamner
@Randinho:
US soccer fans are so sensitive. If somebody who doesn’t follow NFL football regularly pointed out something they thought was weird/odd/funny I don’t think anyone would be as indignant as you are being. I mean, 99% of everything they do in baseball is inherently ridiculous… so what?
fucen tarmal
@4jkb4ia:
i’m only watching to piss off glenn beck. i want him to blame us losing the world cup americans don’t care about, on obama.
Miss Kitka's Comrade Wayne
Game on.
Andy K
Landycakes with the BIG GOAL!
Dungheap
Nice finish. Early goal was what the USAs needed.
Randinho
@J.W. Hamner: Nothing occurs in a vacuum. As long as I have been posting on this World Cup, I have had people coming in here and trashing the sport. I have yet to see soccer fans go into NFL forums and start trashing gridiron football.
Nicked one back. More of that, please.
Martin
Heh, tuned in not 30 seconds before that goal. It was a beaut. Not sure what the fuck their goalie was doing hiding from the shot like that.
Tom Hilton
@Face: if it’s any comfort, it’s a really cool country (I’ve been there, although that was before it was a country).
I was definitely rooting for Slovenija in this one.
Randinho
Kirn had a frigging hammerlock on Dempsey.
Morbo
Pretty mutual tackle there, and not in the soccer sense.
Frick though, nothing mutual about that one on Altidore…
PanAmerican
Last defender should have been red, no?
Lawnguylander
@Randinho:
I don’t blame you for getting annoyed but a lot of people like to let out their inner wingnut when the subject of sports come up. I know I do. It’s hard staying on top of your basest instincts and trying to keep your prejudices in check all the time and sports provides an opportunity to let loose over low stakes issues. If BJ ever puts up a hurling open thread I will go full metal wingnut on Cork and Kilkenny fans.
@Davis X. Machina:
That sounds like fun and I’m taking my son up to Boston this summer so I’ll look into that. Good thing the Rangers won’t be involved or I’d probably embarrass him and confuse everyone else around me by yelling about how the ’80s Islanders were the greatest hockey team ever the whole time.
Randinho
Cards are mounting up for Slovenia. Show’s a lack of control.
Randinho
Gomez goes in. In for a penny, in for a pound.
Randinho
Take that Slovenia!
MattR
OMFG!!
Randinho
If anything, Michael Bradley is being bearhugged.
Randinho
Edu was robbed.
SixStringSlingr
I guess it’s good to see that the NBA isn’t the only sport suffering from horrid officiating.
Bob
Whaaa…?
Andy K
Screwed out of the win.
MattR
Well, while three pts would have been nice, that single point was crucial. Now the US is guaranteed to go through with a 2-0 win over Algeria regardless of all other games.
Randinho
At least he won’t be able to use Robbie Findley in the Algeria game.
Punchy
Wow, what a shit call on that Edu goal. There’s bad, there’s egregiously bad, and then there’s he-must-be-paid-off bad, cuz that’s just unexcusable.
Ailuridae
@MattR:
That doesn’t seem true. Are you presuming that England beats Slovenia and Algeria?
PanAmerican
On any set piece there’s tugging, pushing, shoving, nut punching. Any ref looking for a whistle can find a foul. He seems to have blown the whistle early in the play and I’m not sure for what.
MattR
@Ailuridae: It doesn’t matter what happens in the other games. Assuming the US beats Algeria, they will have 5 pts, Sloveria will have 4, England will have 1 and Algeria will have 0 pts.
Since Algeria only has one game left against England they can’t get more than 3 pts so they are no threat.
If England beats Algeria then they have 4 pts and a game left against Slovenia. If either England or Slovenia win that game, that team will have 7 pts and win the group and the other will have 4 and be eliminated. If those two teams tie, then there is a three way tie for two spots with 5 pts. In that case the team with the worst goal differential against Algeria is eliminated. Since Slovenia beat them 1-0, the US has to beat them 2-0 to avoid elimination regardless of how many goals England wins by.
The last case is if England and Algeria tie. That would give Algeria 3 points which is still less than the US. England would have 2 and Slovenia would have 4 before their match. There is no may both those teams can get to 5.
Ailuridae
@MattR:
Makes sense now. Thanks for the explanation (I am on minimal sleep)
MattR
@Ailuridae: My pleasure. I had to figure it out last night after reading an idiotic article on ESPN.
Randinho
MattR: It’s only the goal differential against Algeria assuming all teams beat Algeria:
The ranking of each team in each group will be determined as follows:
Andy K
@Ailuridae:
No, I think MattR is right.
If England wins today and loses to Slovenia, and the US beats Algeria, the US moves on, regardless of how many goals they score against Algeria.
If England wins today and ties Slovenia, the US needs to win by two goals over Algeria to beat Slovenia in the tiebreaker (goal differential). The number of the goal differential to beat England in the tiebreaker is pending on the differential of the win in England’s game today.
If Algeria wins today, the US gets through with a win over Algeria, and the US goes through with a draw if England goes on to a draw with Slovenia.
If England and Algeria draw today, the US gets through with a win over Algeria and an English win over Slovenia, or a Slovenian win over England.
If England gets a draw with Algeria then a draw with Slovenia and the US gets a draw with Algeria, the tiebreaker between England and the US is total goals scored.
I think I covered all the bases here. I think.
MattR
@Randinho: Right. As I said,
PS. It is funny. I initially wrote Algeria would have 4 if they tied, then knew that was wrong but corrected it incorrectly :)
Andy K
Whoops, I was wrong about this:
If Algeria wins today. the US definitely gets through with a win over Algeria, but if the result of the US-Algeria game is a draw, England still has to not win against Slovenia…Then the tiebreaker would come down between Algeria and the US for second place in the group- and if Algeria only wins 1-0 today, the US would win thew tiebreaker on total goals in the group.
So if Algeria wins today by at least two goals, the US would need to simply beat Algeria.
burnspbesq
@stuckinred:
Jam it? Sorry, no can do. Could get high enough (touched rim with elbow in eighth grade), but hands too small.
Another Luke
Not sure what is most popular (probably soccer), but Slovenia has the most Olympic success in rifle shooting, skiing and rowing sports (it is an Alpine country). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenia_at_the_Olympics
petorado
Ask a Slovenian and they will tell you their national sport is mountaineering. They have a strong crew of sport and big mountain climbers that are among the world’s best.
Slovenes also specialize in crazy — Jure Robic just won his fifth solo Race Across America (on a bicycle) hours ago, the first person to ski down Mt. Everest is a Slovene as was the first to swim the entire length of the Amazon River.
Besides Vujacic getting a title with the Lakers yesterday, Anze Kopitar is a scoring machine with the LA Kings, and the guy that just beat last year’s Tour de France champion in last weeks’ Criterium Dauphine is a Slovenian.
Not bad for a small nation most have never heard of.