One wonders what sort of tactical plan other than to hope for a 0-0 tie Slovakia coach, Vladimir Weiss had. Slovakia had one shot in the first half, six shots overall and one shot on target – in the 92nd minute.
It’s hard not to be impressed by the effort that the Paraguayans showed today: they controlled the midfield (Enrique Vera has been terrific throughout), attacked effectively (Lucas Barrios was a revelation) and defended with confidence. I won’t be surprised if they win the group.
Slovakia Coach Vladimir Weiss knows what’s wrong with his team. I wonder if he plans to do anything about it.
Did I underestimate New Zealand or overestimate Italy? I think it’s the former.
Comments such as this and this, while probably true, aren’t going to help Italy. Nevertheless, Marcello Lippi would be well advised to listen to his players and be open to some changes if he plans to continue.
Did Alberto Gilardino play today? Anyone see him?
Less than 1/3 of Italy’s shots were on target. There is no question that central defender Ryan Nelson and goalkeeper Mark Paston played extraordinary defense, (Paston had more touches than any Kiwi player), but greater accuracy surely would have made it tougher for New Zealand.
I have an explanation for Daniele de Rossi’s dives. He’s in South Africa. He’s a fan (as I am) of Hugh Masekela. Masekela’s greatest success was Grazing in the Grass. De Rossi was performing a literal homage to the song.
Yes, it was a penalty, but de Rossi went down as easily as a porn star. While I would love to see this become the start of a trend in which foul calls for shirt tugging become the norm, I’m not optimistic.
Well at least Luis Fabiano owned up to his handball goal on the same day. It took Maradona until 2005.
Memo to Kaká: next time try turning the other cheek or just walk away.
Don’t know if Lúcio intended to grab Didier Drogba’s arm around the cast, but he should have been more careful.
Ismael Tioté was lucky to get away with one yellow, if not a straight red card for the foul on Elano.
If the Ivorians can’t defend with nine players against three, as they failed to do on Luis Fabiano’s first goal, they’ll have trouble down the road assuming they manage to go through.
Why did Sven-Goran Eriksson start Salomon Kalou instead of Gervinho? Kalou was largely ineffective in the game against Portugal and was largely ineffective in the game against Brazil. Gervinho played well in both and, in fact, it was his effort that led to Drogba’s goal. I’ve always wondered about some of Eriksson’s decisions (as I mentioned before, I’ve never understood his substituting Darius Vassell for Michael Owen in the game against Brazil in 2002). I suppose I can add this to the list.
Per ESPN, Drogba only had five touches in the second half.
Ivory Coast’s defense looked capable early on, but certainly seemed to tire, especially in the second half. Elano’s goal showed that most clearly: Siaka Tiéné seemed to be oblivious to Elano’s run despite the fact that they were nearly alongside each other.
If I were Arsene Wenger I would be wondering why I let Gilberto Silva get away.
A brief note: I took off from work last week and watched all 31 games thus far from start to finish. Unfortunately, I have to return to work tomorrow, so while I will be recording games on DVR, I won’t be able to watch with quite the detail I have thus far, but I’ll do my best. The third game in each group will be even more difficult as they take place simultaneously and I can only record one. Please bear with me and rest assured that each game will have an open thread at minimum.
Dan B
The All Whites draw was phenomenal, and their defense held up very well against the seemingly constant pressure from the Azzurri. As happy as I was with the result, if Chris Wood had managed to score after getting past Cannavaro in the 83d minute, my heart might have exploded from the excitement. I don’t fancy NZ’s chances against an impressive Paraguay, but I guess I shouldn’t count them out after all that’s happened so far.
What do you think about the hubbub in the French camp?
Svensker
LOL.
Bunch a fuggin drama queens. Go NZ!
Morbo
@Dan B:
I’m about as much of a France partisan (Zidane headbutt apologist and all) as you’ll find in the US, but I find it hilarious.
Randinho
@Dan B: I think it’s pretty embarrassing. Expect heads to roll at the FFF as well.
Emily
espn.com has most of the games streaming live and available for replay. The only ones they don’t have are the ones broadcast on abc, if that helps with DVR decisions.
/shill
wengler
@Morbo
If it’s possible, I had MORE respect for Zidane AFTER the headbutt(maybe I have an irrational hatred against the Azzuri). If this squad is any indication, Zidane was the person that kept everything together in 2006. What a wonderful footballer who is sorely, sorely missed.
I was going through the New Zealand squad and realized just how major accomplishment this is. They have a couple of players that play for something called Team Wellington. Apparently this is some amateur team from the capital. I mean really, this is like a team with some town players mixed with some other players from very minor leagues tying the defending champions. This is crazy. And frankly they should’ve won.
The best part about that game was despite the number of set pieces that Italy got on the New Zealand final third from fouls or corners, you knew they weren’t going in. New Zealand’s physical presence was undeniable. Every ball in they were going to head or clear out. You just could feel it at the end of the game. Another Italian set piece from 30 yards out? No problem. Their goalie making awesome saves? No problem, mate.
There would be few things cooler than watching this team go through to the final 16 at Italy’s expense. My only fear is that they might have actual expectations forming that could create pressure and cause them to make mistakes. I don’t think Italy has anyone to match Forlan either, so perhaps the Kiwis will have to accept inevitable defeat. But they have proved that they deserve to be there. No question about that.
Chris O.
Dude are you kidding about Kaka? It was a shameful dive by Keita, he ran right into Kaka, got it in the ribs a little, then went down clutching his face pretending to be in agony. It was Rivaldo from 2002 level diving. Shame on Keita. Kaka did nothing.
Andre
@wengler:
The players are members of the Wellington Phoenix, NZ’s only team playing in the Australian Hyundai A League (we previously had a team called the Auckland Kings/Knights in the same league, but it folded in 2007 to be replaced by the Phoenix.) The Phoenix is a professional soccer team, but it’s the only one in the country, and there’s no local professional soccer competition.
mcd410x
I think I mentioned this in the earlier thread … but, really? If you combined Denilson, Song and Diaby, you wouldn’t get a Gilberto Silva.
Chris O.
Why only comment on Kaka and not the shameful dive that Keita on Ivory Coast took, first deliberately running into Kaka and then clutching his untouched face? Absolutely pathetic behavior, like Rivaldo in 2002. I’ll be glad to see Ivory Coast crash out after that.
Chris O.
I’m guessing the spam filter is catching any comment that mentions a certain Brazilian player. So suffice it to say, the diving and faking that the Ivory Coast man did to get that Brazilian player sent off was absolutely shameful, and I hope Ivory Coast gets sent packing very soon.
ed_finnerty
i think I noticed that after NZ scored on a free kick set play they were never granted another free kick in the italian end. The anouncers on the spanish feed I was watching (caracol I think) were out and out calling the refereeing a disgrace for the penalty call.
Hoever, after NZ scored the azzuri played some beautiful, incredibly skilled going forward football and probably did not need the help. Overall a very enjoyable game.
Violet
I absolutely loved the NZ-Italy game. New Zealand was just incredible. I later read this in the Guardian liveblog:
The guy had to ask for time off to go play in the World Cup! And they held their own, and probably should have won, against the highly compensated professionals on the defending world champion Italian team. That’s a Cinderella story if there ever was one. Go All Whites!
A Ghost To Most
Is anyone else disgusted with the diving? If I see another asshole grabbing his head and writhing in agony after barely being touched, I think I’m going to damage my wide-screen.
Damn pitches need 10-meter platforms.
Violet
@A Ghost To Most:
There is an art to it. Someone linked this today. Totally cracked me up.
mem from somerville
Funniest thing I heard on this today:
Dan B
@Andre: I think that Wengler was referring to Andy Barron and back-up keeper James Bannatyne, both of whom play with Team Wellington in the NZ Football Championship. I believe that it’s also sort of a B-team for the Phoenix.
Randinho
@wengler: You have the wrong “guay” country. NZ plays Paraguay next. I believe they’ll have a tougher time with them.
magurakurin
The NZ vs Italy game really set it in my mind my problem with soccer. The officiating.
It was a very exciting match. I’ve rarely seen any team in any sport fight so hard as NZ did. Their defensive play against a relentless attack was nothing short of epic. It was great.
But the officiating sucks.
They either need to change the rules or start enforcing them. The fouls that get called for yellow and even red cards go on constantly. And heaps and heaps of minor fouls as well. Yet, only a small fraction of the fouls get called. Why? Is it that the refs can’t see it? Then get more refs. Is it because they have discretion to call them or not? Then this authority is either to large or abused. American Football has lots of penalties, but for the most part every penalty gets called. Sure there are missed calls and bad calls, but it’s nothing like soccer. I’ve never seen a game in which there is just so much constant cheating. And I believe this is where the diving comes from. The enforcement of the rules is so lax that I don’t think you can blame the players with coming up with a mechanism to take advantage of it(or try to get it to work).
Start calling every foul. Enforce the damn rules. I’m sorry but after watching that game with Italy last night, I have very serious doubts about the honesty of FIFA games. It is dangerously close to the WWF in terms of officiating. (and yes that last sentence is hyperbole, I know.)
Violet
@Randinho:
I don’t think anyone will underestimate New Zealand at this point. That alone may make it a bit harder for them.
I’m really enjoying your World Cup posts, Randinho. I’ve never watched it with any serious interest before and it’s fun to read and follow along. I’m the very definition of a novice fan, but I’m learning a lot and it’s fun. So thanks.
Martin
I heard during one of the games that some leagues put a ref behind each goal. I think that FIFA should consider that more strongly as the majority of the bad ref calls have come around a crowded goal. It probably wouldn’t have helped with the Brazil game (though my immediate yellow card rule for any player holding their face would have) but I think it would go a long way toward the majority of the officiating problems I’ve seen.
Violet
@Martin:
Perhaps they should put Oscar voters on the sidelines. If a majority of those voters give a thumbs up, then the performance is deemed yellow card worthy.
Mark S.
What a great Cup this has been for South America so far. They should get all five of their teams to advance.
Not so for Europe. England, France, and Italy have all been varying degrees of trainwrecks. Maybe there’s a reason no European team has won a Cup outside of Europe?
demimondian
@magurakurin: Heh.
Welcome to soccer, the sport where everyone claims the referees are out and out bought…and where they’re *right*. For instance, everyone should look with joy at the history of Italian Football Honesty or at the problems which arise when someone tells the truth out of turn.
magurakurin
@demimondian
okay. Thanks for those links. NOW I’m really beginning to get it. So, the Europeans replaced their 20th century geopolitic with soccer. Viewed in that light, soccer is the best farkin’ thing in the whole wide world.
wengler
@Andre
A number of the team plays on the Wellington Phoenix in the A-League. I’ve actually caught some of those games because they show one a week live on Fox Soccer Channel here in the US. As Dan B. said, a couple of them on the BBC site was listed as “Team Wellington”.
The New Zealand team also has a strong connection to NCAA soccer and MLS/USL. So the US can take some credit for this too.
@Randinho
Yep, I screwed up my guays. Insert Santa Cruz for Forlan. I’ve had Forlan on my mind since Atletico Madrid beat Fulham in the Europa League final. That defeat needs to be cleansed from my mind.
@Martin
It was the Europa League. And the extra officials didn’t help much.
What really needs to happen is the use of technology to help the officials. Just have a fifth official that only looks at the monitors. On big plays(card fouls, goals, PKs) have an instant ruling from the booth. We see it in about 10 seconds, no reason they can’t. They can just radio down the ruling to the ref on the field and it will be done.
You Don't Say
OK, I have a novice’s question that may get me in trouble: Why is diving so despised? I thought the Ivory Coast guy was almost comical and it was the ref’s fault for falling for it. (I realize the refs eyes can’t be everywhere at once and, yes, that the player was a sleaze for doing it.) Is it considered worse than a well-disguised foul?
Martin
@Violet: Well, I’ve yet to see a guy covering his face that actually was hit in the face.
Tattoosydney
As a proud Australian, I cannot tell you just how much I am enjoying the schadenfreude of the Socceroos downfall and the All Whites (relative) triumph (while feeling bitterly sorry for the actual Socceroos players).
The Socceroos went to South Africa for only our third world cup appearance, with most of their fans pumped up on “we can beat the world at its game” corporatised smugness, and got handed their arses on a platter.
The All Whites and their fans appear to have approached the whole thing as a serious matter, but nonetheless with a wide eyed happiness as if they were just damn well pleased to be there and get a kick, and have more than held their own in both games.
I love Kismet, even when it’s my country that’s getting rogered senseless at the goal mouth.
Leeds man
@Mark S.:
Probably the same reason only one non-European team has won in Europe (in 10 of the 18 cups played so far). I really don’t think there are enough data points to draw whatever conclusions you’re pointing to.
burnspbesq
I’ve finally seen a photo of The Play that shows something that the Malian ref could actually have seen as a foul by a US player. Look at the left side of the picture at the top of this article.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/06/18/540015/us-suffers-from-law-of-the-wrestling.html
Ignore the multiple felonies being perpetrated against US players all around the box, and call the (as Bill Raftery would say) “nickel-dimer.” That’s what happens to the US all the damn time in international competition.
demimondian
@Tattoosydney: And I, by contrast, am horrified by how well my home country is doing. We honestly don’t care about soccer here — I don’t think any MLS team regularly fills its stadium except Seattle — and yet our team is doing reasonably well. If any country doesn’t deserve to do well, it’s the US.
BGinCHI
Randinho, thanks for these posts. As a committed soccer fan and suffering Liverpool fan, I’m loving the World Cup warts and all. And for those newer to the game: the refs always make mistakes, there is always diving, some teams are always going to self-destruct. Welcome to football: human nature boiled down to a large rectangle of grass and 22 boys watched over by too few grownups.
Tattoosydney
@demimondian:
That’s ok. Just wait to savour the feeling in four years when they march off to the next world cup with every right thinking ‘murkin thinking they are going to whip those cheese eating surrender monkey/spick bastard/insert offensive epithet of your choice here’s butts and instead get beaten 0-4 by the Netherlands or France or brazil or some other country that has actually been playing the game for more than five minutes.
Calouste
@Martin:
Someone getting elbowed in the face and indeed not covering it (start about 3:45).
Mentis Fugit
@Andre:
The Kingz (sic) were woeful, and in my opinion the contrast between them and the Wellington Phoenix comes down to one thing: support. Wellington is genuinely fond of the Nix; Auckland simply couldn’t seem to give a shit about the round ball game. (Witness the farcical outcome of bringing the LA Galaxy to Auckland for an exhibition match…)
Leeds man
@BGinCHI:
Good points, but isn’t “suffering fan” a redundancy?
And glad you didn’t say “long suffering” because that would have made all non-Liverpool supporters very cross.
techno
@magurakurin:
I agree, the officiating really REALLY blows. It is as bad as in the NHL. And listen to the announcers and you will hear why. Like ice hockey, soccer was invented in an English-speaking country and there is this annoying Hoser / Limey belief that says that a little cheating is acceptable. They see it as a leveling device–it allows a bad team to compete with a good one. The announcers will say, “Let them play” or “He shows grit and determination” or pooh-pooh any foul that doesn’t draw blood.
In the Hoser / Limey world, modern officiating devices such as instant replay take decades to adopt because they remove so much arbitrary authority. Bad refs teach a society that they must submit to authority even when it is incompetent or grossly unfair.
There is a problem with this attitude. It leads to poor teams. Canada invented hockey yet it’s been a LONG time since any Canadian-based team even made the Stanley Cup Finals. Britain invented soccer yet they absolutely suck at it. There is a penalty for believing you don’t have to perfect your skills because you can always be good at cheating–you lose to teams that believe in coaching all the tiny details (Germany) or style and flash (Brazil.)
I do not find it a bit surprising that corner-cutting in soccer play leads to corner-cutting at British Petroleum. BP and the Brit soccer team are both vivid reminders why the founding fathers found those folks so annoying, the only solution they could come up with was to hunt the Brits down and shoot them.
Royston Vasey
This is New Zealand’s greatest ever result at soccer.
Holding the reigning World Cup holders to a 1-all draw?
Result!
2 games, 2 goals, 2 points – Better than England! Lolz!
Oh, and the All Blacks beat Wales in Dunedin (bye bye Carisbrook) on Saturday after kicking Irish butt the week before in New Plymouth.
Go the Kiwis!
Go the All Whites!
Go NEW ZEALAND!
RV in NZ
Calouste
@demimondian:
Seattle doesn’t fill the stadium (about 70,000 seats), although they do sell out all of the 30,000 seats they make available.
Attendance figures in the MLS aren’t bad. They don’t hold up to England/Italy/Spain but they are similar to what they are in middle tier European countries like Holland, Belgium, Portugal, although of course stadiums are smaller there.
ibid
@burnspbesq:
I think that’s Bocanegra. If you watch the video (Bocanegra is number 3), the Slovenian player is holding him back with his right arm. Bocanegra is trying to push past him and eventually goes down, but the foul is clearly on the defender who is holding him back.
handsmile
For me, the most thrilling aspect of this year’s tournament has been the success enjoyed by nations such as Algeria, Greece, New Zealand, and Slovenia, all but universally regarded as the doormats on which FIFA’s favored would wipe their cleats. Perhaps South Africa’s performance v. Mexico in the very first match was a harbinger of what awaited us.
Be it altitude, exhaustion, insufficient preparation, or arrogance, the feckless performances offered by football’s elite suggest that global standards of play have expanded to the degree that it is now truly a WORLD cup.
Now to be sure I enjoy fairy tales as much as anyone, but I do not relish meeting the wolves and witches lurking in the Round of 16 (New Zealand v. Netherlands, my pretty?).
Nevertheless, given the contemptuous expectations of squads fielded by, say, Greece or New Zealand (and now the rhapsodic satisfaction of their supporters for what has been accomplished here), one might well consider that these teams have won far more than a golden cup.
Andre
@Mentis Fugit:
I don’t know, I think that’s too simplistic. The Kingz/Knights failed because of a lack of support definitely, but that’s partially the result of a pretty terrible marketing strategy. Noone would have any idea of when or where they were playing except the diehard fanatics, and general awareness of the team (particularly an attempt to call them an Auckland team here and a New Zealand team in the rest of the country) led to people not really understanding what the team were supposed to be doing-are they playing exhibitions? Is this a competition? What’s going on?
On the other hand, you have that massive Wellington Phoenix store right on Cuba St in the CBD, and “shock and awe” advertising for each game everywhere you look.
As for the LA Galaxy game-that was simply a couple of city councilors deciding to spend a ridiculous amount of money without doing the groundwork to make it successful. Again, marketing, planning and delivery: u no can has.
burnspbesq
@techno:
With all due respect, that’s a buncha nonsense. English-speaking countries are probably well down the list of countries that engage in cynical gamesmanship in sports. Southen Europeans and South Americans are (and have been for as long as I can remember) the masters of the dive and the professional foul in football. The French are the undisputed champions of dirty play in rugby. And while I am no fan of the NBA, it is so much less polluted by cynical play and outright cheating than the Euroleague and the Spanish and Italian leagues that there is simply no comparison.
In addition, it’s been a very long time since any of the four national federations in Britain have had any meaningful amount of influence at either FIFA or UEFA. If there is no instant replay in football, it is surely not England that is preventing it – it’s Blatter, the German head of FIFA, and his trio of toadies, confederation presidents Hayatoun (Cameroon), Warner (Trinidad and Tobago), and bin Hammam (Qatar).
Matt in HB
I think that’s Bocanegra. If you watch the video (Bocanegra is number 3), the Slovenian player is holding him back with his right arm. Bocanegra is trying to push past him and eventually goes down, but the foul is clearly on the defender who is holding him back.
Yes, I think that’s right. But, what you don’t see in the picture (and perhaps what the ref doesn’t see) is that Bocanegra is in an effing headlock on the other side of the defender.
I’m beginning to buy into the theory that the ref was simply undoing the foul call on Slovenia that gave the US the free kick to begin with. Just erase that questionable call with an atrocious one over here and we’re all even . . . no harm no foul. It’s the only thing that makes sense to me.
Royston Vasey
@Mentis Fugit: @#36
Couldn’t agree with you more.
Wellington really has gotten behind their team.
I’m sure having the city name “Wellington” in the team name helps too.
The Football Kingz and the Knights never really stood a chance/ If they were called AUCKLAND KINGZ then maybe the local populance might have of backed them.
btw, the average home gate for the Phoenix (soccer) was higher than the Wellington Hurricanes (rugby) Super 14 team.
Wellingtonians love their soccer!
I’ll be going to the pre-season friendly to watch the Phoenix take on Boca Juniors of Argentina, which is about two weeks after I watch the All Blacks take on the South Africans at the same ground.
Go the ALL WHITES!
RV in NZ
SixStringSlingr
@techno: This is one of the stupidest arguments I have seen, about anything, in a long fucking time. I could write paragraphs on the epic idiocy of your comment but it would all just boil down to this point: You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.
As an example, the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals featured the Ottawa Senators, the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals included the Edmonton Oilers and the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals included the Calgary Flames. According to Google Maps, Ottawa, Edmonton and Calgary are all located in what North American country? That’s right, Canada.
There are lots and lots of reasons why it’s been 17 years since a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup and lots and lots of other reasons why England hasn’t won the World Cup since 1966. That those nations (to the exclusion of any other country they compete against) are accepting of wide-spread cheating is not found on either of those lists. That this also happens to not be true completes your masterpiece of ignorance.
And, yeah, Brits are the only people whose corporate execs put profits over lives and livelihoods.
For the remainder of this evening, sir, you should either stop drinking or stop posting. Preferably both.
Tattoosydney
@SixStringSlingr:
Well said.
Although I suspect that anyone who scatters his post with references to Hosers and Limeys and the founding fathers hunting down and shooting brits is just a sad lonely troll seeking attention.
cmorenc
@magurakurin
I can answer your question, because I’ve refereed soccer for 14 years, most of them at a competitive level (admittedly well short of FIFA World Cup level, but nonetheless at a sufficiently fast, skilled, physical, demanding level of play that I knowledgeably understand what I’m seeing with the game and the refereeing at World Cup level).
First, while the general categories of acts (tripping, pushing, holding, etc) which are fouls are named in the FIFA laws of the game, referees are entrusted with broad discretion to determine which acts have sufficient unfair impact on the game to stop the action for a foul call, and which are either fair play or have insufficinet unfair effect, and further to refrain from calling even a possible foul with some unfair impact if that is outweighed by it being more advantageous to the fouled team to keep on playing rather than stop play.
Second, if the referees stopped play to call every act which plausibly could be considered some category of foul, the game would be far more ruined than saved. A soccer referee can find several acts per minute for which plausible grounds exist to call some category of infraction, under the strict wording of the rules – but such a broken up rather than flowing game would be aggravating and unpleasant for players and spectators alike.
Sometimes arguable officiating mistakes occur because the referee is simply unable to see some particular event from his available angle at the critical moments, but far more often mistakes are of judgment about managing players and situations. It is in the nature of soccer that it is impossible to make categorical, comprehensive deterministic rules about how to handle situations, though sophisticated guidelines do exist to guide referees in making judgments about e.g. what sorts of actions warrant cautions (yellow cards) and what warrant send-offs (red cards).
In short, what is needed is wiser referees, not more detailed rules.
smokescreen
@SixStringSlingr: It’s also worth noting that while only 6 NHL teams are based in Canada, slightly more than half of all players in the league are Canadian. Fifteen of the Stanley Cup-winning Blackhawks are Canadian, as are sixteen of the runner-up Flyers.
As for the bad calls and diving, if it weren’t for that kind of drama and outrage, what would fans have to talk about?
burnspbesq
@smokescreen:
I for one would have been happy to talk about the US dramatic fightback from two goals down to win, and Edu’s perfectly timed run to meet Donovan’s inch-perfect free kick. But that’s just me.
SRW1
@burnspbesq:
“… it’s Blatter, the German head of FIFA, and his trio of toadies, …”
Can I just point out that this insufferably pompous Blatter fellow is from Switzerland, not Germany.
@ Randinho
Did Alberto Gilardino play today? Anyone see him?
Only saw the last 15 minutes of the game, so no basis for an opinion on that. But The Independent gave Gilardino a 2 in its player ratings (scale of 1 to 10). Now the value of these player ratings certainly can be discussed, but I don’t recall ever having seen one as low as a 2.
On the other hand, The Independent gave Ryan Nelson a perfect 10 and Mark Paston a 9.
Mentis Fugit
@handsmile:
We’ve had our fairytale twice over already – our first point in World Cup competition evar, then holding the world champions to a draw – and just getting to the next round would be a third.
But I think Paraguay will respect us, and as a result they will study us, and they will beat us.
@Andre:
I’ve given myself the blogging byline of “Irredeemably Lightweight” for a reason, you know, but I’m not just referring to the fans. What is promotion and marketing and sponsorship if it is not support?
@Royston Vasey:
And look how the ‘Canes have responded to that. On second thoughts, don’t look. It ain’t pretty.
SRW1
@Mark S.:
I agree, and it’s quite a turnaround from four years ago when all four semifinalists were from Europe.
Actually, I think the only European team that is sort of holding up to expectations is Germany, but that side is too young and inexperienced at the international level to have much of a chance to go all the way.
My guess is that if Spain doesn’t step up, a team from South America will win it. And my money is still on Brazil. Argentina have a potent attack, but they look quite a bit vulnerable in defense.
magurakurin
@cmorenc
That’s sounds like a reasonable explanation. So wiser refs it is. I’d vote for that. Although, from what I’ve been learning from some other posters, maybe it’s more honest refs that are needed.
PanAmerican
@SRW1:
The conventional wisdom is there are a number of traditional Euro powers always capable of winning. The reality is Brazil, Italy and Germany, period. Everyone else needs to host and or have a player the likes of Zidane or Maradona to have a shot at winning. Messi is an amazing player but maybe not quite at that level. If not, one of the big three will grind everyone else down with the quality of their bench.
FlipYrWhig
@magurakurin:
I dunno about that. In the NFL, there’s flagrant holding by both sets of linemen on every single play. In the NBA, the officials just randomly blow whistles once in a while; that whole sport has incomprehensible officiating and star players get openly favorable treatment. Is the flopping in the World Cup that much worse than the strange contortions to “draw a foul” that become part of the rhythm of NBA basketball?
slightly_peeved
@techno:
Cricket has more technological assistance to the umpire than almost any other game. Run-outs are determined by instant replay almost by default, and they have incorporated infra-red cameras to determine if the ball has hit the bat in catching decisions (if the ball just snicks the bat, it’s quite hard to tell by eye).
It’s no British thing.
While I’m happy to cheer on the All Whites, especially after showing the kind of dour defence the Socceroos could use, I have to draw the line somewhere. Besides which, since when was the All Blacks destroying another rugby team in Dunedin news?
Phoenician in a time of Romans
But I think Paraguay will respect us, and as a result they will study us, and they will beat us.
Indeed. Like a red-headed stepchild, but one that deserved to be treated like a red-headed stepchild.
stormhit
@Chris O.:
Kaka did nothing except dive all over the field with the rest of his team for the entire last 30 minutes of that game.
Gee, I wonder if that provoked Cote.
stormhit
@techno:
For the last time, Germany and Brazil are not playing a different game than anyone else. They just have better players. Seriously people, get over the stupid world culture stereotypes.
Leeds man
@techno:
Usually have to go to Redstate to see a comment as weirdly out of tune with reality.
If Canadians are so horrible at hockey, why did so many of them play in the Finals? Each team was about half Canadian.
As for the rest of the comment – keep the comedy coming!