I think Ruud Gullit is right about the Netherlands defense. They gave Slovakia some good chances in the center of defense. They’re playing with fire if they do that against Brazil,
More subjective officiating: Robin Van Persie’s studs up crunching of Radoslav Zabavnik’s leg in the 55th minute was reminiscent of Ronaldinho’s foul on Danny Mills in the 2002 quarterfinal against England. The referee didn’t even award a foul.
Speaking of Van Persie, he still doesn’t look 100%.
Talk about an ending with a whimper and not a bang: a successful penalty kick and all Robert Vittek has to show for it is a share of the scoring lead – for now.
Incredibly boneheaded play by Jan Mucha on the second goal for the Netherlands, exacerbated by Martin Skrtel being more concerned about an argument that he should have known he would not win.
Just another excellent day at the office for Gilberto Silva. No flash, just consistency.
Robinho’s continuing to develop his role as playmaker – and it’s a pretty good work in progress.
I don’t know why Chile did not bother to have a player against the post on the corner kick in which Juan scored. I always thought that was defense 101. Considering that Chile had a huge height disadvantage, it only made even more sense.
Possession stats were evenly split between Brazil and Chile, but Brazil had twice as many shots on target.
Some impressive stats courtesy of ESPN:
- Brazil is now 53-2-4 at the World Cup when scoring first, 35-0-2 when
leading at halftime and 46-0-0 when taking a two-goal lead. - Since Dunga took over as coach in 2006, Brazil is now 15-0-0 when
Robinho scores and 30-0-4 when Kaká and Robinho play.
Little Boots
Still wanna talk politics. What is with the whole sports thing?
Mike E
Chill out, Caligula.
Brazil it is. You’ve convinced me, so now I’m prepared for the next rounds–anything else will be a major upset.
Little Boots
Fair enough, Mike, but just one question:
Does the World Cup EVER end, or does it go on and on?
beltane
On the Guardian’s World Cup blog they were partially blaming England’s loss (more like a rout) on the ball. They said there must be an inquest into the ball, as if Germany wasn’t playing with the same ball.
I am starting to think the blame game performed by the losing countries is almost as entertaining as the games themselves.
Fern
@Little Boots: Well, the World Cup is shorter than the NHL playoffs. Now THAT is forever.
Little Boots
I agree, Fern, but that is all relative.
beltane
@Little Boots: Golf goes on and on without end. It is always golf season, so we never get a break from it on TV. Golfers look old. Even the guys who are in their twenties look like someone’s grandfather. Golf fills me with despair; soccer does not fill me with despair.
Little Boots
Exactly, so we should stop:
soccer
hockey
golf
I concur.
KG
@beltane: golf is nothing but a good walk spoiled. and an easy excuse to gamble.
Corner Stone
@KG: I am one sick individual.
But how the hell do you gamble on golf and not live in a bar or casino or casino bar?
Corner Stone
It is too freakin late for me to remember all the petty ass shit that gets your comments moderated around here.
Don’t use the word kahzeeno either.
MattR
@Corner Stone: I bookmarked a page with the list of spam words
Mike E
@Little Boots: Four weeks every four years–sorta like a presidential election, but way WAY shorter. K?
Little Boots
Steeplejack
@Little Boots:
The previous (non-soccer) open thread is still going (as of a little while ago). Have at it.
Little Boots
Oopps, meant to say, will not say “kahzeeno”, but now it just seems silly.
superfly
@beltane: I will say this about England and the ball.
The FA’s contract with Umbro did not allow the English team to play with the ball on a regular basis, until they went to their camp in Austria, and the Premiere League has a contract with Nike, so the English did have less time with it. The Germans were playing with it in the Bundesliga for the second half of the season.
That, combined with the way Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, and some others like to absolutely blast the ball, did cause them problems. Lampard seemed to finally figure it out in the Germany game, as he seemed to be taking a little of his strikes, and hit the bar twice, even scored once, as opposed to blasting it over.
Now, even with all that, England still sucked, their players aren’t good enough, simple as that, and they didn’t have the technical skill to adjust to the ball quickly enough, if at all. And if the FA and the English football establishment don’t finally wake up to this, and use this ass-kicking to make some changes, things will only get worse.
Also, no matter how lame the ball is (and it does seem to have some odd properties) everyone is using the same ball, so….
Mike E
@beltane:
It’s just like The Apprentice–Seth Blatter wouldn’t have it any other way.
Also, did you see FIFA has banned video replays of controversial match calls in the stadium?
Violet
My friend who is currently in Brazil reports that the town went absolutely crazy when Brazil won. Apparently they have some kind of horns, no not vuvuzelas, and they were running around blowing them and making a massive racket. Those horns, car horns, people shouting and singing and so forth.
My friend watched the match in the hotel bar with a bunch of people and said it was really fun. They set up a big screen TV and the place was packed.
The only problem is now they play again on Friday, so they’ve got to reschedule some of the stuff they had planned. A small price to pay.
Violet
@Mike E:
I heard something about that on some post-match discussion. Just caught the headline, so didn’t hear anything more about it. FIFA reminds me of some terrified dictator. Something happens, so the dictator clamps down even harder, but that doesn’t work forever.
Is FIFA going implement mobile phone blocking technology in the stadiums? Because by the time the next World Cup rolls around most people’s phones will be able to support video just fine. And people in the stands will be streaming live video to check out replays if there’s a controversial call. FIFA is just being stupid if they think they can refuse to acknowledge technology’s advance.
Little Boots
You’re in too deep, Violet. Back out. BACK OUT!
Phil
Dear John Cole and fellow fanboys,
Nobody outside of your little Beltway “progressive” fan club has even heard of Dave Weigal, let alone gives two shits about him. The same can be said for Paul Krugman, Andrew Sullivan and all of you other “progressive” pieces of shit.
Your time is running out. In a few months it’s all over. The country is going to drain the swamp of you “progressive” circle jerkers and Journolist fanboys and then we’re going to place your ideology in the dustbin of history where it belongs.
You’ve got about 4 months left so you better enjoy them while they last, because they won’t last long. Maybe you can start a new and improved Journolist (read: liberal douchebag jobs program) in the meantime. Better start updating those resumes.
shirk
Did anyone else feel that Chile displayed really poor team finishing? Instead of passing to find the open man for a shot, it was usually: dribble… dribble… dribble… lose ball. Was this good defensive play by Brazil limiting their opportunities, or just bad offensive teamwork by the Chileans?
Mike E
@Phil: Psst, Phil–you have a little brown on your upper lip… no, there…a little further to your right…
handy
@Phil:
Just curious Phil, does your wingnut welfare include benefits? Do you get to participate in a 401K program, do your kids get dental insurance? I’m just wondering because I’m in a career transition myself and am open to exciting new career possibilities.
KG
@Corner Stone: I should be more clear: playing golf allows for gambling. Betting on it isn’t much fun, at least in my mind, but I don’t generally bet on sports, too many elements outside my control.
Skins games are basically gambling. “Rumor” (read: everyone says but won’t openly acknowledge) that every member of the PGA has some bet on pretty much every hole of every round of every event. Closest to the hole, best score on the hole, most fairways hit, most greens hit in regulation, etc, etc.
Phil
Wow, turns out Dave Weigal just signed on to MSNBC as a paid contributor. I’m absolutely fucking shocked I tell you. Journolist really was nothing more than a liberal jobs program (see Weigal getting a job at HuffPo and now MSNBC) and a way for top “journalists” to collude on a media narrative that was friendly to the Democratic party (see Weigal’s references to Sarah Palin’s remarks on “death panels” and Scott Brown’s victory in Mass and subsequent commentary and articles by known Journalist contributors). Which is pretty much what those of us on the right said it would turn out to be.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/from-washington-post-to-nbcu-dave-weigel-joins-msnbc-as-paid-contributor/
The best comment on this whole circle jerk was summed up as follows: “With real life like this, who needs conspiracy theories?”
The new Journolist will just come with a different name and more loyal foot soldiers and apparatchiks – the intention and the results will be the same. Anyway, what difference does it make – all this circle jerking will be over in November.
Joseph Nobles
@Phil: Wow, like the same thing isn’t happening among conservative pundits, etc. And with what they actually say in public, God only knows what they are saying in private to each other.
ETA: Wouldn’t it be a kick to find out they privately said exactly the same things Weigal did?
Bill E Pilgrim
The fact that someone thinks that John Cole and Balloon Juice is essentially a “progressive” blog, and not only that but virtually the only progressive blog, gives me amusement I can’t begin to describe. Made my morning.
I think the Mike Kay Model 2010 Context-Independent Random Anti-Progressive Epithet Generator Bot might have something to say about that.
Martin
@Phil: Were Weigels remarks on Palin’s death panels or Brown’s victory wrong? I seem to recall his comments on Brown’s victory was a warning to the GOP not to get too complacent due to this win, which seems like pretty spot-on advice – or do you think that Brown’s victory assures that the GOP will win the Senate this fall, as was predicted at the time?
Bill E Pilgrim
A “paid” contributor. I loved that. God what a horrible liberal mercenary he must be to get paid to do journalism! Unlike Jeffrey Goldberg who donates his time selflessly.
By the way, having not yet chimed in on this topic at all, I just want to insert one thought: Has everyone noticed that the person who Goldberg was most pointedly defending in all of this was Matt Drudge?
The fact that they’ve been allowed to frame this as some battle between traditional, upstanding journalists and scary new media bloggers is even funnier than usual.
Calouste
I wouldn’t put too much value on those stats. For the last few decades the World Cup has averaged 2.5-2.8 goals per game, so if you go 1-0 up, you’re already 60-70% likely to win the game. The stats look very nice, I just don’t think that they are significantly better than Germany’s or Argentina’s for example.
Yutsano
@Bill E Pilgrim: Sigh.
I can haz betr trollz plz.
Et bonne matin mon ami.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Yutsano: Morning back, ça va?
Yes I suppose I should avoid feeding plus I just realized that this was a football thread which I had forgotten. Ah well. Not around much these days so I had to get in my two cents I guess, plus this one really was funny.
Yutsano
@Bill E Pilgrim: This one has the added extra zestiness of staking our beloved blog host. So it gets better and better as we go along.
I’m possibly three days away from becoming that ultimate teabagger nightmare: a federal government worker. Even bettah, it’s with the IRS. One test and one interview all in the same day. I’m actually pretty damn excited about it.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Yutsano: Oh good luck with that. Regarding the test portion by the way, I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but the answer is “42”.
Yutsano
@Bill E Pilgrim: Yeah, but WHAT IS THE DAMN QUESTION?? And don’t give me this bullshit that the question and the answer are mutually exclusive, that’s just a cop-out. My Manichaean world view shan’t tolerate such nonsense.
I’m actually not as worried about the test as I should be. They say it takes two hours, but the last one had a similar time frame and I completed it (while high as a kite on pain drugs mind you) in just over an hour. Of course I have no idea what is actually ON it (yet) but if it’s anything like the first one I think I’ll be all right.
OriGuy
This goes out to our troll:
The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre
Vuvuzela
Shyte
handsmile
Well, it seems this ostensible football thread mutated into something else overnight and, as seems to be my habit, I’m posting at its end, but here goes anyways….
Two entirely predictable results from [yesterday’s] matches, though I didn’t expect Brazil v. Chile to be such a dreary (one-sided) affair. The final scoreline was actually deceptive, as Brazil’s dominance could easily have yielded double the goals.
Evidently, Chile’s aggressive style (most fouls committed by any team in the group stages; how did Portugal let that happen?) could not be sustained against a more physically robust, retributive side. Moreover, their touted scoring threats were but small prey for Brazil’s defense.
Both Slovakia and Chile are decidedly second-tier national teams who progressed to the Round of 16 largely by virtue of fortunate (i.e., weak) group draws and one glorious upset for the ages. While their achievement should be honored, particularly that of Slovakia in its first World Cup as an independent nation, it need not by mythicized. The cold facts to be considered were Brazil’s long history of success against Chile and Holland’s indomitable recent competitive record.
While my heart will beat Orange this Friday, my head cannot convincingly formulate a victory over Brazil. While the Dutch keeper and defenders have surpassed expectations, visions of Brazil’s marauding fullbacks drain the blood. Children should be shielded from the sight of Maicon surging forward against van Bronckhorst. Also, the porcelain ankles of Robben and van Persie may not withstand the threshing tackles of Lucio and Juan.
I do believe that Brazil’s defense was tested with some promise against Portugal, a match that began in malice and ended in morass. The role of Dutch midfielders Elia and Afellay in this contest could prove tantalizing, but their inexperience at this level of competition could hobble their pace and fearlessness.
Yet like fellow posters Leeds Man and That’s Master of Accountancy…, I do crave a victory by Holland and I believe that desired outcome is more than a cannabis-inspired reverie. Kuyt’s industry, Sneijder’s brilliance, Robben’s mesmerism, the comparative youth of the squad (a significant factor in England v. Germany), a comparably rugged midfield, and Holland’s unaccustomed esprit de corps, are collectively powerful counterarguments to the reflexive assumption that Brazil must win because, well, they’re Brazil.
Randy Paul
@Phil: Take it elsewhere. Now. You’re way off topic. This is not an open thread. Any subsequent off topic comments will be disemvoweled.