brazil-spain would be an awesome final...but i'm pulling for a holland-germany closer

6/29/2010 3:58:56 PM

i think both holland and germany bow out this week.

brazil-argentina final

[Edited on June 29, 2010 at 4:02 PM. Reason : ]

6/29/2010 4:01:15 PM

any combo of the 4 would be sweet

6/29/2010 4:03:29 PM

what a cool cross by ronaldo

6/29/2010 4:10:42 PM

As long as Spain or Portugal is not in the final it'll be fine. Watching this game is painful. It's like a 7-3 game in real football with a shit load of turnovers.

I guess soccer purists like games like this and I probably just can't recognize a good defensive game due to my inexperience. I will say however that I have relatively enjoyed most games so far, even some of the 0-0 and 1-0 games. But watching these prima donas fall all over the place is just painful.

[Edited on June 29, 2010 at 4:15 PM. Reason : also thank god Italy is out too. They play the most shameful brand of sport of any team in the world]

6/29/2010 4:13:08 PM

The coolest.

6/29/2010 4:13:22 PM

Llorente should probably start. It seems like Villa and Torres do not play well together, and Torres isn't match fit.

6/29/2010 4:17:04 PM

BYE RICARDO.

6/29/2010 4:18:15 PM

RED CARD

6/29/2010 4:18:25 PM

hey captain villa, you're not bleeding jackass, you can stop pretending like you are

[Edited on June 29, 2010 at 4:19 PM. Reason : .]

6/29/2010 4:19:28 PM

where was the red card offense?

6/29/2010 4:20:10 PM

to me, it looked like a flop

6/29/2010 4:20:51 PM

capdevilla milked that shit. it looked like he was gonna get up until he saw the ref come over. he got elbowed but not that bad.

llorente has been really good for spain since he came in.

6/29/2010 4:21:36 PM

yeah im trying to figure out what the ref saw to warrant a straight red...you cant just assume he elbowed someone and give him a red.

6/29/2010 4:21:42 PM

yeah from the long distance view, he had his elbow out and it barely made slight contact

6/29/2010 4:21:58 PM

i didnt see it either.

this ref has done quite well with all the diving these two squads have done today.

its amazing how much these nancys go down at the slightest contact

6/29/2010 4:22:12 PM

i think the ref did just that. either that or the linesman saw it


i actually don't think spain is that bad at flopping. torres is bad, and i have no idea what happened to capdevilla (i'm guessing he exaggerated it) but the rest of the team isn't too bad, i don't think

[Edited on June 29, 2010 at 4:23 PM. Reason : ]

6/29/2010 4:22:23 PM

6/29/2010 4:23:11 PM

so spain have caused 2 red cards with dives this tourney...not that this one really mattered but still very unprofessional

6/29/2010 4:23:15 PM

he probably wanted to make sure that shitfest didn't go on another 30 minutes

6/29/2010 4:23:27 PM

i thought the ref did well except for that. he probably should've given ronaldo and villa yellows for their 200 dives though, capdevilla too

[Edited on June 29, 2010 at 4:24 PM. Reason : s]

6/29/2010 4:23:31 PM

i don't think villa dives. i think he tries to split defenders a lot, so he leaves his feet and gets caught up. those aren't dives, and they usually go uncalled.

6/29/2010 4:25:00 PM

im pretty sure villa was offsides on that goal, but i dont see how the side ref couldve ever saw that backheel pass so i cant blame him for not callin anything if he didnt see that pass (assuming it is offsides since i still havent seen a great replay yet)

^ronaldo does that shit all the time but gets flack for it

[Edited on June 29, 2010 at 4:29 PM. Reason : f]

6/29/2010 4:26:19 PM

yea it would've been really difficult to call that offsides, it was impossible to see if iniesta touched it.

villa was going down so easy today. every time he made a move outside the box he was leaving his feet and i think he does try to split the defenders, but he was falling so easily. i usually like him a lot, but he was trying to get the calls and i'm glad the ref didn't give it to him.

6/29/2010 4:28:43 PM

I think it was offsides. If it was the US it would be. Here are the screen caps from ESPN3. From the angle its hard to tell though.




Sorry i couldn't get one exactly at the time of impact.

6/29/2010 4:34:18 PM

i've watched that replay a few times, and i honestly cannot tell. it's hard to even tell when the ball get's off xavi's back heel

6/29/2010 4:35:33 PM

^^oh no doubt. we wouldve gotten a red card too for arguing

[Edited on June 29, 2010 at 4:36 PM. Reason : lol]

6/29/2010 4:36:35 PM

They just showed the replay on ESPN

He was about six inches offside

6/29/2010 4:36:36 PM

CR should just retire internationally. hes never gonna win anything for his country and its hurting his reputation as a footballer in whole.

also, what in the world is portugal doing not starting and rarely playing miguel veloso??? seems retarded to me not playing him

6/29/2010 4:41:51 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHCpAffT_V4

textbook defending from Simao at the bottom of the screen

6/29/2010 5:40:28 PM

well looks like i didn't miss too much in the way of goals today...

and i was actually looking forward to flopfest 2k10 this afternoon, but i won't be watching that now. from what i hear it wasn't a very exciting game.

6/29/2010 5:43:28 PM

^^ OH SHIT, WHERE'D HE COME FROM!?!

It blows my mind that six years after SAF cured him of his stepover addiction, CR still considers six stepovers and a shot from 35 yards a viable offensive option on a team with some of the best players in the world.

6/29/2010 6:10:12 PM

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/804078/ce/uk/?cc=5901&ver=us

Quote :

"Referees Jorge Larrionda and Roberto Rosetti will take no further part in the World Cup following their high-profile errors in Sunday's second-round fixtures. Larrionda failed to recognise that a shot from Frank Lampard had clearly crossed the line in England's 4-1 defeat at the hands of Germany while Rosetti wrongly awarded a goal to Argentina in their win over Mexico despite the fact that Carlos Tevez was visibly offside. The two mistakes have led FIFA president Sepp Blatter to apologise to the English and Mexican associations and say it would "be a nonsense to not reopen the file of technology" when the International FA Board meets in July. However, it will be goal-line technology that is on the agenda and not the more general use of video replays. The debate over the application of technology will continue for some weeks, but for Larrionda and Rosetti the immediate implications of their mistakes are clear. Mali's Koman Coulibaly, who famously disallowed a winning goal for USA against Slovenia, and France's Stephane Lannoy, who harshly dismissed Kaka when he was the victim of Kader Keita's playacting against Ivory Coast, have also been sent home."

6/29/2010 9:24:12 PM

I want to be a ref in the next WC. I think I'm qualified.


- I know what a soccer ball is.
- I know one or two of the rules.
- I lose focus and have a hard time paying attention sometimes.
- I have some debt($cough$cough$)
- I hate the French
- I'll even call it futbol or football, whatever they want.

Hell I may be overqualified.

[Edited on June 29, 2010 at 9:33 PM. Reason : .]

6/29/2010 9:28:58 PM

Quote :

"- I hate the French"

Sorry, you have to let them get away with handballs that result in goals during qualifying to even be in consideration.

6/29/2010 9:34:11 PM

im pretty sure you cant be american too. thats a big no no

6/29/2010 9:35:22 PM

jesus, at this rate, they won't have any refs to officiate the final game.

6/29/2010 9:36:08 PM

I could probably pass for German or English(England) if that helps.

6/29/2010 9:36:36 PM

^^that would be pretty funny actually.

[Edited on June 29, 2010 at 9:37 PM. Reason : k]

6/29/2010 9:36:51 PM

Quote :

"Jorge Larrionda"

was always a shitty referee anyways

it's beyond me why he still gets big games

6/29/2010 9:40:18 PM

what's with all the refs having day-jobs? is that not a part of the problem? is FIFA not paying these guys enough to be full time refs? they should be watching tape and keeping their abilities up to snuff when there are not games to officiate.

6/29/2010 9:41:24 PM

yeah I was surprised to hear the other day (can't remember which game) that Howard Webb still works one day in a week as a cop

It's just like Hochuli in the NFL - he's a lawyer but I doubt he does anything during the season

6/29/2010 9:46:31 PM

Best case scenario here is that after suspending all the refs they give an emergency age extension to have Collina come in and do the final.

6/29/2010 9:55:53 PM

6/30/2010 12:00:57 AM

no soccer to watch this morning? i feel empty.

6/30/2010 10:48:24 AM

I wonder if this is the first day of quiet vuvuzelas

6/30/2010 10:49:45 AM

http://www.estadao.com.br/especiais/2010/06/copa_jogadores.shtm

cool infograph that shows what countries WC players play club soccer in

6/30/2010 12:14:00 PM

That's really cool

I found it interesting that every German player is currently playing in the Bundesliga and every Italian player is currently in Serie A. You would think at least one of those guys would be somewhere else in Europe.

[Edited on June 30, 2010 at 1:29 PM. Reason : and England too]

6/30/2010 1:28:01 PM

^Had Ghana's ome player not taken out Germany's captain then they would have had one player from Chelsea.

6/30/2010 1:37:25 PM

Quote :

" World Cup 2010: Nigeria president suspends team Dejected Nigeria players after being knocked out of the World Cup Nigeria managed only one point after drawing 2-2 with South Korea Nigeria's president has suspended his nation's football team from international competition for two years after a poor showing at the World Cup. Special presidential adviser Ima Niboro told reporters the decision by Goodluck Jonathan will "enable Nigeria to reorganise its football". The Nigerian Football Federation is to be dissolved and an interim board appointed, the BBC understands. Nigeria were knocked out in the group stages without winning a game. Niboro said: "President Goodluck Jonathan has directed that Nigeria withdraws from international competition for two years to enable the country to put its house in order. Fifa's position regarding political interference in football is well known. Our statutes do not allow for any political interference Fifa statement "This directive became necessary following Nigeria's poor performance in the ongoing World Cup." The president also plans an audit of the country's World Cup organising committee. "If any financial misappropriation is discovered, all officials responsible will be held accountable," Niboro added. The NFF released a statement apologising to "all football-loving Nigerians" for the country's early exit from South Africa. "No previous board has qualified Nigeria for all major tournaments internationally," the statement read, adding that officials wanted Swedish coach Lars Lagerbeck to remain at the helm. Rotimi Amaechi, head of a special presidential task force on the World Cup campaign, said Nigeria would write to football's world governing body Fifa to explain its decision. "We went to the World Cup and found all sorts of problems and we felt we should sit back and look inward," Amaechi told reporters. Lee Jung-Soo of South Korea celebrates with team mates after scoring the equalising goal Extended highlights - Nigeria 2-2 South Korea Under Fifa rules, government interference with national teams is strictly forbidden. "At the time of writing, we have no official information on this matter," a Fifa statement read. "However, in general, Fifa's position regarding political interference in football is well known. Our statutes do not allow for any political interference." Nigeria's risks their national and club teams, plus referees, being banned from all international competitions - and their officials would not be allowed to attend meetings or events. Nigeria were set to begin their bid to qualify for the 2012 African Nations Cup finals in September against Madagascar. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8777118.stm


pretty fucked up

6/30/2010 5:31:18 PM