Quote :

"Do the North Koreans have any fans?"

They've hired Chinese citizens to wear North Korean colors and cheer for NK in the stands.

6/21/2010 9:13:31 AM

most awkward goal ever



jesus christ, and another



i was really hoping cristiano ronaldo would have continued his dismal WC performance and 2+ year scoring drought. oh well

[Edited on June 21, 2010 at 9:22 AM. Reason : ]

6/21/2010 9:17:42 AM

The NK goalie will be dead by the end of the day. Poor guy.

6/21/2010 9:18:23 AM

LOL

6/21/2010 9:18:35 AM

damn that shit is rough

I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

6/21/2010 9:19:02 AM

Jesus Christ 7-0.... and North Korea did so well against Brazil.

6/21/2010 9:25:53 AM

that was a deserving goal for the world's biggest cunt

6/21/2010 9:27:09 AM

I don't think portugal turned the ball over the entire second half

6/21/2010 9:29:59 AM

I hope the NK players don't get executed by Kim

6/21/2010 9:32:21 AM

If they even return to NK. I'd probably get lost in SA or Europe somewhere.

6/21/2010 9:50:01 AM

^didn't something like that happen last world cup? or maybe it was the olympics. i remember some story of athletes defecting from some country.

6/21/2010 10:00:33 AM

Happens to Cuba a lot

6/21/2010 10:01:41 AM

i'm pretty sure cuba lost a few when they were in DC for qualifying.

6/21/2010 10:09:24 AM

Good stuff in this game.. Chileans are fun to watch!

6/21/2010 10:10:50 AM

Quote :

"North Korean state television aired live coverage of the Portugal match, in what was believed to be a first for a North Korean soccer game taking place abroad."

6/21/2010 10:12:03 AM

Benaglio for man of the match

6/21/2010 10:12:08 AM

^^haha. probably got overconfident after that brazil game.

6/21/2010 10:17:49 AM

what a weak ass yellow card

Nkufo is a scary looking dude... he will be a beast in MLS

6/21/2010 10:18:38 AM

holy crap - so Portugal scored a touchdown and extra kick on Kim Jong Il's boys?

i wonder if he'll have them all sent to gulags... wait, thats not funny

6/21/2010 10:25:19 AM

^portugal won 49-0 in american points


damn. this ref isn't fucking about

[Edited on June 21, 2010 at 10:32 AM. Reason : ]

6/21/2010 10:31:11 AM

bullshit.. yeah he elbowed him but there was no force or intent there.

6/21/2010 10:31:40 AM

That is fucking awful. God bless it. No way that is a red card elbow. Jesus, that could have done without a yellow even.

[Edited on June 21, 2010 at 10:32 AM. Reason : west ham represent]

6/21/2010 10:31:52 AM

That is not even a yellow! Jesus Christ.

6/21/2010 10:31:58 AM

damn, the ref is giving card left and right at this game.

6/21/2010 10:32:42 AM

more exaggeration and acting, fuck that bullshit

That's one you can say about the US, I've never once seen us do that horseshit. Sure, Jozy will take a little dive now and then, but nothing like rolling around grabbing your face like that.

6/21/2010 10:33:25 AM

^thats my favorite trait about american players. they play hard and don't look at the ref for bailout calls


and this is what i was talking about in regards to the brazil-ivory coast game / germany-serbia game. you can let the players get feisty and risk the game getting chippy, or you can be an authoritarian and hand out cards like hot cakes. i think it's a hard balance to find the perfect medium when players are playing emotionally like this.

[Edited on June 21, 2010 at 10:37 AM. Reason : ]

6/21/2010 10:34:30 AM

I mean, even when McBride had a legit elbow against Italy and his face was bloody as shit... he just calmly got up and walked off the field to get treatment

6/21/2010 10:35:19 AM

LET'S GO SUISSE!

6/21/2010 10:36:07 AM

^^Dempsey is the only one who comes close to doing that, but I agree.

[Edited on June 21, 2010 at 10:37 AM. Reason : f]

6/21/2010 10:37:06 AM

I think they need to give 4th official more input and have red cards reviewable by instant replay... not by challenge by coaches or anything. But just have the 4th official sit there in front of a monitor and watch that shit. What else does he really do besides substitutions and get yelled at by coaches?

6/21/2010 10:42:21 AM

^ehhhhhhh, i don't like that. i don't like the idea of instant replay because i think the #1 priority of the referee is to preserve the flow of the game. anything that drags the play is a no-go, in my book. i'm all for increased communication by officials, but i think calls necessarily need to be made swiftly.

i think, in that scenario, the linesman/or perhaps 4th official needs to be in the referee's ear, saying, "yellow card, only"

[Edited on June 21, 2010 at 10:47 AM. Reason : ]

6/21/2010 10:44:42 AM

Red cards never occur swiftly. In the time that everybody's running and bitching at the official about the call and the player is flopping around on the field, it would take the 4th official 20 seconds to check out a replay and say, "Wow, that's not a red card."

Yeah, that's fine if he just says in his ear before the referee shows any card. If he knows there's a foul but he wants to make sure what card to give, he just asks the 4th official who can view it at multiple angles. Doesn't slow down the game too much... and frankly, I'll take a minute or two delay for something as game-changing as a red card in the first half of a game.

[Edited on June 21, 2010 at 10:50 AM. Reason : .]

6/21/2010 10:46:06 AM

^yeaaaa. i still have my reservations about that, though. i don't know if you watched any of the NBA finals, but they were reviewing sooooo many plays, it was ridiculous. and the NBA implemented instant replay originally only to review last second shots at the end of each quarter. then it became reviewing whether a shot was worth a two or a three, or who the ball was out on, etc. the problem, in my book, is that every call can be game-changing, so the reviews could just continue. so, if it can't be instantaneous, it's not worth it, and i'd rather leave everything as it is. but i'm somewhat of a purist, so take it for what it's worth.



V yes. a dive is punishable by a yellow card. yes, they do give them out, and they have during this tournament. what you saw wasn't a dive, it was an embellishment.

[Edited on June 21, 2010 at 10:59 AM. Reason : ]

6/21/2010 10:53:47 AM

do they ever give a penalty for excessive flopping?

^yeah, but do they ever actually give it? or have they in this WC?

[Edited on June 21, 2010 at 10:57 AM. Reason : .]

6/21/2010 10:54:27 AM

These Hyundai commercials are annoying as shit.

6/21/2010 11:00:23 AM

Quote :

"so, if it can't be instantaneous, it's not worth it, and i'd rather leave everything as it is."

oh well, I'll just have to disagree then. This was a pretty open, entertaining game and now, it'll become a defensive bunker for more than 50 minutes, due to a bad call. I'd rather have a short delay to preserve a well-played game than this.

And it's really not the referees' fault because it's the nature of the game with all the embellishment and diving that's so common in the game. I've always been in favor of reviewing games for diving and handing out bans but for something like this Chile game, it wasn't really a "dive" so it's tricky to suspend for the severity of the foul. And if the players aren't willing to police themselves, it seems the only way to handle things like that are to give officials help during the game to make the right judgment.

[Edited on June 21, 2010 at 11:01 AM. Reason : .]

6/21/2010 11:01:18 AM

Quote :

"do they ever give a penalty for excessive flopping? ^yeah, but do they ever actually give it? or have they in this WC?"

I've seen it before in WCs but don't know if the have given any in this one yet. Probably have but I just don't remember.

[Edited on June 21, 2010 at 11:11 AM. Reason : .]

6/21/2010 11:01:34 AM

Quote :

"^yeah, but do they ever actually give it? or have they in this WC?"

yes and yes.

6/21/2010 11:04:39 AM

hahahah epic long celebration on a called-back goal

6/21/2010 11:07:45 AM

that's karma for winning a free kick via diving

6/21/2010 11:08:17 AM

This Swiss goalie should get some top-notch tail after this World Cup.

6/21/2010 11:14:48 AM

lol. this ref has no control over this game.

6/21/2010 11:19:41 AM

^From ESPN Gamecast

Quote :

"Medel now gets a yellow after a Swiss player hits the turf. The ref's completely lost control of this match now. Pathetic."

6/21/2010 11:22:13 AM

Has refereeing every been this big of an issue in a World Cup?? I don't remember it that way, but I usually forget a lot in the 4 years between World Cups.

It just seems to be a bit ridiculous this year.

6/21/2010 11:22:33 AM

^^haha

wish I had sound. I'm watching all these games via Univision at work w/ no headphones.

[Edited on June 21, 2010 at 11:23 AM. Reason : ]

6/21/2010 11:23:05 AM

^

http://www.atdhe.net if you want an english stream

6/21/2010 11:23:59 AM

^^I'm not using sound either. They have someone commenting on the game here though
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/gamecast?id=264076&cc=5901&ver=us

^nice thanks. now I'm using both


[Edited on June 21, 2010 at 11:26 AM. Reason : .]

6/21/2010 11:24:29 AM

^^I appreciate it, but that is blocked. pretty much all the streams are besides Univision here.

and ^ yea, i've usually had that or the FIFA match cast up along with the stream.

I've actually been able to watch every game so far even with working a lot. (1 monitor = soccer, 1 monitor = work )

[Edited on June 21, 2010 at 11:27 AM. Reason : ]

6/21/2010 11:25:05 AM

he blew that chance

GOAL

[Edited on June 21, 2010 at 11:33 AM. Reason : .]

6/21/2010 11:31:43 AM

how'd they get in there like that

6/21/2010 11:33:35 AM