# OT: World Cup



## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

Been watching the games? Today was so depressing. We need to fire the US coach. PItiful performance today. Also keller needs to go...two bad decisions cost us dearly. He was the man back in the day, but his time has passed. 

Mexico i thought was going to lose to iran the other day. 

Cant believe japan got their butts handed to them by australia. Thats worse than the USA loss to checzks 

I think it will be brazil and the check team in the final. But that injury today to koller might hurt them.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

I have watched all of the games, except the 6am games. There have been some good games, like today's Ghana vs. Italy. As well some great goals by Rosicky and Frings.


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## qross1fan (Dec 28, 2004)

My fav game thus far has been Trinidad & Tobago shocking and tying the Swedish, even when it was 10 on 11.

As far as the US, I think there done. Down 3 goals in the goal differential with 0 points as the two best teams each have 3 points respectively, unless somehow they can beat Italy and really beat Ghana and the Ites lose to the Czech or something crazy happens, the US is done.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

Watching USA choke was horrible this morning. Didnt even show up. What a disgrace. This team was ranked fifth in the world? I think not.


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## Roscoe_Clipps (Nov 11, 2005)

Hell Yes Australia. Ooo Baby Best Game Ever :d


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## qwertyu (Dec 29, 2002)

You guys need to relax. The Czech Republic is just too good of a team. The games versus Italy and Ghana are also very difficult but not all hope is lost yet.


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## paperclip (Mar 24, 2006)

qwertyu said:


> You guys need to relax. The Czech Republic is just too good of a team. The games versus Italy and Ghana are also very difficult but not all hope is lost yet.


Did you see Italy and Ghana play? Both VERY skilled teams. Maybe the US can surprise them with effort and athleticism or something.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

USA needs Czech team to beat ghana, then USA needs to beat Italy by any margin, and then if Czech beats italy too, and US beats Ghana they are in. Very doubtful though, only like 2 teams in the last couple world cups have ever made it after loosing the first game. 

Theres a chance US gets in with only one win, but they would need to CRUSH the other team in their one win, since theyre already 3 under in the goals category. 

France Swiss game this morning was kind of uneventful. ALmost like watching Two USA clones go at it.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

yamaneko said:


> France Swiss game this morning was kind of uneventful. ALmost like watching Two USA clones go at it.



Yeah that game sucked big time. However the Brazil vs. Croatia game was good to watch.


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## melo4life (Jun 5, 2006)

Weasel said:


> Yeah that game sucked big time. However the Brazil vs. Croatia game was good to watch.


yeh i watched that and it was pretty close but brazil should've won by at least 2 goals i reckon but croatia had many chances to score and on a lot of occasions nearly did


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## DaFranchise (Jun 29, 2005)

HKF said:


> Watching USA choke was horrible this morning. Didnt even show up. What a disgrace. This team was ranked fifth in the world? I think not.


Those FIFA rankings dont mean crap. USA still has many years before they will be able to compete with the big boys.


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## qwertyu (Dec 29, 2002)

paperclip said:


> Did you see Italy and Ghana play? Both VERY skilled teams. Maybe the US can surprise them with effort and athleticism or something.


I did, that's why I said that both games are very difficult. The U.S. unfortunately are in one of the two toughest groups (the other one has Argentina, Ivory Coast, the Netherlands and Serbia-Montenegro) but you still have to do your best. 
I don't think the differences between the teams are really that big. Even the mighty Brazilians struggled against Croatia. Anyone can beat anyone with a little luck and a lot of effort.

The US team isn't really that bad. I think Eddie Johnson should start the next game next to McBride. I think the players believed the hype created by ESPN and the other media and the Czech Republic was more prepared than Portugal was 4 years ago. But the Czech Republic has done the same against stronger teams than the US so there's no reason to feel bad about what happened. They're really unstoppable if they're having a good game. They do miss Baros though so I really don't know how far they will go.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

Man, this tunisia saudi game is pretty dang exciting. I almost didnt watch it because i figured it would be boring. 10 minutes of this game has seen more action than most of the other games ive seen.


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## Futurama_Fanatic (Jul 21, 2005)

im gunna be watching that germany game


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

yamaneko said:


> Man, this tunisia saudi game is pretty dang exciting. I almost didnt watch it because i figured it would be boring. 10 minutes of this game has seen more action than most of the other games ive seen.



Crazy 2nd half.


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## qross1fan (Dec 28, 2004)

Wow, that's now the best game thus far now IMO, even though Trinidad staying with the Sweds was great, nothing tops a game tying goal in extra time.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

yeah, i posted that even before some even greater action started.

What channel are you guys watching it on? I cant STAND to watch it on ESPN, the american commentators SUCK SO BAD, its not even funny. Ive been watching it on Univision. Picture sucks, but the commentating is knowledgable and so much more lively. Only one i watched in english was mexico because that was on HDTV. But when they scored a goal i switched to univision so i could hear the GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAL GOAL GOAL GOAL GOOOOOOOOOOAAAL


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

yamaneko said:


> yeah, i posted that even before some even greater action started.
> 
> What channel are you guys watching it on? I cant STAND to watch it on ESPN, the american commentators SUCK SO BAD, its not even funny. Ive been watching it on Univision. Picture sucks, but the commentating is knowledgable and so much more lively. Only one i watched in english was mexico because that was on HDTV. But when they scored a goal i switched to univision so i could hear the GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAL GOAL GOAL GOAL GOOOOOOOOOOAAAL



The announcers for the Saudi Arabia vs. Tunasia game are bad especially that one guy that tries to act like Dick Vitale. I like the English announcers the best since they actual watch and announce a lot of soccer games. The current announcers for the Germany game aren't bad, at least Balboa knows what he is talking about.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

Holy crap, the Germany vs. Poland game was great. One of my favorite games so far.


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## Roscoe_Clipps (Nov 11, 2005)

Spain V Ukraine was a shalacking 

BTW what is with Toga goal ritual!?! weiiird


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## ElMarroAfamado (Nov 1, 2005)

im Mexican but ive been watching the majority of the World Cup games, im a soccer fan in general
so they are all great and exciting!
Iran vs. Mexico, i thought MExico was gonna lose, Iran was playing great the first half and mexico horrible, but Iran couldnt capitalize and the big mistake by the goalie and big substitutions for Mexico just won them the game  GO MEXICO!
and wow what a bad loss by the U.S, but yeah Czech REpublic is a great team, some say they might even compete to win it all, 
so far one of the best games, besides the Mexico game , was the Ecuador vs. Poland game, 
and the game where Trinidad n Tobago tied wow the joy in the peoples faces is a joy to see!!! 
man gotta love the World CUp

too bad its never gonna catch on here in the U.S, people cant blame the U.S team for not attracting a larger audience here, its just people wont even give soccer a chance, they are too caught up with the NBA n NFL etc...

man i dont care who wins the Cup as long as ITS A NEW TEAM, not brazil, germany, italy, France...
i want an underdog to win not the same ole superpowers always in it at the end, maybe who knows even Spain would be nice to see win

maaan England vs. T and Tobago tomorrow!!!!
boy do i always go for the underdogs jajaja!! 
go T n T!


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## qross1fan (Dec 28, 2004)

C'mon Trinidad!!!! Take this game or pull out the tie! I'd love to see T&T Advance, and if they dont, somehow stay undefeated(0-0-3 or 1-0-2). 

Nice win by Ecuador clinching a seed in the elimination round and knocking out Costa Rica.


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## ElMarroAfamado (Nov 1, 2005)

they didnt knock out Costa Rica, they killed them ! jajaja geesh man jaja Germany and Equador 
advance right?
wow T & T tied 0-0 at the half, MAN IF THEY COULD PULL IT OUT CMON!


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## qross1fan (Dec 28, 2004)

Damn, England wins 2-0, what a beautiful cross by Beckham in the 83rd minute hooking up with Crouch.

Cornell Glen should start the next game, never knew he played for the Galaxy, now I can't wait to see Landon and Glen on the counter attack for the Galaxy .


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## bootstrenf (May 24, 2006)

ElMarroAfamado said:


> too bad its never gonna catch on here in the U.S, people cant blame the U.S team for not attracting a larger audience here, its just people wont even give soccer a chance, they are too caught up with the NBA n NFL etc...



ain't that the truth. i think it's all based on the culture. other countries grew up with soccer as the #1 sport. we like other things. another thing is that no one is going to invest heavliy into anything related to soccer. 

no timeouts=no commercial breaks=no money=no nba/mlb/nfl type salaries=all athletes go to the money(nba/nfl/mlb)

we(usa) will never have the talent base to win the world cup. the rest of the world are sending their best athletes to the cup. we are sending our best soccer players we have, but they are not our best athletes. if we want to win, our best athletes have to start playing soccer, which sadly, will never happen.

the reason? don't all you guys remember making fun of the soccer kids during highschool?


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

trinidad almost made it. Cant believe that one guy kicked out that sure goal by trinidad at the last second. and that last goal that was off sides would have been sweet if it went in. 

Portugal must be pretty pissed off. Trinidad still has a chance to advance i think.


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## qross1fan (Dec 28, 2004)

Trinidad needs to win and needs the English to beat the Swedish. T&T and England need to both win by a combined 4+ goals, or else Trinidad is out if I'm not mistaken


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

anyone think USA has a chance tomorrow against italy?


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

yamaneko said:


> anyone think USA has a chance tomorrow against italy?



Honestly, no. I never thought the USA could get out of their group, the Czechs and Italians are just too good.


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## Cris (Jun 18, 2003)

the US will have to score early for tehm to have any chance. they have to keep momentum all game long. if they dont they have ZERO chance of even scoring on Italy


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

If we were going to tank this world cup like it looks like we will, we should have had some of the young MLS guys on. First of all, Adu of course, who could have challenged like most world cups participated in records if he did it at 16. 

Taylor twellman, etc.


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## DaFranchise (Jun 29, 2005)

Adu is so overrated but I dont think its entirely his fault.. He needs to get over to Europe so he can develop his game at the international level. MLS sucks and is killing this kid.


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## universal! (Mar 5, 2006)

Cris said:


> the US will have to score early for tehm to have any chance. they have to keep momentum all game long. if they dont they have ZERO chance of even scoring on Italy


The U.S. have a hard enough chance just to score anyways against Italy. If the U.S. tries to come out offensive, it might just play into the hands (er.. feet) of the Italians- who counter very well off their defense which is even better. I'd like to see the U.S. go all out though.

erm... forza Azzurri! :shy:


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## qross1fan (Dec 28, 2004)

Ghana up 1-0, if they keep this up, I'm pretty confident US could sneak by and beat the Ites then hopefully beat Ghana in the final game.


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## DaFranchise (Jun 29, 2005)

qrich1fan said:


> Ghana up 1-0, if they keep this up, I'm pretty confident US could sneak by and beat the Ites then hopefully beat Ghana in the final game.


Im not confident at all playing Italy. I dont know how anyone can be confident after getting whooped by the Czechs.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

Great showing by Ghana, they were just dominating today. They could have easily had 4-5 goals.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

today most important day in this history of US soccer IMO. They have a real chance, hopefully they can catch italy sleeping


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## DaFranchise (Jun 29, 2005)

Thank god Dempsey was inserted into the lineup. Beasley was a lazy punk against the Czechs.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

2 red cards and 1 own goal, nice game.


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## qross1fan (Dec 28, 2004)

Mastreoni didn't deserve a red card, horrible call by the ref right there. Like they said on ABC, that was just a makeup call!!!! Italy's goal was awesome though, but then again, US needs to play defense instead of going for the offside trap. US needs to come out and continue playing this agressive and add another goal. Beasly should come in the second half, a ton of space and the US can really use his speed, and he should be hungry after his dissapointment last week.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

qrich1fan said:


> Mastreoni didn't deserve a red card, horrible call by the ref right there. Like they said on ABC, that was just a makeup call!!!! Italy's goal was awesome though, but then again, US needs to play defense instead of going for the offside trap. US needs to come out and continue playing this agressive and add another goal. Beasly should come in the second half, a ton of space and the US can really use his speed, and he should be hungry after his dissapointment last week.



I wouldn't say it was a horrible call. A bit harsh but Mastreoni made a very stupid tackle.


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## qross1fan (Dec 28, 2004)

Another red against the US? What the hell, does this ref have crap against the US? Horrible man, horrible, horrible, horrible.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

qrich1fan said:


> Another red against the US? What the hell, does this ref have crap against the US? Horrible man, horrible, horrible, horrible.



I think this will be the refs last game in the World Cup.


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## DaFranchise (Jun 29, 2005)

What a crappy game..The refs blew this game for the Americans. Beasley is so damn lazy. The only fresh guy on the field and he is not hustling his a$$ off for every ball. Does he realize that this is the World Cup and not some meaningless MLS game. Come on now. Now we have to beat Ghana and hope Italy beats the Czechs.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

If the referree wanted to redeem himself, he should have kept the whistle in his mouth on that beesly goal. He did a makeup call for italy, why cant he do it for the US?

Terrible. Now check will kill italy since theyre so embarrased for loosing, and then it wont matter what USA does against ghana (unless of course they win by like 6 goals). If not for the referee, we might have seen USA win this game, and then advance with a win or possibly tie against ghana.


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## qross1fan (Dec 28, 2004)

So now the Us needs to pull for the Ites and beat Ghana or if the Czech's win then this scenario pops in:


> Italy is +2 and the US is -3 in Goal Differential so with that scenario it may be possible for the US to advance if they really beat Ghana and the Czech's beat the Italians by a combined of at least 6+ goals. So if Czech's win by 3 and US wins by 3, or Czech's win by 4 and US wins by 2, it'll give the US the Goal Differential advantage over the Ites


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

doubtful i think that italy beats czech, so we better hope for that kind of output.

It will suck not to have pablo nor pope though. Ghana will be out two players too. I say keep dempsey as starting, he had some nice plays. I would have liked to see johnson come in today. What was arena thinkiing? His guys were so tired, and he didnt even use his last sub


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## qross1fan (Dec 28, 2004)

yamaneko said:


> doubtful i think that italy beats czech, so we better hope for that kind of output.
> 
> It will suck not to have pablo nor pope though. Ghana will be out two players too. I say keep dempsey as starting, he had some nice plays. I would have liked to see johnson come in today. What was arena thinkiing? His guys were so tired, and he didnt even use his last sub


 Eddie Johnson better start in place of Maestroni or Pope and Demarcus BEasley should be on a plane back to the states right now.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

beasly is one of the fastest guys in the whole world cup, but in the second half he wasnt even trying, and he did have some opportunities. He figured, hey i scored a goal and mcbride screwed it up so ive done my part.


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## DaFranchise (Jun 29, 2005)

Beasley is a joke. The kid has no heart. We are not winning the goal differntial...There is no chance of that happening.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

wed have to pray for an argentina-serbia like 6-0 shallacking. 

Sad thing is we wouldnt have had to be this worried about it if stinking ref wouldnt have ruined it. We would have won 2-1 (look how we controlled the ball even down 1 guy, imagine if we were UP one guy). That would have been the biggest victory almost ever for US, right up there with the last cup victories, and we would have had tons of momentum going into ghana, not to mention, still would have had pope and pablo.

Theres all the talk about italy's goalie and other guys throwing games, and betting on games, someone should check if an italy booster paid off the referree.


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## qross1fan (Dec 28, 2004)

DaFranchise said:


> Beasley is a joke. The kid has no heart. We are not winning the goal differntial...There is no chance of that happening.


 If we don't win it, then the Ites need to beat the Czech's.


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## DaFranchise (Jun 29, 2005)

yamaneko said:



> wed have to pray for an argentina-serbia like 6-0 shallacking.
> 
> Sad thing is we wouldnt have had to be this worried about it if stinking ref wouldnt have ruined it. We would have won 2-1 (look how we controlled the ball even down 1 guy, imagine if we were UP one guy). That would have been the biggest victory almost ever for US, right up there with the last cup victories, and we would have had tons of momentum going into ghana, not to mention, still would have had pope and pablo.
> 
> Theres all the talk about italy's goalie and other guys throwing games, and betting on games, someone should check if an italy booster paid off the referree.


Yup you are right. There needs to be some type of investigation. There has been huge controversy with Juventus and fixing games. 
The refs were out of control. They called it so damn tight then at the end they were letting everything go. I demand an investigation.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

DaFranchise said:


> Yup you are right. There needs to be some type of investigation. There has been huge controversy with Juventus and fixing games.
> The refs were out of control. They called it so damn tight then at the end they were letting everything go. I demand an investigation.



I don't think the ref was bias. If he was he would have never given a red to De Rossi. The guy just sucked in general.


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## Amareca (Oct 21, 2002)

The ref was good, he was right on the money with the calls. The sideline red however was very poor and called Italy offside many times when they were not and on one occasion they scored and on several others they would have had high quality chances.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

i dont see how you couldnt give a red to the guy who blatantly elbows someone 5 feet away from you and opens the guys face up. Paid off or not.  

I think italy was off sides every time. Now, the replay is what showed they were, i do find it interesting how someone with the naked eye could see all of those off sides. Some of them were by just a fraction of a foot


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## DaFranchise (Jun 29, 2005)

Weasel said:


> I don't think the ref was bias. If he was he would have never given a red to De Rossi. The guy just sucked in general.


De Rossi threw a blatant elbow that cut McBride and required 3 stitches.. He had to give De Rossi a red card or it would have looked too suspicious. Do you know the history behind that referee? He should not be referee in the World Cup. That ref has been in the middle of match fixing and gambling rings. I believe he was suspended for awhile as well. Total crap. I watched almost every World Cup game and I have never seen a red card given for a slide tackle. Gimme a break.


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## ElMarroAfamado (Nov 1, 2005)

man Italy has to beat The Czech Republic yeah but the most important thing is 
THE U.S has to BEAT GHANA and wow thats gonna be an exciting game 
wont it be better if the U.S beat Ghana by like 4 goals jaja ?


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## DaFranchise (Jun 29, 2005)

Ghana will be missing their top 2 scorers so we have a good chance. I just hope Italy takes care of business.


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## bootstrenf (May 24, 2006)

go red!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

id like to see donovan play like he does when hes on the galaxy. Maybe its a confidence thing, hes intimidated by these other teams or something. But if you watch him on the galaxy, you can see the skill he has, not just because its sorry competition, but because of his confidence. Perhaps he can regain that confidence against ghana and take more chances. 

Ill never forget one he did last year against chivas USA, he took two defenders practically the length of the field and scored by himself. But this world cup, he just looks average.


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## bootstrenf (May 24, 2006)

we need lalas.


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## DaFranchise (Jun 29, 2005)

yamaneko said:


> id like to see donovan play like he does when hes on the galaxy. Maybe its a confidence thing, hes intimidated by these other teams or something. But if you watch him on the galaxy, you can see the skill he has, not just because its sorry competition, but because of his confidence. Perhaps he can regain that confidence against ghana and take more chances.
> 
> Ill never forget one he did last year against chivas USA, he took two defenders practically the length of the field and scored by himself. But this world cup, he just looks average.


Donovan didnt play bad in the 2nd game although he did stink up the joint against the Czechs. I think it has to do with the competition. If u watch any of the Euro leagues you can easily recognize the difference in talent. No MLS team can match up with any EPL team or Spanish League team.


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## ElMarroAfamado (Nov 1, 2005)

maaaaaaaaaaaan just 14 more or hours or so!! jaja
cmoooon Italy has to beat the Czech and the U.S more important has to win
Landon has to show everyone what he is made of, Beasley everyone needs to show up
its win or go home ....MAN!!! these two games are gonna be sooo exciting!!! 
  

will the U.S game and Italy game be going on at the same time?


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

ElMarroAfamado said:


> will the U.S game and Italy game be going on at the same time?



Yeah.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

Unfortunate for USA that they are out. They got stuck in a bad group. Czech as well who I thought would go really well got kicked out.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

whats with the refererees and the anti USA calls? Its like theyre getting back at USA for kicking the worlds but in everything else. USA is NOT that great of a team, just call the game fair, and see how it works out, the referees are just insane, i havent seen any lopsided calls in the other games i watch, MAYBE france/Korea. But good greif, that penalty kick against oguchi was just almost as bad as those red cards in the other game. If anything, it should have been a foul on ping pong who was holding the guch, not letting him go forward. 

If not for that call, US had the momentum, i really think the US would have won. 

Claudio reyna sucked the entire world cup for us, outside of the referees i think he was the number 2 reason we lost. And i thought that way even before he gift wrapped the goal for ghana in this game. 

US just didnt push the ball enough, they had some counterattacks that they killed themselves by passing the ball back. That goes to coaching i think. Arena i hope will be fired in the next couple of weeks. I say screw the old guys, lets go youth movement, bring up Adu ready or not he will get better playing on the team. Bring up twellman. Get rid of keller, get rid of reyna.

Get a coach who will have donovan and beasley playing to their strengths. Someone who can better develop the younger guys. 

Next up U-17 world cup next year in korea. I think Adu is on that team, right? and then the u-20 world cup next year in canada. (adu is on that team too, isnt he?)

USA needs to develop talent more so that in 2010, when beasley and donovan, etc. are at their peaks we will have some young 20 year olds tearing it up too. Other than adu, there is Altidore from redbulls new york who is 16, and a couple other young guys who are good prospects.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

Crazy finish to the Croatia vs. Australia game. I think Siminic got 3 yellow cards in the game, a ref mistake. That was one hell of a game.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

oh yeah, i almost forgot, who cares if our mens team sucks. At least our womens team is more dominating than brazil men in womens competition.


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## DaFranchise (Jun 29, 2005)

The sad part is that the US could care less about soccer. We dont have the same passion about the sport as the other countries. I will be the first to admit that I only watch soccer when the World Cup is on and I will watch some EPL games. Its all about NCAAF, NCAAB, NFL, NBA, and MLB.


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## joe shmoe (Dec 16, 2005)

-alot of bad calls along with bad play by the US.


-donovan is wack, he's only good for mls games. please stop the hype on this guy

-beasley had a good game today, horrible first game though

-dempsey is the truth, he plays with no fear. i hope he gets on a european team and futher develope his skills.

-ochi is a good(verge of being great) defender even though the refs penelized him just for being bigger than the opponents.

-eddie johnson needed more playing time, i didn't understand him sitting on the bench

-reyna damn near killed us the whole three matches, especially today. i was like "kick the ball away man, wtf!" uh too late ghana goal. and this guy plays in the premiership? wtf


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## Roscoe_Clipps (Nov 11, 2005)

YEAH BABY AUSTRALIA THROUGH TO THE 16. First time ever!!!
We got our first goal, our first win and our first advancement ever. You guys should root for us now cos we go to war with you


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

anyone watch the brazil japan game? Incredible game. That goal keeper from japan kawaguchi, IMO is better than keller. Sure he got scored on, but the guy had like 5-6 incredible saves. (amongst other just "regular" saves). I think keller had like 2 saves the whole tournament. lol.


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## bootstrenf (May 24, 2006)

you know we lost? 1 shot on goal through the first two games.


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## bootstrenf (May 24, 2006)

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


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## paperclip (Mar 24, 2006)

yamaneko said:


> whats with the refererees and the anti USA calls? Its like theyre getting back at USA for kicking the worlds but in everything else. USA is NOT that great of a team, just call the game fair, and see how it works out, the referees are just insane, i havent seen any lopsided calls in the other games i watch, MAYBE france/Korea. But good greif, that penalty kick against oguchi was just almost as bad as those red cards in the other game. If anything, it should have been a foul on ping pong who was holding the guch, not letting him go forward.
> 
> If not for that call, US had the momentum, i really think the US would have won.
> 
> ...



Please don't say the referees are anti-USA, I've seen bad calls this entire world cup. Overal I think the officiating and play has been pretty poor.

The US just doesn't have enough quality and experience. The US needs more players in high ranking competitions. If Donovan really wants to improve he has to get out of his comfort zone in the MLS and take a risk in Europe. 

I don't think this will be a bad WC to fall out of early, its been poor so far and already has had its problems with the Togo debacle. If France falls out I think that will 50% seal the deal that there is something wrong with soccer officiating and style of play. I've seen way too much opportunistic play and when the Dutch are playing the counter then you know soccer is not at its high point.

Ciao.


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## choiboi46 (Jan 12, 2006)

Korea just got cheated by the refs...

first the refs dont call a hand ball, which wouldve given Korea a freekick and possibly tie the game at half..

worst call ever was when a Swiss guy is called offsides, the flag is up, everybody including the goalie stops, a Swiss guy kicks it in, suddenly the ref overrules the call and counts the goal, which killed Koreas confidence in the last 15min

World Cup has been horrible, Brazil will win it all


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## bootstrenf (May 24, 2006)

choiboi46 said:


> Korea just got cheated by the refs...
> 
> first the refs dont call a hand ball, which wouldve given Korea a freekick and possibly tie the game at half..
> 
> ...



that ****ing ref needs to be taken out back and shot.


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## bootstrenf (May 24, 2006)

the refs from the world cup must have took some notes from the nba finals.


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## DaFranchise (Jun 29, 2005)

Who wins tomorrow? Im pretty confident Argentina and Germany will advance


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

ok, then the refs are just anti my teams.  korea and the us were who was going for. Now i dont know who to pull for. 

Mexico is the logical choice, but i dont like to root for them when the usa is out of it. Ill root for them IF they get past argentina. Brazil of course i just love watching, but i hate it when teams win all the time, so im not sure. Maybe a dark horse like australia or ukraine i can root for. 

I think the final four will be argentina vs. Italy on one side and brazil vs. portugal on the other side. Wouldnt that be the most ironic of matchups? That would be the colonies vs. the countries that colonized them way back in the day. "new world" vs. "motherland" 

But after that japan game, if brazil plays like that, they are unstoppable.


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## leidout (Jul 13, 2005)

Bleh, the USA always sucks in this thing. I still cheer, but i honestly never have any confidence in them at all. Refs or not, we simply cannot win in men's soccer...


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

Great games today. Brazil vs. Ghana was fun. The score didn't show how into the game Ghana was as they played well. France came up big today with a huge win over Spain.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

that ronaldo goal was classic. talk about breaking an ankle with a "crossover"

also he should have had 2 goals but adrianno was too selfish to pass it


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## The Yeti (Jun 29, 2006)

Did anyone here see any of the Australian games?

We got VIOLATED by the referees. It was a disgrace. One guy from Croatia got 3 yellow cards before he was sent off!
Then they win in the 94th minute on a terrible penalty because the referee didnt was too tired to run any more. Pretty obvious the country ranked 44th wasnt in any of FIFA's plans when it came to the final 8 of the tournament.


As the email goes...

An Australian man has been arrested for assaulting an Italian man in Italy.

The Australian was 20 feet away from the Italian when the incident occurred.

The Italian man suffered a fractured skull, cardiac arrest and developed diabetes as a result of the incident. He's expected to make a full recovery in a few minutes.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

Great game today.

Italy and Germany had a epic battle but Italy had 2 amazing goals in the final minutes of the 2nd extra period. What a game.


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## Futurama_Fanatic (Jul 21, 2005)

Weasel said:


> Great game today.
> 
> Italy and Germany had a epic battle but Italy had 2 amazing goals in the final minutes of the 2nd extra period. What a game.



woohoo i am going to bet on italy. gave up only one goal and that was an own goal. i dont know what those espn announcers where talking about how italy's D was falling apart cuz i saw two great defenders and a flashy yet excellent goalkeeper


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

Go France!

For Zidane and Henry, I hope France beats Italy.


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## Futurama_Fanatic (Jul 21, 2005)

Weasel said:


> Go France!
> 
> For Zidane and Henry, I hope France beats Italy.


Italy will win. 

btw did you see all the flopping the last two days? it seemed as though manu ginobli was playing soccer


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

ClippersRuleLA said:


> Italy will win.
> 
> btw did you see all the flopping the last two days? it seemed as though manu ginobli was playing soccer



Bunch of flopping going on in the Portugal game. Flopping when it goes to the extreme starts to ruin the game. Don't count out France, they did beat 2 very strong sides in Brazil and Spain.


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## Futurama_Fanatic (Jul 21, 2005)

The Yeti said:


> Pretty obvious the country ranked 44th wasnt in any of FIFA's plans when it came to the final 8 of the tournament.


I dont think the ranking had anyting to do with it. The officiating has been bad for the world cup.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

ClippersRuleLA said:


> btw did you see all the flopping the last two days? it seemed as though manu ginobli was playing soccer












Funny but true.


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## leidout (Jul 13, 2005)

ClippersRuleLA said:


> I dont think the ranking had anyting to do with it. The officiating has been bad for the world cup.


Is there such a sport where the fans are generally happy with the officiating?


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## Jet (Jul 1, 2005)

Weasel said:


> Funny but true.


Lmao, Yes, I have watched the World Cup and ive been disappointed. I dont care who wins anymore, because the Aussies lost on a play just like ^^that one... well not really but yeah, it was a flop.


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## Futurama_Fanatic (Jul 21, 2005)

who do you guys think is going to win the portugal/germany match?

my vote goes for germany


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

im going for portugal since i like portugal more than germany plus that will help matters in case the US makes a run at the german coach.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

Germany takes 3rd. Not a bad game for the a game that really isn't suppose to be big. The 2nd half was full of goals as Schweinsteiger scored 2 twice (almost a hat trick as his shot ended up counting as an own goal). Also Gomes had a fantastic header for Portugal.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

Why Zidane? Why?

France controlled the 2nd half and extra time, sucks that they had to lose in the penalty shootout.


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## Futurama_Fanatic (Jul 21, 2005)

Weasel said:


> France controlled the 2nd half and extra time, sucks that they had to lose in the penalty shootout.


Italy got screwed over by that offsides call.

as for Zidane, it sucks that he got kicked out but he did headbutt a guy in the chest


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

ClippersRuleLA said:


> Italy got screwed over by that offsides call.
> 
> as for Zidane, it sucks that he got kicked out but he did headbutt a guy in the chest


The guy Zidane headbutted must of had something terrible, but there is no excuse to headbutt the man.


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## ElMarroAfamado (Nov 1, 2005)

all in all i enjoyed the World Cup, i seem to enjoy them more and more as i get older...
and horrible move my Zidane at the end ....i liked him and his skills...but after that i had second thoughts..
Jaja as for me, i have to live with "the best goal in the world cup" getting replayed over and over 
the one Argentina made against Mexico jajaja 
thats the only time they show Mexico for anything jaja
althought i never thought mexico had a realistic chance of winning...their weak strikers...is their biggest flaw...look at teh goals guys scored and look at the weak touch goals Mexico scors jaja 
and US was a huge dissapointment....all in all it was 
an exciting world cup..and even though the excitement was at its peak when i watched the Mexico games...it only declined a little the rest of the way ...
WORLD CUP BABY!!!!! 
cant wait till South Africa 2010? 

!!


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## ElMarroAfamado (Nov 1, 2005)

besides something verbally, WHY DID ZIDANE HEADBUTT !!!??


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## THE'clip'SHOW (Sep 24, 2002)

I love the way soccer players flop on almost every call. It really takes away from the game. Even on that headbutt the guy just throws his body into the air like he was shot.


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