2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil

Discussion in 'Sports and Fitness' started by Jax, May 8, 2014.

  1. Shaytan

    Shaytan Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2007
    Location:
    Fluctuat nec mergitur.
    Yeps :lol:

    World cup ceremonies are rarely very interesting but this one was bad in a fascinating way :lol:
     
  2. Relayer1

    Relayer1 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2011
    Location:
    The Black Country, England
    In a similar way that time-lapse films of roadkill decomposing are fascinating...
     
  3. Relayer1

    Relayer1 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2011
    Location:
    The Black Country, England
    And we're off !
     
  4. Jax

    Jax Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2003
    Location:
    The Universe.
    I switched off the opening show to play FIFA ;), as for the game Brazil were very lucky...Never been a penalty and probably a foul in the build up for goal number 3 but Croatia's 2nd was rightly disallowed he jumped into the keeper.

    Should of been 1-1 really.
     
  5. Count Zero

    Count Zero No nation but procrastination Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2005
    Location:
    European Union
    Mmh. Interesting. It would be all sorts of awesome (though, on the other hand, I'd be torn because it would be a bit tragic for Brazil). However, at the moment, I'd bet good money that Germany won't win the World Cup as their defense is just too weak.

    Tonight's game was actually pretty good for an opening match. Quite lively. I'm glad Oscar made the 3-1 because it would have looked pretty bad otherwise, considering the penalty that really wasn't one. And it was a great goal to boot.
    I won't be able to watch Mexico vs. Cameroon but I'm looking forward to Spain vs. Netherlands.

    England will have a tough time against Italy, sadly enough (yes, I support two unsympathetic teams). It's unfortunate that this is England's first match. It's psychologically rather difficult to start into the tournament with a defeat. With Uruguay also being in the group I'm not sure they'll make it out of the group phase. :(
     
  6. Alidar Jarok

    Alidar Jarok Everything in moderation but moderation Moderator

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2003
    Location:
    Norfolk, VA
    Gut-wrenching way to end it too with Croatia looking like they're about to score leading to Brazil scoring on the other end.
     
  7. Orac Zen

    Orac Zen Mischief Manager Super Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2000
    Location:
    Land of drought and flooding rain
    I slept through the opening ceremony (not that I'd had any intention of getting up at 3am or whatever to watch it) and the TV reception during the game itself was pretty ordinary so I didn't see much of it, either. What I did see was a pretty decent match marred at times by some rather...err...ordinary refereeing. I hope that's not going to be a taste of things to come.
     
  8. FPAlpha

    FPAlpha Vice Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    Nov 7, 2004
    Location:
    Mannheim, Germany
    Well,

    as a Croat and Bosnian by birth i get to cheer for 3 teams (Germany where i live and grew up, Croatia which is my ethnicity and Bosnia where i was born and my mother's family comes from - yeah, it's a bit complicated :lol:).

    I never expected Croatia to win but they weren't pushovers too. Their goal was blind luck but it resulted from a good attack so they could claim at least half credit.

    The penalty was a joke though.. as one news report put it today the Brazilian player should have received a warning instead for provoking a foul in the goal zone.

    However despite these events Brazil was still the better team, whenever they put pressure on Croatia they were near scoring and only some good work by the croatian goalkeeper kept them in the game for so long.

    Bosnian game is at midnight here in Europe on a working day.. since i have to get up at 5.30am i can't watch however Germany's game is next Monday at 9pm and i'm looking forward to it.

    Germany was always slow to start in such tournaments but they have always decidedly improved with some amazing games. I remember 2010 when they annihilated and humiliated England and Argentina 4:1 and 4:0 in the final rounds only to be defeated by the current world champion Spain when they played like rookies and not the excellent team they were before.

    This is the main problem with Germany though.. in mildly important games they play wonderful football sometimes which is a joy to watch but as soon as they are in the final rounds where every misstep counts they tend to lose that special quality. It's said that this is a golden generation for Germanys national football teams with some world class talent but Germany is waiting for a major international title for more than a decade now, it should be time.

    Brazil vs. Germany in the finals would be one awesome game (hopefully).
     
  9. Roger Wilco

    Roger Wilco Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2004
    If both of them win their groups (and the following matches) they meet in the semi-finals.
     
  10. iguana_tonante

    iguana_tonante Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2006
    Location:
    Italy, EU
    I might watch tonight's match, but I'm sure. I'm not feeling it this year. And midnight games are not helping. (I used to be a night owl. Nowadays I fall asleep on the couch. I'm afraid I'm getting officially old.)
     
  11. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2001
    Location:
    Behind Enemy Lines
    Well I guess FIFA didn't want to risk the home nation losing the opening game ;)

    Actually in all seriousness, given the protests etc already happening I hate to think what will happen should Brazil get knocked out early, and frankly they're not half the team they used to be so it isn't that unlikely a scenario.
     
  12. Mario de Monti

    Mario de Monti Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2013
    Location:
    Heidelberg, Germany
    Oh absolutely. Another thing that´s a joke is all the trouble and expenses they went to, to have this goal camera thing operational for the World Cup, only to have a goal scored that shouldn´t have been one in the very first match! Use instant replay for crying out loud!

    BTW, greetings to the neighborhood, FPAlpha :)
     
  13. The Johnson

    The Johnson Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2013
    Location:
    Birmingham, uk
    Hope the refs don't ruin this world cup by doing what FIFA want and putting Brazil through to the final.

    They know it will kick off in a way that will make what we've seen so far look like nothing if they do go out 'early' so it could be argued they've got no choice, but it really has put a dampener on things already.

    On a side not I intend to watch every game during this world cup, even the last group games that kick off together will both be watched at the same time. Glad the kick off times aren't clashing with the cricket too much.
     
  14. Mario de Monti

    Mario de Monti Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2013
    Location:
    Heidelberg, Germany
    And they haven´t made it past the quarter finals since 2002.
     
  15. Count Zero

    Count Zero No nation but procrastination Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2005
    Location:
    European Union
    It's at 6 PM, though.

    I'm not really into World Cup mood this year, either. I don't mind the midnight football (easy for me to say) and I definetely want to watch tomorrow's midnight game, England vs. Italy. Not sure about the 3 am matches.
     
  16. FPAlpha

    FPAlpha Vice Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    Nov 7, 2004
    Location:
    Mannheim, Germany
    You're right. A colleague said this but i checked the plan myself now. Still, would be one heck of a game (as most of the final KO round games are).

    Well, Germany didn't demolish its country when the lost back in 2006.

    However Germany isn't facing Brazil's problems and i can see a scenario where protesters and angry fans provoke each other. I'm more appalled at the brutality of the police which quells current protests, as if the world doesn't know that Brazil has problems.

    Talked about this with colleagues at lunch today. One was a half pro baseball player who said this was common in the MLB that teams can use video evidence to dispute a ref call.

    It would even be easier to implement given the total TV coverage of major games, especially the ones like these. Get a video ref with a tablet that can receive video streams and give each team 1 time out call per half time to dispute critical calls. It might bruise the ego of the refs to be called in question but who cares when they make calls like this? I can understand the goal line technology because these are really split second decisions which can be miscalled due to many factors but the penalty call in yesterdays game was not such a situation.

    And Hya back Neckarhüpfer! :D

    Checked the schedule.. Bosnia has two midnight games and one at 6pm, i'm no football fanatic and midnight games are definitely too late. Will be probably woken up because of each goal they make or receive as there are quite a few countrymen within shouting distance as evidenced from the game yesterday where i heard each goal before i saw it on TV (damn delay with internet based TV signals! :scream:).

    On weekends i might watch an interesting game but during the week its far too late.
     
  17. Roger Wilco

    Roger Wilco Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2004
    I've only been watching with one eye, since I'm still stuck at work, but Cameroon doesn't seem to be terribly lucky.
     
  18. Shaytan

    Shaytan Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2007
    Location:
    Fluctuat nec mergitur.
    Cameroon wasn't very good. The unlucky ones were the mexicans who got 2 goals refused (I didn't see the 1st one but the 2nd was valid).

    It's going to be a great world cup for referees :lol:
     
  19. Roger Wilco

    Roger Wilco Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2004
    Yeah, my impression of the game doesn't appear to have been accurate. :lol:
     
  20. Count Zero

    Count Zero No nation but procrastination Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2005
    Location:
    European Union
    Two games in, three major referee fails - I hope this trend doesn't continue.