World Cup 2010 - South Africa Thread

[CommanderRaytas]

This is why nobody wants to play them . Well, at least Van Bommel will be too old four years from now. I do like him, and he's a good footballer, but he is kind of scary on the pitch.

 

[SmoothieX]

The World Cup was fun to watch, but I am pretty glad it will disappear for another 4 years at this point. Enough is enough.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

Well, we always say after the World Cup is before the European Cup... and there's always the qualification matches for the national teams and the friendlies in between, not to mention club football, such as the Premier League, the Bundesliga, Serie A etc.

Still, there won't be any football for over a month. I'm trying not to think about it, lest I give in to despair.

 

[Count Zero]

The U-20 World Cup for the women is actually being played right now, or at least Eurosport showed Costa Rica vs. Germany this afternoon when I was shopping. So there is football on.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

Thanks sweetie, me knows. But I actually prefer watching my boys play.

 

[Daedalus12]

The moment the Dutch start losing, they start playing dirty. They're even worse than the Argentinians. I'm glad they lost, and they even got lucky only Heitinga got thrown out. Not to mention the penalty Spain didn't get. It was a disgrace.

Sure the Dutch were dirty but the Spanish were a bunch of cunts too who were constantly diving on the slightest touch and I saw 3 or 4 of them asking for cards on every whistle.

If you want to talk about calls then what about Puyol's last man foul on Robben? Or Iniesta's intentional shove on van Bommel?

I agree Nigel was lucky to get away with just a yellow but there were plenty of fouls that Spain got away with also. Webb didn't want to send any off because it's the world cup finals so he tried to control the situation with yellows and sometimes he allowed the action to stay rough.

 

[Sanji Himura]

But he did have to send Heitinga off. Double yellow card.

I think that the ref officiated the game chicken shit. He didn't have any order with the numerous fouls that were committed, and the yellow card threat didn't wash with the two teams. A few red cards would have told the players that he was serious in having a clean game. I know of a few who deserved them.

 

[Chilli]

If you want to talk about calls then what about Puyol's last man foul on Robben? Or Iniesta's intentional shove on van Bommel?

The first one is questionable - it looked a lot to me as if Puyol actually fell. Sure, Robben could have dived, and might have received a penalty .. but then, Spain also didn't receive a penalty for a clear foul on of their guys, so who knows.

The Dutch don't get to complain about that second one. Yeah, Iniesta did shove Van Bommel - because Van Bommel stepped on his bloody foot! Had the rules been strictly laid out in that situation, Van Bommel would have received a yellow card, and Iniesta a red card. With Van Bommel already having a yellow card (that he absolutely deserved), they would have both been sent off the pitch. The referee's decision to let these two things cancel eachother out was in the interest of the game, and actually favoured the Dutch (playing 10 vs. 11 is easier than playing 9 vs. 10)

And it's not like the Dutch didn't do any diving. They just didn't do it in the one situation where it might have done them good.

 

[Shazam!]

A few red cards would have told the players that he was serious in having a clean game.

A few red cards would have ruined the game completely.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

No, it was the players who, through their actions, ruined the game.

And I still think the Dutch played a horrible match- sure, the Spaniards aren't saints, but it was in no way comparable. The Dutch players' brutality is unmatched by anyone in this tournament, and it didn't happen for the first time, too, as we all know.

It's not just the big fouls, it's the little things that make a game ugly. For example, take everyone playing on after Torres twisted his leg and went down. Thirty seconds later, he was still on the ground and the Dutch were still trying to score. Please.

And Van Bommel is lucky not to have got a red card himself. He fouls everyone who meets his path and should not complain when someone responds in like fashion.

In the end, Spain won because they were the better team. They were more disciplined and didn't panic even after being treated unfairly. Also, they scored, and Robben gave away two 100% chances.

 

[Derishton]

But Torres on the ground is a "crying wolf" situation. There's so much diving these days that you really can't stop playing every time somebody falls down - most of the time, it's fake, and as well know almost every team does it now. If the players want possible injuries to be respected, then they have to stop falling down constantly and pretending to writhe in pain. It's pretty simple, really - clean up the game so that players can be reasonably confident that if someone looks like they need assistance, they might actually need that assistance.

It's also really pathetic that the one time Robben stays on his feet, he's criticized for doing so. "The modern game involves acting and flailing and exaggerated whining!" Okay, well then those of us who love what football can be will just have to accept that it will never make serious headway in the North American market. I can watch ice dancing for emotional hysterics.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

No, Torres didn't dive. He fell because he hurt himself. There wasn't even anyone else in the vicinity, he just twisted his leg somehow and fell. He didn't pretend to have got hit by Van Bommel (who had been running after him in that particular scene). He's not the kind of player who pulls this kind of act. They should have stopped playing.

And I would never criticise anyone for not falling down. This exaggerated acting some teams are so fond of annoys me to no end.

 

[Derishton]

I know Torres didn't dive that time (IIRC, correctly, he's not really known as a diver) - that's my point; I think there's a growing blind spot now in which players have lost respect for each other, always assuming that nothing bad has actually happened. I agree that play probably should have stopped in this case, and I think a general sense of unhealthy skepticism is at least partially to blame. Haven't we seen players pretend to slip in order to delay games before (again, I absolutely know Torres didn't do that here).

Also, I wasn't aiming at you on the Robben point - it's a pretty ubiquitous comment criticism right now, and it just seems so perverse to me that we're at this point. I've heard it said about England as a team, strangely - if they dived more, they'd win more. I don't think I buy into that on any level.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

Ah, okay. In that case, I second what you said. They'd probably take real injuries more seriously if people stopped diving at every breeze....like the Argentinians, Italians, Portuguese (despite my love of Cristiano Ronaldo, he does that a lot and I need to admit it), Brazilians.

Less acting, more playing football. Absolutely.

 

[Daedalus12]

If you want to talk about calls then what about Puyol's last man foul on Robben? Or Iniesta's intentional shove on van Bommel?

The first one is questionable - it looked a lot to me as if Puyol actually fell. Sure, Robben could have dived, and might have received a penalty .. but then, Spain also didn't receive a penalty for a clear foul on of their guys, so who knows.

What do you talking about? Puyol was trying to hold on to Robben as if his life depended on it. This was the one time that Robben didn't dive and stayed on his feet. I guess he really really wants to score in a world cup final. Too bad he wasted 2 really good chances.

The Dutch don't get to complain about that second one. Yeah, Iniesta did shove Van Bommel - because Van Bommel stepped on his bloody foot!...........

Van Bommel is the king of tactical fouls and the master of toeing the line. What you just mentioned is a good example of a borderline yellow card in which Van Bommel usually won't receive. He gets away with it because he knows how to and he does it regularly for club football as well.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

^ He also chats with the referees about their lives in order to build a rapport! One referee mentioned how he once asked where he did his shopping!

 

[CommanderRaytas]

I usually like watching Van Bommel play- he is a great footballer, without a doubt. Also, I think that he's actually a nice guy (off the pitch). But he doesn't just tiptoe the line, he crosses it more often than not.... he should consider himself lucky he doesn't get the red card more often.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Still, there won't be any football for over a month. I'm trying not to think about it, lest I give in to despair.

There's always MLS

Yeah, I'm not really watching it either

 

[Danny99]

Still, there won't be any football for over a month. I'm trying not to think about it, lest I give in to despair.

There's always MLS

Yeah, I'm not really watching it either

Not even to watch Thierry Henry?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Henry plays for New York. At the very best, I'd have to root against him.