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Really proud of the USA in the game vs England. Sure, the goal was kind of lucky, but the US did a lot to shut down Rooney and played pretty darn well overall. Tim Howard has to be one of the top 10 keepers in the world!
Can't wait for Friday - US vs Slovenia.
Oh, and I gotta agree with the Vuvuzela hate. They have to be the most God awful sound! There is actually talk that FIFA might ban them from upcoming games. I hope they do.
All in all, I'm loving this World Cup!
Really proud of the USA in the game vs England. Sure, the goal was kind of lucky, but the US did a lot to shut down Rooney and played pretty darn well overall. Tim Howard has to be one of the top 10 keepers in the world!
Can't wait for Friday - US vs Slovenia.
Oh, and I gotta agree with the Vuvuzela hate. They have to be the most God awful sound! There is actually talk that FIFA might ban them from upcoming games. I hope they do.
All in all, I'm loving this World Cup!
USA did well, they already showed that their improvements at the ConFed Cup last year.
WOW, just now the Paraguayans scored against Italy!
Holand was a big disappointment today, they can play so much better
I would have expected England to win that game, not a tie. Not a good start for England. StefanA tie? See, this is why USAians have trouble with futbol. We want to crush our enemies and see them driven before us, not shake hands in a gentlemanly fashion and go to tea.
I think you mistake cricket with football. Cricket's the game where you stop for tea (and lunch too). Very civilised.
Football's the game where you have several beers, watch the game, have several more beers and crack a few heads, not so civilised.
I would have expected England to win that game, not a tie. Not a good start for England. StefanA tie? See, this is why USAians have trouble with futbol. We want to crush our enemies and see them driven before us, not shake hands in a gentlemanly fashion and go to tea.I think you mistake cricket with football. Cricket's the game where you stop for tea (and lunch too). Very civilised.
Football's the game where you have several beers, watch the game, have several more beers and crack a few heads, not so civilised.
It depends on the game of cricket you are playing - "20-20" is about 3-6ish hours at he most - "One day" is up to 10ish hours and "Test Cricket" can go up to 5 days. So for a day night game they will stop for dinner.
I wasn't far off in my prediction for how much Australia was going to get smashed by Germany - I had the Germans winning by 5 to 0.
Our expectations of our soccer team (I hate saying football(the conceitedness irritates me)) have been hyped up to much - We don't have that many talented players and those that we have are old and the coach is nothing compared to the coach we had last world cup. The opposition knows what to expect from our grinding "hard" style of "football" and can milk it with dives and falls for penalties.
That said we have done well to make it to the world cup Go you Aussies - play your best.
I just watched the game between New Zealand and Slovakia. Awesome! I'm a Kiwi and very proud of the guys. :D
Congrats & well done. The Kiwi's are my second team. I wonder how many Americans would be scratching their heads about the team name "The all Whites"? It is a fairly powerful set of words especially in South Africa, even though it refers to the uniform the same way there is a Boston Red Sox.
My only consolation is that Australia beat England in the Rugby (not that anybody would notice).
I just hope the US does well.
Well, actually, I just want Wayne Rooney to break a leg.
Well, really, I want all of the ManU players to get grossly injured -- and stay injured during the Premier League season.
Blah blah blah. Agreed on Rooney, but Arsenal? They were lucky to finish ahead of Spurs. I just can't root for any of the big four. It's like being a Yankees fan.
I think you will find Chelsea (double winners!) rule :)
Nope & nope - SPURS rule! Tottenham FTW! :-p
(But I will agree on the boos to ManU!)
Nice to see someone sensible around here . . . and although I'm pulling for the U.S., now that they're done with England, I have to pull for them, too, since they have five Spurs on their bench.
USA!
USA!
USA!
Poodle hooliganism just isn't all that frightening…is it?
Poodle hooliganism just isn't all that frightening…is it?
*Shake, shake*
Magic Eight Ball says....try again.
*Shake, shake*
Magic Eight Ball says....try again.
I thought about smashing some windows, but then I would feel bad because the small business owners' insurance would go up.
What if we lit the poodles on fire?
1871?
Yay! I love the smell of burning fur in the morning.
US robbed of the winning goal by a horrible offsides call AND the ref not calling multiple fouls. That was just s#&*ty reffing.
And this is one way our football is better than theirs. In the NFL, the refs have to announce what the call actually was. The announcers still didn't know at the end of the game and neither did the coach. I have no idea what they actually called other than no goal.
A beautiful game for both halves, ruined by awful refereeing.
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US robbed of the winning goal by a horrible offsides call AND the ref not calling multiple fouls. That was just s#&*ty reffing.And this is one way our football is better than theirs. In the NFL, the refs have to announce what the call actually was. The announcers still didn't know at the end of the game and neither did the coach. I have no idea what they actually called other than no goal.
A beautiful game for both halves, ruined by awful refereeing.
This was a big problem during the last cup. The refs decided more games than the teams did through bad calls and penalty kicks. Pretty damn ridiculous.
This was a big problem during the last cup. The refs decided more games than the teams did through bad calls and penalty kicks. Pretty damn ridiculous.US robbed of the winning goal by a horrible offsides call AND the ref not calling multiple fouls. That was just s#&*ty reffing.And this is one way our football is better than theirs. In the NFL, the refs have to announce what the call actually was. The announcers still didn't know at the end of the game and neither did the coach. I have no idea what they actually called other than no goal.
A beautiful game for both halves, ruined by awful refereeing.
There's probaly a lot of anti-USA feeling in the soccer world due the distain the USA as a nation has towards soccer and that resentment could bias the refs.
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There's probaly a lot of anti-USA feeling in the soccer world due the distain the USA as a nation has towards soccer and that resentment could bias the refs.This was a big problem during the last cup. The refs decided more games than the teams did through bad calls and penalty kicks. Pretty damn ridiculous.US robbed of the winning goal by a horrible offsides call AND the ref not calling multiple fouls. That was just s#&*ty reffing.And this is one way our football is better than theirs. In the NFL, the refs have to announce what the call actually was. The announcers still didn't know at the end of the game and neither did the coach. I have no idea what they actually called other than no goal.
A beautiful game for both halves, ruined by awful refereeing.
It wasn't just the US last cup...there were several games decided on PKs. That being said, I agree that there may have been some bias in calling the bad offsides and not calling the other penalties in this particular game.
I don't know, Germany probably has the same complaint after 8 yellow cards were handed to them, which not only made them play a man down and lose, but also affects them during the next game and possibly in the knockout rounds as well, if someone gets a yellow next game.
And then there's this gem, from Donovan on "The Call": “I’m a little gutted to be honest. I don’t know how they stole that last goal from us. I’m not sure what the call was. He (the referee) wouldn’t tell us what the call was.”
Let's go Algeria, tie with the England!
I don't know, Germany probably has the same complaint after 8 yellow cards were handed to them, which not only made them play a man down and lose, but also affects them during the next game and possibly in the knockout rounds as well, if someone gets a yellow next game.
Yeah, didn´t go well today, even if it were only four yellow, not 8. The referee was very stern in his rulings in the beginning, but became more lenient in the 2nd half. I guess he noticed that he went over the top with the yellow/red against Klose. But in the end, the players win or lose a game. The German team did not find its rhythm today.
So from what little I have learned from my coworkers here who enjoy watching the world cup.
The teams to support are the USA, Mexico and whomsoever is facing off against England. Which means right now Go Algeria!
Yeah, and Algeria got the tie, awesome!
Yeah, didn´t go well today, even if it were only four yellow, not 8. The referee was very stern in his rulings in the beginning, but became more lenient in the 2nd half. I guess he noticed that he went over the top with the yellow/red against Klose. But in the end, the players win or lose a game. The German team did not find its rhythm today.
Five yellows (or 4 + a red). But the basic requirement of umpiring is consistency so that the players know the rules of the game. Call it loose or call it tight, but call it consistently. When you call it tight, then stop giving cards once the Serbs' defenders all have yellows, that's unfair to Germany. And I don't agree about not finding their rhythm: they pressed the Serbs pretty well for playing a man down and with an inconsistent ref.
And this FIFA policy of not explaining calls? Ridiculous. I have so much respect for MLB, NBA and NFL refs right now. At least they explain their calls to the players, managers, and/or fans. Blowing the call is one thing; not manning up and standing behind your call is quite another.
Now American soccer fans know how the Irish feel, I guess.
US robbed of the winning goal by a horrible offsides call AND the ref not calling multiple fouls. That was just s!*~ty reffing.
It's a shame, too, because there's been more interest in this World Cup (around here, anyway) than in any previous one. But the way to turn Americans off pretty quick is with arbitrary decisions that might be construed as US-hating. I hope the interest stays high.
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US robbed of the winning goal by a horrible offsides call AND the ref not calling multiple fouls. That was just s!*~ty reffing.It's a shame, too, because there's been more interest in this World Cup (around here, anyway) than in any previous one. But the way to turn Americans off pretty quick is with arbitrary decisions that might be construed as US-hating. I hope the interest stays high.
The bad thing about soccer is that most americans (and I know I'm guilty of this) will only find games between two sub-par teams exciting. We like to see results and dont really care as much about the subtleties that are football.
The bad thing about soccer is that most americans (and I know I'm guilty of this) will only find games between two sub-par teams exciting. We like to see results and dont really care as much about the subtleties that are football.US robbed of the winning goal by a horrible offsides call AND the ref not calling multiple fouls. That was just s!*~ty reffing.It's a shame, too, because there's been more interest in this World Cup (around here, anyway) than in any previous one. But the way to turn Americans off pretty quick is with arbitrary decisions that might be construed as US-hating. I hope the interest stays high.
That would improve with education about the game, right? I'm at the point that I can't tell what was going on during the play that caused all the hoo-hah for the USA today.
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That would improve with education about the game, right? I'm at the point that I can't tell what was going on during the play that caused all the hoo-hah for the USA today.The bad thing about soccer is that most americans (and I know I'm guilty of this) will only find games between two sub-par teams exciting. We like to see results and dont really care as much about the subtleties that are football.US robbed of the winning goal by a horrible offsides call AND the ref not calling multiple fouls. That was just s!*~ty reffing.It's a shame, too, because there's been more interest in this World Cup (around here, anyway) than in any previous one. But the way to turn Americans off pretty quick is with arbitrary decisions that might be construed as US-hating. I hope the interest stays high.
The hoo-hah was three-fold. First, it was apparent after viewing the footage, that if anything should have been called, it should have been called on the slovenians (they literally had some of the US players in bear hugs). Second, the only possible thing that could have been called on the US was an off-sides and, again, after viewing the footage, it's apparent nobody on the US team was off-sides. Third, the ref never said what he was calling the penalty on--the US players asked him what the penalty was in both english and french and he refused to say. IIRC, he was even asked after the game and refused to say then.
Now all that being said, it was a very lackluster performance by the US team. They were heavy favorites in this match and let themselves get behind two goals. If anything, there should have been a sound victory for the US team...not the barely-win they deserved or the tie they got.
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Australia v. Ghana
Beats head against wall...
"I guess their utter loss against Germany prevented us from realizing they have an inability to play."
I'm disappointed with the Black Stars... They could not have been given a better opportunity to win the match; I mean they were up one player for almost 70 minutes of the match.
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And this is one way our football is better than theirs.
Ick.
You know, my soul is one with American football and the blood that flows in my veins is VIKING Purple. American football is very nearly my life.
I'll never feel for football what I feel for American football.
But the thought that one can say our (US) football is "better" than original football -- the biggest thing, let alone sport, on the planet, is ridiculous.
Especially for something like a badly blown call after a game with a handful of questionable calls.
As if we don't have that in our sports.
FIFA may sit Slovenia-U.S. referee
Personally, I feel in a game where if a team scores 3 times it is pretty amazing, you should be pretty careful about throwing away a goal. You had better be damn sure, with no doubt at all, that you are making the right call. If it was basketball where scores 50 or more baskets are not unheard off, sure you can probably get away with a blown call when it comes to a single basket, but in soccer (or a game like hockey) you don't have the same margin for error.
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But the way to turn Americans off pretty quick is with arbitrary decisions that might be construed as US-hating.
Hmmm,
This is what a bunch of my friends and I are discussing -- many of whom are not American (and thus all know everything about football compared to my nothing):The draw against world-power England (clearly having a poor Cup) got many Americans paying casual attention.
This, followed by the bad judging at the Slovenia game is making many, many many Americans talking -- vehemently -- about football.
So, it seems that this is good -- it's bringing Americans to talk about it. Even watch it. Even those who have never liked football.
And this is one way our football is better than theirs.But the thought that one can say our (US) football is "better" than original football -- the biggest thing, let alone sport, on the planet, is ridiculous.
Especially for something like a badly blown call after a game with a handful of questionable calls.
As if we don't have that in our sports.
You're misreading me. I said "one way" American football is better than football, not that it IS better than football. Any sport can have superior aspects to another sport. The idea of refs explaining calls as being superior to soccer policy was something I got from a UK paper around the time of the annual London NFL game.
And it's not the blown call, although that's pretty bad. It's that they don't ever need to explain it. NFL refs call back plays for inadvertent whistles. But they do have to announce that that's what the call was, or if this was one of the random plays they call holding on, etc.
The draw against world-power England (clearly having a poor Cup) got many Americans paying casual attention.
This, followed by the bad judging at the Slovenia game is making many, many many Americans talking -- vehemently -- about football.
I've heard that argument. I don't think that finding a new reason to hate soccer is good for the sport's future here, though.
The bad thing about soccer is that most americans (and I know I'm guilty of this) will only find games between two sub-par teams exciting. We like to see results and dont really care as much about the subtleties that are football.
Tons of Americans play soccer in private leagues or on school teams when they're young. Certainly more Americans have played soccer than have played on a hockey or football team. There's a big problem when you can't interest people who actually have played your sport to watch the sport. And while the ratings for the US-ENG game were great, we still don't watch MLS and I shudder to think what will happen if they don't advance due to this thing.
Unless they have changed the rules and I am not aware, you can not be off sides on a corner kick. I think the ref saw people falling and figured there was a foul in there somewhere.
The referees leave indeed much to be desired. If one thing is consistent with this World Cup, its bad referees. I did not watch US vs. Slovenia, but if the ref was in error when not allowing the goal (as it seems to be the case), it is very bad. And the yellow-happy ref in the Germany vs. Serbia game - the german team was obviously flustered after Klose wes sent out after yellow/red, and lost the game at least in part because of that. IIRC, there were some scenes in the second half by some of the already yellowed serbian defenders that were yellow-worthy - but nothing happened. An experienced german ref called the attempt to control the game by early and harsh rulings a typical beginners mistake, as it never works out. I had the impression that the refs had the directions to rule harshly, in an attempt to make it a "nice" World Cup. (Even that would not have prevented Zidanes headbutt against Materazzi in 2006, which may - or may not - be a reason behind these harsh rulings).
But that is all history. Now, we have to win against Ghana, and everything is good again. The game against Australia shows that Ghana is far from invincible.
Stefan
Unless they have changed the rules and I am not aware, you can not be off sides on a corner kick. I think the ref saw people falling and figured there was a foul in there somewhere.
If you are speaking of the US-Slovenia game, it wasn't a corner kick.
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But that is all history. Now, we have to win against Ghana, and everything is good again. The game against Australia shows that Ghana is far from invincible.
Stefan
I think Ghana-Germany is going to be a good match...I think "home-court" advantage is going to play a big part in it. Aren't both Germany and Ghana guaranteed to advance anyway? The whole point system always confuddled me.
Aren't both Germany and Ghana guaranteed to advance anyway?
No. Ghana has four points and Germany and Serbia three. Winning a game is worth three points, a draw one point each.
If either of them wins, this team advances.If there is a draw, Ghana advances surely, but Germany advances only if Serbia also has draw.
If Germany loses and Serbia loses also, Germany advances. (Except in the highly unlikely scenario that Serbia manages to score more goals than Germany has
If Ghana loses and Serbia wins, Germany and Serbia advance.
In short: except for Australia, winning the next match is the ticket to the next game. Australia would have to win and Germany would have to lose for Australia to advance.
Stefan
I can list several reasons that soccer will never be as popular as Rugby and Aussie Rules Football in Australia, American Football in the US and Rugby in New Zealand.
1. Italy (they are just an example) - the dives, its blatant cheating and very unmanly.
2. Incompetent, biased, referees, - decisions will always be made in favour of the larger soccer nations. No video referees, little to no review of standards and decisions made by referees. The referee doesn't even have to say what the penalty is for. This opens up the game to corruption because they can randomly penalise teams to change the flow of the games.
3. The arrogance and snobbery attached the game, every 4 years I get lectured on how superior the "beautiful game" is, it gives me the shits. I have played both types of Rugby, Australian Rules football, and Soccer. I enjoyed playing Aussie Rules the most it is a very fun and flowing game, I hate watching it though it looks messy. I love watching both types of Rugby (Other than Hurley both Rugby's are my preference to watch), but playing the game was tough and involved lots of pain, I had fun but not as much as playing Aussie Rules. Soccer I was good at I was selected for firsts for my school, I found it boring to play and the people that I played with were like Steve Jobs iPeople - "there was nothing else, every other game was inferior not different and soccer will eventually wipe out all other sports". There is nothing that will make people more stubborn then being told that the game they love will die and "football" will take its place -
I am sure that along with my Kiwi and American compatriots we will enjoy the watching the game but it will be far down the list of our favourite sports and it wont fully take over the world.
I disagree. At least for the US, I believe the reason it has failed to 'take off' is that, one, it is low scoring. Americans seem to like to see lots of points. Two, not enough fighting. Hockey is essentially soccer on ice so why is it more popular than soccer? At some point during the game, someone is going to throw off the gloves and knock the crap out of another player.