aufheben
#Norris4Fox
I can. Just another WC performance for them. They're always so overrated. Just cause the EPL is a top league doesn't mean ****.
OT: *** 2014 FIFA World Cup ~ Brazil ~ 6/12-7/13 [ESPN] ***
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I can. Just another WC performance for them. They're always so overrated. Just cause the EPL is a top league doesn't mean ****.
I agree they're overrated, but there's no way that team shouldn't have been making it out of the Group.
Overrated, yea, still good, certainly.
aufheben
#Norris4Fox
Any other WC I'd be on board, the way their fans and media seem to think they're entitled to the trophy, even if they haven't won it since '66.
This year even the worst media outlets recognize they never had a realistic shot and the fans didn't expect a lot more than they got.
I almost feel bad for them.
Amazing Kreiderman
Registered User
- Apr 11, 2011
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I've watched World Cup football ever since 1994 (I was only 6 in 1990) and this years WC, has been the most entertaining since 1998. The smaller teams are really fun to watch (Costa Rica, USA, Ecuador, Chile, Australia) and some teams are performing much better than expected. My own team, Holland, is doing so well, nobody here can believe it. After making the final 4 years ago, we went through a rough patch, replacing old veterans with young talents but those talented defenders have almost no experience against top opposition, playing in the Dutch league still.
Yet, they have won 2 games and were the first team to qualify for the 2nd round together with Chile. Amazing
Yet, they have won 2 games and were the first team to qualify for the 2nd round together with Chile. Amazing
aufheben
#Norris4Fox
Yeah, it was pretty obviously not offside, not sure what the linesman was looking at.
That line is wrong (should be at the left foot of the defender) which makes it even worse. Ridiculous call.
The English are a rough bunch. They remind me a lot of us as Rangers fans. Since I'm an avid EPL follower, I interact with a lot of them on Twitter and while they're confident and know the sport, they really are hard on their teams. I would never root for them, but I can sympathize with how they are. They are disasters after losses and cocky as anyone after wins (which is why people hate them). Overall though, they deserved a better fate in this one. The Italy game was close and I thought they really took it to Uruguay. They just couldn't capitalize. It happens.
The two up front, Robben and RVP, are as good as it gets. And boy are they fun to watch. RVP has single-handedly made me a semi-fan of Man U. I love that guy. And even though I despise Rooney, I just can't get over how good they both are. Rooting for Sunderland, I need a competitive team to cheer for anyways. LVG will probably make him captain of Man U.
It was despicable. Mistakes like that are unacceptable. Unless you are sure, you don't make that call.
ChaosLord
Registered User
- Jan 16, 2010
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This WC is still in group stages so it is a little preamture to start ranking it vis a vis past World Cups. It has been exciting, no doubt, but we could still get to the next round and have 0-0 ties decided on PKs, so lets give it a little time just yet. You're right. 1998 was one of the best WC ever, with France's incredible run; 2002 wasn't bad, with South Korea going deep into the tournament; 2006 was one of the worst in histoory, with the shameful 0-0 final decided on PKs; 2010 was pretty good, with a nice final and Spain getting the monkey off their backs.
This one has the potential to be great. Personally, I think it will be remembered as the "Americas" cup, with a surprise team from the American continent getting to the semi-finals or even finals.
Actually the 2006 final was 1-1 after regulation and extra time (Zidane's famous penalty off the bar and in) while the 2010 final was 0-0 after regulation. But I agree that the play at the 2006 World Cup overall was worse than in 2010
Chimpradamus
Registered User
What I do know I'm bitter about is Sweden had to qualify for the World Cup in a group with Germany, while battling with Ireland and Austria (solid teams). Yeah, good luck getting the first place in that group to qualify. And it it's not Germany, it's Spain, Italy or some other killer that you're always paired up with. Every frigging year. You know it's bad when it's harder to qualify to the actual championship than it is to get past the first round (half the group is always filled with garbage and two best teams advance instead of the best one, like in the qualifications).
So, we had to qualify as a 2nd placed team against frigging Portugal, to make matters worse. Meanwhile, teams like Iceland, Romania and Greece battled it out with eachother. For ****s sake.
So what was the corrupt FIFA strategy to all of this? Decreasing the spots to Europe and increasing them to - no offense - Mickey Mouse regions of the world when it comes to football. Just so I can watch teams like Japan, Iran and Cameroon play pathetic football and embarrass themselves. Nigeria won their first World Cup match in like 16 years, yet they always qualify pretty much automatically. So instead of watching Ibrahimovic make another ridiculous goal, we get to see some no name Japanese guys miss the goal with about one half of the stands for 90 minutes or watch the Iranians play like Kazakstan in hockey, full out hedgehog defense the entire game. Great going.
I have to agree though this has been a quite entertaining WC, with alot of upsets, but not much quality football (if much at all). Smaller nations have performed really well. My suspicions are it might have something to do with the ridiculous heat and humidity. When they are to play in Qatar, it'll be even more upsets. Nice for entertainment purposes, but hosting in Qatar? Alot of bribe money involved there I guess.
Reffing has been atrocious, which is what you get when you choose refs for political reasons. Just as they increase the number of spots from Mickey Mouse regions for the same reasons.
My hope is simple: let the best frigging teams (and the best refs!) participate in the world cup. Who cares if the majority of refs are from Europe and South America? Make it an all-world qualifier or something, not just regional qualifiers. Where were the refs from that screwed up royally in the Nigeria - Serbia game? New Zeeland. Ever heard of their footbal? No, me neither, for good reason.
So, we had to qualify as a 2nd placed team against frigging Portugal, to make matters worse. Meanwhile, teams like Iceland, Romania and Greece battled it out with eachother. For ****s sake.
So what was the corrupt FIFA strategy to all of this? Decreasing the spots to Europe and increasing them to - no offense - Mickey Mouse regions of the world when it comes to football. Just so I can watch teams like Japan, Iran and Cameroon play pathetic football and embarrass themselves. Nigeria won their first World Cup match in like 16 years, yet they always qualify pretty much automatically. So instead of watching Ibrahimovic make another ridiculous goal, we get to see some no name Japanese guys miss the goal with about one half of the stands for 90 minutes or watch the Iranians play like Kazakstan in hockey, full out hedgehog defense the entire game. Great going.
I have to agree though this has been a quite entertaining WC, with alot of upsets, but not much quality football (if much at all). Smaller nations have performed really well. My suspicions are it might have something to do with the ridiculous heat and humidity. When they are to play in Qatar, it'll be even more upsets. Nice for entertainment purposes, but hosting in Qatar? Alot of bribe money involved there I guess.
Reffing has been atrocious, which is what you get when you choose refs for political reasons. Just as they increase the number of spots from Mickey Mouse regions for the same reasons.
My hope is simple: let the best frigging teams (and the best refs!) participate in the world cup. Who cares if the majority of refs are from Europe and South America? Make it an all-world qualifier or something, not just regional qualifiers. Where were the refs from that screwed up royally in the Nigeria - Serbia game? New Zeeland. Ever heard of their footbal? No, me neither, for good reason.
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I don't really agree. I would agree that the seeding is flawed, but what's the point of all-world qualifiers? All they would do is shifting the selection a couple of rounds. If you can't qualify, your chances of winning it aren't that big to begin with. There are 13 spots for UEFA and if you can't make it, chances are that you are not among the top 10 teams in the world. It's probably not the 32 best teams of the world at the WC, but the top teams are there and that's what matters for the end result. It's also mostly not the "Mickey-Mouse" teams on the wrong end of a lopsided score, but rather some big name UEFA nations who are the laughing stock.
I get that it would be nice for teams to qualify, but I'd rather have some teams from all over the world than just Europe+South America or something like that. And the real problem wouldn't even be mitigated with worldwide qualification and that's the seeding. Sweden didn't make it in large due to very uneven qualifying groups and finally the seeding in the playoffs. That should be overhauled (the FIFA ranking is just ridiculous).
Chimpradamus
Registered User
You make a good point in that the FIFA world ranking is laughable. It's not even remotely close to accurate and that might have something to do with the damage that is made. The best ranking system by far is the unofficial ELO ratings for national teams (same rating system as in chess). The FIFA rankings seem to be run by financial investors, that are outdueled by chimps with darts.
I probably wouldn't be as vocal about it if it wasn't for that Sweden didn't qualify. But I still remember when a team like the Netherlands didn't qualify and I considered that a joke as well. There's always some upset in the Euro qualifier, it's that tough.
I can't even remember the last time Sweden didn't qualify for the WC. It took a really bad seeding to make it happen, because who the heck would be sure to qualify for the WC if you have to face Germany and Portugal? It's not like I have any delusions that Sweden would've advanced that far in the WC (probably a QF or so), but I sure as hell know they would've done a better job playing enjoyable football than a bunch of teams participating in this tournament. Especially since we have a world class forward who can create a goal out of nothing and an uncharacteristically suspect defense.
Teams like Iran, Japan, Greece and a couple of more I have currently repressed, have made me want to stab my eyes out.
I probably wouldn't be as vocal about it if it wasn't for that Sweden didn't qualify. But I still remember when a team like the Netherlands didn't qualify and I considered that a joke as well. There's always some upset in the Euro qualifier, it's that tough.
I can't even remember the last time Sweden didn't qualify for the WC. It took a really bad seeding to make it happen, because who the heck would be sure to qualify for the WC if you have to face Germany and Portugal? It's not like I have any delusions that Sweden would've advanced that far in the WC (probably a QF or so), but I sure as hell know they would've done a better job playing enjoyable football than a bunch of teams participating in this tournament. Especially since we have a world class forward who can create a goal out of nothing and an uncharacteristically suspect defense.
Teams like Iran, Japan, Greece and a couple of more I have currently repressed, have made me want to stab my eyes out.
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Yeah it was shameful starting with Malouda's diving like he was kicked in the back by a horse to gain France a penalty, and Italy scoring a legitimate second goal that was incorrectly called offside.
Chimpradamus
Registered User
I really disagree about the 2002 WC being a good one because teams like South Korea and Japan advancing far as host teams. That was one of the biggest reffing scandals I've ever seen and it happened in continuous games with the same team. South Korea would never have beaten Portugal, Italy and Spain if not for huge help from the refs in all those games.
Yet again, a big part of it was probably refs from Mickey Mouse leagues. That's where it started.
Yet again, a big part of it was probably refs from Mickey Mouse leagues. That's where it started.
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The big issue lies with the alottment. I realize many people are like you where they want to see teams from all over the world, but I don't see a need to have teams there that are just carpets for other teams to walk over on their way to the championship.
I think you need to limit the spaces. Right now there are just too many teams that are not in the same league as the big boys. Argentina's group is a joke.
Sweden should be there. As a soccer/futbol fan, I want to see the best in the world. That's what the world cup should be. It shouldn't be an Olympic games, we have those already. I think it's absurd that some teams didn't make it due to their grouping and allotment while teams like Iran/Japan even the USA to an extent get a free pass because there are so many spots to go around to mediocre talent.
I think the way it is plays into the layman viewer though. They want to see teams from all over the world while a lot of "real" (not to say you aren't, I have no clue if you are) fans want to see the best of the best. The fact that Ibrahimovic and his team Sweden aren't there is laughable. It's even more so when you fire off the teams that they would likely be favored over.
Regardless, it is what it is and is still one of, if not, the greatest event in all of sports.
It's been a great sports year for us Rangers fans and people in general. Olympics, Rangers cup run, one of the greatest years of EPL soccer, IMO and now the world cup. Just overall not stop excitement and saves me from watching baseball for 2 months before the EPL season begins.
Chimpradamus
Registered User
Yeah, if hockey fans thought they had it bad, Portugal got 2 red cards, Italy received a red card when they should have had a penalty instead, had a good goal called off and Spain had 3(!!) good goals called off. That's just insane. That's when the conspiracy theories start brewing, bribed refs and whatnot, because those continuous ref performances in the games South Korea played was beyond incompetent.Wow I've never seen that before
This. It's also why minor teams can get the bronze once and then. The way the teams are scattered like a manure spreader in the groups, all the strongest teams can be in one end and eliminate eachother. Sweden did it in 1994 and faced some garbage along the way (like beating Saudi Arabia in the first playoff round). Turkey did it in 2002, they faced garbage teams all the way to the semi finals. They were probably the weakest bronze medalist I've seen in a long time.
It's the same this world cup. Some mediocre team will probably get pretty far on luck with seedings alone. But that's also the beauty of the tournament I guess. Since every game is so important and everything being on a knife's edge, teams being in good form and having some fortune can get very far. This tournament, alot of strong teams on paper have basically eliminated themselves.
But, it's what I like about hockey. You know it's the strong teams facing eachother come medal time. In football, it's more scattered, even though it's alot more competition. That's pretty weird. The gap between strong and weaker teams isn't that big anymore and it's shrinking in hockey as well.
I'm so pissed we didn't get to see Ibrahimovic perform his brazil technique, in Brazil. He'll probably be too old to perform the next cup.
Bad music, amazing forward. And the funny part is most compare him to other strikers, when in reality he's really a target player (center forward). Probably the best target player in football there has ever been. Nobody has the size, strength, technique, power and agility like he has in one package.
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I understand your points and it's true that UEFA should get more spots if it's really just about the best 32 teams in the World Cup. But I also want it to remain a true World Cup. There surely are nations that qualify every time without much trouble like the US (then again Mexico struggled heavily this time), Korea etc. and that European qualification is by far the hardest (though Germany has lost just two games overall in WC qualifiers), but when you can't qualify in Europe, you probably are a second round team at best. The discussion really is all about teams ranked 20 or later, so while it's sad to not have Ibra there, the same could be said about Bale or others.
It's also the wrong WC to complain about small nations being carpets for other teams. The three heaviest losses so far were by Spain, Portugal and Cameroon, while the perceived minnows play pretty decent with some of them (Costa Rica, Algeria) surprising some supposed powerhouses.
And a world wide qualification would have the same faults as long as the flawed ranking is used. The problem with Sweden isn't really Iran or Algeria making it, but rather Greece, Bosnia or Switzerland (who had a very favorable group).
Personally I'd probably take half a place each from AFC and CAF and give it to UEFA and then make the seeding use a better ranking system (ELO is pretty good for example). I still want nations from all over the world take part of the WC. I can see more than enough (24 teams ugh...) UEFA teams at the Euros...
It's also the wrong WC to complain about small nations being carpets for other teams. The three heaviest losses so far were by Spain, Portugal and Cameroon, while the perceived minnows play pretty decent with some of them (Costa Rica, Algeria) surprising some supposed powerhouses.
And a world wide qualification would have the same faults as long as the flawed ranking is used. The problem with Sweden isn't really Iran or Algeria making it, but rather Greece, Bosnia or Switzerland (who had a very favorable group).
Personally I'd probably take half a place each from AFC and CAF and give it to UEFA and then make the seeding use a better ranking system (ELO is pretty good for example). I still want nations from all over the world take part of the WC. I can see more than enough (24 teams ugh...) UEFA teams at the Euros...
Paulie Walnutz
HFNYR JUST AS SOFT AS NYR
- Oct 1, 2008
- 11,138
- 9,431
Well besides this game sucking so far cause the US is losing, every time Ronaldo touches the ball I want to vomit... it sounds like a million girls just saw the premiere of a new Twilight film.
