FIFA World Cup 2010.

[Verdad]

No idea what to think of the ref's decision on that goal.

All ready for England-Algeria....

 

[DKPeter]

I was watching the United States - Slovenia game. I think the refs robbed the US of their third goal of the game.

 

[ShyChiWriter]

I love England, I've got a ton of friends from there... but, I'm not necessarily sad for their tie today. If USA takes Algeria. Onward and upward!

btw - Couldn't have been more wrong on my predictions today.

 

[oggbashan]

England 0 Algeria 0

I'd rather have watched my home town's pathetic team.

Og

 

[jomar]

England 0 Algeria 0

I'd rather have watched my home town's pathetic team.

Og

Jeez. The US and England both need wins to advance. They both tie and it comes down to number of goals scored or worse - they end up drawing the names from a friggin hat!

That's where this system breaks down for me. That's worse than a win by PK's.

 

[SeaCat]

I think the Ref. during the U.S., Slovenia game has some explaining to do if he wants to keep his credibility.

At first he called it as an offsides. Then when he was confronted about it he changed the call to a foul against the U.S. Team but never said against whom the foul was being given.

Cat

 

[LaRocha]

As an American, it shocks me how Soccer lacks an instant replay to overrule the refs on the field. I saw at least 3 incorrect calls, that should have given a final score of 3-1 US and also no yellow card for Finley.

TERRIBLE officiating. Investigation forthcoming?

As a fellow American, I've always thought soccer was shocking.

 

[jomar]

As an American, it shocks me how Soccer lacks an instant replay to overrule the refs on the field. I saw at least 3 incorrect calls, that should have given a final score of 3-1 US and also no yellow card for Finley.

TERRIBLE officiating. Investigation forthcoming?

Yeah, replay is needed.

I hope so. The announcers said he reffed at some African league finals (?) and was in the middle of controversy there, alluding to a bad call he made. He's got to be good to be where he's at, and everybody can have a bad day, but something seemed really off...might be worse than ruining a no-hitter.

 

[jomar]

I think the Ref. during the U.S., Slovenia game has some explaining to do if he wants to keep his credibility.

At first he called it as an offsides. Then when he was confronted about it he changed the call to a foul against the U.S. Team but never said against whom the foul was being given.

Cat

There was no foul by the US. The replays showed the defenders dragging the US players to the ground! It was laughable.

 

[Weird Harold]

There was no foul by the US. The replays showed the defenders dragging the US players to the ground! It was laughable.

There were so many US players getting mugged on that play I think the ref just thought we had added Slovenian capes to our uniforms.

 

[colddiesel]

Cry babies?

I'm getting a mildly perverse pleasure from listening to the plaintve cries of a nation of 300 million that could not beat a country about the size of Maine with less than 0.7 % of the comparative population to draw players from.

 

[driphoney]

I'm getting a mildly perverse pleasure from listening to the plaintve cries of a nation of 300 million that could not beat a country about the size of Maine with less than 0.7 % of the comparative population to draw players from.

I thought most of these same "cry babies" were very honest in their assessment of how the US played against the UK.

 

[matriarch]

..............

All ready for England-Algeria....

What a sad, non-event.

 

[oggbashan]

What a sad, non-event.

I haven't seen any match, not just the England matches, that look as if the play was at the standard of the world's best.

Is it the consequence of the new, lighter ball? Or the pitches? Or the officials? Or just overly-defensive play?

Where is the spectacle, the drama, the quality?

The last World Cup was so much better.

Og

 

[jomar]

I'm getting a mildly perverse pleasure from listening to the plaintve cries of a nation of 300 million that could not beat a country about the size of Maine with less than 0.7 % of the comparative population to draw players from.

Yeah, you'd think...the US has the athletes but not the soccer culture.

 

[sdsioux]

I was watching the United States - Slovenia game. I think the refs robbed the US of their third goal of the game.

They sure did. If this had happened to South Africa the fans would have stormed the field and tarred and feathered the ref. Bad Bad Bad

 

[CharleyH]

WTF is happening here, England? No win, I can handle it, but English fans actually 'booing the team they support?' The behaviour of your fans is reprehensible and discusting, almost downright American! .

My question is: do English people go to their son's and daughter's football games and 'boo' them when they don't do well? With support like that it's no wonder England hasn't won a world cup since 1966.

Just sayin'

 

[oggbashan]

WTF is happening here, England? No win, I can handle it, but English fans actually 'booing the team they support?' The behaviour of your fans is reprehensible and discusting, almost downright American! .

My question is: do English people go to their son's and daughter's football games and 'boo' them when they don't do well? With support like that it's no wonder England hasn't won a world cup since 1966.

Just sayin'

No, we don't boo our kids. We encourage them. We even continue to support our kids' teams who lose by cricket scores, and they will still play their best when totally outclassed. We support professional and amateur teams that have lost game after game - sometimes for generations.

At the END of a match, we do boo very expensive players who have performed WORSE than our kids. We can expect to lose to better teams who have outplayed our team in an entertaining match. We don't expect to draw with teams that shouldn't be capable of stopping our team scoring.

Would you expect Superbowl stars to lose to a hick college's team? That is what England's team looked like doing.

The England goalkeeper's mistake in the match against the US should not have mattered - if the team had scored more goals. The US was, and is, an underdog in the World Cup contest because soccer is not a major sport in the US. They don't have many top-flight soccer players to chose from. The US has done better than most commentators would have expected. England? They haven't shown anything like the form that got them to the World Cup.

Og

 

[fieryjen]

So I'm getting paranoid about an early exit from the World Cup for Germany, which is why I drew up a chart looking at all of the possibilities.

Question:

The Australian captain was quoted as saying that his team can progress if Germany plays as well against Ghana as it did against Australia. According to my chart that's incorrect, and the only way Australia can advance at this point is if thy win against Serbia and Ghana wins against Germany, giving Ghana 7 points total and Australia 4 and leaving Serbia and Germany with 3 points each.

So is he wrong or my chart?

 

[oggbashan]

So I'm getting paranoid about an early exit from the World Cup for Germany, which is why I drew up a chart looking at all of the possibilities.

Question:

The Australian captain was quoted as saying that his team can progress if Germany plays as well against Ghana as it did against Australia. According to my chart that's incorrect, and the only way Australia can advance at this point is if thy win against Serbia and Ghana wins against Germany, giving Ghana 7 points total and Australia 4 and leaving Serbia and Germany with 3 points each.

So is he wrong or my chart?

I think that he's wrong, and you are right.

Or - he meant that if Germany play as well against Ghana as they did against Australia, then Ghana must win, because Ghana is a much better team than Australia...

Og

 

[fieryjen]

I think that he's wrong, and you are right.

Og

Thank you Og. So I did draw up the chart correctly after all.

It means Germany will advance only if we win against Ghana, or if we tie and Australia beats Serbia.

Ooh, another question - tie breakers? Say Serbia and Germany both win their games, leaving them tied with 6 points each at the top of their group. Does it come down to goals scored (in which Germany will likely have an edge) or will Serbia advance in first place automatically as they beat Germany?

Or - he meant that if Germany play as well against Ghana as they did against Australia, then Ghana must win, because Ghana is a much better team than Australia...

Oh, yes that may be. Though I would be a bit surprised if he indeed meant it that way (just because I thought Germany did look great against Australia, and Ghana is not that stellar).

 

[ShyChiWriter]

WTF is happening here, England? No win, I can handle it, but English fans actually 'booing the team they support?' The behaviour of your fans is reprehensible and discusting, almost downright American! .

My question is: do English people go to their son's and daughter's football games and 'boo' them when they don't do well? With support like that it's no wonder England hasn't won a world cup since 1966.

Just sayin'

Let's not jump to stereotypes that all of England are harsh fans because the best players in the world are playing like scared schoolboys.

I've noticed New Yorkers can be particularly hard on their teams when they don't live up to expectations - especially Yankee fans. White Sox fans here in Chicago certainly aren't kind when their team doesn't perform (Cubs fans... well, we're used to it )

It really is as Ogg said - on paper England has arguably the strongest team out there when judged on an individual player basis. To see them pissing away goals by skidding tentative passes instead of just taking control. Compare Landon Donovan's goal for the US the other day vs every time England got into the crease, and you can see why they'd be ticked off.

 

[CharleyH]

No, we don't boo our kids. We encourage them. We even continue to support our kids' teams who lose by cricket scores, and they will still play their best when totally outclassed. We support professional and amateur teams that have lost game after game - sometimes for generations.

At the END of a match, we do boo very expensive players who have performed WORSE than our kids. We can expect to lose to better teams who have outplayed our team in an entertaining match. We don't expect to draw with teams that shouldn't be capable of stopping our team scoring.

Would you expect Superbowl stars to lose to a hick college's team? That is what England's team looked like doing.

The England goalkeeper's mistake in the match against the US should not have mattered - if the team had scored more goals. The US was, and is, an underdog in the World Cup contest because soccer is not a major sport in the US. They don't have many top-flight soccer players to chose from. The US has done better than most commentators would have expected. England? They haven't shown anything like the form that got them to the World Cup.

Og

After the last game between England and Algeria, you'd never know England was supportive and reading British newspaper headlines each morning, you never know what to expect, Og. One day it's the best team to have ever walked into a pitch, the next day it's worse than a hick college team. If you look at the rankings and even at the history of the teams, England would be favourite, yes, but in no way as big a favourite as only the Brits paint it to be. The only time they won anything at all or even came close was back in 1966, and playing at home with all the perks that brings. Nevertheless, English fans booing their team off the tarmac? Wow, such support should win them the world title! Rooney was right to berate the fans.

 

[oggbashan]

After the last game between England and Algeria, you'd never know England was supportive and reading British newspaper headlines each morning, you never know what to expect, Og. One day it's the best team to have ever walked into a pitch, the next day it's worse than a hick college team. If you look at the rankings and even at the history of the teams, England would be favourite, yes, but in no way as big a favourite as only the Brits paint it to be. The only time they won anything at all or even came close was back in 1966, and playing at home with all the perks that brings. Nevertheless, English fans booing their team off the tarmac? Wow, such support should win them the world title! Rooney was right to berate the fans.

My town, and most towns throughout England, are covered in England flags. During the England matches, traffic drops to virtually nothing, there are no people on the streets - the support is very strong.

The newspapers? They blame the goalkeeper, the coach - anyone - but the reality is that the team's performance has been poor. The fans hope. They expected more, perhaps not to win, but at least to show some sign of competence.

The fans who have travelled to South Africa have paid thousands of pounds/dollars to be there and to travel around the country to the matches. They aren't watching performances from the England team that justify the fans' expenses.

The fans booed AFTER the match was over. During the match against Mexico they supported their team as best they could, but afterwards? The fans hadn't seen anything like the performance that should have been expected from the team on a poor day. The team gave away possession too often, too easily, with very basic mistakes. The shots at goal were inaccurate or straight at the goalkeeper when a pass to another player could have been more effective.

The display against Mexicooops Algeria! was BAD. England may not be the best team but they should be much better than they have showed in their matches so far. If they continue like this, they will be justifiably eliminated and the fans will be very angry.

Og

 

[Verdad]

The display against Mexico was BAD. England may not be the best team but they should be much better than they have showed in their matches so far. If they continue like this, they will be justifiably eliminated and the fans will be very angry.

Og

It could be worse. You could be a fan of France.

Wasn't the lighter ball introduced for the last WC, though? Or is this a lighter-lighter ball? Whatever the reason, lame performances have been aplenty.

Germany wasn't really among them, though. I wouldn't fear yet if I were you, Jen.