WC Play So Far

England decides to copy the U.S. approach to central defense. Klose finishes better than the U.S. strikers.

Oops. Another egregious reffing mistake robs England of a goal. England really is paralleling the U.S. experience.

That play is the poster child for replay or goal line refs. Inexcusable. 50,000 people in the stands saw it, the refs didn't.

Didn't matter. The England side looked old and slow. Rooney looks hurt, and they didn't finish the chances they had.

Frankly, the Germany defense didn't look exactly like a lock-down unit either.

I'm surprised Eric Bana did not turn into the Hulk after his goal was not awarded.

And the refs screw up an offsides call on the first Tevez goal. The second one made up for it, and the result would have been the same.



Argentina Germany next.

TV closeups may be overdoing it.

Say what you want about Diego, but it is entertaining to watch him on the bench. Much better than Fabio yelling at his "defense." Really, they could have been better but the players didn't look like they were on the same page this tournament.

Once again, Germany seems to be coming into a tournament not among the favorites but gets better as it goes on. I just hope Germany-Argentina is not a blowout like today's games.

This angle is conclusive. No goal for England.

I'm thinking 5-4 either way for that Germany-Argentina game. Both teams have very dangerous looking attacking sides and somewhat suspect backlines.

My wife thinks that Argentina's coaching staff, especially Maradona look to be more suited running a drug cartel than a football team.

mattywizz wrote:I'm thinking 5-4 either way for that Germany-Argentina game. Both teams have very dangerous looking attacking sides and somewhat suspect backlines.

My wife thinks that Argentina's coaching staff, especially Maradona look to be more suited running a drug cartel than a football team.

Diego does have a bit of experience running in those circles. I don't think the rumors that he borrowed the suit from his "business" associates is true. The suit is rumored to cost 5K. It does have kind of the John Gotti look, doesn't it?

the diamond earrings the size of my thumb is a special touch.


German coach Joachim Loew is also in sartorial splendor, his of the 1980's "Miami Vice" nature.



Italy's coach looked pretty dapper, and England's Italian coach looked like a banker, as did the French dude,(I can't say for sure, he was in SA for such a short time).

Dunga looked like he went to the country club, but was reputed to be wearing a designer overcoat.


And Bradley and most of the third world adopted the aging track star look.

I think I like the crime lord look the best.

mattywizz wrote:I'm thinking 5-4 either way for that Germany-Argentina game. Both teams have very dangerous looking attacking sides and somewhat suspect backlines.

My wife thinks that Argentina's coaching staff, especially Maradona look to be more suited running a drug cartel than a football team.

Wow, that's a little bit brutal. It's not like Argentina is a narco-soccer team...or in any way related to drugs, and as far as we know Diego has been clean for quite a while. I'm not sure if he's getting much mercy from the media.
So, what if he's eccentric; I kind of like that.

I didn't like the missed off sides call in that game, but, Argentina clearly deserved the win. I don't see a 5-4 game at all. The back lines aren't that suspect. Maybe 3-2 Argentina. That Germany team is strong though. The second goal of their last game was just a thing of beauty.

Paraguay-Japan: Proof you don't need goals to have an exciting match.

You just have to feel for the guy who banged his spot kick off the crossbar.

The Belgium ref seemed a bit inconsistent on his yellows. Marginal hand balls get carded and punches to the face are ignored...

I remember saying after the first round that the refs were doing a good job.


I take it back.

I heard them say that FIFA will meet to re-evaluate whether to use goal line technology or not in July. It would be nice to implement that. It would be pretty quick and easy and wouldn't hold up the game. It's also a lot less subjective than offsides which would rely a lot on camera angles, etc. in my humble opinion....

One of the many things that I love about soccer vs the NFL, the NBA, and other sports is that the games aren't overly polluted by commercials and delays. You can still have a nice productive day while watching a World Cup Final, but, the whole day is shot during the Super Bowl...

Regarding your second point, I am curious about how much an ad along the ring of the playing field costs in comparison to a 30 second ad for the Super Bowl. The live television audience for the World Cup (especially as we head to the final rounds) is much larger than the Super Bowl and is truly international... does it cost more or less for McDonalds to have it say "I'm Loving It" around the field compared to a full-blown TV spot? I could Google it, but........... too. damn. lazy.

As to your first point, it's silly for FIFA to not implement a system like hockey. Go to the video for any potentially controversial goal call. They allow so much time for celebrations that you could get the review out of the way without any further delay, most likely. It will either be a kick-off or a goal kick, depending on the review.

And if it's a good goal and they allow play to continue (like the England/Germany goal), just have a fourth official with a headset-connection to the head official do the review. If it's a no goal, then just allow play to continue. If it's a good goal, radio it in to the head ref and he can stop play and tack on whatever time went by (should never be more than two or three minutes, usually less I would think) on to stoppage time.

Why is FIFA so worked up about this? It's easy to do and would not cause major delays at all. It's definitely an easy first step and would help placate fans who are justifiably upset about all the gaffes this World Cup.

I think FIFA thinks the whole technology thing would get out of hand.

The next thing you know they would be reviewing offsides, and then reviewing and penalizing for dives that were caught on replay...

Hey wait! they could sit you down for diving? COOL!

Geezaldinho wrote:The Belgium ref seemed a bit inconsistent on his yellows. Marginal hand balls get carded and punches to the face are ignored...

I remember saying after the first round that the refs were doing a good job.


I take it back.

De Bleeckere misunderstood the training videos he watched.

The one of Robby Findley getting cautioned for letting the ball glance off his arm after getting hit in the face was an example of what NOT to call.

Biggest mistake I made all week was shaving off my accidental David Villa soul patch salute...

The basketball thread in the WCC forum got off topic, but I was thinking today. Maybe the tough qualifying format in CONMEBOL is not a bad thing for the teams that make it in.

All five teams from South America advanced out of the group stage. Four of them won their groups. Altogether they went 9-5-1, with only one team, Chile, losing to Spain. Four out of a possible four are in the quarters (Brazil and Chile faced each other). It is entirely possible there will be three or four in the semis as only Paraguay will be considered a clear underdog to Spain.

There are great teams in Europe, but I think the South American teams sometimes get overlooked by soccer writers because they spend so much time covering European leagues.

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:The basketball thread in the WCC forum got off topic, but I was thinking today. Maybe the tough qualifying format in CONMEBOL is not a bad thing for the teams that make it in.

All five teams from South America advanced out of the group stage. Four of them won their groups. Altogether they went 9-5-1, with only one team, Chile, losing to Spain. Four out of a possible four are in the quarters (Brazil and Chile faced each other). It is entirely possible there will be three or four in the semis as only Paraguay will be considered a clear underdog to Spain.

There are great teams in Europe, but I think the South American teams sometimes get overlooked by soccer writers because they spend so much time covering European leagues.

Well, those writers should stop and think a bit. Messi, Higauín, Cambiasso, Tevez, Robinho, KAKA, Florín, Coloccini, Zanetti, et-al are the stars in Europe, and at least some of them can't even get on their National teams.

South American soccer has long fed the European leagues, and SA clubs have gotten rich on the sale of players. Europe has given up developing its own players, with the possible exception of Germany. England supporters are now mulling over the choices for the next World Cup, and about 5 names come up, to which everyone else says "nah, he's a wanker". There just isn't a "next Generation" in England - not much to speak of in Italy or France, either.

Here's the list of England up and comers:
Hart; Johnson, Dawson, Smalling, Gibbs; Huddlestone, Rodwell; Walcott, Wilshire, Lennon.
are you in awe now? How many are starting in the EPL? This bunch and Rooney is what they might put on the pitch in Brasil in four years.

Giusseppe Rossi is the best Italy has for the future, and he couldn't make this year's poor squad - he comes from one of those Western Hemisphere feeder countries.

Meanwhile, Brasil has so many good players that their one-name naming convention has run out of names, and there have been 4 Ronaldinhos, the Robertos need a descriptive after them (like Pliny the Elder) and they are resorting to impressive names like Cris and Fred.

My take is the S. Hemisphere teams have a distinct advantage because they don't have their worlds rocked by the water in the toilet bowl leaving in the wrong direction.

DaTruRochin wrote:My take is the S. Hemisphere teams have a distinct advantage because they don't have their worlds rocked by the water in the toilet bowl leaving in the wrong direction.

You know, the first thing I did after a 50 year hiatus from South America was flush the toilet to see that.

Didn't happen.

This is one of the mistakes the World Cup organizers made. With two dead days before the Quarters, there's plenty of time to do research. Before you place your bets on the games to come, you should be aware of the assignments for the referees for the Quartefinal games


NED - BRA - Yuichi Nishimura - Japan - He did the Spain-Honduras match kept his whistle in his pocket a bit. most notably on two Honduran fouls, then compounded the error by not sending David Villa off for taking things into his own hands and slapping the Honduran who stepped on his ankle. If he keeps his whistle in his shorts again, this game could turn into a slugfest.


PAR - SPA - Carlos Batres - Guatemala - refereed the Italy-New Zealand game and was criticized by both sides for missing calls and in one case overruling a linesman's offsides call. He also awarded a PK to the Italians which , of course, the NZ coaqch called "ridiculous". He was pojected to be gone from the Tournament for his performance for what worldrefereee.com termed the lowest rated performances this year in qualifiers, and his world cup performances are rated worse than Rosetti's, who was sent home after the Argentina-Mexico match. He lives on, apparently on the basis that both sides didn't like him. He also did the Algeria-Slovenia match earlier in the Tournament.

GER - ARG - Ravshan Irmatov - Uzbekistan - Worldreferee.com gives him the highest rating in the tournament so far. He did the opening Mexico-South Africa match, then reffed the England Algeria match, then arbitrated the Argentina-Greece match, where he ran around a lot warning people (Greece) for fouls in the first half but issuing no cautions. He's been a busy guy. It's pretty unusual for a ref to do two games involving one team in the same cup. the best thing he has going for him so far is that he's done three games in this Tournament and hasn't had to book a flight home yet.

URU - GHA - Oligario Benquerenca - Portugal - He is in Worldreferee's list of best performances and on the list of worst performances of the year. he's known as an officious official who gave a yellow to a player during the UEFA 1/4 finals who headed a ball while lying on the ground. In the same game, he confused two Blond players and when they tried to point out the error, booked them both. He is considered one of the best officials in the world if you can get past his style.
Ever seen that youtube of a comedian playacting as a ref and prancing like a ballet dancer?








In today's press conference for referees, England ref Howard Webb defended his colleagues, pointing out that they don't always get calls wrong.

Ugh the 2 day moratorium is absolutely silly... I mean if they wanted all the games on the weekend, why not adjust the group stages rather than the knockouts??

I think it was very cool that Sunil Gulati already proposed that the MLS would be welcome to trials for any new officiating technology, I would think the officials would want any help they can get in assuring they make the most important calls correctly.

But man to I love me a charismatic referee... Speaking of, anyone else miss this guy:

Kojak was a ref?


nobody could contort his face like Pierluigi...





He did the Soccer Aid match in England last year, which Woody Harrelson won in PK time!!!
(Collina had to go off on a stretcher after taking a fall)

The had to explain to Woody that he had to put it on frame. Now if they could teach that to the real players....