DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum World Cup Thread

It's that time of year folks! And it looks good, Brazil vs Croatia.

Score's already 1-1, Brazil has scored both goals too. I must say, I do enjoy good soccer. I've never been able to get into MLS, but when I'm in Europe, I love hitting the bar at night, having a half-liter of bier and watching some good soccer. (Even though in Germany/Prague I never understand what the guys on TV are saying)

But man, the players are already acting like babies. They should send the Chicago Blackhawks onto the field, those guys do no crying. All business

And Neymar comes through with that first game. Let's go Brasil.

So far I'm giving the golden boot to the Japanese ref....

Today is FIFA World Cup kickoff day - or as Americans call it, "Thursday." -

Stephen Colbert

Watching the NED-ESP game, that PK was bogus too. The attacker stepped on the sliding defenders leg and then flopped. A 90-second review would correct that call.

And in the MEX-CAM game, holy crap the refs were screwing the Mexicans. They stole two goals from then in the first half. On the 2nd, they called offsides on a corner kick, insane!

Just like four years ago, I'm seeing the refs call ticky tack fouls when they should let them play. If it's so close that a replay can barely confirm a player is offsides, let it go, don't stop the play. If a guy barely has contact in the box, don't call for a PK. Only call a foul if it's obvious and egregious.

Okay, I'll quit my rant against WC soccer.

It's too bad because I feel like the actual action on the field is really great. I can't stand when the refs end up becoming the biggest story for each game. I'd rather a ref not call a foul and let a bad goal in then have him stop EVERYTHING that's close either way.

LET THEM PLAY!

Spain is wishing that they hadn't even shown up to the World Cup. Oh wait, they haven't yet.

That first goal from Van Persie was one of the best I have ever seen (and I've seen more than a few).

You can't make that call in the Brasil/Croatia game. You just can't. Giving a team a PK is basically giving them a free goal. It wasn't even close either. Croatia cannot be too mad though because they had a ton of chances in that game. I wasn't very impressed with Brasil at all.

Outside of some sloppiness, I was quite impressed with Chile today. Man, it's like South American teams get an extra guy when they play in their own country.

I'm looking forward to watching some of these matchups tomorrow. Have the whole afternoon cleared out so I can sit and watch. Plus Monday I will be able to watch the US live since I get home just before 5 from work. Awesome.

The US has their work cut out for them, but at least they don't have a South American team in their pool, lol.

Can't wait to see Italy and Super Mario route England soon

The World Cup has been so enjoyable thus far. The game seems more open than the last tournament. Italy beating England 2-1 is the equivalent of a 42-35 football game. It was really fun to watch. The best players are making their mark too. Messi's goal yesterday was a thing of beauty, Balotelli had the go ahead goal for Italy, and Neymar started the tournament off with 2 goals. Van Persie's goal is the highlight of the tournament so far.

I really really think the pressure is on for the US. They almost have to win this game. You don't want to be forced into a situation where you might have to beat Germany AND Portugal to move on.

Soccer would be a better game if they could use their hands to pass and catch the ball, and if you were allowed to tackle the guy with the ball.

At least Uruguay lost too, so you still have a really good shot. And I completely agree about the WC so far. I never thought that Ecuador/Switzerland or Japan/Ivory would be some of the best games. Hopefully Nigeria and Iran can keep it up.

JC

When will Pepe ever learn?

Portugal is really pooping the bed. We can definitely beat them if they continue like this.

I do not think that the play acting is any worse in soccor than in most american sports. The only differences is that the rewards are so much greater. Getting a15 yard penalty by pretending to be mugged, getting a foul called in the NBA, are not as bad a penalty or a red card. I think as spectators we shrug them off more easily. I think Wade reaction to Manu in game 3 was a much more egregious play acting. Granted he did get fined for it, but it is less of a talking point than the same thing in soccor is.

Atleast mueller was hit in the throat and face area when he went down. I agree it was slightly over exaggerated reaction, but you cannot head butt a player who is down. I bet most players regardless of the injury, would have immediately got up if they were actually struck by an opposing player.

I am not sure that Mueller would deserve a retroactive yellow. He was hit. There were many more people who tumbled like leafs in the wind with the slightest tough that I think would be more deserving. I do like the idea of retroactive discipline. It would just have to be implemented fairly and consistently.

I think that's why I enjoy the women's game so much. While the skill level is not close to the men, those girls play with dignity and pride, and don't fall dead to the ground at every little bit of contact.

It's also why I respect Messi so much. He plays with the same dignity. He really doesn't complain that much, and he's not over the top with ridiculous celebrations. He lets his game do all the talking.

Diving happens in basketball a ton, especially the NBA. It happens a bit in football, and it is actually an in-game penalty in hockey.

ON soccer, I used to hate Soccer, because I'm an American, but after time and the longer it is around and the more I see of it, I have come to appreciate Soccer for what it is. I always knew / heard it was the most popular sport in the world, so there had to be something to it.
After watching some MLS here in Columbus, and learning a little bit, I happen to appreciate that they can only make 3 substituions all game, even if there's an injury, they'd just have to play " a man down" ( a phrase that means with one less player on the field).

I don't call it a " Pitch" when it is a Soccer Field, Because I'm an American! and nobody scores " NIL" when I refer to it, because I'm an American! It's either zero or nothing.

The interesting thing about " good " soccer, is not the chances, or the scoring, it is the possession, the ball control, and realizing that there really are some intricacies and strategy going on out there and teamwork to the passing.

It helps to understand what a foul is, (it's when a person runs into the person instead of running into the ball, but hitting the person is ok, as long as you were Aiming for the ball).

It helps to know what offsides is, or sometimes they just stop a team about to get a goal and you feel like, " What the! Why'd they do that that's stupid!" but really you can't be beyond the defenders at the time that a pass ,(a kick to you from a player on your team), is originated.

It's better to know that a yellow card usually means nothing, unless you get 2 in one game, or back to back games, and then it's like a red card and the player has to sit out the rest of this game, (like ejected) or maybe even the next game they're eligible to play, and you can't substitute for them.

There are set plays, usually just two. The reason they have a corner kick is because the offense won an out of bounds behind/beside the goalkeeper. The reason they have a "free kick" (where they stop and let one team set up and restart at any point on the field without oppisition, sometimes the defenders set up a wall in a direct line to the goal) is because one player commited a minor foul by running into the person instead of the ball. ( if it's more than minor, there is often a yellow card, but like I said, usually a yellow card means nothing.)

They can have a penalty kick, if a foul that would result above in a regular free kick occurs in the goal keepers box, or against the goalkeeper, but those are rare. And on those, it is just the keeper and the one player and the keeper isn't allowed to move until the others foot touches the ball.

They play 2 45 minute halves, and count up, ( which is stupid!) and the 28th minute is actually 27:00+ because they count the minute from 0-1 which is also stupid! and at the end of the half, ... and game, they add usually between 2 and 5 minutes for the time spent on substutions, out of bounds, and injuries, called injury time... it's arbitrary, up to the referee, (and is also stupid!), and they usually end it when a defense clears / an offense in scoring position doesn't get cut off.

Once you get used to watching it more often, the stupid things make more sense.
It's not really about the scoring, it's the threat of getting scored against, because once you do give up a goal you're really behind the 8-ball.
And they score alot more than 10 times a season.

I was told to hate soccer, because I'm an American, but I don't like to like or hate sports because that's what I'm told.
It's not football, but I'll appreciate soccer for what it is. I won't call it football, or futbol, because it's not. Football is football, and Soccer is soccer, because I'm an American.
Ya Can't use yer Hands? That's stupid!


This is a re-post of my post from over a year ago, ... Thanks copy and paste.

LOL.. pretty funny, pretty accurate, dry.. nice.





The rules of soccer are some combination of hockey and basketball... if you understand those, you can understand soccer pretty easily.... but only its better because hockey and basketball are stupid.

USA are on and 1-0 up v Ghana. Goal by Dempsey in 30 ish seconds of starting.

What an unbelievable effort by our guys. Gutsy. What a finish.

They had their heart ripped out, scrambled for a few minutes, regrouped, and earned that corner kick. Unreal.

Great game! But it felt like we scored twice on two shots, while dodging about half a dozen near misses ourselves. I feel like we'll get trounced if we play like this against Germany.

I was at a TGIFridays when that second goal went in. The sound wasn't all the way up, so everyone cheered briefly when the goal went in, but then groaned in confusion thinking he was off-sides, because he put his hands to his head.. Guess we've been burned by that so often, we were kind of expecting it.

Great second goal but man they played poorly in June second half... Couldn't keep the ball and couldn't get out of our own end.... Lucky Ghana didn't score a few more... Have to play better next match

I was at a packed bar/restaurant in downtown Chicago. The place went nuts when that goal went in. My goodness, that was freaking awesome. If you watch the replay closely on the play just before the corner, the ball was going out by a USA touch, but the Ghana defender shielded the ball but was forced to touch it after his foot ricocheted off the US attacker. If that doesn't happen, it's a 1-1 tie probably.

What a game! Probably the best futbol game I've ever seen (2nd to Man City winning the EPL a few years back with 2 goals in stoppage time).

Did you not see Algeria/USA 4 years ago? That game was nuts!

Quote:

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I was at a packed bar/restaurant in downtown Chicago. The place went nuts when that goal went in. My goodness, that was freaking awesome.

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Grant Park is right near where I live, so I went to that event there. I don't think I'll go again because it was so crowded, but it was fun for that one time. Place erupted after the second goal, plus that Lupe Fiasco concert before the game was fun.

Watching the game there reminded me of being at an outdoor concert with how many many people they packed in there. I got there early, set up seats, and relaxed (I didn't have much else to do with my day), but people poured in and poured in, and it didn't really matter. My good spot when kaput. Had to stand for 90 minutes in tight quarters, although the lawn chairs came in handy at half-time and before the game

So Sunday I'll probably watch it at the bar or on the couch at the condo.