This will be your Game Thread for all World Cup matches. The first match, South Africa vs. Mexico, starts tomorrow at 7 a.m. PT. (The U.S. plays England on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. PT.)
We'll be adding a handy link to this post in the sidebar. Will it rival the Smonkstakes thread (1400+ comments and counting!)?
392 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 392 of 392christ, Podolski. You gotta make the PK in that situation
what a win for Serbia!
that group is effed. Go Ghana!
The Vujacics get on the board first, 1-0 Slow-venia
have we greased the Slovenian goalie's gloves yet? or do we wait until after halftime?
U-S-...A?
Right on, tiny country! #Underdogs
2-nil!!!
Shite
Hey, it's 2-1.
You know who roots against America? The terrorists.
EQUALIZER!!!!
Suck it, Sasha! 2-2!
If this ends in a draw, will USA also consider the draw a win?
holy shit - tie game!
Can someone explain the implications of USA tying?
Mr. F: Slovenia now leads Group C with 4 points. USA has 2, England has 1, and Algeria has 0.
I'm assuming the most beneficial outcome of ENG/ALG for USA would be a 0-0 or 1-1 draw. In that case, USA and ENG would be tied in points and goal differential, but USA would lead in goals scored.
I haven't started figuring out the math for the third round of group play yet.
It really is the math that's my favorite part of this, and I hate math. Weird.
Right, Josh.
But with the caveat that ENG haven't played their second match yet, so even amount of matches haven't been played yet making The Math a little more speculative than it will be at around 2 o'clock.
Headed off to the pub now. I won't do any math there until the tab arrives. Come on, England!
Wait, I should be rooting for a draw?
Tue dat, Dusty.
That's precisely why I haven't tried figuring it out yet.
You can root for whatever you want, man.
I can safely root for England. (My heritage insists upon it.) The third round is what's really going to decide everything.
Who's the knucklehead that scheduled the third round matches in each group to run concurrently?
Here's Math by Neeebs:
If Slovenia loses against England, then they would end up with 4 points.
If USA wins against Algeria, then we would have 5 points.
Good enough for second place and advancement
Don't get me started on ties.
Bottom line, Slovenia needs to lose. Ties will complicate things and get into differentials and stuff.
Not that I really want the win this way, because it would feel cheap, but is there a precedent for something like this getting overturned? Can the US file some sort of official protest? I'm not saber-rattling or anything, just wondering. Keep in mind, I do know the ref blew calls (or actually didn't make calls) the other way earlier in the match too.
Just finished the DVR watching of the USA game and began watching the DVR of Germany/Serbia. I am amazed at the over-cautious refereeing in the second round.
Klose's red (second yellow) was not deserved, nor was the "foul" that disallowed the USA's third goal.
I expect better at this tournament.
That said, I'm still waiting for the Americans to come out on fire instead of sleepwalking though the first half.
BTW, how long are the halves???
(read DB's cantina story just now and had to laugh; that was me watching the WC in 1986 on Univision)
Oh, and c'mon Engerland!!
@rbn
Ha! That was me even in '94!
Heh. Alexi Lalas just made a good point. The ref wasn't the one that allowed two goals to Slovenia in the first half.
@Josh
That really was a third goal, but the USA is in charge of their own destiny except in the event of an ENG tie with SLO and victory over ALG. Win and in, more or less
I'm just considering that call comeuppance for the dribbler in the first match.
Football is a sport easily learned if you appreciate the technical aspect.
If you think putting on pads and handing off to Reggie Bush are technical aspects of football, then you might not get it at all.
As for England right now, they look like a group of 11 individuals chasing a ball about.
Definitely not sharp, lads
Did all of England's girlfriends break up with them?
Woof. 0-0 draw.
That's cool. Now the third round games are straight-up "Win and you're in."
I know what you just said, David James. I concur.
Except for Slovenia. A tie gets them across.
Oops. Yep. You're right.
So,
-USA beats ALG and they're in.
-ENG beats SLV and they're in.
-SLV beats or draws ENG and they're in.
-ALG beats USA and they're in if SLV beats or draws ENG (or ENG beats SLV and the tiebreakers work out).
-USA draws ALG and they're in if ENG loses (or draws and the tiebreakers work out).
There are more scenarios, but I think that covers the main ones.
I still think that's less complicated than the NFL playoff picture around week 13.
The group stage isn't bad when you're trying to determine what one team has to do. It gets a bit convoluted trying to determine all the permutations.
@Josh
"Who's the knucklehead that scheduled the third round matches in each group to run concurrently?"
This is done so that teams can't bottle matches or otherwise play a certain way in order to change the outcome of who goes through. It's probably less important now in the days text/instant messaging and so forth. But the theory is that, for instance, if one team were already cleanly through, they wouldn't know what was going on in the other two matches in their group so they wouldn't be able to, say, play for a draw that would mean Team X not Team Y went through.
@RBN
"As for England right now, they look like a group of 11 individuals chasing a ball about."
I don't think more than 6 or 7 were actually chasing the ball about. The rest were just standing around.
I knew Harry Kewell wasn't physically fit enough to be playing for AUS. I guess he wasn't mentally fit enough, either. Sent off for handling the ball in the box. Right call - he did nothing to pull his hands in and it likely caused the ball to stay out of the goal. Aussies will be mad, but it's the right call.
Oh, DB, I wish Engerland was giving it a better go than they are at this point.
Looking forward to the group matches tomorrow on Fathers' Day. But, I'm slightly drunk.
My god these eye-ties dive even more than I remember. Good lord, lads, pick yourselves up and play!
This tournament is sliding into chaos, but I can't claim it's not intriguing.
At least the poor play of Spain, Italy, France, and Portugal take some pressure of the poor play of England.
As much as I would prefer it to be otherwise, looks like POR has got the 2nd spot in thIs group within their grasp.
Chile through to the knockout stage. Drinks are on Neeebs tab tonight!
Is Neeebs from Chile?
Viva Chile Mierrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrda.
Bedlam in the Neeebs household.
@MR F.: I married into the Chilean Clan. I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy.
Again, I'm not an expert, but I thought that the refereeing in the Chile/Swiss game was atrocious.
Did anyone see that match, and if so, am I wrong. Everything was a yellow card and even the poor Swiss guy got a Red card for a slight forearm to the chin. Not a hard shot. Incidental. But the Ref was handing out cards like a DUI attorney at a bar.
"As much as I would prefer it to be otherwise, looks like POR has got the 2nd spot in this group within their grasp."
Is CIV capable of going off on PKR like POR did? You have to think they know their only shot of moving on is to run up the score and pray BRA wins.
@Josh
Yes, anything's possible. They looked pretty whipped.
The victory margin in the POR:BRA game could matter.
7-0 drubbings don't come around that often, though.
Group A is set.
-Urugay wins the group.
-Mexico essentially backs into second.
-South Africa salvages a win for pride.
-And France, as Dusty likes to say, can suck it.
Cool beeens Neeebs.
Argentina vs. Mexico!
Uruguay vs. South Korea!
We interrupt this World Cup Thread to let you know that we'll be posting a separate thread for the US-Algeria game tomorrow morning.
Stay thirsty, my friends.
Oh, I'm thirsty alright, Sax.
This guy is happy right now.
Just to give you guys the headsup, we'll have a separate thread on Saturday morning for the US/Ghana match.
Viva La Furia!
(aka Mrs. S's other favorite team)
I'll be pulling for Chile, along with la casa de Neeebs, just for underdog's sake. I'd still prefer Spain to go through first to make Portugal's path to the final as hazardous as possible, though.
Mrs. S pulling for Spain is also lineage-based. If I did that, I'd have to root for Germany. Yeah, no.
Being part-Spanish, I shall root for Spain.
Uruguay has such a cute happy smiley sun on their flag.
Actually upon further review it's sort of sullen.
Vuvuzela in Doom:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXPPyjtw5WU
Remember lads, if there's one thing that can bring Yanks and Brits back together in harmony, it's beating Germany.
Today's match - in Africa
El Alamein - also in Africa
Coincidence?
It's the battle of my lineages!
@Mr C so far, the Germans are taking revenge for the war.
Hey, that was a goal!
We are very lucky our MLB umpires aren't like the WC referees.
Fuck me. England are horrible in the back. My son's team plays better defence.
Rubbish.
I think the denied goal was the turning point of this match. It hadn't been the same second half if it had been a tie.
@karina
The fan in me wants to believe that, but I expect a little more resilience. The defense was several steps slow and got exposed on multiple occasions in the second half..
Two World Wars and one World Cup!
No doubt GER were the better side, but I do agree w Karina...if ENG go to the dressing room 2-2 it's a different second half. 2-1 meant we had to push and use different tactics. A team can play poorer than the other team but still be in it. I wanted that fair chance at a draw at least. I'll take a loss of it's fair and square. This, however, was a refereeing disgrace. I didn't think the USA disallowed goal could be bested for poor officiating, but I was wrong.
Stiff upper lip, though, difficult as it is. Keep calm and carry on.
The first goal misbalanced the English defense, then they got the second goal. England had brilliant minutes after the second german goal, specially considering the difference.
A tied game would have a different tactical game.
It's not like the English can't handle a wide disadvantage. For starters, Liverpool started the second half of the 2004-2005 UEFA champions League down 3-0 against my beloved AC Milan. They scored 3 goals in 8 minutes and Gerrard scored one of them.
Truth is the most storied teams in World Cups are Brazil, Italy and Germany and those accomplishments are not sheer luck.
@karina
No question. Is it any surprise that those three always have a strong team identity and a coherent strategy? They may not always get the results they want, but they know how they are expected to play the game.
Goal Argentina.
Anyone care to recap the obvious ref errors this tourney?
@EK
How much time do you have?
'bout 4 years.
Yikes. Maradona will only get more obnoxious.
Offhand, I count:
Tevez's offside
Lampard's goal
Klose's red card
Edu's goal
Cahill's red card
I'm sure I could list more, but those seemed overly egregious.
I'll add Kaka red card
@EK
True, even though the consequences weren't as severe.
@Eric Karros 12:03 Maradona said he was going to walk in the nude if Argentina wins the World Cup.
I don't think anyone wants/needs to see that.
Karina - the frightening thing is that Maradona thinks that's a gift to the world.
Yikes again. I wonder if Maradona is a boxers or briefs guy.
These guys are good.
I just hope Spain is better.
@Eric Karros would you be surprised if he is more of a thong kind of guy?
*shudders*
If I found out Maradona were a thong guy, I think I'd have to question my life choices just for putting myself in a position that allowed me to know that.
Nice goal Mexico.
What were some of Maradona's antics?
I just realized Germany winning means the damned octopus was right again.
Octopus said Germany was going to win. Right now, any team that wins is fine, as long it is not Brazil or Argentina.
Slovakia has had some great chances to knot this match up. Hint: when trying to score a goal, don't shoot the ball directly at the keeper. Try to work the ball away from him but into the goal.
To recap: don't shoot the ball into the keeper's waiting hands.
Sneijder gets the Dutch some Geico.
They'll have to step it up to have a chance in the next match, though. (I won't say it outright, as I'm still crossing my fingers that Chile can bring the Tierra del Fuego)
@Mr C on tv they were giving a fair explanation to the dutch strategy: they think they were sort of keeping strategy and energy to face either Chile (please) or Brazil.
I did like a lot Slovakia's game. It's impressive what they did, being such a young team on this world stage.
I hope they bring a good show into the EuroCup.
Where's Neeebs? since I woke up I had a chilean song stuck on my mind, only the tune, not the words and it's driving me crazy.
@karina
Assuming it comes to that (still not going to say it), I think the contrast of styles will make for an interesting match. If the Dutch are on their game, they can be nearly unstoppable, but that's not a foregone conclusion. So far, I've been really please with Stecklenburg's play in the net, too. I think it really helps the confidence of an attacking team like NED.
That'd be the only attraction of a dutch-brazilian match (Go Chile!). I kinda agree with the guys on tv.
You could tell that team is structured as a clock, but somehow it doesn't feel like you've seen their entire potential.
1-0 Yankees
*grumble, grumble*
Yeah, that's not good.
Depending of the final score of this game, I think you, Dusty and I could be labeled as soccer bad luck charms.
This is true, but I would qualify that in that we generally are rooting for underdogs.
As it is, I'm in with the Dutch for as far as they can go, now.
Also, I think we can rule Dusty out, since his team won the double in the premiership this year. Sorry for bringin' you down, brother.
Come on, Japan! You're my last hope!
What am I ruled out from? Did I accumulate too many yellows?
As the last Asian team, I feel obligated to root for Japan.
That's the spirit, Mr. F!
Hopefully the Japanese's fitness and quickness will prevail.
Humbug.
One day - one day! - I will support a team that wins on PKs.
@Mr C you've just reminded me how dull the AC Milan have done in the calcio and UEFA champions league since 2005.I should be an undercover soccer fan.
Dusty can join us in the "bad luck charms" title, do you want all that burden upon us?
@Dusty I thought the same way 'till 2006 Germany World Cup Finals. I used to think I was going to die due to an italian on a PK gone wrong.
Not ruled that out, either.
@Mr F nobody answered your question. To make a long story very short: controverted behavior on the field, substance abuse, questionable off field behavior apart from the substance abuse, crazy and illogical statements. i.e: he once claimed he hated everything american, rehab on and off...and he does think he was the best player the world saw 'till Messi came up.
Strangely, people just love him and there's even a religion that worships him as a god. He's called D10S (he obviously wore number 10). Dios is the Spanish word for god. People have to name their sons after him, change their middle names to Diego and worship his uniforms as saintly relics. They also celebrate a sort of "Christmas" on Maradona's b-day. They don't go after the After Christ date, it's After Diego for them.
Come on, Spain! Put the sword to Portugal (Spain's beret).
Hoping Spain can hold them off so it doesn't come down to Piques.
Amazed that they've somehow figured out how to play the vuvuzelas in unison. (Not all the time, but it is happening.)
I will haver a fit if it comes to Piques.
^have
I was looking for a player named Haver.
Sorry! I tried to put in the correction before you or someone else tried to parse a phantom pun.
This just in, the 2010 World Cup is David Villa's bish. Dude is running the show right now.
I have a *small* pang of guilt that my reds secured a victory against Karina's rossoneri in a certain city in Turkey back in '05.
A very small pang.
Teeny-tiny even.
Also, better luck next time, Cristiano!
@Karina from 12:41p
I'll accept the blame. I got broad shoulders;)
With all the hype about Portugal and Ronaldo I was not impressed.
Ronal-D'OH, indeed.
For the record, I don not wish CRon any good luck now or in the future during any sporting event that he participates in.
Big winker.
@Mr C
So noted and recorded.
A two-day break is a bummer, but I know the guys have to rest.
Does Uruguay have any chance? Ok, how about Argentina then.
Viva Messi.
Holy hell I wish I could see this game!
holy moly - biggest win for NED ever? Well besides dumping Juan Pierre for John Ely I mean
That second goal by Sneijder was amazing!
I saw about 1/3 to 1/2 the game. Around the parts where all the goals got scored. Of course I missed every score, but that's par for the course.
I saw the last few seconds of stoppage time come off the clock.
The ending of the Uruguay/Ghana game was insane. Those last two minutes and the shootout were about as exciting as it gets.
@FB
Definitely a huge win for the Dutch. Now we wait for the tougher bracket to slug it out.
Two fantastic quarterfinals!
@Mr C that was one of the saddest moments of my life. I was at a bar full of "Liverpool fans" and/or calcio haters, wearing the AC Milan shirt. I cried a lot. I couldn't believe it. How on earth an italian team loses when they score 3 goals?
@Neeebs a joke, just for you. You might have heard it since it's everywhere. Joke is in Spanish, mainly because I don't think it can translate well in English, besides if you read Condorito, I guess it's fine:
Un niño de como 8 años iba a ser bautizado. Cuando el sacerdote le preguntó si querÃa ser cristiano, él le contestó nooooooooo yo no quiero ser Cristiano, quiero ser Messi!
Sorry if it was a bad joke.
@karina
Yeah. Now I feel a considerably larger pang of guilt.
Wow...the Old Enemy looks like they've got their jackboots on Argentina's throat already this morning.
This is just Foul Fest 2010.
Klose was close!
This game sure settled down.
ARG only had six men offsides on that disallowed goal.
I always thought ARG would not go through to the finals because of their lack of good coaching. I stand by that after watching the first half. Maradona just flails his arms wildly; that's not strategy or tactics.
ARG going home going home going home. 2-0
Seems like its setting up for a Euro '08 final rematch.
Ha!
Have another!
I think I will, Mr. C!
Messi is a little Hobbit who can only play well when he has tons of space, which is why he plays in that shite league.
Four-nil...four-nil...four-nil....
Jesus this GER team is scary.
I feel better about ENG playing GER now. At least we scored two on them where ARG couldn't score squat.
We have complete meltdown!
You're going home, you little useless Hobbit! Enjoy the Shire!
South America dominated through group and 16 rounds, now its Europe through quarters and into semis.
I like all the remaining teams except Germany. Here's my rooting order: Spain, AnyoneButGermany, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Netherlands.
I can't believe I woke up early to watch this shit of a game. I'm going back to sleep. Forget about it.
FIFA:
1) Fuck you
2) I kindly request that you schedule the matches to run concurrently, not with this silly several hours in between.
That is all.
@FB 7/2 8:52am-
Good one!
In other news, I actually would love to see Paraguay win this game if it weren't for the fact that Spain has a better chance of going on to beat Germany.
To back up my statement at 8:58am yesterday regarding Europe vs South America:
In Group and Round of 16, South America was 3-1-3 vs Europe. In Quarters they're 0-3.
Happy Independence Day everyone!
@Eric karros what did the German soccer team do to you?
URU/NED backup game thread
Just in case.
@Josh you're an angel. Thanks!
go Oranje!
Wow! Uruguay almost caught NED with their orange pants down at the end.
Go, you beautiful orange bastards!
I have no idea who is going to win tomorrow, but I'm pulling for España to guarantee a first-time Cup winner.
Man what a competition, coming down to the final two. I was at a bar watching and the place went crazy when either side made a move. I have no idea who is going to win either, but the world will be watching.
For the record though, my money's on Mr. F.
But enough about Smonkstakes. The World Cup is sorta interesting too.
On my way to watch the 2nd half!
Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Too bad I missed it cuz I was typing on this damn thing.
LA FOO REE AH!
Villa subbed? Overconfidence?
@Josh
Torres ain't no slouch, I think it was just for fresh legs (disclaimer for Liverpudlian bias).
Someone gets their first Mundial!
Cup check!
Good, the Dodgers game is after the World Cup final.
(had to check)
Go Netherlands!
@Mr C do you realize I won't ever come to love you fully due to your Liverpool fandom?
Unless the AC Milan gets a big fat revenge on those reds, of course.
@Karina, Mr. C
I think both AC and Pool have some rebuilding to do before either or both get back to the CL final. But man, was that a match for the ages.
@karina
*sniff*
I hope someday you can come to accept me in spite of my character flaws.
In the meantime, let's all agree on hating the Giants, just for solidarity.
Can we all agree to hate Man United and call it a day?
@DB
Man U? Who the fuck are they?
@DB
A match for the ages, flying hobbits and all!
The famous Man United went to Rome to see the Pope and this is what he said:
FUCK OFF!
MMMmmm.....frying Hobbits....
Oh, you said "flying." Never mind.
@db
He is a little greasy, so it's feasible.
@Mr C after some reflection, I've concluded that you've been courteous in my beloved team's disgrace, which means you're a gentleman. By any accounts, it was a well deserved defeat and the temptation of showing off might be overwhelming.
I've decided I'll come to love you, even in the presence of that minor character flaw.
But it's gonna take me some time. That's my character flaw.
For those watching the final, a separate game thread has been posted.
@karina
That's all I can ask.
*turns out the lights*
…
400!
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