World Cup 2014

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That was a great first match. But they really need to start slapping big fines on the divers. $25k to $50k for each offense. I've never understood their reluctance to do so.

Om said:

Relieved the cheap penalty didn't end up being the deciding moment.

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I would argue that that's exactly what happened.

I find it VERY worrying that this is being passed off as some sort of 'diving' incident. It absolutely is not. A player under pressure and feeling contact will 99/100 make the most of it, and throw their hands up in protestation. ESPECIALLY in the penalty area, in the opening game of a home World Cup! This was NOT an inexperienced referee. He will have seen that a million times, and waved it away a million times. Watch it again. He COULDN'T WAIT to give that penalty (or his blind-sided assistant for that matter). He's given it before Fred's even given him the 'I've nearly been murdered here, and you're going to do nothing???'-face. The perfectly legitimate disallowed Croatia goal, which would have made it 2-2, just added extra stink to the shit sandwich we were already being asked to swallow.

With all the protests, stadium workers literally dieing for this tournament, if Brazil draw or, unthinkably, lose the opening game, you're talking riots on top of riots. Not sure if you saw it but UK TV studios had their windows pelted with stones, breaking the glass. It became clear very quickly that there was no way they were going to be allowed to do anything other than win. There were some seriously twitchy ring pieces in head office after that Croatia opener.

Allegations of FIFA dripping in corruption, and then this sort of thing happening, does nothing but leave a bad taste. It's no wonder so many are becoming disillusioned. I'm angry on behalf of the sport I grew up with. I'm angry at the excitment I felt before the game, angry that I had enjoyed the opening game so much... until someone got in the ref's ear, and that was all she wrote.

If that's anything to go by, get all your money on Brazil now and don't bother watching the rest of it.

Trying VERY hard to remain positive for the rest of it, but that was absolutely the worst possible start.

On the footballing side, thought Oscar was magnificent, and both sides are about what I thought they were. Croatia should progress in second place, behind the new world cup winners (although, on a purely football-based assessment, Brazil were largely unimpressive, and I still don't think they've got what it takes to win it fairly).

No argument on any of that. It supports my contention earlier about a Brazil win over Spain in the Final.

Host countries have always had and likely will always have a monstrous built-in advantage. And FIFA, as with most unsupervised and unaccountable governing sports bodies, has always and likely always will be corrupt. I think my only response to that is that we have learned nothing new here. This is and always has been the context in which World Cups are contended. And I don't expect that to ever truly change.

That said, I still think Brazil were the better side and carried play, which makes it a not unjust result. I was not sure I felt the same as you about the disallowed Croatia goal--but I'll go back and rewatch. Regardless, I just just never got the sense, after the equalizer, that Brazil were going to lose the match.

And I think that the deeper into the tournament we get, now that Brazil have gotten the inevitable opening-game jitters and tightness out of the way, we will see them look more and more impressive as they gain confidence and momentum. Says here that once they do finally hoist the Cup at the Final, it will seem not surprising at all. Yes, they will have had the standard host-country-advantage, and yes they will have risen to the occasion to take full advantage of it.

Maybe I was too naïve! You see it in La Liga all the time; Real/Barca losing to/drawing with one of the mid-lower placed teams? 90th minute penalty if one of their attackers are in the same time zone as the 18 yard box. Thought that with 2 billion people watching, they'd be a bit more subtle. Obviously not. Just shows the contempt they have for the average fan, that these maliable circus clown referees are trotted out every time, and yet more gloss is lifted from the games image. Lovren said it best himself; ''it was not a mistake, it was a scandal''.

Brazil were the better side in possession as expected, but sure Croatia were happy with that. They were soaking up pressure fairly comfortably and playing on the break. Until the penalty, Brazil were struggling to get behind Croatia, Rakitic looked good, and suspect a tactical change to sit an extra man in front of the back 4 was coming... until that abomination occured. I would never have bet against Croatia's battling abilities, so think a draw was a perfectly feasible outcome without that pen... but it's all pie in the sky, we'll never know, and this tournament marches on with an unpleasant whiff eminating from its backside.

McD5 said:

That was a great first match. But they really need to start slapping big fines on the divers. $25k to $50k for each offense. I've never understood their reluctance to do so.

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Fines are pointless. The only way to address it (if they wanted to - which they don't) would be to make a at any flop a red card offense.

The Netherlands have been fighting for years, and finally they have broken through.

And Spain........ouch, that was ugly.

A bit of trivia, perhaps, but I am simply happy about one element missing in this World Cup that was present in 2010.





Vuvuzelas.

Costa Rica and Concacaf saying hello!

Now get ready for a vomit-inducing display of diving by the Italians. Go England!

Appreciate the sentiment McD5! Narrowly beaten by a better side, but a performance laced with wit and imagination. Down, but far from out.

Some incredible footy so far, already more entertaining than the whole 2010 tournament. Long may it continue.

Looking at the group, a must-win for the USA tonight. Cheering your boys on from here!

Thank you UK!

It's a big night for us. Time to kick some ass.

Thank you UK!

It's a big night for us. Time to kick some arse.

Deutschland making Ronaldo wish he hadn't come back! Of course, I root for the US. but I really like Germany (grew up in Heidelberg) and I love the Netherland's style. Japan is pretty cool sometimes. Argentina doesn't bother me like some people. Never been able to get into league soccer, though. No time, really.

U.S. beats Ghana 2-1.

Yaaaaay!

I actually watched the second half. I'm so proud of myself. Exciting finish. Yay us!

Sorry to see us look so disjointed, but for a relative newcomer to the biggest stage, any World Cup win is a damn big deal. Makes the Portugal game just that much more intriguing.

McD5 said:

Time to kick some arse.

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That's more like it

A GREAT result. As kick off was 11pm, have to confess to not staying up to watch it, but went straight to the highlights first thing this morning. Reading around, sounds like Ghana turned up, played well, but missed their big chances. The US took theirs. Fantastic. The reaction of the boy Brooks was wonderful, a moment he'll never forget. You've given yourselves a great chance.

Still plenty of work to do; with the Germans in the final game, a point against Portugal is minimum requirement, and you'll have to hope Ghana can get something from them as well (a draw obviously being ideal for the US)... whilst losing to the Germans for good measure! 4 points might just be enough.

Big ups to Dempsey toughing out a physical World Cup match with a broken nose. Fricken' ouch.

All class here. Wish this guy was on the 23.

As stated earlier, finning a player $50 who makes 0ver $300,000 in a week is pointless, only way to stop diving/flopping is to ban the players retrospectively, and FIFA and EUEFA simply will not do it so we have to put up with it.

on another note now that all teams have played at least one game I thought it might be fun to see what your opinions were on the following questions.

Best game?

Best player?

Best Goal?

Worst game?

My own opinion would be

Best game = Spain V Holland

Best Player = Arjen Robyn

Best goal = Van Persie (destined to be shown as a future all time great goal)

Worst game = Nigeria it sent be to sleep, honest I fell asleep watching it.