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The 2010 World Cup

Don't panic said:
and the sports guy is very influential, he probably contributed as much with this endorsing article to 'convert' the casual fan as the algeria goal.
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There are a lot of American sports fans who are taking a greater interest in football - they won't become MLS fans, more likely Barca or Man U fans. But they'll all be USA fans, and probably watch an MLS game here and there. That's where people like Simmons are having an impact.
 
awmazz said:
The video he links to in that reminds me of watching the 2001 FA Cup final in a pub that was evenly split between Gooners and Scousers. It was all us Arsenal fans making the noise for the whole match which I thought was loud.. but then 8 minutes from the end, and then again 3 minutes from the end when Owen scored twice... then the noise was truly deafening and distorting and the walls were shaking from the sound waves just like the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkzo3H7ZSaM
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Yeah, that video got me going. I heard Landon Donovan was spreading it around the internet with his twitter feed before the Ghana game. Too bad they didn't match the intensity of the fans.

Don't panic said:
awesome piece.

and the sports guy is very influential, he probably contributed as much with this endorsing article to 'convert' the casual fan as the algeria goal.
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I enjoy the heck outta Bill Simmons. He's gotta great take on sports and life in general. Need more of him and less Rick Reilly. Well, Reilly was OK when he was at SI, but I can't stand him on ESPN now. He's way to full of himself and seems to have lost touch with the sports and fans he used to know.

Lord Blackadder said:
There are a lot of American sports fans who are taking a greater interest in football - they won't become MLS fans, more likely Barca or Man U fans. But they'll all be USA fans, and probably watch an MLS game here and there. That's where people like Simmons are having an impact.
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Like Simmons was saying, the US actually has a history of soccer, now. There's memorable moments and true stars. We've never had that kind of foundation before. The sport is much more mainstream than it was in 1994 when we hosted the WC. We've got a league now, with a fan base that's growing. Soccer in the US has a long way to go, but at least we're finally making some progress. Loved his calll for the Simon Cowell produced reality TV show American Striker, too. That, I'd watch!:D
 
takao said:
i think south africa simply was doomed from the beginning with having to host the world cup right after germany
2006 simply set the bar too high with not only organization but also the positive emotions it brought forward

and honestly this world cup will very likely go down in history as a rather bad world cup:
many dull first round games,
vuvuzelas,
many keeper mistakes,
many referee mistakes,
england getting their own wembley-goal
chaotic french
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I've really enjoyed your posts on this thread, Takao, but I don't know about some of this. Vuvuzelas are part of this world cup in a positive way, IMO. I was annoyed by them at first, but I feel they've added a bit of flavor to the WC. The Chaotic French have nothing to do with SA per se. They could have easily been just as chaotic in 2006 given the right circumstances :D.


Also, what I think has detracted from the WC most is the ball. There have been a lot of complaints about the ball from players and coaches and I suspect that it has something to do with some of the sloppy football we've seen.

There are plenty of positives too. The biggest here in the US that I've seen is that people have actually been paying attention to the games. That's big. There has been more coverage of the WC than Wimbledon!

The English tabloids seem to be slowly learning that saber rattling and 'mentioning the war' before a game with Germany no longer earn them many fans. That's huge! That said, they are going after the players like they're criminals living the life of luxury off the back of the average working person....

For me, Italy not making it out of the group stage is a positive too.:p
 
Silencio said:
I was under the impression that basketball is growing pretty rapidly in Europe, at least in countries like Spain, Greece, and eastern Europe. The NBA is featuring quite a few European players now, and some pretty good American players have been lured by big paychecks to play in Europe.
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true but greece has been for decades one of the better basketball countries

one the other side one can say: austria never had so many players in the NHL .. but the current league is a rather sorry excuse comapred to the austrian league 15 years ago

yojitani said:
Also, what I think has detracted from the WC most is the ball. There have been a lot of complaints about the ball from players and coaches and I suspect that it has something to do with some of the sloppy football we've seen.
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though i would rather say that height is what really makes the difference.. all in all modern balls though favor teams which play short&flat passing game like, spain, brazil, argentina, holland and also germany

yojitani said:
There are plenty of positives too. The biggest here in the US that I've seen is that people have actually been paying attention to the games. That's big. There has been more coverage of the WC than Wimbledon!
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welcome to the rest of the world where there has always been more coverage of the WC compared to wimbledon
yojitani said:
The English tabloids seem to be slowly learning that saber rattling and 'mentioning the war' before a game with Germany no longer earn them many fans. That's huge! That said, they are going after the players like they're criminals living the life of luxury off the back of the average working person....
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well the english tabloids sure a part of the problem.. just imagine the german press picturing their players in steel helmets prior to a game ...absolutley un-thinkable.. also the complete ignorance of the english press towards non-premier league players has shown again and again, especially agains the german bundesliga...players read newspapers too... and if the opposition is always belittled and a 1:0 against slovenia is made into a glorious victory... well then it sure takes influence on players

now on to holland vs brazil !
 
What is Robben trying to do? Every time he gets the ball at the edge of the box he goes horizontal with the goal and gets shut down by 3 Brazilians. I think I counted that happening 3 times in the first half
 
yojitani said:
The English tabloids seem to be slowly learning that saber rattling and 'mentioning the war' before a game with Germany no longer earn them many fans. That's huge! That said, they are going after the players like they're criminals living the life of luxury off the back of the average working person....
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Hopefully the English press will realize sometime soon that their feud with Germany is entirely one-sided. As Roger Bennett notes, the Germans barely seem to notice the English team. And this analysis is even more pointed. It's not a rivalry if one team kicks the other's ass in every meaningful game.
 
ahhh sweet sweet brazilian tears for my argentina supporting heart

seriously though with mr. double-hands goal(fabiano) and with sir-complain-a-lot(robihno) they sure deserve to be going home..even mroe so with the absolutley shockingfoul which got red carded

good referee work today .. together with the english referee he is by far the best one
 
Great game. What an upset. The Brazilian defense was just falling apart left and right in the 2nd half. Holland blew way too many possibilities at the end - that game could've ended 5-1.
This goes to show that one superstar does not a team make.
 
Great game, great upset. I agree that the score could have been higher for the Dutchies, but at least they still pulled it off. Between his own goal and that red card he got, I'd sure hate to be Felipe Melo right now.
 
takao said:
ahhh sweet sweet brazilian tears for my argentina supporting heart

seriously though with mr. double-hands goal(fabiano) and with sir-complain-a-lot(robihno) they sure deserve to be going home..even mroe so with the absolutley shockingfoul which got red carded

good referee work today .. together with the english referee he is by far the best one
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Loved seeing the red card come out for Melo, he deserved it with that unnecessary, dirty play. You know fans back home won't be too happy with him when he gets back. I would love to see a Netherlands vs Argentina final. My father is Argentinian and I grew up supporting Argentina and the US in that order.
 
killerrobot said:
Great game. What an upset. The Brazilian defense was just falling apart left and right in the 2nd half. Holland blew way too many possibilities at the end - that game could've ended 5-1.
This goes to show that one superstar does not a team make.
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What the heck are you smoking? There are a sh*tload of excellent players in the Brazilian team. The first goal and the red card were both individual mistakes and they changed the course of the game completely.
 
nice game, deserved win.

felipe melo was at the center of every important moment:
the assist for the brazilian goal (where was the defense???)
the own goal (though more responsibilities go to julio cesar)
the red card (absolutely deserved)

great refereeing, i think he must be a serious candidate for the final.

robben move to the inside is his signature move. only, it's becoming his only move and defenses are taking note.

and is sneijder to be considered the front runner for next year ballon d'or?
 
Well, my Brazil - Spain final prediction is shot, and may be further stamped on by fate if the Spanish can't make it there. Argentina, Germany and the Dutch all look like solid contenders.

Netherlands have a comparatively easy path to the final from here, but Uruguay will probably prefer them to Brazil though.
 
killerrobot said:
Great game. What an upset. The Brazilian defense was just falling apart left and right in the 2nd half. Holland blew way too many possibilities at the end - that game could've ended 5-1.
This goes to show that one superstar does not a team make.
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5-1 hardly, if anything it should have ended at 2-2 with that first Brazilian goal being counted.

All this game showed is that these two teams are so close that even the smallest mistakes, like the goalie and the defender going after the same ball - first Dutch goal, or the defender kicking it out for a needless corner that lead to the second Dutch goal, or poor defending by needlessly placing the Brazilian forward on side - first Brazilian goal, are what can ultimately determine the game's outcome.

Lord Blackadder said:
Well, my Brazil - Spain final prediction is shot, and may be further stamped on by fate if the Spanish can't make it there. Argentina, Germany and the Dutch all look like solid contenders.

Netherlands have a comparatively easy path to the final from here, but Uruguay will probably prefer them to Brazil though.
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I predict a Germany-Netherlands final, with the Germans showing the Dutch who plays the better soccer (5-1).
 
Don't panic said:
nice game, deserved win.

felipe melo was at the center of every important moment:
the assist for the brazilian goal (where was the defense???)
the own goal (though more responsibilities go to julio cesar)
the red card (absolutely deserved)

great refereeing, i think he must be a serious candidate for the final.

robben move to the inside is his signature move. only, it's becoming his only move and defenses are taking note.

and is sneijder to be considered the front runner for next year ballon d'or?
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absolutley spot on: robben cutting on the inside is his greatest strenght but he is overdoing it on the national team, with bayern he much more tries to goes past the defender with his rigth foot and then tries to do either a cross with his weaker foot or can always go back to make a cross/shot with his left

an i'm sure it's not only me that since robben is in the squad that sneijder is simply playing so much better since he has somebody on that right wing he can play that long diagonal ball to ... van der vaart sure deserves sitting on the bench...
oh and van persie still wastes way too much up front

if uruguay get through in the evening it's gonna be an interesting game.. their defense is strong and both forlan and suarez can be a real pain in the a.. for this not so stable dutch defense
heitinga takin' a nap, van der wiel likes to losses balls when going forward, oijer not really comfortable when making forward passes
if anything it was ye old van bronckhorst holding together the left with all the expierence he got...

edit: insert pun before newspaper does : "what a melodramatic game!"
 
takao said:
if uruguay get through in the evening it's gonna be an interesting game.. their defense is strong and both forlan and suarez can be a real pain in the a.. for this not so stable dutch defense
heitinga takin' a nap, van der wiel likes to losses balls when going forward, oijer not really comfortable when making forward passes
if anything it was ye old van bronckhorst holding together the left with all the expierence he got...
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Uruguay have an excellent strike partnership, but their defense is average. It could be a pretty close game with some great goals, but after beating Brazil you'd have to favor the Dutch.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Well, my Brazil - Spain final prediction is shot, and may be further stamped on by fate if the Spanish can't make it there. Argentina, Germany and the Dutch all look like solid contenders.
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Yep same here. This morning's game was a pleasant surprise for those who didn't want Brazil to make it.

I have to admit, I was surprised they didn't. But losing your tempter and playing like they did in the 2nd half surely cost them.
 
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