Newgrounds.com — Everything, By Everyone.

At 6/18/14 06:04 PM, Zachary wrote: Spain fell to the same curse that was on Italy in 2010 lol

I do believe you and Gob will relate to this. I'm not even American and it made me almost spit my drink through my nose.

At 6/18/14 04:47 PM, Haggard wrote: I just feel bad for Casillas.

Same, big time. Sure, he had two fuck-ups in two matches, but subtract that from the end results and... no effect. So if we're looking for someone to crucify, it better not be him. I just love how most of the squad is from Barça, and Bieber is a fan. I'm just...

Wonderful to see Sérgio Ramos stay in the match after that knee stomp. Ref doesn't want to deliver the deathblow to Spain, i guess. I wouldn't even say a double-yellow, that's a straightforward red card anywhere. Funny thing is that his "record" is just as long as Pepe's.

Some would say that enjoying watching players suffer and fail is akin to being pleased by an injury in terms of cruelty. On the other hand, seeing Busquets miss an open goal reminds me of something. I am very pleased.

At 6/18/14 03:58 PM, NuScarab wrote: Crazy to see players like Silva barely getting into the game.

Every single brazilian in my house is eating up his bad form.
Spain, later, headed for the airport.

At 6/18/14 03:50 PM, Auz wrote: Oh man. What is up with Casillas?
"Always punch the ball to the side" is like one of the first things they teach you as a goalkeeper.

Piqué, do you think you're going to make it?

At 6/18/14 03:44 PM, lapis wrote: lolololololololololololololololololol

.

At 6/18/14 03:25 PM, Haggard wrote: So, Chile is one up... does that mean that they lose this game? Many teams that went 1-0 ahead lost the game afterwards (Croatia, Spain, Japan, Uruguay, Ecuador, Australia...)

Oh shush you, get into the spirit of it and enjoy the moment to laugh at them.

News from Campinas (camp Portugal):
FIFA suspends Pepe for just one match, for hotheaded stupidity in a highly emotionally charged game and no real damage done in the event in question.
Injuries the same: Coentrão to arrive in Lisbon on Thursday; Hugo Almeida and Rui Patrício both with muscular injuries and recoverable.

At 6/18/14 01:35 PM, Auz wrote: Depay's goal was nice, but I feel like the Australian goalie could have stopped that shot.

Hell of a chicken, as we say here.

Fourth dive of the tournament in 14 matches. Loved the size difference between the Aussie and Vlaar getting in his face calling him a wussie little shit for it.

At 6/18/14 01:21 PM, Auz wrote: Anyway, looks like we're at 2-2 already.

Whenever someone calls the scoreline, it changes, i love it. This boring soccerball and all its 0-0 draws all the time, omg. Also, there goes another chicken, well done, keeper.

Clear ball-to-hand and not hand-to-ball contact there, the Dutchman can't very well vaporize his arm at will to get it out of there. However, it's so quick that you can really understand that the ref would get that one wrong. Still goes into my counters as another ref goal, though.

At 6/18/14 05:41 AM, NuScarab wrote: Oh, another irritating part of English commentary, exclusive to international games, is them constantly bringing up the nationality of the ref

In Portugal, besides the obvious initial introduction ceremony stuff, we get a reference like that maybe once or twice per match. Having watched a few English streams, omfg so true, i end up knowing the poor man's street, next of kin, social security number (...)

but there's still an air of superiority

The dinosaurs of football i mentioned earlier do that about all things English, though. Whatever player plays in an EPL club, even if in the 5th division, "he's certainly going to be the decider in this match" (see Chicharrito's immense attention given, for a benchwarmer). Meanwhile, a French premiere league player is just one in the crowd. It's something you see less of with the younger commentators, though.

They assume that the entire country is backing United, City, Chelsea, Arsenal, etc. despite this not usually being the case in my house (sorry Gaggers), never mind the entire country.

This one i think is an international plague. Anyone who's ever truly been a fan of a club (and not just the sort that wears a Barça 10 shirt and sits around in Euro Cups wondering "Why aren't Spain fielding Messi?") knows what you're talking about. In my case, my first favourite club is Porto. My second is whoever is the next one playing against Benfica. RIO AVE FOR LIFE!

And Julio Cesar, who has played second fiddle to him at the massive club QPR.

I always find international games to be huge vindication for keepers, since the best ones are found defending the teams with the crappiest back-4. Ochoa, the new king of Mexico, is at Ajaccio, i believe, last seen at the bottom place in their league. I guess the heat of the fire determines the sword's quality.

At 6/17/14 07:35 PM, SansNumbers wrote: I wanted to download it, but I couldn't because I couldn't figure out how to not have it install seventy other programs that give my computer the papillomavirus.

Wat? There's no need to download\install anything. Just click the sport and then event you want to watch. It'll drop-down with a bunch of different links to different streams in different languages. The most complex thing you need to have is a browser.

At 6/17/14 07:28 PM, exudaz wrote: This Russian goalie is an incompetent idiot.
That was the easiest fucking shot to block.

Embarrassing shit happens. No doubt a lot of people will be talking about the ball's evolution along the years and how goalkeepers fucking hate the damned thing.
Let's all post what a supposed easy save that turns goal is called in each language.
Portuguese: Frango (Chicken, as in, have you ever tried to catch one?).

At 6/17/14 07:15 PM, SansNumbers wrote: Is there any place I can watch this on the internet?

http://gofirstrow.eu/

Your choice of channel and, consequently, commentary, which as you read from scarab is kinda a big deal in defining your viewing experience.

At 6/17/14 05:34 PM, NuScarab wrote: BBC is usually marginally better than ITV, and some might say Sky Sports are better than both.

That's the image we, outside England, get of the hierarchy of quality as well. It was ITV that translated

"No, we might have won by a lot here, but Benfica doesn't know how to not want to win, when we go home for the second leg we'll want to score more to be safe and deflate our adversaries' morale"

to

"Absolutely, it gives us a huge cushion and we'll be looking to be more defensively responsible and rotate some players to rest them for the league"

Close enough, ITV, close enough.

Recent former players and managers - when they're good (not Phil Neville) - are sometimes a breath of fresh air, if not good by virtue of being hilarious (Mick McCarthy).

The dinosaurs of football can be fucking annoying, though. Anything at all that you bring up, they find a way to morph it into "well when i played, we didn't need all this new-fangled nancy pansy stuff, we played tough and it hurt and we liked it and we hated it and the football quality was crap but it was more fun". I remember one was doing the typical putting his chin so far into his chest that he sounds like Droopy Dog actually talk shit about players wearing long sleeves while playing in Moscow in -20º. I guess sleeves didn't exist when he was young. That, and calling goal line technology a "Pandora's Box" toward football becoming the NFL with every 7 seconds turning into a 5 minute ref review. The anchor then asked "well what about making it like tennis where each manager could get a set number of review requests, say 3, and that's that?". I don't remember the reply because his chin had then no-clipped into the next studio over.

We have one guy, Luís Freitas Lobo, who deconstructs football into a fucking science so beautifully articulated that even your grandmother would understand the finer points of inside-forwards, wingers tracking back to compensate full-backs that participate in balance shifts, and can probably name the 4th best central midfielder from Tanzania, all of this without a single commentary regarding the hot Russian chicks' tits. Dude makes football a pleasure to even just listen to as white noise.

At 6/17/14 03:47 PM, Haggard wrote: Can anyone tell me what the crowd is yelling when there's a free kick, corner kick, goal kick... and the ball is back into play? And why do they do it?

In Mexico and a lot of latin countries, during goal kicks, you chant "oooooooooooooooooooohPUTO!" (or puta), basically calling the goalkeeper gay. Stupid tradition.

Lol. And here people admire english commentators, because they "have such great knowledge".

Here it's the reverse, specially at any point in time they attempt to talk about a player who plays outside the EPL, or their actual, real, official translators' ridiculous attempts at translation. In one instance, one of them translated the exact opposite of what a Benfica player had said.

At 6/17/14 04:58 PM, lapis wrote:

At 6/17/14 04:57 PM, lapis wrote: Réal

Argh, that should be Real. Why do I even try >:(

Shh, you spelled it phonetically, just go with it.

That's only the second match to go 0-0 so far in this tournament, although the scoreline is a clear lie regarding what the match actually was. Ochoa for king. Scolari's decision to field Ramires instead of Fernandinho as a replacement for (THE INCREDIBLE) Hulk (out due to injury) took away one of Brazil's fangs, i think. There were many times when Brazil was horseshoeing (sort of like handball) Mexico and could've used the kind of player that rips in. Hulk is the archetype of that function, being built like a silverback gorilla and having enough speed to embarrass most defenders, but lacking him, putting in a more defensive midfielder and asking the team to still play the same kind of attacking football as usual just wouldn't work. Good show of fair-play by Thiago Silva after having applied a scissor to Chicharrito, doing a mea culpaand apologising. Still ended up being the most exciting 0-0 you could watch.

At 6/17/14 12:50 PM, SwisherCovent wrote: I fancy USA to pinch, at least, a point from Portugal (...) the onus is on Portugal now. USA did they're bit and a draw yesterday would have been a get out of jail free card for Portugal.

Most likely will happen. Current medical board for Portugal:

Hugo Almeida: muscular injury;
Fábio Coentrão: torn leg ligament - end of tournament;
and most surprising, Rui Patrício: muscular injury.

At 6/16/14 09:21 PM, SansNumbers wrote:

At 6/16/14 09:14 PM, ZJ wrote: Sucks that the games are spaced out so far apart. I wanna see the USA pummel Portugal ASAP.

I'm getting some already established football fan friends together and I'm gonna make an event outta that shit. I don't know a thing about football but if Portugal lost to Germany 4-0 that sounds like the match will at least be interesting.

The result doesn't accurately show the difference in quality that happened in that match. A 3-1 would've been far more fair. However, your initial assessment can still stand, given the fact that we lost our best central defender to suspension and our best left defender due to his leg exploding. The fact that we both need the points desperately means we're going to be openly at each other's throats, so yeah, it should be very good to watch.

At 6/16/14 09:01 PM, Onepiece285 wrote: AMERICA

*Murka. Get it right.

At 6/16/14 07:51 PM, C-Hawk wrote: Perhaps this game will turn a few americans on to the sport. Happy the reffing isn't as catastrophic as it was in the first 4 or 5 matches or they would all be flipping tables and leaving.

At 6/16/14 08:09 PM, SansNumbers wrote: I just watched that fucking US-Ghana match and I love football now. That shit was amazing.

CAUGHT ONE! GUYS, GET THE NET, THE DUCT TAPE, THE HANDCUFFS, WHATEVER!

At 6/16/14 07:57 PM, Zachary wrote:

At 6/16/14 07:55 PM, steph2568 wrote: So was the first goal by the US the fastest goal ever made in the WC?
Yellow card for Ghana for trying to obstruct our freedom.

Nah, #6th fastest though. The fastest was like 11 seconds by Turkey against South Korea

Still, it is by far the fastest one this year. I was afraid that after that the match would fall into "US parks the bus, Ghana attacks with no teeth, boring-as-shit to watch". I'm glad that's not what happened. Klinsmann was well aware that sitting on a one-goal difference is suicidal (hence why either than Iran-Nigeria, every match has had at least 3 goals).

Well ain't his shit exciting. Perhaps this game will turn a few americans on to the sport. Another game, another injury or two. Happy the reffing isn't as catastrophic as it was in the first 4 or 5 matches or they would all be flipping tables and leaving. Very open game, both teams want all the points from start to finish.

At 6/16/14 07:33 PM, Zachary wrote:

At 6/16/14 07:31 PM, C-Hawk wrote:

Disclaimer: not saying these two particular dudes say it, in fact, i don't remember an instance of their saying it, at least in seriousness, but

One of the most delicious things about watching the US play is all the American fans suddenly switching from "it's just a bunch of diving" to "OMG THAT'S TOTALLY A FOUL!" over the tiniest shit.

Welcome to the greatest show on earth. At least for a month or so.

Lol I never say "it's just a bunch of diving". That's only Italy!

And Ghana is diving like a mother fucker for real

Yeah, it's an act of desperation to try and earn themselves free kicks in tasty positions, you see it in just about any team that's trailing by one. Ghana's entire second half, and especially with the entrance of Boateng, has been constant (attempts at) putting the US up against the ropes and looking for a knock-out. Proud of US' defensive organization in that respect.

At 6/16/14 06:49 PM, Gobblemeister wrote: Ghana, I know you're salty about losing to the greatest nation on earth but don't take it out on our players

At 6/16/14 06:33 PM, Zachary wrote: WHAT THE FUCK STOP HURTING OUR GUYS

Disclaimer: not saying these two particular dudes say it, in fact, i don't remember an instance of their saying it, at least in seriousness, but

One of the most delicious things about watching the US play is all the American fans suddenly switching from "it's just a bunch of diving" to "OMG THAT'S TOTALLY A FOUL!" over the tiniest shit.

Welcome to the greatest show on earth. At least for a month or so.

At 6/16/14 03:40 PM, SwisherCovent wrote: This game is boring the shit out of me.

I know we were all expecting it to be, but holy crap this is bad. Embarrassed that Iran is managed by a Portuguese man right now. First match to give reason to the description "22 men dicking around with a ball". The ref, in keeping with the average since day 1, just let an Iranian handball go on, and whistled a foul... In favour of Iran. If this match were a horse, i'd be taking it to the back of a stable with a gun.

At 6/16/14 03:28 PM, Haggard wrote: That's propably because they have more than one player taking free kicks. ;)
The german team has Kroos, Özil, Reus (too bad he misses this WC due to an injury), Schweinsteiger. So it's a lot more variable.

You know what i mean, though. Every time Ronaldo starts lining up, everyone's like "let's see what kind of failure this one will be: wall, save or out?" So far, i can't remember anyone scoring a direct free kick, but Ronaldo's the crucified one.

What about Almeida? Éder was a great sub (best player for Portugal, imo), but it would still suck if another player misses the next matches due to an injury.

News so far is that the foot is just sore, no real damage. Almeida's potential absense doesn't concern me exactly for the reason you stated, he's completely interchangable with Éder, who's had a great season. Hell, Éder is even a bit quicker than Almeida, so i'd start him instead, regardless.

At 6/16/14 03:21 PM, Ejit wrote: Iran fail tackles beautifully

Nigerian player unscrewed his foot, that also sucked. The injury list for this WC reads like an american children's song. Head, shoulder, knees and toes. You put your right foot in, you twist it all about. The hip bone's connected to the, leg bone.

It's just funnier if you have a ponytail and refer to yourself in third person.

Zlatan agrees. Buy Zlatan's book.

At 6/16/14 03:00 PM, Haggard wrote:

At 6/16/14 02:37 PM, C-Hawk wrote: Since it was neither one or the other, the red card shouldn't come out.

Wait a second. Pepe didn't get the red for the fist to the face. I'm sure that wasn't even intentional. He got the red for sticking his head to Müller's head, which just is a big no-no and a clear red card.

At the international level, i agree with you. I was referencing all the mutual pushing and shoving and intense discussions regarding each other's mother's heritage and eldeberry-related perfumes resulting in "a yellow to you, and a yellow to you, and now the both of you shut the fuck up and get on with the football". Again, i openly admit the possibility of bias in this, but forehead-to-forehead chats are very common at the club level. But this is international football, lots of ladies and children in the stands and an example to be set, so red it was and red it is.

As for Ronaldo's reputation, at this point, that's all that it is, a reputation that he earned early on in England and that i don't think he'll ever get rid of,

My main problem with Ronaldo is that he is such a skilled player, but it seems that about 90% of his play is just for show. He doesn't do step-overs to irritate the defender, he does it because they look cool.

That's true, and is why he has the nickname of "The Entertainer". A lot of people watch football for the flair, and he provides it. A question of tastes, in which i do prefer yours.

Or the way he shoots his free-kicks. 99% show, 1% success.

Statistically, his success rates are actually quite above the average player at his level. I guess there's a big microscope over his head when he's about to take one, which shows in if i ask anyone "who takes freekicks for Spain?" and nobody remembers. Just like Messi's right foot is completely blind, which keeps him contained to right-sided free kicks, Ronaldo (although being considerably more ambidextrous) is a left-side free kick expert. We needed to sub out Miguel Veloso, the first choice right-side FK taker, in order to balance our defence.

I once read a quote about Zidane, going something like: It wasn't just that he was a skilled player. He just made everyone else better when he was on the pitch.
This is something I miss with Ronaldo. He is a skilled player, but he is no leader and he doesn't make his team mates better.

Similar quotes abound about Ronaldo and his own leadership skills, though. He has had the good leader effect on Portugal several times in the past, but it's not a consistent thing. It was really apparent that Portugal started nervously and didn't get their heads on straight, and the 11th minute goal didn't give enough time for anyone to settle down. Some things escape the ability of even the best leaders. This, of course, is all a very abstract thing and nearly impossible to determine conclusively.

Deserved victory. Even though Portugal should've been awarded a penalty later in the match.

Agreed, although if all things were made fair, a 2-1 or 3-1 would've been the more likely result. Ref for man of the match, and the injuries to players on both sides are a bit worrying for the rest of the tournament.

yes those injuries just suck. especially since it wasn't a very physical match.

It was so annoying. Coentrão just ran out of luck completely. Is there any news on the German's knee?

Löw said it's nothing serious, he just got a blow to the knee. It was just precaution to sub him.

I did think he didn't look to be in as much pain as you'd expect from someone who'd just all-out torn his shit to pieces, good decision from Löw, though. The knee is not something to be fucked around with. Good to hear he'll be back in. Coentrão's coming home in crutches, though.

At 6/16/14 02:18 PM, Haggard wrote:

At 6/16/14 02:10 PM, C-Hawk wrote:

At 6/16/14 02:01 PM, Haggard wrote: CR7 why do you suck so badly?

With 10 players, everyone has to revert to survival football.

Ronaldo did suck with 11 players, too.

True. I'd put it up to what i said about Portugal in general being nervy from the first second, with the exception of him and Moutinho, but two calm heads out of 11 just isn't enough. The quality is there, but unfortunately so is the hot blood.

And Pepe, why don't you switch to Wrestling already?

For the same reason Müller doesn't switch to make-up advertising, to cover up those horrible facial scars.

i want to see how you react when you get Pepes fist in your face. a fist on the nose hurts, no matter how much you keep bitching. also, if you bitch about players acting and whining, you should take a good look at your player with the number 7.

I'm just saying there are two ways of seeing it. I'm certain all Germans see a jaw-fracturing iron fist into his head and all Portuguese people see a light fingertip brush to the lips. In the end, and like you said before, if Müller were a) severely hurt or b) trying to milk the situation, he wouldn't have sprung up as energetically as he did. Since it was neither one or the other, the red card shouldn't come out. Yellow all-around is the most common solution for 99% of these situations.
As for Ronaldo's reputation, at this point, that's all that it is, a reputation that he earned early on in England and that i don't think he'll ever get rid of, just like his reputation for being arrogant just because he has the typical face of an arrogant man and gets branded as such, independently of all his donations and involvement with charities. It's sort of like those actors who just have a bad guy face and will never, ever land a role as the hero in a movie, no matter how Good Guy Greg he might actually and factually be. Meanwhile, Messi is flipping tables in Barcelona, demanding contractual renegotiations to still be the best paid player and pouting about Neymar's arrival and everyone heralds him as the nicest human being.

Deserved victory. Even though Portugal should've been awarded a penalty later in the match.

Agreed, although if all things were made fair, a 2-1 or 3-1 would've been the more likely result. Ref for man of the match, and the injuries to players on both sides are a bit worrying for the rest of the tournament.

yes those injuries just suck. especially since it wasn't a very physical match.

It was so annoying. Coentrão just ran out of luck completely. Is there any news on the German's knee?

At 6/16/14 02:21 PM, SwisherCovent wrote: When are Scotland playing?

Failed to qualify.