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At 6/16/14 01:54 PM, Auz wrote: If you ask me, Germany's victory was well deserved as they were clearly the better side. Portugal made a pretty weak impression overall, regardless of that red card.

True, like i said, Germany made use of their best qualities of organization and calm, while Portugal's opposites of those shot us in the knee before it even started.

I think that penalty for Germany was justified, but Portugal probably deserved a penalty as well that one moment. Wouldn't have made too much of a difference though.

I wouldn't have awarded the first one. With all the reputation the Germans draw on for being tough as nails, i should think it takes more than a falling arm to bring him down.

Portugal will probably still make it through to the second round though. I can't imagine they'll lose to USA and Ghana.

Given current news from the showers about Coentrão being out due to a torn ligament, we might be completely discompensated at left-back, so i'd put the odds at evens on that.

At 6/16/14 01:57 PM, Zachary wrote: Well deserved victory for Germany, mainly because my lucky BVB shirt that I am wearing made them win.........

I shall find you and end you >:C Good luck against Ghana later. I feel the same about Lando that i feel about Quaresma, they both deserved to be here, but you should do well even without him.

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.

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.

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.

At 6/16/14 01:39 PM, Auz wrote: I'm feeling a little sorry for Portugal with all those injuries they have to deal with now.

Hugo Almeida is interchangeable with Éder, but Coentrão is a huge one. Wonder how bad the German's knee is, since he didn't look to be in the kind of pain equivalent to having torn something.

Yeah. I don't know what it is with Messi when he plays for Argentina. I suppose Barcelona's style of play suits him much better.

It's possible that Barça's 6es blend better with the defenders and the wide men track back properly compared to Argentina, but it's a pretty clear thing that if you're going to ask anyone to compensate for that flaw, don't use your creative genius to play the janitorial duties. Free him for the front by finding a 6 that inspires enough confidence for your offensive players to get on their front foot.

At 6/16/14 01:36 PM, Ejit wrote: Prolly should've been a penalty that.

Sister just unironically mused over 'the ones in white doing some interesting kicks'. Quite right.

Guardiola football.

Sepp Blatter 3-0 Portugal.

Welp, that's it for Portugal. Exploded hamstring.

Petition to bring back the octopus.doc

At 6/16/14 12:53 PM, Head-Full-Of-Acid wrote: that guy being paid to act on field should get his balls cut off

.

At 6/16/14 12:52 PM, SwisherCovent wrote: 3-0.

Pepe is a silly sausage. Why has he felt the need to move his head towards Muller right in front of the ref? Sure, there was very little contact and Muller made a painful meal of the first "challenge", but Pepe should have ignored it. I'd fancy Germany scoring a couple more at least, now.

Because he knows Pepe's fuse is about 1mm long, and provoking and goading that sort of player into getting more cards than necessary is part of the mind-games of football. The whole "oh my god my face is full of acid and spiders" thing makes it impossible to respect Müller from here on out. And yeah, with 10 men, it's going to be a steamrolling, or Germany will go into control and contention mode to conserve their players for a long, hot and damp tournament.

There's the obvious issue of bias, here, but in my view, the penalty is about as soft as it gets. I'd say it takes a whole lot more than João Pereira's falling arm to make Müller curl over and be near-death. But again, seeing as i've probably seen it with biased eyes, i'll call it a 50-50 call.
German fans are being their usual selves of enjoyable company, with the "popopopopopo"s coming out only sparingly.

If you know how that chant started getting used outside of Italian mouths, you'll know why it's not the nicest chant.

And as i'm typing this, the tournament's third act of theatre is played by Müller, to great effect. Müller gets nothing for acting as though his face were covered in acid and spiders, Pepe gets a red card. Viva FIFA.
Outside of all the bullshit, everything is progressing as expected, with Portugal being nervy as all hell and Germany being the polar opposite of that, making use of much better organization, to obvious results on the scoreboard.

I have a new counter in my post.

Instances of confused "Texas is in the WC?" regarding Chile's flag: 6

At 6/16/14 07:46 AM, Auz wrote:

At 6/16/14 06:50 AM, C-Hawk wrote:

At 6/16/14 01:17 AM, Haggard wrote:

At 6/15/14 07:27 PM, steph2568 wrote: FINALLY Messi scored. Him setting up plays for Aguero got boring real quick.

His second WC goal. Now that's TWO more than 'Ooney has. LOL

One of those many, many stats (scientific, verifiable data) to bring up to categorically prove Ronaldo is, in fact, the best player in the world ATM.

Hmm I can't say I've been very impressed with Ronaldo's WC performances thus far either.

Also, he scored one goal in that 7 - 0 victory versus North Korea in 2010 and one penalty in 2006 so he's actually tied with Messi.

Anyway, we'll see how well he does this time.

Trufax there. I just get the feeling that with Argentina's bigger guns up front of Di María et al, you'd expect Messi to be looser in attack than he showed himself last night. He seemed quiet and retracted into the 8 or even 6 position at times.

At 6/16/14 07:17 AM, Haggard wrote:

At 6/16/14 06:50 AM, C-Hawk wrote:

At 6/16/14 01:17 AM, Haggard wrote: His second WC goal. Now that's TWO more than 'Ooney has. LOL

One of those many, many stats (scientific, verifiable data) to bring up to categorically prove Ronaldo is, in fact, the best player in the world ATM.

Just until Klose manages to score two more WC goals. :3

True, i just like keeping track of all the different ways in which Ronaldo v Messi isn't even a competition. "Let's put the ball on Messi's right foot and see what happens. Oop, he's lost it. Let's put Messi on the sideline to work the wing. Oop, he's lost it. Let's see Messi win a header. Lol no. Let's see Messi and Ronaldo in a footrace. Lol no." (...)

At 6/16/14 01:17 AM, Haggard wrote:

At 6/15/14 07:27 PM, steph2568 wrote: FINALLY Messi scored. Him setting up plays for Aguero got boring real quick.

His second WC goal. Now that's TWO more than 'Ooney has. LOL

One of those many, many stats (scientific, verifiable data) to bring up to categorically prove Ronaldo is, in fact, the best player in the world ATM.

At 6/15/14 07:49 PM, blauwwolkje92 wrote:

At 6/15/14 07:27 PM, steph2568 wrote: FINALLY Messi scored. Him setting up plays for Aguero got boring real quick.

has messi always played for argentina? cause ... wah?

I remember explaining to you in the last Euro, Messi is Argentinian, not Spanish.

This one's going into my news post counters.

Well, that was the first draw of the tournament, 2-1 (lol own-goal jokes about Argentina's lack of finalization).

At 6/15/14 06:06 PM, Ejit wrote: Least likeable team in the tournament yet somehow so likeable

Bosnian fans have a bad habit of booing other nation's anthems and then acting surprised when Maracanás full of fans of other nations boo theirs. From my point of view, in the face of the inability to choose which one to hate the most, i'm unashamedly hoping for injuries and suspensions all around and don't give a damn about the result. Fuck'm all.

At 6/15/14 05:18 PM, Gagsy wrote: Arsenal.

Cesc says he had a 5 minute conversation with D. Mourinho that made him change his mind and go to Chelsea instead of his previously favoured Arsenal.
5 minutes.
5.
Gob. Reconsider your life choices.

At 6/15/14 05:13 PM, Gobblemeister wrote: All the streams I am trying to watch of the game have some shit about Baghdad blowing up
WHERE IS THE FUCKIN GAME

Guys. We've converted a Yank.

Victory dance.

At 6/15/14 04:37 PM, Haggard wrote: yeah, that "no goal" - "ya goal" was quite confusing. but without technology we would still be wondering.
in german tv they also said before the match, that the english players complained about honduras playing too physical. now i know why they complained.

Pff.

At 6/15/14 04:15 PM, Ejit wrote: This sounds like a hilarious game I can't believe I'm missing it purely because I can't be arsed

You just missed the first "goal line technology" clusterfuck, too. Ball hits post, "NO GOAL" image, ball comes out toward the goalkeeper who inserts and recovers the ball. Hondurans hoping for a cureaucratic anti-solution.

At 6/15/14 04:16 PM, steph2568 wrote: So many yellow cards in this game...

Still nothing like the last final, nor the Battle of Nürnberg

At 6/15/14 02:19 PM, lapis wrote:

At 6/15/14 01:46 PM, C-Hawk wrote: and all those different languages of football and flavours and techniques don't exactly gel together too well. This, of course, besides the normal issues of dimension. Portugal has Pepe (...)

Behrami, Shaqiri, Xhaka, Djourou and Mehmedi were all born in former Yugoslavia, and Drmic, Inler, Rodríguez and Seferović were born to immigrant parents in Switzerland (not sure about Benaglio). Your point about Switzerland's immigration cap still stands, but you make it sound a bit like they're all mercenaries like Pepe and Diego Costa who switch nationalities at 18+, while most of them just represent their country of birth/refuge.

Pepe was actually nationalized a lot younger, but i do know what you mean. For Diego Costa i guess the issue only came up recently and he had to make a decision, and it wasn't an issue before because he wasn't being considered for either side. I hold no grudge against the players deciding either which country they feel most patriotism for or which one they believe will offer them the most career advancement opportunites, to each his own on that, i just think that the different philosophies and styles start de-characterizing a team, specially a national selection, if the absolute majority of them have a completely different cultural (either sociological or just plain football culture) background. An Italian "raised" to have defensive responsibilities above all other considerations would have difficulties adjusting to a quicker national team like yours, for example. One or two and it might work, but like i said, eight of them is enough for it to be considered a mercenary army, and the responsibility of that, just to underline, isn't on the players, it's on the national manager and federation who have to decide early on, respectively, on a strategy and policy for what they want to be. Switzerland's individual qualities but collective aimlessness speaks volumes of this. It was like watching roaches run around searching for cover when you turn on the garage light.

At 6/15/14 01:57 PM, SwisherCovent wrote: F'in Swiss pinch it in the last minute. Is that still no draws in the cup so far?

It is. Average of 3.(4) goals/match right now.

Unrelated, i believe Gagsy will enjoy this:

Fuck the Swiss, but if anyone is under the impression that "soccor is just a bunch of diving pansies" should watch and re-watch the second Swiss goal.

At 6/15/14 01:24 PM, Haggard wrote:

At 6/15/14 01:13 PM, C-Hawk wrote:

At 6/15/14 12:53 PM, Haggard wrote: Finally, current match!
Switzerland - Ecuador: Switzerland plays like shit. What the hell?

Here is a picture of the Swiss national team's Swiss players. All of them.

Yeah, please let's do this with all national teams. I wonder how many brazilian players are actually "brazilian" players without any migration background? I doubt there are too many. Immigration is part of our lives, get over it.

Someone made that image after Switzerland introduced their immigration quota system that ended up seeing the Swiss students cut off of the Erasmus programme since it was a breach of the Schengen zone as a sort of in-their-face "this is what you country is without immigrants". Fact of the matter is the Swiss team is probably the most immigrant-filled one, and all those different languages of football and flavours and techniques don't exactly gel together too well. This, of course, besides the normal issues of dimension. Portugal has Pepe, but his functions are so straightforward and he's been playing European football for so long that it isn't really an issue, and it takes more than one to de-characterize an entire team. Eight of them, and you definitely don't have an overall identity.

It's going to be an interesting match. But much depends on Ronaldo and if he can play or not. That's your biggest disadvantage.

The CL final definitely took a lot out of a few players involved in this WC, specially having gone into overtime, and the fact that they didn't have a whole lot of time to recover. Löw said "Portugal is the world champion of counter-attacks", and he's right about that. I'm hoping the invisible transition work (so invisible that the French media called him a flop) done by Moutinho and Meireles will be able to launch Nani and Varela, while perhaps we can lure some of your guys around sort of like what Pirlo did last night. But it is clear that the biggest difference between the teams is the balance\imbalance, which should make it pretty interesting to watch.

At 6/15/14 12:53 PM, Haggard wrote: Finally, current match!
Switzerland - Ecuador: Switzerland plays like shit. What the hell?

Here is a picture of the Swiss national team's Swiss players. All of them. The ranking system exploitation has been seeding them in easier groups for qualifiers, hence their presence in the past 3 WCs. As a result it's sort of like the same thing that happens with whichever team is the 3rd entrant from the CONCACAF: a crap team that doesn't deserve to be there and wasn't culled in the meritocracy elimination process.
Portugal during any football match. Here's hoping our match with you guys goes well. One of the few in the group stage where both teams look each other in the eye with mutual respect and no clear underdog.

Ecuador 1-0 Sepp Blatter's Immigrant Whore Army FC. Fucking love it.

At 6/14/14 08:00 PM, Gagsy wrote: Try telling me that John Terry would have let in that first Italy goal, and Ashley Cole the second.

Check the bottom of my latest news post. Saddening.

The fatigue levels are enormous on players who aren't used to the environment. What shows in the Portuguese league whenever mainland teams go to the islands to play is showing in Manaus now, since around minute 68, with Sterling's legs exploding. Other than the Dutch, I think all teams are going to have trouble with it, and I don't want to imagine overtimes. And we're talking about some players that were involved in the final matches of the EL and CL, one of which did go into overtime, and are still feeling the fatigue from that.

That said, WC2022 will be in Qatar... I hope the prostitutes and bribes were worth it to the old farts who'll be dead by the time it happens.

At 6/14/14 07:13 PM, steph2568 wrote: I like how Univison calls Balotelli "Super Mario" lmao

GOL BY SUPER MARIO!!!

It is his nickname. The applause and cheer he just got while being substituted shows that as much as the 60+ talking heads on commentary shows love to hate on him for not being robotically professional, the masses do adore an unapologetic asshole, contemporary-gladiator style.

At 6/14/14 06:56 PM, Gagsy wrote: BBC: "For the weather watchers the temperature in Manaus is currently 30 degrees and humidity is 61%."

Imagine how sweaty Rooneys bollocks are right now.

I found it amusing when the Italians scored, ran to the bench, everyone grabs a bottle. "YAY *gulpgulpgulp* WE SCORED-A THE GOAL-A *gulpgulpgulp*"

At 6/14/14 06:20 PM, darkjam wrote: 2-1 Italy, called it.

This seems likely right now. Italy is playing with a lot more brain power than the English, which shows in the respective possession qualities. Italy is playing with 3 creators plus Pirlo in the function of Leroy Jenkins, attracting defenders to himself, and as a result of that, the Italian midfield seems to always have a plan for their possession, whereas when England has it, they don't seem to know what to do with themselves, constantly running into dead-ends, flipping around to the opposite wing to try and find something there, which they don't, passing back to the defenders... That, or their trademark "direct football", which did work for their goal, but isn't the most confidence-inspiring play. You play football first in your brain and then on the ground. If you resort to the air, you have no plan and are rolling the dice.

At 6/14/14 05:05 PM, NuScarab wrote: Costa Rica weren't good at the back and so I was concerned for the final ten to fifteen minutes, but those attacks were all really good.

As ugly as it is, anti-football is a fundamental and indispensable tool in football, and CRC did an excellent job of holding the pillow to the face of that match in the final 15 minutes you're mentioning. The right way to do it is to take it up to the corner and be an irritating little prick. You can ask Maxi just how effective they were about that.

For ENG v ITA, humidity drop to 57% but temperature still at 27º. I'm not jealous of them right now.