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At 6/18/10 06:50 PM, Onepiece285 wrote: What's more we're not gonna have Klose for the next match which we NEED to win.

And how's that a loss? Löw now CAN'T bring Klose, which is a good thing, imo. Instead he either have to bring Cacau or Kießling.
But knowing Löw... he propably let's Gomez play from the start. If he does that, I'll lose any faith in him I have left.

Sad to say it looks like the United States has a better chance of moving on than Germany does right now.

Nah.
I know, yesterday I said I hope Ghana wins tonight, but I realized it would be better if Australia would win against Ghana. Then all teams would have 3 points and we could start all over. Also, Germany has a +3 goal difference, which isn't too bad.

rage

Yes, rage at Löw for his questionable substitutions and rage at the ref for sucking so badly. 9 yellow cards, 6 of them in 4 minutes... I seriously hope he'll not referee another match this WC.

At 6/18/10 09:14 PM, tyler2513 wrote: E-Denmark

Joke? It's gonna be Holland for sure, dude. Maybe Denmark will be second, but not first, really.
Also, Holland - Japan today. Isn't gonna be too tough, I think. Only Honda could cause some problems...

At 6/19/10 02:05 AM, Jercurpac wrote: Coulibaly appeared to rule that American midfielder Michael Bradley had impeded a Slovenian defender

Dammit Michael Bradley stop fouling that defender. How's that poor Slovenian supposed to defend when you're so blatantly impeding him.

Meh, if anything else the Slovenians were "hugging" the US team a bit too much, there were at least 3 defenders being a little to zealous...and even if Bradley "impeded" the defender, it wasn't worth cancelling a goal for...I wonder if FIFA will change the official result, although I don't see that happening...
In 2006 it's three yellow cards and a red card to the same player, in 2010 it's a goal of an epic comeback cancelled for no reason...

At 6/18/10 09:14 PM, tyler2513 wrote: Well it's pretty late to start a prediction base type thing going but I'm going to show mine.
A-France
B-Argentina
C-England
D-Australia
E-Denmark
F-Italy
G-Portugal
H-Spain
Finals: Portugal Vs England
Champions: England

Were these your predictions prior to when the WC started? Because right now you got a lot of unusual picks there.

A: France is on the verge of being eliminated, needing at least a 4-0 victory over South-Africa to stand a chance of passing the group (though they can never be group winners anymore).

C: England can still make it as groupwinners, but if the USA wins and scores equal or more they won't be. If England loses or ties against Slovenia it's over for them.

D: Australia lost 4-0 from Germany. In theory there is a chance they can still be groupwinners, but they will need to score about 8 goals in the upcoming two matches and then they're still dependent of others.

E: Denmark lost to Holland in their first match. I don't see why you wouldn't pick Holland here. Holland just needs one more win over Japan or Cameroon and they'll have qualified themselves.

F: Italy probably needs to score more than Paraguay in the upcoming matches, but okay. Alright pick in my opinion, although they are in very poor shape.

G: Portugal sucked horribly in the game against Ivory Coast. They need wins over Brazil and North-Korea, but judging from the way they played against IC I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up #3.

H: Spain lost their first match to Switzerland. Might still make it as groupwinners, but they'll have to depend on Switzerland from now on.

Finals England - Portugal? You'll probably get 10000/1 odds for that final at the bookies ;)

At 6/19/10 04:43 AM, peacefulsniper wrote: its called soccer you jackass and who the hell cares about soccer.

Oh god, you are SO totally not a troll...and a pretty bad one at that, too.

We're gonna pwn Japan.

Everybody was rooting for Spain to win the World Cup,
but after the shocking loss they suffered against Switer-
land, some of thier fans dropped out and cheered for
someone else. I support Spain and Brazil, i want them
to meet in the finals. I supported France in 2006, but this
year theyre doing badly considering they lost to China.
I hope Spain will learn from that lost and make a great
comeback to the World Cup, but as usual, Brazil is doing
great, beating Argentina 3-1 in the qualifers was just
ownage. Hope for both of them to win! And also, South
Africans, you guys are doing great in the World Cup!
Your awesome sprited, crazy fans will be rooting you guys
on! :D
FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 Official Theme

Go the New Zealand "All Whites"

(They are not part of Australasia)

why hasn't anybody fallen into the habit of calling american 'football' handegg? that's exactly what it looks like

At 6/18/10 07:46 AM, Auz wrote: This is a bit unrelated to the current WC, but Qatar is planning to host the WC in 2022 and has plans to build some of the most epic stadiums in history.

The stadiums look pretty sweet, but they look kind of undersized compared to other bidders' stadiums. And not to mention it might be cool on the inside but you still have to walk to the stadium in 110 degree temps. I think it would be too unbearable for most fans especially in June/July.

I'm kind of hoping that the US will get the 2022 WC since in all likelihood that someone in Europe will get the 2018 WC and Qatar is just to damn small with only 1.5 Million people.

At 6/18/10 08:40 AM, Scarab wrote: Also, alcohol will be expensive. So we can sit back at home and laugh.

Heh, strike two.

Anyways, I got Netherlands 3 Japs 1

At 6/19/10 04:46 AM, Auz wrote:

F: Italy probably needs to score more than Paraguay in the upcoming matches, but okay. Alright pick in my opinion, although they are in very poor shape.

Kindest thing anyone's said about our team YET.

Thanks :D

Lol. I think the ball possession thus far is Holland 95% Japan 5% :p

It's looking good at the moment. They just gotta find that gap in the Japanese defense.

At 6/19/10 07:25 AM, reverend wrote:

At 6/18/10 07:46 AM, Auz wrote: This is a bit unrelated to the current WC, but Qatar is planning to host the WC in 2022 and has plans to build some of the most epic stadiums in history.

The stadiums look pretty sweet, but they look kind of undersized compared to other bidders' stadiums. And not to mention it might be cool on the inside but you still have to walk to the stadium in 110 degree temps. I think it would be too unbearable for most fans especially in June/July.

Well they were thinking about air condition and field cooling in the stadiums which would be awesome for the players and fans.

If the FIFA is looking for environmental friendly bids though (like someone here said), Qatar doesn't have much of a chance :p

I'm kind of hoping that the US will get the 2022 WC since in all likelihood that someone in Europe will get the 2018 WC and Qatar is just to damn small with only 1.5 Million people.

I personally hope the USA does not get it. The different time-zones are quite annoying and I'd hate to see all of our matches played at midnight.

37 minutes in and that was the first shot on target -.-'

Holland needs to reconsider their strategy, because this is obviously not working.

At 6/19/10 07:38 AM, LinkSilvermane wrote:

At 6/19/10 04:46 AM, Auz wrote: F: Italy probably needs to score more than Paraguay in the upcoming matches, but okay. Alright pick in my opinion, although they are in very poor shape.

Kindest thing anyone's said about our team YET.

Thanks :D

Not saying I'm supporting the Italians though ;)

I just think they'll make it through their group in the end. Although they really need to get into a better shape.

God, we're playing so awfully bad. Absolutely nothing happens. We need to change something on the midfield. Bert should bring in Elia, or Affelai. And then take out Sneijder or Van der Vaart. And I also hope Bert will change some things now.

The most memorable moment in this match so far has been van Persie accidently kicking a guy in the face.

I think we may have a sound strategy, though. In the first half we demoralise the other team by playing excruciatingly boring. Then in the second half, when the other team has trouble defending because they need to control their yawns, we bring Elia, Afellay or perhaps even Robben and score a sudden goal or two. Unfortunately those uppity Japs are starting to get more offensive.

I've not caught all of Netherlands-Japan so far, but I get the expression that there hasn't been much to write home about anyway. Netherlands have disappointed me so far actually. They're clearly a good team, but their play isn't getting them anywhere. It was almost as if they didn't score against Denmark, if that makes sense.

Of course, it is just their second game. They could always turn stuff around!

From what I've picked up, it does sound like Japan have picked up the pace since their slow game with Cameroon, which is always good to see.

Like you said Auz, reconsiderations to be made at half-time methinks.

At 6/19/10 07:40 AM, Auz wrote: If the FIFA is looking for environmental friendly bids though (like someone here said), Qatar doesn't have much of a chance :p

Well, a Middle East WC would be a nice change. To be honest I had my doubts about South Africa hosting and they seem to be doing a pretty good job though I'm not quite sold on Qatar.

I personally hope the USA does not get it. The different time-zones are quite annoying and I'd hate to see all of our matches played at midnight.

Yeah, that is a sticking point; early start times here could mitigate such late times over there. Of course, it's not like anybody goes to work during the World Cup over there anyways. :P

JAAAAAAAAAHAHAAHA!!!

Holland 1 - 0 Japan!

Nice goal by Sneijder, but very poor goalkeeping by the Japanese goalkeeper. Somehow he managed to deflect it into the other corner.

Anyway, this match needed a goal. I think it's gonna get better from now on, now that the Japanese will have to attack.

At 6/19/10 08:40 AM, Auz wrote: Anyway, this match needed a goal. I think it's gonna get better from now on, now that the Japanese will have to attack.

Tbh, it couldn't get any worse than in the first half. Again I don't understand how a team like Holland with so many great players can play so bad...

At 6/19/10 08:36 AM, reverend wrote:

At 6/19/10 07:40 AM, Auz wrote: If the FIFA is looking for environmental friendly bids though (like someone here said), Qatar doesn't have much of a chance :p

Well, a Middle East WC would be a nice change. To be honest I had my doubts about South Africa hosting and they seem to be doing a pretty good job though I'm not quite sold on Qatar.

South-Africa seems to be doing a good job indeed. I heard the security wasn't that good, but so far not much has happened. Things are going well.

And yes a Middle East WC could be interesting. Qatar seems to have the best bid at the moment. I doubt any of the other Middle-Eastern countries are gonna top it.

I personally hope the USA does not get it. The different time-zones are quite annoying and I'd hate to see all of our matches played at midnight.

Yeah, that is a sticking point; early start times here could mitigate such late times over there. Of course, it's not like anybody goes to work during the World Cup over there anyways. :P

Well I probably will, so I'll just have to look at summaries the next morning. Just like the WC in Korea in 2002. We didn't qualify for that, so it didn't matter much, but still... I prefer to watch them live.

Hoping for Japan here to tie things up. We are playing very well.

Japan gave me videogames so...

JAPAN GO!!

At 6/19/10 08:43 AM, Haggard wrote: Tbh, it couldn't get any worse than in the first half. Again I don't understand how a team like Holland with so many great players can play so bad...

I think this is the problem:

(please excuse my paint skills)

Whoa..did he just miss from THERE?

At 6/19/10 09:11 AM, HeavyTank wrote: Whoa..did he just miss from THERE?

Yes he did.

Game's over. Poor game, really. Holland won't get far if they keep playing like this. But anyways, we're through the poule round. Up to the 8th finals.

Well we won, but truth be told: Japan deserved a draw.

I hope van Marwijk will stop being so conservative and will bring in Elia and Affelay from the start from now on. Sure Affelay missed two huge chances, but at least he got two huge chances. Before they came in almost nothing happened up front.

I guess we shouldn't complain though because we've been one of the only two 'favorite' countries that performs alright (result-wise) in this WC.

At 6/19/10 09:30 AM, Auz wrote: I hope van Marwijk will stop being so conservative and will bring in Elia and Affelay from the start from now on. Sure Affelay missed two huge chances, but at least he got two huge chances. Before they came in almost nothing happened up front.

As an observer of that match, I'd back this.

I think Japan have a chance of reaching the second round. When they see that they need to score, it's clear that they have a great potential for attack. I was impressed by them again, when they got chances. But... Cameroon-Denmark... we'll have to see.

Ghana-Australia up next. I'm going to go with Ghana for this one, but...

... my brother received about six texts last night. All of them said, 'what bloody rubbish'.

Interesting announcement: Nicolas Anelka is being sent home. Apparently he had a massive bust-up in the dressing room with Domenech.

With Henry out of favour and Benzema watching from home, I just don't see the goal threat necessary for Franxe to stay in this.

At 6/19/10 04:39 AM, HeavyTank wrote:

At 6/19/10 02:05 AM, Jercurpac wrote: Dammit Michael Bradley stop fouling that defender.

Meh, if anything else the Slovenians were "hugging" the US team a bit too much

Sarcasm.

Also, since I'm a relative World Cup newbie can someone explain all the upsets to me? I assume slow starts are the norm, but at this point it seems like very few teams have it wrapped up completely in situations that were supposed to be a lock. Is it a result of the lower ranked countries being stronger than they have been in years? Do countries like England and France have too many star that are incapable of playing as a team? Or is it just a freak year where all the one in a million upsets are piling up?

At 6/19/10 09:30 AM, Auz wrote: I guess we shouldn't complain though because we've been one of the only two 'favorite' countries that performs alright (result-wise) in this WC.

Bad play and yet we win again. Now we can only hope they start playing better.