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The FIFA World Cup Thread (Spoilers Welcome)

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Re: The FIFA World Cup Thread (Spoilers Welcome)

well, at the outset of the knockout round, I had picked Argentina over Germany in the final, and if that does occur, I'll win the office pool. :)


I like Argentina's chances here. They've been playing very solid defense, the Germans may have peaked one game too soon (and are they subconsciously a little embarrassed??? I hope not, but.....), and the Argentinians have Messi.
 
Re: The FIFA World Cup Thread (Spoilers Welcome)

LynahFan said:
They used to have it, and extra time really stunk - both immediately went to defense-first, since making a mistake was absolutely (and not just probably) fatal. They changed *to* playing the full OT in order to get teams to take more risks going forward.
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I wonder if removing players as time goes on would mitigate this problem with sudden death.
 
CLS said:
What Lynah Fan refers to was called "Golden Goal", which was the soccer term for "Sudden Death".

MLS or one of its precursors gave the penalty kicker possession at midfield, and when he touched the ball, the goalie was allowed to come off his line. I think it was time limited.
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It started in the old NASL. The ball was placed 35 yards out, the goalie had to start on the line but could come out, and the shooter had 5 seconds to shoot.

It was hated because a) It's a bit of a pain logistically and b) Americans came up with it. Seriously, if somebody like Italy or England came up with it, it's be standard now. But since Americans did, it's terrible.
 
Re: The FIFA World Cup Thread (Spoilers Welcome)

Jimjamesak said:
It started in the old NASL. The ball was placed 35 yards out, the goalie had to start on the line but could come out, and the shooter had 5 seconds to shoot.

It was hated because a) It's a bit of a pain logistically and b) Americans came up with it. Seriously, if somebody like Italy or England came up with it, it's be standard now. But since Americans did, it's terrible.
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Didn't NASL make other changes to the "Laws of the Game" to increase scoring? I watched a bit of the old Minnesota Kicks and it seems to me the games were higher scoring (although our favorite part was tailgating before the games so my memory may be a bit fuzzy;)).
 
Re: The FIFA World Cup Thread (Spoilers Welcome)

Jimjamesak said:
It was hated because a) It's a bit of a pain logistically and b) Americans came up with it. Seriously, if somebody like Italy or England came up with it, it's be standard now. But since Americans did, it's terrible.
Click to expand...

You can tell this isn't a silly exaggeration since Europeans came up with penalty kicks and they are beloved.
 
goldy_331 said:
Didn't NASL make other changes to the "Laws of the Game" to increase scoring? I watched a bit of the old Minnesota Kicks and it seems to me the games were higher scoring (although our favorite part was tailgating before the games so my memory may be a bit fuzzy;)).
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The only change they made was with offside. They move the area where offside was enforced from the halfline to 35 yards out from the goal.
 
Kepler said:
You can tell this isn't a silly exaggeration since Europeans came up with penalty kicks and they are beloved.
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It's an honest opinion. The 35 yard shootout is actually a reasonable method to decide ties but it never caught on because it was seen as an "Americanization" of the game.
 
Re: The FIFA World Cup Thread (Spoilers Welcome)

goldy_331 said:
Didn't NASL make other changes to the "Laws of the Game" to increase scoring? I watched a bit of the old Minnesota Kicks and it seems to me the games were higher scoring (although our favorite part was tailgating before the games so my memory may be a bit fuzzy;)).
Click to expand...
We had season tickets for a couple seasons of the Kicks. Fun stuff. I still remember of few of the players, guys like Alan Wiley, Tino Litteiri, and Ade Coker. For a few years there, they were a thriving franchise. Always liked some of the team names in that league, like the Tulsa Roughnecks and the Dallas Tornado.
 
Re: The FIFA World Cup Thread (Spoilers Welcome)

Excerpts from a more extensive analysis of this year's World Cup in WSJ and some speculation on why it has been (generally) so much more exciting than the past several....


The first signal that this was going to be a transformative World Cup arrived on the second day of the tournament. That's when Holland's Robin van Persie caught up with a masterful 51-yard bomb of a pass from the midfield, then nailed a diving header into Spain's goal, part of a 5-1 thrashing of the defending world champions.

The next day, giant-killer Costa Rica swarmed a defensive Uruguayan team with three second-half goals, punishing the 2010 semifinalists for their passivity. Two days later, U.S. captain Clint Dempsey scored just 29 seconds into the game, his ears still buzzing with the parting words of coach Jurgen Klinsmann just before kickoff: "Attack!"

This week brought the ultimate onslaught—Germany's merciless, 7-1 thrashing of host Brazil, which brought the whole concept of the "attack" to an entirely new level.

After years of timid, low-scoring play, that one word has become the theme of Brazil's World Cup. When the history of this tournament is written, the sport's cognoscenti will likely point to it as an event that changed the game . The finalists, Germany and Argentina, have survived the most offense-oriented tournament of the modern era, a series of games where playing defensively almost guaranteed an early exit.
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Re: The FIFA World Cup Thread (Spoilers Welcome)

Things seemed much more open, and high scoring at the group stage. With the exception of Germany vs. Brazil, the knockout stage has been mostly very low scoring. I know several folks who had started watching during the group stage, but then griped that nobody was scoring at the knockout stage.
 
Re: The FIFA World Cup Thread (Spoilers Welcome)

Priceless said:
Dude, want to trim that to 4 paragraphs?
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Netherlands surprised Spain. Costa Rica surprised everybody. Germany tore Brazil a new one. Lots of scoring in group play, then not so much in knockout, but still more than in years past. Americans still acknowledge soccer after USA get eliminated: Fluke or no? Teams decide to attack Spain, it works, people try it on other teams, it works. Now everyone attacks. Attack=Goals. Germany best at attacking.
 
Re: The FIFA World Cup Thread (Spoilers Welcome)

Spartanforlife4 said:
Netherlands surprised Spain. Costa Rica surprised everybody. Germany tore Brazil a new one. Lots of scoring in group play, then not so much in knockout, but still more than in years past. Americans still acknowledge soccer after USA get eliminated: Fluke or no? Teams decide to attack Spain, it works, people try it on other teams, it works. Now everyone attacks. Attack=Goals. Germany best at attacking.
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Spain was just old and got beat to every loose ball. Costa Rica was a pretty good defensive team and so I'd question if defensive soccer is out. I'm not sure it's offense that has won games more than it is highly skilled and disciplined teams that won games.
 
Re: The FIFA World Cup Thread (Spoilers Welcome)

manurespreader said:
Spain was just old and got beat to every loose ball. Costa Rica was a pretty good defensive team and so I'd question if defensive soccer is out. I'm not sure it's offense that has won games more than it is highly skilled and disciplined teams that won games.
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The difference between Costa Rica and the defense the article was talking about was Costa Rica's high line and offside trap...not to mention the article said there was less bunker down defense but more pressure on the ball.
 
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