World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

[GreatLakerMohawk]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

One of the things I remember wasn't really soccer related, but I'll always remember it. I was watching the semi-finals at my girlfriend's and at halftime they had an interview with Lothar Matthäus, the German captain. He'd said about five words and Michaela says, "I never knew Matthäus was from Erlangen", which is a town about 45 minutes away from us. I asked her how she knew he was from Erlangen and she said, "His accent. He's from Erlangen."

That's like something straight out of "Inglorious Basterds."

 

[JF_Gophers]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

That's like something straight out of "Inglorious Basterds."

Except no one was killed right after that.

 

[Patman]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

is it just me or does clint dempsey take a ton of abuse on the field.... maybe its just the way he plays

 

[MountieBoyOz]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

What the people watching in England saw when Gerrard scored.

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Whoops.

Way to go ITV. The Beeb wouldn't have butchered that.

Anyone got one of those giant, red FAIL graphics?

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

Way to go ITV. The Beeb wouldn't have butchered that.

Anyone got one of those giant, red FAIL graphics?

Is that a super mario hat in the lower right?

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/international/article7149185.ece

TO THE Boston Tea Party and Belo Horizonte, the Royal Bafokeng stadium can almost be added. Here was parity that felt a lot like purgatory for Englishmen

bahahahaha wow, those are a couple whopper comparisons.

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

I am thrilled with a tie vs England.

Here are some upsides:

1) Gooch was effective and went the full 90. That's huge boost for Team USA.

2) Altidore still showed some speed on a bad ankle. I still think Buddle and Gomez have more to offer the offense in terms of skill, but Findley did a good job forcing the English defense backward with his speed.

3) Cherundolo played like the vet he is - mature and collected.

4) Howard is one of the best goalies in the world, and can keep us in against anyone when hot.

5) Donovan did a number of under-the radar things to really move the US attack on the flanks.

6) Dempsey's risks often pay off.

Downsides

1) Lack of cohesion in the back. This will hurt us more later in the tourney.

2) Lack of a true holding mid. Bradley is ok, but we miss Reyna big time.

3) Lack of shots- We had eight shots, which is hard to win. We need about 12-15 shots to be effective.

 

[JohnN]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

3) Cherundolo played like the vet he is - mature and collected.

I was thinking this was one of the best international games I've seen Cherundolo play.

I was also happy with Gooch. I got nervous when Crouch came in, but I had no need to be. Gooch kept him off the board.

 

[AMC]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

I was thinking this was one of the best international games I've seen Cherundolo play.

I was also happy with Gooch. I got nervous when Crouch came in, but I had no need to be. Gooch kept him off the board.

Zonal Marking made a good point, Gooch did tend to chase the ball a bit too high, and it led to a few of England's chances (Lennon and SWP getting deep on the wings). But overall, he showed he was healthy, which is the more important takeaway I think.

 

[Scott W]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

Not Gerrard. I'll look through the gamecast and try and find the play you're talking about.

Gerrard got his for a high boot that kicked the ball, and then got Dempsey in the thigh.

Edit: maybe you're thinking Carragher's yellow, but the boot he has up doesn't touch Findley. It was definitely a yellow card worthy tackle. But slightly different from Findley's.

You sure about that? Looks like he makes plenty of contact to me. They both easily could have been red cards.

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[J.D.]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

If we're talking about deserved reds, Findley should have been sent off with a straight red for his studs up challenge to Gerrard.

You mean the high boot that got the ball and then Dempsey? High boots happen, they're yellows.

Findley's was a dirty tackle, it could have snapped an ankle. Studs up tackles and high boots are not remotely the same thing.

The ref got both right IMO. Both deserving of yellows. Didn't see anything worthy of a straight red.

 

[GreatLakerMohawk]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

The ref got both right IMO. Both deserving of yellows. Didn't see anything worthy of a straight red.

But one happened to England so that makes it A THOUSAND TIMES WORSE OF AN OFFENSE!

 

[Jimjamesak]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

 

[LynahFan]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

I've always struggled with the plurals and teams. I like the soccer method best. Everyone's a plural.

In England, that's not just a soccer thing. They nearly always use plural verbs for collective nouns such as teams, countries, companies, etc. E.g.: "Boeing are going to build a bigger airplane to trump what Airbus are offering."

 

[WeWantMore]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

The ref got both right IMO. Both deserving of yellows. Didn't see anything worthy of a straight red.

Think back to Bradley's red v. Spain last year. If that's a red, then there could have been multiple reds last night.

 

[ColbyWMHB]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

Think back to Bradley's red v. Spain last year. If that's a red, then there could have been multiple reds last night.

Calling straight reds on anything in yesterday's match would have been chintzy, and would have ruined the play in what was a very good game.

Is that how we want matches to be officiated in the World Cup? Yesterday's match was all about the players on the field. Why let the referees have as much impact on the outcome of a game as the players?

 

[WeWantMore]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

Calling straight reds on anything in yesterday's match would have been chintzy, and would have ruined the play in what was a very good game.

Is that how we want matches to be officiated in the World Cup? Yesterday's match was all about the players on the field. Why let the referees have as much impact on the outcome of a game as the players?

Oh, I agree 100%. I wouldn't have wanted to see anyone sent off for those challenges last night. I was just pointing out the difference between the way two different referees view similar challenges.

 

[LynahFan]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

Thus far, the quality of the Algeria-Slovenia match (or lack thereof) definitely seems to be suggestive of a 0-0 tie...

 

[ColbyWMHB]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

Oh, I agree 100%. I wouldn't have wanted to see anyone sent off for those challenges last night. I was just pointing out the difference between the way two different referees view similar challenges.

Gotcha....I've been pleased with the officiating I've seen in the first 2 days (I've been lucky enough to have been able to see most of the matches so far' I unfortunately won't continue at that pace). The only real controversy was the disallowed goal for Mexico, and to call that a "controversy" is a bit of a stretch. The more the refs continue to leave the field and receive little to no attention, the better the tournament!

 

[JF_Gophers]

Re: World Soccer XIII: Through the Group Stages

Algeria seemed more threatening in the first half. Whoever is on the Algeria left for Slovenia needs to play better, because every time they came down that side there was a ball going into the area.