FIFA World Cup

[Nico]

Fucking Germans.. go steal a bike or something.

Now now, no offending, please.

[Lirliel]

As Özil showed, we don't need bikes to overrun other players easily

Now now, no offending, please.

[Nyarly]

I would make a comment now, but it would seem hypocritical, considering I wanted Germany to lose.

[Ramael]

Fair play Germany - but I agree with some of the other posters here.


Why on earth was this being bigged up so much!? We were always going to lose!

From the first game against the Yanks, it was clear we weren't going to do well in the world cup, so why does our media persist with feeding us delusions?! It just makes the (inevitable) defeat all the more bitter!

The Germans have nearly always been a better side than us, and from our first half defensive play today, they certainly deserved the victory a lot more than we did. That shamefully disallowed goal regardless.

There is going to be blood in the streets over there tonight...I'm sure our appalling overseas fans will live up to their disgusting hype before they shuffle onto crammed planes home.

Hopefully this will finally wake us up a bit - we've not been serious contenders for a long time and it's about time we accepted that fact, and moved on with building a (functioning) team that is at least capable of taking down teams like U.S.A (no offence Yanks, you had a good tournament considering).

[Phobetor]

Hopefully this will finally wake us up a bit - we've not been serious contenders for a long time and it's about time we accepted that fact, and moved on with building a (functioning) team that is at least capable of taking down teams like U.S.A (no offence Yanks, you had a good tournament considering).

No offense taken! A lot of people thought that the USA vs England match was going to turn out WAY different than it did.

While I love my USA team, it is true that we still have A LOT to learn and we're no where close to being as good as we could be. But they held their own this tournament.

[Nico]

I have to say, the USA Team was great. Really, really great. I was positively surprised. There is always the next Wold Cup!

[Remiel]

Well, I have to say, Mr. Donovan certainly lived up to his billing.

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Although, once again, Ridcully called it.  Altidore was overrated.  Especially in the first half of the game against Ghana, he just seemed sluggish and even like he'd been sedated.  Rarely challenging defenders, never really rushed for the ball.  Edu, Ogenywu...those guys played like champs. Dempsey gave it his all, but it just wasn't enough.  Even Howard, one of the best goalkeepers (imho) proved he was only human.   Unfortunately, we just don't have the talent of the European or South American teams, or the speed of the South Koreans.  And that Ghana goalkeeper was amazing.

Sorry, England.  I feel your pain. (And so does Bill Clinton!)

[Cheka Man]

And England sad,sad,sadly are out.Imagine how outraged all the England fans would have been if Germany had only won 2-1 instead of 4-1.

[Imogen]

As the two further goals were a direct result of the English team needing to score, I doubt 2-1 or 4-1 will matter much

It's a sad victory as we'll never know what would have happened if the English team got the 2-2 they deserved. Of course, the 3-1 and 4-1 were good goals and well done, but the chances were created by the 2-1.

Both teams deserved better.

[Phobetor]

You know FIFA is making these hoopla comments about how if they get "Goal shot technology" that it'll open up 'Pandora's Box' and bring in more technology and it would add more time to the game and who knows what. Which is a load of horse shit! BRING on the freakin' technology. Because the referees are getting to be ridiculous and it's ultimately going to affect the game and the publicity of it.

No one wants to watch a damn game where your team doesn't get a goal because the Referee was picking a wedgie and was told that via his mic (hello?! technology?!) that so and so was offside or someone fouled.

[SuperHans]

Well, it's been said in every England game since time began...

But we really woz robbed this time. In a way I wish we could have failed to qualify (or reached first in the group, but that goes without saying) because there's always an added sting of losing to the krauts.

[Oniya]

No offense taken! A lot of people thought that the USA vs England match was going to turn out WAY different than it did.

While I love my USA team, it is true that we still have A LOT to learn and we're no where close to being as good as we could be. But they held their own this tournament.

Considering how little attention US sportscasters used to pay to the World Cup (to the point where die-hard fans seemed to be the only ones acknowledging that we even had a team in the running), and the fact that there still doesn't seem to be much that much coverage of MLS (Mr. Oniya is an ESPN junkie, so I get a decent cross-section), we did okay.

[Ridcully]

As I said a few times in this topic already, I truly love English football. I watch Premier League, I play videogames with Arsenal or Chelsea, and I love guys like Terry (the soccer player, not the individual).

Victories against England are made so much sweeter by the English media. The day before matches seem like it's back in 1943. Our medias report everyday about the new headlines from the Sun or the Mirror, and people like me who watch soccer and dicuss just shake their head. Every English player is called to be ten times better than the German player on the same position. Every match is entitled to be the Match of the century. And Emperor Wilhelm II is dead for like 80 years - we are no Huns anymore. He used the term once, and he was a very strange person - and England keeps on and on bringing it up.

Also, this time personally, it was so strange how Rooney talked about Germany even though the World Cup had just begun. That's the same Rooney who hasn't scored a single goal at a World Cup. Miroslav Klose has scored 12 goals at World Cups so far - a lot of them against lesser teams, but also against Argentinia, and, well, now England.

Also, a lot of kids here are total England fans, naturally, by watching the Premier League. My cousin is 16 years old, soccer fanatic, and he even likes the English team more than the German. Why? Because he loves Rooney, Lampard, Terry, Gerrard.

For a guy like me, who grew up with names like Matthäus, Völler, Klinsmann, Brehme, Sammer - it hurts.

So when Germany beats those heroes, these guys who are made such overwhelming great players - it's sweet. It tastes sweet, and yes, there is Schadensfreude. Always.

But don't get me wrong. England doesn't have a problem with players. It has a problem with system and the mentality. Are players like Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Ashley Cole or Terry really worse than the German players? No.

But in Germany, the team is the star. And in England? I often have the idea that either a certain player is the star - Gazza in the 90s  - or the head coach -  Capello now. England seems to be more preoccupied with creating a cult about certain persons than creating a working system or team. Why does England play such old-style soccer? Why can't it be a 4-2-3-1 like other teams? James, Cole, Terry, Ferdinand (or now Callagher), Johnson, Barry, Lampard, Gerrard, Walcott (how can you not let him play?), Millner, Rooney. Normally, this should be such a strong team.

But honestly - regardless of the 2-2 which should have been given -  England didn't "play" well in this World Cup. Did anybody see such a Combination of England like the Germans did before the second goal? Or, like we've seen from Argentinia, or even teams like Urugay or South Korea? I didn't.

The cult about guys like Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard seems to be creating the idea of "It must work, because we have..."

But it's not going to. Hell, England - Müller, who scored two goals today, is 20 years old!!! 1 year ago he played in the third German division! He's got the experience of one year of professsional soccer playing. One year. Normally, Terry eats such guys alive.

England has to change the mentality, and create a working team and system. And the media should calm down, but certainly this won't happen.

[Malina]

And England sad,sad,sadly are out.Imagine how outraged all the England fans would have been if Germany had only won 2-1 instead of 4-1.

Well, to have achieved that, they would have had to  play a lot better than they did in this particular game. I'm not at all an expert, but when even I spot mistakes and weaknesses left and right, something's definitely wrong with a team's performance.

It's always a shame if some inattention or mistake leads to a goal not being counted or a foul play not noticed - or taken for one when it wasn't. I like things to be fair. I would have very, very much preferred if the goal had been counted for England. I also think Germany would still have won the game, if by a different score, obviously. They really were in good form, and I'm impressed how well they work as a team.

On the other hand, maybe this goal not being counted allows the English not to loose face that badly, as they can forever claim the goal being counted would have let them win, after all.

I'd have liked to say the English team played well (as Ghana did, in my opinion), but can't honestly do that. But maybe the European Championship will already see the English in top form again, and their fans can be proud again and cheer them on towards a well deserved victory.

[Imogen]

The sad part is, in my opinion, that this mistake happened in a fase where England was getting back into the game and turning the match around.

But, sadly enough, these things happen and we will never know. I think it is too easy to say that Germany played better.. It's much easier to play -your- game with a 2-1 ahead than with all equal. I don't think England played well up to their first goal and the 2-0 was, in my opinion, a fair and just reflection of the match up to that point. The rest is, and will be, coloured by the referee's mistake.

However... Winning is a mixed pleasure in this case.. Next match: Argentina - Mexico.

If the expected happens we'll have a quarter final of Germany - Argentina, a match worthy of a final.

[Ramael]

England has to change the mentality, and create a working team and system. And the media should calm down, but certainly this won't happen.

QFT.

Also, the point of technology. I'd like to point out English rugby has video-referenced referree decisions, and that game flows smoothly enough.

It's a shame but it won't happen, and it's for the very reason that scandals like this make money.

I've said it before in maybe a different thread. This particular disallowed goal will fuel the already overhyped and overpaid English football media for years. We will be bitching about this and making programs about it, journalist columns, radio debates, for ages yet. All these things fuel the football industry, and FIFA indirectly benefits.

Just another money-orientated fly in the ointment of "the beautiful game". As long as the horrendous and greedy industry around it still exists, we will continue to see crimes against football go unchecked.

[consortium11]

What's this... another fuck up by a ref that could be solved with technology...

[Avi]

Oh wow... worst non-offsides call I have EVER seen just happened to Mexico. 

[Nico]

It is seriously beyond me, why the FIFA is not using video evidence. I mean, for bloody hell, we are living in the 21st century. Modern technology is our friend.

[Ridcully]

Yeah, on and on and on it goes.

I'm watching so many soccer matches. I have never seen so, so many bad referee calls in such a short period of time as in this World Cup. Unbelievable. The level of the matches has gone up, but the referees are still on level of second or third division.

[consortium11]

Oh wow... worst non-offsides call I have EVER seen just happened to Mexico.

Don't you know that what fans really want is to discuss bad calls over and over again? It would ruin football to have replays and technology.

*gags*

And who was it who earlier said that the reffing in this competition was good? I've called it from the start... the level of officiating at this World Cup has been beyond dire and it's the single biggest story to come out of the Cup. Larger than the France melt-down, larger than Italy's performance, larger than England's abject failure and even larger than Gana's run (unless they win).

In the name of the greater good I hope there's a HUGE fuck up in the final so they have to change the rules.

And then shoot Sepp Blatter...

[Ridcully]

Oioi, Osorio. Man.

[Malina]

Imogen, that's a good point, but what marks this German team is that they catch themselves rather well. They can end up unsettled and nervous for a time, as seen, but there are certain players in particular, who will lead things back to calm, strategical play, and the team structure works. As this sadly not counted goal happened relatively close to the break, I'm pretty sure the team, if they couldn't have pulled themselves together before that already, would have come back well organised and settled after the break.

You might be right, of course, that the psychological factor of a second goal would have given the English confidence and bite enough to improve a lot. But  - the English team used to be strong fighters, admirable, really, who'd give everything up to the very last second, doggedly struggling against whatever disadvantage, and often enough so well that they'd turn things round. This is the spirit I loved about them in other games, and missed in this one. They seemed tired, the team play (sorry, I completely lack the vocabulary I'd need, here) and structure didn't seem to work too well, it led to mistakes, similar weaknesses as seen earlier in the game.

Yes!  *excited* Argentina - Mexico... ^^

No, winning here is a mixed pleasure purely and truly because of that goal mistakenly not being counted. I like this German team, they're very young, some players have been declared bad choices, but they all proved they were chosen well, and what impressed me is into what a smoothly operating team they've grown. So far, they do well, seen by themselves (versus compared to others), all circumstances considered.

But I'm not a football 'patriot', it's about the game itself for me - all I want is fairness, a well played game, interesting to watch, with little or no foul play, faked fouls, or excessive brutality, and oh, please, no more such fatal errors of judgement among the referees. All teams, I want them to do well, lose with dignity, or win deservedly.

I'm quite the Anglophile, actually, and my heart somewhat bled to see this game end as it did...  Hopefully, the English fans will have a few highlights yet to come, see some of their (now) favourites excel, have a good time, and enjoy the rest of this World Cup nonetheless.

[Aviva]

I will admit as my friends call me I am a football "virgin" as the England vs Germany game is only the second game I have watched since I was bout sixteen years old.

I will have to admit even as a British person I did feel Germany deserved that win. Though England should of got that second goal.

The only good player out there for the England team was stuck in the net in my opinion.

[Zealously Jaded]

England played terribly, for saying that all the players are in the premier league they acted like a pub team. It was shocking, even if the ref had given that goal they should have been down by atleast 5 goals by those goals anyway.