Starts today. Go Spain!

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Rooting for Netherlands and the US. Can't wait for England match.

South Africa and Mexico tie in the opening game, which was apparently a scorcher. I can't watch streaming video at work, so I'm watching the ESPN GameCast, which is literally the worst way possible to watch soccer.

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Yea, I imagine it's pretty brutal to read the play-by-play. Especially in a 0-0 game.

Uruguay and France tie at nothing, looks like it was kind of a piece of shit game, despite a ton of shots from France.

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France has been playing like shit, their loss to china a week ago was just awful. They controlled the entire game and let china score on their only real chance. The South Africa Mexico game was really good, great way to start off even if Mexico got robbed.

Quite simply, France is just not that good this year.

USA - England soon. Should be a good one.

lol

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Watching the US/England game on choppy airline TV sucked, but it was a good match.

South Africa/Mexico was insanely good. I had the luck to be able to watch it in South America. Maybe with the tie today people in the US will be as excited. I really need to find a good football pub in Baltimore.

Edit: Huge props to the US goal tender, that hit to the chest was harsh.

Mexico wasn't robbed if you're referring to the offside goal. I really didnt understand why the announcers with all their years of experience didnt know the rule. If you watch the play again, theres only one player between the offside player and the goal, and that is offside. 99% of the time the one player between an offside player and the goal is the goalie, but in this case it was just a defender. So he was offside, the announcers just fucked up.

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"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."

uh... ok

Very surprised at the US performance yesterday. You played well, think you were lucky to take the draw but you could have won too and I didn't expect any sort of challenge.

P.S.

Goal Keeper.

It *great game* was *you played well* luck *nice job USA*!!!!!

P.S.

OMG IT WAS SO LUCK BECAUSE OF THE GOAL KEEPER! BRITS OWN YOUR FACE!

Translated that for you.

holy shit germany

also the US/England game was a fantastic second half, looked like that could have EASILY been a 2-2 draw. first half was kind of bullshit play on both sides.

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After finally seeing a replay in HD from the mexico game the guy was offsides then again when i first saw it i was in a bar in south Tucson so the crowd was slightly biased.

FIFA needs to outlaw that fucking horn. It's terrible. It will make the casual fan turn the TV off.

Oh, and this is a great thread to show my FIFA world HQ pic from last summer.



A friend of my wife's from art school works at FIFA and she gave us the inside tour, which the public can't get. I took all kinds of pics including one of me sitting in the chair where the world cup location was last selected. Pretty amazing facility. Here's one of a hallway outside the meditation room (enclosed to the right).



Got some pics of the trophy, too, which is in the lobby. Next to the building in the top pic is a spotless soccer field, complete with paint and goals, and just about every flag in the world around the field. Pretty sweet place if you can make it to Zurich.

Germany did own the Aussie today lol It was a fun game to watch

Haha Ele, spoken like a true Brit

Though the goal keeper was in reference to Goal Tender.

Italy was kind of rough, hope to hell they play their next match like they played the second half.

I am a sports fan, but this has been painful for me to watch.

What about it is painful to watch?

The opening group matches are going to be the worst ones since teams are playing for ties (in most cases) more than for wins.

First the constant bleating of those horns. I thought international soccer (err football) was about singing and chanting nor the blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa sound of that horn.

The action is SO SLOW! I get much more enjoyment from a baseball game than any of the World Cup matches that I have tried to watch (I watched parts of US/England; South Africa/Mexico; and Italy/Paraguay). Chalk it up to me not knowing anything about soccer (err football) other than you can't use your hands and you get one point for getting the ball in the goal. The announcers are about as interesting as a person with a bad stutter trying to read the Chinatown phone book. I wanted to watch the World Cup and possibly get to like it, but the way they are presenting the games it is like they have enough fans already, new ones need not apply.

The horn is not a 'soccer thing' it's more of an 'Africa thing'. It is annoying, but I just tune it out. Bottom line is some people will like soccer and some won't. Soccer has LOTS of passing, LOTS of going backwards, and LOTS of other things that typically annoy anyone who wants more instant gratification like you get in football, basketball, hockey, and even baseball. The sport isn't for everyone.

People complain about the complexity - it's significantly less complex than literally every sport we consider mainstream over here.

People complain about the pace. The ball is always moving, there are always people playing. You can sit for minutes at a time waiting for a pitcher to throw the ball or a commercial to end. I like the pace of most sports over Soccer, for sure, but baseball is NOT one of them.

Yeah, the best part for me about soccer is how it combines amazing strategy with amazing skill, and how you can see literally all of that happen on the field. The strategy in baseball is there, but it's not really immediately demonstrable, because bringing out a left-hander to face a left-hander isn't really an event that you can point to and say "this is what happens when a plan works out."

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Case in point... North Korea stymies Brazil all of the first half. The one thing analysts predicted... NK has a stout defense. Until an amazing pass and one-shot from a supremely talented Brazilian puts the ball literally in the one spot where the keeper could not get it. All that buildup, missed chances makes the goal that much better.

Except, in that instance, the goalie screwed up by not covering the one spot the ball could get through.

But it was a hell of a goal, nonetheless.

Spain begins to take over the world in less than 30 minutes.

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Gotta root for the Swiss in this one. I have some of their luggage!

spain 4 life. what a piece of garbage goal that was though, holy shit was that ugly

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Yea, I watch quite a bit of La Liga so I am a Spain fan. I'd put David Villa in the top 5 in the world, even though he gets almost zero publicity.

Watching Spain attack is like watching a speeding train that can barely stay on the rails. It's exciting and scary at the same time. I hope the Swiss win but Spain has a great side this Cup.

GOD SPAIN WIN THIS GAME DAMN YOU

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Case in point that shot from about 25 yards out that hit the top bar. holy crap

The Swiss goalie has to be shitting himself. 20 more minutes, heh

And then this Swiss player almost single handedly scores a goal against 4 Spanish defenders. What a great game.

This game is the perfect game for someone like krby to watch.

And here's the REAL problem with soccer. Literally every challenge Spain is diving onto the ground with incredible agony to draw a kick. Some of these they weren't even touched.

It's like watching Paul Pierce & Derek Fisher all over again.

I will say this about Spain... They have no ability to head the ball in the box. Every cross is cleared by a Swiss header.

Shit. What a game though.

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Sorry, was at work and not able to see it.

May I ask a few soccer noob questions:

How long is the game and what consists of "stoppage time"?
What is the difference between a Red Card and a Yellow Card? What does a player do to get one?
Are there any substitution rules?

Usually three substitutions a game. Yellow card is basically a warning. If you accumulate too many yellow cards in a tournament (I think it's 3 in the World Cup) you have to sit out for a game. Two in a game equals a red card, and your team is shorthanded for the rest of the game. Every game is two halves of 45 minutes, the clock never stops. Time in which the play stops but the clock keeps running can be added at the end of each half as additional "Stoppage" time, at the discretion of the fourth referee. Stoppage time is usually one minute for blowout games (two goal differential), two to three for normal games with a one goal or less differential, four minutes for a game with a one goal or less differential that's had an exceptional number of fouls, injuries, or other game stoppage.

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On the cards, I have seen guys get taken out that don't get "carded" then a guy just breathes on another player and he is carded. What is the basis for fouls? Is it that judgmental?

Yeah, it's kind of like technical fouls in basketball.

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Speaking of basketball, here's your World Cupdate!

So everyone's played their first game. Here's how everything lines up (8 group tables and some stats incoming).

Team Name - Points (Wins - Losses - Draws) Goals Scored - Goals Against

Group A, AKA Give Me Draws or Give Me Death

Mexico - 1 (0-0-1) 1-1
South Africa - 1 (0-0-1) 1-1
France - 1 (0-0-1) 0-0
Uruguay - 1 (0-0-1) 0-0

Group B, AKA Greece Equals LOL

South Korea - 3 (1-0-0) 2-0
Argentina - 3 (1-0-0) 1-0
Nigeria - 0 (0-1-0) 0-1
Greece - 0 (0-1-0) 0-2

Group C, AKA Book the US Into Round Two, and then immediately home 92 minutes later

Slovenia - 3 (1-0-0) 1-0
England - 1 (0-0-1) 1-1
United States - 1 (0-0-1) 1-1
Algeria - 0 (0-1-0) 0-1

Group D, AKA Come on down to Australia's Free Wins store

Germany - 3 (1-0-0) 4-0
Ghana - 3 (1-0-0) 1-0
Serbia - 0 (0-1-0) 0-1
Australia - 0 (0-1-0) 0-4

Group E, AKA The Rotten State of Denmark

Netherlands - 3 (1-0-0) 2-0
Japan - 3 (1-0-0) 1-0
Cameroon - 0 (0-1-0) 0-1
Denmark - 0 (0-1-0) 0-2

Group F, AKA One Free Goal With Purchase

Italy - 1 (0-0-1) 1-1
New Zealand - 1 (0-0-1) 1-1
Paraguay - 1 (0-0-1) 1-1
Slovakia - 1 (0-0-1) 1-1

Group G, AKA Drogba's Broken Arm Will Save Us From North Korea

Brazil - 3 (1-0-0) 2-1
Ivory Coast - 1 (0-0-1) 0-0
Portugal - 1 (0-0-1) 0-0
North Korea - 0 (0-1-0) 1-2

Group H, AKA Swiss Cheese is the Worst Cheese

Chile - 3 (1-0-0) 1-0
Switzerland - 3 (1-0-0) 1-0
Honduras - 0 (0-1-0) 0-1
Spain - 0 (0-1-0) 0-1

Goal scoring rank:

1. Germany (duh), 4
2. South Korea, 2
2. Brazil, 2
4. 15 teams tied, 1

Top goal scorers:

1. All goal scorers tied, 1

Most own goals:

1. Denmark, 1
2. Everyone else, 0

Best behaved teams:

1. Spain, 0 bookings
2. North Korea, 0 bookings
3. 12 tied with 1 yellow

Worst behaved teams:

1. Uruguay, 3 yellow, 1 red
2. Serbia, 3 yellow, 1 red
3. Australia, 3 yellow, 1 red
4. Switzerland, 4 yellow
5. Algeria, 2 yellow, 1 red
6. England, 3 yellow
7. United States, 3 yellow
8. France, 3 yellow
9. 9 tied with 2 yellow

Biggest lol:

Australia's goal differential in the last two games: -7

Vuvuzuela status:

still annoying

Switzerland getting punched in the face status:

coming soon

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In the World Cup, I think it's 2 Yellows = 1 game suspension (2 Yellows in the same game obviously still equals a Red card). The cards are subjective just like fouls in basketball. Sometimes Yao will get hacked across the arm and nothing will be called, other times, he'll trip over his own size 30 shoes and they will call a foul on someone 8 feet away. The cards usually happen when a challenge is 'wreckless.' That is, the referee judges that the player who committed the foul had no shot at getting the ball, or he had his feet up in the air as he slid to try to tackle the ball.

As mentioned, each team gets 3 subs per game. This means that if you use all 3 and then a player gets his leg ripped off, you cannot replace that person and will have to play the rest of the game one player short.

Also, one thing you may notice is when a player kicks the ball back to his goalie and the goalie kicks the ball away, rather than grabbing it and throwing it to someone. If a player kicks it to his own goalie, the goalie cannot pick up the ball with his hands. He can only do so when the ball is headed and/or chested to him by his own players.

There are also "indirect" and "direct" free kicks. If a free kick is an "indirect" free kick, the player cannot kick it directly into the goal on the fly, it must touch someone else first. That is why sometimes on a free kick you'll see one guy stand right next to the ball and he'll tap it, then the next guy will try to blast it into the net. Just don't ask me which infraction causes a direct vs. an indirect because I really don't remember. :p

By the way, if you are interested, the game will be replayed on ESPN Classic tonight at 8pm EST.

Here's an example of a Red card:


Notice toe touching toe. heh

Joxur that first picture is gorgeous.

I did not figure you as a soccer type, Neesha

Mexico beats France 2-0 today wow.

France still sucks. Mexico is still Mexico.

Slovenia goes up 1-0 on a blown defense, and this... is why I always have a second team I root for in the World Cup. heh

And they're officially choking.

Right now:

Slovenia 2
USA 1

They have picked up steam since halftime. This is still anyone's game.

Second game in a row where the ref decides the game with a TERRIBLE FUCKING CALL.

woohoo another TIE!

I thought this was a championship, why all the ties?

A tie is bad for us if England wins out, isn't it?