How about the yellow card for a hand ball in the penalty area, that actually hit the American in the face?

Are all those guys drama queens? they get a little trip or tap to the face and they fall on the ground squirming around in pain. What comedy. The dude who got carried off on a stretcher was totally acting.

Better yet, the US at least made it to the next round. I don't think they will much past that point.

huh? That' s not a given

Yea, I guess I am jumping the gun there a bit. Well a guy can hope.;)

A lot, I hope -sorry, but we need to push you guys down to get through. Maybe if you didn't charge so much for citizenship I'd feel differently ;) :lol:

Well I'm grateful someone has done worse than Australia. :D

New Zealand tied with Italy, now have TWO POINTS. Damn, still ahead of us. :(


I watched Portugal Vs North Korea. Wow. I didn't see much diving in that game, but after about 4-0 the Portugese relaxed and just started having fun, it was great to watch. According to the TV news, that was the first world cup game ever to be broadcast live in North Korea. :lol2: ouchies.

There has been some indifferent refereeing and terrible diving. Kaka (Brazil) was red carded after an Ivory Coast player ran into him (Kaka was stationary), bumped his midriff, and dived backwards clutching his head. Tosser should be suspended for a game, at least, IMHO. I cannot see why the USA's 3rd goal was disallowed.

Serious point. A lot of good teams are performing below what is expected of them. Lesser teams are seizing lucky breaks and stealing games. Why?

This is an effect that could be caused some kind of randomising device in the game. Stong teams are weakened, weak teams get lucky.

I blame the ball. It has unusual aerodynamic properties. As well as being faster and curvier, it swerves and dips/soars at random. It is harder for players to aim long passes or shots. This interferes with the skill of the best, while having less impact on the skill of the less skilled. This could explain the strange results we are seeing.

The Portugal/North Korea game was the first real drubbing we have seen. Portugal had the sort of control an excellent team ought to have. The ball was wet. The first half was drizzly and the ground quite wet throughout. I guess this affected the ball - maybe just by providing a smoothing layer that reduced the effect of the texture of the surface of the ball - and allowed for more skilled play.

Has anyone else seen any wet games? How was the skill level?
Lookout, did you say you've played with these balls? What are your thoughts? Did you play with wet balls?

:lol: That was good. Sorry, I usually support my UK Brethern but not this time.

:eek: :D

Hey anyway, did you hear the story about the NK fans being hired actors from China? that was crazy.

On the US goal: As a rugby union ref I can say that the replay did show quite a number of fouls by both teams at the start of the run for the kick on the third goal for the US. Did I want it to count, yes absolutely, but should it have counted because the ref saw penalties that others did not see?, hard to say. It is not an easy job. Overall I think the ref in that game was marginal I would give him a C+ or B- if I left out my bias on wanting the third score to count.

But given that, the refs performance overall in the Cup I think has been pretty poor. Lots of penalties for silly contrived infractions. Tossers infuse this sport. The guy getting carried off on a stretcher for a bump on his ankle? please. A few refs have had stand up performances but they are in the minority. Yesterday's game with Spain and Honduras was fantastic. The ref ignored the acting and marginal stuff and called the game in the spirit of the sport. It should be interesting to see it progress.

Zen did you srsly ask L123 if he played with wet balls? :eek:

Oh grow up you two.



:lol:

So the SA defender goes for a header and gets a RED Card? WTF?

Merc- the buildup to the 3rd goal was the norm for that game. If it wasn't a goal it should have been a PK. The ref screwed the pooch on that one. It's a hard job and he proved he was not up to the task. The US was robbed. If this had happened to another country *coughIrelandcough* there would be mass hysteria and demands for justice. It is over and time to move on. We still have a chance of going through. The US has to win and England not win. We should order some dodgy pies and lasagnas for the england squad.

Anyway, Zen... No...the balls I played with were dry. I personally do not like Adidas balls from the last few generations so this was no different. It is light and has a lot of bounce. Hard strikes gathered...and lost speed and power quickly. The swerves and dips have a lot to do with the weight and texture. It sucks but all the teams in the tournament had the balls for months before they got to SA. Pro footballers should have been familiar with it. In fact, watch the Germans. They seem quite comfortable with it. Of course the budesliga played with that ball all season.

To bad SA didn't advance. I wanted them to go at least to the next round, but I guess Mexico really was the better team. France looked like doodoo.

France went on strike from training before the match.

laff. Egotists self destructing. Old adage about champion team and team of champions.

Meanwhile, the Italians had a nap on the pitch, the English are being searched for weapons at security, the Japanese are commuting from Nairobi, and the New Zealanders are assessing the field as pasture...

Australia plays Serbia in eight hours time. We need to win, and have Ghana beat Germany, to get through. Or if we just really thrash Serbia I think the Germany game might not matter so much.

hoo-yah.

(so far)

and

MOAR!