2014 FIFA World Cup

wolfing said:

Well, we will have a new champion… Spain is out after only 2 games.

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The Netherlands, Chile and Australia play all better than Spain.
I think Spain missed to build in some younger players over the last years.

HiddenX said:

The Netherlands, Chile and Australia play all better than Spain.
I think Spain missed to build in some younger players over the last years.

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Yep, they made the same mistake that Italy made from 2006 -> 2010. They won in 2006, so why replace any of the players? In 2010 they went out in the group stage, just like Spain, because they were simply too slow.

So far, the World Cup has been excellent I have to say. I've seen all the matches and only a few have been poor. I can't really say that matches like Iran - Nigeria were disappointing though, as I didn't expect anything else. The teams just aren't all that good. The only match that didn't live up to my expectations was actually Brazil - Mexico, but other than that it's been fantastic.

I've actually watched a few games now, none of which featured the US. I still find the sport overall to be extremely meh, but that's no big deal. The main thing that I've found irritating is the constant diving. These clowns would get laughed off the ice if they dove like that in a hockey game. There'd be extensive discussions about the mystery sniper rifles and/or Greg Louganis.

dteowner said:

I've actually watched a few games now, none of which featured the US. I still find the sport overall to be extremely meh, but that's no big deal. The main thing that I've found irritating is the constant diving. These clowns would get laughed off the ice if they dove like that in a hockey game. There'd be extensive discussions about the mystery sniper rifles and/or Greg Louganis.

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They can't do anything during the game currently, either the referee sees it or not, but I wish FIFA reviewed the video of every game after it ends and penalized players with a yellow card if they catch someone obviously feigning a foul, with proof so neither the player nor the team can complain.

The diving hasn't been *that* bad this World Cup, IMO.

What I truly find intriguing is all the former top countries getting beat or even already eliminated. Britain, Spain out already; Italy beat by Costa Rica today, etc. Some great upstart energy on the pitch this year - I'm glad a country such as Spain that relied on pretty much all defense in years past isn't the norm.

Drithius said:

The diving hasn't been *that* bad this World Cup, IMO.

What I truly find intriguing is all the former top countries getting beat or even already eliminated. Britain, Spain out already; Italy beat by Costa Rica today, etc. Some great upstart energy on the pitch this year - I'm glad a country such as Spain that relied on pretty much all defense in years past isn't the norm.

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Well, I think part of it is that playing in Brazil, it's easier/cheaper for South and Central American countries to have fans in the stadiums (plus, I bet Brazilian fans probably root for South American countries) so they almost play as locals in all games against Europeans.

Whatever the reason, I'm actually glad it's this way now. I remember until not too long ago, playing a country like Costa Rica was all about trying to score the most goals possible. Beating them 1-0 was almost a defeat as it was assumed the other teams would beat them by more.

Drithius said:

The diving hasn't been *that* bad this World Cup, IMO.

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In that case, I'd really hate to see bad. Perhaps it's just the games that I've watched (Greece against someone, in particular). I was instantly reminded of this:

Ghana tying Germany was a huge surprise. I thought the Germans were going to destroy them.

Total surprise!
Plenty of goals were expected, but game ending a draw, definetly not.


But it's for the better, makes next group matches more exciting.

That was an interesting match indeed. Fortunately for the Germans they can still rely on Klose.

Exciting 2nd half, fair result.

Klose was injured half the season. The press thought Löw was insane nominating him as only real goalgetter. Müller is considered an offense multi-purpose weapon, not a classic striker.
But Klose has always been reliable. He scored 15 goals in 20 World Cup matches. Shared first on the eternal list with Ronaldo, and clearly more assists than him.

Nigeria versus Bosnia is an interesting match .

Lots of action

Exciting match ->

Khedira should be replaced by Schweinsteiger,
Götze by Klose
and Lahm by Großkreutz.

HiddenX said:

Khedira should be replaced by Schweinsteiger,

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They both aren't in a good physical condition due to injuries in the last year. They need to alternate with one another.

Götze by Klose

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Depends on the opponent.
I think Götze did quite well in the first 2 games. By getting the penalty against Portugal and scoring yesterday he had a huge share on the offensive end.
With Götze, Müller and Özil you have 3 quick and agile players who always rotate, being left, right, center, which isn't easy to defend if you have big and slow defenders.
With Klose you can attack in a different way, as he's a monster for scoring after crosses, especially with the head, where he's way better than even Müller.

and Lahm by Großkreutz.

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No. Just no.
Lahm made a terrible mistake yesterday and did a similar mistake against Portugal. But he's in so many ways a so much better than Großkreuz that under no condition I'd make that change.

An underestimated problem for Germany imho is Maroc Reus' injury in the last friendly match before the world cup. Imho he currently is Germany's best attacker by far. He's fast as hell, can dribble, shoot and pass. And he's a much better defender than Özil, Götze, Podolski or Schürrle. I'm quite sure Germany would've won with him yesterday.

(Damn, I just realized that I don't have the proper wording to discuss football in english language.)

Great 1-4 Korea vs Algeria. We are getting ass kicked thoroughly.. Last in group. Sigh.

Eh? Australia is not in Group H but in group B.
And is not last (Spain is because of goal difference) but is still kicked out of further competition.

But if you're saying you're living in Korea, OMG, I have to tell you that I have a crush on FlandersuiGae/Gwoemul/SalinuiChueok/Madeo/Snowpiercer director!

joxer, I'm Korean living in Australia.... seriously, Korea's got ass kicked =.= I guess still better than Russia....

well, was hoping for a USA draw with Portugal, thought we had a win for sure, dammit. Well draw still good.

USA vs Portugal was a good one. Really entertaining. Nice goal from Portugal like 25 sec before the match!

A someone who didn't think the US had much of a shot against Portugal, that match was a rollercoaster.

Crazy Awesome World Cup!