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World Cup 2014

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by snowy, Dec 18, 2013.

  1. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    Fuck, that was a frustrating match.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  2. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    There is offsides.
     
  3. TheSurgeOn

    TheSurgeOn Getting Tilted

    Location:
    England
    What a game, an advert for futbol, soccer, kikamuffin, you name it.
    Plenty of spirit, didn't want it to stop.
    Well played USA
     
    • Like Like x 1
  4. Speed_Gibson

    Speed_Gibson Hacking the Gibson

    Location:
    Wolf 359
    I have seen the end of two matches now, and have observed how the pace and match times they use definitely make it better than baseball. The only thing less interesting than watching a MLB game on tv in my experience has been sitting through a game in the stands. But.....if I have a decent camera, zoom lens, and access to the field, then I would say yes in a heartbeat to attending a major league* game.

    *Minor League is another story, I like those games from what I saw of the team for the Giants(?) based in Keizer if memory serves, and I have actual decent access for pictures in those smaller fields.
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2014
  5. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    I'm disappointed on one side, to be sure, but on the other, the team I've cheered for the longest is still in it.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  6. pig

    pig Slightly Tilted Donor

    Personally, I think the United States did fantastically well given the talent that we have - but Belgium honestly deserved to win. We almost pulled one out of the hat, but it just wasn't meant to be. All things considered, we did much better than most people thought we would given our group draw, and we had a chance to move past a better team with a really energetic display towards the end of regulation and the extra time period. Lukaku was a brilliant injection on the Belgian side, and once we conceded it was going to be difficult to pull it out, much less after we conceded two. I think we'll have the opportunity to develop our younger talent and I expect that we should be able to build in our international play in the next four years. I still think we need to get more of our younger talent into European leagues if we want to improve the game at the international stage and here domestically. If you look at where the MLS is now, I think that the model of using it to develop young talent out of college, that we then send over seas to really hone and develop is going to be the best strategy in the near future...along with the trend we're seeing in having european world-class guys come here at the end of their European careers to help feed back to that young talent.

    Alas, I'm looking forward to the matches to come - I'll be pulling for snowy's Oranje, and also I'll be hoping that the French can get past the Germans and hopefully make it through Brazil to either (most likely) the Dutch or Argentinians. I'm sure many Europeans will feel that the real Cup is now starting - with eventual draws looking to be Brazil vs. France/ Germany, and Argentina / Holland.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  7. spindles

    spindles Very Tilted

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia

    If you wanted a tough pool, the Aussies would've swapped ;) I'm fairly sure our coaching staff chose a youth policy particularly because of our drawn group.


    This is absolutely true. If you really want to improve, you have to be playing in the top leagues. MLS (and our A-League) really can't attract players at the top of their game. Locally, we see some world class veterans dominate in a way that they probably wouldn't if they were playing in the top European leagues. Either you have to be able to attract a large number of good players to your league or you need to have your players playing elsewhere.

    However, I think the closeness of many matches shows that there isn't necessarily as big a gap as world ranking suggest between any team at this level and one world class player can make a huge difference to teams. See how Uruguay faltered with Suarez...
     
    • Like Like x 2
  8. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    [​IMG]
     
    • Like Like x 2
  9. pig

    pig Slightly Tilted Donor

    Agreed - there did seem to be a lot of parity in most of the matches - in fact, most of the matches with huge goal differences weren't where I'd expect them. Germany/Portugal...Netherlands/Spain? I'm looking forward to tomorrow's matches.
     
  10. Speed_Gibson

    Speed_Gibson Hacking the Gibson

    Location:
    Wolf 359
    That brings flopping to a new level approaching a sport in its own accord. I thought the NBA was bad.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  11. pig

    pig Slightly Tilted Donor

    Congratulations snowy. That was amazingly close, and hats off to Costa Rica - but it's looking like a pretty amazing semi. Germany/Brazil with no Neymar or Silva, and Netherlands/Argentina. This is a classic World Cup final stage, and once again the games have been pretty damn level.
     
  12. Fremen

    Fremen Allright, who stole my mustache?

    Location:
    E. Texas
    That was definitely a nail-biter. Congrats, @snowy !

    I was surprised the opposing kickers would shake hands or whatever they were doing with the opposing goalies after their kick.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  13. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    I'm sorry I missed out but camping was calling my name, and I had faith in my Oranje to get it done.
     
  14. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    • Like Like x 1
  15. Speed_Gibson

    Speed_Gibson Hacking the Gibson

    Location:
    Wolf 359
    How did this semi-final match turn into a 2013-2014 Spurs-Lakers type matchup?
    The brief bit I have seen at the end is more entertaining than it would be watching the Spurs destroy the anemic Lakers.
    ....The NBA should add some announcers with U.K. accents to the games on TNT/ESPN. I think that is the best part of watching this otherwise (strictly my opinion) mostly uninteresting sport.
     
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2014
  16. pig

    pig Slightly Tilted Donor

    That was crazy - I really feel for the Brazilian squad on this one. Beaten that badly at home in the semis? Man...that was a blowout.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  17. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    Talk about having your ass handed to you. In your own house none the less. Maybe some of the extremely poor folks "displaced" by the stadiums got together for some good ol' black magic voo-doo spells?
     
    • Like Like x 3
  18. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    Brazil had two of their best players, Neymar and Silva, out for the match. Neymar was out with a back injury; Silva was out with a yellow card. That said, I'm not sure that having either Neymar or Silva would have made a lick of difference in light of the blitzkrieg offense that Germany employed during the first half. It was incredible to watch that succession of goals; at one point, I did a double-take to be sure I wasn't watching a replay.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  19. pig

    pig Slightly Tilted Donor

    snowy...you know, on one hand i wonder if the locker room wasn't unsettled with them missing, maybe the atmosphere or something - but honestly i think brazil just had a shit day and germany got some crazy momentum for those 20 minutes - one of those things i've seen happen, but never would have thought to happen to brazil, in brazil, in the semis of the cup - and i agree that two players, regardless of who they are, should be not able to make that much difference in the team's attitude and play. thiago silva is probably going to need psychiatric observation for a while after this one. i mean, you have to ask if the first goal hadn't gone after 11 minutes, maybe the mentality would have been different going forward...but that was just a bit of miracle play from germany, and absolute horror for brazil. they'll never live this down. people will be talking about this when we're dead and gone, almost guaranteed. man, i would hate to be a player for that brazilian team right now.

    edit: added a "not"
     
    • Like Like x 1
  20. Charlatan

    Charlatan sous les pavés, la plage

    Location:
    Temasek
    Germans are likely lying low in Brazil right now to avoid persecution.

    (but that's nothing new...)
     
    • Like Like x 4