World Cup 2010

[QUOTE=Doggboy]Three points is three points, but an underwhelming performance. Argentina is slow on defense and as they move on they are going to give up goals. They can't keep misfiring as they did today. Gutierrez at rightback is not going to work, IMHO, and Veron is too slow and still with his habit of bad passes in World Cups. Even though Messi didn't score he actually had to play as a striker and "point guard" today because Veron couldn't handle the responsibility. Maradona should have brought Banega and / or Aimar. He's gonna regret that I think.[/QUOTE]Totally agreed with you, this team is still trying to find itself. Tevez and Higuain were non-factors, so expect Milito to come on. He had himself quite a game for Inter in the Champions League Final.

Humongous draw for the states. That keeper for England will be having nightmares about his fuck up for a long time. That said, the states played really well. They are a very disciplined squad who play with passion, but not out of control. They are far from the most talented, but on any given day they can give much more talented teams a hard time. They drew with the best team in their group, so that's a big leg up as far as getting out of group play.

Yes, the US should gain confidence from this match. Hope to see a tighter defence in the next 2 games. England look like they could score more with Rooney, Lampard & Gerrard, somehow, they did not.

[QUOTE=Black Shirt]Yes, the US should gain confidence from this match. Hope to see a tighter defence in the next 2 games. England look like they could score more with Rooney, Lampard & Gerrard, somehow, they did not.[/QUOTE]Am I the only guy that thinks almost EVERYBODY should be scoring more this World Cup? I mean, I'm not one of these American sports fans that thinks everything needs to be high scoring, but: there was talk that Uruguay has gone to a much more dynamic offense, with some real potetent strikers, but that maybe their defense was suspect: result: 0 - 0. Argentina, which we know has suspect defense, but also the most potent offensive player in the world: result 1:0. Chances galore in England / USA, but the USA needed an absolute goaltending freak disaster to even get the score to 1:1.

Greece, European champions just 6 years ago, score nothing. South Africa and Mexico don't score much.

It just seems like something is a little lackluster, offensively, all around so far. Am I wrong?

[QUOTE=Big Travel Guy]Am I the only guy that thinks almost EVERYBODY should be scoring more this World Cup? I mean, I'm not one of these American sports fans that thinks everything needs to be high scoring, but: there was talk that Uruguay has gone to a much more dynamic offense, with some real potetent strikers, but that maybe their defense was suspect: result: 0 - 0. Argentina, which we know has suspect defense, but also the most potent offensive player in the world: result 1:0. Chances galore in England / USA, but the USA needed an absolute goaltending freak disaster to even get the score to 1:1.

Greece, European champions just 6 years ago, score nothing. South Africa and Mexico don't score much.

It just seems like something is a little lackluster, offensively, all around so far. Am I wrong?[/QUOTE]It seem like many offensive players including strikers would rather pass the ball than shoot. I wish they would shoot on sight. Anything can happen on a hard driving strike, it can take a bounce off anybody in the penalty box or the goalie could make a poor parry and leave it for somebody to follow up. I don't know what the percentage of goals that come from that category, but I suppose it could be quite high.

England's Heskey & Wright-Phillips both had Howard at their mercy and shot directly into the US goalie, Howard. I guess it is not as easy as it looks. That is why the top strikers are worth mega-bucks.

[QUOTE=Big Travel Guy]Am I the only guy that thinks almost EVERYBODY should be scoring more this World Cup? I mean, I'm not one of these American sports fans that thinks everything needs to be high scoring, but: there was talk that Uruguay has gone to a much more dynamic offense, with some real potetent strikers, but that maybe their defense was suspect: result: 0 - 0. Argentina, which we know has suspect defense, but also the most potent offensive player in the world: result 1:0. Chances galore in England / USA, but the USA needed an absolute goaltending freak disaster to even get the score to 1:1.

Greece, European champions just 6 years ago, score nothing. South Africa and Mexico don't score much.

It just seems like something is a little lackluster, offensively, all around so far. Am I wrong?[/QUOTE]There's alot more emphasis on defense in the sport over the past 20 years, and that mentality gets ratcheted up another notch in the World Cup. The prevailing philosophy now is to win with defense. Even Brazil, known for playing the "beautiful game", is more focussed on defense now. They have arguably the best keeper in the world, don't worry about maintaining possession, and then kill you with quick, lethal counterattacks. You know defense is a team's priority when they leave Ronaldinho off the squad.

I rather enjoyed Argentina's style of play, and especially Messi's creativity.

I wouldn't count them out just yet. Just because they barely qualified and have a hot head as a coach shouldn't matter.

¡Nunca se sabe en Argentina!

Today's match-ups are very interesting in trying to gauge some of the serious contenders for the World Cup. Is Italy too old? Netherlands, whom I like very much, can they fulfill their destiny after years of flirting at the top? Can Japan match South Korea's success as they strive to show that Asia is finally able to match-up physically with the Western powers. Hmm, these games are really screwing up my sleep!

[QUOTE=Black Shirt]Today's match-ups are very interesting in trying to gauge some of the serious contenders for the World Cup. Is Italy too old? Netherlands, whom I like very much, can they fulfill their destiny after years of flirting at the top? Can Japan match South Korea's success as they strive to show that Asia is finally able to match-up physically with the Western powers. Hmm, these games are really screwing up my sleep![/QUOTE]Big match-up today between Paraguay and Italy. Paraguay had a lot of success in the WC qualifiers and are dangerous even with the loss of Cabanas. They also have a good coach-an argentino. I'm hoping for a quick exit for Italy. They are consistently one of the most defensive minded, boring teams. Though it's hard to argue with their history of success. I was in Little Italy in NYC in 1982 when they won the WC in Madrid. Unbelievable scene.

Now this is funny.

[url]http://trueslant.com/donovan/2010/06/14/the-sound-thats-ruining-the-world-cup-the-vuvuzela/[/url]

Not too much different than selling the rest of the world on american football. They were checking on the relatives of Tom Brady's gf, Gail B, who is from a small town in Brazil about what he does for a living. They did not say americal football was boring, just that they could not figure what the teams were trying to do.

So, it's a cultural thing, exposure and assimilation being necessary components to enjoying the sport. Just saying it's boring, is just a display of arrogance and ignorance. The landscape will be very different in the US in 8-12 years, when they might host the World Cup again.

Anybody want to predict the Brazil v N. Korea game? My take is Brazil 5-1.

[QUOTE=Black Shirt]Anybody want to predict the Brazil v N. Korea game? My take is Brazil 5-1.[/QUOTE]I say 3-0 Brazil. I will be shocked if N. Korea even scores.

[QUOTE=Schmoj]I say 3-0 Brazil. I will be shocked if N. Korea even scores.[/QUOTE]Guess how many touches NK will get

Heading over to Gibralter to watch the murdering scumbag North Koreans versus Brazil.