Another undeserved red card, this time for a Swiss player. Honest to God, the refs in the first division of Argentina futbol are better week in and week out than many of these gutless, supposed hotshot refs we have seen at the WC.
Printable View
Another undeserved red card, this time for a Swiss player. Honest to God, the refs in the first division of Argentina futbol are better week in and week out than many of these gutless, supposed hotshot refs we have seen at the WC.
OK, bear with me on this, and use a little imagination, but it's not so crazy:
Making some assumptions / predictions, I see Uruguay as winner of Group A, Brazil as the winner of Group G, Argentina as the winner of Group be, and Paraguay as the winner of Group F. (Uruguay and Brazil are the shakiest of these predictions; they'll both advance, but to win their Groups, Uruguay would need a win or--probably sufficient--a draw vs. Mexico, and Brazil would have to beat or draw with a suddenly pretty scary looking Portugal team)
To make it to the semi finals, Uruguay probably needs wins over South Korea, and then the winner of a USA / Serbia game. QUITE POSSIBLE. Brazil has the hardest route: I see them having to face Spain, and then the Netherlands / Italy winner--doesn't get much tougher, but they were the pre-cup favorite, so they will be favored in both matches. Argentina is probably looking at Mexico, and then the winner of Germany / England. Plenty of opportunity for them to lose there, but hey? Maybe? And Paraguay, who looks pretty good, may need to beat Japan and then the winner of a Switzerland / Portugal match.
The chances of these four teams all being placed in four different quadrants of the knockout round are just what they are--chances--and then that they would all win their two games requires a lot of soccer luck, but none of what I've spelled out here is crazy?
Final four at the 2010 World Cup: Uruguay vs. Brazil, Argentina vs. Paraguay.
Nuts, no!
[QUOTE=Big Travel Guy]I, for one, have a major bet on the "Iberian Peninsula" tomorrow. Had to lay big odds, in the case of Portugal vs. The DPKR, and absurd odds for Spain vs. a Honduras team which I though was the worst side I saw in the entire first round of games. But that's my bet.
For those of you following my adventures, I also am trying to play the South American trend and taking Chile over a presumably fairly happy and hopefully complacent Switzerland. At least in the case of this game, I GET 1.3 to 1 odds. (I lose if they draw)[/QUOTE]Congrats, nice sweep.
Unless the near impossible happens this afternoon, Argentina will play Mexico Sunday afternoon, 3:30PM.
I know it's not real helpful to tell people about a great bet AFTER the game has been played (and the money been made) but how easy was it to bet against France today? Getting odds to do so, no less.
That French team, and its fractured psyche--what an unholy mess!
[QUOTE=Big Travel Guy]Final four at the 2010 World Cup: Uruguay vs. Brazil, Argentina vs. Paraguay.[/QUOTE]The second fantasy game there is certainly what we are hoping for in my household, and with a win by Paraguay. Although we have sympathies with Argentina, obviously because we live here, we figure the perfect ending would be Paraguay winning the cup with Argentina somewhere below:)
And my sister-in-law's school mates who tell her just about every day how crappy the "dirty" Paraguayan team is (the young Argentinos' words, not mine) and how embarrassing that Paraguay managed to even tie the previous world cup winner Italy in their first game - well, thats what fantasy picks in the most literal sense of the world are for, eh? It would go well with the last game between the two teams when Paraguay won, before the cup.
:)
USA robbed of a goal again on a phantom offside call. Let up already!
[QUOTE=Doggboy]USA robbed of a goal again on a phantom offside call. Let up already![/QUOTE]I am not sure why the official didn't disallow that goal scored by Donovan in stoppage time.
[QUOTE=Big Travel Guy] Now, if you want to make some money: One interesing bet is the USA to win their group. Last I checked, you get about 4:1 on that prospect.[/QUOTE]I can't tell if I should feel real, real lucky, or if I should be pissed that I even NEEDED that much luck in the first place (I. E. phantom disallowed goals)
That game was more dramatic than I needed. One of the most exciting games I have ever seen (of course, having a dog in the fight makes it more so)
What a great metaphor for America in general. Overcoming huge obstacles, many imposed by misguide and perhaps malicious regulators, for victory in the end.
Between the disallowed goal and the three freebies they missed, it could have been 5-nil, yet I'll take a 1-nil win in stoppage. They might want to tighten up the finishing between now and the next match. Can't be giving away those chances anymore.
They top the group so hopefully Germany will finish first or third in Group D.
And the winner for best World Cup drama is. U. S. A. Did not think I could get so caught up in this soccer stuff. Fuck me, that was quite a match.
Justice is done. Now, for this afternoon. Are the Germans really as good as is usually the case, or can we see surprises this afternoon? Stay tuned.
With this victory the USA has had a successful WC. I hope for more and more, but getting out of the group stage is always a success for the USA. It cements their move out of the class of pretenders.
How 'bout that Palermo!
What a game! The drama of the Algerians almost scoring before Howard sent the ball down the other way and the US scoring.
What comes next for the US is just as interesting. The final 16 are going to be in groups of 4, with one from each group making a semi. With the U. S. Are Ghana, South Korea, and Uruguay. Very lucky, as the other group already put together is Argentina, Mexico, Germany, and England. Also, the first game for the US is Ghana, which the US lost to in group play in 2006 and which kept the US from advancing to the knockout. If they could somehow win that, the next game could be South Korea, which won the US' group in 2002 and made it to the semis themselves. Both games would be grudge match / payback time. In the semis, the US could play Brazil or the Netherlands or Paraguay, so they most surely would not get past that. Argentina would not be faced until the final, as they are in the other half. Contrary to what I said before, the Argentines are playing great and could make the final. With a lot of the Euros being weak, a Brazil-Argentina final is a definite possibility. Can you imagine how South America would go nuts if that happened?
Stinger
Italy ousted and joins France as old guard European wannabees.
Still no South American losers, as Paraguay had a draw today. That South American run will be put to the test tomorrow when Chile takes on Spain. If the Chilenos lose they could be out despite having won their first two matches.
Gearing up for the weekend as the stakes get raised. Cigar Eric will be glued to the tube as the rehabbed Nazis take on the Limeys. The frenchies and wops will be bottoms up in wine, and moaning.