FIFA World Cup Thread

[aerius]

Another dumb assesment. Look at the space the spanish leave - there is almost none. The Spanish are playing a very strong defensive game.

There were gaping holes down the side. Take the ball downfield and force the Spanish to react and make mistakes instead of passing the ball backwards towards the middle to get a setup and allowing the defenders time to get their defence in place.

[Havok]

Wait... what? They have a 'Third place' match? Why?

[Ace Pace]

Wait... what? They have a 'Third place' match? Why?

Money? Prestige? Because being third place is better than nothing?

[Thanas]

How was that not a foul?

[nightwyrm]

Wait... what? They have a 'Third place' match? Why?

Money? Prestige? Because being third place is better than nothing?

Being third is way better than being a second. At least you go out on a high.

[Havok]

C'MON GERMANY!!!

[Thanas]

Ah well.

Spain won this one fair and square. They were just the better team, especially in their passing game. Once they had the ball, they never let it go. They deserved to win and they did.

Congratulations to spain and we'll see each other again in four years.

[Havok]

Fuck.

[Havok]

Congratulations to Spain.

[tim31]

That header was made of magic. A stunning end to an otherwise deadlocked game.

[Crown]

Viva España

[ray245]

Damn. Another boring match thanks to the Spanish. Oh well, congrats to Spain.

[Norade]

I'm no football fan, but I was hoping for a Germany Netherlands final simply because, from my little knowledge, those are among the most exciting teams in the tournament.

[Havok]

Wait... what? They have a 'Third place' match? Why?

Money? Prestige? Because being third place is better than nothing?

Being third is way better than being a second. At least you go out on a high.

That is retarded.

I dunno, maybe it is my racist, backwards, super conservative, small minded, American way of thinking, but that would be like the losers of the AFC and NFC Championships having a game... like a losers Superbowl. Or the pennant losers playing another World Series before the actual World Series... who cares?

[Thanas]

At least we beat the English and Argentina, our two arch-enemies.

[Bottlestein]

If I have several Johannes Cruijff posters - is it bad to support Spain in the final?

[nightwyrm]

I dunno, maybe it is my racist, backwards, super conservative, small minded, American way of thinking, but that would be like the losers of the AFC and NFC Championships having a game... like a losers Superbowl. Or the pennant losers playing another World Series before the actual World Series... who cares?

Or like a 3rd place match in Olympic hockey...oh wait..

[Crown]

Damn. Another boring match thanks to the Spanish being so absolutely devastating at possession that other teams put 10 men behind the ball and don't even try to play football in fear of bean ripped to shreds by Xavi, Alonso and Iniesta. Oh well, congrats to Spain.

Fixed it for you.

NEW WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS on Sunday!

[Big Phil]

God save Spain

[Modax]

Hurray for Spain!

[Edi]

Congrats to Spain on a well played game. To me it looked like the Germans tried to play the same game the Spanish did, only nowhere near as well. Every time they tried to move, they were either out of space or out of position or both. Hell, aside from the few counters, they could hardly get out of their own side of the field!

Spain could have had two or three more goals if they had only shot a few more times from some of the more obvious places, but that one goal was enough this time.

[Force Lord]

God save Spain

No, God is Spanish.

Seriously, they did very well. Let's see if they can hold their own against the Netherlands.

[J]

The Octopus seems to agree with that assessment, Thanas:
Oracle Octopus prediction worries Germany.

His record is so far only unblemished when Spain is not playing. He predicted a German win against Spain in the Euro 2008 - and we lost. Now he predicts a Spanish win... heh.

See what happens when you doubt the Octopus?


I think the key was Spain being able to make a lot more passes on the go whereas the Germans for the most part were passing between to players who were barely moving or trying to squeeze in low percentage passes to players who were surrounded by red jerseys. By making neater passes on the move to running players, Spain was able to move the ball downfield faster and create openings for scoring chances, the Germans were caught out of position quite a few times and only luck and a few bad choices kept the score from being run up.

[Havok]

I dunno, maybe it is my racist, backwards, super conservative, small minded, American way of thinking, but that would be like the losers of the AFC and NFC Championships having a game... like a losers Superbowl. Or the pennant losers playing another World Series before the actual World Series... who cares?

Or like a 3rd place match in Olympic hockey...oh wait..

Olympics give out THREE medals... oh wait.

[Thanas]

The Octopus seems to agree with that assessment, Thanas:
Oracle Octopus prediction worries Germany.

His record is so far only unblemished when Spain is not playing. He predicted a German win against Spain in the Euro 2008 - and we lost. Now he predicts a Spanish win... heh.

See what happens when you doubt the Octopus?

Excuse me while I go and finish my calamaris.

I think the key was Spain being able to make a lot more passes on the go whereas the Germans for the most part were passing between to players who were barely moving or trying to squeeze in low percentage passes to players who were surrounded by red jerseys. By making neater passes on the move to running players, Spain was able to move the ball downfield faster and create openings for scoring chances, the Germans were caught out of position quite a few times and only luck and a few bad choices kept the score from being run up.

It is not only that. Spain had the best passing game in the whole tournament. When they had the ball, they could move it at will due to their discipline (though having players recruited from 2 teams only definitely helps) and accuracy. Their midfield was excellently positioned - it was nearly impossible to get by them.

Maybe Müller could have done something, but he was out.