World Cup 2014

[ray245]

Seeing that the world cup is kicking off in a few hours time, I think I ought to start a world cup thread. With Brazil in a terrible mess organising this world cup, I can't imagine how Brazilians would respond if their team got kicked out of the cup early.

So which team do you think will win the cup this year? Spain? Germany?

[Borgholio]

Go USA! *waves a tiny flag then scurries under a rock*

[Crazedwraith]

Go USA! *waves a tiny flag then scurries under a rock*

This,Exactly

And as a brit: this

But more to the point, I don't know and I don't care. I fully expect England to do its usual trick of scraping through group stage, thereby getting everyone's hopes unrealistically high and then crash out ignominiously.

[Gandalf]

Australia is in a group with Spain, the Netherlands and Chile.

This can't end well.

[Darth Tanner]

Got Mexico in the office sweepstake so I'm glad that worked out well for me.

[Gandalf]

I got Brazil.

I'm not too sad about that.

[salm]

Brazil, once again. They´ll have a really great party.

[Spekio]

Seeing that the world cup is kicking off in a few hours time, I think I ought to start a world cup thread. With Brazil in a terrible mess organising this world cup, I can't imagine how Brazilians would respond if their team got kicked out of the cup early.

People here are mostly aphathetic, to be honest. My city is not hosting any games, however.

Considering whom we are playing, I think we will pass at least this phase. Good for me, days off work.

So which team do you think will win the cup this year? Spain? Germany?

I think we have a solid chance.

EDIT- Oh yeah, this

[Vendetta]

But more to the point, I don't know and I don't care. I fully expect England to do its usual trick of scraping through group stage, thereby getting everyone's hopes unrealistically high and then crash out ignominiously.

Expectations are high that England limp and bumble through the group stages, display a brief ray of hope by scraping past Greece in the round of 16, and then lose fifteen nil to Brazil in the quarter final.

[Soontir C'boath]

Reading rumblings about the Brazil-Croatia game having a shit ref, game being fixed with the Croatian GK could've saved the goals, etc etc. Not a great start with that vantage point.

Anyway, go Korea!

[Dargos]

Most enjoyable part of the game last night was a short conversation I had with my youngest son.

Me: Wow, look at the size of that Brasilien player. He's huge! You don't see that very often.

Youngest son: Yea, and his name is Hulk.

Me laughing: What? Get out of here!

YS runs to get his World Cup Panini Sticker album and shows me Hulk.

Me: well, the name fits

[Napoleon the Clown]

While I was in the chair at the dentist the Brazil/Croatia game was airing. My dentist was wondering about how it was going, so he flipped on the TV and switched to the channel it was on. Sadly, with everything going to the HD format, the score was displayed so small the small CRT TV made it illegible because the resolution on those things is so damn low.


Really, they should all just let the US win. Maybe if we win more Americans will take interest. (No, not being serious.)

[Edi]

Reading rumblings about the Brazil-Croatia game having a shit ref, game being fixed with the Croatian GK could've saved the goals, etc etc. Not a great start with that vantage point.

Anyway, go Korea!

I watched that game and those allegations are bullshit. The only questionable call was the penalty shot awarded to Brazil due to an obvious dive, but the Croatian player did have both hands on the diving player's shoulders. Didn't matter in the end, because Brazil scored two other goals without that. All four goals of the 3-1 match were scored by Brazilian players, by the way. The first one, for Croatia, was an own goal due to an unfortunate bounce.

As for the Croatian goalie being able to save the three shots, that's more conspiracy theory bullshit. The penalty shot he almost managed, but there was so much force behind it that it didn't deflect quite enough. The other two shots were so precisely placed to the foot of the goalposts that in order to save them he would have had to know where they were going BEFORE the shot was made AND before the shooter telegraphed where he was going to put the ball. Even so, he came close, but not quite near enough to be able to do anything.

[salm]

The penalty shot was a bad call and the ref wasn´t exactly in favour of the Croatians but all in all I think the Brazilians earned to win. The Croatian Goalkeeper did an amazing job in the first half time and the game could have ended with an even higher score for Brazil.

[darth_timon]

I thought the penalty was harsh, that the Croatian keeper could have done better with Brazil's first goal, and Brazil looked shaky in the last 15 minutes when Croatia were pressing. Better teams will punish Brazil if they don't up their game.

[Welf]

This,Exactly

The original article and image are here.

Also from the New York times this fun interactive slideshow about brazil and the dramatic loss of the 1954 world cup.

And if you still have problems to choose the team you want to root for, read this.

Also, turns out Argentina is the Germany of South America:

Why So Many World Cup Fans Dislike Argentina

RIO DE JANEIRO — Argentina has one of the most successful national soccer teams in the world, and the country has won the World Cup twice, in 1978 and 1986. In this year’s tournament, the team ranks among the most formidable competitors, with Brazil’s coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, even predicting a final showdown with Argentina.

But if the Argentine team is feared by many fans, it certainly is not loved. To put it bluntly, many people can’t stand the thought of an Argentine World Cup title.

A plurality of people in several countries named Argentina when asked in an Upshot/YouGov study which country they were rooting against this year: Brazil, where 34 percent named Argentina; Chile (20 percent); and Colombia (14 percent).
Continue reading the main story
Which Country Is Your Least Favorite in the World Cup?

Across Latin America, Argentina has the most people rooting against it.
| Said Argentina was the least-favorite team | Said Brazil was the least-favorite team
Chileans say… | 20% | 3%
Colombians say … | 14% | 1%
Costa Ricans say… | 7% | 2%
Mexicans say… | 6% | 1%

Source: YouGov/Upshot study of 19 countries

The dislike seems to stem from Argentina’s soccer history and the way in which neighbors in Latin America have reacted to how some Argentines projected their perceptions of economic and cultural superiority in the region. “It’s no secret that a lot of people despise Argentina in the world of football,” said Christopher Gaffney, a scholar at the Fluminense Federal University here, who studies large sporting events.

“This has a lot to do with stereotypes on and off the field,” Mr. Gaffney added, emphasizing that national soccer identities were formed in the 1970s and 1980s, when Argentina was a powerhouse of the sport. A highlight of that era was Diego Maradona’s Hand of God goal — in which he illegally punched the ball into the net — against England in 1986, when Argentina won the Cup.

Despite recent economic troubles, the country also has a legacy of ranking among the richest in the region. In the 1990s, when the currency was stronger than those in neighboring countries, some Argentine tourists were notorious for their braggadocio.

And about a century ago, the expression “rich as an Argentine” was commonly used in Europe, a reflection of the relative prosperity of the commodities-exporting economy. (The gradual decline since then of Argentina’s economy remains a topic of somewhat morbid fascination among economists.)

“For many years, Argentina’s economy was the strongest in the region, and there was a strong European influence; that built an image of superiority,” said Leandro Morgenfeld, a historian at the University of Buenos Aires. “The sectors of society that regional neighbors most came into contact with were those projecting that arrogance.”

Historians of soccer and politics in Latin America attribute some of the animosity to the ways in which some Argentines have traditionally viewed their nation, which received millions of European immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries: as a dominion of racial pre-eminence in the region.

In the realm of sports, before Brazil surged to the elite ranks of global soccer in the second half of the 20th century, dark-skinned Brazilian players faced racial abuse in Argentina. In the 1920s, the Brazilian writer Lima Barreto described how Brazilian players were called “macaquitos” (little monkeys) in Buenos Aires.

On the streets of Argentina’s capital, views differ as to why the national team isn’t popular with other Latin Americans. Daniel González, 29, a television producer who moved to Buenos Aires 10 years ago from Colombia, said the stereotypes of Argentines in his home nation were misguided.

“They have a reputation for arrogance,” Mr. González said. “But when you arrive here, you see it’s not that bad.”

Still, many Argentina do exude brazen pride. “They’re jealous of us,” Eduardo Gangi, 60, who runs a corner store in Buenos Aires, said of Argentina’s neighbors. “We’re slowly taking over the world. We sent a queen to Holland and a pope to the Vatican,” he said, referring to Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the Argentine-born wife of King Willem-Alexander, and Pope Francis.

Despite such views, Argentina’s political ties with its neighbors, especially Brazil, are much warmer than in previous decades, marked by the endurance of Mercosur, the South American trading bloc. Mr. Morgenfeld, the Argentine historian, warned against using opinions voiced ahead of the World Cup to interpret the wider cultural context.

“Soccer and culture are two different tracks,” he said. “I think Latin American unity is strong, but soccer creates divisions.”

That tension emerges in different ways, with many people in Latin America rooting against Argentina, and many Argentines expressing ire against their neighbors.

For instance, at a warm-up match for the World Cup in Buenos Aires last week, a group of Argentine fans outside the stadium sang about its hatred of Chile. They singled out Chilean support of Britain during the Falklands War of 1982, when Argentina unsuccessfully sought to establish sovereignty over a group of islands in the South Atlantic called the Falklands by the British and the Malvinas by Argentines.

“All I ask from God is for all Chileans to die,” the Argentines chanted. “The betrayal of the Malvinas will never be forgotten.”

[Crown]

Reading rumblings about the Brazil-Croatia game having a shit ref, game being fixed with the Croatian GK could've saved the goals, etc etc. Not a great start with that vantage point.

Anyway, go Korea!

I watched that game and those allegations are bullshit. The only questionable call was the penalty shot awarded to Brazil due to an obvious dive, but the Croatian player did have both hands on the diving player's shoulders. Didn't matter in the end, because Brazil scored two other goals without that. All four goals of the 3-1 match were scored by Brazilian players, by the way. The first one, for Croatia, was an own goal due to an unfortunate bounce.

He also disallowed a perfectly good goal for Croatia when it was 2-1* just because apparently.

Look Sepp Blatter can go and suck my dick, there is no justification, none whatsoever that the worlds largest and most expensive sporting event should have a single point of failure running around on a pitch to make decisions in real time.

Mexico have also had two good clear goals ruled out for offside.

Is there a fix? With FIFA I wouldn't say no straight away, but I doubt it. Is it more about way too much pressure and way too much expectation for one human being to be able to manage? Likely. But lets remember that this, apparently, was not a red card;




EDIT :: *or was it at 1-1?

[Edi]

I watched that game and those allegations are bullshit. The only questionable call was the penalty shot awarded to Brazil due to an obvious dive, but the Croatian player did have both hands on the diving player's shoulders. Didn't matter in the end, because Brazil scored two other goals without that. All four goals of the 3-1 match were scored by Brazilian players, by the way. The first one, for Croatia, was an own goal due to an unfortunate bounce.

He also disallowed a perfectly good goal for Croatia when it was 2-1* just because apparently.

That one was due to running over the goalie. Can be questioned, but the call was legit. However, what is more difficult to understand is why the Italian ref in the just finished Spain-Netherlands game allowed one goal in a similar situation. Not that disallowing it would have done Spain any good, since then they would only have been trounced 4-1 instead of 5-1.

That result certainly was not expected.

They should probably have two refs and a video review, like they have in ice hockey these days. Maybe some day.

[Crown]

My days Holland! My days! What a game woooooohoooo!

Come on Oz!

[Crown]

He also disallowed a perfectly good goal for Croatia when it was 2-1* just because apparently.

That one was due to running over the goalie. Can be questioned, but the call was legit. However, what is more difficult to understand is why the Italian ref in the just finished Spain-Netherlands game allowed one goal in a similar situation. Not that disallowing it would have done Spain any good, since then they would only have been trounced 4-1 instead of 5-1.

That result certainly was not expected.

There is no way that goal should have been disallowed; you're allowed to challenge for the ball, the goalie isn't a sacrosanct bovine, the Croat player won a header and didn't foul him in doing so. It was a scandalous decision!

They should probably have two refs and a video review, like they have in ice hockey these days. Maybe some day.

Yeah that's really my point; they need to take the ref out of the public eye (and thus pressure) for calls like penalties and offsides. It should be a video review system where the person making the review doesn't get death threats for making a decision.

I don't trust Blatter as far as I could throw him, but i honestly believe most of these controversies are due to just it being too big of a job for one person for most people.

[Crown]

By the way, keeping in mind that one swallow does not a summer make, does anyone think that Del Bosque might have chosen his team due to nostalgia rather than merit this time round?

[Crown]

It's on like Donkey Kong Chile!

[Siege]

Whelp. So we beat Spain 1-5. That was unexpected. In fact no-one really seemed to expect much of anything from the Dutch team this go around. Now all the fans will be insufferable for as long as success lasts.

It does feel nice seeing the team beat the proverbial snot out of Spain without having to resort to kicking their players through the heart though.

[DaveJB]

By the way, keeping in mind that one swallow does not a summer make, does anyone think that Del Bosque might have chosen his team due to nostalgia rather than merit this time round?

He stuck mostly with the team that got through the qualifying tournament, which in fairness is what most of the coaches have done. But what did happen between qualification and the actual tournament was Atletico Madrid's title victory, and the Spanish press were apparently giving Del Bosque flack for largely passing over their squad and picking the usual batch of Real Madrid and Barcelona players.

In any case, it looks like that odd trend that started in 2002 of the defending champions always doing a horrible job of defending their title is going to continue with Spain.

[Welf]

Whelp. So we beat Spain 1-5. That was unexpected. In fact no-one really seemed to expect much of anything from the Dutch team this go around. Now all the fans will be insufferable for as long as success lasts.

I hope my team plays good, too, because I want to be insufferable, too. That's the spirit of football!

It does feel nice seeing the team beat the proverbial snot out of Spain without having to resort to kicking their players through the heart though.

I agree with that. Not that I dislike Spain, but I like to see big teams fail (if it's not my own).