Thread: World Cup 2010

How about that SHOULD-HAVE-BEEN red card in the beginning minutes of today's game? That would have been huge... should have been. I was hoping Uruguay would go to the finals, but I'll be rooting for Spain- I just can't stand watching so many of the guys on the Oranje squad.

I am not much of a soccer fan, but I hope Netherlands wins the world cup.
Imo the Dutch fans deserve a victory. You really have no understanding of how completely crazy the Dutch fans become when it is soccer time.

Off the top of my head:
people painting their houses / bicycles / cars orange.
Orange mayonaise on the fries
Orange beer
Painting a tombstone of a deceased soccer fan orange (with permission from the widow)
Orange body paint

...

Congrats Spain for getting the best of the best and congrats Oranjees for making the game hard for Spaniards.
I was for Netherlands but Spain did show so beautiful football in this tournament and specially against Germany that they truly deserved their victory.
Luckily the game didn't go to PK's which i think is a wrong way to decide the winner, but i hoped that it had been Torres instead of Iniesta who should have deserved a red card for playing Hollywood actor while other were playing football. Too much sure goals missed and the referee got lost from a map at the last minutes of the game. Exciting game, although not the best i've seen.
Good tournament after all.

While waiting for 4 years for the next olympics, we can always order this thing and keep the feeling going on

Congrats to Spain! I was pulling for them as soon as the US was out and it's great to see a first-time winner.

I thought the game was enjoyable. I think the questionable calls all evened out -- the red card at the end was probably undeserved in actuality, but that atoned for de Jong's sonic kick to the chest earlier in the match in which he received a lenient yellow card.

Definitely good to see someone score before PKs. I think both keepers played exceptionally well as each side had some great chances to put the ball in the net.

I have to admit that despite my hope for Orange victory, Spain won deservedly. The Dutch played 'anti soccer' as it is called here.

Imo, it should be possible to punish players after the match if the official tapes show foul play or simulating fouls, like that spanish player that dropped down screaming and clutching his leg when he was touched. And when the ref didn't budge he just stood up and played on. Imo that should be grounds for disqualification of the next x games.

Well played and well deserved victory by Spain.

Originally Posted by Bruno

I have to admit that despite my hope for Orange victory, Spain won deservedly. The Dutch played 'anti soccer' as it is called here.

Imo, it should be possible to punish players after the match if the official tapes show foul play or simulating fouls, like that spanish player that dropped down screaming and clutching his leg when he was touched. And when the ref didn't budge he just stood up and played on. Imo that should be grounds for disqualification of the next x games.

I agree with you, but then, what do we do about things like this?:



What a night, here in Spain we have been waiting for this for so long, myself I was not sure I'll see it during my lifetime....

The right team won. I was truly a neutral at the start, but within 10 minutes it was clear that the Dutch were intent on breaking the Spanish through fouls, and hard, crunching fouls at that.

I have no idea how a player like van Bommel continues to play at this level. I've seen less thuggery in a Sunday League game, which is saying something! He should have been sent off in this game, as well as the game before.

Much that I hate play acting, I gotta say that if the opposition decides to play such violent anti-football and does not get punished for the deliberately dangerous play (de Jong was not only dangerous with studs up, but was also nowhere near the ball when he kung-fu kicked the Spanish player), then one can almost forgive the Spanish for resorting to play-acting to elicit the right punitive behaviour which the Ref was studiously trying to avoid.

It was a good goal to decide the outcome though. And Casillas will be remembered for those great saves when one-on-one against Robben.

Overall, I thought this world cup was quite disappointing. It was also the lowest-scoring world cup in history!

Originally Posted by Bruno

Imo the Dutch fans deserve a victory. You really have no understanding of how completely crazy the Dutch fans become when it is soccer time.

Hopefully, by the next World Cup their team will have learned to play football without the need to disable their opponents.

They thought that they could use brute force to make up for lack of ball playing skill.

If they had won it would have given the wrong message to footballing youngsters everywhere.

Originally Posted by welshwizard

Hopefully, by the next World Cup their team will have learned to play football without the need to disable their opponents.

They thought that they could use brute force to make up for lack of ball playing skill.

If they had won it would have given the wrong message to footballing youngsters everywhere.

No need for that now is there?

On the other hand...it'd be nice if the Spanish players learned how to play without the need for PLAY ACTING. It happened a bunch of times that a spanish player fell down without someone even touching them and then start the theatrics and pointing to another player trying to get a free kick out of it.