World Cup 2010

is it just me or are the teams so afraid of losing that they've forgotten how to win?
the vuvuzelas are keeping that 'diving winker' Ronaldo awake at night aparantly and affecting his game,i like them even more now :-D
i've already had enough of ITV's coverage and change channel at half time,but at least i wont have to listen to Robbie Earle now.Spare tickets anyone?
are there any ENGLISH pundits employed now or are they all Scots,Welsh,wannabe Paddys or Marcel Desailly and Edgar Davids?
Alan Hansen is just "phoning it in" and looks completely bored with it all.
can anyone actually here what Chris Coleman says in commentary?

and now some interesting facts for those who like superstitions or lucky charms:
the last time France,Uruguay and Mexico were in the same group together England won the trophy.The last time North Korea were in the World Cup,England won the trophy.The last time Spain won the Euros England won the next World Cup.
soooo,the 'omens' are with England :-D
or...
the last time France,Uruguay and Mexico were in the same group the hosts won the trophy,the last time North Korea were in the World Cup the hosts won the trophy and the last time Spain won the Euros the hosts won the next world cup.
soooo,the 'omens' are with South Africa to win :-D

oh come on,you didnt actually think that England will win did you? the flags of St George will be back in the cupboards before the Scot gets beat at Wimbledon!

Heres another fact for you.

England had to wait 12 years after the 1970 world cup before playing in the finals again. Scotland have now did 12 years without getting to a major tournament final. If we make it to the 2012 Euro's in Poland, will we suddenly turn into world beaters like the English media have made the current England squad?????

NAH... thanks to the largely backward thinking SFA.............

I think the German team looked so good because Australia was not much of a serious opponent. It looked like a training match. In the past the German teams have always been criticised for their ugly, result-oriented, minimalistic (but successful) playing. Let's hope we do not "die in beauty" this time :-)

Joxer wrote:

"the last time France,Uruguay and Mexico were in the same group together England won the trophy.The last time North Korea were in the World Cup,England won the trophy.The last time Spain won the Euros England won the next World Cup.
soooo,the 'omens' are with England :-D"

The last time England won was in 1966 - 44 years ago! They won because their third goal was given, although the ball did not cross the line. Since then the national team did not win another cup but you never know - with an Italian coach things might happen for England - finally.

Chile played a pretty decent match. They, of course, should have scored at least three goals. After Germany, they convinced me the most.

The biggest suprise so far: Switzerland defeats Spain 1-0.
Are there any people who saw that one coming?

Here's a scary stat, and perhaps a good explanation as to why Soccer I Mean Football is not popular in the U.S.

In it's last FIVE World Cup games, dating back to the 2002 quarterfinals, the US has scored a total of 2 goals.

Both by Clint Dempsey.

Daniel vZ wrote: The biggest suprise so far: Switzerland defeats Spain 1-0.
Are there any people who saw that one coming?
No, but the Spaniards can only blame themselves for this horrendous result. This World Cup is full of surprises. Love it, actually. Group H is by far the most exciting now.

My guess is that Chile will end as number 1 of this group. They are able to beat Spain as well.

Rick wrote: Daniel vZ wrote: "The biggest suprise so far: Switzerland defeats Spain 1-0.
Are there any people who saw that one coming?"


"No, but the Spaniards can only blame themselves for this horrendous result."

Let's be honest, Spain has underperformed at pretty much every World Cup. While they are amazing, I'm not surprised that they lost a match they should have won.

Micrówave wrote:

"Here's a scary stat, and perhaps a good explanation as to why Soccer I Mean Football is not popular in the U.S.
In it's last FIVE World Cup games, dating back to the 2002 quarterfinals, the US has scored a total of 2 goals."

Poor performance in world scale tournaments doesn't excuse ignorance.  With that logic, football (I refuse to call it soccer) would be exponentially less popular in Canada because we have only been there once, in 1986.

Sir GH wrote: Micrówave wrote: "Here's a scary stat, and perhaps a good explanation as to why Soccer I Mean Football is not popular in the U.S. In it's last FIVE World Cup games, dating back to the 2002 quarterfinals, the US has scored a total of 2 goals." Poor performance in world scale tournaments doesn't excuse ignorance.  With that logic, football (I refuse to call it soccer) would be exponentially less popular in Canada because we have only been there once, in 1986. ======================================= Yeah, but we supply the grass and the music and drinks, so since we're throwing the party we kinda gotta pay attention.  (For you stats people, about 13 million Americans watched the US-England game compared to 2.75 Canadians - about double the US audience adjusted for population) Accusing people of ignorance, particularly ignorace that is apparently inexcusable, is a bit off here.  Soccer (and that's what it's called here, like it or not) simply doesn't have the same history or a comparable cultural presence yet in North America.  It's obviously a fantastic game much loved and appreciated by the majority of the world, but people like me who try to watch it and fail miserably because I'm watching it largely without comprehension aren't ignorant and inward looking lunkheads, even if we (I) choose to never know one more thing that I know about the game right now.

No, Sir GH, it's not ignorance.

The game is simply too simple and boring for the US to get into, if you really want to know the truth.  Take Hockey, for example.  There wasn't enough offense going on, so they changed the 100 year old rules.

Soccer won't do that.

In baseball, from 1995-2005 saw the biggest jump in attendance AND revenue.  The reason?   More offense (and steroids).  The 40 year old Home Run record was broken several times.  And now, they're working on defense as well.  We've had three perfect games this year.  There has never been a year when it happened twice.  In fact, on average, it happens about every five years.  The way pitchers are developed is quite different from 10 years ago, better coaches, better medical staff, better specialists.

Soccer won't do that.

The marketing department at the NFL is miles ahead of everyone.  More NFL jerseys are sold than Basketball, Baseball, AND soccer jerseys every year.  They sold 3 million Cowboys jerseys in Mexico alone last year.

Soccer won't do that.

Every sport seems to have a clock or some sort of time limit.  That's why everyone goes crazy in the last two minutes of an NFL or NBA game.  That's why the ninth inning is the most exciting.  Individuals can change the course of a game with a stellar performance, like the no hitter or rushing for 200 yards. You never know when soccer will end.

Micrówave wrote:

"The game is simply too simple and boring for the US to get into, if you really want to know the truth."

Nascar is the second-most popular sport in the US.  How much intellect does it require to watch cars drive in a counter-clockwise circle for 200 laps?

"Take Hockey, for example.  There wasn't enough offense going on, so they changed the 100 year old rules."

I know.  They added the shootout, the worst change ever made to the game, just to please Americans who can't be satisfied with a tie (which is obviously most of them if it necessitated such a change).  The majority of Canadians absolutely despise Gary Bettman for this reason and so many others (and actually plenty of Americans hate him too - did you hear the boos in Philly when he handed out the Conn Smythe trophy?).  The instant gratification culture we have created in the west has destroyed the attention span of most, so they will never appreciate the value of a draw, or of a goal that may only come once every 90 minutes.

"Every sport seems to have a clock or some sort of time limit.  That's why everyone goes crazy in the last two minutes of an NFL or NBA game.  That's why the ninth inning is the most exciting.  Individuals can change the course of a game with a stellar performance, like the no hitter or rushing for 200 yards. You never know when soccer will end."

There's a clock in soccer as well - it just doesn't stop, except at half time.  When it hits 90 minutes, they specify how many extra minutes will be added on for stoppage time.  The excitement is in the fact that you *don't* know when it will end - but it is imminent.  New Zealand scored a goal with seconds remaining, leading to a 1-1 draw with Slovakia.  It is their first ever World Cup point as a nation.  Has a no-hitter or a 100-yard rush ever had an entire nation in jubilation?

You mentioned jerseys.  You think soccer jerseys don't sell in Europe?  It's a completely irrelevant argument anyway, because in the majority of the world soccer has nothing to do with marketing.  Believe it or not, there are places in the world where money and enjoyment are actually two separate things.  In the west (particularly the USA), it's consume, consume, consume.  Marketing has sucked most people in the west into believing that happiness can only come from money, which is why it is now associated with everything from sports to music to sex.

A kid playing soccer in Cameroon doesn't give a shit about buying a jersey.  He's playing soccer with his buddies because he loves it.  He's in a developing country and doesn't care about material things.  All that's required to play soccer is a ball, camaraderie, and a competitive spirit.  Maybe we could learn something from that kid.

This World Cup in South Africa is more than just a game.  Apartheid is over, and white and black people are united in harmony over this sport - and they are ever so proud that the world is watching.  Remember the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the year after apartheid ended?  How Mandela arrived at the stadium wearing the jersey of the white South African team, even though white people had jailed him for nearly 30 years?  And then they won.  There is no language to describe the joy that took over the nation.

As long as you delegate the importance of sports to catering to a population hypnotized by marketing and media sensationalism, you will never begin to understand why football is such an important sport in 200+ countries worldwide.

It does not make sense to claim that one game is more exciting or less boring than another one. We all have our faves and football happens to be the fave of many people in the whole world. There is a lot of money in football, too and it's not for the good of the game. There are scandals with illegal betting, players are sold and bought for incredible sums (Criatiano Ronaldo was sold to Madrid for 95 million euros), Russian billionaires buy whole teams. Most people who support a team actually ignore the money part in order to enjoy the game because all the money does not change the fact that a football match brings people together more than any other event.

I never understood the rules of cricket or rugby but I do not judge the game based on my total ignorance. I also would not enter a thread about cricket and mock the game claiming that my nation is too sophisticated to play that particular game - how ridiculous is that. In the USA little kids already play basket ball in little leagues - in other countries they play football. As long as the kids play the game with enthusiasm and joy, there will be a far reaching enthusiasm and joy in the game. GratefulFan, I really would like you to come here during the world cup and watch how people gather in front of TV screens during work, how nobody can be seen in the streets when the German team plays but after the match people take to the streets cheering and chanting - and it's much more emotional in Italy, Brazil or Argentina. Of course it's big business and billions are in commercials, sales of merchandising, betting and TV marketing but people do not care: they just support their team and if they win, the whole nations feels like champions :-)

Americans like team sports where they only play with themselves (oh err..) and not with foreign countries. In that way, they can claim to be world champions all the time. International football is not something Americans are likely to embrace, for that reason alone. However, it may not be too long before they have a World Series of football, where the USA plays err... the USA for the title of World [sic] champions of soccer. Then microwave can have all those rule changes he wanst to make "soccer" more American .... sorry, more "exciting." In fact, I would actively encourage it. Go for it dudes!

Perhaps Sir GH (and others) can tell us WHY soccer is so popular.  I just tried to give you guys an idea why it won't fly in the US.  I was not insulting your Mother or anything.

I know soccer jerseys sell in Europe, but NOT AS MUCH AS NFL JERSEYS.   I didn't believe it at first, but it's no competition.  The two most popular Sports team in the world are the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Yankees,
not Manchester U.

Sure you can say its because we Americans "consume consume consume".  But then I could argue that most soccer fans can't afford to buy a jersey.  Most soccer fans are from third world countries.

Plus there are just too many strange customs.   Sure Philly fans booed Santa, but we don't have urine bombs.  Where the hell did that come from?  Who came up with the first one?  I'd love to hear the origin of that custom!

Also, if you win the World Cup there's one thing the winning nation can't possess...  The actual trophy!!!   They make a gold plated replica and hide the real one at an undisclosed location.  Apparantly  FIFA does not have enough money to buy another one, but they claim their sport is the most popular.  Well then hand out a real trophy!

And what's exciting about not knowing when the game will end?  I would think the losing team's fans would be upset.  That's like John Elway leading a fourth quarter comeback with 1:20 to go and they just suddenly stop the game and say time's up.  That is just nonsense.  Why no clock?  Are they thinking a ref with a stopwatch is more reliable than an actual game clock?

Make the game exciting.  Adopt the shoot-out.   Short hand a team after a penalty.  Use the clock the right way....  countdown to zero.  

Soccer needs something equivalent to the No Hitter, the shot clock, the Grand Slam, a two point conversion.  Something to kick start this game so I don't keep falling asleep during a 0-0 game.  I was lucky enough to be watching all three perfect games in baseball this year, and I gotta tell you it was amazing.  Seeing Stephen Strausberg get 22 strikeouts in his first two major league starts was awesome.  Seeing that dumb ass English goalie let that ball slip out of his hands was not.

And buying players?  Gee that's real fair.  Get a salary cap or something.  That's kinda why I hate the Yankees.  There's no salary cap in baseball, so the owners can spend a ton of money and field the best team.  OR, you could have a Tom Hicks buy a soccer team and then completely destroy it like he's doing with the Rangers and the Stars.