World Cup 2006

[bbloke]

Originally Posted by lilbandit

I also think that the players need to take a long look at themselves. Diving, feigning injury, headbutts and timewasting don't help the situation. Video evidence is needed and an open system similar to American football or rugby would allow for transparency and the players would know that they couldn't get away with misconduct. It's got to the stage that players are so good at cheating that the ref can't tell exactly what happened in a split second incident.

I absolutely agree, well said.

I think video evidence should be used to judge whether or not people are acting. I also think players should be ashamed of themselves for trying to fool referees. While I know I can be harsh on referees at times, I do have some sympathy as a lot of players do try to mislead them.

I remember an Argentinian journalist talking about how this sort of "gamesmanship" is something the Argentinians take pride in, a sort of cheekiness, of trying to fool the referee, and how it is all good fun and part of the game. To me: no, it's not, it's called cheating.

[lilbandit]

best of luck on Saturday bbloke, every chance of beating Portugal.

[fryke]

bbloke: Well, that weapons thing wasn't meant literally by me. ... I just know that The Sun did not only plant the flag, they also called him names etc. and I think they _did_ go far too far back then. And IIRC, it really was perfectly reasonable to decide how he did. But that's all in the past, I guess. We have four nice games (I hope) coming up. And my _personal_ guess is that we'll have Germany winning vs. Argentina, Portugal winning vs. England (that's coloured by me being a Portugal fan, though), Italy winning vs. Ukraine and Brazil beating France.

[reed]

bbloke.
What a riot the "blind" ref. and the dog. Portugal has a lot yellow cards. Good for England. However, they have some good reserve players, but they have to watch their Ps & Qs. Unless things get really "delicate."
I see England in spades.
Good luck.

For you Football experts: The fans "without illusions" here think they can toss Brazil Saturday. Any bets?

[bbloke]

Thanks, lilbandit and reed.

As for the ole Urs Meier story, I know The Sun ran some sort of hate campaign against Urs Meier, which I certainly would not condone. The funny thing is I remember less about that disallowed English goal than some. I actually just remember being stunned watching decision after decision go against England, and so the disallowed goal, erm, didn't surprise me in the end, as it just felt part of the whole episode. I was watching the game with people of various nationalities (including Dutch, Italian, and Russian, of those that I remember), and I remember them commenting during and after the game on how atrocious they thought the refereeing was. Knowing them, they wouldn't have said that if they didn't mean it. As it happens, the Italian guy recently recalled the match and was saying again how awful he thought Urs Meier was, and he even thought the English goal should have stood!

But, anyway...

It is indeed in the past... I don't look back on that match as being OK or think Urs Meier did a good job, but I guess one moves on and just accepts that these things sometimes happen in the game, as annoying as they can be at the time.

In the UK, Budweiser have mini ads during commercial breaks, which I find quite amusing. They always have two (phoney) American sports commentators trying to be enthusiastic but not understanding the game at all. In one of these ads, they had one commentator say something like: It's incredible, the crowd have really got behind this man. He's been a rock. The crowd have even been chanting... "The referee's an anchor."

I think all of the Quarter Finals will be tough. Any team has a chance, actually. Brazil could be assumed to stroll through, but, on the other hand, France did surprisingly well against Spain. Germany vs. Argentina will be interesting... Everyone is also rather expecting Italy to beat Ukraine, but it might not be so straight forwards.

[fryke]

Watching GER vs. ARG, I have to say that Germany just shouldn't win this... And Maxi Rodr. _should_ have gotten that penalty... Ah. The refs again, eh? ... I think it _always_ depends on how you're viewing a game. Even if you don't root for one team, it can simply _look_ like the ref whistles against one team, but that could be because that team actually _plays_ in unfair ways. Of _course_ they would make signs that they're handled inadequately by the ref, but that wouldn't change the facts... This World Cup, 2006 I mean, shows us a lot of stuff where you first think it's clear, but after the replays, it looks entirely different. And I have to admit, I think most refs are doing good jobs here... Seeing things correctly. That on TV look off (before replays).

... Hmm... Just finished watching GER vs. ARG. Don't want to spoil this for late-viewers (so look away now), but they shouldn't have won that game. I don't think this was earned. Then again: You simply should have made that other goal, Argentina.

[Rhisiart]

Home teams do have a very real advantage.

[mw84]

I think the match was pretty even. Argentina might of had more possession, well pretty much all of the possession but they failed to do anything with it. I for one am glad Germany won it, mainly because it's one less 'favorite' for us English to compete with, let's just hope Brazil get slaughtered tomorrow aswell.