World Cup 2010

[ajdias]

Thanks for the links Salopian, I hadn't seen them before. Those were the times when defenses were far more naive than today.
I wonder how would Pelé, Eusébio and even Maradona fare on modern football.

I think that in a competition like the WC pedigree - "we've done it in the past and can do it now", is an important factor, far more than in the EC. That is why I rank high Germany, Brazil and even Italy. It's also why Spain, albeit a strong contender, may be not as favorite as everyone else make to be.

I would bet on an African team to reach the quarter finals, at least - that would make Blatter happy. SA will not be, I am hoping Ivory Cost doesn't go beyond the group stage, perhaps Nigeria.

[pierrot]

Thinking about it, the thing I fear the most are once again referees who can't cope with the fast pace of the game or need to pet their egos and who manage to destroy games... grrrr
While during the EC the referees can usually have CL/EL experience, referees from areas with not so strong football tradition can really break a game. I think there was at least one game per WC in the last few times where a referee managed to make absolutely crazy decisions or didn't sanction enough, leading to unfair results.

[Upphew]

Thinking about it, the thing I fear the most are once again referees who can't cope with the fast pace of the game or need to pet their egos and who manage to destroy games... grrrr

And the @#$% noise! I hope that every one "playing" vuvuzela or whateveritwascalled suffocates to his/her demonic harbinger...

[Salopian]

I think there was at least one game per WC in the last few times where a referee managed to make absolutely crazy decisions or didn't sanction enough, leading to unfair results.

Apparently, the Brazilian referee that will officiate at the World Cup has been branded a 'crook'. Here he is:

[simon]

Following on from that calendar thingy I posted earlier heres something which is quire funny

From When Saturday Comes website:

Spanish sports daily Marca has produced a phenomenal online calendar with a revolving one-page overview of the tournament, depending on where you move your mouse. Some have unkindly compared it to Alan Partridge's famous studio floor guide to the 1994 World Cup, but the former Radio Norwich pundit did not come up with an instant electronic formula for viewing the schedule by country, date, group or venue. Goes full screen, and in English too. Sample quote: "Group F, Italy v Paraguay, June 14, Cape Town, 8.30pm local time." FIFA should copy the FA and the Football League and get that intellectually copyrighted.

http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/5435/38/

[Salopian]

Top dung beetle action there. Bravo!

[Upphew]

https://twitter.com/livevuvuzela

[Bavarian]

It warms the cockles of my heart to see the English goalkeeper make such an egregious mistake.

[MagicJ]

We're used to it by now
Capello should've had the balls to use Joe Hart, he knew James and Green were accidents waiting to happen.

[john_smullen]

We're used to it by now
Capello should've had the balls to use Joe Hart, he knew James and Green were accidents waiting to happen.

I know I am biased but the of the 3 keepers taken to the world cup 1 is in a team that got relegated another was in a team that flirted with relegation all season and the other is in a team that finished 9th, added to that Hart kept 10 clean sheets and one of them was against Chelsea(the only Premiership keeper to do so) it does not take a rocket scientist to see which of your choices is the best or the one with the better form.
It also says a lot about the state of English football when the highest placed English goalkeeper finnish 9th in the league. What has happened to the times when we had Shilton, Clemence, Coton and David Seaman.

The players themselves picked Hart as the best goalkeeper (of ANY nationality) in the Premier League when they voted him into the PFA team of the season. Surely even Capello may have noticed that?

[MagicJ]

ITV should've done this just as Dempsey was raising his left peg, might've saved Green the ridicule in the morning papers.

[john_smullen]

Unfortunately it would not have saved his bacon for those of us watching here in Finland

[otyikondo]

We have been here before... and among the immortals listed here is one Ray Clemence...




Bit too convenient to blame Green for everything, anyway. The Septics should have scored a second when Jamie C got royally done on the right, and there wasn't that much to choose between the sides for ineptitude. If I were David Cameron I wouldn't be asking my private secretary about tickets for the final.

[Salopian]

Capello can't predict one of his 'keepers doing something bizarre (well, he can anticipate something from James), but choosing Wright-Phillips (runs into the ball and hope something happens) and Carragher (too slow, too often caught out, too filthy) and then playing them is exasperating. I had immense faith in Capello up until about month ago, when this bizarreness with Scholes, Carragher and praying that a non-holding midfielder in Barry would be fit to play began.

Throwing a debutant Dawson into the fray would've been ipso facto risky, but the manager put himself in that position of choosing between zero pace and zero caps. King is a crock, Ferdinand was always slated for breaking down, so why take an uncapped player if you're scared to use him?

As for SWP, jesus wept. Adam Johnson would've been a handful on either flank and got deliveries in. Wrong-Phillips stuggles to keep the ball in.

[Liam1]

Agree - neither winger put in any decent crosses. Lennon seems to have lost confidence to run at defenders. SWP also blew a chance when put clean through.

BBC online made a good point - Optia Stats showed Green made the most mistakes leading to a goal of all Premiership keepers last year. So no couldn't predict HOW it would happen, picking Green made it more likely to happen somehow!