World Cup Thread

[manny78]

Manny - Emmanuel Olisadebe was born in Nigeria but the reason he didn't play for Nigeria was because he was never called up. He waited and waited but was never asked to join their National program. He married a Polish woman, got his citizenship and the Polish soccer team asked him to play for them. this is totally different than the other cases since i'm sure Zidane could have played for Algeria, Hargreaves for Canada, Viera for Senegal.

Zidane was born in Marseille from an Algerian father so yes in theory he could have played for Algeria but he had the legitimate choice. Makes sense to go with France no

Yes I know the Sportplex in Laval I used to play there a lot when I had time. In fact I played till U-19 in the LSEQ for Jean-Talon-Rosemont as a midfield. Now I'm only playing once-twice a month...

 

[cure]

Jean Talon always had great teams. I use to play for the West Island Lakers and Quebec Selects. Always fun but there is nowhere to go after u-19. Too bad we did not have any serious senior leagues here that pay to play.

 

[cure]

(Jun 20) - FIFA president Sepp Blatter has criticized the officiating at this year's World Cup soccer tournament.

However, members of the FIFA referees' committee have contradicted Blatter's view, saying the officials have done a "very good job" up to this point.

Blatter is quoted in the Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport as saying the refereeing has been the "only negative aspect" of the tournament. He singled out the linesman, calling their work disastrous for disallowing goals on what appear to be hairline offside decisions.

Blatter also sided with Italian officials, who blamed Eucadorean referee Byron Moreno in part for their loss to Korea in the quarterfinals.

"Totti's sending off against Korea was neither a penalty nor a dive," Blatter tells the newspaper. "A referee with a feeling (for the game) would not have shown him the card, bearing in mind the same player had already been booked."

However, Edgardo Codesal Mendez - who is part of the referees committee - defended the officials, by saying they are called on to make split-second decisions without the benefit of television replays.

 

[specter]

Totally agree my friend but i believe u- championships mean nothing. Look at Italy. I believe they won the U-21 or 22 like 5 out of 7 years(somewhere around there) and are nowhere to be seen and Portugal was awesome in the early 90's and those players now play for their National side and they haven't done anything yet. Also look at the teams competing at u- championships. Reminds me of this years WC. Teams like Ghana, China, Czech Rep..do very well..

Well, the u-championships mean something. The question is, what? For some teams that do well, like Oman, China and, to some extent, the U.S., it often means the kids have been playing together for a long time and have come together as a strong team.

The European powerhouses don't have that luxury because their top youth are spending the majority of their time on their professional clubs' u-teams.

For the teams like Ghana and Nigeria that also do well, I wonder if it's partly because at 17 or 19 they're already extremely fast and dangerous. Defensemen rely on size and strength and don't get that until they're 22/23/24 so 17-yr-old defensemen have a very difficult time with 17-yr-old strikers from places like Ghana and Nigeria. That's my theory anyway.

But c'mon. Portugal's youth team of 1988-1990 is now the national team and while they haven't accomplished anything, there's no doubting they've been a very solid team - certainly among Europe's top five these last several years.

So I think u-championships mean something. You just have to figure out what it is.

 

[specter]

Blatter is quoted in the Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport as saying the refereeing has been the "only negative aspect" of the tournament. He singled out the linesman, calling their work disastrous for disallowing goals on what appear to be hairline offside decisions.

Yes, and wasn't there a decision a few years ago that linesman should give the benefit of the doubt to offensive players in those borderline circumstances? We have seen the complete opposite of that in this WC.

I guess I'm a crackpot but I think offsides is a terrible, terrible rule. Time and time again it merely bails defenses out from their own blunders. At the VERY least, there should be no offsides once the ball has been played into the penalty box. Scoring is hard enough, without having to worry about a rule that limits offensive opportunities and really, I'm not at all convinced that the game would go to hell if offsides were done away with altogether.

 

[specter]

If Germany scores early tomorrow then it will be over and the Germans will go on to rout the U.S. I think this is a fairly likely scenario.

If the U.S. scores early then I think the Germans will get an equalizer and score again late to win the game 2-1.

The Americans' best chance is if the game stays 0-0 for as long as possible before breaking through with a goal late in the match.

 

[cure]

That Germany/US game is going to be won in the air. I don't see how the US can withstand the pressure of team that is so big. I think Klose has scored all his goals with his head and Ballack had like 6-7 assists. I don't think Germany is the strongest team but if I was the US i'd be worried.


Specter - Yes that rules of the offensive player given the benefit of the doubt took place in 98 or 94 and it was never used. Usually the linesman gives the call to the defender because a goal could be scored and the result could be disastrous. Well in this WC it was the opposite. Calls were made, goals were scored, taken back and I hate the fact that the refferee's Union cannot admit their mistakes.

Talk about bullcrap, listen to the refs saying it's human error and that things happen on the spur of the moment. Well that Portuguise player who punched the ref in the side will get suspended from soccer for a long time and he is human and acting on the spur of the moment also. Refs should be fined or suspended same way players are because next time they might think before they just "act".

 

[slickdadd]

im a soccer newbie, but just real quick, what are caps? and also, what the hell is a golden goal?

 

[specter]

im a soccer newbie, but just real quick, what are caps? and also, what the hell is a golden goal?

To get a cap means you played in a match for your national team. Friendly matches don't count, but I'm pretty sure that -besides FIFA WC and WC qualifying - UEFA, CONCACAF etc. matches do apply. You earn one either by starting or by coming in as a substitute.

A golden goal is just the FIFA term for a sudden death goal. It's a goal that comes in extra time that ends play immediately. Before the golden goal rule which I think came about for the '94 WC, extra time was played out in its entirety regardless of whether anyone scored or not.

 

[Code]

USA 0
Germany 1

Ballack will score the only goal with a low header. And we'll have our best shot on goal blocked by a defender's hand (not the goalies).