World Cup 2014 (SPOILERS, YO!)

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 11:29 am

I choked on my fish taquito. Poor Moyesie, but I'm sure just about everyone wrote and said the same thing.

P.D.X. · Post by **P.D.X.** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 11:35 am

CIV is no joke. They're balling with Colombia.

Post by **Sabo** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 12:21 pm

CIV has released THE DROGBA.

Post by **Sabo** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 12:25 pm

THE DROGBA is ineffective.

1-0, Colombia off a headed corner.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 12:34 pm

Oh my god when did Gervinho get good?

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 12:36 pm

I'm enjoying this match (game).

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 12:43 pm

Colombia's first goal brought us he the best team celebration of the tournament. Even involved most of the bench.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 12:50 pm

Holy shit. That would have been the greatest goal I've ever seen in my hours of watching this, the beautiful game.

Post by **brian** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 12:51 pm

If there's any justice, Cote D'Ivoire will crush Greece and move on.

elflaco · Post by **elflaco** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 1:10 pm

wow.
wow.
wow.
wow.
wow.

saw the first half out, the second half on espnwatch at my desk. no way could i hold off and wait to find out tonight off the dvdr.

as usual, they make us suffer. YEPES.. what a game.. overall great match. now to root for the greeks (for the missus of course)

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 1:18 pm

Rex wrote:Oh my god when did Gervinho get good?

As soon as he left Arsenal.

Post by **Sabo** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 2:36 pm

Steven Gerrard is playing great this first half.

Post by **brian** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 2:39 pm

Suarez took a bite out of Engerland there. (Figuratively, thank goodness.)

Post by **Sabo** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 2:40 pm

That was a great pass by Cavani to Suarez for a nice headed goal. Nice technique.

England is in serious trouble. They are dominating possession and have done nothing with it.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 3:20 pm

So is this the doctor's fault or the coach's fault?

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 3:32 pm

cool now Rooney can finally have sex

Post by **brian** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 3:44 pm

With all this Uruguay stalling they should be adding about 8 minutes of extra time.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 3:46 pm

brian wrote:With all this Uruguay stalling they should be adding about 8 minutes of extra time.

I don't know.. this ref has been quite poor today.

Post by **brian** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 3:48 pm

degenerasian wrote:
brian wrote:With all this Uruguay stalling they should be adding about 8 minutes of extra time.

I don't know.. this ref has been quite poor today.

Yep, agreed.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 3:49 pm

This is as much of a homer as I've ever heard Sir Ian.

Post by **Sabo** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 3:49 pm

Is this the most England game England has ever Englanded? It just needs penalties.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 3:53 pm

Uruguay headed for another semifinal exit.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 3:54 pm

govmentchedda wrote:Uruguay headed for another semifinal exit.

That Colombia/Uruguay 2nd round match will be war.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 3:56 pm

In fairness to England, it's hard for them to scout some of these South American guys.

howard · Post by **howard** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 3:59 pm

Rex wrote:In fairness to England, it's hard for them to scout some of these South American guys.

So, what is the deal with this Suarez guy, wrt his misbehavior (biting and racism)?

Post by **Shirley** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:00 pm

That was a fun game to watch. Lots of chances on both ends. Crushing loss for the Brits though. The Uruguay goalie should get the assist for that winning goal.

elflaco · Post by **elflaco** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:05 pm

went from working on a monster spreadsheet defining trademark search products, back to the bar/restaurant from lunch -- boss stopped in at 3p and said let's go (he's English).. a couple of blue moons later, back at my desk.

how is it England can't produce better players? the best players in teh world play there, yet England shows no creativity or innovation. didn't matter who came in the game, there was no change, no urgency. too cavalier.

Looking forward to Costa Rica .. i predict a tie vs Italy and a win vs England. Uruguay and England go home.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:12 pm

elflaco wrote:went from working on a monster spreadsheet defining trademark search products, back to the bar/restaurant from lunch -- boss stopped in at 3p and said let's go (he's English).. a couple of blue moons later, back at my desk.

how is it England can't produce better players? the best players in teh world play there, yet England shows no creativity or innovation. didn't matter who came in the game, there was no change, no urgency. too cavalier.

Looking forward to Costa Rica .. i predict a tie vs Italy and a win vs England. Uruguay and England go home.

That is your answer there. The best players in the world play there and not many of them are English. There have been times a top team fielded a team of 11 non-Englishmen.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:14 pm

Suarez's rapsheet fits better with Rooney's face.

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:26 pm

elflaco wrote:how is it England can't produce better players? the best players in teh world play there, yet England shows no creativity or innovation.

A few years ago I read Soccernomics, which incidentally was published in the UK as Why England Lose (I believe I first heard about the book here, btw, so others might want to elaborate). The author's thesis on England's recent struggles is that the more successful European teams (Spain, Italy, Germany) draw from all levels of society, while in England there is still a strong cultural idea that soccer is a working-class game, and young people from the middle/upper classes are either disinterested in pursuing playing careers or are made to feel unwelcome when they do. He pointed out that of the player's on England's recent rosters, only a handful came from middle-class or higher backgrounds.

howard · Post by **howard** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:30 pm

What do they play on the fields of Eton, cricket? Seriously, do middle class kids play cricket and rugby instead, or maybe do they not play sports? (or give up sports as they approach adulthood?)

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:48 pm

howard wrote:What do they play on the fields of Eton, cricket? Seriously, do middle class kids play cricket and rugby instead, or maybe do they not play sports? (or give up sports as they approach adulthood?)

This is my understanding. Soccer is for the working class mainly, and the educated play/watch cricket and rugby.

This understanding of mine is based on absolutely nothing empirical, and solely stupid bullshit that I've heard.

elflaco · Post by **elflaco** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 5:00 pm

Calling Tom1860 and Zumba!

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 5:49 pm

Hodgson's decision to bring the kids to Brazil will have him looking for work by the time the team's plane lands in London.

A brave idea, but one that failed miserably. While I don't know if the more veteran English players could have played better than Welbeck, Sterling, Henderson and Barkley, they sure couldn't have played any worse.

But a great game with one of those epic moments that make a tournament like this so awesome.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 8:10 pm

troll so hard

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 8:03 am

Johnny Carwash wrote:
elflaco wrote:how is it England can't produce better players? the best players in teh world play there, yet England shows no creativity or innovation.
A few years ago I read Soccernomics, which incidentally was published in the UK as Why England Lose (I believe I first heard about the book here, btw, so others might want to elaborate). The author's thesis on England's recent struggles is that the more successful European teams (Spain, Italy, Germany) draw from all levels of society, while in England there is still a strong cultural idea that soccer is a working-class game, and young people from the middle/upper classes are either disinterested in pursuing playing careers or are made to feel unwelcome when they do. He pointed out that of the player's on England's recent rosters, only a handful came from middle-class or higher backgrounds.

Yep. Reading the book now. That chapter was about 50 pages, but that was a big part of it. Also, the English expectations are completely out of whack. They expect to win every Cup, and always think the team underperforms, yet their performance rate, when analyzed, is right on par with their overall performance the rest of the 4-year cycle. It is less relevant now, but geographic isolation was an issue as well. The continental teams were much quicker to pick up on new strategic ideas and styles, while England languished in Route 1, pound it down the field football. Prior to the current EPL, English football was a bit exclusionary, not open to foreign coaches or players. The authors argue that this greatly hurt England, as their players were not playing against the world's best players, and not allowing outside influence to develop the game. The current international influx of coaches and players, while most Englishmen hate it and think it is killing their national team, is actually going to help. Instead of a league filled with Englishmen who will never compete for the National team, the players good enough will be playing against much better opponents.

There are other interesting theories, and I was convinced, I just can't think of them right now. I highly recommend the book.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 8:52 am

English fans are at their surly worst today. Unless you want to be called a "twat" or worse, don't respond to any Englishman's comments on any soccer group.

I merely said that Hodgson will probably be canned before Euro qualifying heats up and you'd think I'd mentioned that the Queen is cheering for the Germans.

And as for the Scottish guy in the picture cheering for the Uruguayans, if he land at Heathrow today, he may get lynched.

Post by **brian** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 10:12 am

Pretty cool story right here.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 11:11 am

I don't totally agree with the book's argument.

The influx of foreign coaches in the EPL would only help English football if they chose English players to play in said new system. But they pick other players so the English players aren't playing at all. They're not playing any style anywhere.

If the continental teams picked up on new systems and England had continued Route 1 football, it would be a good contrast. Route 1 football is not that easy to deal with defensively. I want the 1990 and 1996 style of English football, not the crap they're playing now. They should always play 4-4-2 regardless of what anyone else is doing. Route 1 against tika-taka? The spanish would have to bell 70% of the time but when the English get it, they would launch it down the field and a Peter Crouch-type No 9 would really give Pique and Ramos trouble. Today, England have nothing to hurt Spain with.

howard · Post by **howard** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 11:44 am

brian wrote:Pretty cool story right here.

The dog tags are part of the Commitment to Service initiative created by Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, who is focused on making a deeper connection between the military and sports leagues and stars.

Jesus fucking christ on a stick. Focus more on winning wars, less on domestic propaganda. The tying of militarism to my beloved sports deeply angers me. Letting servicepeople come to games, meet players, form friendships like this is great, I love it. But I cannot ignore or forget the bullshit from the brass, the cynical manipulation of public sentiment that is at the root of such 'focus'.