Fútbol chatter

[DandyDan]

I'd hate to be the Brazil team after Germany systematically dismantled them 7-1 yesterday.

As for today, I'm betting on Messi singlehandedly beating the Netherlands.

[english si]

I'd hate to be the Brazil team after Germany systematically dismantled them 7-1 yesterday.

Makes Ghana (who drew with them), Algeria (who managed 90 minutes without conceding and then went out 2-1 after extra time), France (who only conceded one), USA (who, while it didn't really matter too much, still only conceded one) and even Portugal (who 'only' conceded 4!) look rather decent. Especially the Africans!

Brazil hadn't really performed all tournament and without both their captain and their star player, who carried most of the other players in the other matches, they weren't likely to win. That they gave up for 10 minutes after the second went in gave them the much-needed massive defeat that will be a helpful corrective to illusions of quality than their narrow wins against Colombia, Chile, Croatia, etc.

David Luiz must feel like this, though he, along with Oscar and Caesar, at least showed some signs of belonging in a Brazilian national team (it's Scholari's fault he picked rubbish players, not the player's fault they are rubbish!):


I don't like this idea that one star basically walks the team through - and Brazil basically got a lesson in why you can't just rely on one or two superstars last night (Team USA showed how a team is more than the sum of the parts, and the German team play will almost certainly win the trophy on Sunday), and while Argentina have more than Messi, and Netherlands a lot more than Robben, I'd hate to see it as a battle of the superstars. Though Messi (who stays up) over diving Robben any day, if it does come down to that. Though I'd rather that the team that relies least on one amazing player goes through - not least as it would make a better final, rather than an a German exercise in neutralising the star and then dominating - as they did against Portugal (and would have done against Brazil if they had someone worth neutralising, like Neymar).

[nexus73]

The Denver Broncos showed up in Brazil...LOL! 

Rick

[US 41]

I'd hate to be the Brazil team after Germany systematically dismantled them 7-1 yesterday.

As for today, I'm betting on Messi singlehandedly beating the Netherlands.

Not so fast. I think Netherlands wins today 4-3.

[DandyDan]

Any predictions for the final?  I can't see Germany repeating what they did to Brazil on Argentina, but still, I can see them winning.  I'm not sure Argentina has anyone other than Messi.  My prediction: Germany 2-1.

[english si]

I'm not sure Argentina has anyone other than Messi.

And yet, despite a poor Messi, they are through to the final? Argentina, like Germany, and, unlike Brazil, is a team - and as such functions better than the sum of its parts.

However, Germany winning 2-1 is a good prediction - while teams like Ghana and USA gave them momentum, Argentina have been nervy (their semi-final was play for penalties from both teams from the first whistle and teams like Iran have nearly stopped them winning) and will be more tired thanks to 120 minutes playing against actual opposition a day after Germany played just 90 minutes against 11 men who couldn't be bothered. Plus Germany will be on a high from the high score of the semi-final, even though it told us little about how good Germany were and much much more about how lucky Brazil were to get out of their group, let alone beat Chile and Colombia to get to the semis!

[hotdogPi]

Two goals that would have counted if it wasn't offside...

[US71]

Any predictions for the final?  I can't see Germany repeating what they did to Brazil on Argentina, but still, I can see them winning.  I'm not sure Argentina has anyone other than Messi.  My prediction: Germany 2-1.

Maybe Pope Francis will pray really hard

[hotdogPi]

AND GERMANY WINS!

[1995hoo]

Any predictions for the final?  I can't see Germany repeating what they did to Brazil on Argentina, but still, I can see them winning.  I'm not sure Argentina has anyone other than Messi.  My prediction: Germany 2-1.

Maybe Pope Francis will pray really hard

His predecessor Benedict apparently prayed even harder!

[mgk920]

One new thing that I noticed in this World Cup is the referees drawing those foam lines on the field during free kicks.  From what I am aware of this is a USA innovation, first used by MLS back in the late 1990s - the league's earliest days.

Interesting.



Mike

[Bruce]

One new thing that I noticed in this World Cup is the referees drawing those foam lines on the field during free kicks.  From what I am aware of this is a USA innovation, first used by MLS back in the late 1990s - the league's earliest days.

It slowly migrated northwards, from Argentina through Mexico, before arriving in the MLS quite recently.

[mgk920]

109K fans in the Ann Arbor, MI 'Big House' to watch Manchester United defeat Real Madrid 3-1 on Saturday?

WOW!   

(Is this a record 'fan in the stands' attendance for either or both teams?  It did break the 101K USA record for game attendance that was set at the Rose Bowl for the 1984 Summer Olympics gold medal game.)

Mike

[english si]

Probably this match wins - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923_FA_Cup_Final (there's also a cool story about a police horse that controlled the 300k unofficial crowd figures and got them off the pitch in a calm way).

The Maracana had an official attendance of 173,850 for the 1950 World Cup Final (and an unofficial one of just under 200k) - that's the highest official figure for a soccer match.

Spanish news doctored a photo of all those fans so that the ratio (like the score, about 3:1 United:Real) was made to look like more people were wearing white shirts.

[mgk920]

Probably this match wins - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923_FA_Cup_Final (there's also a cool story about a police horse that controlled the 300k unofficial crowd figures and got them off the pitch in a calm way).

The Maracana had an official attendance of 173,850 for the 1950 World Cup Final (and an unofficial one of just under 200k) - that's the highest official figure for a soccer match.

Spanish news doctored a photo of all those fans so that the ratio (like the score, about 3:1 United:Real) was made to look like more people were wearing white shirts.

That 1923 game was between the Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United.  It would be interesting to go back through the annals to see what each teams' (Man U and Real Madrid) top crowds were.

I saw that doctored image, BTW.   

Mike

[Bruce]

The Seattle Sounders took home their 4th Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in the 101st final tonight, a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Union.



Here's a map of Open Cup championships by state, updated for tonight's result:

[realjd]

Am I the only one here who has been finding ManU's total implosion this year to be surprisingly satisfying? They're not my least favorite team by far but I've been enjoying watching the train wreck.

[mgk920]

Am I the only one here who has been finding ManU's total implosion this year to be surprisingly satisfying? They're not my least favorite team by far but I've been enjoying watching the train wreck.

I'm finding it interesting, at least - just a few more losses away from the 'R'wordzone, too.



Speaking of surprises - Howabout SC Paderborn? They're freshly promoted to the Bundesliga and LEADING it as of this typing.  And did anyone else catch that 93rd minute goal by Moritz Stoppelkamp against Hannover 96 over the weekend, giving SC Paderborn a 2-0 win?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xme73rY0TpI



Mike

[english si]

I'm annoyed United came back from losing 4-0 in the League Cup to MK Dons to beat QPR - then again, despite a relatively strong side being thrashed by a League 1 side, the 4-0 win against Quarter-Pound-of-Rubbish (as they have been all season - how they got promoted last year beats me!) shows that they aren't a bad side, just a side with tons of potential and class that they aren't living up to - which reflects poorly on the new gaffer (and well on Moyes, whom I've always liked). I might be persuaded to prefer that to a team that can't win at all!

Speaking of the League Cup, last night Liverpool got through to the next round by the skin of their teeth - they were 2-1 up at Anfield against Championship side Middlesbrough in injury time at the end of extra time. 31 penalties later (one in the last second of the match proper, 3 missed), and they finally won 2-2 (14-13 on penalties). It's not quite the English record, but 30 penalties to settle a tie after extra time is a very rare event.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Now that the round of 32 matches of the King's Cup (Copa del Rey, as we call it, and we've got a brand new King since last final) have been drafted, both Real Madrid and Atlético will have to play against minor teams in the Barcelona metropolitan area (UE Cornellà and Hospitalet respectively), while FC Barcelona ('Barça') will pay a visit to... my hometown!!! SD Huesca, which managed to get through by forcing an overtime at last minute and then scored, got lucky and will play in the Camp Nou (lit. 'New Field', despite its name is not that new) by mid December.

[Bruce]

The Seattle Sounders came back from 2-0 to tie LA 2-2. This means that with a win or draw, they can clinch the MLS Supporters' Shield (trophy for the regular season winner) on Saturday, the final matchday, in front of 60,000 at CenturyLink Field. No better way to end the regular season.

[Bruce]

The Seattle Sounders have won their Supporters' Shield by beating the LA Galaxy with two late goals from Marco Pappa.

Here's some pictures I took from Section 323 at the south end's upper deck:

Someone brought a Landon Donovan pinata for the kids at Occidental Park, which was the highlight of the festivities there, if you could call it that.


Landon Donovan pinata by SounderBruce, on Flickr

Spotted the Seattle flag two-pole while marching down Occidental, a personal favorite of mine.


Seattle flag two-pole by SounderBruce, on Flickr

Prematch ceremony for breast cancer awareness, unfortunately part of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. I'd donate to just about any other breast cancer charity in the world.


Prematch Ceremony for Breast Cancer Awareness by SounderBruce, on Flickr

The ECS didn't bring out a tifo, but there were plenty of flags:


ECS flags by SounderBruce, on Flickr

And the sun did briefly make an appearance in the 17th minute of play


Sunshine by SounderBruce, on Flickr

The problem with the sun's appearance was the visibility of faded Seahawks/football markings on the turf.


Faded Seahawks logo on the field by SounderBruce, on Flickr

After the second goal:


After the 2nd goal by SounderBruce, on Flickr

[Bruce]

What a crazy week it's been. DOJ/FBI and the Swiss arrest several FIFA execs, CONCACAF gets raided, Blatter gets re-elected and then resigns today.

[english si]

And, far more interestingly* there was the end to many European football seasons this weekend, eg Arsenal retaining the FA, Rangers failing miserably to get back into Scottish top flight football, etc. And last Monday had the highest prize single-game in World Sport: the Championship Play Off Final, with Norwich winning an estimated £120 million ($186m) prize of Premier League football next season.

Probably more important too - as the British pundits said: the fans don't care about the politics anyway - they are happy about the destruction of FIFA, but wouldn't care enough to boycott it - the most you'd get out of them is banners and chants against FIFA/Blatter (like the 'Kick Racism out of Football: Kick Blatter out of Football' ones that happened once).

*It was funny to watch football programmes all day Saturday with the FA Cup coverage - all the talking heads stuff had to discuss FIFA, but they got it over with quickly as it was basically "same old, same old", "glad the arrests have finally happened - well done the authorities for finally doing it", "Blatter's reelection was predictable given the system" and "we need a rival to FIFA/World Cup, but I can't see it getting the critical mass of sponsors, teams, etc" with different sets of heads and some brief discussion. 3 minutes and done per programme - on average the same amount of time they gave to Man United not being about beat Cambridge in Cambridge in January - the same amount of time that 'Billy' the White Horse of the 1923 cup final got.

[bing101]

What a crazy week it's been. DOJ/FBI and the Swiss arrest several FIFA execs, CONCACAF gets raided, Blatter gets re-elected and then resigns today.

There were some reports that Sepp Blatter is still under the FBI radar for corruption. Also the Qatar Stadium in question have a large amount of Human rights abuses at the construction site. I don't think FIFA management will be indicted for that but the contractors I'm not sure about that one.