Well done USA - SEE YOU IN THE WORLD CUP FINAL ;O)

[Pablo]

You are dead right Metalmarty. It is not just the Dutch. It is in football everywhere and needs to be stopped if football is not to die.

The strange thing is, I think the Germans and the Dutch changed the way they played to be more negative cos they were frightened of Spain but both teams have the class, talent and ammunition to beat Spain by playing football but both did not seem to want to do that. Strange.

Attack if the best form of defence.

And too many teams do play purely not to lose and if they grab a win then that is a bonus.

Baz

My sentiment exactly... Both Germany and Holland squandred their shot at glory out of fear of the spanish team.

 

[Spudmurphy]

I long for the times when asking for cards got you a card yourself, and rightly so.

Some great points. Although Webb was stuck between a rock and a hard place - if he had sent off one or two players in the first half he would have been ridiculed for spoiling the game.

Good point you made on the players "waving" imaginary cards - the trouble is, you see the managers doing it too.

I just watched a 90's game on the tv - Everton V Liverpool man those were the days when you had to accept the fact that there was physical contact in the game. what a change in 20 years - what will the next 20 bring I wonder??

 

[Brand X]

Not correct - Spain were tactically more astute than the Germans and played them at their own game (absorb and counter) and they were just far, far better than the Dutch (any side that Van Bommel gets into need to take a look at themselves)....

Webb did a great job - if he had sent the dutch players off in the first half - he'd have been accused of ruining the biggest sporting event on the planet.

The boot in Alonsos chest was easily missed - I didn't know what had happened until I saw the replay...referess don't have that luxury.

We (England) need to accept that we ain't as good as our media would have us believe....we are light years behind Spain in terms of technique, speed, precision, vision.....pretty much anything...at least we know Holland can actually play when they want to......

Wow - our 4-1 win over Holland in Euro 96 feels like it was years ago now! ;o)

It was a privilege to watch Spain play the game in such a style - if Holland had have played how they can play, it would have been classic....they'll look back at the DVD and realise that they blew it big-time and won no friends across the world....the country that bought us total football that Spain were playing resorting to kicking and screaming - the irony of it all!

 

[beej]

Granted, I'm not the biggest sports fan, but I enjoy the contact element of sport. It's been very tough to watch some of these games, where players fall down after the slightest contact and roll around screaming to the heavens (in the replays, you can see them screaming before they even hit the ground). Half way through the final, I actually turned it off I was so turned off. I turned it on again later ... but the missed corner kick at the end had me just as mad at the reffing.

These are professional athletes. They're gonna get into it. It seems to me that there has to be a better way of awarding penalties than based on that kind of melodrama. Certainly doesn't sit well with the non-football audience. Esp over here where you're used to fast paced sports with a lot of contact, like NHL hockey.

There were some enjoyable games, but I was so frustrated with the final. I really tried.

 

[Tung]

Irritating the opponent, making sure the opponent gets cards, the main objective being not to lose instead of winning, it all comes back to the HUGE stakes that control the game of soccer. If we want beautiful footy back again, soccer has to return from millionaire's paradise to the folk-sport it once was. 'Till then I predict it only getting worse

I can't understand some americans watching the soccer primadonna's when you have the NFL every weekend

I really appreciate all the great points you guys brought up here, being a soccer fanatic since I was born.
The stakes are very high, and we haven't even touch on fixed games, anyone read "The Fix"? Great book about fixed soccer.
NHL and NFL are great sports, but in no way or form they are comparable to soccer, just not possible to compare them, that's like comparing a Musicman to a Fender Strat, total different animals.

 

[Dizzy]

.
NHL and NFL are great sports, but in no way or form they are comparable to soccer, just not possible to compare them, that's like comparing a Musicman to a Fender Strat, total different animals.

It's actually a great comparison.

EBMM / NHL / NFL / AFL players have balls.

Fender / Soccer players do not.

But yes, they are totally different animals :
Soccer = Poodles & Chihuahas
NHL / NFL / AFL = Pit Bulls

 

[straycat113]

How soccer could be the most watched sport in the world is beyond me, it is just brutally boring.To even try and compare it to a Championship Fight or an NFL game is ridicules. As was the statement that Hendrix, SRV and Beck have no balls.

 

[Dizzy]

As was the statement that Hendrix, SRV and Beck have no balls.

Here ya go - keep it in mind for next time

What Is Sarcasm?

 

[kissmyaxe]

Game would have been exciting as hell had it been Germany vs Dutch....Spain plays like the New Jersey Devils(hopefully there's a hockey fan out there that gets this)

 

[Brand X]

LoL - Yep, those hockey / NFL players are really tough in all the padding they wear!

Not really comparing apples for apples are you? The play acting in soccer isn't a thing about toughness, it's about trying to con the referess into making a decision to gain an advantage / goal-scoring opportunity. Take a look on YouTube at some of the injuries in soccer....no pads = big pain.

Now - if you want a better comparison, try NFL vs Rugby? Who's tough now...

NFL, Baseball etc are just the most boring sports ever to me....I feel the same as you do about soccer - there's no flow to the games at all.........and just because a game is 24 - 48...that doesn't make it exciting...it just makes the points more meaningless - whereas a 1-0 win in soccer is sometimes just the most incredible game.......I just don't think you guys can hold your attention for 90 minutes....

 

[RocketRalf]

This thread is heading to a bad place

I think cameras and replays would solve some of the acting. If you could go back and check he dived BAM! red card. I assure you no one will ever dive again.

BTW the third place game was awesome, like always. Soccer can be a great game, I don't think the issue is with the sport itself...

 

[Brand X]

FIFA don't want to rely on cameras as it will make the game too stop/start........however - a retrospective dive should always be punished - like you say - a five game retrospective ban will soon have folks stopping....

We're not headed to a bad place - all the stuff is said in jest....I've got total respect for the NFL etc......it ain't my bag a lot of the time - but who gives a toss what I think! :O)

Now, about those NFL wimps....LOL

 

[beej]

(Insulting comments deleted ... remember the forum announcement? ... not going to warn again.)

To clarify my earlier post- I do like watching football, and I always enjoyed playing it. It's just that I'd love to see a way to avoid the constant stoppage of play for non-injuries ... that's the part I find frustrating.

I totally get why it's exciting- there's a reason it's such a popular sport. It's just that some of those rules are tough to get, for someone that's not a die hard football fan.

 

[denny99]

...and BTW the only winner of this World Cup is Paul the Octopus

 

[e.mate]

Oh boy....soon we're gonna be discussing, what it is that makes real men

 

[Brand X]

You're just a bad loser! ;o)

Incidentally - what makes real men! ;o)

 

[e.mate]

I'm just bad....not a loser

 

[Brand X]

LoL - Good answer dude )