[gwnn]

 cherdano, on 2014-June-30, 18:09, said:

Can someone explain to me why there is so much debate about the Robben penalty versus Mexico? Looks like a clear foul to me.

They're afraid of the Dutch, rightly so

I've even seen people suggesting that Robben "cheated" but it was a foul. WTF?

[Aberlour10]

 gwnn, on 2014-July-01, 00:47, said:

They're afraid of the Dutch, rightly so

I've even seen people suggesting that Robben "cheated" but it was a foul. WTF?

Surely, it was foul.

But generally its quite normal that people dont belive the liar even if he says the truth.

[gwnn]

Finally Aberlour and I agree on something! Let's drink to that!

[jjbrr]

Flopping/diving should be punishable by castration

[Cyberyeti]

 jjbrr, on 2014-July-01, 07:25, said:

Flopping/diving should be punishable by castration

Yeah, but Robben would have gone through about 150 pairs of testicles by now if that was the case.

[cherdano]

If you want to ban diving, you have to make sure that Robben gets this penalty even if he doesn't fall. Even if he kept his balance he would have been slowed down enough by the contact that he would have had no chance of keeping possession.

Do we call it diving when NBA defenders fall over when taking a charge, rather than anticipating the impact and preventing the fall? Nope, because we all know nobody gets this call without falling.

[Cascade]

Why were the Belgians not offside in the 89th minute?

Edit: I didn't understand that they had to be ahead of the ball it seems.

[cherdano]

How can there be any debate whether Messi or Ronaldo is better?

This is not a rhetorical question - I barely watch any club games. But I could never imagine Ronaldo play as dominantly as Messi did today against Switzerland.

[Cyberyeti]

 cherdano, on 2014-July-01, 16:58, said:

How can there be any debate whether Messi or Ronaldo is better?

This is not a rhetorical question - I barely watch any club games. But I could never imagine Ronaldo play as dominantly as Messi did today against Switzerland.

Messi and Ronaldo are both playing in their different ways unbelievably dominantly in club football, their numbers are very similar. Ronaldo wasn't fit during this world cup, but he had performed at previous world cups, Messi hadn't.

[jjbrr]

what an absolutely dominating performance. it's probably an understatement to say Belgium deserved to win by 4 goals

[Free]

Belgium w000000000000t!!!

[sfi]

 jjbrr, on 2014-July-01, 20:33, said:

what an absolutely dominating performance. it's probably an understatement to say Belgium deserved to win by 4 goals

On the other hand, there was no way Howard deserved to lose the match. He was magnificent.

But yeah - the right team went through.

[jdeegan]

No doubt Belgium was the better team. Realistically, our chances were slim to none, and Slim was just seen leavin' town. Our team was good. Our goalie was the greatest. Our coach was the best we have ever had.

My main beef is with the ESPN announcing staff. If you are going to broadcast to Americans as a national audience, please have the grace to do in their own 'Murrican' language. If a team (not a SIDE) has failed to score, you do not refer to this sad condition as a 'NIL' score or even as 'love' as in tennis. The very word 'NIL' is so odious to the 'Murrican' ear as to be almost intolerable.

In the USA, a country's national team is considered to be a singular noun. You don't say "England ARE". You say England IS". A GAME is not a MATCH. IMHO, announcers who violate these strictures should be summarily fired on the spot. Then they should be conducted by security guards to the nearest parking lot and beaten to within an in inch of their lives. That'll learn ya durn ya.

The other problem Soccer has in the USA is that it is widely seen as a wimpy game, appropriate for girls and pre-pubescent boys. People who know the game know this is not true. Nevertheless, when Americans see Europeans and South American players flopping and pretending injury in order to try to dupe an official, it disgusts.

Personally, I love the game.

[Trinidad]

 sfi, on 2014-July-02, 01:27, said:

On the other hand, there was no way Howard deserved to lose the match. He was magnificent.

But yeah - the right team went through.

None of the Americans deserved to lose this game. They did the very best they could. It's just that the Belgians deserved a loss even less.

Before the game, I was ready to write something like Waffles 2 - Flapjacks 1, but that would have been completely wrong. The Americans played very good, just not as good as the Belgians.

I really liked Yedlin.

Rik

[broze]

 Trinidad, on 2014-July-02, 02:16, said:

I really liked Yedlin.

It's amazing to see a player I have never even heard of play like that. If Tim Howard had not got Man of the Match it would have gone to him. He put in an incredible shift.

[sfi]

 Trinidad, on 2014-July-02, 02:16, said:

None of the Americans deserved to lose this game. They did the very best they could. It's just that the Belgians deserved a loss even less.

I haven't seen the US team before this tournament and I don't have anything against them. But is that really being considered a good performance from the outfield players? I thought it very short of quality apart from a Dempsey chance and a nicely taken goal. The defence should never have given Howard so many opportunities to look good.

I do get the idea of context - after all, Australia managed to get beaten three times and still exceed expectations. It did seem like they should have played better though.

[sfi]

 cherdano, on 2014-July-01, 16:58, said:

How can there be any debate whether Messi or Ronaldo is better?

This is not a rhetorical question - I barely watch any club games. But I could never imagine Ronaldo play as dominantly as Messi did today against Switzerland.

It's probably worth watching some of Real Madrid's games when Ronaldo is fit then. If Messi weren't playing, Ronaldo would easily be the best player in the world today.

[cherdano]

 sfi, on 2014-July-02, 04:09, said:

It's probably worth watching some of Real Madrid's games when Ronaldo is fit then. If Messi weren't playing, Ronaldo would easily be the best player in the world today.

Well I have seen a few (but not many). Ronaldo was very strong, but he does seem to need space. I just can't imagine him dealing with two or three defenders in little space all the time, or making fantastic passes one after another - as Messi did yesterday. If Ronaldo has such skills, he did an excellent of hiding them in the 10-15 games I have seen him play.

I certainly agree with your second sentence. When he can pick up pace, he is superb.

[sfi]

I actually agree with you - I think Messi is already the best player the game has ever seen. But I do feel a bit sorry for Ronaldo because one of the great players keeps being seen as second best, not just in his generation but in his league and in most of the games between the two teams.

[gwnn]

 cherdano, on 2014-July-02, 04:58, said:

Well I have seen a few (but not many). Ronaldo was very strong, but he does seem to need space. I just can't imagine him dealing with two or three defenders in little space all the time, or making fantastic passes one after another - as Messi did yesterday. If Ronaldo has such skills, he did an excellent of hiding them in the 10-15 games I have seen him play.

I certainly agree with your second sentence. When he can pick up pace, he is superb.

Ronaldo is an excellent header (Messi does not rate at all) and has a better long-range shot, though. Messi has better vision and is indeed much better in small spaces. Ronaldo has the fact going against him that he gets frustrated at his teammates too easily and can't really "carry" a team as Messi sometimes can (but not always, not even close). Overall, I think it's not easy to compare them, but Messi usually gets the vote because his brilliancies are memorable, Ronaldo's are more conventional.