2010 FIFA World Cup

[ViperOverLord]

The ultimate embarrassment. South Africa ahead 1-0 against France.

Disagree. SA is clearly a decent team. They had one lapse against Mexico or they would have won their group.

[Pedronicus]

The ultimate embarrassment. South Africa ahead 1-0 against France.

Disagree. SA is clearly a decent team. They had one lapse against Mexico or they would have won their group.

Utter Shite. SA never qualified for a world cup before this one.

South Africa are the first WC host team ever to be eliminated from the the competition in the group stage. The advantage of being a home team is absolutely massive. Of the SA team playing in the Premiership, the best team is Everton and they ended up coming about 8th this year. SA are shit and viperoverlord knows nothing about anything. Viper, take some advice from an old guy.
Talk less and listen more.
You wont look as stupid in front of people.

[ga7]

I really thought Kaka willingly sticked his elbow out, but either way since none of the refs had seen the actual action it's quite dumb to react to the pressure.

Oh dear, i think you've had too much wine pal

Erm... Upon reflection, that was indeed entirely possible. Then again he looked scummy

Hardly, Kaka did nothing in comparison to what Villa did in the Spain Honduras game, he should've got sent off for that stunt but the Hondruas player was too slow to react.

Dude, bolded part is the summary of that whole game Hope they'll do better vs the swiss...

Anyway, a bit disappointed by the Argentina game tonight, Messi being left captainship and Milito with an opportunity to show off, was expecting a bit more from them but job done for Argentina, and at the end they'll be one of the very few finishing with 9 pts. I think it's a bit early to say whether they'll make it to the finals though, looking at the WC map (man that shit is convenient!) they could meet Germany in the quarter finals, which wouldn't suit them too much I reckon. And Maradona is still a ridiculous guy who seems more like a guru than an actual coach
France didn't deserve to pass but could have done a lot better without the BS expulsion. The guy didn't even have a yellow, just jumped without even throwing his arm, and direct red, another lame ref. There's so many of these guys doing shitty I wonder how FIFA will pick the ones for next round
I got to see only bits of Nigeria-South Korea, which seemed like a much more fast-paced game with lots of chances till the end, I have a good feeling about that team, they should at least dispose of Uruguay next round Really nice free kick goal by Chu young Park, to think he wasn't even shooting them in the season...

[Night Strike]

The ultimate embarrassment. South Africa ahead 1-0 against France.

Disagree. SA is clearly a decent team. They had one lapse against Mexico or they would have won their group.

Utter Shite. SA never qualified for a world cup before this one.

South Africa are the first WC host team ever to be eliminated from the the competition in the group stage. The advantage of being a home team is absolutely massive. Of the SA team playing in the Premiership, the best team is Everton and they ended up coming about 8th this year. SA are shit and viperoverlord knows nothing about anything. Viper, take some advice from an old guy.
Talk less and listen more.
You wont look as stupid in front of people.

SA qualified in both 1998 and 2002.

[Army of GOD]

While I'm disappointed that France is already out, I'm glad that South Africa won.

GO UNITED STATES!

[Pedronicus]

did they

wow - i stand corrected!

[Army of GOD]

Also, I'm curious.

How many teams made it to the Finals in a WC, and then either didn't qualify or didn't make it out of the group stages the next WC (or vice versa)?

[ViperOverLord]

I never, pre tournament, gave Argentina a chance to win it, but upon reflection of just how shit England are performing so far, I think that having Diego Maradona as the manger allows the Argentinian players to relax in camp and play some great football on the field. They must of all grown up idolising him and now they get a chance to play for their idol.

I think they will be in the finals.

What's more - I hated him for that hand of god goal, but in hindsight, if Paul Gascoigne had of single handedly dragged England to (and won) a world Cup final, like Maradona did - I would be over the moon. There's never been anyone like him before.
If I were Argentinian - I too would idolise him. 1 world cup and another WC final in the following competition isn't to be sniffed at.

Sniffed at? Did someone mention Cocaine? He's now gone up further in my estimations. He's from South America FFS, what else was he going to do?

I'm fast becoming a massive fan of Diego Maradona.

Diego is a deuche who cheated to win the 86 quarterfinal match against the ENGLIGH. He got busted for cheating (drugs) in his last WC and as you can see from his picture, he's an ignorant pile of shiz. But leaving all of that aside, I agree England looks worse than expected. Argentina is playing better than expected but their group was nothing to write home about. I'm still standing by my prediction that they will not make it to the semis.

Whatever you say about the man you can't deny he is one of the greatest footballers of all time and IMO he is one hell of a classy guy.

ps. name one footballer who wouldn't have done the same in 86 if they knew they would get away with it.

He is one of the best of his time. It was one or two WC's before my time to truly say how he ranked, but the glory often goes to the winner. It's hard for me to say if he'd really be remembered w/o that cheating play that helped him get the WC that year. Quite frankly it's hard enough for the winner to be remembered in this day and age let alone the never was's.

And there are plenty of footballers that would have not cheated whether they would get away with it or not. PEOPLE WITH CLASS don't want to be remembered for their unethical actions. If you're claim is that most footballers don't have class then go ahead and make that claim. But class is not a relative item.

[obliterationX]

While I'm disappointed that France is already out, I'm glad that South Africa won.

GO UNITED STATES!

I concur.

Doesn't anyone agree that Raymond Domenech resembles Paul O'Grady way too much for them to be different people?

=

[ga7]

Also, I'm curious.

How many teams made it to the Finals in a WC, and then either didn't qualify or didn't make it out of the group stages the next WC (or vice versa)?

France did that twice already, therefore watch out for them in 2014
Anyway about South Africa, they never passed round 1 but it's actually quite shocking they had a better record vs stronger teams in the 2002 WC. Prolly the vuvuzelas prevent them to feel supported like a normal home field I remember well McCarthy & Bartlett, they clearly don't have players of this level anymore.

[pmchugh]

Lol at pedro.

Though you still have a point, in terms of raw talent, SA were definately bottom of the pile in that group. Mexico dominated most of the first game, they got trounced in the second and well I think me and my mates could have beaten 10 man france in the state they were in. This is with home advantage.

I really thought Kaka willingly sticked his elbow out, but either way since none of the refs had seen the actual action it's quite dumb to react to the pressure.

Oh dear, i think you've had too much wine pal

Erm... Upon reflection, that was indeed entirely possible. Then again he looked scummy

Hmm maybe deservant of a FOS but certainly not a lynch

He is one of the best of his time. It was one or two WC's before my time to truly say how he ranked, but the glory often goes to the winner. It's hard for me to say if he'd really be remembered w/o that cheating play that helped him get the WC that year. Quite frankly it's hard enough for the winner to be remembered in this day and age let alone the never was's.

And there are plenty of footballers that would have not cheated whether they would get away with it or not. PEOPLE WITH CLASS don't want to be remembered for their unethical actions. If you're claim is that most footballers don't have class then go ahead and make that claim. But class is not a relative item.

Happen to see his other goal in that game? I wasn't alive but i've seen and heard enough to know that he pretty much won the world cup all by himself. Maradona sure as hell would be remembered without that goal, jesus christ.

Have you seen the diving antics of pretty much every current footballer? Speaks for itself really.

[ViperOverLord]

The ultimate embarrassment. South Africa ahead 1-0 against France.

Disagree. SA is clearly a decent team. They had one lapse against Mexico or they would have won their group.

Utter Shite. SA never qualified for a world cup before this one.

South Africa are the first WC host team ever to be eliminated from the the competition in the group stage. The advantage of being a home team is absolutely massive. Of the SA team playing in the Premiership, the best team is Everton and they ended up coming about 8th this year. SA are shit and viperoverlord knows nothing about anything. Viper, take some advice from an old guy.
Talk less and listen more.
You wont look as stupid in front of people.

SA qualified in both 1998 and 2002.

Most of the host countries have been very established in the sport. When the USA, SK and Japan made it out of group play it was very close. SA played well as I said. They had a bad 2nd game, but that happens in this game. Also I watched the games and I don't believe that home field was as big of an advantage for SA as in other WC's. The crowd really did not seem to pay huge dividends. If it did, we wouldn't be wondering if an African country will make it to the next round.

[ViperOverLord]

Lol at pedro.

Though you still have a point, in terms of raw talent, SA were definately bottom of the pile in that group. Mexico dominated most of the first game, they got trounced in the second and well I think me and my mates could have beaten 10 man france in the state they were in. This is with home advantage.

I really thought Kaka willingly sticked his elbow out, but either way since none of the refs had seen the actual action it's quite dumb to react to the pressure.

Oh dear, i think you've had too much wine pal

Erm... Upon reflection, that was indeed entirely possible. Then again he looked scummy

Hmm maybe deservant of a FOS but certainly not a lynch

He is one of the best of his time. It was one or two WC's before my time to truly say how he ranked, but the glory often goes to the winner. It's hard for me to say if he'd really be remembered w/o that cheating play that helped him get the WC that year. Quite frankly it's hard enough for the winner to be remembered in this day and age let alone the never was's.

And there are plenty of footballers that would have not cheated whether they would get away with it or not. PEOPLE WITH CLASS don't want to be remembered for their unethical actions. If you're claim is that most footballers don't have class then go ahead and make that claim. But class is not a relative item.

Happen to see his other goal in that game? I wasn't alive but i've seen and heard enough to know that he pretty much won the world cup all by himself. Maradona sure as hell would be remembered without that goal, jesus christ.

Have you seen the diving antics of pretty much every current footballer? Speaks for itself really.

Remembered really? Most people could not even name who Argentina played in the Finals that year. That's how it goes. Bling talks louder than anything. And I went back and watched the goal. It's just a straight run through terrible defending. It's good that he stepped up, but it was certainly nothing extra special.

Maradona would not even be remembered in the same breath as Roberto Baggio had he not cheated for the game winning goal. Messi will be long forgotten to if Argentina does not win and that despite the similarities in his game with Maradona's. That is the nature of the beast.

[the.killing.44]

P.S. Messi will long be remembered even if he doesn't win this World Cup, a) for his league success, and b) because he has two or three more Cups in him.

[Titanic]

Remembered really? Most people could not even name who Argentina played in the Finals that year. That's how it goes. Bling talks louder than anything. And I went back and watched the goal. It's just a straight run through terrible defending. It's good that he stepped up, but it was certainly nothing extra special.

Maradona would not even be remembered in the same breath as Roberto Baggio had he not cheated for the game winning goal. Messi will be long forgotten to if Argentina does not win and that despite the similarities in his game with Maradona's. That is the nature of the beast.

It wasn't the winning goal, that was the first goal in the game. Also his second goal was not just a straight run, he feinted past most of the players and rounded the keeper and did so much more. Btw, even if Messi flops in this world cup it does not matter, do you remember Maradona for the 1982 world cup? Messi is still very young and has at least 2 more world cups, with the 2014 one on home continent and probably at the peak of his form if he progresses like most players.

[pmchugh]

Remembered really? Most people could not even name who Argentina played in the Finals that year. That's how it goes. Bling talks louder than anything. And I went back and watched the goal. It's just a straight run through terrible defending. It's good that he stepped up, but it was certainly nothing extra special.

Maradona would not even be remembered in the same breath as Roberto Baggio had he not cheated for the game winning goal. Messi will be long forgotten to if Argentina does not win and that despite the similarities in his game with Maradona's. That is the nature of the beast.

This post is laughable, maybe (the majority of) americans can't name more than 5 players or know nothing about football history but in footballing nations Maradona certainly would not be forgotten.

The fact you had to "go back and watch that goal" and you thought it was "just a straight run through terrible defending" shows you know sweet f*ck all about football.

Messi will not be long forgotten if he doesn't win the world cup, there are plenty of fantastic players never to have won it.

Baggio better than maradona? I can't believe im even bothering to waste my life responding.

[ga7]

Baggio... I don't even like Maradona but that is so utterly ridiculous... Btw it was vs Germany at a time Germany ruled with an iron fist and were usually the luckiest bastards a field had ever seen (karmic payback from 66 likely ) so I can at least give him that
Since South America teams seem in top shape that reminded me to check an interesting fact:
European countries won 8 WC, South americans 8 also, and it's been alternating since 62 (and there's only one exception with Brazil if you start from 38). Time to bet on Argentina & Brazil

[nietzsche]

Argentina has great players and a great group, but I wonder if later in the playoffs Maradona can handle the tactics of professional coaches.

Brazil is interesting, Dunga has worked a lot on the defensive part, and you can always count on jogo bonito for offensive.

I wouldn't discard Uruguay, they bite bite bite when don't have the ball, they are strong, and have great defensive players like Lugando and Fucile and in offensive even better with Forlan and Suarez.

Chile and Paraguay are a notch below.

[Timminz]

Brazil eliminated by Spain in the round of 16. You heard it here first.

I'm also seeing a Netherlands / Portugal quarter-final on the horizon. I didn't like the way that turned out, last time around.

All the South American teams look good this year.

[parker4s]

1988–2004 Italy 56 (27) Baggio for the National team.
1977–1994 Argentina 91 (34) Diego Maradona.
Total 488 (218) Baggio Clob Totals
Total 490 (311) Maradona Total CLub goals

Sure Baggio had less appearances but Maradona had such skill and really he won a world cup on his own. Look at the appearances vs goal # for clubs. Not even close.

Argentina all the way.

[grifftron]

Remembered really? Most people could not even name who Argentina played in the Finals that year. That's how it goes. Bling talks louder than anything. And I went back and watched the goal. It's just a straight run through terrible defending. It's good that he stepped up, but it was certainly nothing extra special.

Maradona would not even be remembered in the same breath as Roberto Baggio had he not cheated for the game winning goal. Messi will be long forgotten to if Argentina does not win and that despite the similarities in his game with Maradona's. That is the nature of the beast.

This post is laughable, maybe (the majority of) americans can't name more than 5 players or know nothing about football history but in footballing nations Maradona certainly would not be forgotten.

The fact you had to "go back and watch that goal" and you thought it was "just a straight run through terrible defending" shows you know sweet f*ck all about football.

Messi will not be long forgotten if he doesn't win the world cup, there are plenty of fantastic players never to have won it.

Baggio better than maradona? I can't believe im even bothering to waste my life responding.

b
I THINK what viper meant was that Messi would be long forgotten if he doesn't win a WC by the majority of Americans that cannot name 5 or more football players

The rest of the world will never forget Messi even if he doesn't win the WC PERIOD

Viper what is your deal against Argentina? You said they were over rated yet they keep winning, are you just trying to prove your point?

-griff

[Doc_Brown]

Did you guys see the French coach's actions after the tournament? Everyone was shaking hands and the South African coach came up and offered his hand only to have Domenech pull his hand back and refuse to shake. With class like that, now wonder the French team is performing so well...

[grifftron]

Did you guys see the French coach's actions after the tournament? Everyone was shaking hands and the South African coach came up and offered his hand only to have Domenech pull his hand back and refuse to shake. With class like that, now wonder the French team is performing so well...

ASS

[Army of GOD]

VIVE LA FRANCE!

[obliterationX]

Did you guys see the French coach's actions after the tournament? Everyone was shaking hands and the South African coach came up and offered his hand only to have Domenech pull his hand back and refuse to shake. With class like that, now wonder the French team is performing so well...

ASS

Apparently is was because the South African coach spoke negatively about the French team concerning their qualification to the World cup (but seriously, who didn't?) - super Raymond carried this grudge over into the last game of his side's World cup.