You know who looks like an alien? That German/Turkish kid, Oezil.
I’d go with Uruguay-Ghana, but just because of the finish, really. That might have been the closest to the edge of my seat I’ve ever been for a non-England match.
Have we had a World Cup final decided on penalties, yet?
IIRC the playoff game is often a very good match. Two god teams on a world stage but with the pressure taken off.
2006’s was.
Well, I hope I’m wrong, but this looks a likely contender for another penalty shoot-out.
That’s a risk on any final.
And yet both teams have good ofense. None is likely to go after a 4 - nil lead or anything, but I do think that at the end both teams will go with all guns blazing until one of the teams tires enough that a goal is unavoidable.
1994 was the first final decided on penalties.
Trouble is, us footy fans are renowned for building up our expectations for the big events, when I reckon most of them are decided by a mistake, as opposed to sustained periods of skill. I’ll be happily surprised if it is half as open as the Uruguay v Germany game.
True. I honestly believe that most f the major international tournaments these days do not produce particularly interesting football. Maybe it is because there are no real whipping boys anymore. Maybe it is because there is just so much money involved that everyone is too scared to be the one that makes the mistake. I’m not sure, but I always seem to feel unfulfilled at the end of every Euro or World championship. They seem to have nothing on domestic leagues and cups, which is why I really feel for those whose only real experience of football comes from those tournaments. They are definitely missing out.
That was a really good game, and both sides did well. Given my unflagging love of Miroslav Klose, I was sorry not to see him play in such a good scoring style game. The announcers here said he has a back injury. Does anyone have more details?
“He was hurt in an aerial duel,” according to a Mannschaft trainer. I actually wondered if he’d injured it doing that flip at the end of the Argentina game; he didn’t look so hot against Spain.
Well you got your wish. Ronaldo still has the record and I have to agree he is more deserving than Klose. Who knows; perhaps Thomas Muller will be challenging the record in World Cup 2018.
Because Portugal 7-0 N Korea was exciting?
Pressure perhaps, money, no. Anyway I feel the exact opposite. Club football is full of mercenaries and dominated by a few big clubs, and is boring as a result. In England, any player who has two good seasons ends up at either Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea or Man City. In Spain the same is true of Real and Barcelona. Most top German players end up with Bayern. In the South American leagues, players are only trying to impress so they can get a move to Europe, where the money is. The talent follows the money, and the smaller clubs never get a chance to build up a squad capable of taking on the richest clubs. If they uncover a gem of a player, a) they wont be able to compete with wage offers from bigger clubs, and b) the player’s agent will be doing all he can to convince him that a transfer to a bigger club is exactly what he needs (as the agent takes a cut of the transfer fee). Sooner or later, they have to let him go.
Contrast that with international football. In international football you are stuck with the country you come from; George Weah could not decide to go and play for Brazil, for example. Who wins in international football is down to who produces the best players, not simply which club is backed by an Arab or Russian tycoon. Every country will periodically produce a good crop of players - Uruguay at the moment, for example. With a population of 3.5 million, Uruguay would be the international equivalent of Preston North End, and if they had to pay their players the same way clubs do, Forlan and Suarez would probably be warming benches for Brazil or Argentina.
There is basically no money in the international game. It’s all about pride. Club football, on the other hand, is all about the money. Pride and loyalty were once a huge part of the club scene, now they are becoming harder and harder to find. Thank God for the international game.
all right, Hup Holland Hup
It sucks that it’s all ending, but on the bright side there’s only two, maybe three, more hours of vuvuzelas and then never again will we have to respect them as “culture”. That can’t happen soon enough.
I think they might catch on world-wide…
It’s all Spain early on. They could have had a couple of goals already.
Nope. I think FIFA will ban them from stadiums after this. It has been reported (and argued here) that the only reason they didn’t do it this time was because of “culture”. Now they’re out of excuses.
Looks to me like they should at least go home with an Oscar.
Brave Sir Robben likes to milk tackles.