Haven’t used the ball, but by the looks of it, it seems to lift quite a bit; which would explain the myriad of off target shots we’ve seen. OTOH, I think you’re right about the “erratic movement,” or rather the lack of. Because from what we’ve seen so far, the main critics of the ball (namely goalies) have been, for the most part, excellent. A certain Mr Green excluded of course – but he can hardly blame his howler on the ball.
Not sure why I woke up for this one – well yeah, I do, it’s the WC – but that was one dull first half. England and the US, on paper, shouldn’t have much trouble dropping them. Of course a win by either side today might make things a bit more interesting than the US and England might want.
A practice also adopted by the EC starting in 1984. Domestic leagues tend to keep the same ball for longer spans, although they do change the external look (graphics).
The whining is par for the course as it magically disappears by the end of the first round.
Agree. This is probably the strongest England team for some time, but I’m not convinced it adds up to being truely world-class. Spain throughly outplayed us in a friendly last year, and they are the benchmark at the moment. Gerrard and Rooney and Cole are our best players, but Rooney can get shut out of games, and his temprament is still suspect. Lampard doesn’t consistantly reproduce his club form for England. Heskey gives good support, but is a really poor finisher. The wingers lack a bit of quality, and waste too many chances, although Lennon was pretty good yesterday. Johnson is great going forward, he scored an amazing goal against Mexico, but his defensive mistakes this season have almost been in the Rob Green class.
Slovenia have just got a goal, was really hoping that one would end 0-0. Not good news for England or USA.
Well, it’s not just Messi, they have plenty of good attacking players. They could have had 4 or 5 if the Nigerian goalie hadn’t had a great game. But yes, their defence looks very ropey.
The ITV commentator was asleep there - I can’t believe he missed the Serbian handball. It was the most blatant penalty I’ve ever seen but he seemed to think it had gone out for a goal kick.
It amazes me how easily the officials are hoodwinked. We saw it again just now - the very moment 90 minutes was up, Ghana, who were in the lead, made a change. But the ref still ended the game after 93 minutes, and that included the seemingly statutory period in which he waited for the ball to go dead. It should have been at least 93:30. Bah. Bring back Clive Thomas, unfairly pilloried for calling time when the clock said time was up.
Yup. This is the worst possible result from a US perspective. They’ll probably play for a draw against the US, and I could see the standings after two games being England and Slovenia on 4 and the US on two.
Hell, if the US loses, it’s pretty much tournament over.
Or an assist if he’d realized that he was in a three on one break. But congratulations to Ghana! There’s a fan base that knows how to celebrate, I tell ya what.
And a big ‘thanks for the sour persimmons, cousin’ to the Algerian side. What were you doing, Chaouchi, setting up a spike? :smack:
By the way, do any real football fans want to comment on whether the sending-off was justified? I’m just a rank amateur, but it seemed to me that a yellow for that hold was overly harsh.