Sorry to all the English posters. Pity you couldn’t go all the way. Isn’t it a bitch when it doesn’t work out.
I’d love to know the air pressure of the balls today. Apart from the occasional boot by Carlos, did anyone control them over distance ?
The goal was a total fluke. No question, IMHO. Ranks alongside the German goal in 1990 (the one that deflected off Parker’s shin, went up in the air about a mile and a half before dropping down behind the 'keeper). Viewed from behind, it just seemed to hang and hang, didn’t turn…and hung…
Seaman looked devastated. Poor bloke.
<Armchair pundit>
Seemed to me the manager got it very wrong after half time and very wrong again once they were down to ten men. Easy to say, though.
</Armchair pundit>
Those new fevernova balls seem rather unpredictable… They also seem to rise a lot faster and dip later than the other balls(whatever they’re called, the usual ones). The goal seemed like a fluke to me too. I think he was trying for a deep cross just beyond the back post.
I don’t understand why FIFA has to introduce new balls for the World Cup. Just repackage the old ones, call them fevernova. Nobody knows, it’s cheaper and better for everyone.
I don’t understand what happened to England after Ronaldinho was sent off. I don’t think they had one decent attack after that. Sven still has a lot of work to do.
-Salil.
Ronaldhino = The Crypt Keeper.
There, I’ve said it.
The balls are supposed to fly farther and be more unpredictable in the air to encourage offense. Not surprisingly, when I was reading about them before the cup, the forwards were all saying it was an amazing ball with great feel. The Keepers were all talking about how awkward and uneven it is.
Bad luck England.
I’m avoiding all Germany/US spoilers as I’m at work and taping the game right now. Hopefully one of the Red/White and Blue teams will advance.
Well, I thought it was a fluke, L_C thought it was a fluke, Juninho thought it was a fluke.
David Seaman mustn’t blame himself. I’m heartbroken for him. The look on his face was pure devastation.
A) That was a shot. Seaman is known for coming up off his line in those situations. Hell of a shot.
b) Playing with “heart” is silly nonsense. That’s the sort of expectation a team like, oh the US 12 years ago, has. A really good soccer team plays with skill and intelligence and adaptibility, so that “heart” becomes something other than futile defense against the inevitable. When all is said and done, England played something like 30 minutes with a man advantage, and other than about five minutes right after the sending off, you wouldn’t have had any idea they had an extra man on the field. This from the country that sports one of the top four professional leagues in the world. And, for my money, they played better in the first half than the second, and they played much better against Denmark and Argentina than they did against Brazil.
C) The red card was inexplicable, and unfortunate. Not just because it was apparently a bad decision (from the replays, we can’t be certain what the referee thought he saw), but because it totally changed the complexion of the game. In some ways, I think it may have hurt England’s chances, because it changed the Brazillian game from one of all out offense, with lapses at the back, to one of possession defense, with a much more organized back line. And there was no warning that the referee thought the match was out of control, that a player needed to be sent off. Very unfortunate for the game.
D) The only question left at this point is: Will it be Brazil v Germany, Spain or (could it be possible, Korea??)?
DSYoungEsq: I couldn’t agree more with you on point ©. Up until that point Brazil had been pressing and England had been counterattacking. Once Ronaldinho went and Brazil shut up shop as, we just ran out of ideas. We’re a far better counter-attacking side than attacking side, so when the other team takes the lead and is content to play a possession game we don’t know what to do. The exact same thing happened against Sweden; we cannot chase games because our tactics seem to be based on exploiting gaps as opponents attack.
Don’t you worry guys…
We got an acoount to settle with Brazil from the first round game!!
Just root for Turkey against Senegal, and we will get your revenge!
[sub]‘tho’ it still sounds like a dream to talk about Turkey settling some account in the World Cup semi-finals, and thus going through to the World Cup Final Game…but still…one just has to imagine…[/sub]
Here’s a good game.
Which member of the English team will be playing on the continent next season?
My bet will be Darius Vassell, and he will be playing in Spain.
David Beckham to Italy or Spain next summer, maybe.
Darius “I step on a field and instantly vanish, what a neat trick!” Vassell?