(Spoilers) South Korea vs Italy

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

Harsh decision on Totti. watched it on tape, and replaying over and over, it seems there was some contact, though I tend to agree with the referee that Totti woulda gone down anyway, probably was on the way regardless. However, his fall wasn’t your typical “dive” fall. Perhaps it was the result of too many times the Italians had tried to snooker the referee, and he made up his mind to deal with it next time he saw it. Gotta agree he was out of position for the call; don’t know if the assisstant had any input or not.

But it’s all mooted, and frankly, I’m glad Italy are out. While not as defensive minded as some other teams that got punished for trying to win 1-0, I think any team that sits on a lead should get sent home. Except the US, of course: we’re inept at it. :wink:

Now I ask you: when Spain lose to Korea Saturday, won’t they have reached the pinnacle of underachievement in the World Cup?? <lol>

42

I started to watch the game last night, but stopped half-way through.

I was TOTALLY DISGUSTED with the booing by the crowd. OK, I know the majority of the spectators were South Korean, and they were there to cheer on their team, but for crying out loud, do you really need to boo the Italian team every friggin’ time they get boot to ball?

I really hope that all the morons in S.Korea were the ones in the crowd, and its not indicative of the behaviour of S.Koreans at large.

43

Tsubaki, if you were to watch the tape of the game, I think you’d find that: a) in general the crowd was too into the three chants they were constantly doing to boo much of anyone consistently, and b) in grand soccer tradition, they were chastising individual Italian players who had recently done something worthy of derision, such as committing a hard foul or “diving” to try to draw a foul. This is a VERY typical soccer tradional crowd reaction, done virtually everywhere soccer is played.

44

Ahn Jung-Hwan used to play for Perugia. At least, he did until this morning. “That gentleman will never set foot in Perugia again,” they said.

45

Pinnacle of professionalism…

Which reminds me of the real reason so many unexpected teams are doing so good, and the usual favorites are losing…

Just look at the player profiles in the highest paying leagues in Europe…

The teams are consisting of players from all over the world, and with the level of scouting in today’s soccer, this trend has reached a point of no return.

Talented players in relatively poor countries, or even countries where soccer is not so much of an industry, will always be scouted, rectruited, trained, and coached to be the stars of modern football in Spain, Italy, England, Germany…

46

…

And in such organizations as the World Cup Finals, these guys will play for their original National Teams…

This is definitely a good thing, in that it leads to much fiercer competition and much more enjoyable football in the World Cup, but I have my doubts whether this was what the leaders of the “Football Industry” had in mind when they started scouting the world for the extra talented young men with little transfer cost!

47

I think you’re absolutely right.

48

Well, like I said, I watched the first half. I agree, there were times when the Italians did something which warranted a boo (like when they threw down two Korean players, which resulted in a PK), and that’s fair enough. And they were doing a lot of cheers for their own team.

But there were too many “Oh the Italians have the ball, the nerve of them! Lets boo them for just having the ball and playing the game” moments for my liking. Maybe I’ve been lucky and seen all clean games, but I haven’t heard that much booing in any of the other games I’ve seen so far in this World Cup (which totals about eight or ten).

49

Tsubaki,

You didn’t witness so much booing, because none of the other teams actually played a home game. (Except Japan, but their fans’ attitude is not like that of the rest of the world!)

This is standard procedure in all of Europe AFAIK, and myself being quite an active member of the Galatasaray SK - Istanbul fan base can say, “You gotta go and see an important game in European soccer live to get a grip of what fan participation means in soccer.”

Unlike the huge audiences in the USA, or major crowds around tennis courts, the soccer fans are not there to have a good time, enjoy spectacular moves and applaud the succesful. THey are there to be the 12th player of their team.

As much as cheering your team is a part of the fans’ “duties”, it is not all of it. Bringing down the morale of the opponent is at least just as important. And you will not only hear "boo"s at the game. There will be some heavy swearing as well.

This is an integral part of the soccer experience.

Oh…I gotta cite one example I remember from 10 years ago:

The time when Galatasaray was playing Manchester United for the Champions League qualification round. The first game in Manchester had ended a 3 - 3 draw, and a tie with a lower score would result in Galatasaray attending the CL, and Man. Utd. being eliminated.

You can guess what the atmosphere in the Ali Sami Yen stadium here in Istanbul was like…

And the unforgettable moment came when the Man. Utd. squad came on the field to inspect the pitch etc… like an hour before the game:

25,000 people started chanting in English!!! (really…it took some hard work to teach them the song, but it was succesful after all)

THe chant was:

Laaaa la la la la la laaaa laaaaa…

Who is Manchester?
Who is Manchester?
Oooooo Manchester, I fuck your sister!!!

:wink:
Go to a game, you will enjoy it!!!

50

‘Crowd participation’, one of our greatest exports…Makes you almost proud to be English…

51

Well, to be honest, crowd participation in Turkey is probably the best (or worst, I guess?) in Europe. Walking into Ali Sami Yen is like walking into hell itself, unless you’re the home team. Yikes.

52

Coldy,

Which team do you support?

53

Ajax Amsterdam (Ole Ole :))

54

Cool:)

  1. In the latest EA Sports Football Manager game I have been playing, I am the manager of Ajax, and we have managed to win 4 league championships in a row, and lost a CL cup in the finals. This season I gotta win the CL or I will be sacked!

  2. If Ajax and GS are in the same group in the CL, I can invite you over here for the game. I am an account manager of the ticketing agency that sells Galatasaray’s tickets - in fact Galatasaray is my major account - so I can arrange your entrance to the stadium in a cool way!

[sub] Though there is a serious possibility that our CL games will be played at the Olympic Stadium that is about to be finished. 82,000 capacity but nowhere like the atmosphere in the 22,000-seat Ali Sami Yen. [/sub]

55

Hey, sounds like an excellent plan. I loved Istanbul the last time I was there. Let’s hope for a favourable draw. :slight_smile:

56

I might also add that crowds will often deride teams that play defensively, especially if they repeatedly pass the ball backwards from midfield all the way to the 'keeper, a tactic the Italians were using on occaision in the game with Korea. This sort of derision can often be levelled at the home team if the crowd is displeased with their unwillingness to play attacking soccer.

57

Last season, someone ran out onto the pitch at Everton in order to berate a player and offer to take his place in the match. What was the player’s name - I don’t think he’s made an appearance since.

58

Alex Nyarko, Ghanian international. I think he was shipped out on loan after that.

Boos are directed at home teams, or individual players for playing shite too. Happened all the time at Hillsborough last season. That is truly stupid, IMO (even though some of the players deserved it).

-Salil.

59

I read yesterday that Nyarko is off to AS Monaco on loan, with the French club having an option to buy him for £3m in January 2003. Everton might not lose out on his unusual behaviour that much after all.

60

Nyarko off to PSG Monaco was where he was loaned out to last season.

Really strange series of events though. I think he refused to play for Everton after the incident, saying he was too scared or something.