QuoteDjimi Traore has a EC medal. Never forget just how unjust football can be sometimes.Originally Posted by bennocelt
More anger and frustration that passion this time. Owlsfan's straw-man is unacceptable based on what we all saw tonight. 2010's final has nothing to do with tonight. To equate them is farcical.
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
Djimi Traore has a EC medal. Never forget just how unjust football can be sometimes.
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
He got the penalty correct. The free kick for the goal. The linesmen got the offsides correct. The point I was making is that you seem to think that if he started booking people, that would be the end of the fouls. It wouldn't have been as witness by the 2010 Final. Incidentally I have a Dutch friend who thought Howard was a disgrace giving those yellows to the Dutch players. It is clear right from the start of the tournament that the refs were under instructions to reduce the yellows for whatever reason. They are paying the price now. I have never heard a referee's performance described as scandalous before he didn't hand out yellow cards early on. I don't think it changed the result.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
I agree with Bonnie on this. If nothing else, a couple of early yellows - and God knows they were justified; we're talking some blatantly cynical stuff - would have made the Brazilians think twice about continuing. Yes, the Dutch kept at it by swapping foulers, but they paid the price by going down to ten men and losing. Thiago Silva would have been off the pitch for starters.
If that refereeing performance was acceptable, then Brazil's tactics in the game will take over football. That can't be right.
When you think, in the 1970's Brazil had players called Marco Antonio, Socrates, Tostao, Rivelino, Everaldo. PELE, etc
Now they have players called Fred, Bill, Hulk, Bernie and Joe.
It would seem karma may have driven over the prevailing (Brazilian beautiful game bs) dogma
A lot of the Dutch bookings came, obviously, in the last game of the 2010 tournament so several players wouldn't have been too pushed about getting a yellow. However, a booking, or several bookings, at the QF stage could have had a really serious knock-on effect for Brazil - players could have missed the semi or the final itself. Clearly, it has cost them Silva. But an early (deserved) card or two may indeed have had a heavier warning value to Brazil last night than to the Dutch when it was simply a matter of **** or bust.
...Schwanholz, Herisau: a little bit of heaven...
Interesting to compare Holland's successful, aggressive, in your face, bite your legs, style of play against Brazil in 2010, with Brazil's style yesterday. I always thought for that game, the Dutch got it spot on.
I think Brazil won't have an earthly, playing like that against Germany.
Tim Vickery was saying Brazil/Scolari reverted to this 'style, simply because their more expansive game revolving around 'flow', has failed so often in the past.
The pressure on them now to 'perform' is so enormous, they changed their game to one centred around 'moments', based around set-pieces and counter attacks.
Which is how virtually all their goals have been scored...
I want Tim Vickety's job.
I wasn't feeling well yesterday and nodded off during most of last noght's game. I just watched the highlights again and felt that Brazil had done better than I remembered, especially in the first half.
As for their physicality, when I was a kid there was a much hyped visit of Brazil to Wembley live on TV. It must have been around 1978 or 1979. All I knew of Brazil was their reputation for artistic football but at Wembley they did nothing but kick England off the park, or when they weren't in kicking mood, body checking. It was one of the most thuggish performances I've ever seen.
It's okay to kick the English but the Germans won't take life easy if they're to be kicked around.
A Holland Germany final would be interesting.
And what about the frees not given? The justification for his correct decisions to outweigh his incorrect ones is just not right.
2010 is not relevant to last night.
From day one, Brazil have had it easier with refereeing decisions. Some decisions in the Mexico game were off too and the less said of the game v Croatia the better. But that was always gonna be the case. Germany should do 'em...
And I agree with you 100% here.
With luck. Unless they find the Brazilian Matt Holland to get them over the loss of their star player.
On the money.
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
Sabella isn't far behind Maradona when it comes to rotation in this WC.
Higuain finally waking up. He's been pretty quiet up until this game.
Poor game. Poor Belgium side, I suppose a lot of them are a bit young so they might have a better go of it in Russia. Only against the States did they seem like the team a lot of people made them out to be, and even then they couldn't get the ball in the net.
Author of Never Felt Better (History, Film Reviews).
Certain inevitability about the 8 last 16 games and 3 quarter finals games so far. Top teams all won. Would be amazed if Costa Rica buck the trend.
Quarters have been a bit of a let down so far tbh. Early goal in each of them seemed to set them up nicely, but after that, it was one team happy with the 1-0 and not committing much forward, and the other team not really able to make any head-roads. Granted, Messi and Higuain both had bad misses today, so maybe that's a bit harsh on Argentina. But I don't know is this plan of sitting back on 1-0 lead one of football's circular fashions, something that's here to stay or something I've kind of missed the extent of prior to this World Cup.
Over to plucky Costa Rica to rescue things and give us an exciting game. Don't let me down!
I always thought that there was not a lot going on about Wilmots tactics. And yet again it showed. It feels like he is getting by with the players he has. He's seems to not be adding anything as a good manager should.
He gets a lot of praise for making good eubs in the last few games but I wasn't convinced.
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
Belgium totally deserved their place in the WC quarters, could have and should have scored a dozen against the USA, they have been convincing beyond most people's doubt, today a very good Argentina made them look sluggish and primitive. This defeat for Belgium doesn't render useless all what has gone on before for them (regardless of the sneers from the pundits), nor does it bring into play the paul effect, ie, finally the something bad that was always threatening to happen, has finally happened.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks