World Cup chat thread

Slattsy

Told ya's !!

Pawwed Rig

No justice in this world. Samaras fell over his own foot

Slattsy

Rather see Greece go through than Ivory Coast. Loved that movie.

Slattsy

Definitely a peno PR !!!!

Pawwed Rig

I think FIFA will want to put the Suarez thing to bed asap. It is dominating the headlines around the world and judging by the last time will continue to do so until the situation is resolved.

Slattsy

Year international ban. They need to be hard on him.

Pawwed Rig

I dunno if FIFA take these things as seriously. If it was PL he would be looking at minimum of 20 games but FIFA tends to be light on these issues. I think the man has a mental issue. A year International ban would be a pretty soft punishment. Would he even miss the Copa America or would it be all friendlies (rest of the world cup aside)?

Slattsy

Actually, a year is pretty lenient now that i think of it. Its only a handful of games.
So maybe 2.

The FA can take no action, thankfully

D'Agger

He should be ordered to seek professional help because, for all the love and admiration I have for his footballing talents, something is not right with Luis Suarez.

What bothers me about the whole situation is people calling him a scumbag, a disgusting person, a disgrace - the guy seems to live the quiet life off the field, and for all intents & purposes, seems to be very much a family man- El Hadj Diouf - now he was a scumbag, he spat at fans during a friendly, he got into fights in clubs etc. - he absolutely had a screw loose. But with Suarez it's harder to take because it seems that he just loses control on the pitch.

Pawwed Rig

Messssiiiiiiiiiiiii lets go!!!

Pawwed Rig

Just saw Capello losing the plot after Russia going out . Not sure what he is on about.
I was flicking between the 2 games. Both seemed dreary enough

Pawwed Rig

It's gotta be Germany tonight!!

Pawwed Rig

Mein Gott in Himmel. Only 30 minutes gone and 5-0

Panthro

Brazil look so far out of their depth here it's unreal.

Pawwed Rig

David Luis €50 million :pac:
They have no central defense. Silva is a huge loss

Jack Skellington

Feel kinda sorry for your man Fred getting booed like that, the whole Brazilian team is terrible.

Pawwed Rig

Jack Skellington wrote: »

Feel kinda sorry for your man Fred getting booed like that, the whole Brazilian team is terrible.

True. he is there to score not defend. The defending was the problem tonight. Check the positioning of the 2 central defenders for each of the goals. Hilarious stuff.

Pawwed Rig

Tonights game can't live upto last night.......... can it?

D'Agger

Was looking on paddypower earlier, I'd throw a sneaky €10 on Holland to win and both to score

Pawwed Rig

Are Brazil the worst team ever to get to a world cup semi final? They were not there on merit imo as they got help off the referees throughout the tournament. Kicking the crap out of the Colombians being a good example.

Pepe LeFrits

Luiz to PSG must surely be the most baffling transfer of all time.

DazMarz

Der Mannschaft deservedly lift their 4th World Cup, following a drought since 1990, and no major honour since 1996.

Alles fur Deutschland. Delighted for them, especially for Mario Gotze. A class act and scorer of a goal that deserves to win a World Cup; he has written his name into history and is a national hero overnight in Germany... all at the age of 22.

Pawwed Rig

Great match. Argentina were admirable finalists but Die Deutshe were worthy winners.

DazMarz

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Great match. Argentina were admirable finalists but Die Deutshe were worthy winners.

Absolutely. The best team in the tournament. The strength they had to call on from the bench was staggering to say the least. Sure, their best players did not individually shine, but they worked as a team, as a unit. And that is how you win a World Cup. Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, etc. all relied too heavily upon one or two stars and that was never going to work. The Netherlands rode luck sometimes and it just ran out at a crucial juncture.

The Germans were most worthy winners and the best team in the World. They have arguably been the best in the world for the last 4 years, but just were never able to get over the line when it counted. But finally, the monkey is off their back. I can see that German team turning into a hugely dominant force in world football, akin to Spain, but with more power and purpose. None of this aimless passing/tika-taka bull. Pure power, precision and skill.

Deutschland Uber Alles!

D'Agger

Great final, great world cup

Two teams organised well, full of players with individual qualities who could play as a unit. Some of the tackling that went in was nuts and the standard of the football was brilliant.

Argentina just weren't as fresh and couldn't hold on sadly. Thought Mascherano & Schweinsteiger gave a display of central midfiled brilliance last night, I've never seen such commitment.

Piliger

My 13th WC on TV. One of the poorest quality. So few exceptional players. Messi grossly over rated. Brazil's cock o' the walk met the fate it deserved. Germany were very lethargic in the final,but conserved their energy brilliantly. Athleticism has now blanketed the game and there is no sign of a true great anywhere.

D'Agger

Piliger wrote: »

My 13th WC on TV. One of the poorest quality. So few exceptional players. Messi grossly over rated. Brazil's cock o' the walk met the fate it deserved. Germany were very lethargic in the final,but conserved their energy brilliantly. Athleticism has now blanketed the game and there is no sign of a true great anywhere.

I strongly disagree with the sentiment that football was better than it is today. Yes there's more athleticism but that's down to the science of exercise, nutrition, psychology etc. all being explored more and being used as tools to help teams win.

In the same way that touch, technique, first time passing have improved. Todays modern game sees goalkeepers & central defenders requiring good control, ability to play out from the back and carry the ball out - this isn't how traditional players in these positions played. Germany reaped their rewards from implementing a youth policy - look up the facilities Borussia Dortmund have for improving touch/passing here

People discuss the lack of greats - Messi is a great - he pulled that Argentina team out of the fire on a number of occasions. James Rodriguez scored 6 goals from 9 shots on target including one of the best goals I've seen against Uruguay, Neymar too was pulling a Brazil team through until injury set him back. The Brazil team is a result of Scolari picking a workman like squad and leaving out players like Coutihno & Willian instead of an ordinary Fred and out of shape & form Hulk. Neuer - I can't remember seeing a better all-round keeper than him - his overall game is outrageous.

I think the competition was very good, I really, really enjoyed it and that's essentially the first time since 1998 that I was as engrossed as I found myself.

What I think has gone backwards, or has slowed in its development is the punditry & coverage. Some of the commentary and punditry has been awful - across numerous broadcasters. From Robbie Savage non stop praising Pirlo, to Dunphy dismissing Brazil due to their players playing in Europe mainly (which was the case when they won previous world cups) - there was no football knowledge to be drawn upon from any of the TV shows and it annoys me when you see the wages these guys are on.

Pawwed Rig

I think it is a case of players benefitting from modern training techniques and 'weaker' nations bridging the gulf in class to the traditionally stronger teams as football has become more popular. The great players do not get the space they once had.
Messi is a great player. Possibly up there with Maradonna and Pele (imo).He can't do it on his own though and I think Argentina suffered for not having an Iniesta type of player to give him a dig out.

Piliger wrote: »

My 13th WC on TV. One of the poorest quality. So few exceptional players.

What would you consider the best? 1990 sticks in my mind for Ireland reasons and I loved the Colombian team that year but I accept that is probably wasn't a great one in general footballing terms. 94 I thought was poor as was 2010 (bloody Vuvazelas)

Pepe LeFrits

I thought 1994 was a brilliant World Cup, final aside.

D'Agger

98 was my favourite due to Ronaldo - I don't think I've ever seen a more graceful, powerful, natural predator for a striker

2010 was awful for a few reasons, namely vuvuzelas & poor pitches