General World Cup Discussion Thread

[Moonrakers]

I have my own theory about the empty seats :

[bkkjames]

I have my own theory about the empty seats :

That was funny the first time Moon.

[hansum]

Haven't looked at the schedule that closely but I think they are keeping the last match of the game late for European Audiences, perhaps? Lots of empty seats. Can't really give them away cause it would piss off the people who paid top dollar / Euro / Baht.

Its only an hour time difference to the UK from SA or the same time as the rest of Europe so the last game would have always been good for Euro TV, i just dont know why they play the other games so early it'd be better for everyone including all the Americas TV if it were a little later.

Maybe i'll Twatter about it or make a facebook page thats what the kids do these days for change.

[hansum]

Anyway good luck to the Kiwis, i think i may have just come across another football team i want to win!

[tigerfish]

Im in need of a rant about 2 things in this WC.

1 There is empty seats like ive never seen before at a WC, give the tickets to kids, go round factories, give them to these striking workers just do whatever to fill the ground, empty seats are a sign a country shouldnt have got the WC IMO.

2. The gap between the first and second match is 45 minutes or so just enough time to get a bite to eat, make love to ones self etc etc.... , but the gap until the last game is 2 hours 45 minutes which feels like an eternity especially when struggling to stay awake for the bigger games have been on at this time (italy, England, Germany, Brazil, Argentina).

And id agree the games have been crap so far but its usually the same at this stage, its not until the last group games that it gets better.

agree on both counts. the empty seats are apparently due to corporate guests and members of the 'FIFA football family' not sending their usual batch of freeloaders and liggers due to the flight prices being too expensive. so give the dam_n tickets back if you're not going to use them and let the local kids get in for free. shocking.

the gap between the 2nd and 3rd matches is bloody horrible. and it will be emphasised more in the knockout rounds when there are at most 2 matches a day.

spot on StevieH!

screw the corporate guests and members of the "FIFA football family" and all their freeloading mates/buddies.

this is one thing that gets wright under my skin, especially in the u.k. best example would be, the f.a cup final or any england games at wembley. take a look at the ground before kick off and 5 and 10 minutes either side of half-time. all off in their little private boxes drinking champagne and eating prawn sandwiches. its ruining the games for the real fans, because the prices keep getting bumped up to for the loss of revenue they make from having to hand out freebies on the corperate side of things.

it will be interesting to see and hear how many of those vavuzela things are seen and heard when it comes to the final.

[moo9]

Today again mediocre games. Portugal - CIV...less than I expected. Ronaldo not present except for this one shot, Deco aged...the rest?

CIV...I see some fighting spirit but lack of precision, tactics...

NZL-SLK...I would consider this as an average 2nd league game. Lucky end for NZL.

I think I'll skip BRA - North Korea....not much to expect from this as well.

I did not check the statistics on the web, but so far very low goal scoring...hmmm

[bkkjames]

I would like to thank adidass for making this year's world cup the dullest in recent memory.

When the best players in the world can barely put two passes together without that rubber piece of crap bounding away and the goal totals way down compared to recent WC's, something is off big time and I don't think its the players.

Strategy moving forward, copy Blackburn and Bolton.

Oh and if you can, quickly change your score predictions downward!

Zzzzzz

[noel2499rk]

Portugal Ivory Coast has just finished and has set a new low for boredom, utter rubbish, two teams packed full of talent completely terrified of losing. I don't think you can blame the ball, when team comes out looking to attack and win the game, like Germany you get an exciting game but when both teams are happy with a point you get dross like we've just seen. I think the main problem is the negativity of the managers, setting up teams with one up front designed not to lose.

[StevieH]

i thought portugal - ivory coast was quite an interesting game, though both teams clearly set up more out of fear of losing rather than need to win.

that ball is absolutely appalling though, it makes it really hard to put any kind of passing move together. it bobbles along the floor like a two-bob swerver, doesn't seem to have any weight or consistency at all. there's no true 'roll' to it.

think this world cup is going to end up remembered more for mistakes caused by the ball than it is for great, classic goals.

[bkkjames]

i thought portugal - ivory coast was quite an interesting game, though both teams clearly set up more out of fear of losing rather than need to win.

that ball is absolutely appalling though, it makes it really hard to put any kind of passing move together. it bobbles along the floor like a two-bob swerver, doesn't seem to have any weight or consistency at all. there's no true 'roll' to it.

think this world cup is going to end up remembered more for mistakes caused by the ball than it is for great, classic goals.

Finally you are beginning to see the light Stevie: that ball has to be replaced after this round IMO. (wont happen but should)

[StevieH]

i thought portugal - ivory coast was quite an interesting game, though both teams clearly set up more out of fear of losing rather than need to win.

that ball is absolutely appalling though, it makes it really hard to put any kind of passing move together. it bobbles along the floor like a two-bob swerver, doesn't seem to have any weight or consistency at all. there's no true 'roll' to it.

think this world cup is going to end up remembered more for mistakes caused by the ball than it is for great, classic goals.

Finally you are beginning to see the light Stevie: that ball has to be replaced after this round IMO. (wont happen but should)

what you on about lad? i've disliked the ball since day one. and i despise that the ball used at every world cup is decided by marketing people and not by football people.

[tigerfish]

did anyone see the n. korean lad crying his heart out, when the anthems were played last night.

maybe he drew the short straw in the pre-match talk in the dressing room before the game and was told that if they lost to brazil, it would be his wife that would be shot as punishment.

[carmine]

did anyone see the n. korean lad crying his heart out, when the anthems were played last night.

maybe he drew the short straw in the pre-match talk in the dressing room before the game and was told that if they lost to brazil, it would be his wife that would be shot as punishment.

Bonjour, Tigerfish,

The tears were probably induced from the "Dear Leaders" pre match written team talk/threat.

[homeseeker]

Have to say some sunday morning teams on display:

Greece, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand(despite the draw) to name a few.

They are more suited to Wimbledon Common!

What a farce when one consider the teams not in SA such as China, Sweden, Ireland etc

[DP25]

Actually that crying dude is a True Believer. He grew up in and has lived in Japan his whole life and plays for a Japanese team. Went to some high school and then university run by the North Koreans in Japan. Renounced his South Korean citizenship to become North Korean. Dudes crazy.

[StevieH]

Have to say some sunday morning teams on display:

Greece, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand(despite the draw) to name a few.

They are more suited to Wimbledon Common!

What a farce when one consider the teams not in SA such as China, Sweden, Ireland etc

none of those three are noticeably better than denmark, greece or australia really.

[bkkjames]

Have to say some sunday morning teams on display:

Greece, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand(despite the draw) to name a few.

They are more suited to Wimbledon Common!

What a farce when one consider the teams not in SA such as China, Sweden, Ireland etc

none of those three are noticeably better than denmark, greece or australia really.

I wonder if he felt the same when England missed the Euro's?

[StevieH]

Have to say some sunday morning teams on display:

Greece, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand(despite the draw) to name a few.

They are more suited to Wimbledon Common!

What a farce when one consider the teams not in SA such as China, Sweden, Ireland etc

none of those three are noticeably better than denmark, greece or australia really.

I wonder if he felt the same when England missed the Euro's?

interesting 3 to choose really when you could have had russia, ukraine, croatia, belgium, czech republic, norway, bulgaria. . .

[bkkjames]

Have to say some sunday morning teams on display:

Greece, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand(despite the draw) to name a few.

They are more suited to Wimbledon Common!

What a farce when one consider the teams not in SA such as China, Sweden, Ireland etc

none of those three are noticeably better than denmark, greece or australia really.

I wonder if he felt the same when England missed the Euro's?

interesting 3 to choose really when you could have had russia, ukraine, croatia, belgium, czech republic, norway, bulgaria. . .

ETC gives one the right to be vague Stevie.

[noel2499rk]

This ball is actually heavier than other balls it is the altitude that is adversely affecting its flight.

As this article explains in depth

New scientist on football at altitude

The key to this is the reduced density of the atmosphere, which affects how fast the ball moves through the air and also the bend of a spinning ball.

The upshot of this is that players must also acclimatise to the flight of the ball. To get the ball under the bar, they must learn to aim slightly lower than normal, reducing the ball's take-off angle by around half a degree.

Now consider a shot taken from the same spot but this time struck to bend around a wall of defensive players lined up in front of the goal. This is done by applying side spin, which generates a force - called the Magnus force - that causes the ball's trajectory to bend.

At sea level, the shot travels at 20 metres per second, bends around the right-hand end of the wall and comes back round to enter the top left corner of the goal after 1.114 seconds. In Johannesburg, the exact same shot would either fly over the crossbar or hit the wall, as the lower air density reduces both drag and the effect of spin.

The only problem is that it needs to be supremely accurate, since the margin for error on a curling shot is much smaller at altitude.

Now not all the stadiums are at altitude

height of stadiums

Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape town are at sea level which makes acclimatizing to the differences very difficult plus a different ball all leads to the conditions where shooting from range has been affected. I think looking at the Brazilians lasts night, whose shooting was pretty accurate, I think the players will get used to it.

[mrbojangles]

Well, that was a turn up for the books. Well done Switzerland.

[StevieH]

swiss were outstanding. that'll be the hitzfeld factor. so, so organised and every player did their job. first game i've really enjoyed this world cup.

[macanello]

Switzerland was the anti christ of football. The Wolves, Wigan and Hull of English football

THIS IS NOT THE FUTURE OF THE BEAUTIFUL GAME AND WILL NOT ATTRACT ANY NEW SUPPORTERS

[smokie36]

Well, that was a turn up for the books. Well done Switzerland.

Ya just gotta twist the knife doncha?

I'm hanging with the Spaniards though I reckon they are still a bit of class.

[StevieH]

Switzerland was the anti christ of football. The Wolves, Wigan and Hull of English football

THIS IS NOT THE FUTURE OF THE BEAUTIFUL GAME AND WILL NOT ATTRACT ANY NEW SUPPORTERS

rubbish, good defending is still good football. inter just won the european cup using that tactic. football isn't just about goals.

and stop shouting.

[bkkjames]

Switzerland was the anti christ of football. The Wolves, Wigan and Hull of English football

THIS IS NOT THE FUTURE OF THE BEAUTIFUL GAME AND WILL NOT ATTRACT ANY NEW SUPPORTERS

rubbish, good defending is still good football. inter just won the european cup using that tactic. football isn't just about goals.

and stop shouting.

Funny enough I had lunch at one of my regular places yesterday run by a big Swiss Guy named Peter who is a big follower of all things football and said to him so what do you think the score will be and he said 3-0 realistically. Then another guy pipes up you know the Swiss have never beaten Spain.

Now they have.

[CNF55]

Wonderful result for the Swiss - all credit to Hitzfeld. They should be able to follow Spain to the last 16.

[carmine]

Wonderful result for the Swiss - all credit to Hitzfeld. They should be able to follow Spain to the last 16.

Adding to the interest in this group, if the Swiss top their group and Brazil top theirs, won't they meet Spain in the second round of the knockouts?

[rixalex]

swiss were outstanding. that'll be the hitzfeld factor. so, so organised and every player did their job. first game i've really enjoyed this world cup.

First game i haven't fallen asleep!

OK, bit of an exaggeration, but most of the games the passing has been sloppy, the finishing lousey, and the pace so slow.

Lowest number of goals for a World Cup in 80 years.

Hope these supposedly top teams start getting their shit together and start actually playing.

[bkkjames]

swiss were outstanding. that'll be the hitzfeld factor. so, so organised and every player did their job. first game i've really enjoyed this world cup.

First game i haven't fallen asleep!

OK, bit of an exaggeration, but most of the games the passing has been sloppy, the finishing lousey, and the pace so slow.

Lowest number of goals for a World Cup in 80 years.

Hope these supposedly top teams start getting their shit together and start actually playing.

As long as that ball is in play, look for more of the same.