OT World Cup Day 6 Open Thread
Everyone recovered sufficiently? What a night for the USMNT. Here we go on Day 6:
Group H
Belgium - Algeria 12pm EDT (ESPN / Univision / Watch ESPN)
Group A
Brazil - Mexico 3pm EDT (ESPN / Univision / Watch ESPN)
Group H
Russia - Korea Republic 6pm EDT (ESPN / Univision / Watch ESPN)
but considering that was ochoa's 3rd or 4th best save, it was the game of a lifetime from him.
Ochoa. What a game.
He keeps getting better...and he was incredible in the first half
it's going to take an egregious foul for you to get that call. he could have kept the ball if he hadn't flopped. terrible. shameful
with all this back and forth action
Damn Ochoa made me a sad man today... he was on fire... I don't think any rioting will ensue back home only b/c of how well he played...
There is such a thing as an exciting 0-0 finish.
That's a huge point against Brazil. They're almost surely through to the knockout stage. I expect them to at least draw with Croatia, especially if Ochoa does something like that again.
Oh man, that's gonna be a good game. Assuming Croatia beats Camaroon like I expect, they will be fighting for their life against Mexico. Croatia is good and will have nothing to lose. I don't expect Mexico to at least draw. There is a very real chance they could lose. Should be fun.
Croatia has a ton of talent, for sure. I think this result will do a ton for Mexico's confidence going forward. Should be an outstanding match.
Oh no doubt- he was a damn wall... Brazil could've played Pelé, Neymar, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho (all at their prime, obviously) and I doubt the ball would've gone in today... insane performance by Ochoa
Would it be the end of the world if they made the goal bigger to increase scoring? How popular is the sport really? Does anyone watch games when their favorite team or player isn't playing? I'll watch every bowl game, ncaa tournament game, nba and nfl playoff game. I tried watching soccer over the weekend and found myself just having it on in the background and ended up doing other things because I just don't care and the games aren't entertaining. Penalties also have a huge impact on the game. One penalty can win or lose a game. In the France-Honduras game the french player got hit in the back and another player gets to shoot the penalty kick and that would have been enough to win the game. The player who got hit probably wouldn't have scored anyway since the goalie was right there. What other sport does one penalty play such a big role? I'll bet a good player can score a goal 80% of the time on a penalty kick. Hockey power plays are under 30%. In basketball you only get 2 free throws and football it's only 15 yards for the worst penalties.
Sorry this isn't entertaining enough for you. I'm sure FIFA will strongly consider your opinion on the matter.
Do you think it makes sense to allow any player to kick the penalty? It would be like Shaq getting hacked and Kobe shooting the free throws. It makes no sense.
Scoring has nothing to do with the excitement of soccer. Yes, it's fun to watch a 4-3 game, but, a zero-zero draw (witness the just finishd Brazil-Mexico match) can be awesome too. Tell me, if you like hockey, do you find a 0-0 match exciting? You probably do, because the GK's are standing on their heads. A low-scoring baseball game? Pitchers are kicking ass.
The excitement for me in soccer comes from competent build-ups and attempts on goal - a goal is icing on the cake. A goal for a team I support is like an orgasm, while a goal for the other team is like death.
Not everything in life has to have some definitive score. The attraction of the game is in the gameplay itself. Some people will never get it, and that's fine.
I think it's precisely the fact that goals are so rare that gives soccer it's particular form of excitement.
I'm thinking of those charts that get posted here during football season charting win-probability as it changes during the course of a game. Soccer's the only sport I can think of where even early in the game the events of a single moment can change that number threefold or fourfold. No single touchdown can do that to a football game except in the closing minutes. The same's true for baseball, hockey, even more extremely true for basketball. But a single goal or, worse, a red card even early in a soccer game can flip the thing upside down.
So goals are rare but can easily be scored if there is a penalty (80%). If an inferior team gets a lucky bounce they can score a goal on anyone. Do you think that the outcome of a soccer game indicates which team has the best players and coaches? When you watch a football game you know which team is better. In basketball, baseball, and hockey a team can get hot which is why you should play a series. When I watch a soccer game I honestly don't know if the better team always wins. Brazil is the heavy favorite to win the World Cup and they can't score a goal against Mexico. I'm looking at some indoor soccer league scores and they score 10 to 20 goals a game. I would like to see FIFA experiment with some different rules to increase scoring and decrease the impact of penalties.
The best team in the German Bundesliga won 29 of 34 games, with 2 losses and 3 draws.
The worst team in the league won 6 of 34 games.
That's typical. In Italy Juventus won 33 of 38 with 2 losses. And the same teams with superior resources (Bayern, Juventus, Milan, Real, Barcelona) win championships year after year, with a consistency that's never been matched by any American team except the Yankees back in the days before playoffs.
That's pretty good evidence that they're not just flipping coins and a soccer game is frequently able to separate teams of different class. I suspect the reason you can't tell that that's happening is that you don't know the game well enough to be able to watch it happen.
But mostly I wonder what you'd think of someone that didn't particularly like football, didn't know if the sport was really popular, and had just tried to watch his first few games and was so bored he didn't bother to pay attention, and who then came on the board and told us all that the sport would be so much better if the rules were changed to make it more like the Arena League.
It seems odd that two teams have already played twice before two others (Russia and South Korea) have played once.
Russia and South Korea will have played their second games prior to anyone playing their third, for what it's worth.
They're trying to make the Asian teams' games the last of the day, when possible (except for Iran of course). The noon and 3pm slots are, I think, 1am and 4am in Japan and Korea. That's not good for the tv ratings--at least this way people can watch over breakfast.
That ref's combover is uh.... something.
Best part of the game so far.
That...wasn't the most fun half of the tournoment
Unfortunate goalkeeper.
Reminds me of Hart againste the US 4 years ago.
Robert Green was in goal, not Joe Hart
I was debating that with myself =S oh well... point made
He's been having trouble controlling the ball all game. Seemed a matter of time before it cost him a goal. Although I was really expecting a terrible rebound to result in the goal.
Feel terrible for that keeper. He's going in the gulag.
what a mistake
Facial expression not nearly up to Hagerup level
The Russian team rallied to save their goalkeeper and evened it out.
Definitely seemed like that goal was the kick in the ass they needed to get going. Subs made a big difference as well. Last 20 third of the second half, it was all Russia and South Korea was reeling, putting all 11 guys back deep when Russia was threatening, not even leaving themselves an outlet for a counter.
What a World Cup so far! So many goals, so many story lines, so much beating of Ghana... seriously it's been a very entertaining World Cup.
My Top Five World Cup Moments So Far, if anyone cares. Obviously from my own perspective.
5. Ochoa's goalkeeping vs Brazil. A bit fortunate on some, perhaps, but you could also put it down to astute positioning.
4. Joel Campbell and the Ticos taking down Uruguay. Pura Vida!
3. Van Persie goal vs. Spain. Gorgeous. Also just the general Oranj demolishing of Spain.
2. Dempsey goal. Dazzling footwork
1. Brooks goal and his reaction. He looked like he thought he had left reality behind and couldn't find his footing in a new universe.
Honorable Mention: Pepe reaching Peak Pepe with his head butt.
Anyone else?
...but some favorite moments that haven't even been mentioned here as far as I know:
1. The reaction of the German bench to Pepe's headbutt and red card, laughing and high-fiving. It's a virtue that didn't make markusr2007's list, but it's a virtue so German there isn't even a separate word for it in English.
2. C. Ronaldo taking a free kick and smashing it into the wall. A one-man wall. The smallest one-man wall possible, consisting entirely of the smallest player in the entire tournament, Philip Lahm. I don't know why but I found that hysterically funny. I must have been in that S-word frame of mind yesterday.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one to notice this.
http://eldeforma.com/2014/06/05/herederos-de-charlie-brown-demandan-la-…
Haha, yeah, those unis remind me of that too, eldeforma (The deform which sounds like el reforma or the reform a well established newspaper in México) is kind of like the onion btw.