OT World Cup Day 7 Open Thread
Day 7 of the World Cup is upon us. Spain/Chile should be the premiere matchup today. We'll see if Spain can bounce back against a very talented and exciting Chilean side.
Here are the matchups for your viewing pleasure today:
Group B
Australia - Netherlands 12pm EDT (ESPN / Univision / Watch ESPN)
Spain - Chile 3pm EDT (ESPN / Univision / Watch ESPN)
Group C
Cameroon - Croatia 6pm EDT (ESPN / Univision / Watch ESPN)
For those who care and are too lazy for maths:
If either of Cameroon or Croatia lose then they're mathematically eliminated.
Both Netherlands and Chile can clinch a Round of 16 spot today. In both cases, they need to win their game and have the other get at least a tie.
Loss and a Dutch win or tie. Spain probably needs to win though no matter what.
Lots of goal differential to make up if they tie Chile and no guarantee Chile doesn't get a result against Netherlands
I can guarantee that Chile will get a result against the Netherlands. I just don't know whether that result will be a win or a loss.
Ah, soccer lingo is strange :)
Never forget the potential for a tie!
Definitely pulling for Chile and the Dutch today.
Mandzukic is a big step up from Jelavic (Everton supporter here). I expect Croatia to roll. I think Pjanic will play better today with Mandzukic back in the lineup.
Way too much talent for Spain to lay another goose egg of a match.You would think so, but you have to wonder about the state of their locker room right now, after getting thrashed.
Netherlands:
Cillessen; Janmaat, De Vrij, Vlaar, Martins Indi, Blind; De Jong, De Guzman, Sneijder; Robben, Van Persie
Australia:
Ryan, Davidson, Cahill, Spiranovic, Leckie, Oar, Jedniak (c), McKay, McGowan, Wilkinson, Bresciano
No changes for the Dutch (and why would there be really). Several for Australia.
Blind to RVP
I forgot that Mandzukic was suspended for the opener. He's back today for Croatia and is a huge step up from Nikica Jelavic
Uruguay Captain Diego Lugano will miss tomorrow's match against England per ESPNFC
Robben picks up where he left off.
Robben and his dodgy flapper put the Dutch up 1-0.
OH SHIT BAR DOWN BABY
Tim Cahill with an incredible volley and the Socceroos are right back into this. 1-1. MLS Represent!
Through two games, Australia is looking much less of a minnow than advertised.
that was one of the best goals you will ever see.
Lots of people said Cahill was washed up when he moved to NYRB from Everton. Wonder what they're saying now.
Australia playing great considering the level of competition - makes me really shake our head at what we did vs Ghana. Dutch are superior to Ghana and Australia is making some serious counterattacks, not just sitting back and taking waves of attack for 75 minutes and immediately turning it over. Still not quite sure how the hell we won that game.
not that Australia will advance but damn that yellow to Cahill kills them v Spain
Cahill misses next game with a silly yellow, his second in two matches. That's awful news for Australia.
They've got Martins Indi immobilized on the stretcher after he landed awkwardly on his neck/shoulder.
PSV's Memphis Depay coming on.
Not a soccer person, but I always wonder why more players don't hit balls on the fly like that. You see so many wait for it to hit the ground and then fart around with touches, and by that time the defense closes on them and it's over -- is that volley just really hard to do? In my limited viewing, it's very rare for someone to do that.
Because it is difficult as hell to volley like that. Even professionals mis-hit that all the time. It is hard enough when it is coming from you sideways. Over the top at that angle he struck it, you may see 3 goals like that in a year. Maybe.
I can imagine it being very difficult to execute that volley (I couldn't do it in a hundred tries, I know that much), and it did have certain things going for it in that it was basically served up on a platter for him and he was in a perfect position to put power behind it and place it where he wanted to. It just surprises me that there aren't "volley specialists" or something along those lines that can execute that more regularly; it was an incredibly efficient move that the defense had no way to respond to, which makes it seem like the ideal form of attack.
Yes, 1 touch is very effective and all these guys can do 1 touch passing/shooting easily. It's how you advance the ball quickly. But this type of volley is a different animal as it was "over the top" - in football terms its like a WR making an over the shoulder catch versus a catch running across the field.
Making that sort of play in practice versus in a game when you are running full speed, with defenders around you, judging a ball in the air that is swerving - whole diff animal. Lots of guys will get a knock on the ball but if you mishit it by 20% it will miss the goal or miss your target. It would be akin to running up to a golf ball full speed and hitting it squarely. He nailed that as well as you can even on a stationary ball.
Because it's really hard to do specially when the ball is coming from behind, you'll see more volleys when the ball comes in your direction, or even from the side, but as hard as it was for Willie Mays to catch that ball over his shoulder, it's harder to kick the ball and kick it good.
Getting really sick of this chicken fat commercial.
2nd best goal of the tournament so far. It's unfortunate that Australia got put in Group B. They are playing pretty well and would get out of almost any other group IMO
What team is Beckham on?
Meh that wasn't funny. Trolling level 2/10
Hand Ball!!!
Though it was unintentional as all hell. A bit of a weak call in my mind but if the rules say that's a hand ball, it is what it is.
Has to be called. In the area and arm away from Janmaat's body. Completely unintentional but effected the play.
I think there's a lot of variance in different soccer cultures over how this should be called. In the EPL they might let that go as ball-to-hand and not hand-to-ball. The announcers didn't like the call; neither did a forum commenter named "Englishref" (among others). Most of the forum agreed with it, though.
In Italy that's a stone penalty--they think it's the defender's responsibility to put his hand where it won't be struck and they call damn near everything even if it's from point blank range. That's a little extreme for me but it's at least your responsibility to tuck your arm against your body and when running it had better be a natural motion and not dangling behind you like this was. You let defenders trail or extend their arms without penalty, they'll take advantage of it and make themselves bigger.
Here comes the upset!
wow - hats off to this Australia team that is playing with such effort aggressiveness and suprising technical ability.
This World Cup is just crazy. Australia converts the PK and lead the Dutch 2-1. Incredible.
I'm guessing we'll see a Huntelaar appearance for The Netherlands