OT--World Cup Quarterfinal Open Thread
For those stuck at work, watching on the ESPN 3 feed, talk away on the World Cup.
I am working this morning, closing shop early and catching it on DVR. I'll be two hours behind most of the day. I drafted a bunch of e-firends to do roundtable discussion, quarterfinal version at the JCB.
Enjoy the games.......and Happy Fourth Of July Weekend. USA #1 Vote Stanzi/Lehman
The dutch made a great adjustment at half to be more aggressive instead of just sitting back and hoping on a 2-3 man counter-attack. It also helped that Brazil started ball watching on defense instead of marking well.
I agree. I also think Robben slowly wore down Brazil's left. All those free kicks and Bastos (who's not a right back) looking increasingly nervy playing on a yellow card, and then finally the Melo red card. His constant pestering drove Brazil crazy.
Van Bommel was a maniac in that game too, he was really aggressive in the second half, and got a kick in every time Brazil crossed midfield.
I agree as well, it was driving me absolutely crazy that the Dutch midfielders would just sit back and watch their strikers try to take on the Brazilian defense 2-on-7. Robben would realize he didn't have a good shot, so he'd wait for help or try and open up a shot for himself and the only players arriving to the play were more Brazilians.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
That is my technical analysis for the day.
HUP HOLLAND.
Now the bandwagon Brazil fans can go cry in their caiparinhas.
Fuck Ghana!
No sir, fuck you.
But seriously, Ghana is fun to watch (and they have a heavy home crowd)
You have to like a team that shows up to the quarterfinals dressed like that dance troupe in "Coming to America." Big improvement over the home whites.
That being said, Forlan and Suarez look like they could win this one 4-0 if things don't change soon.
Oh yeah, if they hadn't been the ones to beat the US (again), they'd be a great choice to root for the rest of this Cup. But between the US loss and liking Forlan/Suarez combo in pool play, I'm definitely against Ghana today.
one more player exhaling or frowning or shouting or doing something unexciting on slo-mo....
And the momentum has switched.
This is a fantastic game, Ghana's midfield is beginning to tick but Suarez, Forlan and Cavani look very threatening.
Uruguay forced to make a substitution at the back. With Ghana pressing hard like this it may prove large.
Ghana, complaining about diving? oh, the hypocrisy
Yikes, he had some major ups, but man was that a fall. It hurts just watching. Uruguay is falling like flies.
Wow!
GOL GHANA! Man, way deep. Quarter of the field length.
wow, unbelievable strike from Muntari.
WHOA
Forlan with another great free kick ties it up.
Gol! Forlan!
the Jabulani giveth and the Jabulani taketh away
Kingson completely lost on the goal and now gives up a corner being too casual.
Wow, Forlan's cross to Suarez that went off the side, wow. Just wow.
does anyone else think that manny harris' doppelganger is asamoah gyan?
The guy on Univision just said (in English, mind you), "It's crazy time!"
I don't know why they said it, but I agree. I figure it must be important since the only time they break out the Ingles is to call David Beckham "Spice Boy" whenever the camera showed him on the England bench.
Somebody start a campfire for Ghana they're cold.
It's winter down there, you know
We have WINTER in Michigan, what they have in South Africa right now is called " a little chilly outside."
Just watching Gyan, I believe Jozy Altidore could develop into a strong forward like him.
WOW!!!!!!
Gyan tried to kill the ball there. What was he thinking?
"and that happened."
Best call to describe that. Best thing Suarez could have done there. He's a hero for that handball.
I just lost my fucking voice. What a fucking final 10 seconds. Holy fuck. I can't believe that just happened.
Wow, what a way to end extra time.
HOLY CRAP, how did GYAN miss that!?!?
It's unbelievable, if Ghana loses this game Gyan might want to stay away from Ghana for a little while.
and that is how you silence the vuvuzuelas
yes!!! Uruguay missed one!
COMPLETE CHOKE JOB by Ghana
Ghana definitely crapped the bed on that one. They rushed their penalties (even the first one that would have ended the game) and seemed to be paying no attention to the keeper, just hammering the ball. Mensah's was a complete disaster.
Contrast that with the last guy from Uruguay who just strolls up like a G and lobs it into the open net after the keeper falls down.
The ESPN science deal regarding PKs explains a lot of it. If a player kicks the ball at full speed, knowing exactly where he's going, the goalie doesn't have time to wait for him to make his move. He has to dive right before the kick. Unfortunately, Kingson played them all like fastballs. He was burned at least twice diving too early.
Great play by the keeper from Uruguay. He played every one of the balls as well as he could. Just missed the fastballs to the corner, corralled all the ones that were off speed or not on the corner.
Kingson really whiffed 4 out of 5 times (one of those being the one the guy pitching wedged over the bar) and only got beaten by a great shot once. The Uruguayans gave themselves time and were patient approaching the ball, giving them the chance to just slip the ball into the net. Mensah started two steps from the ball, giving the keeper zero confusion about when the ball would be struck (the second tool in the PK taker's arsenal after 'where'). Most of the others attacked the ball at full speed and seemed to give no thought to fooling the keeper (as the Uruguayans were able to do easily) but rather tried to power it past him. That is a recipe for missing 3 out of 5 penalty attempts and to me showed a wide gap in class between the two sides.
One thing I hate about tournament soccer is penalty kicks. I just think it's a stupid way to decide big games like this. Every team has 20 position players and they should get up to 5 subs in extra time and just play until somebody scores a golden goal.
I agree with your hatred for penalty kicks. It's too bad that FIFA is way to cash focused to ever go to a replay system to settle ties, I wouldn't mind the scheduling confusion at all if it'd avoid more penalty lotteries.
Another option is to just continue playing extra time until someone wins. Obviously, this would require liberalization of the substitution rules (at least in extra time) - but I don't see any problem with that. It's silly that teams carry 23 players when they can only play 14.
I'm sorry, but Gyan got a flying kick to the ribs on that last play, and Suarez intentionally spiked the ball out of the net. Uruguay may have won, but they did it in a way that took a gigantic steaming dump on the chest of fair-play and sportsmanship. I hope the Netherlands snaps all their femurs.
They assuredly will....Wesley Sneijder is the best kept fucking secret in football.