OT: World Cup Saturday

Submitted by MAgoBLUE on

I haven't been able to watch any of the weekday games because of work.  Today should be good.  I'm rooting for Argentina and Paraguay

M.I.Sicks

July 3rd, 2010 at 10:32 AM ^

I'd love to hear Ray Hudson doing the color for this game. He usually creams his pants for Argentina. He'd be bitching up a storm right now.

SCS100

July 3rd, 2010 at 11:31 AM ^

Great play on the ground by Mueller, beautiful pass by Podolski, nice finish by Klose.

EDIT: 3-0, Friedrich with the goal. Congrats on his first international goal.

JimBobTressel-0

July 3rd, 2010 at 11:31 AM ^

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLL

The Original Seth

July 3rd, 2010 at 11:36 AM ^

Well, we're looking at another ten year run of filthy-good German teams, it seems. Besides Poldi, Schweinsteiger, and Klose -- whom it seems Müller and Özil won't have any trouble replacing -- this entire team's basically coming back for the next eight years.

PurpleStuff

July 3rd, 2010 at 12:08 PM ^

Podolski and Schweinsteiger are both only 25, so it isn't like they need replacing anytime too soon.  Incredible how much really young talent they have.  Considering they've finished 2nd, 3rd, and now at least in the top 4 over the last three World Cups while also playing in the Euro 2008 final, we could be looking at an amazing run over a 15-20 year period.

thethirdcoast

July 3rd, 2010 at 12:26 PM ^

....other teams are already evaluating the strengths in the German football system, particularly their developmental system. By comparison it seems as though the English youth development system has declined precipitously since the days of Beckham and his peers.

I think part of this is due to the debt-backed illusion of wealth held by most top EPL teams. Why go to the time and effort of organizing a top youth system when your pockets are deep enough to just go buy top talent developed elsewhere on the world market? I think we are seeing the negative outcome of this trend manifest itself in England's performance at this WC.

PurpleStuff

July 3rd, 2010 at 1:28 PM ^

England are as good as they've always been.  In the last forty years they've made the semi-finals of a major tournament twice (with one of those coming at Euro 1996 in England).  In that time they've failed to qualify for the European Championships 4 times out of 10 (including as recently as 2008).  They've also missed out on 3 of the last 11 World Cups.  They have been about as likely to not qualify as they have been to make even the quarterfinals (they've finished in the top-eight 8 times).  In the same time span, the Germans have made the semi-finals of a major tournament 14 times, making the finals 11 times and winning 5 times.

I think this current England side has been woefully mismanaged, but to act like the EPL and its big influx of cash is ruining English football ignores the actual record the English have had for quite some time.

UPDATE: Here is the list of countries that have done as much or more than England at major tournaments in terms of making it past the quarterfinals over the last 40 years:

Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France, Netherlands, Uruguay, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Czechoslovakia (twice unifed and twice more as Czech Republic), Yugoslavia (once unified and once more for Croatia), Denmark, Turkey, Soviet Union (twice as USSR and once as Russia), Poland, and you could make a case for Greece who only made it past the quarterfinals once but did win Euro 2004 when they did so. 

TheLastHarbaugh

July 3rd, 2010 at 1:32 PM ^

I just had a discussion yesterday about how the USMNT could surpass than England in the next 10 years. I was called crazy, foolsih, etc.. but I think England is overrated (what an original opinion!) and that if the US continues on their upward trajectory and find an elite forward or two, we're on par with England.

PurpleStuff

July 3rd, 2010 at 1:46 PM ^

We've equalled their performance at two of the last three World Cups (quarterfinals in 2002 and Round of 16 this year) and just drew in our only competitive match in recent years while we won the group we shared with them.  We aren't among the world's elite yet, but neither are England, and while they are fielding an aging team we certainly appear to be on the rise.

Plegerize

July 3rd, 2010 at 11:38 AM ^

Germany is the only team I have left to root for so I am satisfied with their game against Argentina despite really wanting to see Argentina go far as well. How can you root against Maradona and Messi?

Plegerize

July 3rd, 2010 at 11:50 AM ^

Yeah it's amazing the first round of elimination it was all about the Euros falling and now in these quarterfinals it's all about the South Americans struggling.

The "Guays" are the only hope now for South America. If Spain wins then there are three European teams in and only one South American.

M.I.Sicks

July 3rd, 2010 at 12:09 PM ^

Not saying Messi or Rooney are bad players. They obviously are excellent players for their club teams. But if a player wants to carry around the tag "best player in the world " then he needs to do it on this stage as well.

grand river fi…

July 3rd, 2010 at 2:10 PM ^

There are plenty of great players who don't score goals.  A good pass that results in a goal is just a good.  On top of that, there are plenty of the worlds best players who don't get to play in a world cup, or play for smaller countries.  Also, grouping Messi and Rooney together as disappointing in this tournament is absurd.  Where Rooney was awful and couldn't make a 5 yard pass Messi was fantastic and set up the majority of his teams goals and was a threat in every game.  Messi had a great world cup despite not scoring, Rooney was simply awful.

SouthernWolverineFan

July 3rd, 2010 at 12:06 PM ^

that he didnt score a goal. i watched their group stage games, and he played like one of the best players in the world. the title "best player" in the world is subjective and temporary. he had a lot of shots on goal, but not really many good scoring chances. longer-type shots. i think the asset that puts him the small group of "best players" in the world, is his foot work; the dribbling ability to break down defenses and set up scoring chances for his teammates. his passing is phenomenal, the touch he gets on the ball to fit it into gaps is fun to watch. most top players can finish a play, but the ability to set up that play takes more talent in most circumstances. i remember watching his as a sub in last world cup and was looking forward to his play in this world cup. its disappointing that he didnt score a goal, but i never felt disappointed while watching him.

thethirdcoast

July 3rd, 2010 at 12:10 PM ^

...Messi was a huge part of Barcelona's Sextuple winning season in 2008-09:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sextuple#The_Sextuple

One other item that baffled me was the tactical decision to put Messi in midfield. I think he would have been able to finish at least one, possibly two of his chances if he had been playing up front with Tevez. I believe Maradona is going to get an earful about this positioning from the Argentinian press.

SouthernWolverineFan

July 3rd, 2010 at 11:56 AM ^

i was pulling for argentina, and am disappointed in their effort today. they never looked like they were in the game as a team; disoriented- not marking, porous defense, mental lethargy in general. the header at 3' set the tone. germany played a great game with stout defense, touch possession, good runs and brilliant plays, but as important was that looked like a team. i mean who doesn't love to watch messi dance around the pitch with the ball glued to his foot? but i also love to watch teams like germany and the netherlands who play possesion, tactics and as a team.

the only silver lining for me was watching maradona's ego and in his $3k melt into reality as germany scored goals 2,3 and 4. he was an incredibly special player in his day, but his arrogance is annoying. to use a german term and mgoblog fav...it feels like schadenfreude.