OT: Saturday World Cup Open Thread
Knockout Round kicks off today. No more of that group nonsense, win or go home at this point.
All South American battles today. Winners will meet in the quarterfinals on July 4th.
12:00 PM EDT - Brazil vs. Chile (ABC)
4:00 PM EDT - Colombia vs. Uruguay (ABC)
Well that was exciting. Still dumb.
It is exciting in a strange sort of way.
It's like watching two different games played back to back, but by the same team.
Hockey followed immediately by Darts, played by the Red Wings.
They move on but don't impress
I don't know how you can say this. They maybe didn't look dominating but they were definitely impressive. Chile is a very good team who was playing very well in the tournament and brazil had twice as many shots, 3 times as many shots on goal and the possession was fairly close.
I'd liken this game to our game against Kentucky in the Elite 8, both teams played very well and a fluke shot ended it for one team while the other advanced. Both teams played well and it could be argued that either one deserved the victory.
Inches
If this Brazil team wins this World Cup, it will be worse than Chelsea winning the Champions League or Greece winning the Euro tourney. They will be eliminated at some point--such a lucky team.
Brazil just beat one of the 5 best teams remaining in the tournament. Chile has been impressive.
Sad for Chile. They deserve better.
Hope to say the same thing about Belgium and then Argentina.
I'll admit that I had Chile as pre-tourney dark horses. But without Vidal, they are not a top five team. Colombia, Netherlands, Germany, Argentina, and France are remaining teams who are better than today's Chile team. If Brazil manages to win the World Cup, congrats to them. They just haven't looked convincing since the tournament kicked off.
When Fox Soccer decided to use Gus Johnson as their main commentator, I switched to online streaming. He makes Twellman and Lalas look like erudite analysts. Why ESPN can't find an intelligent, former pro is bewildering--they exist.
I enjoy ESPN's coverage.
There are soe good analysts on ESPN radio. Been listening during some games - Tommy whats his name "onion in the basket" plus his play by play man are honest and fun to listen to as they poke fun at each other. When a game is bad they will say it - dont hear that as much on TV.
I don't understand how ESPN keeps allowing themselves to be outbid for all this soccer coverage. Lost the EPL and Champions League and now the World Cup. It took ESPN forever to figure out how to cover soccer in a way that didn't make fans want to jam knives in their ears (with the exception of forcing Lalas and Twellman on us for US games) and they just lost the contracts after all that.
Premier League contract was small, with only about 30 broadcasts. Fox Soccer was paying substantially more to broadcast 3 to 4 times as many games.
NBC then bid 3 times higher than FOX soccer to broadcast all the games. ESPN couldn't fit that into their busy schedule with their college football and NBA commitments anyway.
NBC has the best coverage of soccer out of all the three. They actually combine tactics with narrative, and don't rely on beating you to death with cliches and intangibles. I admit bias because of Lee Dixon's Arsenal connection.
What becomes of Ian Darke?
I'd listen to him cover NASCAR.
his contract is up at ESPN after this World Cup, or maybe the MLS season.
He's excellent, but I miss him doing English games.
I hope Brazil keeps going. There I said it.
Me too. Can't have a good party if the host leaves too early.
Ospina, Zapata, Yepes (c), Sanchez, Armero, Aguilar, Teo, James, Cuadrado, Zuniga, Jackson Martinez
Uruguay:
Muslera, Godin (c), Alvaro Pereira, Rodriguez, Forlan, Gimenez, Maxi Pereira, Arevalo Rios, Gonzalez, Cavani, Caceres
DIEGO! Here we go!!
I expect most of the teams who rely on high-pressing tactics to be eliminated if they don't score first. Trying to chase a game against a highly structured team will be difficult with the number of games played in these conditions. Brazil's sloppy play allowed Chile to get back into the game, and Chile arguably should have won. However, their high-tempo style and lack of depth clearly left them exhausted during extra time. Greece will have a good chance of beating Costa Rica. The offsides trap doesn't work against teams who park the bus and absorb pressure to hit you on the counter.
would be a better way to settle a draw. Make the defense clear the ball to the center line. Remove 1 player after each round until you get a result.
At least it keeps a little more of the element of the game in play. It could take a while though since each team would need to get a chance.
It's mainly Neymar and when he is quiet Hulk who carry the team, if you can stop those two then you can take Brazil down. Maybe they are better and I haven't seen enough or what. For the hype they get they I really don't see the big deal.
Twice?
Less than an inch is clearly an exaggeration, but referring to the strike off the crossbar in extra time and the PK off the post. Of course, Brazil had multiple opportunities in the first half (despite the extremely sluggish and sloppy 2nd) and could easily have scored 3 goals. Regardless, they're lucky to be alive.
It may really have been only an inch. A little bit lower and the ball deflects into the goal.
The PK would have tied it.
For the players they have, they really should be doing better. Oscar, Fernandhino, Luis Gustavo, Hulk, and Dani Alves are all good to very good players. They have two top center backs, and arguably the best defender (Thiago Silva) in the world. They just haven't played with any fluidity or consistency during this tournament--a team of talented individuals playing average soccer.
Brazil has no defense and no discipline. They would have to go up by two early goals to hope and get Germany out of their game.
I think the US does
Uruguay is going to run wild in this next one. Forlan will score 2. Let's go!
Forlan 2009 yes.
Forlan 2014 no. He is old. But still awesome hair.