Thread: The Official World Cup 2010 Thread

Distinctly underwhelmed by the quality of the football so far.

Originally Posted by Deadmarsh28

I think the ball is a big issue. It bounces like crazy (noticed that in the Argentina game) and apparently doesn't behave very well once airborne.

Tim Howard, Kahne of RSA, and the Nigerian goalie didn't seem to have ANY problems making good saves. I blame poor goaltending. Blaming the ball sounds like such a cop out.

That Algerian goalie? That was a HORRIBLE attempt at a save. You don't dive superman style to try and make a block, and reacted about 30 seconds too late. But yea, totally the balls fault.

England, France and some of the other teams need to take note of that.

Germany attacked through the middle, on the flanks, their player movement was fluid, the passing crisp and almost telepathic and the coach got his tactics spot on. The other thing is when they got the ball in the attacking phase there were at least 2-4 players in the box.

France and England were so static and rigid with their player roles and often when a cross came in their was just one player in the box.

Early days yet but Germany looked good today.

Germany 4 v Australia 0

Analysis: Absolutely the most dominant game and form of the tournament thus far. Germany looked unstoppable. The touches were superb, the finishing, the build up, it was a display of dominance. Australia is not a bad team either. They certainly got outmatched in this one. They played dumb football, and looked tired. Germany got big goals from their big players, Podolski, Kluse, Muller. They were the first team I have seen this tournament REALLY use the wings, and use the width of the field. They just found an amazing amount of space with diagonal runs and great through balls. Germany has looked the best of any team so far. Australia played incredibly dumb. They were down, and they started fouling, and taking cards. Cahill got a red, and is done for the tourney. One of their key players. They got yellows after being down 3-0 and 4-0 for things like yelling at the refs. They will be shorthanded against Serbia and Ghana.

Final Verdict: Germany is the best so far. Scary stuff. Look for them to breeze this group and make a solid push into the next round. They are young, exciting and talented. What they will do against a better opponent is up for debate. But that was a clinic today. Australia, sorry, but your done. You are going to be shorthanded against a speedy Ghana team, you are too old to keep up with the 3rd youngest team int he tourney, so how do you think you will fair against Ghana? The youngest team? The shot themselves in the foot with cards. Cahill is done, they have two defenders with Yellow, who in my guess will be taking lots of fouls against Ghana because they get beat. So expect them to be short agains Serbia also. Well deserved spanking by the superb Germans.

Man of the Match: Lukas Padolski, M Germany. A dominant figure in the middle. Controlled play, set up Kloses goal, had a number of unfinished crosses and plays, and buried an absolute missile for the first goal of the match. Top quality form from the German star.

Originally Posted by Crazy_Ivan

England, France and some of the other teams need to take note of that.

Germany attacked through the middle, on the flanks, their player movement was fluid, the passing crisp and almost telepathic and the coach got his tactics spot on. The other thing is when they got the ball in the attacking phase there were at least 2-4 players in the box.

France and England were so static and rigid with their player roles and often when a cross came in their was just one player in the box.

Early days yet but Germany looked good today.

Their use of the wings and spreading the field was the best I have seen. Top quality stuff. True true, England and France clustered the middle and had everyone piling on Rooney. Spread the field, spread the D, open up your strikers. Seems like Soccer tactics 101, but the only ones to execute it so far is Germany. Against a pretty quality defensive team too. They gave up only 4 goals in all of qualifying.

Nothing to add...nice game.

Originally Posted by Jaygokings!

Tim Howard, Kahne of RSA, and the Nigerian goalie didn't seem to have ANY problems making good saves. I blame poor goaltending. Blaming the ball sounds like such a cop out.

That Algerian goalie? That was a HORRIBLE attempt at a save. You don't dive superman style to try and make a block, and reacted about 30 seconds too late. But yea, totally the balls fault.

I didn't say that. I said that, especially after long passes, the ball is bouncing unusually high. Also some goalkeepers did complain (you could argue that they always do ) that the ball is behaving unpredictably in the air. They also said that during the 06 world cups, and it could be one reason why we saw so many long distance goals.

But, so far, I haven't seen a goal where the ball could have been an issue...so it's indeed bad goaltending.

One of the Aussie coaches should have been told to hit the showers as well for giving the forearm jerk after the 2nd goal. The refs had nothing to do with the Aussies getting their asses kicked, sure didn't play very classy either.

I think that ball has been the goalies best friend. I can-not recall a single free-kick on target, the longer range shots are flying way over or way wide.

van der vaart is pissing me OFF. stay on your side, stay out of sneijder's way and stop making poor OLD MAN van bronckhorst run that entire left side solo. UGH!!!!!!



Go figure, van der Vaart gets pulled, and the team gets new life. He should just stick to bangin' his hot wife and keep his selfish ass off the pitch!