That There World Cup of Winning Football.

[macdoc]

good game

[klr]

good game

Indeed. With the USA, you are usually guaranteed at the very least an interesting game. There are some "established" football countries you can't say that about.

The quarter-final line-up, filched from the Beeb:

Brazil v Colombia, Friday 4 July 21:00 BST

France v Germany, Friday July 4 17:00 BST

Netherlands v Costa Rica, Saturday 5 July 21:00 BST

Argentina v Belgium, Saturday 5 July 17:00 BST

BST = British Summer Time

There's not much history to the Netherlands v. Costa Rica, but all the other games have history a plenty.

Especially France v. Germany. The Napoleonic wars, The Franco-Prussian war, World War I, World War II ... oh yes, and the 1982 and 1986 World Cup semi-finals. I think the Germans are leading 4-2 ...

[HomerJay]

Belgium had 39 shots! Even the USA had 17!

Seriously crap defending, tempered only by seriously shit shooting.

Against England, Uruguay only managed 8.

[klr]

Belgium had 39 shots! Even the USA had 17!

Seriously crap defending, tempered only by seriously shit shooting.

Against England, Uruguay only managed 8.

Yes, but which was the more entertaining game? For the neutral at least.

And the Beeb says Tim Howard made 15 saves. The last time a keeper made that many saves in finals game was, oh, Packie Bonner for Ireland v. England in 1988. I remember that very well. I bet Gary Lineker does too.

[HomerJay]

Belgium had 39 shots! Even the USA had 17!

Seriously crap defending, tempered only by seriously shit shooting.

Against England, Uruguay only managed 8.

Yes, but which was the more entertaining game? For the neutral at least.

Seeing Suarez score those brilliant goals isn't entertaining?

It's like saying Doncaster v Scunthorpe is entertaining because they attack more, even though the efforts are painful to watch.

[Babel]

Belgium had 39 shots! Even the USA had 17!

Seriously crap defending, tempered only by seriously shit shooting.

Against England, Uruguay only managed 8.

Yes, but which was the more entertaining game? For the neutral at least.

Seeing Suarez score those brilliant goals isn't entertaining?

It's like saying Doncaster v Scunthorpe is entertaining because they attack more, even though the efforts are painful to watch.

Are you saying that last night the game was painful to watch?

If that's so, I might suggest that you are part of a very small minority. It was the most open 1/8 finals on this championship which gave us some entertaining football. As both teams weren't turtling, the defense could indeed have been better as players can't be contributing to the attack AND defending at all times.
On the other hand, you could say that in the other 1/8 finals the equilibrium was not there either, but it was the attacking that was lacking.

edit: I didn't see the Columbia game, so I'll have to exclude that one from my statement that this was the most open game of all.

[SteveB]

I won $5. Yay, Belgians!

Can't even buy waffles with my winnings.

[JimC]

Clearly, the Europe/South America axis is the defining feature of modern soccer...

[SteveB]

South American team will win. Has a European team ever won in SA and a SA team won in Europe in the world cup?

When it was hosted in South Africa, a European team won and in Korea/Japan, a SA team won.

[klr]

Clearly, the Europe/South America axis is the defining feature of modern soccer...

Actually, it's been that way ever since the World Cup started in 1930. It's the rarest of rare things for an Asian/African/North or Central American country to even reach the semi-finals.

South American team will win. Has a European team ever won in SA and a SA team won in Europe in the world cup?

When it was hosted in South Africa, a European team won and in Korea/Japan, a SA team won.

No and Yes, respectively:

Spain in South Africa 2010 were the first European side to win in a finals staged outside Europe.

Brazil won it's first World Cup in Sweden in 1958. Brazil also won in Mexico (1970), the USA (1994) and Japan/South Korea (2002). The only time Brazil won in South America was in Chile in 1962. Argentina also won in Mexico in 1986.

[klr]

Belgium had 39 shots! Even the USA had 17!

Seriously crap defending, tempered only by seriously shit shooting.

Against England, Uruguay only managed 8.

Yes, but which was the more entertaining game? For the neutral at least.

Seeing Suarez score those brilliant goals isn't entertaining?

It's like saying Doncaster v Scunthorpe is entertaining because they attack more, even though the efforts are painful to watch.

Are you saying that last night the game was painful to watch?

If that's so, I might suggest that you are part of a very small minority. It was the most open 1/8 finals on this championship which gave us some entertaining football. As both teams weren't turtling, the defense could indeed have been better as players can't be contributing to the attack AND defending at all times.
On the other hand, you could say that in the other 1/8 finals the equilibrium was not there either, but it was the attacking that was lacking.

That's how I see it as well. You're playing a knock-out match. If you're not even not creating any good scoring chances, try harder, even at the expense of leaving your own defence less secure. That's the problem with the penalty shoot-out IMHO: Teams know that it's always there, and it seems more acceptable to lose in a shoot-out than to go down fighting in regulation play.

edit: I didn't see the Columbia game, so I'll have to exclude that one from my statement that this was the most open game of all.

The Columbia game wasn't as good as the Belgium v. USA or Germany v. Algeria games. It was a much tighter game. Even with Suarez, Uruguay would never have played the open football we saw in those other two games.

[SteveB]

No and Yes, respectively:

Spain in South Africa 2010 were the first European side to win in a finals staged outside Europe.

Brazil won it's first World Cup in Sweden in 1958. Brazil also won in Mexico (1970), the USA (1994) and Japan/South Korea (2002). The only time Brazil won in South America was in Chile in 1962. Argentina also won in Mexico in 1986.

So it's only happened once. I call that a statistically significant trend.

[klr]

No and Yes, respectively:

Spain in South Africa 2010 were the first European side to win in a finals staged outside Europe.

Brazil won it's first World Cup in Sweden in 1958. Brazil also won in Mexico (1970), the USA (1994) and Japan/South Korea (2002). The only time Brazil won in South America was in Chile in 1962. Argentina also won in Mexico in 1986.

So it's only happened once. I call that a statistically significant trend.

Yes, but that once was the most recent World Cup, so ...

Anyway, judging by the Brazil - Colombia match just now, it's OK to foul in this World Cup, if you're Brazilian.

[JimC]

Or if you've had a Brazilian...

[klr]

Or if you've had a Brazilian...

The mind boggles ...