Official 2010 World Cup - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

Dirkenstien · 06-15-2010, 10:29 AM

Thought we could use an official thread to track World Cup discussion.

Portugal and Ivory Coast currently going at it in a close one with no goals yet at the 69" mark. IC's star Drogba was inserted at the 65" mark, playing with a special cast on a broken arm. Early in the match Ronaldo ripped off a 30 yard shot that had the keeper beat but bounced off the right post. Since then the IC defense hasn't given him any space to work with and neither team has been able to gain any momentum for their attacking game.

Dirkenstien · 06-15-2010, 11:04 AM

Came to a 0-0 draw. Neither team could really establish and consistent play development.

GermanDunk · 06-15-2010, 11:15 AM

Maybe the problem is that superstars like Tourè or Il-Sung don´t match with the rest of the scrubs in their teams.

GermanDunk · 06-15-2010, 02:07 PM

Peoples republic democrats are holding the draw vs. the Selecao. I like it.

Dirkenstien · 06-15-2010, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GermanDunk

Peoples republic democrats are holding the draw vs. the Selecao. I like it.

Brazil takes the victory 2-1. I was wondering how much of that flair would be missing with all the talk about a new disciplined Brazil game plan but saw plenty of it out on the field, especially from Robinho.

The goal by Maicon was fantastic. If you watch the highlights you can see he gives a slight glance across the front of the keeper to indicate he's crossing it in and then booms it into the near post. N.Korea's keeper was pretty solid throughout the game except for that small mistake, but to give him some credit not many players could capitalize on that opening like Maicon did.

bernardos70 · 06-15-2010, 04:02 PM

You know he had the same exact play against the USA in the final of the Confederations cup, but Howard blocked it and was smiling afterwards in a "oh you little rascal, almost got me!" sort of way.

Maicon is perhaps my favorite player in the squad. He's a freaking workhorse. I didn't see the stats, he must've ran over 10 kilometers throughout the match.

GermanDunk · 06-15-2010, 04:30 PM

Yeah, i watched many Inter Games last season and Maicon was the eye catcher besides Milito and Eto ´O. Besides this, pathetic and disappointing appearence by the brezil squad.

bernardos70 · 06-15-2010, 04:43 PM

I was predicting a 1-0 win. We never play well against the smaller teams and I don't think we ever will, I've seen enough games.

Fidel · 06-15-2010, 06:20 PM

I´m watching the world cup since the 80´s and this is probably the worst start to the tourney ever. Alot of teams seem to be really flat. Vuvuzelas suck!! No athmosphere at all because of them. Stadiums are half empty for alot of games. And compared to other tourneys there are really few supporters from the european and other teams. No one wants to go there because of the insane crime rate. Great idea Blatter to give them the world cup Blatter.

And also... Vuvuzelas suck!!!

Maringa · 06-15-2010, 10:17 PM

Yes. I was very disappointed in the selecao game. However, I think Brazil was toying around. Their two goals have been the pretiest of all goals so far except germany's first goal.

Dirkenstien · 06-16-2010, 09:08 AM

I've actually enjoyed all the close matches. I prefer watching tight competitive games throughout but I haven't seen the type of creativity and play development that I like to watch yet.

Spain Vs. Switz just started up and the Spaniards are looking crisp right off the bat. A lot of sharp quick passes and ball movement from side to side. It's only about 10 minutes into it and I think they may be the most entertaining team I've watched so far as far as a fluid team game goes ( granted I did miss the Germany game). We'll see if they can take care of business here.

Dirkenstien · 06-16-2010, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GermanDunk

Yeah, i watched many Inter Games last season and Maicon was the eye catcher besides Milito and Eto ´O. Besides this, pathetic and disappointing appearence by the brezil squad.

I'm still curious as to why Ronaldinho was left off. Dunga is definitely taking some chances with his squad selection ... there was a lot of young talent left off the list. We can't really gauge how well the team has done since we don't know much about the N.Koreans, but Brazil didn't look like the absolute dominating force I was expecting to see.

bernardos70 · 06-16-2010, 10:14 AM

I know many people criticized Dunga for not selecting Ronaldinho. But if you're an honest fan of the National team, you should know Ronaldinho is not a International player. He plays well in Clubs.... but every single time we asked him to do anything, at many different positions, in the national team, he has done nothing. He never performs at midfield, as a wing, attacker.... One decisive goal I remember him scoring, against England in '02.

bernardos70 · 06-16-2010, 10:16 AM

And Switzerland is 1-0! Hell yeah!

BTW, did you see that blatant handball by the Chilean defender that the referee didn't punish? Ridiculous!

Dirkenstien · 06-16-2010, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bernardos70

And Switzerland is 1-0! Hell yeah!

BTW, did you see that blatant handball by the Chilean defender that the referee didn't punish? Ridiculous!

Yep, Switzerland looking for the upset. Spain started the game with tremendous pace but couldn't maintain that for more than halfway through the first half. On top of that, what chances they have been getting they've squandered away. Too many guys trying to get cute and be the hero around the goal, not enough team play. They're looking rather average now vs. a pumped up Switz team ... only 25 minutes to go.

Dirkenstien · 06-16-2010, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bernardos70

I know many people criticized Dunga for not selecting Ronaldinho. But if you're an honest fan of the National team, you should know Ronaldinho is not a International player. He plays well in Clubs.... but every single time we asked him to do anything, at many different positions, in the national team, he has done nothing. He never performs at midfield, as a wing, attacker.... One decisive goal I remember him scoring, against England in '02.

But to leave a two time FIFA world player off the roster entirely is a tough bit to swallow. Perhaps including him as a change of pace player would have only caused a distraction?

bernardos70 · 06-16-2010, 11:02 AM

He's literally dead weight in the National team. He's like DeShawn Stevenson in the National team, Kobe Bryant in his club teams. I'd rather take a younger player like Neymar or Ganso (both will probably be playing in Europe next season) but his argument was that they were completely untested in the National team. I can't argue with that either, as they only now have been playing like they deserve a spot in the team.

Dirkenstien · 06-16-2010, 11:11 AM

So Switzerland pulls off the upset 1-0. Give them credit, their defense was terrific throughout the entire match. Spain has created more chances at scoring without actually scoring than any other team in the tournament so far.

Flacolaco · 06-16-2010, 11:12 AM

So wait...Spain lost to Switzerland, and the guy who scored the goal is named Fernandes?

lol

sefant77 · 06-16-2010, 11:30 AM

GermanDunk · 06-16-2010, 12:07 PM

I agree, Sefant !

bernardos70 · 06-16-2010, 12:23 PM

How the mighty have fallen! Hah! Suck it, Spanish media (aka the single most arrogant media in the world!)

GermanDunk · 06-16-2010, 03:09 PM

Uru

sefant77 · 06-16-2010, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bernardos70

How the mighty have fallen! Hah! Suck it, Spanish media (aka the single most arrogant media in the world!)

Spain is still a sucking tournament team like England, 2008 was just a lucky streak

sefant77 · 06-16-2010, 03:43 PM

What a sucking cup.

South african people leaving 10min before the end. I guess after the group games and the elimination the cup is for them anyway over...

Hopefully they just stay home with their damn Vuvus

GermanDunk · 06-16-2010, 03:53 PM

Sure. The world cup is starting with the usual suspects in the 1/8 Finals. Plus minus 2 surprising teams.

sefant77 · 06-16-2010, 03:59 PM

GermanDunk · 06-16-2010, 06:09 PM

Anthemn for those who had to stay @ home - Inno por los collegas especiales

Zaknaf3in · 06-16-2010, 07:01 PM

I really don't think it's fair if the poor southafrican keeper is off and gone for 2 games on top for this half-dived foul, while Casillas, for making the swiss guy somersault, gets no penalty - but a goal he would have got anyway. That's just NOT fair.

Edit: you must spread reputation... sefant again.

GermanDunk · 06-17-2010, 01:16 AM

HRH Prince William of Wales pwned

GermanDunk · 06-17-2010, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dirkenstien

I'm still curious as to why Ronaldinho was left off. Dunga is definitely taking some chances with his squad selection ... there was a lot of young talent left off the list. We can't really gauge how well the team has done since we don't know much about the N.Koreans, but Brazil didn't look like the absolute dominating force I was expecting to see.

Bernados knows better what´s going on with the Brazil squad. 5 years ago there was not a single german soccer club that could have purchased Ronaldinho. But those were the good ´ol times.
No question, he still is good enough, but he isn´t a physical player. OK, Messi isn´t one either.

It must have something to do with Dungas tactics. I didn´t watch the match that closely, but obviously Dunga goes with a one-man-unit on the striking position. And with Maicon and Dani Alves even the D is providing enormous firepower when moving forward.
And modern tactics ( one striker - forechecking - streching the game --> 3 small agressive midfielders - 2 playing as wingmen or going for the kill ( on their own or playing the deadly pass ), makes it possible/necessary to pick more robust strikers. Ronaldinho does too much on his own and he easily can get lost versus defensive teams. My guess.
If i had to play two strikers, i´d pick Ronaldinho and Robinho with Kaka behind them on position 10.

Dirkenstien · 06-17-2010, 08:34 AM

Great showing by Argentina this morning against South Korea.

Attacking from all angles with beautiful developing runs mostly orchestrated by Messi who showed amazing form. On several occasions Messi would get going and it would take at least 2-3 men to slow him down. Higuain scores the first World Cup hat trick since 2002 and Argentina convincingly takes the match with a final score of 4-1. If Greece fails to beat Nigeria in the upcoming match, Argentina will be the first team to advance to the next round.

sefant77 · 06-17-2010, 08:54 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Ln_...ayer_embedded#!

Dirkenstien · 06-17-2010, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GermanDunk

Bernados knows better what´s going on with the Brazil squad. 5 years ago there was not a single german soccer club that could have purchased Ronaldinho. But those were the good ´ol times.
No question, he still is good enough, but he isn´t a physical player. OK, Messi isn´t one either.

It must have something to do with Dungas tactics. I didn´t watch the match that closely, but obviously Dunga goes with a one-man-unit on the striking position. And with Maicon and Dani Alves even the D is providing enormous firepower when moving forward.
And modern tactics ( one striker - forechecking - streching the game --> 3 small agressive midfielders - 2 playing as wingmen or going for the kill ( on their own or playing the deadly pass ), makes it possible/necessary to pick more robust strikers. Ronaldinho does too much on his own and he easily can get lost versus defensive teams. My guess.
If i had to play two strikers, i´d pick Ronaldinho and Robinho with Kaka behind them on position 10.

Yeah I understand, the supply of talent for that squad is almost endless so Dunga really has the advantage of picking and choosing the players that best suit his style. As a fan you just like to see all the big names come to the tournament but in the end winning is all that matters so it'll be interesting to see how they fair throughout the duration of the WC. I really liked what I saw from Robinho in the first match.

bernardos70 · 06-17-2010, 09:53 AM

If you like that type of football I'd say you should watch Santos F.C. (the team Pelé played in) now, as they have pretty much 4 robinhos on the team, and in 32 or so games they've scored some 124 goals this season. Their defense gives up almost as many, but they're pretty amazing. Two of their players were the most requested to go to the world cup by Brazilian fans (Neymar and Ganso). They already lost their attacker to whoever, I don't even know where he went, for 7 million dollars/euro (rough figure). You can probably watch some videos of theirs on youtube.

That was a shlacking by Argentina tonight. If Brazil doesn't win, and as much as I hate Argentina from the bottom of my heart, it's good to see one of the big teams in the tournament play up to expectations.

sefant77 · 06-17-2010, 12:10 PM

Argentina and Germany by a mile until now

Unfortunately they would meet in the QF

bernardos70 · 06-17-2010, 03:31 PM

Mexico!!!!!!!!!! Boom, drop them blues! No one is going to be lamenting France's first round-and-out after the way they qualified to the finals in the first place. GTFO!

Fidel · 06-17-2010, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bernardos70

Mexico!!!!!!!!!! Boom, drop them blues! No one is going to be lamenting France's first round-and-out after the way they qualified to the finals in the first place. GTFO!

If I was Henry I´d knock Domenec out after the game. You don´t do what Domenec did today to a player like Henry (even if I don´t think Henry would have made a difference). Domenec is just full of it. They could use Benzema too for sure.

But I agree no one will be sorry for France, me included. They still might have a small chance though. Mexico will go for the win against Uruguay to avoid Argentina. If the french players start a revolution and get rid of Domenech they might be able to get the big win they need against Sout Africa.

Dirkenstien · 06-17-2010, 09:27 PM

What a huge disappointment for France. So much talent just wasted.

USA tomorrow baby!

Dirkenstien · 06-18-2010, 08:23 AM

From glory to glum, Germany falls to Serbia 1-0.

German Klose got a questionable red card in the 36th minute and Serbia scores in the 38th and holds on from there. In the 60th minute Germany had a PK but the Serb keeper made a terrific save. What a turn of events for the German squad. Goes to show absolutely nothing is guaranteed in this tournament.