2010 World Cup discussion

[Tagus]

We will see. I am not saying Spain is going to win or have it easy, it will be a hell of a difficult match. However, you may see Spain suffering every fucking match, no matter who the oponent is, but usually winning. Winning by one or two goals. To most people this means they are struggling, but its just how the team is. Our offensive is weak when you compare it to Argentina, Brazil, Germany... but our team is solid, strong, regular. We have a hard time winning by a lot of goals or absolutely dominating any teams unless they straight up suck, but we always show a fight and it is difficult to walk over us. This is why even though Germany owned Argentina, they will have a harder time doing that to us. We got a team.

So we will see how it goes. Here's hoping for an awesome match.

In before Spain loses 3 or 4-0 and I have to die in a fire.

I'm a huge Germany supporter and it's tough to think they won't pull it off with the crazy momentum they've got going, but I can't disagree with anything in this statement. Spain isn't a team that wins 4-0, even against lesser opponents.... they get a goal or two and then teams can't get the ball off them. They're really a much tougher draw than Argentina. Hell, people have been picking Spain to win this thing for years, it seems like! This should be a great match. Can't wait.

[Maaglin]

Suarez only received a 1 game ban for his Hand of Suarez red card.

Why would you expect different? He was dismissed from the match and Ghana was awarded the penalty. Case closed.

[Tyrath]

Yeah, good luck with scoring 4 against Ramos - Puyol - Pique - Capdevila backline with Cassilias at goal.

No, I won't even get into the midfield.

Yeah, thats why I said in my ideal world. What I want to happen. I don't really expect it to.

[Mugekuge]

Wednesday game is the real final, almost sure future champion is coming from there.

Germany looks amazing, they have had a very impressive world cup besides that game against Serbia, imo best german team i have ever seen, Spain has played up and down during world cup but! advancing to semifinals probably is an inspiration to the team.

Pretty sure is going to be an awesome match, can't wait jesus...

[Zoolander]

Wednesday game is the real final, almost sure future champion is coming from there.

wut?

I think Germany will win it all, but that is a pretty lol statement. Spain has done nothing to suggest they are the second best or best team in this tournament thus far. Hell you could make a case Uruguay has looked and is playing better. If Spain managed to somehow win, I'd definitely favor the Netherlands over them. Don't think that will happen without some luck and drastic improvement though. They could have easily lost that game to a meh Paraguay team. The real final is the real final.

[Rhyis.]

Only crazy people would look past Holland.

[Mugekuge]

You gotta give Paraguay some credit, their playstyle isn't easy for any team and is hard to score them.

Spain has a very solid midfield, i guess if they sit Torres for Llorente would be better in attack and Villa is on a fantastic moment and like i say Spain is in a inspiration moment, first time in 60 years they get so far.

Also people in the past used to bitch Spain for (jugar como nunca y perder como siempre) play like ever and lose like always i guess is translation not sure, this time they aren't having great games but are winning which is what matters xD.

I'd like Uruguay to beat Holland but they have some loses because cards, still Forlán can pull something and make it happen. Holland still doesn't convince me.

[Kuya]

Play the best (play like never before) and lose like always.

[Rhyis.]

If Uruguay beats Holland without Suarez, I'll be friggin' amazed.

[Darlantan]

Brother is working on this, he is a bit obsessed with Spain =)

Saint Casillas ^^. I think they started calling that to him after the epic eurocup match against Italy.

I'd say Holland has a 75% to beat Uruguay, while Germany and Spain are hovering around the 50% mark. Anything can happen in futbol, so yeah, looking forward to all the incoming matches.

[Deftscythe]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/lat...a/10500390.stm

[Maaglin]

You gotta give Paraguay some credit, their playstyle isn't easy for any team and is hard to score them.

Spain has a very solid midfield, i guess if they sit Torres for Llorente would be better in attack and Villa is on a fantastic moment and like i say Spain is in a inspiration moment, first time in 60 years they get so far.

Also people in the past used to bitch Spain for (jugar como nunca y perder como siempre) play like ever and lose like always i guess is translation not sure, this time they aren't having great games but are winning which is what matters xD.

I'd like Uruguay to beat Holland but they have some loses because cards, still Forlán can pull something and make it happen. Holland still doesn't convince me.

Taking nothing away from Spain, but Paraguay could of had 4 goals today.

For all the knocks people are throwing around about their playstyle, they hung in there with a tough Spain team and took'em to the wire.

Hell, with the bizarre penalty situation, they could have outright won.

[Plow]

these guys need to kick better PKs tho, how hard is it at their pro level to put the goal in the upper half of the net?

It's harder for a goalie to get to a ball far away on the ground than in the air, it takes more time to get there.

Combine that with the likelihood of missing high, and you're always taught to kick to the low corner.

[Maaglin]

A perfectly placed upper 90 PK is impossible to stop, while it's possible to stop one to the lower corner.

Youth level are taught to hit the lower 90 because of the increased chance of skying the ball that comes with shooting high. At the international level, these guys can make it anywhere. It speaks to the gravity of the situation that PK's are missed. There's not really anything in sports that can compare to taking a PK in a world cup, espcially if the game is on the line.

There was also a stat I saw the other day about PK's being missed 50% more in shoot-outs then in regular play. Easy to believe since in the shoot out the pressure increases ten fold.

[supercoco]

Saint Casillas ^^. I think they started calling that to him after the epic eurocup match against Italy.

thought it started against Ireland @ 2002 WC

Spoiler: show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzLxZqMVK04

anyways , i'm glad casillas did yesterday a good match , because he has been playing very bad for some months

[Plow]

A perfectly placed upper 90 PK is impossible to stop, while it's possible to stop one to the lower corner.

Youth level are taught to hit the lower 90 because of the increased chance of skying the ball that comes with shooting high. At the international level, these guys can make it anywhere. It speaks to the gravity of the situation that PK's are missed. There's not really anything in sports that can compare to taking a PK in a world cup, espcially if the game is on the line.

There was also a stat I saw the other day about PK's being missed 50% more in shoot-outs then in regular play. Easy to believe since in the shoot out the pressure increases ten fold.

A perfectly placed upper 90 is a thousand fold harder.

I don't think you realize how hard these guys are kicking, even a perfect upper 90 is stoppable if you're facing a world class keeper and kicking at an amateur pace.

As hard as they hit the ball, they're still focused on keeping it down. The chance for them to sky it is just as high as a young kid, because the ball is moving at ridiculous rates.

This is especially true with this particular ball.

If it's halfway up the goal and outside, it's also much easier to stop than 6 inches off the ground and outside.

[Mellema]

Why would you expect different? He was dismissed from the match and Ghana was awarded the penalty. Case closed.

Sorry, was a response to this:

I know, and they will. Almost all direct red cards are considered as unsportsmanlike and face extended punishment unless there is a referee mistake/unjustified card, etc.

For an offense like this it'll likely be 1+1(2).

Was several pages back and I didn't feel like looking for it, but I guess I should have to prevent confusion.

[Gadritan]

A perfectly placed upper 90 PK is impossible to stop, while it's possible to stop one to the lower corner.

Youth level are taught to hit the lower 90 because of the increased chance of skying the ball that comes with shooting high. At the international level, these guys can make it anywhere.

It's physically more difficult for a keeper to block a low shot than mid-high. It's just how the human body works. The exception would be a perfect upper 90 shot. Key word, "perfect."

So take that into consideration with the fact that the shooters accuracy tends to be higher with low shots as well, and you can see why the vast majority shoot low.

There's all the mind games of course too. I used to eye ball the lower left corner while setting up the ball and pre-shot, but make it look like I'm trying to be discreet about it, when in reality I wanted the keep to see it. I'd also point the toe of my lead foot to the left when I was actually shooting right. This is a common practice as a lot of keepers are taught to use the lead foot as an indicator of which direction the shot is going since you typically point your lead foot in the direction you want to kick.

This whole "at their level they can make a perfect shot in the upper 90 np," is stupid. If they could, they would, but they can't, so they don't. Can some of them? Yeah, those are the guys you see shoot for the upper 90. The overwhelming majority can't do it consistently enough to justify trying it in game scenarios.

[Mugekuge]

Yup, lower level penalties shot are where most go.

See Brehme in 1990 with probably best penalty GK ever in history.

[Kyo]

I wish I knew what the announcers were saying.