soccer/footy/futebol thread

[germinal]

Benzema could have had two hat tricks by now. Completely absurd that last one was disallowed. Poor Lloris though, hoisted by his own wall from a free kick twice in one season.

i'm glad costa rica put us out our misery. What a masterclass in high line defensive pressing; they all but neutralised pirlo and balotelli completely.

Ecuador v honduras is surprisingly enthralling, really scrappy and tense, feels like a fight will break out any minute.

[starfox64]

suarez is a flat track bully

also, most games in the north (recife, natal, fortaleza, manaus) are played in really hot and humid conditions. teams with superior conditioning are going to have a huge advantage. i think this was really evident in the italy v. costa rica game. that and the fact that all of italy's subs played like shit.

also w/r/t england, i think they need a coach who is used to coaching winners with high expectations who can alleviate some of the pressure on the team. jose is especially good at this, but hiring someone like roy hodgson, who has never led a top tier team to a title, is a mistake. england has a number of issues (redundancy of top players being a big one), but i think finding a manager who knows how to win titles is the key. the fa tried and failed with capello, but at least that was a move that made sense. i think it's similar to united with moyes; theres a big difference between coaching a team with low expectations and a team with big egos and suffocating expectations, and a lot of managers cant adapt

[hirokinakamura]

GOD FUCKING DAMNIT

This fucking close to the greatest win in USA soccer history and we fucking choke in the last 30 seconds

I want to die

[greggy]

Good thing I didn't stay up to watch that shitfest. Portugal always disappoint me, ever since 2002 :( to make it worse it's the US again

[bueno]

Mexico's coach Miguel Herrera is the best.


Have to say, Neymar is playing excellently for Brazil. Definitely stepped up to the occasion. Crazy to think he's only 22 and already got more goals for Brazil than both Ronaldinho and Rivaldo.


Italy v Uruguay is gonna be a helluva game.

[navin]

Suarez bit somebody again lol

[hooplah]

seriously what is wrong with suarez? is he rabid? like i just cannot even fathom how a professional adult can resort to biting on three separate occasions. dude has no self control. it's sort of funny but also really disturbing

on a happier note, this has been a fucking amazing world cup, i have just been continually amazed

[stappard_]

He's the logical endpoint of a system that shelters young men from the real world and tells them they're amazing from a young age. He looks like a grown man, he moves like a grown man, and he obviously has certain intelligence types in droves, but he also has a brain operating on a value system that warrants biting people in certain circumstances

Either that or he's genuinely insane, but I don't know which is the more disturbing thought

[bhajz]

I'm in italy, and was watching the game with a bunch of locals and wow this place is up in arms…I dont think suarez will ever be allowed in this country. Suarez not being sent off, even after Chiellini showed the bite marks, with the line referee having a clear line of site of the incident (most likely not being able to see the bite itself, but suarez's head making contact in the exact spot that the bite marks were) is also absolutely ridiculous, when marchisio was shown a very light straight red. He was even holding his teeth after the fucking incident. He is a disgrace to football, and while he is a great player, his actions make me not want to ever watch him, root for a team he's playing for, or respect him in anyway.

I really hope to see Suarez suspended for a long time with his history of racism, unfair play, and attempted cannibalism.

[germinal]

[seth83292]

Man I had to watch that CIV penalty like 4 times before I actually saw it.

heartbreaking for them

[ramseames]

When Italy loses the whole world wins

[eufemism]

How the hell are people calling Suarez racist. If I understood correctly what happaned with Evra he called him negrito or negro which is no way in hell racist. I'd bet it's just your typical Sun type uninformed bullshit that fills English football media.

People that try to pass judgement on a sport they only watch once every four years piss me off. Just because certain stuff happens in other sports doesn't mean it's automatically right.

In this case I agree that Suarez should be punished, but the people taking the opportunity to insult him as a person need to seriously check themselves because they take insulting him overboard and that's that shit I don't like.

[starfox64]

anyone collect panini stickers?

[navin]

@eufemism I live in south América near Uruguay and I call some of my friends "negro" all the time lol, but you have to analize the context and of the way he said it. Calling someone a "negro" is way different than saying "no te hablo porque sos negro" I dont speak to you because you're black.
Also a grown ass men bit 3 different people in 4 years, Thats not a sign of mental stability.
@starfox64 I used to collect them for the lasts few wc, not this year though.

[stappard_]

[bels]

Sun is well known as a bleeding heart liberal newspaper that accuses people of racism for the slightest thing.

Not that I know what any of y'all are rapping about.

[Syeknom]

The Sun is well known as a good source for sneaking a peek at boobs when you're a young lad

Maybe the internet generation doesn't need to do that anymore though

What do i know

[stappard_]

whatever happened to finding porn in hedges

[starfox64]

i think colombia would have had a real shot to win if falcao were playing

the biggest absence of the tournament, right? even above ribery

[bueno]

Definitely agree that Falcao is a big loss to Columbia.

Disagree that Ribery is a big absence - while he is a good player, the French team tends to focus too much on him and it all gets a bit predictable imo (like Portugal with Ronaldo) so not having him there is forcing them to play more of a team game using both wings and just being more balanced overall. Also he has always had a bad attitude when it comes to the national team (can't say i follow his actions too much at Bayern) which i don't like. The team aren't exactly struggling without him either so far.

edit: yeah... tonight they really should have used the wings as well with there only being 10 men on the other team. valbuena could have been useful (something else that might have helped would've been if every shot on goal wasn't aimed right at the keeper lol).

[oldtrailmix]

not sure if im up for waking up early tomorrow morning to watch/stress over the US game

[eufemism]

not sure if Wondo should start with Dempsey or if Ice Man is the way to go. Both german CB's aren't fast so maybe Ice Man is the best option, not only because of speed but also because of mobility. plus i'm sure he's more willing to track back since he'll want to win a starting spot.

[starfox64]

[bueno]

I think Jermaine Jones needs glasses







Despite losing can't really fault the USA too much. Did what they needed to do.

[bhajz]

Never been so proud of a loss. Hopefully getting out of this group will help football grow in the US, and people will get excited about it more than once every 4 years. I think I think I was on the verge of tears watching the game today, but in the end we got through. Now for Belgium....

[bueno]

That penalty shootout was the most nerve-wracking moment of the WC and i don't even support either Brazil or Chile. Shame to see Chile go home when they were playing like they were, but also sort of glad that Brazil got to stay.

Colombia played some great football last night. Them vs Brazil in quarters should be another interesting match!

[eufemism]

the netherlands is so shit. 90% of their goals have come from the other teams' errors. poor goal for mexico to concede. absolutely no one in midfield to kick that ball out.

[fountainstairs]

#ThankYouBasedHuntelaar

[bueno]

Mexico shouldn't have played so defensively after their first goal.