FIFA World Cup 2010

[Zati]

It's okay, Luci.

Congrats to Spain. Man, was it an ugly and dirty match, lol. Record number of yellow cards in a World Cup final. And of course, the red card Heitinga got, which was very costly.

I admit, they did foul and hack the Spain players a bit too much. Also, the Dutch team should've handled their anger better, shouldn't get into a shouting match with the refs.

I thought it was surely heading into a penalty shootout, but dang Iniesta scores with four minutes remaining...

So heartbreaking for the Dutch. Lost their third World Cup final.

[darkshadow]

Terrible referee..........

[Zati]

"De Jong somehow got only a yellow card for this, plus a meeting with Jaden Smith about the Karate Kid sequel." Lol.

De Jong Karate Kick

[Splash!]

Spain deserved to win, though Iniesta is lucky to walk away the hero from this. He had that one chance where I think Torres was free with a clean shot at goal but Iniesta was selfish and tried (and failed) to score himself.

I remember this chance and that was some great piece of defending from captain Van Bronckhorst, and Iniesta was in no position to pass it. The mistake he made there was not shooting earlier, giving Van Bronckhorst time to cut him off. Oh, and Torres wasnt on the pitch at that time.

Regardless, Iniesta is masterclass He is a tremendous player who always delivers when needed. He has been instrumental in this world cup, penetrating defences and setting up great plays. He was also instrumental in the Champions League Barcelona won a year back. It is not luck, it is simply Iniesta. That final goal had great finishing.

Edit: Going back and looking at it a second time, you are right. Iniesta could have passed it to David Villa who was open. He got a bit too selfish. Good defending by Van Bronckhorst though, and Iniesta made up for it in the end.

I do feel bad for Torres though, was it him who made the pass to Iniesta?

Torres lofted in a nice chip from the side, which was received by Fabregas who passed it on to Iniesta. Yes, he was the one who started the move resulting in the goal.
Alot of people recently have been taking a jab at him, every chance they get. I dont know where all the hatred comes from. Torres has been out for a long time with serious injury problems. He was not fit to play the world cup but Del Bosque included him anyways because he understands his value. Torres played the role of a supporting striker excellently, drawing away players from David Villa all the time throughout this tournament. He would have loved to have had more of an effect but he is clearly not fit.

[rockmanj]

The 3rd place game was more entertaining than the final, but good job Spain.

I also liked De Jong's superkick.

[Dark Dragon]

The final game bored me so much that i could've swore Italy was still playing.

[Splash!]

I also liked De Jong's superkick.

He doesnt even care about the ball. He is more concerned about making his kick connect. I am not sure how that could even be mistaken for simple high foot, I have never seen a technique to control an aerial ball by thrusting one's foot at it.

[David75]

Too bad oranges were so sour. It's rare a final is a good game, because all players are exhausted and they are afraid of the goofy mistake. But I hate the oranges for chosing violence over football. I wish the ref used the red card earlier.
I also hope De Jong gets a ban for what he did.

I was on the orange side at first, but changed to Spain...

Regardless of the final, we've had an incredible number of great games.

[depthcharge]

Hmm, I think the refereeing for this match was somewhat fair. Considering that Puyol did mess Rubben up that one time. You gotta see a gif to understand that Puyol was indeed holding onto Rubben, spinning 360degree while holding Rubben, but Rubben just kept running.

Both side had their moments, only one side produced.

I regard this as a good game.

[Dark Dragon]

I don't know why so many people were offended by my last post.

Both Spain and Netherlands plays defensive style football ala Italy in the last match. The result was a dull long match full of terrible fouls, calls and dives. Hardly fitting of a final match of the tournament.

The referees in this cup have been nothing short of garbage. There were so many bad calls that ended up costing some teams their match.

Feel free to defend that style of football if you want, but most of the people watching the cup recognize what a terrible match that was.

[depthcharge]

5 attempts of goal per team(my rough count). That is 10 attempt for the 120 minutes. Every 12 minute we have a goal attempt. In between the build up, plenty of players sliding, pushing, sandwich, tackling, chest kicking, acrobatic moves. I think it is good enough.
(and the diving, acting, ect is part of football.)
I do feel, possession football, like possession American football is a better game.

That is not to say, I hate the attacking style of football. If the particular attacking styled team can beat a possession styled team, that would be great.

[KrayZ33]

Feel free to defend that style of football if you want, but most of the people watching the cup recognize what a terrible match that was.

the whole championship was garbage with little exceptions,

one of the few games I really enjoyed to watch was England vs Germany.

nearly all games were nothing more than midfield-skrimish.
extremely boring.
we got lots of turtle-teams who depend on luck with their counter-strategies.
not really a beautiful way to play football

[Splash!]

Both Spain and Netherlands plays defensive style football ala Italy in the last match. The result was a dull long match full of terrible fouls, calls and dives. Hardly fitting of a final match of the tournament.

The referees in this cup have been nothing short of garbage. There were so many bad calls that ended up costing some teams their match.

The final match was a mess because the Netherlands decided that the only way to stop Spain was to hack them down. To an extent, it was a strategy that worked as the Spanish could not play like they did against the Germans. Netherlands was consequently able to push forwards and the Spanish were forced to defend on several occassions. This game did not go according to Spain's gameplan. Honestly, the referee ruined the game by not enforcing discipline properly. He was very careful not to double book anyone early on(he was constantly checking his list), only giving yellow cards to people who hadnt been cautioned before. The Spanish came to play but eventually got sick of the Dutch tactics and decided to embellish much later on. The whole game would have been different if the referee had sent a Dutch player off in the first half. Both Di Jong and Van Bommel could have easily been kicked out of the game.

What Holland did is hardly comparable to Italy in previous tournaments. Most people in general hate the Italians, and that seems to translate towards a hatred for everything they do. But Holland definitely wasnt defending like Italy. The Italians of the past have focused on clean technical defending. It was never about conceding fouls. I could watch clinical defending like that all day. Also this notion that Italians dive more than anyone else is plain ridiculous. For the past 16 years, I have seen almost every other big team dive alot more than the Italians. Brazil, Germany, France and even Spain do it alot more than Italy.

[rockmanj]

. For the past 16 years, I have seen almost every other big team dive alot more than the Italians. Brazil, Germany, France and even Spain do it alot more than Italy.

And C. Ronaldo does it more than all of those teams combined!

[KrayZ33]

For the past 16 years, I have seen almost every other big team dive alot more than the Italians. Brazil, Germany, France and even Spain do it alot more than Italy.

statistics prove that you are wrong though

2006: Italy - 32 times

oh god, that was really fun to watch, most of them they were so ridicilous

well, this year was good too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLhY3f0PgQE

SNIPER!!! GET COVER!

[Splash!]

statistics prove that you are wrong though

2006: Italy - 32 times

oh god, that was really fun to watch, most of them they were so ridicilous

well, this year was good too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLhY3f0PgQE

SNIPER!!! GET COVER!

Firstly, I have seen this example several times, and I have pointed out that you can clearly see the Paraguay player stepping on De Rossi's heel. Go ahead run it in slow motion, you should be able to see it clearly. Moments later you will see him grab the exact same heel. It is not a mere coincidence. De Rossi embellished but you are simply not allowed to step on the heel of a player going for goal. The decision was a simple free kick and it was a fair call.

Also, I dont know where you came up with that 32 number for the last world cup. Who was the authority that decided there were 32 valid fouls or dives, and how did this compare to the rest of the teams? Also, just how bad were these dives or fouls? I have seen people throwing some of the most retarded soccer stats around at others.Its quite popular to hate Italy. Not many actually observe the games closely enough or have seen Italy play, they just go by what the soccer observing media says, which has far too opinionative and mostly English.
Italy fully deserved to win the last world cup and similarly, Spain deserved to win this one. In both cases, they were the best looking teams in the tournament.

[KrayZ33]

In both cases, they were the best looking teams in the tournament.

ya, Italy really did look good when they fell on the ground even though not much happened

btw, it doesn't even matter if it was a foul or not, the thing that makes them look like crybabies is that they whine and act like they are in unbearable pain, all - the - time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSQtg...eature=related
(see how ridicilous it is, even though there is some "contact"?)
no one would complain if he fell normally to the ground because he got stopped somehow, but no, he had to jump 5 meters high, grab his legs mid air while screaming and when he hit the ground, he kept roling for like 5 meters, thats ACTING and nothing else.

going down everytime there is some contact is just not sportsmanlike,but since italy plays so extremely defensive, they need penalty kicks and set plays to be able to score goals... and if it looks more painfull the chances are bigger to get them right?

[Splash!]

ya, Italy really did look good when they fell on the ground even though not much happened

If you believe that Italy did not look good in 2006, then I am sorry, but I simply cannot take you seriously.

[KrayZ33]

there is nothing good "looking" in playing defensive football
i can't take you seriously either if you say you can enjoy watching that.

[Splash!]

Yes, I appreciate good defensive football when it is done right. The Spanish have been defensively solid in this tournament. It hasnt just been about possession play.
Beautiful headers and aerial vollies to get the ball out of harms way, biycycle clearances, clean, accurately timed tackles to disposses the opponent at the right time to produce a counter attack : these are important technical aspects of the game that I enjoy watching.

The key is to find a nice balance between attack and defense. The Spanish did this. One of my favourite games this tournament was the game between Portugal and Spain. Despite producing only one goal, there was a high degree of technique and defensive quality as both teams tried hard to break down each other's organized defense. I like that Spain can attack when needed, and also defend quite nicely.

I also appreciate the performance of Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, who did some great defensive work yesterday.

Italy was like that in 2006. They scored goals and attacked plenty, but at the same time, they stopped others from penetrating them and maintained a solid defensive wall. You do realize that they scored against their opponents in all their games...

Anyways, thats all in the past. This was Spain's tournament, and they fully deserved it. They were highly technical, and thats what I like to watch.

The final, on the other hand turned into a bit of a fiasco because of the Dutch and the referee not taking a more strict approach. Regardless there were glimpses of some good Spanish defending and Van Bronckhorst also did well to make clean challenges for the most part.