2010 FIFA World Cup

[sonicsteve]

New Zealand

I was really interested in this game since Rory Fallon plays for Argyle - though he's been having trouble getting picked to play in our relegation-bound side in recent months. Was still amazing to see one of our players on the same pitch as the "world's best"...

Course I soon realised that we'd be better off with Ryan Nelsen or the new West Brom signing or maybe even the bloke who came on at the end who works in a bank, rather than Fallon, but hey - go the All Whites!

[nagerous]

Portugal 4-0 North Korea

3 Goals in the last 10 minutes, 25 minutes left - will there be more.

[Night Strike]

Portugal 4-0 North Korea

3 Goals in the last 10 minutes, 25 minutes left - will there be more.

I wonder if Mr. Dictator will threaten to punish Portugal for embarrassing them.

[The Bison King]

I wonder if Mr. Dictator will threaten to punish Portugal for embarrassing them.

Maybe but I'm more wondering if he's going to have his team lined up and shot once they get back to North Korea

[nagerous]

5 now.

[nagerous]

Christiano Ronaldo makes it 6!!!

[nagerous]

and Tiago makes it 7!!!!!

[nietzsche]

7-0.

Unfortunately the Mexican commentators didn't stop critizicing Cristiano Ronaldo.

Perhaps they didn't know he played 45+ games with Real Madrid last season, each one of them giving 100%, deciding many of them, making an excellent La Liga just to end up 2nd.

I wonder if we will see a great Brazil vs Portugal.

[grifftron]

Classic 7 - 0. Glad CR got that funny goal at the end there. Loved it. GOAL! GOAL! GOAL!

Brazil is gonna get destroyed!!!

-griff

[nagerous]

Meanwhile Roger Federer is 2 sets down at Wimbledon Round 1!

[pimpdave]

I would love to see the colony defeat the "homeland" in a possible Brazil vs. Portugal, but that's probably just because I'm an American and we have that long standing sibling rivalry with England.

[sonicsteve]

We don't care about the states in football, we only care about Germany. But they don't care about us as long as they beat the Dutch.

It's unrequited sibling rivalry all round.

[grifftron]

We don't care about the states in football, we only care about Germany. But they don't care about us as long as they beat the Dutch.

It's unrequited sibling rivalry all round.

States don't care about England either

The red coats are coming!!!

[parker4s]

7-0 Portugal. That was a really fun game to watch. Ronaldo was actually looking extremely happy and it was a fun game for everyone on Portugal's side. Too bad Deco was "hurt" today. I hope they advance though its sad the Ivory Coast got put into that group though. It would be awesome to see them later. Man im still hurtin from the U.S game. That sucked. Hopefully we can pull it out against Algeria though.

We don't care about the states in football, we only care about Germany. But they don't care about us as long as they beat the Dutch.

It's unrequited sibling rivalry all round.

States don't care about England either

The red coats are coming!!!

[pimpdave]

Yeah, we're going to have to pull something out against Algeria, but don't be surprised if the refs screw us again, and then don't even tell us what penalty it was that they called.

It was the same story at the winter Olympics this year too. This anti-American sentiment spilling into cheap sports judgments. It's really kind of pathetic.

[grifftron]

Yeah, we're going to have to pull something out against Algeria, but don't be surprised if the refs screw us again, and then don't even tell us what penalty it was that they called.

It was the same story at the winter Olympics this year too. This anti-American sentiment spilling into cheap sports judgments. It's really kind of pathetic.

I really don't think its anti America tho... all games have had very bad calls and that is a fact. The US should be able to pull off the win tho coming up.

-griff

[nagerous]

The refereeing has almost been as atrocious as performances by the leading Western Europe sides.

[Timminz]

Yeah, we're going to have to pull something out against Algeria, but don't be surprised if the refs screw us again, and then don't even tell us what penalty it was that they called.

It was the same story at the winter Olympics this year too. This anti-American sentiment spilling into cheap sports judgments. It's really kind of pathetic.

Whoa now, dave. You wouldn't want to go around perpetuating the ignorant/arrogant stereotype, would you. The officiating has been shit all over the tourney. Not just towards the USA.

[Joodoo]

Saw the Group G match today. Was North Korea even trying? Maybe old Kimmy told them that he has decided not to execute the entire team (coach included) if they couldn't advance to the next round.
But congratz to Portugal, who have made the record for most goals scored in a single 2010 World Cup match.

[obliterationX]

It's funny to see people making political remarks concerning the North Korean side. Nevertheless, Portugal were relentless and brutal, as can be seen by the scoreline. Congrats to them.

[Doc_Brown]

Classic 7 - 0. Glad CR got that funny goal at the end there. Loved it. GOAL! GOAL! GOAL!

Brazil is gonna get destroyed!!!

-griff

The funny thing is, Brazil would probably be better off coming in second in group G. 1st place in group G plays second from H, which is probably going to end up being Spain. The match after that (in round of 8) will most likely be versus the Netherlands. Coming in 2nd in group G means you face off against the group H winner (probably Chile, but the Swiss have a shot at it right now) and then most likely taking on Paraguay (or possibly Japan or Denmark) in the quarter finals. I suspect matches vs. Chile and then Paraguay would be far preferable to Spain then Netherlands, which means Brazil would be perfectly content with a loss to Portugal.

[Doc_Brown]

Whoa now, dave. You wouldn't want to go around perpetuating the ignorant/arrogant stereotype, would you. The officiating has been shit all over the tourney. Not just towards the USA.

I have to agree with this. There's the old adage that you don't want to play the game so close that a bad call by the referees decides it. If the US had played a bit better in the first half, that 3rd goal wouldn't have mattered. It doesn't change that it was a horrible call, but the ref doesn't deserve all the blame. And the officiating in the Brazil game yesterday was even worse! Granted, it didn't decide the outcome of the game the way Koman Coulibaly did, but there were far more blatantly bad calls.

[TheSaxlad]

Classic 7 - 0. Glad CR got that funny goal at the end there. Loved it. GOAL! GOAL! GOAL!

Brazil is gonna get destroyed!!!

-griff

The funny thing is, Brazil would probably be better off coming in second in group G. 1st place in group G plays second from H, which is probably going to end up being Spain. The match after that (in round of will most likely be versus the Netherlands. Coming in 2nd in group G means you face off against the group H winner (probably Chile, but the Swiss have a shot at it right now) and then most likely taking on Paraguay (or possibly Japan or Denmark) in the quarter finals. I suspect matches vs. Chile and then Paraguay would be far preferable to Spain then Netherlands, which means Brazil would be perfectly content with a loss to Portugal.

Hahaha. You do make me laugh doc.

TBH Spain will ahve to have luck qualifying anywhere. Chile and switzerland to go through from that group.

[Doc_Brown]

The other thing that has me amused is that Ivory Coast did exactly the wrong thing in the last part of their game with Brazil. Once it was clear they were going to lose, their best scenario would have been to keep the score close but ensure that Brazil was very strong going into the Portugal game. Ivory Coast could have hoped for a huge victory over North Korea and a big Brazil win over Portugal, which would have given Ivory Coast 2nd place in the group on tie-breakers. By getting a Brazilian player kicked out and injuring others, they probably ensured that Brazil would take it easy against Portugal, which eliminates Ivory Coast for the tournament. How's that for karma?

Of course, with Portugal's 7-0 win over DPRK, it's probably a moot point anyway. That's a pretty big goal differential to catch up to!

[ga7]

WOOOO VIVA CHILE MIERDA! I hope the goal average won't bite them in the ass or I'll have no teams to support next round
It's nice to see an ultra defensive side get beaten for a change, even though it was a tense game and the ref was worse than any I saw so far. He distributed cards like he'd be paid by number.
Brazil did a brilliant game, pity on the second goal Fabiano managed to control twice the ball with his arms, not that it would have changed anything since the Ivorians had seemed to give up after the first one. Quite ironic for Kaka to play his best game since forever then get sent off... Frankly whatever Keita did on the ground, I really thought Kaka willingly sticked his elbow out, but either way since none of the refs had seen the actual action it's quite dumb to react to the pressure.
Followed the end of Portugal's game, was a bit sorry for the poor north korean side. I know the goal average is important yadayada but other teams with a bit more fair play would have stopped at some point. Hell, the last team to do this kind of thing in a WC was Germany, and we all know the germans are rude barbarians when it comes to football. I'll be rooting for Brazil in the last game for sure...