World Cup and European leagues

[Ralph Turner]

Germany's Oezil's yellow card for the fake trip came from the Mexican referee.

(I think that I will leave it at that.  He is certainly an experienced referee to be doing the middle at the World Cup.     )

[Hoosier Titan]

I'm torn between a 1-1 draw and a 2-1 USA win.  Despite the predictions, I just can't see a win for England.

As I mentioned before, I had serious conflicts about this match.  I had a feeling it would be 2-1, but I wasn't sure which way it would go, and it could have gone to either side.  On the coverage here, Kevin Keegan predicted England 4-1 before the match!  We knew that wouldn't be right, although the Gerrard goal in the fourth minute had us wondering. 

I thought that, in general, both sides played well enough.  The big question here has been whether Lampard and Gerrard could ever play well together, and it seems that Capello has helped the two of them sort that out.

I really didn't know what to expect in yesterday's match.  I was hoping for a draw but given the deficiencies of both squads in their back 4, I kind of felt that England would better expoit our back 4 because of their superiority up front.  Steve McManaman predicted a 3-1 win for the English and I felt that was a very realistic possiblity and especially after the Gerrard goal in the first 5 minutes.

Thankfully the US had Tim Howard on their side and Green was playing for the Three Lions.    

And after that first England goal, the US seemed to settle down and not allow themselves to get rattled and gutted out the 1-1 draw!

HT, has any English paper headlined their story: "England loses, 1-1"?

I did see a headline in one of the New York tabloids that said, "US Wins 1-1!"  I also saw one of the English Tabloids with the headline, "Hand of Plodd!"   

All in all, I think both teams will be satisfied with a point.  It's amazing though how happy we are with the result and how disappointed England are. 

HT,  do you think Capello sticks with Green to try and restore and maintain his confidence or does he completely shatter the kid's confidence by going with a different keeper in England's next match?  It is kind of nice to know that, at least the US is head and shoulders better at one position than England that is arguably the most important position on the pitch and that is goalkeeper!  I think there is no question that all 3 of our keepers are better than anything England has to offer.

Lastly, too bad that Slovenia v. Algeria match couldn't have ended in a scoreless draw.  Algeria had to go and ruin it by allowing Slovenia to score late on.     I will say, I was not overly impressed by either Algeria or Slovenia and if the US and England don't both come away with max points in their next 2 matches and advance out of this group, it will be a HUGE disappointment!  Can't wait for Friday!

I like those headlines, Scots!  The paper I read here had "Green Fingers" for a headline. 

I honestly don't know what Capello will do.  Some very knowledgeable people like Alan Shearer seem to think that he will go with David James if James is healthy.  It seems to me that Capello is very attached to his way of doing things (or stubborn), and so he might not make the change. 

Here's a column from the Daily Mail written by Piers Morgan, who drives a lot of people crazy.  I do like the brief item about Michael Ballack telling Lampard and Gerrard to check their egos.  He should talk!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/worldcup2010/article-1286109/Piers-Morgan-Blame-Englands-Robert-Green-want-Capello-needs-raise-game-too.html

[OxyBob]

The Onion weighs in on soccer:

http://www.theonion.com/video/soccer-officially-announces-it-is-gay,17603

OxyBob

[Mr. Ypsi]

Italy benefits from a keeper lapse not quite 'up' to Green's standard, but close.  Their only goal occurred when Paraguay's keeper went out to punch away a corner kick, and missed the ball by several feet!  The Italian the ball came to (don't recall who) then tapped in the easiest goal he'll ever get in a WC.

I really thought Paraguay looked like the stronger side for most of the game (with both teams obviously having great trouble with the wet conditions).  Italy put on tremendous offensive pressure the last 5-8 minutes (while Paraguay looked perfectly happy to gain a tie), but the Azzuri looked pretty so-so overall.  Because of their group, I suspect both teams will go through, but doubt they will go any further.

Ya s'pose Berlusconi's tabloids will headline the Italian equivalent of "Italy loses, 1-1"?!

[Mr. Ypsi]

A curious factoid I hadn't noticed, but just ran across:

After 11 games, a single goal guarantees at least a point!  Not a single team has scored, but lost.   (More ammunition for the soccer-haters.  Memo to OxyBob and the Onion: your story cannot possibly be true.  All homophobes know that gays score CONSTANTLY! )

[sac]

There isn't much point in cranking up the surround sound is there........god awful, isn't it.  Its like watching the World Cup in a beehive.  No chants, no songs, no gasps ooo's or ahh's.  Can barely hear the whistle half the time.  At least ESPN's announcing crew is a major upgrade from the last Cup.


England looked really strong, but they just kind of fizzled and ran out of ideas it seemed.  They could really use Joe Cole and Ferdinand.  Obvious, GK is their question.

I thought the US was good enough to win, good enough to lose to one of the better teams.  Avoiding Germany might be the key to advancing to the quarters.

Slovenia will be tough, they hardly ever give up goals
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Maybe the reason Liverpool have so much English representation is because the rest of the EPL elite have so many of the elite players from other countries.

.....then I watched Agger (Denmark) and Kuyt(Holland) play today.  Torres later this week.

(I tivo'd it all, haven't had the chance to skim through Argentina, Germany or Italy's matches.  I did see enough of France to know they just aren't very good)

[sac]

The announcers in the Holland/Denmark game were mentioning the ball kind of 'takes off' on players..........perhaps thats why there have been few goals, lots of times the ball just seems to get away from the player breaking on goal on the first touch.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Fight Terrorism - Watch the World Cup!!  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/14/somali-soccer-fans-execut_n_611576.html

Taking on Israel and the US is one thing - the militants may come to regret taking on the world's soccer fans!

[ScotsFan]

Looks like Spain is at it again as far as taking on the role of biggest chokers in the World Cup.  The Swiss took them down 1-0 today! 

[Hoosier Titan]

Looks like Spain is at it again as far as taking on the role of biggest chokers in the World Cup.  The Swiss took them down 1-0 today! 

I think it's probably a bit early to call them chokers--hardly any of the favored teams impressed in their openers.  Spain totally dominated except for the little matter of the scoreline . I think Spain is vulnerable due to their lack of size without Torres, and when he did come in he looked a tad rusty on the ball due to being injured most of the spring.   Big physical teams which can disrupt their passing could be a problem for Spain.  Think of what Inter Milan did to Barcelona in the CL semi (since half of the Spanish team play for Barcelona).

From what I saw this morning, Chile didn't look bad at all.  Anybody see the entire match? That whole group could get really interesting!

Back in the US now.  Culture shock and jet lag are setting in.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I didn't see the Spain/Switzerland game itself, but just saw some highlights on ESPN.  Spain had a number of really excellent chances to score, but just couldn't catch a break.

Rough day for the host country.  With Uruguay up 1-0, RSA's keeper was red-carded for tripping a player attempting to score.  Forlan (who already had the first goal) made the PK to pretty much ice the game.  Adding insult to injury, Uruguay scored a third goal with about 20 seconds left in injury time.  RSA will have to try to beat France (by at least 2-3 goals to have any chance at a tie-break) with their back-up keeper, who definitely appears to be a step below their starter.  It looks highly probable that RSA will be the first host country ever to not make it out of group.

[Mr. Ypsi]

While the better team won, I feel bad for Bafana Bafana.  Forlan's first goal glanced off the back of a defender - while a great goal, I'm not certain it would have been a goal without that slight deflection/change of speed.  While the red-card was probably technically correct, it seemed an overly harsh penalty for incidental contact AFTER the keeper had kicked away the goal (and Suarez was no longer likely to get to the ball - I'd say PK, but yellow if carded at all).  And Khune probably would have stopped that final goal.

Doesn't really matter (barring a goal-differential tie-break), but I'd say that was much closer to a 1-0, not 3-0, game.

[sac]

I did see enough of France to know they just aren't very good)

confirmed!

[sac]

http://www.sportspickle.com/article:999/video-what-english-goalie-robert-green-was-thinking-on-that-goal

[Mr. Ypsi]

More danger for Cup fans - beware of family members wanting to watch gospel shows instead.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/17/man-killed-by-family-for-_n_616199.html

They may watch gospel shows, but the message seems to elude them.