World Cup and European leagues

[ECSUalum]

Does anyone think FIFA will ever allow instant replay similar to what we have in NFL, NBA???

FIFA still in the dark ages, and will be suspect until they move into the 21 century.

Wonder what the requirements/qualifications were to get picked to officiate at WC 2010 and who was responsible for the selections.

Some referees were excellent, others a disaster!

BTW, I thought the Portugal vs Brazil match was boring.   And that Spain could be on the verge of elimination today if they dont play well vs Chile!!!

[Gray Fox]

FIFA still in the dark ages, and will be suspect until they move into the 21 century.

Soccer should have a back court rule.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I only saw the last 35-40 minutes of Brazil/Portugal, but that was some pathetic football.   Note to Brazil: having your defenders and midfielders play keep-away 60 yards from the goal is NOT 'the beautiful game'!

[Gray Fox]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkhJKAkau2A&feature=player_embedded#!

No comment needed.

[Mr. Ypsi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkhJKAkau2A&feature=player_embedded#!

No comment needed.

Ravel must be spinning like a top!

[Hoosier Titan]

Competent, workmanlike showing from Spain against a lively Chile side.  I'm happy to see both sides advance.

Loved the commentary:  "A loss is a win for Chile while a draw is a loss for Switzerland..."

[Mr. Ypsi]

IMO, Spain/Chile was yet another game whose outcome may have been affected by questionable officiating.  Giving a second yellow (hence a red) to the Chilean player for what was almost certainly accidental contact (both players were running at the goal at top speed, eyes on the ball not each other, when he clipped the Spanish player's heel) seems WAY overly harsh.  Since Chile, playing a man down from the 37th minute on, nevertheless outscored Spain 1-0 the rest of the game, who knows what might have happened if they were full strength?

Oh well, I'm not sure getting Brazil is that much worse than getting Portugal in the round of 16.  And Spain/Portugal and Brazil/Chile has a certain natural rivalry aspect that the reverse match-ups just don't have.

[Hoosier Titan]

IMO, Spain/Chile was yet another game whose outcome may have been affected by questionable officiating.  Giving a second yellow (hence a red) to the Chilean player for what was almost certainly accidental contact (both players were running at the goal at top speed, eyes on the ball not each other, when he clipped the Spanish player's heel) seems WAY overly harsh.  Since Chile, playing a man down from the 37th minute on, nevertheless outscored Spain 1-0 the rest of the game, who knows what might have happened if they were full strength?

Oh well, I'm not sure getting Brazil is that much worse than getting Portugal in the round of 16.  And Spain/Portugal and Brazil/Chile has a certain natural rivalry aspect that the reverse match-ups just don't have.

Noted.  However, the same Chilean player had earned a second yellow just a few minutes earlier, and it was inexplicably not given.  In my opinion, it was just his karma coming back to bite him.

[Mr. Ypsi]

IMO, Spain/Chile was yet another game whose outcome may have been affected by questionable officiating.  Giving a second yellow (hence a red) to the Chilean player for what was almost certainly accidental contact (both players were running at the goal at top speed, eyes on the ball not each other, when he clipped the Spanish player's heel) seems WAY overly harsh.  Since Chile, playing a man down from the 37th minute on, nevertheless outscored Spain 1-0 the rest of the game, who knows what might have happened if they were full strength?

Oh well, I'm not sure getting Brazil is that much worse than getting Portugal in the round of 16.  And Spain/Portugal and Brazil/Chile has a certain natural rivalry aspect that the reverse match-ups just don't have.

Noted.  However, the same Chilean player had earned a second yellow just a few minutes earlier, and it was inexplicably not given.  In my opinion, it was just his karma coming back to bite him.

I heard the common-taters talking about that, but it happened before I turned on the match (had to take the dog to the dog park).  It did sound like Chile came out a bit chippy, but I missed most of the cards.

They both went thru anyway (boo! on the last 10-15 minutes of the game!).  Good luck (and good reffing!) to all from here on out (except opponents of the USA - may you hit nothing but crossbars, and get nothing but bad calls! ).

[Mr. Ypsi]

Switzerland has certainly mastered defense, but they HAVE to find an offense!   Maybe that comes with being a nation of burghers!

Although I have nothing against Honduras, I was kinda rooting for Switzerland to win 1-0, which still would have knocked them out.  I'm guessing someone MUST have been sent home despite scoring 6 points in group, but I can't recall it - anyone know if it has ever happened?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Just stumbled upon another bit of trivia:

Shortest time leading in a game by a group winner:

Previous record - Netherlands, 21 minutes, 1994.

New record - USA, TWO minutes, 2010!

Let's see someone beat that one!

[BoBo]

Last I heard, FIFA does not have to and will not make Coulibaly explain himself for what the call was.  And nor will FIFA release an explaination of just what the call was.  At least when Jim Joyce made his gaff in ruining that perfect game, he had the stones to come out and admit he got the call wrong and explain why he made the call he made.  Coulibaly and FIFA really made themselves look bad with their cowardly act of not even giving one explaination. 

I would hope that dude never officiates another high profile event outside of the African Cup of Nations ever again?!

As you said Mr. Y.  Thankfully it was a moot point.  But it took a wonder goal from Landon Donovan in stoppage time to make it a moot point.  I'm sure that Mr. Coulibaly breathed in a HUGE sigh of relief knowing that Landon Donovan basically took him off the hook with his goal that propelled the Americans through to the knockout round.

First of all FIFA doesn't care that they looked bad because they don't care what Americans think. Apparently the rest of the world accepts the fact that a referee can go to his grave without an explanation -- in FIFA's view, that's the beauty of soccer, if a mistake is made, at least allow an imperfect human to make it. Secondly, looking at some of the close-ups video of Mr. Coulibaly, are you able to tell if he is actually breathing in the first place? Thirdly, the "wonder goal" does nothing, IMO, to take him off the hook. But again Mr. Coulibaly doesn't really care -- his 50 grand fee for refereeing in the WC will make him forget about that. Do you know how far 50 big ones goes in Mali? Let's just say he moved into a new tax bracket!! 

[Hoosier Titan]

I heard the common-taters talking about that, but it happened before I turned on the match (had to take the dog to the dog park).  It did sound like Chile came out a bit chippy, but I missed most of the cards.

They both went thru anyway (boo! on the last 10-15 minutes of the game!). 

One of my friends in Chile, right after the sending off, said "Estrada (the player sent off), you can't play every ball to the limit."  I didn't think the Chileans were chippy, for the most part, but so assertive that they got themselves into trouble.  The yellow card to Ponce which will cause him to miss the Brazil match was a different story--a direct kick to Fernando Torres' shin that was reminiscent of the one that got David Beckham sent off in 1998.

During the last 10 minutes I predicted we'd be hearing calls for a shot clock!  No one loves the four-corner offense any more, huh?  At least the whole match wasn't played that way--far from it. 

[sac]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkhJKAkau2A&feature=player_embedded#!

No comment needed.

I clicked this by accident thinking it was something else, fortunately my player crashed before it could start. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

Just stumbled upon another bit of trivia:

Shortest time leading in a game by a group winner:

Previous record - Netherlands, 21 minutes, 1994.

New record - USA, TWO minutes, 2010!

Let's see someone beat that one!

Of course, anyone with replay knows that the US also led Slovenia for the last 8-9 minutes of their tie (WIN), and also led Algeria for the last 75 minutes, but oh well.  Hopefully the US has already gotten the ridiculously bad calls out of their system!

Time for simply 'normal' bad calls!

Time to focus on Ghana.