SouthernWingsFan 854 Report post Posted June 29, 2010 (edited) A few thoughts... Unfortunately the officiating overall has been pretty atrocious. NHL officiating on grass perhaps? The U.S. got hosed out of wins, twice, all things remaining the same in those two games, but thankfully still advanced to the knockout rounds. England and Mexico got screwed bigtime as well. I absolutely hate when bitter fans on here or anywhere use the officiating excuse card if their team loses, but referees playing a bigger outcome than necessary in determining a game and blowing obvious calls that a 2nd grader could make equally aggravates the hell out of me as well. As for the U.S., there's a lot of different angles you can take to whether or not you are happy or disappointed in them or whatever. First the positive/happy side... They did advance to the knockout stage, which was an initial goal probably - and they did it despite getting shafted a few times as explained above. On the happy go side realizing that along with understanding that some of the soccer giants bowed out early this year (Italy, France etc., Argentina in '02 in South Korea/Japan I believe, and so forth) and this happens pretty much every year in the World Cup when you have a limited amount of games and such a slim margin for error, you can have probably some form of contentedness. Now the disappointing side... Getting to the knockout stage is great, but it would be hard for the cards to fall into place again anytime soon to where they'd have a chance at a big run to Quarterfinals, Semifinals etc. like what happened this year in playing Ghana then Uruguay/South Korea if they won. They blew that opportunity. No disrespect to Ghana, they've beaten the USA twice in a row now, but losing to Ghana in the biggest stage was extremely disappointing. Hypothetically speaking, maybe Ghana is one of those teams the U.S. beats 7, 8 times out of 10. But, if the U.S. wants to get themselves to the same level of consistency as teams like Germany, Brazil, England, Spain, etc. - they need to win the games they should win (at least on paper) when it counts most. That they still haven't been able to prove yet. I honestly don't think much needs changing, just a little bit of luck and trying to get a little bit more firepower, as our forward corps just has a lack of finishing power it seems. Edited June 29, 2010 by SouthernWingsFan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dropkickshanahans 463 Report post Posted June 29, 2010 (edited) I agree entirely about the challenge system - I've been saying for ages what a good idea it is. IMO, there's always seemed to be a hidden agenda in FIFA's refusal to introduce any of these measures. Apparently, Blatter has now said they're finally going to 'look at' introducing the technology later on in the summer. Whoopee! Too late for many. He's like Bud Selig, he cares too much about the human element-tradition of the game to want to make any changes for the better. It took a blown perfect game against the Tigers for Selig to start "discussing" instant replay, as it took an absolutely blown call on a clear goal for Blatter to want to "discuss" the same thing. Only bad thing about the discussion that I recently heard today is that they're only going to discuss putting a chip in the ball or whatever, but no changes that have to deal with offsides. The problem I have with this is how many times have we seen a blown no-goal call like this? I don't recall any. How many times have we seen blown offside calls? A lot. So their discussions later this summer isn't going to do anything to help the game that much at all. Edited June 29, 2010 by dropkickshanahans Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VanDer 58 Report post Posted June 30, 2010 He's like Bud Selig, he cares too much about the human element-tradition of the game to want to make any changes for the better. It took a blown perfect game against the Tigers for Selig to start "discussing" instant replay, as it took an absolutely blown call on a clear goal for Blatter to want to "discuss" the same thing. Only bad thing about the discussion that I recently heard today is that they're only going to discuss putting a chip in the ball or whatever, but no changes that have to deal with offsides. The problem I have with this is how many times have we seen a blown no-goal call like this? I don't recall any. How many times have we seen blown offside calls? A lot. So their discussions later this summer isn't going to do anything to help the game that much at all. True goals given due to dodgy offsides are much more likly but there are also a number of goal decisions where goal line technology will help http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-8dOjeVC80 This one the ball didnt go anywere near in but the ref gives it as a goal This next one i couldnt find a video for it so a picture will have to do You can clearly see the ball in the corner of the net. The goal was not given Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kook_10 1,705 Report post Posted June 30, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcnEm0SxQic&feature=player_embedded Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
germanwing 154 Report post Posted July 3, 2010 Germany destroys Argentina 4-0 in the quarterfinal. Messi without a goal in the whole tournament. Very disappointing World Cup for him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hockeytown0001 7,652 Report post Posted July 3, 2010 The winning goal for Uruguay was unreal Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
germanwing 154 Report post Posted July 3, 2010 You need strong nerves to do that! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sWK6k8-tX4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dropkickshanahans 463 Report post Posted July 6, 2010 (edited) Well Uruguay's run is over. Forlan was huge again for his team, but it looks like the game was decided by another questionable offsides call. Nonetheless, I look to see the Dutch vs Germany in the finals, but we'll see what Paul the Octopus says Edited July 6, 2010 by dropkickshanahans Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SweWings 45 Report post Posted July 9, 2010 Well Uruguay's run is over. Forlan was huge again for his team, but it looks like the game was decided by another questionable offsides call. Nonetheless, I look to see the Dutch vs Germany in the finals, but we'll see what Paul the Octopus says Forlan is amazing and hopefully he'll cause some trouble for Germany but for me Holland vs Spain is a dream final. Holland has always been my 2nd favorite team in international soccer (after Sweden, duh!). And Barcelona has been my favorite club since the Kluivert days, and since Spain's starting line-up is made up of at least 50 % Barcelona players . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drwscc 212 Report post Posted July 12, 2010 What an ugly game today, but hell of a result. Congrats, Spain! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
