2014 FIFA World Cup Thread

[late347]

What did you think about the last portugal goal from the perspective of goalkeeper? There were two choices in my opinion... A) defender tackle portuguese attacker red card plus penalty shot B) goalkeeper jump-punch the high pass ball of ronaldo

[boogielicious]

What did you think about the last portugal goal from the perspective of goalkeeper?

There were two choices in my opinion...

A) defender tackle portuguese attacker red card plus penalty shot

B) goalkeeper jump-punch the high pass ball of ronaldo

I thought the keeper had a rough day in general.  The first goal he appeared to trip and let in an easy one.  The last one would have been a great save.  But it never should have come down to that.  The forward who replaced Demsey did a good job of taking time off and forced a throw in.  But the mids and fullbacks fell asleep.  Never stop until the final whistle.

[late347]

Yea he had a tough time with a couple balance mistakes. But he made genuinely one good onehanded save. I think goalie played average. The team should have played for time, slightly better overall. If you make short passes out of reach of enemy, that means they must keep playing with that same ball, right, as long as that ball is on field. Once it goes off field, only then they can throw the spare ball from outside the field, right? No long and high clearances but long passes/low clearances, out of reach

[boogielicious]

Yea he had a tough time with a couple balance mistakes. But he made genuinely one good onehanded save. I think goalie played average.

The team should have played for time, slightly better overall. If you make short passes out of reach of enemy, that means they must keep playing with that same ball, right, as long as that ball is on field.

Once it goes off field, only then they can throw the spare ball from outside the field, right?

No long and high clearances but long passes/low clearances, out of reach

Yes.  Bring the ball to the corners and play is space to make them run and take more time.  They just relaxed too much in the final couple of minutes.

[iacas]

Seeing lots of little winks at a US-Ger "deal" to tie on the interwebs.

How would that benefit Germany? They're the favorite in the group, right? And they're not going to lose (if they lose) by a lot of goals, so… why would they agree to it?

[cipher]

How would that benefit Germany? They're the favorite in the group, right? And they're not going to lose (if they lose) by a lot of goals, so… why would they agree to it?

Yeah they would not do that. They are not afraid of losing to the US. However, if they are drawing by the start of the second half, I would not be surprised to see things "slow" down quite a bit.

[nevets88]

How would that benefit Germany? They're the favorite in the group, right? And they're not going to lose (if they lose) by a lot of goals, so… why would they agree to it?

It won't - I guess it's more of a help an old teammate out thing.

Jones goal:

http://gfycat.com/AcademicAffectionateFinwhale

[RJH999]

I thought the keeper had a rough day in general.  The first goal he appeared to trip and let in an easy one.  The last one would have been a great save.  But it never should have come down to that.  The forward who replaced Demsey did a good job of taking time off and forced a throw in.  But the mids and fullbacks fell asleep.  Never stop until the final whistle.

That first goal was a major mistake by Geoff Cameron. That was an easy goal and Tim Howard could not have done much to save it.

[Motley01]

That first goal was a major mistake by Geoff Cameron. That was an easy goal and Tim Howard could not have done much to save it.

Ya and Tim Howard made some other great saves in the middle of the game. That double save was great.

[nevets88]

ESPN’s broadcast of USA Team’s 2-2 tie against Portugal on Sunday night averaged a 9.1 overnight rating, making it the the highest overnight rating for a World Cup match on ESPN or ESPN2, according to Nielsen.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/06/world-cup-ratings-usa-portugal/

[iacas]

ESPN’s broadcast of USA Team’s 2-2 tie against Portugal on Sunday night averaged a 9.1 overnight rating, making it the the highest overnight rating for a World Cup match on ESPN or ESPN2, according to Nielsen.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/06/world-cup-ratings-usa-portugal/

Almost three times higher than the final round of the U.S. Open (men).

[RandallT]

How would that benefit Germany? They're the favorite in the group, right? And they're not going to lose (if they lose) by a lot of goals, so… why would they agree to it?

I think the whole idea of a "wink-wink" thing is a tad overblown, but the idea is that they would accept a draw, if they had to. In the post-game discussion, it was said that there is definitely a possibility that at key parts of the game (perhaps late) that Germany might want to guard against being beaten, so therefore may play more defensive.  They can accept a draw and still move on as the #1 seed from group play, but they would not want to lose. I think that idea is being conflated into being a possible scenario for collusion, which I would highly doubt.

[Edit: I misunderstood your point  about losing... I took out a part that was "nevermind" now that I get what you're saying, Erik]

[Golfingdad]

I think the whole idea of a "wink-wink" thing is a tad overblown, but the idea is that they would accept a draw, if they had to. In the post-game discussion, it was said that there is definitely a possibility that at key parts of the game (perhaps late) that Germany might want to guard against being beaten, so therefore may play more defensive.  They can accept a draw and still move on as the #1 seed from group play, but they would not want to lose. I think that idea is being conflated into being a possible scenario for collusion, which I would highly doubt.

[Edit: I misunderstood your point  about losing... I took out a part that was "nevermind" now that I get what you're saying, Erik]

Yeah, I agree with this.  Silly to think that either team would do that.  No benefit for Germany, and too much pride for US.

But like was already mentioned by others, certainly the game plan is a little different for each team knowing that a tie helps them.

Is FIFA also extra careful to try and keep the live results of the opposite games out of the hands of the managers??

If USA knew that Portugal were winning 2-0 at halftime and they were still tied, then they could go into lockdown mode, and vice versa ... if they found out that Ghana was up 3-0 and they were still tied, then it would be time to turn it on.

[nevets88]

Game's not over yet and NYTimes knows the result? Get thee to a bookie!

[RJH999]

Game's not over yet and NYTimes knows the result? Get thee to a bookie! [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/100254/] [/URL]

It's common knowledge the world cup is fixed.

[nevets88]

It's common knowledge the world cup is fixed.

Steve

Kill slow play. Allow walking. Reduce ineffective golf instruction. Use environmentally friendly course maintenance.

[JetFan1983]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RJH999

Agreed. Michael Bradley is one of the best players on the team, if not THE best. This is not baseball, you can just bench Bryce Harper or whoever for a game because there are 162 games in baseball. There are 3 in this WC group stage, he makes too much a difference

Anything I can do to put the US in the semis in my fantasy land ;)

Disagree.  His play in the first game was similar.  Lots of running around, but many unforced errors.  He is overplaying his position.  I have had players like this, very fast and talented but trying to do too much and costing the team.  Sometimes it is better to sit them then sub them in the second half.  I saw him pass into a Portugal player at least 5 times in the second half.  That is the sign to me that he is not mentally prepared.  The jogging on the last play was inexcusable.  If he pursued the ball, he could have disrupted the flow of the scoring play.

Good stuff. He probably should have been subbed out.

[jamo]

Good stuff. He probably should have been subbed out.

Bradley? Disagree. They knew Besler and Dempsey were injury risks, and Jermaine Jones was gimpy in the second half as well. No way they were taking Bradley out.