General World Cup and in-game discussion

[cristo]

Juergen getting his excuses in early (or playing mind games to try and get the ref to favor the US)?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28101141

 

[D H]

Some interesting stats regarding the group stage, from http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-28054653

In addition to high number of goals and a dearth of ties, this world cup's group stage had more last minute winners, with seven matches decided within the last five minutes, and more close games, with 44% of the matches ending with a one goal margin (same as 1990, so tying this record).

 

[DennisN]

Free kick for Switzerland... their last chance!
EDIT: No luck for Switzerland, Argentina wins.

 

[D H]

And it didn't work.

That was a very, very, very tight game.

How can you say soccer is boring? That was a 1-0 match, and it wasn't boring at all.

 

[Borek]

Actually I felt asleep somewhere during second half (OK, beer didn't help me stay awake, and it was a secondary sleep gate in my time zone) and woke up to see last 10 minutes.

Perfect way of seeing all that was to see.

 

[DennisN]

Soon Belgium will clash with USA, very exciting! I think this match will be a quite open/even game, but who knows? Soon the match will start...

 

[jobyts]

So far, all the 'round of 16' are won by the group number 1's. See if that tradition changes with the US match.

 

[Orodruin]

In addition to high number of goals and a dearth of ties, this world cup's group stage had more last minute winners, with seven matches decided within the last five minutes, and more close games, with 44% of the matches ending with a one goal margin (same as 1990, so tying this record).

However, we have already reached the same number of games being tied at full time in the knockout stage as in 2010 already after 7 games in the round of 16... And the same number of penalty shootouts.

 

[Orodruin]

And now 5 out of 8 games tied @ 90 minutes.

 

[DennisN]

Belgium - USA 2-0 with 15 minutes left. Sad for the US, but it's very, very hard to play against a Belgium that is playing so well.

 

[DennisN]

Belgium - USA 2-1. It's not over yet! USA never gives up!

 

[DennisN]

And now USA is playing very well! Go for it!

 

[DennisN]

Sorry, USA . But USA put up a good fight against a difficult opponent that played well (Belgium), kudos to the US team who never gave up, even if they were tired.

 

[cristo]

What a game - I think Belgium deserved the win, but the US put up a great performance.. and could have won it at the death!

 

[Borek]

I think 3:1 would better reflect what was going on, still, great game.

 

[Matterwave]

My heart is broken into a million little pieces.

 

[micromass]

My heart is broken into a million little pieces.

I'm sorry

 

[cristo]

My heart is broken into a million little pieces.

Try being an England fan... but seriously, remember these losses because it makes the winning, in the future, even more sweet.

 

[Borek]

Try being an England fan...

Say that to any Pole.

 

[DennisN]

Say that to any Pole.

Or Swede...

 

[D H]

We could have won that at 90+2:30. No extra time, no finally finding the hole by Belgium. Oh well. Next time.

 

[AlephZero]

but seriously, remember these losses...

And if history repeats itself too often,

“It's not the despair, Laura. I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand.

-- John Cleese.

 

[cristo]

We could have won that at 90+2:30. No extra time, no finally finding the hole by Belgium. Oh well. Next time.

You really could have! Tim Howard kept you in the game, but that was a shocking miss from 8 yards. Still, for the neutral, it was a cracking game to watch!

 

[D H]

I don't get the "soccer is boring. It's such a low scoring game!" mindset. That was an exciting game. Every one of the round of 16 games has been exciting. Not one lopsided game. Four games with a one point difference. Two ties that went into kicks from the mark. I'm not thrilled with kicks from the mark, but that it got to that point means the game was so close.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

The wondo miss was really really bad. We had it.

 

[Matterwave]

The wondo miss was really really bad. We had it.

The wound is still fresh...don't keep reminding me of this...T_T

 

[WWGD]

Could have lost by much more if not for howard's great job.

 

[Borek]

We could have won that at 90+2:30. No extra time, no finally finding the hole by Belgium. Oh well. Next time.

To be just, Belgians could have it around 20 times earlier. Howard was incredible.

I think it is a 3rd or 4th match in the last few days when it is a goalkeeper that makes the game for his team.

 

[AlephZero]

Something to watch while waiting for the next round:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E_8EjoxY7Q

 

[Borek]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.playsoft.soccerbite.