Germany vs Italy: Time for the Fireworks!

[Gokul43201]

Time for the fireworks!

(though, if Klose would be kind enough to not score, I'd appreciate it)

 

[Astronuc]

Half-time 0-0

Great game!

These guys are getting physical. Interesting rollover by one of the Italians.

 

[NateTG]

Italy is currently getting the best of it. We'll have to see what the second half brings.

 

[Astronuc]

So close for Germany!

 

[Astronuc]

Excellent refereeing!

These guys need to stop taking dives.

And what's this grabbing the head business?

Heck I kissed ball a few times - didn't stop to worry about it!

 

[Astronuc]

Overtime . . .

 

[NateTG]

Excellent refereeing!

I suppose. The ref (more or less) gave Italy the chance to go into overtime.

 

[Astronuc]

I was thinking up through half-time. There was quite a bit of contact and diving - and refs made some good calls.

 

[EL]

Ouch. Italy is pretty unlucky now...

 

[Astronuc]

So close! Twice for Italy! Right post, then cross bar.

Germany feels the pressure.

 

[Astronuc]

Podolski loses it! 2nd OT.

 

[siddharth]

Podolski should have scored that late chance! That was a free header so close to the goal. I hope this game doesn't go to penalties.

 

[siddharth]

Wow! Amazing game!

 

[EL]

Wow, it's getting hot now...

 

[siddharth]

gooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!And another ! Majestic stuff from Italy

 

[Cyrus]

Italy Wins!

 

[EL]

Goal!
Italy!

 

[EL]

2-0 Del Piero!

 

[Cyrus]

Another goal italy wins!

 

[Astronuc]

Grosso off Pirlo!

Germany cratered.

Now another Gooooaaaal! Italy!

WOW!

 

[Cyrus]

Awww, all the german fans are crying now...HAAAAAA HAAAA!

 

[neutrino]

Wow! The best two minutes of the WC! The goalkeepers, however, were the pick of the lot...great saves.

 

[Sisyphus]

what a game!

 

[NateTG]

Classic game.

 

[Gokul43201]

Why did they bring in Del Piero so late? He always fires up the game!

Good finish by Italy. Methinks the Fates smiled upon them for playing 2 hrs without excessively throwing the elbow.

 

[Anttech]

FORZA ITALIA!

YES YES YES YES :) I am so happy, I watched that game with a German Mate of mine :) hehehe... Italy outplayed them, what a defence!

 

[EL]

As I said from the beginning, Italy will win this tournament!

 

[NateTG]

The Italian Center-Back is unreal.

 

[marlon]

Great match, i really enjoyed it. I was surrounded by two Italian collegues who were just,...well,...you know...very happy :)

IMO, Italy indeed outplayed Germany by generating more chances and playing a marvellous defensive game. The Germans just couldn't get through. Great second goal by del Piero BTW. I remember him pulling the same thing off (scoring after coming in very late) in the European Cup in 2000 i believe.

TANTI AUGURI A TUTTI GLI ITALIANI

regards
marlon

 

[marlon]

The Italian Center-Back is unreal.

Cannavaro ?

marlon

 

[marlon]

Methinks the Fates smiled upon them for playing 2 hrs without excessively throwing the elbow.

marlon

 

[NateTG]

Cannavaro ?

Yeah. He had a spectacular game.

 

[Astronuc]

IMO, Italy indeed outplayed Germany by generating more chances and playing a marvellous defensive game. The Germans just couldn't get through. Great second goal by del Piero BTW. I remember him pulling the same thing off (scoring after coming in very late) in the European Cup in 2000 i believe.

Yeah! Italy put the pressure on Germany, but the German attack on the Italian box was rather weak.

Even after Odonkor came in (rather late), the German attack was relatively weak.

They need to work on their diffusivity in the box.

Some highlights from Fifaworld on Yahoo - http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/060704/1/8kcg.html

 

[Anttech]

IMO, Italy indeed outplayed Germany by generating more chances and playing a marvellous defensive game. The Germans just couldn't get through. Great second goal by del Piero BTW. I remember him pulling the same thing off (scoring after coming in very late) in the European Cup in 2000 i believe.

I Aggree :)

Unlucky Germany, you just well weren't good enough!

France Italy Final, Italy wins (I hope, but France could beat them)

 

[marlon]

Even after Odonkor came in (rather late), the German attack was relatively weak.

Yep, i completely agree, that was a big mistake by Klinsmann.

Now, let's see tonight. Everybody expects France to win (well, me too) so the final might be France Italy...

ALLEZ LES BLEUS !

marlon

 

[DM]

Outstanding game!

 

[Pyrrhus]

Excellent Game

 

[Reshma]

Wow, great game! Complete Italian domination from the beginning.

 

[shmoe]

Excellent refereeing!

These guys need to stop taking dives.

And what's this grabbing the head business?

Heck I kissed ball a few times - didn't stop to worry about it!

No kidding. All too often you touch an Italian player and they cover their faces with their hands and fall over. I see two possibilities on the face covering- they are either sissies and don't want anyone to see them cry in pain over such minor touches (or harsh winds) or they are hiding in shame from their disgracefull actions.

I didn't see much diving from Germany. There was a nice moment when Klose was taken down (by a clean tackle) in the box and his immediate reaction was to regain his footing and give chase. A nice play for someone I've seen do the swan dive more than once. Germany did have a strong tendency to flap their arms after every tackle appealing for a foul when they should have just been giving chase (burned into my brain as a youth-let the ref call the game and don't stop until you hear the whistle). Germany's biggest fault though was playing like they had already won the game on penalty kicks (which they almost surely would have) when there was still about 5 minutes to go.

 

[Astronuc]

I didn't see much diving from Germany. There was a nice moment when Klose was taken down (by a clean tackle) in the box and his immediate reaction was to regain his footing and give chase. A nice play for someone I've seen do the swan dive more than once. Germany did have a strong tendency to flap their arms after every tackle appealing for a foul when they should have just been giving chase (burned into my brain as a youth-let the ref call the game and don't stop until you hear the whistle). Germany's biggest fault though was playing like they had already won the game on penalty kicks (which they almost surely would have) when there was still about 5 minutes to go.

Yeah, I didn't notice much if any diving from the German players.

I don't ever remember getting a serious sliding tackle, although I would get hit, more like collide with someone, while going for ball. If I got knocked down, I'd just get up a play - even if I had a bloody nose.

I think only once I got an elbow in the side of the head. But when that happened, I just kept playing. Having played American and Victorian rules football as a teenager - I was used to getting hit - particularly blindsided. Actually the worst contact was someone coming down on my leg and foot when we both went for a ball in the air. His shoe scraped down my leg and he landed on my foot, and he then bounced off me since I had been running until we made contact. The ref stopped the game. We we both fine - it looked much worse than it was.

Someone made a comment that 'diving' is ruining the sport (football), and someone esle was complaining about the theatrics, i.e. the way the players act when they get tackled or hit. Shame for football, if that's the case.

 

[shmoe]

I've been dropped many times playing soccer, only a handful of times have I stayed down as a result. Pulled my groin in a tackle once, crawled off the field and layed face down in the grass for about half an hour in agony before the painful limp home. Worst part of any injury is the down time you're supposed to have to recover, but then playing injured anyway. I've been pretty fortunate though, the scariest incident was probably the cleat scape high up on the inner thigh, a little too close to home base for comfort.

Most of the fields I used to play on were a small amount of tough weeds over a crappy sandy/dirt mixture. My shins were generally scraped raw and covered in blood from sliding (mostly towards the outside that's not so protected by shin guards) I had developed a nice spot on my left leg where hair would no longer grow. It's taken years of playing on nicer turf for it to start growing back in.

The flopping is definitely hurting popularity. When the highlight reel shows a game decided by a very soft looking penalty in the box, how many hockey players with toothless grins are going to tune into the next match?

 

[Anttech]

I hate to ruin your "negative sledging of football" party here. But Football, is getting more popular, not less.

 

[shmoe]

I hate to ruin your "negative sledging of football" party here. But Football, is getting more popular, not less.

I did not say the overall popularity of football is in a decline. Without any doubts there are potential viewers who stay away because they can't stand the theatrics==> it hurts the popularity.

I'm making an assumption here that ditching the acting won't cause people to turn away. Maybe this is wrong, maybe some people actually watch for this part of the game but I can't imagine why.

 

[George Jones]

I hate to ruin your "negative sledging of football" party here. But Football, is getting more popular, not less.

I agree with shmoe - here in North America people take a dim view of all the "unmanly" flopping that has been on display in the World Cup, and it certainly turns a lot of North Americans off football.

To be sure, flopping occurs in, e.g., ice hockey and basketball, but there is nowhere near the same amount of flopping, rolling around, and clutching at "injured" body parts.

What happens in high-level football is embarrassing - there's no other way to put it.

I'm speaking as a North American who, for the most part, enjoys watching football. Many North Americans that I know watch a few games, get totally turned off, and don't come back.

 

[Anttech]

Yes you are making a big assumption based on whatever media you are watching and based on your own opinion of football. Not only are you assuming that this is hurting the game, but you are contriving this assumption based on what you 'think' is diving. I am sure you would be argued against quite consistantly over this issue alone.

Regardless If you were to come here, you would kinda notice how popular football is. I was watching the Portugal v France game in Brussels with ~ 7,000 people (maybe more) at a street party, in Belgium!

 

[Anttech]

N.America, has never had a large football following. I mean you hardly even have a decent league structure to talk about. What is the average attendance at a super bowl league, or whatever u call it (Top division)? I would be interested to know. The popularity in America for your perception (Are the commentators going on about this the whole time too?)of a diving culture may indeed harm its popularity in the states, but, elsewhere the fact it isnt. Hell even monks are watching :)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5128542.stm

 

[shmoe]

Yes you are making a big assumption based on whatever media you are watching and based on your own opinion of football. Not only are you assuming that this is hurting the game, but you are contriving this assumption based on what you 'think' is diving.

This is NOT an assumption. I know many, many sports fans who won't watch football because of it's reputation for flopiness. FACT-some people are turned away by the diving. Get it?

I do make the assumption that regular fans won't be turned off if they removed the acting. Do you think that's unreasonable? Would you stop watching?

I am sure you would be argued against quite consistantly over this issue alone.

Contact that wouldn't put a 10 year old kid on the ground yet drops a 180 lb professional athlete with superb conditioning and balance. There's my definition. Heck, remove the "contact" word and you still have enough wind-based falls in some games to turn people away.

Regardless If you were to come here, you would kinda notice how popular football is. I was watching the Portugal v France game in Brussels with ~ 7,000 people (maybe more) at a street party, in Belgium!

I will reiterate- I am not making a statement about the overall global popularity of football. I am claiming that some viewers are turned away because of footballs reputation. This is definitely true in Canada and the US.

The in-game announcers in Canada make no mention of the popularity. We are much more fortunate than fans in the US- we get the BBC feed and don't have to put up with those espn guys

 

[Anttech]

This is NOT an assumption. I know many, many sports fans who won't watch football because of it's reputation for flopiness. FACT-some people are turned away by the diving. Get it?

You said that the "floppiness is hurting popularity" THAT is an assumption! Period, you can't prove it, and you have already admited that the opposite is the case, that it is getting more and more popular, THAT is a fact! Perhaps the rate of popularity increase in your community would be better if there wasnt the "floppiness" Can you live with that ?

Contact that wouldn't put a 10 year old kid on the ground yet drops a 180 lb professional athlete with superb conditioning and balance. There's my definition. Heck, remove the "contact" word and you still have enough wind-based falls in some games to turn people away.

Exageration? yeap I have read umpteen times about how much diving Italy have been doing, its funny, because the all the media I read seem to indicate that they have not been doing this.

The in-game announcers in Canada make no mention of the popularity. We are much more fortunate than fans in the US- we get the BBC feed and don't have to put up with those espn guys

Good for you, and credit that you are forming your own, yet misguided, oppinion's not reguritating some (soar grapes?) ESPN commentators nonsence.

 

[George Jones]

Yes you are making a big assumption based on whatever media you are watching and based on your own opinion of football.

I base my remarks on what I see. I don't have cable or satellite TV, so I get only two (CBC and CTV) local channels, neither of which shows the World Cup. I have watched a number of games on the TV in the food court of the mall that is across the street from where I live. This TV is played without sound, so I watch the games (including instant replays) without hearing any "bias" from the commentators. I see substantially more diving than I do in hockey and basketball.

Regardless If you were to come here, you would kinda notice how popular football is. I was watching the Portugal v France game in Brussels with ~ 7,000 people (maybe more) at a street party, in Belgium!

I understand how popular football is in Europe, but my previous post was about the way North Americans (whose heritage doesn't include a country in which football is popular) react.

The Italians in Toronto are going crazy - blocking off streets to have street parties, etc.

I love watching the World Cup for the same reason that I love watching international hockey - when national teams play, the skills on display, both individual and team, are nothing short of astonishing. This nowithstanding, I think that the amount of acting on display in World Cup is also nothing short of astonsihing. No one can convince me otherwise.

 

[Anttech]

Well you are entitled to your opinion, I am entitled to dissagree

Why are comparing 3 completely different sports, anyway. There is no point in comparing Football to Hockey or Basketball. They are completely different sports (Obviously), there is no grounds to compare them.

If you don't like watching football because you don't 'seem' to understand the concept, then that's fine, watch basketball. I can't stand ice hockey, I don't understand the game and for me it is boring to watch.