Aussie here. Too bad we are out already... although we nearly beat Netherlands!
But seriously, does anyone else agree with me that its a long boring game?? and that soccer players have to be the biggest sooks?? Oh, you stole the ball! Im going to fall over and cry, until you get a penalty!!!
I don't like football at all. The only exception the World Cup 8-bit NES game. I didn't care about past tournament, and I don't care about this one either (even with more reasons, obviously).
Holanda has a great team.... Sneijder and Robbin are doing very well. Today they beat Chile and will play against Mexico next Sunday. I guess they will go on.
This was in 2002, so it's been 12 years of frustration. We were so angry that we refused to participate in the next 2 world cups (or we just weren't good enough to qualify, I forgot). Now let's hope we get the opportunity to take revenge in their own country :-D
For this reason, we are happy that the japanese referee helped Brazil in the opening match. Without that help they probably would've lost and wouldn't have survived the group stage. Too bad for the Croatians (yeah, I'm a hypocrit :-)
Other teams I've enjoyed watching: Mexico, Chile, Italy, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Germany, Ghana and Holland. And a special notice to Australia coz they played a really nice game against Holland! Very open, nice goal (Cahill) and yes, it nearly paid off for them. All too often, weaker teams pull up a wall before their own goal (like Algeria v Belgium, Iran v Argentina, Greece v any team ...), but not Australia!
Today there will be a "final" match Uruguay x Italy.... My guess: Uruguay will pass to next stage, because World Cup in Brazil without Uruguay isn't a World Cup
@ JustNash: Yes, the japanese referee had a bad day, but I don't think Brazilian team would lost anyway. Who knows? And Croatia team wasn't on a good day either. It was just the 1st match. They had 2 more opportunities to show it against Mexico and Camarões.
Revenge isn't a good feeling, but Belgium team will have opportunity to it, just by beating USA or Germany.
Belgium has a great team and is going better at each game... It is always nice to see a new country going into the champions club.
I think Brazil will have a biased ref every game from here on. Why so? Because if Brazil doesn't advance into atleast the semis, the whole country will burn. There are protests everyday against the government because so much has been spent for the worldcup and nothing is done for the people. Imagine if all that money was spent and Brazil failed to qualify for atleast the semi-finals? The protesters would tear the country apart.
I think all sports are now too influenced by Politics at some level. The other day i read FIFA has asked 7 Costa Rica players for a drug test while only 2 players from Italy. That is clear bias. Sponsors don't pay for teams like Costa Rica or Ghana to advance, they want their golden kid Neymar or Messi on the billboards. Imagine all that money going down the drain.
Holland is playing amazing. Arjen and Van Persie are a delight to watch (though i HATE Van Persie because I am an Arsenal fan).
Been a German fan since i was a little kid. I remember almost crying 4 years ago when Puyol headed the ball into the net from a corner to knock out Germany in the semis. It's been a long time coming. Germany has never had more depth in their squad and if it's not now, it's never really.
Interesting game today, Italy vs Uruguay. Hate both of them. Dislike Uruguay because of Suarez, find him way too arrogant. Hate Italy because they knocked out Germany in Euro2012.
But, let's hope for a good game
@VentureWolf: all of that stuff about "revenge" was to be taken with a little pinch of salt :-) I don't really care if we win against Brazil or Tadjikistan, as long as we win :-) And yes, you are right, we aren't talking about beating Brazil. We need to beat our adversary in the 1/8 finals. That'll be hard enough. No need to look ahead of that at this point. We'd have no right to be that arrogant.
@Desolation:
1. Italy also had to send 7 players to doping checks after the game before Costa Rica (vs England). This is nothing to do with politics. Fifa said they wanted to check x% (I think 90% but don't remember exactly) of the players present on the world cup. Very few Costa Rican players were checked before the world cup, so they're tested now. Let's be honest: if Costa Rica had lost every game, nobody would've given a damn that the players weren't tested. But imagine what would happen if both Italy and England were knocked out by Costa Rica and then it turned out that their players weren't tested for doping?! Then everybody would say it was a conspiracy by Brazil and Germany to get rid of their competitors :-D
2. Arsenal-man myself :-D Still enjoyed Suarez' nose for goals vs England. Have to respect that... Same with van Persie's header vs Spain...
What about France though, guys? They were written off in 2010. Going to Brazil without Ribéry only made that worse. Nobody seems to be talking about them. But they have been verrry convincing, haven't they?
I never found France convincing, ever since Zidane, Henry, Trezeguet and the rest of that generation stopped playing.
They definitely got talent, but no team, same as Spain.
Yes, France played a great offensive football. But still not sure if they can score that easily against first class teams like they did against Honduras and Switzerland.
If I have to support a team that has a chance, my vote to GERMANY. But still wish success for USA, France, Mexico, Belgium, Colombia, Bosnia and Algeria, who tried to exhibit good football (somehow).
And finally have to express my deepest regrets for lack of sportsmanship in football. Tattooed wrestlers and dirty divers are taking over. Shining stars like Oliver Bierhoff, Pele, Michel Platini, Marco Von Basten ... could play top class football without violence, aggression and pretense. But the way they played football is not advertised these days.
JN : As per the FIFA law, only 2 players are required to be tested per team for doping. I didn't read about the 7 italian players, infact i heard the commentator talking about the bias shown by FIFA today while he was commentating for the Italy game :/
Suarez : He deserves to be kicked out from the WC after what he did today. Atleast a 10 match ban. ATLEAST.
France : They look good with Benzema. Though Ribery will be missed dearly in the round of 16 and so on. No Nasri either. Tough for them.