2014 FIFA World Cup

[springrite]

Which two teams will qualify from group G?

Germany
Ghana
Portugal
USA

Germany and USA. CR will crush out and cry like a baby

[Marc]

Good news: Total Football is Back!


Bad news: The officiating, especially in the first two matches, has been atrocious!

Agreed.

Being Dutch, I had a great evening of course, but it's a shame that, in such a professional sport where zillions of dollars/euros/whatever are floating around, arbitrating is still very amateuristic. I don't blame the referees, they're human and humans make mistakes, but in almost any other sport there are solutions to minimize the effect of those mistakes, and football (FIFA et al) apparently has decided to stay conservative as long as possible. For what bl**dy reason??

Bad luck for Croatia, almost bad luck for Mexico, almost bad luck for the Netherlands (provoked foul by Diego Costa to get a penalty kick), bad luck for Spain (Van Persie made a foul before the 3-1 was scored) and also bad luck for Australian Tim Cahill, who apparently was elected for the part of 'black sheep' by referee Doue. 

[North Star]

Which two teams will qualify from group G?

Germany
Ghana
Portugal
USA

You put them in order already, I think..

[North Star]

Chile will steal one from Espana and send Spain home early.

Hah! I think Spain is a very strong contender for winning the cup (Netherlands too).

[Papy Oli]

..... and football (FIFA et al) apparently has decided to stay conservative as long as possible. For what bl**dy reason??

There was a debate about this on French radio last night and one of the reason brought forward by Fifa and Platini was their intention to maintain a certain "universality" of football, in other words that from the world cup down to the grass roots levels, the same set of rules and format should apply...so, as you can't apply video at lower levels, then you shouldn't apply it all. I am not convinced this universality still exists anyway....

They should apply the same system than in Tennis or cricket...you are allowed a certain number of video appeals by sets or innings and when you've used them up, then tough... other calls are just to the referee's discretion. The flip side is that, increasingly, referees don't trust their own judgement anymore due to this pressure and the video refereeing is being abused in rugby for instance, and it does kill the rhythm of the game (lots of controversy to that effect in French Rugby Top14 this season).

they should first of all distribute yellow and red cards to the players running to and hurling abuse to the referees. Just get the team captain and only him to relate to the referees. That woud certainly ease the pressure in some ways.

[Papy Oli]

or sin bin the buggers for 10 minutes.... 

An eventual 5-a-side world cup final would be fun... 

[North Star]

There was a debate about this on French radio last night and one of the reason brought forward by Fifa and Platini was their intention to maintain a certain "universality" of football, in other words that from the world cup down to the grass roots levels, the same set of rules and format should apply...so, as you can't apply video at lower levels, then you shouldn't apply it all. I am not convinced this universality still exists anyway....

Agreed, the top players should play barefooted if they wanted it to be the same for everyone. And it would be just as silly.

They should apply the same system than in Tennis or cricket...you are allowed a certain number of video appeals by sets or innings and when you've used them up, then tough... other calls are just to the referee's discretion. The flip side is that, increasingly, referees don't trust their own judgement anymore due to this pressure and the video refereeing is being abused in rugby for instance, and it does kill the rhythm of the game (lots of controversy to that effect in French Rugby Top14 this season).

they should first of all distribute yellow and red cards to the players running to and hurling abuse to the referees. Just get the team captain and only him to relate to the referees. That woud certainly ease the pressure in some ways.

Agreed. with all of this On the other hand, the goals are already checked by the video camera, why the hack couldn't they get there enough cameras and software to automatically check for every possible foul? Setting the example that playing dirty doesn't pay in the end would be a good thing for even them who can't have that technology in their games: if you play dirty, you've lost your chance to make it in the big leagues.

or sin bin the buggers for 10 minutes.... 

An eventual 5-a-side world cup final would be fun... 

Football does suffer a bit from having such a narrow scale of penalties, often one can get away with more fouls after a yellow card.

[Marc]

There was a debate about this on French radio last night and one of the reason brought forward by Fifa and Platini was their intention to maintain a certain "universality" of football, in other words that from the world cup down to the grass roots levels, the same set of rules and format should apply...so, as you can't apply video at lower levels, then you shouldn't apply it all. I am not convinced this universality still exists anyway.... [....]

Yeah, as if a local club tennis match between two 14-year olds has got 'hawk-eyes', 'video appeals' or whatever.

It's complete blabbering by Platini.
He should know better. He's not stupid, he should understand that all over the world the rules still stay the same.
But at a professional level the means to enforce those rules should be professional, too. These top players play so fast and foul so sly that it's impossible for the refs to see everything.

As it is right now: the entire world is watching top notch football .... and laughing for its amateurism.

[North Star]

We can concentrate on the hottest game, since the coolest games are over for now..

Costa Rica beating Uruguay is some surprise..

[North Star]

Some great football in England - Italy! Certainly looks like these two will advance from the group, unless Uruguay can improve a lot (and Costa Rica has about equal chance, I think)

[The Six]

I hope protesters are flooding every match. What a disgusting use of money to waste it on stadiums that will never be used after the tournament is over when you have such poverty, poor schools, and polluted waters.

[TheGSMoeller]

Good match but England looks to be running out of steam, Rooney has overshot the goal several times.

[vandermolen]

Usual England performance 'the lads did everything except putting the ball in the back of the net when it mattered'. At times England looked very promising. Rooney is invariably disappointing at this level, although he did set up England's goal.

[Wakefield]

Usual England performance 'the lads did everything except putting the ball in the back of the net when it mattered'. At times England looked very promising. Rooney is invariably disappointing at this level, although he did set up England's goal.

It's sad. I have always loved the English way, remarkably since Italy 90' and that epic match with Germany.

At some extent, this recalls me a headline I read time ago: "We played as never, but we lost as ever".

[North Star]

I like the English too, but their way just doesn't work when the other team can score goals too.

[NJ Joe]

Good match but England looks to be running out of steam, Rooney has overshot the goal several times.

As did Japan. Strong second half for Côte d'Ivoire.

[Brahmsian]

As did Japan. Strong second half for Côte d'Ivoire.

Yes, the Honda ran out of gas. 

Seriously though, Honda is an exciting player to watch.

The Group matches so far in this World Cup have been much more exciting than in South Africa 2010. 

[Pat B]

almost bad luck for Mexico

The "almost" part remains to be seen. This group could come down to goal differential.

My sense is that there are a lot more wrong offside calls than wrong offside no-calls. I hate that.

[Papy Oli]

Good win for the French against Honduras, making the best of a pretty ugly situation...

Granted, Pogba and Palacios should have both been sent for an early shower... and Palacios three times as well on this one alone...

[North Star]

My sense is that there are a lot more wrong offside calls than wrong offside no-calls. I hate that.

Agreed.