I can't remember a duller series of matches in any competition, ever. Can it really be because of the altitude, because of the ball, because of the AIDS everywhere, because of the Vulvaszealas? Seriously, if the games don't get better, there will be no kuhnt watching by the final.
The first round of games are allways boring. Towards the end of the group stage the games should in prove. I just hope not too many of the park the ball infront of the goal teams make it past the group stage.
It never takes this long to get going. We could at least have expected a ding dong 5-4 affair between Ghana and Serbia by now.
There has been alot of red cards. Have we ever had so many red cards at this stage before. Imo i think the refs are being way too harsh.
Refs extra harsh, not allowing the game to flow. Plus every country will show nerves in the first game, therefore they tend to be cagey and tight affairs.
Surely there were more in 98 when all those tackles from behind were given straight reds? I must admit, it is boring me. Germany game aside, I thought the next best game was the Holland game today and if you look back, that was pretty poor as well! I think this tournament is made for someone like Italy to battle theri way through, reminds me very much of the 1990 and 1994 finals which were both pretty much boring. Brazil are so well organised as well with a water carrier like Dunga in charge, I can not see flair football shining through at this stage.
When you have a yellow card...and intentionally touch the ball with your hand in the box...that would constitute a second yellow card...hence a red card. I do think that the straight red against Cahill was harsh, but that was the only one. To me this is the best officiated Cup I remember. Seemed like the one in Korea/Japan had cards flying all over the place..but then again that was eight years ago and my memory is going.
The noise of the vuvuzelas mens you can't hear any kind of atmosphere in the stadium, just a constant buzzing that drowns out any sounds of excitement or reaction from the crowd. As for the ball, I'm starting to wonder if the reason Germany looked so good is because they having been using that ball in the Bundesliga. Edit: I've just read that Jamie Carragher thinks the same thing about the ball and Germany, so I take that back.
It's always the same though, lots of hype and a bit anti-climax. Germany game and to an extent, the England match, this World Cup has been great for sufferers of insomnia. If the ball is a big issue, why on earth do the tournament organisers allow for a balll change for what is supposed to be the biggest event in the world? Secondly, teams seem more interested in not losing then they do actually winning. Sort it out you c*nts.
Agreed, but I understand the Premier League were offered this ball to use for last season but turned it down.
I certainly remember enjoying the last few World Cups a lot more, but I'll wait until it really gets underway over the next week or so.
and the bundesliga have been playing with it all season....no surprise whos scoring all the goals lol :dismay: edit: ive be informed the germans, france and argentina have been using it since february.
The empty seats everywhere don't help. In England every game would be a sell out. Screw it, I'd go an see Slovakia V New Zealand at the Emirates.
Problem is Russ is the cost of the tickets. We can afford to go to see Slovakia v NZ, but the locals in SA cant.
You would be willing to spend at least 50 quid to watch Slovakia v NZ? Doubt it. There were cheap tickets for the locals and a higher price for everyone else but that wouldn't happen here.
It's rubbish Moog. The ball might have something to do with it, how many shots and free kicks have gone sailing miles over the bar? Cack atmosphere as well, there's no roar from the crowd which gives every game a friendly match feel. I can't wait until I go now
You need to reffer that to Russ mate. I wouldnt go to see NZ v Slovakia whether i could afford it or not. I know a few people out there and they're loving it. Glad you decided to go. It'll be awesome.
If you're drunk and in the thick of it, I'm sure it will be. Following it from here though, it's depressing.
you cant hear anything from the crowd , its the same tone all the time , even when a goals scored its pants
It's no wonder really. 32 teams of which only a handful can arguably be considered contenders to win. The rest relying on players from second division teams across Europe. The best players having played 50+ games since last August in domestic/continental competition. Some matches being played at altitude. Risk averse teams who know an opening defeat could end their competition before it begins...
Watching the NewZealand Slovakia match now. Unfortunately I've run out of belly button fluff to pick out so I started to think how it could be made better and I think you may have raised a good point here. How about moving the WC to just before the start of the season. That way players would be refreshed and could treat it as a warm up for the league? Anyone who's league does not fall in to the same time line as us should change it.:biggrin:
I would say that a factor here is that the global game grows forever closer. Most countries now have at least a few players who have experience of playing in some of the major leagues worldwide. Most have proffessional set ups with coaches hired in from abroad if the local ones are not up to scratch. This process has been active for quite a few years now.. but perhaps we are now seeing a time when the cliche of there being no easy international games is really ringing true. I think this is leading to closer games and for at least the lesser nations being able to close games down.
I'm not sure, when I watched world cups when I was younger, the smaller (and even average) countries would just come and have a go, like Saudi Arabia and Cameroon in the 90s. But now I look at NZ today, Denmark vs Holland, and they just seem content with going into the game parking the bus and trying to avoid losing rather than trying to win.
It's the biggest anti climax since Watford revealed top their summer transfer target was John Eustace.
The big clubs would hate that, and they call the shots. Also, how would it fit in with the climate in the rest of the world (not that that matters, if there's money to be made)? Good idea, though.
Normally there's a couple of weeks worth of friendlies so I think the big clubs can do without half of their first team for them and it's only once every four years.
The worry there is they both have good attacking players who could make for a decent game but played out for a point each when coming 2nd will only get knocked out by Spain in the next round. You kind of expect rubbish from New Zealand v Slovakia and Algeria Slovenia but if this is going to be the general standard then Spain or Brazil (who are more defensive now than usual) will only enhance their tag as favourites. Maybe England will help by hitting a bag full on Friday..if we learn how to cross a ball!
as someone said all these draws mean more chance of all or nothing games in final round of group games. lets face it if england had won most people here would be a lot happier lol.
From memory (very vague) I'd say Italia 90 was worse. Keeper>rolls ball to CB>CB rolls back to keeper>repeat for 90 minutes
The first round of games are always dire as nobody has to win. Portugal today was a prime example, If they lost then they would have to beat Brazil to qualify, so they won't risk it and will fancy scoring more against Korea than Ivory Coast do.
