World Cup 2014
- Thread starter pascal
- Start date
Billy Idol
Legend
Soccer sucks...I can't watch it anymore...when do they start and follow their own rules? When do they start and make it a real sport?
My own participation in the world cup is limited to watching the swedish television documentary about our 1994 bronze medal (never in the history of ever has an entire nation been so happy about ending up in third place, lol); this year we aren't even in the cup, so...whatever. 
In 1994, I was in Montreal, and it seems there's a substantial immigrant population of football fans - or else football is just a LOT more popular in Quebec/Canada than in the rest of north america, because like, wherever you walked where there was a bar nearby you could hear the roar and cheering of people watching the games on TVs coming out of there though open doorways to the street... It was quite insane, really.
In 1994, I was in Montreal, and it seems there's a substantial immigrant population of football fans - or else football is just a LOT more popular in Quebec/Canada than in the rest of north america, because like, wherever you walked where there was a bar nearby you could hear the roar and cheering of people watching the games on TVs coming out of there though open doorways to the street... It was quite insane, really.
Angela Merkel was jumping during the game here in Salvador/Ba.
She is the 12th player
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/25285106
Party in some places now.
Look the Netherlands x Spain party
I visited Spain and Portugal february this year and they had great expectations for the World Cup.
She is the 12th player
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/25285106
Party in some places now.
Look the Netherlands x Spain party
I visited Spain and Portugal february this year and they had great expectations for the World Cup.
The Orange invasion:
Before the game.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1...eses-fazem-festa-no-pelourinho_sport?start=28
Before the game.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1...eses-fazem-festa-no-pelourinho_sport?start=28
I've read this multiple times and still don't understand it.
I still simply cannot watch grown men grovel and whine on the slightest trip. I know it's "part of the game" but it's pathetic. When I used to play Soccer in high school my coach used to berate me to stay down on tackles and try to draw the flag but I never did.
I personally have issues with the ridiculous money that is pumped into some of the more high profile sports. We complain when someone gets a 350k bonus when he leaves a company, but some of these guys have a year salary in the tens of millions (same or worse for basketball players, singers, actors) ... it's a little bit crazy, and in my experience such large amounts of money rarely do any good, both to individuals, and to society as a whole (increased social inequality).
Ah, you sound as though you have the right idea. Your coach was obviously a dickhead.
We're a bit old school here in England where we don't mind hard tackles and a bit of a physical confrontation, but hate play-acting and feigning of injuries in an attempt to get the opposition players booked/sent off. That said, many of the younger players seem to be buying into this gamesmanship over here as well now.
Yesterday, Muller's reaction to the slightest (and accidental) brush of fingers against his chin was to throw himself to the ground clutching his face. Pathetic. Otherwise, he's a hugely talented footballer but it makes you wonder how he can look at himself in the mirror and not feel embarrassed.
Of course, Pepe then stupidly got himself sent off, pretty much ending the contest. No excuses there.
Arwin, I think TV umpires/referees would simply ruin the game. The main thing about football is the endless flow of the game which can be end to end and very exciting. Stopping the match every few minutes to make a decision based on TV evidence would just ruin the spectacle, not least because a lot of decisions are based on judgement calls! A referee is often still likely to get a decision wrong even after multiple TV replays. TV referees in Rugby have shown this to be the case and the flow of that game has been badly broken up over the past season as the referees aren't willing to risk making a mistake.
As for the money situation, if you've got a market system and punters willing to pay lots of money for media coverage, the players are inevitably going to be rewarded incredibly highly. The interesting thing to note is that, despite all the money entering the game, only the really top players are the ones who are better off. Here in the UK, the League system has 4 fully professional divisions plus a 'non-league' division in which most of the teams are professional. As the Rooneys of this world now take home millions a year, the wages in the 3 lower divisions remain pretty much unchanged from 10 years ago. All the extra money is hoovered up by the Premier League with most of the scraps falling to the clubs in the division immediately below. Those lower down the football pyramid get nothing in comparison, earning a fraction each year of the amount that dozens of the highest-paid players receive in a week.
With a stronger governing authority in place, this wouldn't have been allowed but, assisted by the incompetence of the Football Association, the biggest and wealthiest clubs dominate the game to such an extent that they simply don't care about the lower divisions.
Let's start with bookings, penalty fouls, and goals that are contested to be off-side. There should be a separate 'TV' referee that can tell the referee on the field if they were wrong.
Not that likely, if you take the above limitations into account.
Not much of a disagreement here ...
