Forum Moderators: open
Anyone see Argentina - Mexico? Best match of the tournament, so far. The Mexicans didn't care about Argentina being the favourites and simply played great, offensive football. But Argentina kept cool and came back. Good referee, too. Me thinks this is how the game should be played.
Argentina - Germany could be a great quarter final!
[edited by: engine at 1:20 pm (utc) on June 27, 2006]
I am looking forward to this evening's Brazil v Ghana.
Would be incredible if Ghana could pull a rabbit out of the hat and surprise us all.
As for the France v Spain. Everything points to an easy victory for Spain but maybe France will be able to dig deep.
They were very close to making it to the semi finals, because Ukraine [ on paper ] were possibly far weaker than Italy.
One thing that beats me is that in Australia the use of a panel [ video referees] is prevelant for crucial decisions in rugby league and rugby union. I know that soccer is played at a different pace, and interruptions could jeopardise the flow of the game, but for critical decisions such as goals, offside, penalties or bookings & sendings off, if referred to a "video panel" they could quickly communicate with the referee.
Really there's no excuse for this poor quality of refereeing in the future with so much available technology. It's absurd.
Why's it taking so long to sort this out?
no excuse for this poor quality of refereeing in the future with so much available technology. It's absurd
I agree. The ref could have looked at the big screen action replay to see how wrong he was, but of course he believed he was right. I know it's 'only a game' but the effects of Australia beating Italy (had they done so) would have been far-reaching within both nations. So much rests on those instant, and fallible, refereeing decisions that it does seem completely absurd to rely on that alone. But then FIFA is a strange beast at the best of times.
I suspect in this instance the ref (part-subconsciously) was looking for a neat solution to end the game without going into extra time, and - fleetingly - in his mind it all seemed to fit with a win for Italy.
It's totally absurd that four years of preparation by a team can go down the drain because of a wrong refereeing decision when this could be avoided 95% of the time.
At events like this there should be three FIFA observers watching the TV replays. The referee should be able to call for a decision when he was not in a position to judge or if there is any doubt. The decision should then rest with the observers. This would also take the heat out of the situation for the ref when the players know that he did not make the decision and that the people who did are somewhere in the stand and that the decision is almost certainly correct.
What's the problem with that?
Anyone know why the BBC (World at least) does not show clips of the matches whereas CNN (international) does?
And Thierry Henry goes down a few notches in my estimation.
"Ronaldo inscribed his name into football's history books on Tuesday by scoring a record-breaking 15th FIFA World Cup™ goal to take him clear of Gerd Muller as the tournament's all-time top marksman."
[fifaworldcup.yahoo.com...]
Yea, our power goes out when it rains heavily up here in Bangkok (and our estate's only 3 years old).
I keep up to date with the matches I miss (because of the 2am kick off) Here [cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com], it also shows great goals.
Strangely last night was not raining too much where I am but we still lost power for a couple of hours. Does not happen too much, but is annoying when it cuts in the middle of a game.
But i can't stand drugs in sports [ Olympics ] , corruption / interference and i passionately detest dubious refereeing decisions.
At the very least, don't blame the ref. Give him the tools to do the job well, o'wise we'll be counting the legacy of every World Cup in terms of the cheats and stuff ups.
Maradonna / Argentina /England - Hand of God - 1-0
and many more
Australia had a bag full
Versus Japan - Egyptian ref prayed that his mistake wouldn't cost Australia the game. He was above technology - it worked!
Versus Croatia - [ top ]English ref misses 2 hand balls and a clear foul - potentially 3 penalties, plus books the same player twice and forgets to send him off.
Versus Italy - clearly no foul .... time extended and Australia go down the drain. Guus Hiddink was about to put 2-3 fresh attacking players on the field in extrs time, coupled with the dominant possession - it's possible they would have beaten Italy.
It's all a game, but let's get the method of administering the rules right.... before i start taking it seriously :)
Versus Italy - clearly no foul .... time extended and Australia go down the drain.
Yes, perhaps, but you have to remember that the ref also sent Materazzi off for what was only a minor foul.
Maradonna / Argentina /England - Hand of God - 1-0
The Maradona decision was shocking but sometimes it works the other way. As I said on June 16th after the England v Trinidad and Tobago game, Peter Crouch was climbing all over Brent Sancho AND pulling his hair to score the goal that put England in the lead. Was he pulling hair using the hand of God? This was also ignored/missed by the ref.
On this occasion I think the UK studio commentators mentioned it in the passing at the time and thought that it was a bit of a laugh. Since then they have completely clammed up on it. You have to be consistent and commentators are supposed to provide a balanced analysis of what they see. It's not politics or war that is being reported. It's a sporting event.
The ref should never have given that penalty for Italy but... Australia can't claim they lost as a result, they lost the game because they didn't score a goal. They didn't deserve to win in 90 minutes.
What the game does need to do is stamp out thje diving, cheating and player histrionics like trying to get a player sent off.
Any player knows that you do not go to ground in the box, unless it is a 100% clean challenge and you get the ball.
The Italian is not stupid, and I am sure he could have avoided the Aussie but as soon as the defender went to ground like that it was nearly always going to be a penalty.
But Germany tends to grow during a tournament. And remember that a match against Germany isn't over until their bus has left the parking area... (Can't remember who said that. Was it Lineker?)
How dare they take a break!
Still think it will be an Argentina v England final.
let us know if you still think this tomorrow--when you're sober :)
:)
I went to the club last night and we had nothing to talk about :(
my guess is
argentina
italy
england
brazil
p.s.
Was great to see Viera telling the spanish coach to "shut it" and then scoring, adios Aragones. You should have been sacked ages ago anyway.
He's still the best player in the world
Euh? I do not think so. Yes he is amazing but the best in the world? no way.
No football for 2 days. Ah, what am I to do.....
As for Henry, well he was fouled and he over reacted.
As I recall he wasn't even fouled. He should probably have been carded himself.
England may just get past Portugal with a little luck, Brazil they haven't a hope imho sadly.
Still should be some excellent matches and good fun.
I loved reading a Nostradamus quatrain that had Spain believing it was their turn to win the world cup lmao.
Maybe Spain are just over-rated. Most of their star players play with the world's best in their teams. And maybe playing with the likes of Zidane makes them look better than they are.
You can see the Germans going all the way cant you. Im really looking forward to the Argentina/Germany match, its a real tough one to call.
He is a great player, but to suggest he is the best in the world is wrong.
