Football World Cup '10

[BradSpeedMan 6]

I have my reservatons with the sound of the vuvuzelas, but what do you guys think of the hosting of the world cup so far. and you've seen abit of South Africa I guess I hope the final gets moved from soccer city, as that picth is started to deteriorate badly...

Your thought/comments???

[yurp 0]

It was Uruguay.

Oops again.

I wouldn't like to call the Germany Spain game, anyone could win.

As for the final - same again.

Spain have looked flawed in their pace and final execution, but have a way of holding on to the ball and chipping away.

Germany have looked outstanding but against teams with old, slow men in defense.

Holland and looked great in bursts but somewhat inconsistent.

It could be anyone's show.

[AleHop 0]

NETHERLANDS

vs.

SPAIN

[Pucky the Whale 0]

Teams I violently want to fare badly: Brazil, Italy.

I think Holland, Spain, Argentina & Brazil (wince) are the teams most likely to play attractive football.

And what do you know...Italy and Brazil did fare badly (well, Brazil by Brazilian standards).

And what do you know...the first two teams Jay listed made the final.

I have my reservatons with the sound of the vuvuzelas, but what do you guys think of the hosting of the world cup so far. and you've seen abit of South Africa I guess I hope the final gets moved from soccer city, as that picth is started to deteriorate badly...

Your thought/comments???

My friend went. He had nothing negative to say about South Africa as hosts or as a nation. He really enjoyed it.

NETHERLANDS

vs.

SPAIN

Thank you for not calling them "Holland." Holland refers to "North and South Holland" which are two provinces within the nation.

I have no preference on the winner, so as an action-craving U.S. American sports fan, I just hope to see goals, goals, goals, and more goals. A 6-5 victory would be nice

[BradSpeedMan 6]

My friend went. He had nothing negative to say about South Africa as hosts or as a nation. He really enjoyed it.

nice to know, and i'm glad he enjoyed it over here

[Argento Reloaded 1]

Congrats Spain; Germany a shadow...

[AleHop 0]

Thank you for not calling them "Holland." Holland refers to "North and South Holland" which are two provinces within the nation.

It's a common mistake in Spain. We should say Paises Bajos but we say Holanda most of the times. It's a bit like Reino Unido, that we normaly say Inglaterra. You're right, Netherlands and United Kingdom are the actual countries.

I understand you want a good match and a lot of goals as I normaly do but now I just want the title for Spain. Let's see.

@Brad

I think South Africa is doing a very good job as a World Cup hoster.

[yurp 0]

It's a common mistake in Spain. We should say Paises Bajos but we say Holanda most of the times. It's a bit like Reino Unido, that we normaly say Inglaterra. You're right, Netherlands and United Kingdom are the actual countries.

Yep - Holland is just so much easier. Eric's just being pedantic - Mexico's in North America. Netherlands not Holland. Paraguay not Uruguay. UK not England. USA not Russia. N.Korea not S.Korea not DPRK.

Anyway - well done Spain on defeating the Austrians.

[Pucky the Whale 0]

UK not England.

Actually, you're wrong there, too. It is England as the team represents the cute little region we all know and don't really love, not the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all have their own football teams. It would be like calling the Texan team the United States American team (and yes, United States American or U.S. American, not just American, or else the team would include players from nations that actually are good at football, and Canada).

That aside, I am very excited for the Holland v. Taco Bell final.

(I wouldn't be surprised if that were a real Supreme Court case in the United States).

[yurp 0]

That aside, I am very excited for the Holland v. Taco Bell final.

That's more like it!

Oh - and the bit in my signature is only there because certain members repeatedly accused me of being a Hamilton fan whenever I said something

negative about Alonso and an Alonso fan whenever I said something negative about Hamilton no matter how many times I started posts with 'I'm not a Hamilton fan' or 'I'm not an Alonso fan'. Easier just to put it in my sig.

Saying that, since they've hopefully got the message by now, I could probably remove it...

[Pucky the Whale 0]

Oh - and the bit in my signature is only there because certain members repeatedly accused me of being a Hamilton fan whenever I said something

negative about Alonso and an Alonso fan whenever I said something negative about Hamilton no matter how many times I started posts with 'I'm not a Hamilton fan' or 'I'm not an Alonso fan'. Easier just to put it in my sig.

Saying that, since they've hopefully got the message by now, I could probably remove it...

I made mine in response to the fact that some people are just so anti- or pro- somebody/something that they can't think straight. So I stole your format to assert my superiority at being fair and balanced and just.

I admire your neutrality and your occasional use of colored text.

Only now my signature is less clever.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

@Brad

I think South Africa is doing a very good job as a World Cup hoster.

lets hope the lights does'nt go out for the final hehe

[yurp 0]

I admire your neutrality

I haven't been neutered.

oh.

[Kopite Girl 0]

Actually, you're wrong there, too. It is England as the team represents the cute little region we all know and don't really love, not the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all have their own football teams. It would be like calling the Texan team the United States American team (and yes, United States American or U.S. American, not just American, or else the team would include players from nations that actually are good at football, and Canada).

That aside, I am very excited for the Holland v. Taco Bell final.

(I wouldn't be surprised if that were a real Supreme Court case in the United States).

Then, why is major league baseball involved in the world series when its just the US who competes?

[Quiet One 15]

I made mine in response to the fact that some people are just so anti- or pro- somebody/something that they can't think straight. So I stole your format to assert my superiority at being fair and balanced and just.

I admire your neutrality and your occasional use of colored text.

Only now my signature is less clever.

Typical Speedsteric denial.

[Pucky the Whale 0]

I haven't been neutered.

oh.

Then, why is major league baseball involved in the world series when its just the US who competes?

Hey, there's a Canadian team!

No, the World Series is a stupid name for it when there is a world baseball tournament where the national teams compete. National Series, MLB Final, the (important historical figure in the MLB) Cup...all would be more logical.

Baseball's boring to watch, though. It's only fun to go and not watch the game and instead talk to people. But I guess that's really most sports (and most anything); I like the social aspect.

[AleHop 0]

Yep - Holland is just so much easier. Eric's just being pedantic - Mexico's in North America. Netherlands not Holland. Paraguay not Uruguay. UK not England. USA not Russia. N.Korea not S.Korea not DPRK.

Anyway - well done Spain on defeating the Austrians.

I have some German relatives, they wouldn't like it if I call them Austrians.

Actually, you're wrong there, too. It is England as the team represents the cute little region we all know and don't really love, not the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all have their own football teams. It would be like calling the Texan team the United States American team (and yes, United States American or U.S. American, not just American, or else the team would include players from nations that actually are good at football, and Canada).

I know the football team is England, N. Ireland, Wales and Scotalnd but that's because they had their own Football Associations long before the FIFA/UEFA thing. What I don't really know is whether they play as UK in the Olimpics or they can play splitted.

That aside, I am very excited for the Holland v. Taco Bell final.

Paella Bell would be more appropriate.

Baseball's boring to watch, though. It's only fun to go and not watch the game and instead talk to people. But I guess that's really most sports (and most anything); I like the social aspect.

That's annoying. Not as annoying as doing it in the cinema but annoying nonetheless.

[Pucky the Whale 0]

I know the football team is England, N. Ireland, Wales and Scotalnd but that's because they had their own Football Associations long before the FIFA/UEFA thing. What I don't really know is whether they play as UK in the Olimpics or they can play splitted.

That's annoying. Not as annoying as doing it in the cinema but annoying nonetheless.

They play united in the Olympics, though Northern Irish athletes can choose to represent Ireland instead.

That's interesting to me, actually. I'm so used to people conversing at sporting events. I had heard that when attending sports outside of the United States, people would be very frustrated if one were to talk, so I guess it's really only acceptable to do in the U.S. Even the Canadians were warning to not talk during their Grand Prix.

I always go to dinner before going to the cinema so I can get my conversations out of the way prior to watching the movie rather than during it. I have a hard time not talking for such a long period of time, so I usually just wait for things to be released on DVD to be respectful of others!

[Pucky the Whale 0]

Octopus Paul has made his selections...don't read if you want to be surprised by the matches

Germany will win the third place game over Uruguay, says Paul, after 15 minutes of hesitation. 15 minutes, huh? I bet Paul's feeling some overtime in that one.

In the final, Paul selected Spain with ease, though rumor has it the food in the Netherlands container was rotten! I hope not; I really like Paul and don't want him to become scripted and corrupt, too.

It's going to rain all weekend here so it's perfect for watching football! Enjoy the matches everyone!

[Pucky the Whale 0]

I liked that match a lot...a high-scoring affair. Swinging momentum back and forth and some quality football from both teams. Germany are definitely great to watch; Uruguay can hang tough and score with Forlán etc, but Germany just play an attractive game.

Very fun to watch. Hope tomorrow's is just as nice!

[Pucky the Whale 0]

I thought the Andrés Cantor GEICO ad in the United States was pretty entertaining...after all, Cantor is easily my favorite Argentine named Andrés.

It's nice to see Cantor's still a recognizable figure in the U.S.A. though. Football is really taking off in popularity here; the television viewership for the World Cup has been unbelievably high this World Cup. It's too bad that momentum will all die down as none of the good leagues get any television coverage here; we just get the "MLS Game of the Week" which is, without trying to disrespect the MLS or its players, a bit like saying "oh...you like F1! Well we'll show you a NASCAR race then" or giving you a hamburger when you ordered filet mignon.

I forgot how fun sports can be, though. I must have been watching the wrong ones!

I can't wait for the final...hopefully as good as the match today was! In my unbiased opinion, it may have been the best I've seen so far.

[Pucky the Whale 0]

Eh. The final was a letdown...hard to watch at times.

Netherlands...what a miserable, miserable showing. So p**s-poor to take that many penalties. Their shoddy play really ruined some chances for goals that could have given the game some much-needed life. Spain played a bad first half, too, but Netherlands never got their crap together. A bit of poor sportsmanship after they let in the goal, too.

It's a shame for the final to just not be a good match, but at least it picked up at the end.

And of course, congratulations to the Spanish men's national football team and to AleHop.

[Quiet One 15]

Congratulations, Spain! Netherlands was a shame, I expected more from them. Spain, in the end proved that they were the best, and whitstood the coward tacticts from the orange team.

As for the referee... I don't recall having ever seen such a disgraceful referee in a sport where lousy referees are not uncommon. That guy should never be allowed even close to a football stadium ever again!

[Pucky the Whale 0]

Was the reffing really that bad? I'm genuinely curious; I know very little of the rules of football and what would be "okay" and what would be crossing the line or this or that. I just assumed Netherlands were playing a very undisciplined game and got what they deserved for it. I could easily be wrong.

[Jean Todt 4]

Congrats to Spain......