Imagine if the US put their best football players and competed against alot of different countrys for 4 years just to qaulify to play in the world cup. Maybe its because I'm routing for Portugal but I think most Americans don't appeicate good soccer, too bad. IMO football fans don't come close the them passionate soccer nutts

that portugal vs holland game had more hitting in it then most hockey games nowadays! there have been some awesome games so far, can't wait for argentina vs germany and a possible brazil vs spain quarter final, looks very good!

I think that most americans don't appreciate good soccer because they don't see it. I'm sorry but the MLS is a joke compared to the elite leagues of the world. We will never be competative on the world stage unless more US players start playing their club soccer overseas, which will in tern have a negative effect on the MLS and a negative effect on the sport in this country - a no win situation. I love soccer and wouldn't go to or even watch an MLS game on TV if you paid me.
I'm an England fan (big fan of the EPL so I know about the players and Ihave some English blood in me) and they've looked terrible this Cup but they keep winning. Once they go up against a team with some creativity and finishing ability (two things the US lacked completely), read Portugal, they'll be out. Germany, Portugal (provided Ronaldo is fit) and Argentina all look good and very capable of giving Brazil a run. Argentina has been fun to watch so far.

I was in Germany for the 1990 World Cup held in Italy that year. When they won the cup, it made the Red Sox parade look like a tea party. :gu:
No sport holds the same level of passion from its fans.
Ive been watching and rooting what games are available. Thanks TivO.
GERMANY all the way!

:jump: looks good Tony. now that Brazil is out of the way:jester:

Italy:cheers:

I think that most americans don't appreciate good soccer because they don't see it. I'm sorry but the MLS is a joke compared to the elite leagues of the world. We will never be competative on the world stage unless more US players start playing their club soccer overseas, which will in tern have a negative effect on the MLS and a negative effect on the sport in this country - a no win situation. I love soccer and wouldn't go to or even watch an MLS game on TV if you paid me.
I'm an England fan (big fan of the EPL so I know about the players and Ihave some English blood in me) and they've looked terrible this Cup but they keep winning. Once they go up against a team with some creativity and finishing ability (two things the US lacked completely), read Portugal, they'll be out. Germany, Portugal (provided Ronaldo is fit) and Argentina all look good and very capable of giving Brazil a run. Argentina has been fun to watch so far.I'll grant you that the MLS is not the EPL but I've heard English soccer fans compare MLS to the English league 1 (actually the second division). It's a lbit rough to watch on TV partially because the production is not quite up to par with the big European leagues. It can be entertaining though, especially watching it live at Foxboro. Hell.. I've seen entertaining U12 matches at some of the tournaments around here.

i think it's entertaining to a fan of the sport, to a casual fan it can be tedious. people who don't appreciate the sport are turned off my MLS as it isnt a very good product to draw in new fans. ill use my father as an example, a few years back, he'd never watched football on tv never bothered with it just thought it was a waste (much like a lot of folks think of soccer) one day i sat down to watch a pats game and he sat with me, we went the whole game with me giving him a rundown of the rules and the general jist of the game, he never misses a game now ;P. it's all about product, and if and when MLS becomes a decent product on the field comparable to the other worldwide leagues more fans will be drawn to it.

I can't believe that France beat Brazil with how bad the French looked the first couple of games. Germany looks poised to take it, almost flawless technically and very disciplined, even if they are not always the most fluid or entertaining team to watch.

france deserved that one, parreira was so reluctant to move cafu who's now 34 and just doesnt have the same speed he did a few years ago. he was getting beaten every play by ribery and vieira. brazil played terribly this whole world cup, didnt even put the team out there that shouldve taken the field. awful cup for them

I enjoy all the fake injuries. A guy will be down screaming holding his ankle for 5 minutes and suddenly he gets up like nothing ever happened. Yeah, i love soccer and thier fake injuries :tooth:

I am all about Portugal (being full-blooded Portuguese!) I was on the edge of my seat for the entire 3 hour game against England. :shocked: Those Brits are bloody bitter - they're completely dissing my boy Cristiano Ronaldo! :eek:

I enjoy all the fake injuries. A guy will be down screaming holding his ankle for 5 minutes and suddenly he gets up like nothing ever happened. Yeah, i love soccer and thier fake injuries :tooth:
Well, while there certainly are a lot of dives, it's no different than selling a foul like in Hockey. And remember if the ref thinks it was a real dive he can give a yellow for the insult.

A lot of time they simply stay down to eat the clock, get some rest etc...

Portugal is especially bad at using dives to kill the other teams momentum. The past few games it was like if their opponents had any offence building you'd see a Portugal player on the ground not a few moments later :rolleyes:

Some good matches this last round...My money's on France :)

-spence

if football, basketball, hockey didn't have 45 minute long halves with no breaks you'd see alot of "fake" injuries too ;P its just a chance to grab some water and a little break :D

ITS ON NOW

Italy won. :bo:
Seems every team I root for is incapable of losing. Hopefully that will bode well for Portugal tomorrow. :bounce:

Italy:kewl:

You should see me watching games in medellin when I get down there, got the flag cape and all. Big fan of the game Italy is taking names huh?:shocked:

Italy deserved that win. Today's game should be interesting. With the likes of Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo and Henry on the field we shouldn't have to worry about overtime. I'd be hard pressed to bet against France though.. too much experience. :cheers:

I don't know if France deserved to win that game but Portugal deserved to lose for their cowardly play throughout the tournament. Taking dives and faking injuries to kill a little time and let your team regroup is one thing, but to do it to try to draw unwarranted cards and break up the opponents run of play is cowardly. I know that other teams do it too, but they seamed to do it significantly more. And now we get to watch Christiano cry on the frield and cry to anyone who will listen about how they got screwed by the refs and how great he is

"'Everyone who saw the match could see that the referee wasn't fair....He should have shown yellow cards but he did not because Portugal is a small country. We just have to carry on working and then we will be a big country....I am a dangerous player. And maybe the French fans were upset to see a dangerous player. I am not worried at all."

Maybe if your team hadn't developed such a bad rep for diving, you would have gotten a few calls - Be a man, you lost, accept it.

Turbans and Roses...watch out for that bomb :smash:

OK, so yeah, Ronaldo isn't exactly an, um, classy guy. :devil2:
But at least the rest of the boys took the loss like men - not bawling all over the field like some other teams I know... :rollem:

Italy :jump:

zidane is a thug, glad he's gone for good

zidane is a thug, glad he's gone for good
A thug? While his actions were certainly ugly it hardley makes one of the best an most respected players in the history of the game a thug.

Materazzi had been pinching his nipple the entire game, and it would look as if his attempts to distract were quite successful :hs: And Materazzi sold it pretty well!

Perhaps the Italian team can use their winnings to pay their upcomgin legal bills :hihi:

-spence

Italy rules the soccer world :jump:

A thug? While his actions were certainly ugly it hardley makes one of the best an most respected players in the history of the game a thug.

Materazzi had been pinching his nipple the entire game, and it would look as if his attempts to distract were quite successful :hs: And Materazzi sold it pretty well!

Perhaps the Italian team can use their winnings to pay their upcomgin legal bills :hihi:

-spence


ok then, let's go back in time to 98 when he was suspended for 2 games for stomping on a saudi player, or the countless times he's pulled stunts like this at real and juventus he is a thug, no less of a thug then bertuzzi is or mcsorley. good riddance to him

Thug?

GOLDEN BALL

:laugha:

-spence

I dont see him as a thug, simply an idiot. He's been a targeted player for years, that happens when 3 times in your career your picked as the best player on the planet for a given year. But he should have learned years ago to put up with the extra little holds the great players get when the refs arent looking, and more importantly in light of yesterday, he should have long ago learned to tune out any verbal insults designed to get under his skin. I dont care what the italian defender said to him, his team needed him in a final, even more than normally once Thierry went off with cramps.

On that I'd agree :)

Rumor has it he called him a "dirty terrorist" :heybaby:

-spence

1 thing you dont do.. run into the biggest portugese bar in fall river while the world cup is on and yell Viva la France.. You'll start a huge bar brawl.. :hihi:

On that I'd agree :)

Rumor has it he called him a "dirty terrorist" :heybaby:

-spence

Yeah thats ESPN sportscenter was surmising tonight also. I have trouble believing that this is the first time an opponent or fan has taunted him for being a terrorist, given the passion/hysteria soccer causes in Europe. Given his background/ethnicity, I'd say he's heard similar taunts before.

Whatever the insult or actions the Italians and Materazzi in particular used they got the reaction that they wanted (Materazzi claims that he made a comment about Zindane's wife and that he does not even know what a terrorist is). If Zidane had it to do over I'm sure he would have waited until after the game and then laid Materazzi out and flipped off the FIFA brass on the way off the field but he reacted to the moment. To play at that level (he may very well be the best player to come along in several generations) requires so much intensity and a personality that is a little off (look a Maradon - he's wacked). Just look at some of the greatest players ever and alot of them were always right on the edge of control. My favorite player, Eric Cantona, drop kicked a fan for a racial insult as an extreme example. Zidane is not a thug. He's an emotional player who got pushed over the edge. Razor Neil Ruddock is an example of a thug, and and entertaining one at that.

It's getting more clear now...

I didn't realize Zidane was the son of Algerian immigrants...

So the story goes his opponent called him "the son of a terrorist whore" before telling him to "go f'off for good measure".

Doesn't justify his actions, but in all honesty I'd think a lot of people would have done worse :hee:

-spence

I read an article that he spent his first year of club soccer in France on kitchen duty due to fights with teamates over racial remarks. Its obviously something that he's dealt with his whole life. And when you look at it, chances are that that game was going to penalties with or without Zidane and the result most likely would have been the same. Actually, he got kind of lucky on his earlier PK or there may have never been overtime.

Also, Bartez didn't deserve to win one World Cup, having him go down as a two time winner would not be fair to any other keeper who has two. Watching him play, I don't know how he ever got the status that he had a few years ago as one of the best in the world.

http://www.ggzidane.com/gallery/zidane.gif

Well, the US commentators certainly didn't give him any props...you'd get nervous every time he'd touch the ball.

But to say he doesn't deserve to win two is a bit of a stretch. It's a team sport after all...

-spence

He was terrible with Man. U which is what I base my statements on because I saw alot more of him there than for France. I believe that they ended up releasing him after a while when Tim Howard beat him out for the starting spot. There was a contraversy over who the keeper would be in the French camp leading up to this Cup and, if I remember right, the goal keeper coach and a friend of Bartez chose him as the starter, not the head coach. The other keeper, who most of the fans and the head coach were in favor of, quit because he refused to be a backup to Bartez.