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Could this be the best World Cup we'll ever see in our lives? |
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#76 |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 4,578
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Quote:
I thought the 2002 Germany team were quite entertaining.
I enjoyed the 2002 World Cup. 2006 and 2010 were not good (especially 2010). The 2002 World Cup for me was marred by horrible refereeing and terrible football (with the exception of Brazilian Ronaldo). That Germany team was probably the weakest team to ever reach a World Cup final. It's the same team that lost 0:3 to Portugal's B team in the Euros and didn't get out of the group. The only reason they managed to get to the final was because they were playing absolutely ridiculous teams on their way there and had a heroic goalie in Oliver Khan. The two semi-finals were Brazil v Turkey and Germany v South Korea. The final was boring and one-sided. Just terrible. I even prefer the 2010 cup to the one in 2002. |
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#77 |
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Join Date: Apr 2005
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Wow, the 2006 World Cup was in my opinion the best (since I started watching in 1990).
The 2002 World Cup for me was marred by horrible refereeing and terrible football (with the exception of Brazilian Ronaldo). That Germany team was probably the weakest team to ever reach a World Cup final. It's the same team that lost 0:3 to Portugal's B team in the Euros and didn't get out of the group. The only reason they managed to get to the final was because they were playing absolutely ridiculous teams on their way there and had a heroic goalie in Oliver Khan. The two semi-finals were Brazil v Turkey and Germany v South Korea. The final was boring and one-sided. Just terrible. I even prefer the 2010 cup to the one in 2002. They are a great team now. They cannot afford to finish in second place. They have to win. This is their biggest chance in a long time. They should have won Euros 2012 too thinking back but messed up big time. |
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#78 |
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Yeah, Germany were pretty terrible that year. I seem to recall only Khan and Ballack carried them to the final.
They are a great team now. They cannot afford to finish in second place. They have to win. This is their biggest chance in a long time. They should have won Euros 2012 too thinking back but messed up big time. |
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#79 |
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yesterdays semi final puts 2014 in touching distance of 1998 goals tally i think?
7 goals needed? 3 games to play |
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#80 |
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yesterdays semi final puts 2014 in touching distance of 1998 goals tally i think?
7 goals needed? 3 games to play |
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#81 |
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yesterdays semi final puts 2014 in touching distance of 1998 goals tally i think?
7 goals needed? 3 games to play |
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#82 |
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Yes it's currently at 167. France '98 was 171 so only five more needed. It didn't look as if it would be exceeded but yesterday's goal feast made up for the low scoring q/f's. It may not exceed it but with the 3rd place game usually producing a few goals then I think it will, or at least equal it.
They're playing some quality opponents now not Cameroon or opponents who are bit intimidated by them (Chile/Colombia). |
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#83 |
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It will be interesting to see how Brazil approach that. Are they just going to go all out attack again against whoever Holland or Argentina, risking surely another heavy defeat? Or will they be more cautious this time?
They're playing some quality opponents now not Cameroon or opponents who are bit intimidated by them (Chile/Colombia). |
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#84 |
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Join Date: Feb 2003
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Posts: 27,583
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Well Thiago Silva should return to instill some defensive discipline so that's something. I guess it also depends who they are up against. They won't want to lose to Argentina if they are the opponents. I know it's a nothing match in the grand scheme of things but they can't possibly be worse than they were yesterday and they will want to sign off with a decent performance. Will be a strange atmosphere nonetheless.
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#85 |
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Well Thiago Silva should return to instill some defensive discipline so that's something. I guess it also depends who they are up against. They won't want to lose to Argentina if they are the opponents. I know it's a nothing match in the grand scheme of things but they can't possibly be worse than they were yesterday and they will want to sign off with a decent performance. Will be a strange atmosphere nonetheless.
I knew Germany weren't the only team that could have potentially pulled that off in this WC. |
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#86 |
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Lots of after-eventing in that post.
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#87 |
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Lots of after-eventing in that post.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas007
Holland would also have won big tonight, I'm absolutely sure of it, Brazil were absolutely awful, Germany were very good, but I do believe other sides could have done the same. That was waiting to happen to Brazil against a quality world class attack.
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#88 |
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Join Date: Jul 2009
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Someone saying Silva should improve them is completely right, even if it doesn't come to pass. Quoting them to show how wrong the prediction they didn't make is needless.
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#89 |
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Someone saying Silva should improve them is completely right, even if it doesn't come to pass. Quoting them to show how wrong the prediction they didn't make is needless.
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#90 |
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Cheerfully withdrawn in that case.
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#91 |
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Just to add that Brazil were awful last night but not as awful as they were against Germany. Fourth place flatters them.
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#92 |
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Only one goal needed in the final to equal the record for the World Cup with most goals scored.
So unless it goes to penalties with a 0-0 draw this World Cup may well achieve the record of the World Cup with the most goals scored. I guess we have to thank Germany a lot for that with their 7-1 demolishing of Brazil and Holland for adding another 3 last night. |
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#93 |
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Best WC of the century for me.
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#94 |
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Best World Cup I've ever seen, Russia and Qatar are such terrible venues that I can't see anything coming close until at least 2026.
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#95 |
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Join Date: Nov 2002
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One of the greatest World Cups ever if we're talking entertainment value : the first two weeks were absolutely fantastic
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#96 |
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Best WC of the century for me.
I'm only kidding, I'm in agreement with you. We've had arguabley one of the best if not the best group stages ever, but there's been one too many drab knockout matches for me for it to declared the greatest ever outright. The final was 'OK' but I can only think of 4 or 5 out of the 16 knockout games that were truly special/memorable (I include the 7-1 Brazil/Germany game in that, which wasn't really a great match in itself). It didn't even break the 1998 total goals record either, suprisingly, even with the 7-1 game. |
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#97 |
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Not good enough. Alan Hansen said not only was it the greatest WC, but it was by an absolute mile. Needs more jazz in that statement.
I'm only kidding, I'm in agreement with you. We've had arguabley one of the best if not the best group stages ever, but there's been one too many drab knockout matches for me for it to declared the greatest ever outright. The final was 'OK' but I can only think of 4 or 5 out of the 16 knockout games that were truly special/memorable (I include the 7-1 Brazil/Germany game in that, which wasn't really a great match in itself). It didn't even break the 1998 total goals record either, suprisingly, even with the 7-1 game. |
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#98 |
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Join Date: Mar 2009
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Quote:
One of the greatest World Cups ever if we're talking entertainment value : the first two weeks were absolutely fantastic
So called minor nations have really stepped up as well. I wasn't expecting much from Columbia, or Costa Rica, or Algeria. The USA have continued their improvement. Even Iran gave Argentina a good game. Games which looked less than exciting on paper (like Honduras vs Ecuador) were quite entertaining and for a while, we were feasting on around 3 goals per game. It was leagues ahead of South Africa 2010 for sure, it was nice to actually hear the crowd reacting to events on the pitch (instead of the constant drone of those flipping horns) and we certainly had more goals, along with a much better final in which the 2 teams attempted to play football instead of kicking the crap out of each other. So, yeah, Brazil 2014 was very, very good. I suspect its all downhill from here, especially with the match times and time zone differences for 2018 and 2022. This time around, I was able to see pretty much every game or most of every game. No chance of that happening for Russia or Qatar I suspect. |
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