A Holland v Germany final will be beautiful, not just because of their huge rivalry, but because both teams play attacking football which will be great to watch. I predict Holland to win.
And then there were 4
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If it's a Europe v South America final, who will be the ref ?
If it's an all South America or all Europe final, I would guess they would choose a ref from the same continent ?
If it's an all South America or all Europe final, I would guess they would choose a ref from the same continent ?
Originally Posted by Janielovesyou:
“If it's a Europe v South America final, who will be the ref ?
If it's an all South America or all Europe final, I would guess they would choose a ref from the same continent ?”
“If it's a Europe v South America final, who will be the ref ?
If it's an all South America or all Europe final, I would guess they would choose a ref from the same continent ?”
Howard Webb was the only decent ref this tournament. He should referee the final again.
Talking of match officials...anyone seen any female referees/assistants? Now I've no idea if there have been any...but I haven't seen a one and if not, then it's a bit questionable to have the anti-racism stuff when it appears FIFA could be accused of sexism.
However - if there HAVE been female officials, then fine.
However - if there HAVE been female officials, then fine.
Originally Posted by TheMunch:
“Are you Mark Lawrenson? You've always had something to moan about throughout this tournament.”
“Are you Mark Lawrenson? You've always had something to moan about throughout this tournament.”
You've replied to a few of my posts recently and every one of them have been negative or critical in some way of what I've said. Nothing wrong with disagreeing, thats fine, but I'm hoping your not one of these guys whose follows me about and just constantly churps away, in ironic fashion moaning away about me moaning.
If you don't want to hear what I say, simply put me on ignore, its not hard to do.
Originally Posted by howard h:
“Talking of match officials...anyone seen any female referees/assistants? Now I've no idea if there have been any...but I haven't seen a one and if not, then it's a bit questionable to have the anti-racism stuff when it appears FIFA could be accused of sexism.
However - if there HAVE been female officials, then fine.”
“Talking of match officials...anyone seen any female referees/assistants? Now I've no idea if there have been any...but I haven't seen a one and if not, then it's a bit questionable to have the anti-racism stuff when it appears FIFA could be accused of sexism.
However - if there HAVE been female officials, then fine.”
No, it's only sexism if female refs who are better than those involved have been kept out.
Originally Posted by Peter Venkman:
“The '90 final was a hot-tempered game but the Urguayan referee was clearly bias towards Germany. Codesal screwed up the game six ways from Sunday with bad decisions, penalties not given, penalty given when it shouldn't have been and dishing out red cards like he was giving out candy.”
“The '90 final was a hot-tempered game but the Urguayan referee was clearly bias towards Germany. Codesal screwed up the game six ways from Sunday with bad decisions, penalties not given, penalty given when it shouldn't have been and dishing out red cards like he was giving out candy.”
He was Mexican I think.
But lets be honest, Argentina weren't there to play football in that final, if they could, they would have just skipped the 120 minutes and went straight to penalties.
Originally Posted by Thomas007:
“You've replied to a few of my posts recently and every one of them have been negative or critical in some way of what I've said. Nothing wrong with disagreeing, thats fine, but I'm hoping your not one of these guys whose follows me about and just constantly churps away, in ironic fashion moaning away about me moaning.
If you don't want to hear what I say, simply put me on ignore, its not hard to do.”
“You've replied to a few of my posts recently and every one of them have been negative or critical in some way of what I've said. Nothing wrong with disagreeing, thats fine, but I'm hoping your not one of these guys whose follows me about and just constantly churps away, in ironic fashion moaning away about me moaning.
If you don't want to hear what I say, simply put me on ignore, its not hard to do.”
Lol, no I don't follow you at all (or anyone). If I did, I'd have replied to a lot more of your posts. I can only think of a couple others of your posts (recently) that I've replied to, and I only remember me disagreeing with what you've said. Disagreeing with a few posts of a certain poster is hardly following, it's just that we have different opinions on more than one thing and so it's only more likely that I'll disagree with more than one thing.
I have found all four of the "big" teams uninspiring to be honest. All very lucky to get through their matches.
I sincerely hope one of them proves "worthy" of being overall winners, because at the moment, aside from perhaps one good game from Germany and Holland, they have all been very poor.
I sincerely hope one of them proves "worthy" of being overall winners, because at the moment, aside from perhaps one good game from Germany and Holland, they have all been very poor.
Originally Posted by TheMunch:
“Lol, no I don't follow you at all (or anyone). If I did, I'd have replied to a lot more of your posts. I can only think of a couple others of your posts (recently) that I've replied to, and I only remember me disagreeing with what you've said. Disagreeing with a few posts of a certain poster is hardly following, it's just that we have different opinions on more than one thing and so it's only more likely that I'll disagree with more than one thing.”
“Lol, no I don't follow you at all (or anyone). If I did, I'd have replied to a lot more of your posts. I can only think of a couple others of your posts (recently) that I've replied to, and I only remember me disagreeing with what you've said. Disagreeing with a few posts of a certain poster is hardly following, it's just that we have different opinions on more than one thing and so it's only more likely that I'll disagree with more than one thing.”
Feel free to criticise/disagree with me as much as you wish, as long as it has substance to it, thats great. If its just criticising me personally or my posting style, I'd rather do without it.
Holland Vs Brazil
Argentina will finally come undone, when they face a Dutch team, that will attack from all sides, relentlessly. Germany are ok as a team, but haven't been imperious as expected. And with Brazil being a home nation, will have the greater support and extra incentive to progress.
Argentina will finally come undone, when they face a Dutch team, that will attack from all sides, relentlessly. Germany are ok as a team, but haven't been imperious as expected. And with Brazil being a home nation, will have the greater support and extra incentive to progress.
Originally Posted by 007Fusion:
“Holland Vs Brazil
Argentina will finally come undone, when they face a Dutch team, that will attack from all sides, relentlessly. Germany are ok as a team, but haven't been imperious as expected. And with Brazil being a home nation, will have the greater support and extra incentive to progress.”
“Holland Vs Brazil
Argentina will finally come undone, when they face a Dutch team, that will attack from all sides, relentlessly. Germany are ok as a team, but haven't been imperious as expected. And with Brazil being a home nation, will have the greater support and extra incentive to progress.”
As much as I would love to believe this, I just can't see where Brazil's goals are going to come from
Originally Posted by Xela M:
“A Holland v Germany final will be beautiful, not just because of their huge rivalry, but because both teams play attacking football which will be great to watch. I predict Holland to win.”
“A Holland v Germany final will be beautiful, not just because of their huge rivalry, but because both teams play attacking football which will be great to watch. I predict Holland to win.”
This would be perfect for me too. I really, really hope that Holland do win.
References to the advantages of being a host nation have made me curious, so I have had a little rummage.
In the 16 world cups since WWII, beginning with 1950, only 4 host nations have won the world cup. England, to my surprise, were actually the first to do so, followed by West Germany (74) , Argentina (78) and France (98). An additional 2 host nations were runners up (Brazil 1950, Sweden 1958), while 4 lost in the semi-finals.
In other words, being host nation is certainly no guarantee of success; only 6/16 have made the final, 4 going on to win it. On the other hand, of the 10/16 host nations who made the semi-finals since WWII, 6 have gone on to the final.
In the 16 world cups since WWII, beginning with 1950, only 4 host nations have won the world cup. England, to my surprise, were actually the first to do so, followed by West Germany (74) , Argentina (78) and France (98). An additional 2 host nations were runners up (Brazil 1950, Sweden 1958), while 4 lost in the semi-finals.
In other words, being host nation is certainly no guarantee of success; only 6/16 have made the final, 4 going on to win it. On the other hand, of the 10/16 host nations who made the semi-finals since WWII, 6 have gone on to the final.
Originally Posted by whedon247:
“hulk and fred to to squeeze hosts part germany!”
“hulk and fred to to squeeze hosts part germany!”
What a pair. I don't actually believe they are Brazilian. I think they are Russians in Brazilian disguise.
Originally Posted by Xela M:
“What a pair. I don't actually believe they are Brazilian. I think they are Russians in Brazilian disguise.”
“What a pair. I don't actually believe they are Brazilian. I think they are Russians in Brazilian disguise.”
lol
i actually think hulks been alright in the KO stages, fancy him to grab an important goal yet.
Originally Posted by NiteOwl12:
“References to the advantages of being a host nation have made me curious, so I have had a little rummage.
In the 16 world cups since WWII, beginning with 1950, only 4 host nations have won the world cup. England, to my surprise, were actually the first to do so, followed by West Germany (74) , Argentina (78) and France (98). An additional 2 host nations were runners up (Brazil 1950, Sweden 1958), while 4 lost in the semi-finals.
In other words, being host nation is certainly no guarantee of success; only 6/16 have made the final, 4 going on to win it. On the other hand, of the 10/16 host nations who made the semi-finals since WWII, 6 have gone on to the final.”
“References to the advantages of being a host nation have made me curious, so I have had a little rummage.
In the 16 world cups since WWII, beginning with 1950, only 4 host nations have won the world cup. England, to my surprise, were actually the first to do so, followed by West Germany (74) , Argentina (78) and France (98). An additional 2 host nations were runners up (Brazil 1950, Sweden 1958), while 4 lost in the semi-finals.
In other words, being host nation is certainly no guarantee of success; only 6/16 have made the final, 4 going on to win it. On the other hand, of the 10/16 host nations who made the semi-finals since WWII, 6 have gone on to the final.”
When quoting those sort of stats though you need to remember that in many cases the host nation would not be expected to have a reasonable chance of winning the World Cup. Mexico, USA, Japan, South Africa etc.
A more telling stat IMO is the one which says that a European team has never won a World Cup held in the Americas and only once has a South American team won a World Cup held in Europe.
Being the host doesn't guarantee success but being from the right continent seems to be important.
Although the two semis look good on paper with four heavyweights of world football featuring in them, it's fair to say that none of these teams are going down in history as "great" or particularly memorable, even.
The knock-out games so far have been poor with no upsets. I hope we'll get at least one classic before this tournament is over, but I don't expect to see much in the way of quality. The pundits might want to hype everything as always and try and convince us that Messi is playing like the greatest player who ever laced up a pair of boots, but the fact is he is not, and what started out as a great World Cup is fast becoming very average, unfortunately.
The knock-out games so far have been poor with no upsets. I hope we'll get at least one classic before this tournament is over, but I don't expect to see much in the way of quality. The pundits might want to hype everything as always and try and convince us that Messi is playing like the greatest player who ever laced up a pair of boots, but the fact is he is not, and what started out as a great World Cup is fast becoming very average, unfortunately.
I think Brazil will take Germany to penalties playing with a defensive mindset. I think Holland and Argentina will be a better quality encounter.
Goes without saying that Brazil vs Argentina would be a nightmare. There's a lot of history there and they hate each other : there would be a lot of passion but they would probably kick lumps out of each other too.
Expecting an all South American final.
Since the end of the group stage the Dutch haven't impressed me, unless they up their game I just expect Argentina to have the edge.
Brasil have had all the breaks and even without Neymar and Silva I expect them to be still getting the rub of the green. Enough to see off an efficient but unspectacular German side.
Four average teams one of which history will record as World Champions.
Since the end of the group stage the Dutch haven't impressed me, unless they up their game I just expect Argentina to have the edge.
Brasil have had all the breaks and even without Neymar and Silva I expect them to be still getting the rub of the green. Enough to see off an efficient but unspectacular German side.
Four average teams one of which history will record as World Champions.
Originally Posted by Eurostar:
“Goes without saying that Brazil vs Argentina would be a nightmare. There's a lot of history there and they hate each other : there would be a lot of passion but they would probably kick lumps out of each other too.”
“Goes without saying that Brazil vs Argentina would be a nightmare. There's a lot of history there and they hate each other : there would be a lot of passion but they would probably kick lumps out of each other too.”
Yeah but what about on the pitch?
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