Americans have been whining about flopping in NBA playoffs, that's childplay... Thank god for the world cup so we are reminded how it's done right. It's not just egregious, but it also goes unpunished and will win you the game.

Well. Less than one game in and back to the realization that this sport is nothing but flopping. And I am a fan.

POS ref gives a goal to Brazil on a flop... Nothing more FIFA than that.

Stupid game.

Shameful home field advantage. Ref should be sent home immediately.

SoCalBear323;842324196 said:

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Shameful home field advantage. Ref should be sent home immediately.

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Ref called back a goal for Croatia as well...

Seriously... first game and these people cant wait to start deciding games on flops.

between the "brazil wins or you never see your family again" and the "there's 50,000 in it for you if brazil wins" it's hard to imagine an official calling a partial game. probably the same in the sec, maybe the pac 12. total joke.

Calling a goal back and a PK on a flop are as soccer as soccer gets...

Defending the game is pretty hard...as much as I was excited for the WC, the ref giving the game away is just a killer to my enthusiasm. Diving in the box should be a red card.

needs Brazil into at least the semis. Refs will do whatever it takes. Ditto for Germany, Spain, and either Uruguay or Argentina (makes for more compelling rivalries). Blatter is one of the most corrupt people on the planet.

Phantomfan;842324201 said:

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Calling a goal back and a PK on a flop are as soccer as soccer gets...

Defending the game is pretty hard...as much as I was excited for the WC, the ref giving the game away is just a killer to my enthusiasm. Diving in the box should be a red card.

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i agree, shameful part of the game. instead of a red card though because the ref would likely screw that up and give a red card to someone that fell legitly. they need to retroactively eject the player from the remainder of the tournament if they find that they flopped where they have the advantage of reviewing the play on replay

Croatia better be careful. Reffing will tilt towards Mexico when they play them too.

That was a mls match with pronounced home cooking. Brazil is really missing their old guard. Looking forward to Spain vs the Netherlands tomorrow, expect to see some world class soccer.

berkeleyhigh91;842324228 said:

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That was a mls match with pronounced home cooking. Brazil is really missing their old guard. Looking forward to Spain vs the Netherlands tomorrow, expect to see some world class soccer.

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Croatians played them tough. World class flop by Fred in milking a (purposeful) slip completely initiated by himself. They do have the indignant look down. Asian ref would have never made it out of Brazil alive if he gave Fred a yellow card.

ah soccer being soccer.



Is this a yellow card? red card? Hmm, the croatian dude is definitely grabbing the back of his head when he was hit in the jaw... so let's cal that one a draw.

Of course, this is how things get decided in the world cup, and who would expect anything less:

It's probably a old thing this happened in the first game. Might mean they will do better for the rest.

ColoradoBear1;842324233 said:

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ah soccer being soccer.



Is this a yellow card? red card? Hmm, the croatian dude is definitely grabbing the back of his head when he was hit in the jaw... so let's cal that one a draw.

Of course, this is how things get decided in the world cup, and who would expect anything less:

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Well at least the Croatian dude was actually hit pretty squarely on the jaw.

KoreAmBear;842324241 said:

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Well at least the Croatian dude was actually hit pretty squarely on the jaw.

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flagrant 1 or 2 in the nba?

ColoradoBear1;842324233 said:

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ah soccer being soccer.



Is this a yellow card? red card? Hmm, the croatian dude is definitely grabbing the back of his head when he was hit in the jaw... so let's cal that one a draw.

Of course, this is how things get decided in the world cup, and who would expect anything less:

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hahahaha how bad does a ref have to be to fall for the brazillian guy falling?

I guess I'm the only one who thinks it's a close call. Hit feet are both off the ground and in front of his body, and the Croatian guy grabs him around the shoulder.

Maybe don't grab a guy from behind by the shoulder in the box next time.

grandmastapoop;842324258 said:

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I guess I'm the only one who thinks it's a close call. Hit feet are both off the ground and in front of his body, and the Croatian guy grabs him around the shoulder.

Maybe don't grab a guy from behind by the shoulder in the box next time.

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its not the play itself but the expression of the brazillian guy as he falls to the ground. arms fly in the air, face he makes. its not that i blame the guy for doing that as its within the rules but they still need to change the rules to do something about it. literally makes me laugh at the sport and killed my interest as a casual spectator. i hardly have interest in soccer, but once i start seeing that kind of stuff forget about it, i have better things to do than watch people take dives to win.

grandmastapoop;842324258 said:

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I guess I'm the only one who thinks it's a close call. Hit feet are both off the ground and in front of his body, and the Croatian guy grabs him around the shoulder.

Maybe don't grab a guy from behind by the shoulder in the box next time.

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The Croatian guy places his hand on his shoulder. Not sure I'd call it a grab.

sycasey;842324271 said:

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The Croatian guy places his hand on his shoulder. Not sure I'd call it a grab.

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+1 I've played some soccer and coached a few years. In my opinion, the defender was bracketing his man without grabbing or pulling on the jersey. It was good defense and a bad call. Yes, the ref should be suspended and sent home.

On a different topic....anyone have any suggestions for good places to watch World Cup games in SF, LA, or elsewhere?

Seems like this event is becoming a bigger deal in sports bars all over the country......

510Bear;842324284 said:

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On a different topic....anyone have any suggestions for good places to watch World Cup games in SF, LA, or elsewhere?

Seems like this event is becoming a bigger deal in sports bars all over the country......

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Find a place that caters to non-Americans. I was in Europe in 1990 and 1998, and some of my all-time funnest WC watching experiences were during those trips, watching with Germans, Austrians, English, New Zealanders, etc.

(Went to the Netherlands-Saudi Arabia game at RFK during the 1994 World Cup, and MY GOD the Dutch were awesome fans, sitting in that raucous sea of orange was a special experience)

510Bear;842324284 said:

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On a different topic....anyone have any suggestions for good places to watch World Cup games in SF, LA, or elsewhere?

Seems like this event is becoming a bigger deal in sports bars all over the country......

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LOTS of places in SF.

grandmastapoop;842324291 said:

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LOTS of places in SF.

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Is Bahia still there?

Very harsh penalty call, but Brazil was the better team on the whole and won by a margin of two goals despite a very bad own goal. I don't think they win the tournament though, home or not, this is not one of their better squads. Same with Holland, I think Spain wins convincingly tomorrow.

KoreAmBear;842324241 said:

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Well at least the Croatian dude was actually hit pretty squarely on the jaw.

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Uhhhh... and Croatia was not awarded a PK.

Also, exaggerated or not, that elbow could have been a red card.
A garbage call outside the box is a bad call. A garbage call in the box is as game changing as a call gets in any sport. It is like calling a close call at 1st a home run in baseball.

bonsallbear;842324274 said:

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+1 I've played some soccer and coached a few years. In my opinion, the defender was bracketing his man without grabbing or pulling on the jersey. It was good defense and a bad call. Yes, the ref should be suspended and sent home.

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after 2010 and this call the ref should be banned from international competition.

It's called simulation. It's not fair, it's a violation. It leads to unfair wrong results. Who wants that?

First game of the WC?!

So why would I want to spend time watching, much less spending time playing?

Sorry, but what else do you need to know?

Something needs to change, in THAT deal.

Mamas don't let your little babies grow up to be floppers.

Because FIFA.

Phantomfan;842324201 said:

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Defending the game is pretty hard...as much as I was excited for the WC, the ref giving the game away is just a killer to my enthusiasm

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Same here. Every year I get so excited about the world cup only to be quickly reminded why I hate the world cup. At least in 2010, I was enjoying the WC until Ghana started flopping around in stoppage time against the US. This WC, I lasted half a game.

I actually was mildly rooting for Brazil, but now there isnt a team I want to see lose more then them.

EDIT: For those that hate FIFA, you have to watch the John Oliver rant...

Phantomfan;842324313 said:

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after 2010 and this call the ref should be banned from international competition.

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but that's exactly why he's there!

grandmastapoop;842324291 said:

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LOTS of places in SF.

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Agreed, world cup is the best thing to happen to bars in SF. Everywhere we went in 2010 was packed. We had a group of friends go to King of Thai Noodle House in North Beach. I thought it would be relatively calm but it was a complete zoo with extra TVs crammed in to show the game. Unfortunately I'm at a different stage in my life so I won't be able to revel in the madness this time around.

NYCGOBEARS;842324297 said:

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Is Bahia still there?

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Never heard of it - what am I missing?

Unit2Sucks;842324357 said:

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Agreed, world cup is the best thing to happen to bars in SF.

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I've heard other people say the same thing, that the bar scene in SF is at its absolute best during World Cup time, even more so than on NFL Sundays, March Madness, etc. The WC pulls out all of SF's expats and a surprising number of American-born SF residents who are interested in soccer because they've lived abroad, play the game, or just want to try out something different.

From what I've seen, it just makes for a better crowd and definitely a lively one, especially for the weekend games.

And this Mexico game reminds me of the other annoying thing about soccer: the damn offside rule.

Dense areas with diverse and affluent/well educated populations tend to bring out tons of WC fans. SF is great, NYC is also great during the cup. Ratings from yesterday's game in the city matched the finals.