Ghana is making this Kraut sour.

Ick, they look good. How did they Americans beat them?

93gobears;842326872 said:

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Ghana is making this Kraut sour.

Ick, they look good. How did they Americans beat them?

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Ghana won the second minute to the eighty-fifth minute of the match.

fairweatherfan;842326888 said:

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Ghana won the second minute to the eighty-fifth minute of the match.

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That game was a Hndin.

fairweatherfan;842326888 said:

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Ghana won the second minute to the eighty-fifth minute of the match.

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Maybe no more downplaying the USA win over Ghana after this effort. They are good.

Ghana is lethal on the counterattack, as the Germs so clearly demonstrated today.

The US game "plan", whether intentional or not and however excruciating to watch as a US fan, conceded possession to Ghana, eliminating the threat of the counter. Ghana does poorly when in control of possession. The 21 shots with only 8 on goal and one reaching the net from the US game reflects this fact.

BerlinerBaer;842326955 said:

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Ghana is lethal on the counterattack, as the Germs so clearly demonstrated today.

The US game "plan", whether intentional or not and however excruciating to watch as a US fan, conceded possession to Ghana, eliminating the threat of the counter. Ghana does poorly when in control of possession. The 21 shots with only 8 on goal and one reaching the net from the US game reflects this fact.

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Yup, they are no good trying to execute set plays, but in a wide-open game they can run you out of the stadium. So make them play "half court" like the US did. It worked, albeit barely.

Only in America, would a national broadcasting network (Disney, ESPN, ABC) tout American soccer left and right, put two WC games back to back on ABC, sandwiched between a half hour segment of ESPN's Sportcenter on ABC, have a full hour of promo called "US Soccer's March to Brazil" on ABC, then switch the US v Portugal game to ESPN.

:facepalm

God help us when Net Neutrality dies.

At least we have Univision, lucky Mexicans. I'm brushing up on my Spanish.

510Bear;842326260 said:

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That was quite a game. Too bad for England it was decided by those 2 goals from Anne Hathaway.

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Ha-ha! Nice.....

BGGB2;842327086 said:

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Ha-ha! Nice.....

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I whiffed on this reference. Help me out.

there you go 93gb

Korea is displaying the miss 100% of the shots you don't take... haha

Did the vampire just strike once again? This could be ugly once they review the tapes and Suarez did in fact bite Chiellini.

goldenokiebear;842327677 said:

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Did the vampire just strike once again? This could be ugly once they review the tapes and Suarez did in fact bite Chiellini.

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goldenokiebear;842327677 said:

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Did the vampire just strike once again? This could be ugly once they review the tapes and Suarez did in fact bite Chiellini.

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Dude watch out for his chompers. So bizarre this guy. And this wasn't pursuant to the run of play. He clearly did this to get something started and possibly attract a PK. He bites, Chiellini throws out his arm a little, Suarez goes down, and then he grabs his face. He's purposefully used a handball to save a goal, bit someone while at Liverpool, and now this. What a freak show. He should be kicked out of the tournament, no doubt.

Another European power goes down. I know we expected the Euro teams to underperform a bit due to the Brazilian climate, but this is extreme.

KoreAmBear;842327682 said:

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Dude watch out for his chompers. So bizarre this guy. And this wasn't pursuant to the run of play. He clearly did this to get something started and possibly attract a PK. He bites, Chiellini throws out his arm a little, Suarez goes down, and then he grabs his face. He's purposefully used a handball to save a goal, bit someone while at Liverpool, and now this. What a freak show.

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He bit someone else, too, in 2010 while playing for Ajax. And reportedly head butted a referee, causing the ref to gush blood, when he was 16 and playing in Uruguay. What a nutcase.

Mike Tyson thinks Suarez is too dirty.

sycasey;842327684 said:

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Another European power goes down. I know we expected the Euro teams to underperform a bit due to the Brazilian climate, but this is extreme.

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This Italy team is way overrated, they weren't going to get very far in this tournament anyway. Very weak up front with Cassano and Balotelli, and a bunch of hacks like Chiellini in the back, Buffon past his prime. Pirlo is the only great player on that team but he's slow and easy to contain. If anything they might have spared themselves the embarrassment of a lopsided loss had they gone on, like the 4-0 thumping they took against Spain in 2012.

Uruguay did a good job of not conceding any free kicks right outside of the box, Italy was trying hard to draw the foul there.

As far as European powers, Holland and France have done pretty well so far. Europe is probably going to have two teams in the final 4, the winner of France-Germany, and Holland.

GranadaHillsBear;842327688 said:

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Mike Tyson thinks Suarez is too dirty.

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Miguel Olivo says, "Good form Suarez. Good form."

When Arsenal tried to buy Suarez last summer, Arsene Wenger, perhaps the most intellectual of managers, very calm and collected, said Suarez is a dream player: a beast on the field, angry, driven but the nicest guy off of it. The line between greatness (Suarez is a top five player) and insanity is very, very thin--we saw that with Zidane. Interesting that both times it was against the Italians who are known for diving, getting under your skin and just plain irritating the hell out of you.

The last two times he bit someone it was so his club team would sell him. First time it worked, second time Liverpool stuck with him. Over the last few days, his camp has been telling the media he wants to move to Barcelona (or maybe Madrid)--both of whom would take him in a heart beat.

"He has a strong, provocative personality. From the information I gathered on him it appears that on a day-to-day level he is really easy to work with.

"Also that he's respectful; he loves training; he's an angel. He turns into a demon when he's on the pitch.

"We all dream about having players like that."

http://www.sportal.com.au/football/english-premier-league/luis-suarez-a-dream-player-says-arsene-wenger/130qyj6ddbdqo1b39uef7kblrw

WildBear;842327692 said:

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"He has a strong, provocative personality. From the information I gathered on him it appears that on a day-to-day level he is really easy to work with.

"Also that he's respectful; he loves training; he's an angel. He turns into a demon when he's on the pitch.

"We all dream about having players like that."

http://www.sportal.com.au/football/english-premier-league/luis-suarez-a-dream-player-says-arsene-wenger/130qyj6ddbdqo1b39uef7kblrw

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There's no doubt he is a world class striker and probably a nice guy off the pitch. It's when he does stuff like this, that it puts club and country in a mess you don't want to have to deal with.

Yeah he does do stuff like that, but I'll tell you what, every team in the world would die for a player like Suarez, bite and all.

Why do people criticize him for the handball? It was a reaction within .2 seconds or so. 95% of the players in the world would do that.

KAM--that's part of the package with greatness a lot of the times. Zidane, Suarez, C-Ronaldo has his issues too, but he brushes up his public persona well. Same with Messi who would drink pepsi in front of his manager seconds after the manager would tell the team to keep junk like pepsi out of their bodies. Humiliates and degrades his teammates (Alexis Sanchez, the star for Chile) until they ask for a transfer, let alone being a tax cheat.

KoreAmBear;842327694 said:

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There's no doubt he is a world class striker and probably a nice guy off the pitch. It's when he does stuff like this, that it puts club and country in a mess you don't want to have to deal with.

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WildBear;842327696 said:

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KAM--that's part of the package with greatness a lot of the times. Zidane, Suarez, C-Ronaldo has his issues too, but he brushes up his public persona well. Same with Messi who would drink pepsi in front of his manager seconds after the manager would tell the team to keep junk like pepsi out of their bodies. Humiliates and degrades his teammates (Alexis Sanchez, the star for Chile) until they ask for a transfer, let alone being a tax cheat.

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True. However, you would think that biting would be one of the lines you can't cross. And he's done it now at least 3 times in matches (thanks for the Ajax reference GMP).

Cal88;842327689 said:

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As far as European powers, Holland and France have done pretty well so far. Europe is probably going to have two teams in the final 4, the winner of France-Germany, and Holland.

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Right, but typically there are a lot more European teams (like 6 to 8 of them) in the final 16 and this year there will not be nearly as many. Agree that France, Netherlands, and Germany have looked good and should be favored to advance, but beyond that the teams have been disappointing.

sycasey;842327701 said:

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Right, but typically there are a lot more European teams (like 6 to 8 of them) in the final 16 and this year there will not be nearly as many. Agree that France, Netherlands, and Germany have looked good and should be favored to advance, but beyond that the teams have been disappointing.

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Belgium looks OK but not spectacular, although they are dangerous.

But overall I agree: England, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Russia, Greece, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzogovina -- all look pedestrian to awful.

Germany has looked ok, but not great. they struggled against Ghana and destroyed a poor Portugal side. Time will tell, but they seem to be missing Marcos Reus a lot (got injured right before the WC). They have a lot of creative midfielders, but he was a bit different with his athleticism and hunger.

sycasey;842327701 said:

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Right, but typically there are a lot more European teams (like 6 to 8 of them) in the final 16 and this year there will not be nearly as many. Agree that France, Netherlands, and Germany have looked good and should be favored to advance, but beyond that the teams have been disappointing.

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KoreAmBear;842327698 said:

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True. However, you would think that biting would be one of the lines you can't cross. And he's done it now at least 3 times in matches (thanks for the Ajax reference GMP).

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If he was American, yeah, but different culture, upbringing, etc. Can't judge what I don't know. But yeah, biting should be a line you dont cross, as well as purposely undermining your manager, teammates....greatness/madness/crazy

KoreAmBear;842327698 said:

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True. However, you would think that biting would be one of the lines you can't cross. And he's done it now at least 3 times in matches (thanks for the Ajax reference GMP).

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https://mtc.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/EB9D84A9-E3BA-423C-865C-916DCB55EE2E-2083-000002511820B00E_1a528b2f6f4.0.7.mp4?versionId=CxP5ZEMCYI63TdwbaPIH9qF4NnjFfJEx

grandmastapoop;842327708 said:

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https://mtc.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/EB9D84A9-E3BA-423C-865C-916DCB55EE2E-2083-000002511820B00E_1a528b2f6f4.0.7.mp4?versionId=CxP5ZEMCYI63TdwbaPIH9qF4NnjFfJEx

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3 strikes.

sycasey;842327701 said:

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Right, but typically there are a lot more European teams (like 6 to 8 of them) in the final 16 and this year there will not be nearly as many. Agree that France, Netherlands, and Germany have looked good and should be favored to advance, but beyond that the teams have been disappointing.

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Its even higher. Since the 16-team knockout round started in 1986, Europe had 10 in the final 16 in 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998, 9 in 2002, and then back to 10 in 2006. It dropped to 6 in 2010, and looks like it will be around 5 in 2014.

Mr. Frumble;842327723 said:

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Its even higher. Since the 16-team knockout round started in 1986, Europe had 10 in the final 16 in 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998, 9 in 2002, and then back to 10 in 2006. It dropped to 6 in 2010, and looks like it will be around 5 in 2014.

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Well, Greece just lucked in, so they'll improve that number.

sycasey;842327736 said:

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Well, Greece just lucked in, so they'll improve that number.

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Yup, and I can see Russia getting in from H, so decent chance it ends up being 7.

But what a bad call. Greece could be the least-deserving team through.