Anyone interested/excited about the World Cup?

J

JaCkaL829

it was my first time...
As the title says anyone excited or interested in the Fifa World Cup? I know I am, and I'm going to try to watch as many games as possible. Not that I really follow soccer, or sports for that matter, but I think its a really cool event with a cool history. Outside of the US this is what people have been looking forward to the past 4 years. I just caught the opening game today (Germany vs. Costa Rica) and it was pretty good, some really nice goals we're scored. I'm really hoping US can advance pretty far, although they're in the same group as Italy so i'm torn :nixweiss



Just curious as to how you guys feel about the World Cup? It doesn't seem like it's getting much attention, I've only seen a handful of commericals, and a couple specials on ESPN2. :o
 
JohnnyDaJackal said:
As the title says anyone excited or interested in the Fifa World Cup? I know I am, and I'm going to try to watch as many games as possible. Not that I really follow soccer, or sports for that matter, but I think its a really cool event with a cool history. Outside of the US this is what people have been looking forward to the past 4 years. I just caught the opening game today (Germany vs. Costa Rica) and it was pretty good, some really nice goals we're scored. I'm really hoping US can advance pretty far, although they're in the same group as Italy so i'm torn :nixweiss



Just curious as to how you guys feel about the World Cup? It doesn't seem like it's getting much attention, I've only seen a handful of commericals, and a couple specials on ESPN2. :o
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When I can find the time I will watch a few matches. for some reason is has not caught on like in the rest of the world. something about the foot eye combo just does not seem to interest our youth as much. by that I mean in other countries the kids take to " juggling the football " like our kids seem to show interest at hand eye sports such as baseball, football and basketball , to name a few. when I was younger soccer was not even near as popular in the US as it is today. when I use to play, there were only one or two leagues but now there are a lot more. I am glad to see the US team doing better and hope that will lead to more people following the sport. as far as watching on tv I feel that the low scoring nature lends some people to not want to watch it. have to admit I miss the good ole days of that perfect pass and bending one around the post , in the upper corner where the diving goalie can not reach it :D
 
I have no interest in soccer, if I want to see low scoring sporting events, I'll watch Eastern Conference NBA games. :LOLOL



Like with golf, I can appreciate the skill but I find it painfully boring to watch.
 
I agree the games can be a little boring without scoring or nice saves, but I don't always think of "scoring" as an indicator of how "good" a game is. That goes for most televised sports IMO.



On a similiar note a majority of this world cup's games have been pretty action packed games, with a decent amount of scoring. I think theres only been one tie out of all the games that we're played so far.
 
Scottwax said:
I have no interest in soccer, if I want to see low scoring sporting events, I'll watch Eastern Conference NBA games. :LOLOL



Like with golf, I can appreciate the skill but I find it painfully boring to watch.
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You bring up a good question. are you more likely to watch something becaue you are involved in that sport ? I golf so watching it does not bore me. watching Nascar or indy does not do it for me. I understand the guys and gals have skill but does not do anything for me. good thing we have so many sports to watch so we can pick and choose :heelclick
 
flatstick said:
You bring up a good question. are you more likely to watch something becaue you are involved in that sport ? I golf so watching it does not bore me. watching Nascar or indy does not do it for me. I understand the guys and gals have skill but does not do anything for me. good thing we have so many sports to watch so we can pick and choose :heelclick
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I bowl but I hate to watch it. I play baseball and love to watch it. I absolutely suck at basketball but love watching it. :nixweiss
 
There is no other sport besides soccer that is truly the "world's sport". It is the ONLY game where you will see countries like Ghana or Togo fielding teams. Doesn't mean they're gonna win, but when the champ is finally decided they are truly the world champion. Unlike the NBA or NFL and on and on. The "World Champs" of a sport played only in the USA. I have always hated that.
 
Tasty said:
There is no other sport besides soccer that is truly the "world's sport". It is the ONLY game where you will see countries like Ghana or Togo fielding teams. Doesn't mean they're gonna win, but when the champ is finally decided they are truly the world champion. Unlike the NBA or NFL and on and on. The "World Champs" of a sport played only in the USA. I have always hated that.
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:werd:



For all the money the MLB makes I didn't think the USA team would do so bad in the American Classic this past spring :rolleyes: :bolt



Too bad the Yanks didn't have much luck today either, Czech Republic really destroyed any hope of USA going far this World Cup.

At least Italy and Argentina are doing well :bigups
 
Italy looked strong. Can't believe there were no goals in that France Switzerland match today! Looking forward to Brazil's first game.
 
You know Im not soccer guy but I have been watching, its been fun. The South Korea game today was quite good. One of many to come questions, why do they let the clock run after the 90 mins is up?
 
-Lebowski- said:
You know Im not soccer guy but I have been watching, its been fun. The South Korea game today was quite good. One of many to come questions, why do they let the clock run after the 90 mins is up?
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The official will add in the time that elapses when he stops the clock when the guys roll around grabbing their shins. Any kind of stoppage time is added on at the end of the halves.
 
Tasty said:
The official will add in the time that elapses when he stops the clock when the guys roll around grabbing their shins. Any kind of stoppage time is added on at the end of the halves.
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Interesting I always thought that it just kept on running
 
Geez I wish I knew spanish so I can watch the games on Telemundo. The US announcers are terrible and the whole Brazil game they kissed Brazil's @$$.



I just watched the pre-show and the game, and the whole pre-show all they we're doing was talking about how great Brazil is and all the records they hold. They we're mainly focusing on Ronaldinho and how fantastic he is. To be honest I'm not a fan of Brazil, heck I'd rather anyone but Brazil win; but I will give them credit for some of the clips and highlights I watched during the pre-show. They really do play great soccer which is obvious by their records and history.The announcers really built up this Brazil team up to no tommorow.



The thing that annoys me is Brazil didn't play that great today, even their superstars didn't do to much special, and Ronaldo even got taken out with people booing him. I'm not blaming the players, but the fact that the US announcers continued to praise Brazil during the whole game, and didn't give Croatia any credit, which they played a really good game. It's as if the announcers had a "script" to read off the entire 90 minutes of how great Brazil is, while totally disregarding the other team.
 
JohnnyDaJackal said:
Geez I wish I knew spanish so I can watch the games on Telemundo. The US announcers are terrible and the whole Brazil game they kissed Brazil's @$$.



I just watched the pre-show and the game, and the whole pre-show all they we're doing was talking about how great Brazil is and all the records they hold. They we're mainly focusing on Ronaldinho and how fantastic he is. To be honest I'm not a fan of Brazil, heck I'd rather anyone but Brazil win; but I will give them credit for some of the clips and highlights I watched during the pre-show. They really do play great soccer which is obvious by their records and history.The announcers really built up this Brazil team up to no tommorow.



The thing that annoys me is Brazil didn't play that great today, even their superstars didn't do to much special, and Ronaldo even got taken out with people booing him. I'm not blaming the players, but the fact that the US announcers continued to praise Brazil during the whole game, and didn't give Croatia any credit, which they played a really good game. It's as if the announcers had a "script" to read off the entire 90 minutes of how great Brazil is, while totally disregarding the other team.
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Yeah I noticed that as well. Another question, when does the world cup go through? How many games does each team play to get out of the 1st round 2nd round ect ect
 
-Lebowski- said:
Yeah I noticed that as well. Another question, when does the world cup go through? How many games does each team play to get out of the 1st round 2nd round ect ect
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From Wikipedia...



The current finals tournament features 32 national teams competing over a month in the host nation(s). There are two stages, a group stage and a knockout stage.



In the first stages (the group stage), teams are drawn into eight groups of four. Eight teams are seeded at the draw (based on both current FIFA World Rankings and recent World Cups), and assigned a group. The other teams are drawn at random. Since 1998, constraints have applied to the draw to ensure that no group contains more than two European teams or more than one team from any other confederation. Each group plays a round-robin tournament, guaranteeing that every team will play at least three matches. The last round of matches of each group is held simultaneously to prevent collusion between nations. Since 1994, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (prior to this, winners only received two points). The top two teams from each group advance to the second stage (the knockout stage). If two or more teams finish level on points, tie-breakers are used: first is goal difference, then total goals scored, then head-to-head results, and finally drawing of lots.[14]



The second round, or knockout stage, is a single-elimination round in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner. It begins with the round of 16 (or last 16) in which the winner of each group (from the group stage) plays against the runner-up from another group. This is followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final. The losing semi-finalists contest a third place match.
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Darn, it was painful to see US played the other day.

I think we are minced meat this year.

Probably end with 0 point in the group with a -7 point differential.
 
My observations:



1. US completely outclassed by the Czech Republic

2. Brazil and England played some pretty mediocre soccer

3. Spain will give Brazil a run for its money

4. The new addidas ball is really lively, providing nightmares for the goalkeepers but also some great strikes and some very interesting matches :bigups
 
I've heard more talk that Argentina may be the favorite after Brazil. Also, ESPN commentators were discussing how Spain always comes in highly touted and then underachieves. We'll see I guess. I don't think Brazil had to try that hard against Croatia. Croatia should have had some goals in that game.
 
Tasty said:
I don't think Brazil had to try that hard against Croatia. Croatia should have had some goals in that game.
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I agree, Croatia played much better in the second half, moved the ball well, put a scare into Brazil, and should have tied up the score in the last 5 minutes. Croatia is a pretty good team.
 
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