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Post by Velkontés on Jun 15, 2014 5:36:38 GMT -5
So, is anyone looking forward to the World Cup in Russia in 2018? Only four years away!
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Post by MasterSnit on Jun 15, 2014 16:46:32 GMT -5
LOL. I knew this was a set up.
Don't lose heart just yet. Most people probably expected Italy to beat England. I did, and I think they probably needed at least a point from that game if they are going to progress. Uruguay and Costa Rica might not be considered favourites against England, but the fact that they are both South American teams playing in South America will probably give them some sort of advantage. At the start of the tournament I didn't really think England would get out of their group, and I can see Uruguay sneaking a win over them when they play. Still, keep your head up V, there is still hope.
As for the rest of the tournament, Holland hammering Spain was a bit of a surprise. I still expect Spain to win their next two games, then they will likely play Brazil in the last 32. It will be quite funny to see Spain dump Brazil out of the tournament after only a couple of weeks.
I think Argentina will win the tournament.
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Post by Velkontés on Jun 17, 2014 15:22:55 GMT -5
As for the rest of the tournament, Holland hammering Spain was a bit of a surprise. I still expect Spain to win their next two games, then they will likely play Brazil in the last 32. It will be quite funny to see Spain dump Brazil out of the tournament after only a couple of weeks. I'm going to be honest, this tournament has been an absolute blast so far. It's actually rekindling my interest in football again. Man, that Van Persie header was spectacular. That's another of those goals that if I tried to do I would fail 100 times out of 100. And holy crap, fucking COSTA RICA doing a number on Uruguay was amazing. I loved their third goal. All the games I've seen so far have been entertaining. Except for that Nigeria vs Iran game last night, which literally sent me to sleep. It's really hard to see who is going to win this. I thought Spain, Brazil and Argentina were the most likely, but none of them started off in overwhelming fashion. Meanwhile, a couple of traditional powerhouses that were unfancied - Netherlands and France - put in impressive performances. And of course you've got the fucking Germans. I kinda think if a second- or third-tier nation was ever to win it, this might be the year to do it. I know Belgium were being touted as a dark horse, for instance I also felt they needed a point, and I also expected them to lose. The disappointing thing is that Italy looked pretty ordinary and England still couldn't get a result. I was saying before the tournament started that I expected England to lose 1-0 to Italy, draw 0-0 with Costa Rica, and then lose 2-1 to Uruguay (I didn't realise at the time that Uruguay were next). I don't know what to make of Costa Rica beating Uruguay. Uruguay looked a lot worse than advertised, whereas the possibility now exists of England losing to Costa Rica. So many potential bischoffing opportunities.
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Post by Velkontés on Jun 19, 2014 17:25:16 GMT -5
sigh
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Post by Naitch on Jun 19, 2014 21:15:27 GMT -5
I've been following this. Since my home country probably has no chance in hell, I've decided to adopt the Netherlands. Just like them, can't really explain it.
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Post by Velkontés on Jun 20, 2014 13:39:35 GMT -5
I've been following this. Since my home country probably has no chance in hell, I've decided to adopt the Netherlands. Just like them, can't really explain it. I don't think the U.S. are as terrible as people made out. A draw against Portugal might be enough, as long as they park the bus against the Germans and perhaps only lose 1-0. I'm adopting Costa Rica. They just made Italy look like jabronis. It really is hilarious.
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Post by Naitch on Jun 20, 2014 16:03:59 GMT -5
I've been following this. Since my home country probably has no chance in hell, I've decided to adopt the Netherlands. Just like them, can't really explain it. I don't think the U.S. are as terrible as people made out. A draw against Portugal might be enough, as long as they park the bus against the Germans and perhaps only lose 1-0. I think as a country we just assume that we suck at soccer/football/whatever you want to call it. We completely forget it exists unless the World Cup is on.I don't know anyone that can name a player on our team. I do know plenty of people that can name at least two people from Brazil. A lot of people are just thinking of where there families migrated from and picking them as there team. Also, I know most people can't even figure out how teams make it out of the first round. But, for one month out of every four years, the USA does follow FIFA.
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Post by Velkontés on Jun 21, 2014 10:45:12 GMT -5
I think as a country we just assume that we suck at soccer/football/whatever you want to call it. We completely forget it exists unless the World Cup is on.I don't know anyone that can name a player on our team. I do know plenty of people that can name at least two people from Brazil. A lot of people are just thinking of where there families migrated from and picking them as there team. But, for one month out of every four years, the USA does follow FIFA. To be honest Naitch, club football lost a lot of its appeal to me years ago, but the World Cup (and the European Championship) can still suck me in. So caring about football for one month out of 4 years isn't a bad way to approach it. Perhaps the fact that the U.S. are such favourites in a lot of sporting contests (such as the Olympics) makes being a true underdog hard to process? Really? If the current format is hard I would love to see them figure out some of the tournaments from the 50s, which truly were labyrinthine. You're in a group of 4. You play each team once. The two teams with the most points go through. I am a bit of a fan of the double-elimination format some of your college sports use, and think it would work really well for the World Cup (at least in determining who progresses to the knockout rounds), but there is literally no chance of it happening because the rest of the world would find it too confusing.
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Post by Naitch on Jun 21, 2014 11:57:58 GMT -5
Perhaps the fact that the U.S. are such favourites in a lot of sporting contests (such as the Olympics) makes being a true underdog hard to process? Trust me, it's apathy to the sport in general. Most of us don't even know the World Cup is happening until a week or so before it happens. It doesn't get shoved down our throats ahead of time with corporate commercials from Coke and McDonald's, who annihilate us with Olympics commericals. World Cup comes on at a perfect time though, NHL and NBA just finished there seasons and MLB is just kinda stagnating towards the Home Run Derby. Really? If the current format is hard I would love to see them figure out some of the tournaments from the 50s, which truly were labyrinthine. You're in a group of 4. You play each team once. The two teams with the most points go through. So wins don't matter, just points? I was under the assumption that points were used as tie breakers in case teams had equal amount of wins. I'm a fan of anything in a bracket, double or single elimination. Single elimination means more though. Every game counts, no second chances, more excitement.
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Post by Velkontés on Jun 22, 2014 10:27:58 GMT -5
The short answer is: it's all about points.
The long answer is: you get 3pts for a win and only 1 for a draw. So IN PRACTICE, because you only play 3 games in the group stage, the teams with the more wins are always going to go through. So in that sense, wins matter more than points, and IN PRACTICE, points do kinda act as tiebreakers if teams have equal number of wins.
It is mathematically impossible - in a 3 game league - for Team A to win more games than Team B and finish BELOW Team B in the standings.
In a league season a team with 20 wins and 10 draws (70 pts) will finish below a team with 18 wins and 18 draws (72pts).
The reason I like the double-elimination format - for the Group stage ONLY, mind - is that every game matters, and every team is guaranteed a minimum of 2 meaningful games. England are playing Costa Rica next week, and England cannot qualify for the knockout stage (which is 16 teams, single-elimination bracket) because they lost their first 2 games, and Costa Rica have already qualified because they won their first 2 games. So that game is a meaningless dead rubber.
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Post by Naitch on Jun 22, 2014 11:01:35 GMT -5
Thanks dude. When you said points I thought goals. The point system is wonky to the Americans, because we don't let our sports end in ties. The NFL will have the occasional tie, but that is once a season at most since they get an extra quarter to play and it is pretty much sudden death.
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Post by Velkontés on Jun 23, 2014 9:06:01 GMT -5
When you said points I thought goals. Oh right, yeah I can see how that was confusing now. The U.S. were really unlucky last night. Actually, unlucky isn't the right word, because they did themselves in. They really, really, really should have won that game against Portugal. Even after they conceded the first goal, they were attacking and causing a lot of problems, and I thought they might come back. But to throw it away at the end was terrible. On balance I think the U.S. will still go through, but it is going to be very tight for them now. If you were judging strictly on performances, then Portugal might actually be the worst team in the competition. On an unrelated note, Ronaldo can go fuck himself. Ghana almost causing Germany to lose the plot was a lot of fun too. We could be in for an upset winner of this tournament.
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Post by Naitch on Jun 24, 2014 10:34:22 GMT -5
Once we start the elimination rounds of the World Cup, what happens if the game is in a tie at regulation?
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Post by Velkontés on Jun 24, 2014 11:53:25 GMT -5
Once we start the elimination rounds of the World Cup, what happens if the game is in a tie at regulation? They play another 30 minutes. If the score is still tied after extra time (and unlike your American sports extra time isn't sudden death - so a 0-0 tie in regulation can end 2-2 after extra time) then we get the penalty shootout to decide things which as an Englandler I am a huge fan of
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Post by Naitch on Jun 25, 2014 16:58:03 GMT -5
It has taken awhile, but I'm starting to catch whats going on during the games. Once you know what is happening, it is way more then people kicking balls. I'm not catching as much as I want to, due to school and work, but this World Cup thing is for real.
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