CoN 25th Anniversary: 1997-2022
CoN World Cup Chat
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Posted: 27th June 2010 05:16
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.gif)  Posts: 482 Joined: 14/9/2003 Awards:     
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I've criticized our defenders before and I'm happy to do it again: We have the most positionally unaware back-line (North Korea excepted) out of any team in the WC. They're also mostly responsible for comically bad delivery in imitation of the long-ball game.
We play with our hearts but not with our heads. That's gotta change if we ever want to get deep into the tournament. Still, congrats to the USMNT for giving it all they had. I just hope we have more next time around. -------------------- SPEKKIO: "GRRR...That was most embarrassing!" |
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Post #186355
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Posted: 27th June 2010 16:30
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  Posts: 1,286 Joined: 29/3/2004 Awards:
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Germany played great today, but it was disappointing for the English to be disallowed that goal. I really think the announcers are onto something when they talk about how FIFA is being completely ridiculous by refusing to use technology in order to correct things like that. The team needs a way to challenge the call and go back and review the play.
If Germany hadn't scored those final two goals then the disallowed goal would have been terrible shame.. I really think they have got to do something about this sort of thing. The refs are just taking away goals left and right that are perfectly honest points. -------------------- Climhazzard is the timeless evil robot who runs some of the cool stuff at CoN (mostly logging chat, since there are no quizzes at the moment), all the while watching and waiting for his moment to take over the world. -Tiddles |
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Post #186358
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Posted: 27th June 2010 20:53
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Quote (Sephiroth @ 27th June 2010 11:30) If Germany hadn't scored those final two goals then the disallowed goal would have been terrible shame.. I really think they have got to do something about this sort of thing. The refs are just taking away goals left and right that are perfectly honest points. I will agree that the one that didn't get counted for England was the most egregious of the tournament so far. It's pretty easy to blow an offside call. This one shouldn't have been blown. Would it have mattered? No. Even with the morale boost of equalizing, England was no match for Germany, which is the real shame. Seems that putting a ref behind each goal would have fixed it, though. Who posted something about that yesterday?  I have to say this, and I do say it with a somewhat heavy heart, but I can't be upset that Mexico is out, even though CONCACAF is now done. Baralai, you've already seemed like a pretty alright guy, but you're about the only Mexico fan I've ever encountered who I could stand; all of the pages I follow on Facebook about soccer have been nothing but how Mexico are so much greater than the US and there's no way that the US could ever proceed as far as Mexico in this Cup, et cetera. I know we have some real d-bag fans too, and I might be a little biased, but I have to say I am looking forward to not seeing the hubris again for a while. Here are the scores for today. No perfects, but quite a few 8s on the late match.
I'll make the quarterfinal matches available to pick after Tuesday's matches, when we know all of the final eight teams. This post has been edited by Rangers51 on 27th June 2010 20:54 -------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #186359
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Posted: 27th June 2010 21:48
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Quote (Rangers51 @ 27th June 2010 21:53) I will agree that the one that didn't get counted for England was the most egregious of the tournament so far. It's pretty easy to blow an offside call. This one shouldn't have been blown. Would it have mattered? No. Even with the morale boost of equalizing, England was no match for Germany, which is the real shame. Seems that putting a ref behind each goal would have fixed it, though. Who posted something about that yesterday? Didn't you also say that when those refs were tested in a club game they made mistakes anyway? Video all the way.  Other than that I agree, England were completely outplayed by Germany, no excuses other than they were playing a team that would always beat them, no matter how much training or enthusiasm the English had. Unless of course Joe Hart was in goals instead of David James. James is of course probably the worst keeper in the Premier League but his experience really paid off when he jumped out of the way of Muller's shot. Well done him! I need to write to the BBC and tell them to scapegoat him instead of Capello. With all the post-match commentary I actually think English people prefer complaining about things and would be disappointed if England stormed the the final with a clean sheet in every game. The Argentina v Mexico game was great. I was actually supporting Mexico just because I like Salcido so much, and he really put in a good game there. As a neutral, Mexico are fun to watch so it's sad to see them go. My predictions for winners are really poor so far. I thought Italy and England were sure to shine in this tournament. Only one team left that aren't knocked out, which are luckily the team I went with in WCoN. It's been such a great tournament, definitely the best opening games in any international tournament I've seen. I hope the remaining games are as good. Edit Robben is in the starting team for the Netherlands. That's great news. I think the reason van Persie hasn't been scoring as many goals as he was in the qualifiers because of Robben's absence. Can't wait to watch the game at 3. This post has been edited by sweetdude on 28th June 2010 13:34 -------------------- Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind. Me on the Starcraft. |
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Post #186360
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Posted: 28th June 2010 16:15
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Thank you crazy last-second goal by Slovakia! It may not have meant anything to the result of the game, but it got me an additional two points!
Should be an awesome match between Brazil and Chile this afternoon, it has the makings to be the best of the entire Cup. -------------------- Hey, put the cellphone down for a while In the night there is something wild Can you hear it breathing? And hey, put the laptop down for a while In the night there is something wild I feel it, it's leaving me |
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Post #186362
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Posted: 28th June 2010 16:36
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Quote (Neal @ 28th June 2010 11:15) Thank you crazy last-second goal by Slovakia! It may not have meant anything to the result of the game, but it got me an additional two points! It cost me a perfect.  -------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #186363
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Posted: 28th June 2010 19:05
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 Posts: 487 Joined: 6/11/2007 Awards:  
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Quote (Rangers51 @ 28th June 2010 17:36) Quote (Neal @ 28th June 2010 11:15) Thank you crazy last-second goal by Slovakia! It may not have meant anything to the result of the game, but it got me an additional two points! It cost me a perfect. Same here  *cries* |
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Post #186364
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Posted: 28th June 2010 20:27
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Quote (Gigantuar @ 28th June 2010 20:05) Quote (Rangers51 @ 28th June 2010 17:36) Quote (Neal @ 28th June 2010 11:15) Thank you crazy last-second goal by Slovakia! It may not have meant anything to the result of the game, but it got me an additional two points! It cost me a perfect. Same here *cries* Got me an additional 4 points! Thank you Vittek. And thank you Slovakia for not scoring at any point up to then, although I hated you for it at the time. -------------------- Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind. Me on the Starcraft. |
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Post #186365
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Posted: 29th June 2010 04:06
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 Posts: 461 Joined: 25/6/2004 Awards:   
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Haha, thanks for the compliment Josh. It's all about cultural pride on my end, and although I try to be logical with my choices it's tough to go against my heavy heart. As far as Mexico vs. USA goes, I don't even like getting into that argument. Right now, I can't say whose the better team, but I do know that whenever the two play in the US Mexico loses and vice-versa. Regardless, it's over for the two of us now.....time to enjoy what's left of this cup =)
My pick of Mexico to upset ARG definitely came from the heart and it might come back to bite me in the end. Most anticipated match? BRAZIL vs. NETHERLANDS baby! -------------------- "The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved." - Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince |
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Post #186368
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Posted: 29th June 2010 09:32
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Quote (baralai888 @ 29th June 2010 05:06) Most anticipated match? BRAZIL vs. NETHERLANDS baby! First England v Germany, then Portugal v Spain, and now Brazil v Netherlands... This world cup has all the classic matches. All we need now is an Argentina v Brazil final. I'm most looking forward to Germany v Argentina I think that will be amazing. -------------------- Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind. Me on the Starcraft. |
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Post #186369
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Posted: 29th June 2010 12:05
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Yeah, I think I'm about as nervous as one can get for a Cup match that doesn't involve one's home country. Not only do I support Spain as my second team (even though they're playing the home of my ancestors today), I also have them as my winner here and I have money on them in Vegas to win the Cup (which, if they do win, will buy me a Spain jersey
).If we don't see the real Spain today, I'm in a world of hurt. -------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #186370
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Posted: 30th June 2010 00:13
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Sup, Spain. Amirite?
There are now eight teams left. If you chose Spain, Germany, Brazil, or Argentina, you're still in good shape. Next matches are Friday and Saturday and can be predicted now. -------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #186382
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Posted: 1st July 2010 21:31
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Posts: 1,286 Joined: 29/3/2004 Awards:
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Quote (sweetdude @ 29th June 2010 04:32) Quote (baralai888 @ 29th June 2010 05:06) Most anticipated match? BRAZIL vs. NETHERLANDS baby! First England v Germany, then Portugal v Spain, and now Brazil v Netherlands... This world cup has all the classic matches. All we need now is an Argentina v Brazil final. I'm most looking forward to Germany v Argentina I think that will be amazing. The Argentinian players have a history of being unsportsman like. I really cannot bring myself to hope for them to make it anywhere, except back to Argentina. Maybe when they quit acting how they typically do I will find some respect for them within myself... somewhere. -------------------- Climhazzard is the timeless evil robot who runs some of the cool stuff at CoN (mostly logging chat, since there are no quizzes at the moment), all the while watching and waiting for his moment to take over the world. -Tiddles |
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Post #186403
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Posted: 1st July 2010 22:18
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Posts: 487 Joined: 6/11/2007 Awards:
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Only Germany/Argentina is really exciting IMO...
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Post #186404
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Posted: 1st July 2010 22:58
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Last reminder, matches start up again tomorrow. Get your picks in.
-------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #186405
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Posted: 3rd July 2010 00:02
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Man, Brazil really imploded today, did they not? I've never seen a team so talented just simply collapse upon itself. You score an own goal and then let another one in right away? Yeah, that happens. You're friggin' Brazil, man up and finish the job. Not that I'm complaining, I've always liked the Oranje over the Selecao. Or, well, most teams over the Selecao.
And for a game that looked to be the most boring of the quarterfinals, Uruguay and Ghana had an insanely entertaining second half, extra time, and penalties. Suarez earned my admiration today, sacrificing what will probably be the rest of his World Cup and putting his foot down, saying "We're not going home like this - not my country." That play is what the World Cup should be in a nutshell, if you ask me. He took what he deserved and showed the faith he had in his countrymen to back him up... how cool is that? Scores weren't massive today, since it was a bit of a surprising day. Looks like Kane took the day with twelve points, though it's probably too little, too late due to all the matches he missed.
-------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #186421
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Posted: 3rd July 2010 10:29
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  Posts: 2,098 Joined: 21/1/2003 Awards:    
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Yeah, I loved that result. It's just my general love for the underdogs and schadenfreude towards the big dogs, but no matter who the little team is and who the big team is, I like to see a win for the littler guy.
Well, unless somehow the big team is Scotland and the wee team is Andorra or something... Anyway, looks hopeful for a new chapter. A shame for Ghana, but they deserved it for ruining the US world cup dream Now though, Uruguay deserve to lose. I forgot they'd won it twice, and that the Netherlands have not. That means IIRC 2 out of 4 semi-finalists are former winners assured. I just hope the finalists are the 2 that never won it.  -------------------- "Only the dead have seen the end of their quotes being misattributed to Plato." -George Santayana "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..." -Abraham Lincoln, prior to the discovery of Irony. |
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Post #186432
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Posted: 3rd July 2010 11:48
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Posts: 487 Joined: 6/11/2007 Awards:
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Uruguay are fakes, just look at them emblem! 4 stars?!
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Post #186433
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Posted: 3rd July 2010 16:04
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Quote (Gigantuar @ 3rd July 2010 12:48) Uruguay are fakes, just look at them emblem! 4 stars?! 2 wins in the World Cup and 14 wins in the Copa America. One more win in the Copa America and they will get 5. Germany. -------------------- Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind. Me on the Starcraft. |
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Post #186434
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Posted: 3rd July 2010 17:51
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Posts: 482 Joined: 14/9/2003 Awards:
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Damn, Cup's over. Just give it to Germany. Spare the other teams the humiliation.
-------------------- SPEKKIO: "GRRR...That was most embarrassing!" |
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Post #186437
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Posted: 3rd July 2010 19:09
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  Posts: 2,118 Joined: 18/7/2004 Awards:     
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Germany are a bunch of beasts, and I mean that in the most politically-correct way.
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Post #186438
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Posted: 3rd July 2010 20:45
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Quote (The_Pink_Nu1 @ 3rd July 2010 18:51) Damn, Cup's over. Just give it to Germany. Spare the other teams the humiliation. Haha. I don't know, Germany are very good at getting to the finals but just can't win these things anymore. I'd fancy either Spain or the Netherlands to beat them, no matter how ridiculously strong they look. Remember Spain beat them 1-0 in the European Cup final 2 years ago. Both teams have improved since then so it'll be quite even. I meant to say, my Brazil got knocked out so I'm surely out of this predictor league, but I'm glad in a way because the Netherlands went through instead. A Dutch friend of mine all the way in Japan has got back in touch to say "YEEEEEESSSSSSS". -------------------- Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind. Me on the Starcraft. |
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Post #186440
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Posted: 3rd July 2010 21:09
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There are now just four games left in the tournament. The Semifinals are available to pick, with semi 1 happening on Tuesday and semi 2 on Wednesday. All the teams left in the tourney have two games left guaranteed, with the winners mid-week going to the Final next Sunday, and the losers playing for third a week from today.
Today's games were brutal indeed. A clearly superior Germany side embarrassed Maradona, and what should have been a clearly superior Spain side showed awful touch and more than a bit of bad luck before finally getting some good luck later in the game. It seems pretty clear to me what the Final will look like, but I'm not about to start talking about that yet. Without factoring in champion picks, it looks like if you have fewer than 78 points right now, you're out of the running to win the top spot in the competition. However, if you are one of the three people who chose Spain or three who chose Germany, you're looking at least at a five point bonus, possibly up to ten, so that could still change your final ranking in a positive manner. Anyway, here are the points for today - see you Tuesday for the next match with any other commentary in the meantime.
-------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #186441
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Posted: 4th July 2010 04:08
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Posts: 482 Joined: 14/9/2003 Awards:
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Quote (sweetdude @ 3rd July 2010 15:45) Quote (The_Pink_Nu1 @ 3rd July 2010 18:51) Damn, Cup's over. Just give it to Germany. Spare the other teams the humiliation. Haha. I don't know, Germany are very good at getting to the finals but just can't win these things anymore. I'd fancy either Spain or the Netherlands to beat them, no matter how ridiculously strong they look. Remember Spain beat them 1-0 in the European Cup final 2 years ago. Both teams have improved since then so it'll be quite even. I meant to say, my Brazil got knocked out so I'm surely out of this predictor league, but I'm glad in a way because the Netherlands went through instead. A Dutch friend of mine all the way in Japan has got back in touch to say "YEEEEEESSSSSSS". Spain have improved since Euro 2008? You've got my head spinning in confusion, sweetdude! Are we referring to the same improved Spain who lost to Switzerland in the group stage? Who struggled to get out of the group stage? Who only just scraped through each of the knockout games, including the last one against Paraguay? Who have a still injured, out-of-form Torres? Who don't have Marcos Senna? Outside of France post-Zidane, I honestly haven't seen a team that has so badly deteriorated in 2 years' time. Obviously it's possible that they still beat Germany, but they're playing nowhere near as well. Nowhere near. -------------------- SPEKKIO: "GRRR...That was most embarrassing!" |
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Post #186442
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Posted: 6th July 2010 14:41
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Quote (The_Pink_Nu1 @ 3rd July 2010 23:08) Are we referring to the same improved Spain who lost to Switzerland in the group stage? I dunno, man, are we also talking about the same Germany that lost to Serbia? I mean, yeah, Germany has looked much better overall in this tournament than Spain, but I'm not sure that Spain particularly struggled. Sure, it came down to the last match for them, but they never really looked as if they weren't going to make it out of group. I do take your overall point, though, and I don't actually disagree with it, aside from the following: I feel like Sweets means that they've improved on paper, even if the results don't quite show it. They still have the guy who is probably the best striker in the world right now, and they'd have two of the top three or five if Torres were a bit more fit. They've added Busquets and Navas to the overall roster, and they have a midfield so robust that David Silva barely even gets playing time. They have a starting goalie good enough that one of the top two or three goalies in the Premiership hasn't even gotten off the bench this Cup (don't get me started on that - I'd be playing Reina OVER Casillas given the latter's recent form, but c'est la vie). All of these guys are in the primes of their careers, so if you assume that we are in fact talking about a team's class and not immediate form, yeah, they have improved since 2008. Their only problem is that they only have 24 more hours to find the form to match. And speaking of time counting down, the first semifinal starts in a little under four hours. I nearly forgot to even make my own picks, so don't be like me. -------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #186476
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Posted: 6th July 2010 21:56
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A lot of people were like me, apparently. Lots of people just didn't bother - we call them lame.
For the people who did, they got to see a pretty wild match. I thought three of us had eight points until that real late Uruguay goal, but nobody who made any picks got shut out, which means not that much shuffling around the leaderboard. URU 2 - 3 NED Rangers51: Score 4 baralai888: Score 2 Kappa the Imp: Score 2 Dragon_Fire: Score 4 Nytecrawla: Score 2 Gears: Score 2 footbigmike: Score 4 The_Pink_Nu1: Score 2 sweetdude: Score 2 Kane: Score 2 Sephiroth: Score 4 Del S: Score 2 Cazboab: Score 2 Corda: Score 2 Gigantuar: Score 2 Neal: Score 2 Tiddles: Score 2 Quad: Score 2 -------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #186481
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Posted: 7th July 2010 20:47
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Yes, yes, yes. Many times yes. My second side has made it into their first ever final. Absolutely delicious.
Now, that being said, very few people, including me, gave Spain much of a chance here. Three people took them to win out of the eighteen who made a prediction. Nobody got more than two points today. GER 0 - 1 ESP Rangers51: Score 2 baralai888: Score 2 Kappa the Imp: Score 2 Dragon_Fire: Score 2 Nytecrawla: Score 2 Gears: Score 2 footbigmike: Score 2 The_Pink_Nu1: Score 2 sweetdude: Score 2 Kane: Score 2 Sephiroth: Score 0 Del S: Score 2 Cazboab: Score 0 Corda: Score 2 Gigantuar: Score 0 Neal: Score 0 Tiddles: Score 2 Quad: Score 2 It looks to me that with two matches left, you probably can't place in the top three if you're lower than eighth place right now. That still doesn't figure in champion's points, but everyone's champion's points are set except for people who took Germany or Spain (Germany is guaranteed at least 5, Spain at least 8), so you should be able to do some rough math. The final two matches are Saturday and Sunday. Get picks in starting now, I have them in the database. Winners, including champion's points, will be in by Sunday night my time. -------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #186494
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Posted: 7th July 2010 23:18
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Posts: 2,098 Joined: 21/1/2003 Awards:
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Well, for me, all over bar the shouting. Quite a good world cup, let down by poor officiating and more than a few cheats, but hopefully one that leads to technological application to correct those. A nice end to it IMO in that I get what I'd hoped for: A team that had never won it, will win it
-------------------- "Only the dead have seen the end of their quotes being misattributed to Plato." -George Santayana "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..." -Abraham Lincoln, prior to the discovery of Irony. |
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Post #186496
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Posted: 8th July 2010 16:47
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Quote (The_Pink_Nu1 @ 4th July 2010 05:08) Quote (sweetdude @ 3rd July 2010 15:45) Quote (The_Pink_Nu1 @ 3rd July 2010 18:51) Damn, Cup's over. Just give it to Germany. Spare the other teams the humiliation. Haha. I don't know, Germany are very good at getting to the finals but just can't win these things anymore. I'd fancy either Spain or the Netherlands to beat them, no matter how ridiculously strong they look. Spain have improved since Euro 2008? You've got my head spinning in confusion, sweetdude! Are we referring to the same improved Spain who lost to Switzerland in the group stage? Who struggled to get out of the group stage? Who only just scraped through each of the knockout games, including the last one against Paraguay? Who have a still injured, out-of-form Torres? Who don't have Marcos Senna? Yeah them. The ones in the World Cup final. The ones who've grown up and don't feel the need to attack at every moment of the game. The guys who will happily play a tight, safe game and win 1-0, holding possession for as long as possible, even if people believe that's scraping it. The same team that don't have to rely on individual players like Torres to win games as per Euro 2008. Germany are always great but they succumb to the same failings year after year. The only reason Spain lost to Switzerland is because Reina wasn't playing. Simple as that. Which brings me to... Quote (R51) Reina I have no idea why they don't play him either. Casillas is alright, but Reina is such a strong choice. He was one of the only Liverpool players I thought had a good season, and saved them from humiliation on a number of occasions. -------------------- Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind. Me on the Starcraft. |
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Post #186504
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Posted: 9th July 2010 20:41
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Quote (sweetdude @ 8th July 2010 11:47) The same team that don't have to rely on individual players like Torres to win games as per Euro 2008. You had me until this. Not relying on individual players? Yeah, they are working great as a defensive unit and not relying on great individuals in that regard. However, Villa still has more than double the goals of the rest of the team combined. Xavi hasn't looked overly dangerous offensively, nor has Iniesta, and God bless Torres. I hope they don't have to rely on an individual player to win a game on Sunday. If they do, they are going to have a big uphill climb. -------------------- "To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN? |
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Post #186527
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