I don't really understand why so many English were convinced they had the better team to start with. But to be honest, I didn't expect a defeat this crushing.
I don't really understand why so many English were convinced they had the better team to start with. But to be honest, I didn't expect a defeat this crushing.
Congratulations America
TBH, I think it's probably a good thing that the defeat was that crushing. What if the defeat had only been 2-1 or even just 3-1, then the story of the world cup would have been the disallowed goal, not the dismal way England played in this match and all the others with the possible exception of the stunning 1 goal (count 'em!) victory over footballing giants Slovenia. At least this result means it can no longer be denied that there are fundamental, systematic problems with the the English team and probably the entire national game. Germany obviously took a good, hard look at themselves and their game after the remarkably similar 5-1 whopping we gave them a few years ago, and the results speak for themselves. England now have an opportunity to do something similar. Whether they take it or continue to blame a few easy scapegoats (the manager, the referee, a few specific players who made mistakes) remains to be seen.
The light that once I thought compassion still casting shadows in your action
The words you shared were cold transactions that bring me to curse what you've done
When you're up there absorbed in greatness with such success you've grown complacent
I hope you scorch your many faces when you fly too close to the sun
I also agree steely. We scored three goals this tournament. And our group was amongst the easiest.
I can only hope that, against all previous trends, the manager is kept and the players are sacked. The "golden generation will likely be too old for the next world cup, and a couple might not even make the euros. Maybe do what the germans did and play a bunch of youngsters plus ashley cole and gerrard if they are still up for it.
Of course, our golden boy rooney was shit as well.
... bringing on emile heskey... ... ...
"Son," he said without preamble, "never trust a man who doesn't drink, because he's probably a self-righteous sort, a man who thinks he knows right from wrong all the time. Some of them are good men, but in the name of goodness, they cause most of the suffering in the world. They're the judges, the meddlers. And, son, never trust a man who drinks but refuses to get drunk. They're usually afraid of something deep down inside, either that they're a coward or a fool or mean and violent. You can't trust a man who's afraid of himself. But sometimes, son, you can trust a man who occasionally kneels before a toilet. The chances are that he is learning something about humility and his natural human foolishness, about how to survive himself. It's damned hard for a man to take himself too seriously when he's heaving his guts into a dirty toilet bowl.
Let me just go back to what I said about sports psychology after the USA game. In the USA game, England started well but went to pieces after Green's mistake. Then what do we have in the Germany game? England are staging a convincing fight back against Germany, they get a goal disallowed and... what happens? They go to pieces, again. It's almost as if the players don't know how to deal with it when something goes wrong!
Sporting facts:
1) Nerves are an inevitable part of competing in any major sporting event, for a given value of 'major' compared to the level of the competitor is operating act (i.e. the world cup for Wayne Rooney, the local league for Dave Pub Footballer)
2) Nerves, when handled badly, can lead to a noticeable decrease in performance. I've seen an athlete who was usually able to compete, let's say somewhere between regional and national level get beaten in an event little better than a school sports day because of the constant train of negative thoughts before a race.
3) Some athletes are readily able to deal with nerves and even use them to get a better performance than they would otherwise. Others cannot handle them at all and consistently fail to perform any time the pressure is on.
4) The ability to handle nerves can be taught.
So, put that together with the noted tendency of England to play worse when things are going badly, and then no on connects connects the dots and says "we need to get someone to teach these players to put, e.g. disallowed goals or mistakes by the goalie, behind them and not give up" because... they're idiots, I suppose.
The light that once I thought compassion still casting shadows in your action
The words you shared were cold transactions that bring me to curse what you've done
When you're up there absorbed in greatness with such success you've grown complacent
I hope you scorch your many faces when you fly too close to the sun
There were two very bad decitions by refs yesterday. But in the end the two stronger treams went to to next stage.
Still the FIFA should allow video refs for goals.
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
3-1 and 4-1 were both scored out of a counter because England was all-out attacking to score the equalizer. The first during a free kick which saw 9 player in front of the opposition's goal.
Look, it's clear the better side won, the terrible defending on England's side lost them the game in the first 32 minutes. If the score had been 2-2 Germany probably would have won it still. Probably.
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
Hmm. Well it was a good game to watch. Attacking and conter-attacking, ball being passed around a lot. The Germans were a little more precise. In the end the result was predictable really.
I didn't watch the last half-hour though, so left the game at 3-1 down. It was too nice a day outside by the river under big sycamore trees sipping Pimms to watch England lose yet again.![]()
The "world's" reaction to Donovan goal
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
Well, today Holland - Slovakia. I suppose the Dutch side would have a lot to explain if they can't win this match. Nothing is certain of course, but Slovakia shouldn't be a real obstacle to entry into the next round.
Congratulations America
Another world cup ended in disappointment, congrats to the German team they showed counter attacking football at it's very best. However the one thing that bugs me more than anything is knowing that the German defense/keeper were nothing brilliant and looked fragile at times (especially during the latter stages of the first half) yet they (England) done nothing to seize the opportunity. Any GOOD footballing side would have exploited that.
I'm really pissed off that England didn't do very well. I mean we won the World Cup in 1966 FFS.....
All those moments lost in time... like tears in the rain
Holland seems to be through. I noticed something funny; the signal of my TV appears to be about 1-2 seconds slower than the TV-signal of the people in the square. The goal was sort of 'announced' by the cheers there as it happened on my TV.
Congratulations America
Back from a wedding weekend.
US never quite pulled it together, Ghana played with more energy and were more physical than the US.
Hate to say "I told you so" about Germany, Brits....
From here on out, I'll just be glad if Argentina loses. God, I hate Maradona. Never liked Argentina much, but that little bantam makes me throw up in my mouth a bit.
Cheering for Brazil and Dutch, in that order.
Most likely Holland will play Brazil next week. I see no reason why Brazil should necessarily win that match.
Congratulations America
Seems like a done deal; friday Brazil will meet Holland in the quarter finals.
Last edited by Hazir; 06-28-2010 at 08:54 PM.
Congratulations America
Go Oranje!
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
Yay! \o/
Braaazilllllll, la la la la la la la la!
(And that was never a penalty.)
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has apologised to the Football Association over Frank Lampard's disallowed goal in England's World Cup defeat by Germany.
Lampard was denied a goal in Sunday's 4-1 defeat, even though his shot clearly crossed the line.
Blatter said the debate on goal-line technology would be reopened when the International FA Board meets in July.
He also said sorry to Mexico after Argentina's Carlos Tevez scored from an offside position in their last 16 game.
Well if this debacle finally gives birth to the standardised use of goal-line technology, then at least something good may come of it.
~
I like the way that there is a German company pushing for use of this tech, and who said that the game going to a 2-2 score may have changed the outcome ...
Manufacturers of ball-tracking systems say England's disallowed World Cup goal underlines the need for goal-line technology (GLT).
Hawk-Eye and Cairos, who make rival GLT systems, say Fifa needs to rethink its current position.
"We are using technology that is 100% accurate and adds fairness to the game," Christian Holzer of Cairos told BBC News.
Fifa has consistently refused to entertain the idea of using GLT.
"Technology should not enter into the game. It was a clear statement made by the majority of the IFAB (International Football Association Board)," said Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke in March.
But not everyone agrees. There have been calls from players, managers and coaches for a number of years, prompted by a series of controversial refereeing decisions.
British based Hawk-Eye, which uses a camera detection system, and German firm Cairos, which utilises chip technology inside the ball, both say that new technology would assist referees and make their job easier.
"The decision was unfair to the English team. Had it gone 2-2 at half-time, it would have been a very different match," said Mr Holzer, managing director of Cairos.
I disagree - Brazil's defence against Chile last night was absolutely unbeatable. The Netherlands will have real problems even getting into the 18 yard box.
All those moments lost in time... like tears in the rain
You disagree with who or what?![]()
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
http://tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=326028
Didn't the North Koreans claim that they got some of their tactics directly from Kim Jong-Il? Surely those are grounds for suspension, or is there one set of rules for Western countries and another for everyone else?
Hope is the denial of reality
Why do I get the impression that Sepp is blowing off this amount of steam to shift focus of the abysmal performance of the FIFA.
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
Because he's incompetent, arrogant luddite?
Hope is the denial of reality