World Cup - any interest?

[Michael McNally]

I know you are only joking Craig, but these sort of offsides should not be given anyway. Any benefit of the doubt is supposed to go to the attacking team. Linespersons give these offside more often than not out of fear of being attacked by rabid supporters.

[Craig(NZ)]

i only found out last week that New Zealand played football, so don't see me as an authority

[Sharkey]

I can't believe they let a team called the "All Whites" into South Africa.

[griff]

Not surprised here. Thought it would be 2-0 or 3-0. We don't have a decent striker. The high crosses or a very silly attack option against the tall Germans and we don't have any other it seems. Cahill is small and that made it look even worse. It makes no difference other than Cahill is out for the the next two? games. Certainly against Ghana and that is the one that was always going to be the must-win game. I didn't watch the Ghana-Seriba game so will take a look tonight.

cheers

Carl

I hope it is only one game Griff. Two for that tackle would be a travesty.
The old and slow defense let us down. As soon as they came up to effect an offside trap they were caught short. It happened 10 times, and no amount of arm flapping to the assistant ref is going to make up for it. I agree the high crosses from the wing to Cahill were a wast of time. The Germans are way to tall for that sort of tactic. In short we lacked the speed and skill on this occasion. Hopefully some younger fresh legs for our defense (ie beaucamp) could be in order for the next game.
On the flip side I had 2 Germans in my fantasy league team an I'm now on top of the league. Bitter sweet.

There you are. Once game it is. Lucky us provided we win against Ghana.

cheers

Carl

Edit: trying to get the quoting right

[Craig(NZ)]

good effort from aussie last night to pull off a draw. by tomorrow morning NZ and Aussie should be even with a draw and a loss each! Can't see us getting near italy

[monghead]

Still livid from the disgraceful refereeing last night.

[platinum]

good effort from aussie last night to pull off a draw. by tomorrow morning NZ and Aussie should be even with a draw and a loss each! Can't see us getting near italy

You shouldnt, but, strange upsets have been happening

[platinum]

Still livid from the disgraceful refereeing last night.

Yeah me too. I know harsh as it is the 1st sending off is the rules because (intentional or not the ball was going in) but how it wasnt 10 men each only minutes later after the worst challenge of the whole world cup so far baffles me

[n4sir]

Still livid from the disgraceful refereeing last night.

Yeah me too. I know harsh as it is the 1st sending off is the rules because (intentional or not the ball was going in) but how it wasnt 10 men each only minutes later after the worst challenge of the whole world cup so far baffles me

When I thought they said before the game started this guy refereed the last World Cup Final I thought "great", the very same clown who completely lost control of the biggest game imaginable...

Yeah I agree the send off was harsh, but that's the rule and ironically it was one of the few things he probably got right - the rest of the game he was crap. The standard of refereeing in this year's World Cup has been rubbish, not that it was exactly great at the last event in Germany either.

I absolutely loved the World Cup finals staged in Korea/Japan two series ago - an absolutely brilliant display of what the "Beautiful Game" can be. The previous series in Germany was marred by diving and poor refereeing, and I can't say I'm exactly enjoying this one either (those non-stop f***ing horns, girls being chucked out and prosecuted for wearing orange dresses that had a very minor tag of a brewery who's not the major sponsor, and most importantly poor play and refereeing). It seems a little ironic that the series I'm enjoying least are the ones Australia are competing in.

Cheers,
Ian

[RogerPike]

Not much irony, we were rubbish.

As soon as we scored we fell back into a pathetic defensive mode and let them come at us. Then the bloke on the wing walked around two of our defenders and passed to a bloke who was totally unmarked 12 metres out right in front of our goal. What was Kewell doing standing in our goal anyway? He was there to score goals, not stop them. A quick break forward and where would Kewell have been? Defensive rubbish.

Verbeek is a tosser.

Roger

[Michael McNally]

I have to disagree with you Roger. Verbeek is not a tosser. He had a plan, and it was a good plan, but it didn't work. His plan was to lose to Germany (but not by much), beat Ghana, and only hopefully need a draw from Serbia. That set of results got us through in 2006. I didn't see anyone baying for Guus' blood when we lost 2-0 to Brazil, and Germany are better than Brazil at World Cups (well at least in the group stages). I must say when the draw was made and we got Germany, Ghana and Serbia, I thought we could come to SA, play well and still lose all three games. Tough group.

Verbeek has to work with an Australian side that has little, if any, depth. If we had another couple of players of the calibre of Cahill, Kewell and Bresiano, he would be able to stick with a system and bring players in and out and cover injuries. That is his biggest handicap and despite that he qualified us for the finals, playing ugly football. Our defence is experienced, but old and slow - who is ready to step up? North, Milligan or Beachamp? Not yet. Essentially our best 15 or 16, if all fit, can take on just about anybody, but that hasn't been possible.

Verbeek has had a number of key injuries, notably Kewell and Breshiano. He basically conceded that we would lose to Germany so he did not risk them (a week is a long time in injury recovery terms) and targetted a win in the Ghana game. This was smart as it truly was the "must win" game of the group stage. I think he erred in trying something a little unusual/unpredictable in an attempt to jag a result against Germany, but losing by 1 or 2 goals was always on the cards. Unfortunately Germany were red hot on the night and Cahill got sent off for a stupid challenge through a dubious decision by the ref. I actually thought after the first goal against Germany we should have "parked the bus" to limit the damage. As it is, the margin of that game that has cost us most dearly, meaning our draw with Ghana only ensures that we can progress if we win by a large margin against Serbia. Unless Ghana do us a favour (which I don't think they are capable of)

So he had a plan (you have to have a plan), but it didn't work. The first game didn't work out well partly because the Germans were having a cracker and partly because of a poor tactical choice to try to use the offside trap to compensate for our lack of speed at the back. It was compounded by the dubious sending off.

He had the strategy right last night, though I do agree though that we stopeed pressing as soon as we scored our goal and that dragged them onto us (I am not sure how much of this is down to Verbeek but he should have warned them against it). Harry's sending off was just one of those stupid unlucky things that happens in football. I think we could have beaten Ghana had that not happened, possibly by enough to offest some of the damage done by Germany and leaving us to just have to draw with Serbia to progress. Serbia upsetting Germany threw a spanner into the works also.

Anyway, we are still in with a chance, and it would be great if we got through. Might shut Craig Foster up for a nanosecond. Nah, maybe not that long.

C'arn the Aussies!!

Michael

[platinum]

Yeah tend to agree.

You could do your form/plan and Germany would beat Serbia 99 times out of 100 but unfortionatly for us it was this time that the 1 in 100 came and we got a red for a tackle that cahill pulled out of in the 1st game, should have been 10 men each last night but no it was 10 v 11 because they got a lucky decision and thats all she wrote. Still I see brite signs for next time. Where we used to have 4 or 5 players in the big leagues we now have so many young players getting snapped up, even ones we snubbed this time that could be ready for us in 4 years.

[platinum]

Good performance from NZ to hold them out. Probably very lucky with the offside goal but hey it counted

[Craig(NZ)]

yes lucky but you could also argue the penalty italy milked was lucky too (though in my opinion not too lucky)

did well not to give italy too many chances to put into action their advanced hollywood acting lessons

[dave vino]

Penalty was very harsh, there was nothing in it. More Italian acting just like against Australia in the last World Cup. NZ did the Oceania region proud.

Kaka send off was a disgrace, if he is outed for even 1 match they really need to look at video refs.

[Wayno]

Well done All-Whites. Looks like a tough finish though but no tougher than the plight of the poor old Aussies.

[platinum]

Penalty was very harsh, there was nothing in it. More Italian acting just like against Australia in the last World Cup. NZ did the Oceania region proud.

Kaka send off was a disgrace, if he is outed for even 1 match they really need to look at video refs.

Probly realised they made a muck up allowing the NZ goal to stand (how must USA feel) so payd the penalty the other way

[Craig(NZ)]

Probly realised they made a muck up allowing the NZ goal to stand (how must USA feel) so payd the penalty the other way

rubbish, the nz goal was completely legal. look at the replay from behind the goal and is is 100% clear the ball came off the itaian defender before smeltz toed it in. not offside, no arguement can be offered from anyone that has seen it from this angle

as for the penalty yes plenty or argie bargie but the italian clearly took a hollywood and milked it for more than it was worth. to nz's credit they only allowed one occassion for the italians to put the acting lessons into action

[platinum]

Lol.. With Barel 30 % and 1 shot on target....NZ did really well...outplayed the opposition...Very entertaining to watch....NZ were actually the ones acting to waste time hence a card or 2 you got

[odyssey]

as for the penalty yes plenty or argie bargie but the italian clearly took a hollywood and milked it for more than it was worth. to nz's credit they only allowed one occassion for the italians to put the acting lessons into action

Here is a hilarious clip of the same guy (Daniele De Rossi) showing off his enviable acting/diving skills in a previous match.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iufnlu5842w

Maybe he's practising Tai Kwon Do, they need to learn how to fall, right?

Anyway the cynic in me still can't quite understand how a rugby player can power on to the try line with an opponent literally attached around his waist whilst a glass-man Azzurri player falls over with a gentle tug on his jersey.

Or for that matter how a rugby player can stomp over the top of an opponent to reach the try line whilst a glass-man Azzurri player falls over in agony at the slightest impediment on the pitch.

Perhaps the refs should sit down and watch a few rugby matches to see what a man can endure to stay on his feet if he really wants to...

[Michael McNally]

Fifa really need to do something about all the playacting that is going on: diving in the box, clutching heads/faces when they haven't been touched, pretending your leg is broken and writhing around on the ground when you have had your ankle clipped in the tackle. It reallly is a blight on the game.

One caveat I have is jersey tugging. If you are tugging on a players jersey and he falls over then you shouldn't complain if a free kick/card is awarded against you. You shouldn't be tugging on his jersey. This needs to be stamped out immediately.

All red card decisions need to be reviewed by the 4th official, as they have such an incredible impact on a game. The play has to stop anyway for the red card to be awarded so take a minute to review. If it is very clearly not a red card offence (like Kaka) then the card can be overturned or ruled a yellow. Where it is unclear (Kewell) - the red card stands.

I love football and I am sick of watching games that are ruined by poor refereeing. The guy refereeing the Switzerland v Chile match this morning was a joke.

Cheers

Michael

[odyssey]

Penalty was very harsh, there was nothing in it. More Italian acting just like against Australia in the last World Cup. NZ did the Oceania region proud.

Kaka send off was a disgrace, if he is outed for even 1 match they really need to look at video refs.

Probly realised they made a muck up allowing the NZ goal to stand (how must USA feel) so payd the penalty the other way

According to wikipedia:

Since offside is judged at the time the ball is touched or played by a team-mate not when the player receives the ball, it is possible for a player to receive the ball significantly past the second-to-last defender.

Looking at the replay below, at the moment when the first player kicked the ball in to play, the eventual goal scorer was well onside behind about 4 or 5 italian players. The goal was legal.

http://rutube.ru/tracks/3344709.html?v= ... &bmstart=0

[odyssey]

Just to correct myself. From the other forum:

Not offside from the moment the free kick was taken, offside from when his team-mate Reid flicks the ball on with his head.

He gained an advantage after the rebound of an opposing player so it's still offside... hard to spot Reid's flick though.

Gaining an advantage by being in an offside position
Playing the ball after the ball has rebounded off the goal, the goalkeeper, or any opponent

Interesting.

[platinum]

Fifa really need to do something about all the playacting that is going on: diving in the box, clutching heads/faces when they haven't been touched, pretending your leg is broken and writhing around on the ground when you have had your ankle clipped in the tackle. It reallly is a blight on the game.

One caveat I have is jersey tugging. If you are tugging on a players jersey and he falls over then you shouldn't complain if a free kick/card is awarded against you. You shouldn't be tugging on his jersey. This needs to be stamped out immediately.

All red card decisions need to be reviewed by the 4th official, as they have such an incredible impact on a game. The play has to stop anyway for the red card to be awarded so take a minute to review. If it is very clearly not a red card offence (like Kaka) then the card can be overturned or ruled a yellow. Where it is unclear (Kewell) - the red card stands.

I love football and I am sick of watching games that are ruined by poor refereeing. The guy refereeing the Switzerland v Chile match this morning was a joke.

Cheers

Michael

Agree 100%

Juersey tugging is unacceptable and always has been the rules, hence why Italy were given their penalty. You would have to be a few sandwiches short of the picnic basket to even consider doing it in the box if you are a defender.

That ref was shocking, poor Swiss for that red and poor Chile go into the game against spain needing a result to be sure of quilifying with 2 players who gt very soft yellows because he was making an example.

The Spain, Honduras ref (asian) was very good execpt he missed the Vila smack in the face which is a strait red, by any definition

[pc79]

Get rid of the offside rule altogether. Takes out human error. The offside decision in game 1 Mexica v Sth Africa was farcical. Corner whipped in, defender on the goal line protecting the near post, header skimmed across goal, lurking mexican on back post tapped it in. Offside with the defender still on the goal line.
No offside makes every player accountable, and none of this pleading with the linesman from defenders who have been beaten.

[rens]

Fifa really need to do something about all the playacting that is going on: diving in the box, clutching heads/faces when they haven't been touched, pretending your leg is broken and writhing around on the ground when you have had your ankle clipped in the tackle. It reallly is a blight on the game.

One caveat I have is jersey tugging. If you are tugging on a players jersey and he falls over then you shouldn't complain if a free kick/card is awarded against you. You shouldn't be tugging on his jersey. This needs to be stamped out immediately.

All red card decisions need to be reviewed by the 4th official, as they have such an incredible impact on a game. The play has to stop anyway for the red card to be awarded so take a minute to review. If it is very clearly not a red card offence (like Kaka) then the card can be overturned or ruled a yellow. Where it is unclear (Kewell) - the red card stands.

I love football and I am sick of watching games that are ruined by poor refereeing. The guy refereeing the Switzerland v Chile match this morning was a joke.

Cheers

Michael

Could not agree with you more. Unfortunately I think it will be a while before this changes...

[platinum]

Wow mixed emotions but what a great win, thats how you get a win when you need one against a team thats ranked ahead of you. Just ashame for 2 red cards in our first 2 games, (even the best teams would take 4 points if they knew they would have to play 2 games with 10 men and have a penalty awarded aginst them let alone 2 of the best players missing the 2 crucial games) We also had further missfortune by playing a top 4 ranked team looking for a big early kill 1st rather than playing them last where all they wanted was a win and had no incentive for anything further. How much more proud can we be? 4 points was a great great effort, if things went perfectly let alone all the above

[Craig(NZ)]

Go da all whites!

[monghead]

The Socceroos have certainly redeemed themselves. A stellar effort. It was a proud morning...... (then it all went pear shaped with the Labour fiasco)...

[platinum]

More than pear shaped