france just seemed to lazy to me if uraguay didn't get a man sent off then they would have won for sure any way how is u.s.a getting ready to be beaten by the glorious three lions tomorrow?
I don't understand what some people are expecting out of these opening matches.Number one concern to every team in their opening match is not to lose.That's why we'll see some pretty conservative play for the most part in the opening fixtures.Coaches and players are just shit afraid of losing because it's seen more or less as a death warrant for the rest of the group stages.They don't want to see months of preparation go to waste.I do expect the real flair teams -Spain,Argentina,The Netherlands - to show some more gusto in their opening fixtures.Things usually start to go crazy later in the group stages and throughout the knockout rounds.
Solid matches today.Uruguay impressed me quite a bit.Looking forward to tomorrow's fixtures.
I'm a big enthusiast for football and especially the World Cup tournament, but seeing as 90% of the Giantbomb members dont root for the teams they enjoy watching the most, but rather root for their country's team automatically, i must say this thread is lacking the true sports spirit and polluted by patriotism and i shall have nothing to do with it.
" @armaan8014: I'm a big enthusiast for football and especially the World Cup tournament, but seeing as 90% of the Giantbomb members dont root for the teams they enjoy watching the most, but rather root for their country's team automatically, i must say this thread is lacking the true sports spirit and polluted by patriotism and i shall have nothing to do with it. "
Wow, what an elitist. Your 'holier than thou'' attitude towards sports is ruining this thread.
I've been watching Ireland play through thick and thin for 15 years - are you really going to question if I'm a true sports fan? Just because you're not patriotic when it comes to sports doesn't mean it's a crime to be.
@ChickenPants: I'm no elitist. i barely know shit about football nowadays, i only watch the World Cup tournament and some Champions League games. all im saying is : I strongly believe that football is about spirit. its about the viewer choosing the team that impressed him/her the most as their favorite, and not just rooting for your home team... wheres the fucking charm in that ?
@tallTuck94 said:
" @Ahmad_Metallic: the world cup is about being patriotic it's your club team that you choose for enjoying watching them play "
those two sentences contradict, my friend. First you say its about being patriotic, then you say its about choosing the team you ENJOY watching. so in my case, i'd choose Israel according to your first statement, but then i'd choose Brazil according to your second statement.
@Ahmad_Metallic: they don't contradict brazil is a national team i'm patriotic for my country so i root for england at international level but when it comes to CLUB teams i choose newcastle united because they play attacking football which i enjoy to watch even though i live far away from newcastle
" @ChickenPants: I'm no elitist. i barely know shit about football nowadays, i only watch the World Cup tournament and some Champions League games. all im saying is : I strongly believe that football is about spirit. its about the viewer choosing the team that impressed him/her the most as their favorite, and not just rooting for your home team... wheres the fucking charm in that ?
Well since you're just a casual football fan I don't really expect you to understand - yeah I know that's a pretty elitist thing to say but the casuals usually just pick the team that's the easiest on the eye/most impressive or whatever when big events come along. Maybe you're just not in as deep as the diehards who will always support their national team/club.At least in my experience I've never met an Irish person who claimed to be a diehard football fan that didn't support their country. It's your country that they're out there playing for- it's your spirit on the pitch along with their's. At least that's the way it's seen in Ireland,England .etc. Though I guess I understand countries who are not quite as patriotic, at least in terms of sports, as us.
" @Ahmad_Metallic: the world cup is about being patriotic it's your club team that you choose for enjoying watching them play "
those two sentences contradict, my friend. First you say its about being patriotic, then you say its about choosing the team you ENJOY watching. so in my case, i'd choose Israel according to your first statement, but then i'd choose Brazil according to your second statement. "
I think you misunderstood him. As I read it, he seemed to mean that you should support your national team (if they're represented) in the World Cup, but you choose a club team (ie, a non-national team, one from a particular football league) for supporting a team that you enjoy to watch play. For example, I'm from The Bahamas, we don't have a representative team at the group stage so I default to my next closest claimable team, England. However, if I chose a team I watched because I enjoy their play I would pick Arsenal from the English Premiership League which contains players from many countries.
" @Ahmad_Metallic: the world cup is about being patriotic it's your club team that you choose for enjoying watching them play "
those two sentences contradict, my friend. First you say its about being patriotic, then you say its about choosing the team you ENJOY watching. so in my case, i'd choose Israel according to your first statement, but then i'd choose Brazil according to your second statement. "
I think you misunderstood him. As I read it, he seemed to mean that you should support your national team (if they're represented) in the World Cup, but you choose a club team (ie, a non-national team, one from a particular football league) for supporting a team that you enjoy to watch play. For example, I'm from The Bahamas, we don't have a representative team at the group stage so I default to my next closest claimable team, England. However, if I chose a team I watched because I enjoy their play I would pick Arsenal from the English Premiership League which contains players from many countries. "
so you're saying that in the World Cup tournament, its patriotism, while in the league games, its the team you enjoy.. Hm, makes sense, but i still disagree. i think patriotism shouldnt be a part of the equation.
It's absolutely fine for you to feel the way you do, but as this particular competition is specifically putting countries against each other, it seems only likely that most people would support their own country. I think that's a positive thing though, a common purpose to bring a country together to support them throughout a challenging competition. When you're talking to people who live in places where they have no representation though, it's all fair game.
I think throwing around a word like "patriotism" with a negative tone is just not necessary. What's wrong with being patriotic about your own country? Especially as in this case it's in reference to a global sports competition and not something more dire, such as an international dispute or war.
" Henry appealed for handball!, slimy shit hope he gets hand cancer. "
I lol'd. "
In a way it makes me sad, he can never be considered a truly great player now. Maradona gets away with it because of the genius of his second goal and the fact that England are big boys. Also the falklands war(sticking one on England any way they could was what Argentines felt was needed) Us Irish were playing well above ourselves just to cope, and were coping well until that happened.
" @ChickenPants: your definition of "diehard football fan" differs ALOT from mine.. with all friendliness and non-trolliness allow me to humbly say that your definition of a die hard fan - being patriotic - is pathetic and irrelevant. "
If you knew how to read properly you'd understand that I didn't define being a diehard fan as being patriotic.I just commented that based on my experiences the two are inherently linked.ie. someone who is a diehard football fan always(again in my experience) also claimed to be passionate about his own country doing well in football.
@EdIsCool: i'm english so i should'nt really care but i felt so digusted that he had to resort to cheating just to knock ireland out most teams just play average and they finish ireland off
" Henry appealed for handball!, slimy shit hope he gets hand cancer. "
I lol'd. "
In way it makes me sad, he can never be considered a truly great player now. Maradona gets away with it because of the genius of his second goal and the fact that England are big boys as well as the falklands war(sticking one on England any way they could was what Argentines felt was needed) Us Irish were playing well above ourselves just to cope, and were coping well until that happened. "
It really makes me sad too. I always considered Henry as an excellent and admirable player. It really sucks to see someone of such stature reduced to being labelled a cheat, but hey, he did what he did and that's that. Unfortunate for sure, but I'll always still appreciate him as one of the greats.
" @EdIsCool: i'm english so i should'nt really care but i felt so digusted that he had to resort to cheating just to knock ireland out most teams just play average and they finish ireland off "
You're selling Ireland pretty short there.We don't lose many games nowadays. Teams generally don't ''finish us off'' with all the difficulty of swatting a fly , we can give anyone a game.
I'm sick of people blaming Henry too.Blame the officials , blame Fifa. PLayers cheat everyday, in every game.Just because it was hilariously obvious don't blame the guy. Gerrard could dive tomorrow night and win a penalty. It's just the way the game is at the moment sadly.
@yevinorion: Excellent - Definately Admirable - Don't think so.He was always a petulant moaner and diver, even at the height of his powers at Arsenal.While I could appreciate his brilliance in playing the game I was never impressed by the character of the man. He wouldn't exactly put his body on the line for his team or anything like that.And often would put in zero effort.
@ChickenPants: i was just kidding, i like both ireland and scotland and i always enjoy watching them win and one of my favorite players is mcgeady. i feel as though thier squads just keep getting stronger and stronger. as for not blaming henry you've alway got to say that in the end he commited the hand ball on purpose just like maradonna and then had the cheek to completly deny it just like maradonna.
" @EdIsCool: i'm english so i should'nt really care but i felt so digusted that he had to resort to cheating just to knock ireland out most teams just play average and they finish ireland off "
You're selling Ireland pretty short there.We don't lose many games nowadays. Teams generally don't ''finish us off'' with all the difficulty of swatting a fly , we can give anyone a game. I'm sick of people blaming Henry too.Blame the officials , blame Fifa. PLayers cheat everyday, in every game.Just because it was hilariously obvious don't blame the guy. Gerrard could dive tomorrow night and win a penalty. It's just the way the game is at the moment sadly. "
Cyprus 5-2..*shudder* we'll have to wait a long time until that qualifing campaign dosent hurt. As a serious footballing side we havent existed since 2002. Trappatoni dosent really play football. The rumour is the players just said "fuck it, lets go for it" that night in Paris, they were magnificent but it was an aberration. They were dreadful in the home leg.
@EdIsCool: The Staunton era was a dark dark time.Kerr era wasn't great either. I agree on the Trap thing.We play eh ''brick'' football.Just defend super tenaciously and well organised and hope we nick a goal.Ridiculous that if we were playing San Marino these tactics would probably still apply.I think the squad today has more talent than he gives credit for.The recent friendlies were promising.Wish he would break up the Whelan/Andrews partnership.
I agree on the 2002 thing. We were definately a top 10 in the world side back then. We could really play some good stuff too. Shame it's been downhill since.
I think a lot of England fans are underestimating the ability of the USA team this year. I will, however admit that their coach is a retard. I watched an interview he was involved in on BBC earlier and he didn't even know what a metaphor was...
"I have learned a great deal of things from Fabio Capello....one time he told me that wine can go sour if one grape isn't ripe...at first, I thought he was talking about wine...but now I know different.' /loose quote
Not an exact quote - I'm pretty sure it was dumber than that....
Brilliant stuff from South Africa today, good for them for getting shit done and it was a great game to kick off the tournament. Wasn't too fond of the opening though! seemed all over the place.
Missed the uruguay game, looks like that was a good thing though!
edit: also i agree the world cup is about supporting your country.. otherwise we'd all just be supporting brazil and spain and it would be pointless.
" Brilliant stuff from South Africa today, good for them for getting shit done and it was a great game to kick off the tournament. Wasn't too fond of the opening though! seemed all over the place. Missed the uruguay game, looks like that was a good thing though! edit: also i agree the world cup is about supporting your country.. otherwise we'd all just be supporting brazil and spain and it would be pointless. "
My country never makes it into the World Cup. Canada's national soccer team is pretty much unheard of. -_-;;;
I didn't really watch the games because I was dozing off from sleep deprivation (spelling?), but the South African goal was brilliant.
The World Cup, where matches that would make me turn off after 10 minutes suddenly make me glued to my seat. Don't know what it is, but I enjoy every game, no matter how cagey it is but if I saw it anywhere else I would just watch something else. Probably because there is always the chance that something spectacular will happen.
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