# World Cup 2014



## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 18, 2014)

The reign of Spain simply could not be maintained!


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## Ahnehnois (Jun 18, 2014)

I don't know why people are acting like it's such a surprise. They never had any defense; it was always clear that if their opponents ever got the ball across the halfway line they could score easily. And their best players are all aging and don't have the athleticism to compete, especially not in tropical conditions. You could see this coming a mile away.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 18, 2014)

They looked very bad.  At the team AND individual level.

Australia, at least, played some decent ball against the Dutch today.  And I liked what South Korea showed last night.


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## Umbran (Jun 18, 2014)

Ahnehnois said:


> I don't know why people are acting like it's such a surprise.




Because usually reigning champions are not knocked out in the "group stage" of the competition.


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## Ahnehnois (Jun 19, 2014)

Umbran said:


> Because usually reigning champions are not knocked out in the "group stage" of the competition.



That might be the reason, but it really doesn't hold.

The same thing happened in recent world cups with France and Italy. It's a wide open tournament whose results fluctuate quite a bit. And with four years between tournaments, that's a lot of time for fortunes to change and players to age (which is clearly a factor in this case). History shows it's far more likely for defending champions to get knocked out in the group stage than to win it twice in a row.

The strange thing is, Spain was still ranked #1, simply because there are so few meaningful international competitions they really hadn't played enough games to get knocked out of their ranking. Clearly, they are nowhere close to being the #1 team in the world. To be fair, their ostensible successors (Brazil) don't look that great either.

***

As a US fan, I'm forced to admit that they played a pretty poor game and were fortunate to win it, and they may well advance but they're nowhere near the top echelon.


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## Dioltach (Jun 19, 2014)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> The reign of Spain simply could not be maintained!




Are you saying that reigning Spain will be mainly on the plane?


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 19, 2014)

Dioltach said:


> Are you saying that reigning Spain will be mainly on the plane?




...and that the pain in Spain is mainly from their shame.

Yes, Italy and France also failed to defend their titles, but as the first WC winners to lose their first 2 matches in the ensuing WC, Spain went out like CHUMPS.


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## NewJeffCT (Jun 20, 2014)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> ...and that the pain in Spain is mainly from their shame.
> 
> Yes, Italy and France also failed to defend their titles, but as the first WC winners to lose their first 2 matches in the ensuing WC, Spain went out like CHUMPS.




yes, Spain did look like chumps.

Hopefully, Portugal will follow their example and lose to the US on Sunday.


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## Jan van Leyden (Jun 20, 2014)

Umbran said:


> Because usually reigning champions are not knocked out in the "group stage" of the competition.




Well, it's the fifth time, actually: 1950 (Italy; though there was a 12 year gap), 1966 (Brasil), 2002 (France), 2010 (Italy), and now 2014 (Spain)


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 20, 2014)

5 times...out of 19 World Cups.  Not exactly commonplace, not as rare as hen's teeth.


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## Jan van Leyden (Jun 20, 2014)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> 5 times...out of 19 World Cups.  Not exactly commonplace, not as rare as hen's teeth.




Looking at the timeline, it seems to get more common: three out of four since 2002.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 20, 2014)

Data cluster.  A coincidence, in all probability.  But we need a bigger sample size, and we probably won't live long enough to get it.

Still, given how well Spain had performed in tournaments since the last WC, this result is really against the odds.  At least, IMHO.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 21, 2014)

Argentina needs to knight Messi.  He carried them today.  Iran may not have had as many chances as did Argentina, but they sure made the opposing goaltender work a lot harder!


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## NewJeffCT (Jun 21, 2014)

US just needs a win against Portugal to make it to the Round of 16.  Exciting second half with Ghana & Germany, but a 2-2 tie in the end.  Hopefully, Portugal is mentally reeling after being destroyed by Germany last week.  Would be weird to see the US on top of the so-called Group of Death.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 22, 2014)

Yeah, a win and we're in!  A tie puts us in comfy territory too.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 23, 2014)

Not exactly happy, but I'll take that tie.

The second Portuguese goal was a good one on their part, but that first one was U-G-L-Y.  How do you let 3 of your opponents cue up onsides behind you, unmarked?


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## Ahnehnois (Jun 23, 2014)

They still have a good chance to get through, but how many defenders do you need to have on the field before one of them covers the guy streaking towards the goal with thirty seconds left in the game?


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## Kramodlog (Jun 23, 2014)

I'm fascinated with the fact that so many people do not give a damn about soccer/football, but, suddenly, once every four years, they pretend to care and know what they are talking about. 

It is because of the media coverage (that  is all over the place) or because it becomes an event, like the super bowl or the olympics, two other events about sports not a lot of people watches or perform (curling anyone?).


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 23, 2014)

Ahnehnois said:


> They still have a good chance to get through, but how many defenders do you need to have on the field before one of them covers the guy streaking towards the goal with thirty seconds left in the game?




Just watched the replay on ESPN, and the dude who scored the header simply outran the man whose job it was to mark him.  All the other defenders in the area were watching the guy with the golden boot.

Not an excuse, an observation.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 23, 2014)

goldomark said:


> I'm fascinated with the fact that so many people do not give a damn about soccer/football, but, suddenly, once every four years, they pretend to care and know what they are talking about.
> 
> It is because of the media coverage (that  is all over the place) or because it becomes an event, like the super bowl or the olympics, two other events about sports not a lot of people watches or perform (curling anyone?).




I think the patriotism angle is a big factor.  We like to cheer our Olympians, and anyone else representing our country.  

However, MLS has been posting better TV ratings and attendance records every year for quite a while.  It may just be that soccer has reached a critical mass of fan support in the USA.


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## Ahnehnois (Jun 23, 2014)

goldomark said:


> I'm fascinated with the fact that so many people do not give a damn about soccer/football, but, suddenly, once every four years, they pretend to care and know what they are talking about.
> 
> It is because of the media coverage (that  is all over the place) or because it becomes an event, like the super bowl or the olympics, two other events about sports not a lot of people watches or perform (curling anyone?).



Bandwagon fanship isn't a terribly difficult phenomenon to understand. It happens with every major sporting event. People are social animals. When all the people that are actual fans become impassioned about something at the same time, the people that aren't naturally have an inclination to join them or be left out.

For my part, however, I try not to do the whole bandwagon thing. I follow most of the sports I watch with regularity, including my local professional soccer team and the US team during the non-World-Cup games.


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## Jan van Leyden (Jun 23, 2014)

Ahnehnois said:


> They still have a good chance to get through, but how many defenders do you need to have on the field before one of them covers the guy streaking towards the goal with thirty seconds left in the game?




Only one, of course. But he has to be smart enough to be in the right position and fast enough not to be outdistanced. And considering the circumstances (~30 °C, ~80% humidity) I actually can understand that one player just can't force his body to do as commanded.

It will be an interesting match come Thursday, pitching the two friends Jogi Löw and Jürgen Klinsmann against each other.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 23, 2014)

The Portuguese dude simply had just a little more left in his tank than the man covering him.  That's what got him open.

But that pass...oh, that pass!


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## Lindeloef (Jun 23, 2014)

Jan van Leyden said:


> [...]
> 
> It will be an interesting match come Thursday, pitching the two friends Jogi Löw and Jürgen Klinsmann against each other.




Malicious gossip has it that it will end in a draw  *cough* Gijón *cough*


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## Jan van Leyden (Jun 23, 2014)

Lindeloef said:


> Malicious gossip has it that it will end in a draw  *cough* Gijón *cough*




Bah, go away with your completely unfounded conspiracy theories! How about this one: at least the German team has a good motivation _not _to come in first in group G. Playing France in the quarter finals, which is a probable event for the first, isn't fun. So the German team _will lose_ the game after they have promised a Mercedes to the referee of the game Ghana vs Portugal.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 24, 2014)

Ok, congrats to Uruguay, but Luis "The Cannibal" Suarez needs to be suspended, not just for the rest of the World Cup, but maybe for a year or so.  That stuff is inexcusable.


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## Jan van Leyden (Jun 24, 2014)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Ok, congrats to Uruguay, but Luis "The Cannibal" Suarez needs to be suspended, not just for the rest of the World Cup, but maybe for a year or so.  That stuff is inexcusable.




Yeah, as happy as I am that we won't have to play Italy, this behaviour was disgustnig. Also I'm shocked that the referee didn't even look at the bite marks.


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## Ahnehnois (Jun 24, 2014)

Wasn't entirely clear to me what happened from the replays they showed, but it sure looks sketchy to reach one's head towards someone like that. Shouldn't be any leniency if there is evidence he did it though.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 24, 2014)

It's hard to say, but some of ESPN's close-up replays make it look like there was definite jersey movement near the shoulder...


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## Lindeloef (Jun 24, 2014)

Looks nasty


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 24, 2014)

Reprehensible.


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## Ahnehnois (Jun 24, 2014)

That looks pretty convincing. Hard to understand why someone would do that with half the world watching.

Italy certainly has a right to be aggrieved.


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## Lindeloef (Jun 25, 2014)

Ahnehnois said:


> That looks pretty convincing. Hard to understand why someone would do that with half the world watching.
> 
> [...]




Even harder to understand that this is his 3rd time biting someone. There has to be a mental issue here.

Nom Nom Nom


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 25, 2014)

Lindeloef said:


> Even harder to understand that this is his 3rd time biting someone. There has to be a mental issue here.
> 
> Nom Nom Nom




His response to the controversy: 



> these situations happen on the field. I had contact with his shoulder, nothing more, things like that happen all the time.




IOW, "are you going to believe ME or your lying eyes?"


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## Jan van Leyden (Jun 25, 2014)

Lindeloef said:


> Even harder to understand that this is his 3rd time biting someone. There has to be a mental issue here.




So maybe pull out all his teeth and make sure that he removes the false teeth before each match.


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## Mustrum_Ridcully (Jun 25, 2014)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Ok, congrats to Uruguay, but Luis "The Cannibal" Suarez needs to be suspended, not just for the rest of the World Cup, but maybe for a year or so.  That stuff is inexcusable.



He's just a misunderstood Doctor Who fan.
"Biting is like kissing, except there's a winner. "


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## Homicidal_Squirrel (Jun 25, 2014)

The World Cup Flopping Rankings

Team U.S. is doing better than I expected.


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## RangerWickett (Jun 26, 2014)

Who to root for after your team wins, from a utilitarian perspective (i.e., which country winning would produce the greatest amount of happiness?):

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/u...icmst=1388552400000&bicmet=1420088400000&_r=2


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## Ahnehnois (Jun 26, 2014)

Pretty significant punishment for Suarez, though still not as much as it might have been.


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## Sadras (Jun 27, 2014)

I'm impressed. If only we can only get them to start issuing out red cards for shirt pulling & man-hugging, then we can really appreciate the game.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 28, 2014)

And Brazil goes through on PKs!


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## Jan van Leyden (Jun 29, 2014)

Judging by yesterday's games, the match Brazil vs. Kolumbia might be interesting. Quadrado and James make a dangerous pair, and if Ospina plays as good as yesterday...


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 30, 2014)

Greece did not play well...


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## Asmo (Jun 30, 2014)

http://vivas.us/the-everyday-life-of-a-soccer-player-its-not-easy-to-fake-your-way-through-life/


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## Jan van Leyden (Jul 1, 2014)

Germany - Algeria 2 what a torture for the German fans. The only goal the team might have reached yesterday is shedding the label _Favourite_...


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jul 1, 2014)

Ah, well- we finished strong. Lots of dangerous balls in the Belgian box late in the game.


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## Jan van Leyden (Jul 2, 2014)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Ah, well- we finished strong. Lots of dangerous balls in the Belgian box late in the game.




Kudos to the US boys for leaving the World Cup in this way, fighting until the last minute, never giving up, and forcing the Belgians to show their best face!

And Jürgen Klinsmann's assessment that Howard is on of the world's 5 top goalies doesn't sound as quizzical as it did two weeks before.


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## Sadras (Jul 2, 2014)

That leaves only Didier Deschamps pushing for that elusive status of world cup winner as player and coach.
It would be poetic if France won in Brazil, having trounced Brazil in France 16 years ago with that 3-0 victory.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jul 2, 2014)

The thing about this WC that has me puzzled is that nobody has looked like a complete team.  We've seen some big offensive outputs partnered with pretty shoddy defenses, and some stellar D played by teams with anemic offenses...

It really still looks like anyone could win.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jul 5, 2014)

Man- Brazil gets the victory...but loses 2 players.  I hope that fracture is not career ending.


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## tuxgeo (Jul 5, 2014)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Man- Brazil gets the victory...but loses 2 players.  I hope that fracture is not career ending.




Neymar is out of this WC. I'm guessing he'll be back. 

I'm also guessing that "taking one for the team" was never part of his plan.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jul 5, 2014)

I think that was the most complete, well-rounded game Argentina has played this WC.  Could have easily been a blowout.


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## Lindeloef (Jul 5, 2014)

Yeah too bad they lost di Maria in this match.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jul 5, 2014)

Do we know yet exactly what happened to him?


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jul 5, 2014)

The Costa Rican D was crafty, and their goalie was out of this world.  Second best performance by a keeper this WC, IMHO.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jul 8, 2014)

I'm sitting in an auto garage getting an oil change and state inspection done, and they have no TV.  So imagine my surprise when I checked the score on ESPN.com...

_Apparently_, Germany thinks they want to win this one...


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## Lindeloef (Jul 8, 2014)

I really hope they stop showing us all the crying Brazil fans. I want to enjoy our win and not take pity on them.


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## Dioltach (Jul 8, 2014)

The way Brazil are playing, it's almost enough to make you believe the claims of match fixing. Totally uninterested, standing by and watching the Germans work training ground moves.


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## Lindeloef (Jul 8, 2014)

The moral of the brazil players was broken in those 3 minutes where we scored 3 goals. After that shock it is understandable they played crap. There was a lot of pressure on them to win the Cup in their own land.


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## Homicidal_Squirrel (Jul 8, 2014)

I wonder how many of Brazil's players are going to be killed off by the angry fans.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jul 8, 2014)

That's more of a Columbian thing.


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## Homicidal_Squirrel (Jul 9, 2014)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> That's more of a Columbian thing.



I'm pretty sure U.S universities don't get to send teams to the World Cup. 
As for Colombia, players only get killed when they score an auto goal, and drug traffickers have made bets in which they lost a lot of money.


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## Sadras (Jul 9, 2014)

Deutschland _über_ alles I guess.


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## Derren (Jul 13, 2014)

Sadras said:


> Deutschland _über_ alles I guess.




Thats rather distasteful considering that this stanza is banned in Germany.


Anyway, it is over and Germany won. And I am quite surprised considering how controversial the roster was, at least in the German press.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jul 13, 2014)

Long, grindy game, but what a finish!


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## Kramodlog (Jul 14, 2014)

White privilege wins again. :nonono:


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## Sadras (Jul 14, 2014)

Derren said:


> Thats rather distasteful considering that this stanza is banned in Germany.




We have different tastes it seems (shrugs shoulders).


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## Lindeloef (Jul 14, 2014)

WELTMEISTER!!!!


man what a match. I really feared it would end in penalty shoot-out. Not sure if my heart could have handled that ^^


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## Dioltach (Jul 14, 2014)

Congrats to Germany. Deserved winners, I felt, not just of the game, but of the tournament.


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