Anybody looking for a "nice" party? Amsterdam is THE place tobe on Tuesday! 1st or 2nd, eitherway, 2 million people are expected in the main capital for welcoming the players home! If we win.... (I am afraid to think about it, but it is possible) this will be the party of the century! Wear something orange, otherwise you will look silly! Hans
That was fun! [The 3rd place game.....] Comments/Q's: - I thought the endless booing of Suarez was *way* out of line - There's not a player out there who wouldn't have done the same thing in that situation - The Ghanan dude should have made the kick. - I know it was *pouring* with rain, but the pitch tore up pretty badly. - What's the weather forecast/conditions likely to be for the final? Great tournament - Hopefully the final will live up to expectations! Cheers, Ian
Agree totally, the booing was out of line but very much in line with the poor perceptions here, the bottom line is ghana should have made the kick but thats lost on most of South Africa. Very heavy rain but the pitch was not in good condition, this has been a problem ground and I dont feel it should have been used for this match. Heavy rain not expected for the final.
Yeah, they said on the TV here he's being portrayed as the cheat that knocked Ghana out of the tournament - That's just wrong IMO. Had he got away with it (Maradona anyone?), then it's a little different, but he was (rightly) sent off and a penalty awarded. "The system worked"...... The fact that the guy missed the PK isn't Suarez' fault. Poor kid - He's only 23, that must have affected him - I was really hoping he'd get one! Cheers, Ian
That was wild rain eh ? For the life of me I don't understand why baseball players don't continue to play when it rains........futebol, rubgy and hand egg players don't stop because they get wet. I can understand why golfers quit......after all they are walking around exposed holding the equivalent to a lightning rod half the time. Good game overall.....
Even though I agree many other players would have done the same thing in the same position as Suarez, I still don't think it makes it any better. The fact he did it and goes on and on about it in such a classless manner show he is ******, IMO. It is still cheating and the less of it in the game the better!
I guess I've missed those stories..... Absolutely. And he certainly did cheat, and received the harshest possible penalty for so doing. He also kept Uruguay in the game....... Ghana had their chance to capitalize on it. Unfortunately, they missed. Cheers, Ian
Same as cricket - It gets "dangerous" for the poor little darlings..... Having said that, there seems to be a *lot* more latitude in baseball than cricket - I've watched some, typically in the middle of tight games, wherein it's been *pouring*.... They try and get beyond 7 (?) innings so the game is "official". Cricket OTOH - First drop, and they're outta there (or at least they used to be - I'm out of touch TBH.) - Rain has saved many a teams ass over the years! Cheers, Ian
Trivia: This is the first world cup final to not feature at least one of Brazil, Italy, Argentina or (West) Germany. Cheers, Ian
Suarez did not cheat. His action was against the rules and he was rightly sanctioned with a penalty kick, red card and missed the next game. If Ghana had scored the penalty people wouldn't be talking about it. It's no different than any other action that prevents an inminent goal opportunity like a kick, shirt pull or shove. That's simply how this game is played. Cheating is Maradonna scoring a goal with a hand eliminating England or Henry's hand that ultimately qualified France and left Ireland out or the world cup.
Nice piece of data. This is the first world cup final that the Netherlands will not play against the host country. Last two occasions were against Germany ('74) and Germany ('78).
Pretty nervous day.....for this litle country.. Everybody is talking about it... I still remember the day we lost from Argentina, I was 11 years old when Rensenbrink hit the post in overtime (1-1) if it went in.....would have won.
I'm backing Holland for this one. Having said that... I backed England and they were eliminated by Germany. I backed the USA and they were eliminated by Ghana. I backed Japan and they were eliminated by Paraguay. I backed Germany and they were eliminated by Spain. So I'm not sure if my backing is actually a good thing. Either way, I'd quite like Holland to take the title - so good luck! All the best, Andrew.
well, thanks anyway... Looking at the facts we CAN win (I am not stating we do, but) This tournement Spain lost the first game, and scored a total of 7 goals, (which isn't very convincing.) Everybody thought Netherlands would lose from Brasil.... Wesley Sneijders (Inter) won 3-1 from Barcelona this year. In history Netherlands only lost once against Spain. Severalt dutch players have played, or play in Spain. (van Bronkhorst won the CL with Barcelona) They know spanish football! Sneijders can win his 4th title this year (didn't loose 1) This team is determined in their goals! we'll see what happens..... have good game guys, 700 million people are expected to watch this game!
I think spain is winning 2-1, but nice to see a country who have never won it win. Didnt like this world cup much at all, just seemed very blah.
I reckon the best thing about that was at least it didn't go to penalties....... Spain deserved it, I didn't like the way NED played. Not the best game I've watched Cheers, Ian
Very poorly played game. The only thing worse would have been if it went into penalties. Way too many cheeky fouls and bad sportsmanship. Too many "flops" trying to get an advantage from nothing earned. And, a couple of great possible attempts that were just muffed. If this is "the beautiful game", they can keep it.
Being dutch, I can honestly tell you Sapin deserved to win! Iniesta was the right player to score, he has played a great tournament. The dutch played terrible! The referee wasn't that bad, allthough his favourite color seems to be fly-yellow.. Congratulations to Spain. Hans
Sorry Hans, it was probably my bad karma that did it! The Dutch really didn't play as well in this match as they had earlier in the tournament. It just seems odd that they couldn't replicate the sorts of performance that they achieved only weeks and days ago. Far too few chances created and far too many fouls committed. On the night, Spain definitely were worthy. All the best, Andrew.
I was waiting for that! [Someone had to say it!] As noted, the only good thing was no friggin' shootout at the end. The 3rd place game was much better - I guess the pressure's off and they're free to play where as in the final they're nervous and scared of making mistakes. The ref (first Englishman since '78 apparently) did a pretty good job IMO - Sure, he was a little card happy, but most of 'em were deserved, one way or another. A shame the Ned's appeared to want to kick Spain off the park - Why didn't they just try and play their game? Although Spain deserved the win, they never really got going either. Both teams can play so much better - It was a little disappointing. We did some great games along the way though! Cheers, Ian
A question for our Dutch friends: How the hell do you guys wind up coming from Holland, which is the Netherlands, but you're Dutch? WTF? I'm from England, hence an Englishman etc etc..... Cheers, Ian PS - Any other countries with a similar "setup"? I can't think of any....
