ya, guess they finally know how it feels to be champions, they just had to go and copy RSL in their success
de Jong deserved a red card for that boot to the chest of the Spaniard. van Bommel played dirty the entire tournament, yet the refs seemed to turn a blind eye to him.
I was really sad to see the final be one of the worst games of the entire tournament. What that game REALLY needed was an early goal. The longer it stayed 0-0, the more boring and less adventurous players became. As if I didnt hate the guy enough already, Robben proved just how useless his right foot is on those two breakaway opportunities. All he has to do is open his body and drag it right. Casillas was giving him the entire near post knowing that if he made his body big to Robben's left, he would make the save. For any of you that coach players, show them those clips (include the Cesc one as well) and say "thats why you need to be confident with both feet". An absolutely pathetic final. Well done Spain, but with Muller, I really believe Germany would have found the net on you more than once
10000% agree, that game sucked. the dutch looked scared to attack and it seemed like they gameplanned for spain to have almost all the possession and then hopefully get a couple opportunities to counter and catch them off guard (like the swiss and US did recently). the dutch got their opportunities, but robben did his best findley impersonation and absolutely BLEW his best chances. that will haunt him for a long long time. an early goal by the dutch would have opened that game up so much more and made for a better final. instead we got one of the worst finals that i can ever remember watching. i really wish germany had made it, especially after watching the third place game. with muller in the semifinal i would have put money on them to win the whole thing.
I was VERY pleased to see Forlan win the golden ball and not one of the Spanish or Dutch bastards. Also very happy to see Villa not get his goal (or Sneijder) to win the golden boot. Muller was far more impressive, to me at least, then any of those other people in the race. Having to play one less game than either of the other two just adds to how impressive it was
I've now watched eight World Cup Finals live. This wasn't the worst game unfortunately - there were two worse games IMO, both 1994 and 1990 were stinkers. I'd rank them thusly: Worth Watching Again 1) 1986 Argentina 3, West Germany 2 2) 1982 Italy 3, West Germany 1 Not Bad, but Not Compelling Either 3) 1998 France 3, Brazil 0 4) 2002 Brazil 2, Germany 0 Compelling, but Not That Great 5) 2006 Italy 1, France 1 Wish I Had Stopped with the 3rd Place Game 6) 2010 Spain 1, Holland 0 7) 1994 Brazil 0, Italy 0 8) 1990 West Germany 1, Argentina 0 I've watched 1958, 1966, 1970, 1974, and 1978 on tape, but I don't think those are measurable in the same way. Too much foreknowledge about a game being "good" or "bad" colors the way you appreciate it yourself.
I didn't see the 1982 final and I don't quite remember seeing the 1986 final (I should, it was in Mexico and remember watching the broadcasts on NBC), but the rest, I did see. I would agree with most everything that you wrote except I would move the 1998 final into the "Worth Watching Again" column 'cuz I was in France for that one and any game that brazil looses is a game worth watching over and over and over ad nauseum.
Have you ever been to an EPL game? You should have seen the boos for Beckham when he got sent off a few years a go! It went on for months, Suarez deserved all he got - yes, I know you're shocked I think that, but there are consequences for every action, he got his. Wait till you hear the songs about Green when he gets back ...
If only one memory lasts in my life from this world cup, without a doubt, it will be this one: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbn3rOPmR9w"]YouTube- The World's Reaction to Landon Donovan's Game Winning Goal[/ame] I still cry when I see that. God I love this game
Muller deserved the Golden Boot over anyone for sure, and when you look at his interviews and his general attitude it confirms it.
I have loved all the chat and smack talk during the World Cup on here! It's been brilliant! I think Spain are a worthy winner and even though the final wasn't what I was hoping for in terms of a great game, I definitely enjoyed the tournament as a whole. some real shocks, some great displays and some wonderful surprises in both emerging players and teams. Just wanted to say thanks for a great World Cup. Roll on 2012 and 2014!
I didn't know this...But apparently "the world" is a whole bunch of cities in the U.S.; Lyon, France; and Durban, South Africa...
Well, I'm sure glad I missed the final. Had church responsibilities I couldn't get out of from 12-3 after my church meetings got out at noon. Brought a small Walkman radio with me and listened to the entire match while fulfilling my duties. It was painful to even listen to! My WC final history only dates back to 1994. Listened to the end of that match on the radio (can't remember what I was doing at the time - probably just hanging out like teenagers do). Convinced my new mission companion to let us watch the last 15+ minutes of '98 after watching at least half a dozen or so matches in their entirety with my previous companion. Finally was able to watch all of '02 and '06. I'm still looking forward to watching an EXCITING WC final. Thought that this year would be the one.
the final really reminded me of the uefa champions league final from this year. It was billed as "potentially exciting" but proved to be dull. Neither team wanted to go at it, and one team was obviously better than the other even though the lesser team did have opportunties
So how would everyone rank the 4 years of a typical World Cup cycle? I assume Year 4 - World Cup year - is everyone's favorite, but how about the other three? As a reminder, here are the major events in the three previous years: Year 1: UEFA Euro Qualifying (final 2/3 of qualification that begins in fall of WC year) Copa America CONCACAF Gold Cup Olympic Qualification begins Women's World Cup South America World Cup Qualification begins (4 match days in fall) Preliminary round of World Cup Qualification for Africa, Asia, and Oceania Year 2: UEFA Euro Championship Summer Olympic Games World Cup Qualification - first full year of matches Year 3: CONCACAF Gold Cup Confederations Cup World Cup Qualification finishes For me, there is just something about WC qualification that is really exciting, even though there is not a trophy awarded until the actual World Cup. Add to that the Confederations Cup, and Year 3 would have to be my second favorite. I enjoy cheering for the USA in the Women's WC, and Copa America is exciting (should be even more so this year with so many teams playing pretty good right now), so year 1 ranks as third best. I'm a big fan of Olympic soccer, but the men's tournament is not the full senior squads. I enjoy Euro - possibly more than Copa America, but Year 2 would have to rank as my fourth favorite.
all 4 are awesome and get your international soccer fix taken care of However, nothing is like the world cup Euro Cup can say its harder, same with Copa America, but its not the same as the World Cup. You dont put stars on your chest after you've won Copa America or Euro (unless you want to get laughed at) you only put them on when you win the king of them all. With that said, my second favorite year is a close one between year 1 and 3. Year 2 is not far off with Euro cup, but falls last because of nothing else substantial (sorry olympics) going on. year 1, as a US fan, holds the best chance of winning silverware and makes year 3 look so exciting (confed)
They should have showed Somalian fans who got shot by Islamic militants for tuning in. Celebration, bullets, the world united...ahh....
For many folks (me included), the African Cup of Nations is a major event in years 2 and 4 of a World Cup cycle.
I guess if he put, "The US", on there, people would say, France and South Africa ain't in in America Moron. Give the dude credit, he had over 2 Million views in two days, and it was mentioned on TV and by the USA players.
I'm excited for the U-20 World Cup next year. It's always fun to see some of the up and coming talent.
I am really looking forward to seeing the major changes that some nations will be making. England, France, Italy, just to start with, new coaches, players, different tactics. It's always fun for me to watch all those changes in the aftermath of a disappointing world cup.
Agreed. I was lucky enough to catch the U.S. vs. Poland game in person at the U-20 WC in Montreal in 2007. With the exception of the 1994 WC game I got to see, it was the most fun I've had at an international match. That was the game where Poland scored five minutes in, then the U.S. rattled off six unanswered (including a hattrick by a certain Freddy Adu) to win 6-1. Four of the starters in that game ended up playing for RSL - Tony Beltran, Chris Seitz, Freddy Adu, and Nate Sturgis. Talk about an odd coincidence: That game was the same day RSL traded Chris Klein to LA for Sturgis and Findley, and my seats that night were right next to Sturgis' parents and brother. I talked their ears off about RSL and how great it is (yeah, that was a lie), and my wife gave Nate's mom her RSL hoodie. Afterwards Nate was pretty surprised when he saw his mom wearing RSL gear when he had just barely found out about the trade himself. Good times.
