Japan without Endo and Nagatomo due to bullshit yellow cards. That would have seriously depleted us. I suppose Kengo and Uchida in, Komano shifting to leftback? Big, big dropoff there.
Great final! Two equal teams are clashing. They both should get a trophy. That would be fair I think.
It was a pretty poor final, in my view. Spain thoroughly deserved the win, and the Netherlands looked more like they'd rather argue for 90 minutes than play.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kLyCoEiqj0&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube- Beso de casillas y sara carbonero[/ame]
Why am I not surprised? The last comment about Japan is that we played at the same level of one of the finalists, and lost to them because of a handball.
I don't want him doing this but I would love a de jong on our team. I'm only 21 so my first real World Cup was France 98 but this was by far the worst World Cup so far for me. Anyone old enough to remember a worse one? I didn't think Casillas' girl was hot when I first saw her but the more I see her, the hotter she gets. She is gorgeous.
We'd never get away with that. He does because he's wearing Orange and that commands "respect" from the officials.
I agree in terms of Finals. I wouldn't say the Holland v Spain match was good. I'd say the 98 final and the 02 final were pretty much better than 2006 and 2010 finals combined. Also, it was those damn vuvuzelas that ruined everything for me.
Webb lost control of the match when he didn't send De Jong off. He saw that foul and gave him only yellow? Come on please... it was like saying you don't get sent off as long as you don't punch somebody deliberately. During the course of the match one could see that Webb became more and more reluctant (fearing that the final will be remembered for his decisions which they do anyway, as 14 yellow cards are a record for this WC and for any final): Iniesta's revenge foul on Van Bommel, Robben kicking the ball into the goal after called offside were clear red or 2nd yellow card respectively. That said, I don't think it was that bad in terms of passion and fight. Holland interrupted Spain's passing game by tackling hard and had some great chances from counter-attacks. Spain showed that they can fight too and produce magic even when there is practically no space. Of course, goals were missing for a true classic, but on the other hand, it was not an one-sided affair.
Wasn't Iniesta already on a yellow when he pulled his shirt off...? Did he stay on the field on two yellows...??
I don't think anyone would rate this WC hight... At least Japan showed some performance. Holland made it that far? Pfff....
I didn't think it was that bad, definitely better than 2006. The 2 finalists 4 years ago were junk throughout almost the entire tournament and Portugal wasn't any good to watch either -- they were just dirty and dived at every moment, a lot like this Netherlands. The only decent semifinalist in 2006 was Germany. I thought the football was a lot better this time around... less blowouts, etc. Germany was the highlight of the tournament but disappeared against Spain in the Semis. There was also a lot more drama too. As crazy as the Zidane headbutt was, the game was all but over by then anyway. France didn't look like they had it in them to pull level. Watching Argentina this time was fun, but they had no legitimate strategy or tactics beyond "throw a bunch of skill players on and just wreak havoc". They fell apart against the first side that could match their quality and had any organization.
The Groups were a lot of fun, with Japan, South Korea the US and Ghana playing well and going through. Then, it was the same old story... Semis and final were kinda dull. Overall I loved this world cup, because Japan did great. But I won't miss those fcuking vuvuzelas...
Maybe not best WC in sport aspect but for sure most historic one. Spain won WC playing similar football that we watched two years ago but others improved and learned how to play against them. Can't wait for 2012 because it will be even more competetive.