Completely disappointed so far

The horns are getting very old, very fast. They drown out any singing or chanting in game which (to me personally) is something I enjoy watching the World Cup for.

 

First games are hard to gauge. Most teams are overly cautious. The horns are annoying but when we had a good game like US-England, I didn't even notice.

The ball is what it is. Both sides have to play with it so it's ultimately a wash

 

Agree on both. The horns are annoying. The ball...I got a bet with a friend that we will see one sailing out of the stadium.

 

But when has atmosphere ever been great at a World Cup? Okay, maybe WC 2002 when Korea was playing. People keep saying they miss the chanting and songs that come with a WC, but does anybody remember any songs from WC 2006? Come on: name them.

As for the ball. yawn. I'm pretty sure you wouldnt have even noticed the new ball if it wasn't for all the hype surronding it. Totally unnoticable. Not even one goal so far can be attributed to the new ball.

 

The horns are incredibly annoying. The stadium sounds like a beehive. Gone are the crowd, the ball, the players. Too bad that FIFA would never have the guts to ban these monstrosities.

 

The ball really annoys me too. The bigger problem isn't even the change in trajectory IMO, it is how much the damn thing bounces!! Long passes are completely useless, because if it hits the ground first, attackers have no shot at getting to it... even if you manage to be in the trajectory of the ball, most players not named messi have a very hard time controlling it without slowing down a lot. Vuvuzelas are annoyng as hell too, but the ball is just something I cannot tune out of, unfortunately :|

 

Are you joking? Germany '06 had some great footballing atmospheres. USA-Italy, Germany-Poland, just to name a couple. Even if there was a distinct lack of "songs," that doesn't mean it lacked for atmosphere. Those crowds were LOUD.

 

I disagree that the games have been disappointing so far, I've enjoyed Mex-RSA, USA-England, and Nigeria-Argentina. The vuvuzelas and boring announcers have been annoying though.

But since this seems to be a kvetching thread - my biggest complaint: the long layoff between the 2nd and 3rd match of the day. The World Cup day flowed in Germany - 9 am, 12 pm, 3 pm. Awesome. Especially if you're spending the day in a pub. It was brutal sitting there for 150 minutes between the Argentina game and the US game.

 

I dunno, I'm pretty used to the beehive thing being as you'll hear exactly the same thing during any USA vs. Mexico game whether it's played at home or away. In a way I think the vuvuzelas might actually have helped us(USA) in the US-England game in that the large English contingent was drowned right out of the game.

That S. Korea-Greece match sure did have a ton of empty seets though and the crowds seem to be too far away from the pitch in some of these stadiums.

Hopefully we'll see things liven up in games 2 and 3 as teams realize they need to pull out results to advance.

 

Well there have been few goals.

RSA 1 MEX 1
URU 0 FRA 0
ARG 1 NIG 0
KOR 2 GRE 0
USA 1 ENG 1

7 goals in 5 matches, 1.4 per match. Only S. Korea has scored two goals in a single match.

Argentina at least tried although at the end they just bunkered.

Uruguay-France was plain brutal.

 

I'm really only interested in the big time matchups anyway. So far the horns haven't been a bother to me and the atmosphere looks fine like during the England/USA game which definitely had a charged atmosphere!

 

Imagine how few North Korea will score? Is it possible to score negative goals? LOL

 

The horns are disgustingly bad. I hate them. Hate them. It's something little kids around here would only be entertained with for a minute of two. Completely destroys the atmosphere. Last few World Cups, after I had watched the Live broadcast, I'd leave the replays on throughout the day in the background, can BARELY stand to do it now, it's just way to annoying. When a horn drowns out 'God Save the Queen' you know something isn't right.

 

But they had horns in Germany 2006 WC and Korea/Japan 2002 WC too.

 

And how do you know they add no atmosphere? Have you ever being into a stadium in South Africa with vuvuzelas? If you haven't then how would you know if it creates an atmosphere or not. What people here on TV is nothing like what they here live.

About the ball, for the first few games, especially the ones in the highveld, it could be a problem but as the players progress they should learn how to play with the ball. They are professional footballers, they should be able to adapt to play with a sack full of pineapples as a ball.

 

Hopefully Brazil - NK will increase the goal tally. If that doesn't then I will be very worried.

 

I hate the horns also they are annoying as f***. And it's if there playing on the moon with that Jubulani game ball. Best match so far England vs US, Mexico vs South Africa second. Worst match or boring in my opinion France vs Uruguay.

 

to right mate the singing is all part of the atmosphere these horns should be banned

 

you are easily pleased m8 i thought the England game was totaly sxxt why capello puts a right sided player on the left is beond me

 

7 nation army from the Italians (really, how could anyone forget that? ^^). '54, '74, '90, 2006 from our fans. and classic chants like national anthems, 3 lions (football's coming home), "oh, wie ist das schön"

 

The vuvzelas ruin the whole atmosphere, no doubt.
Every second year we get the same complaints about the new football. This year is no exception.

 

Forget the trumpets, forget the ball, forget the atmosphere. It's the lack of scoring and the disease that is what I call the "one striker" syndrome. World Cup games are becoming a bore.

 

That however doesn't mean I want to watch players play with a sack full of pineapple balls in the greatest sporting event on earth. I want to watch them play with a ball that doesn't make even some of the best players look like Brian Kelly's and Peter Villegases. The average MLS games with $5 million combined rosters have been more exciting to watch than most of these World cup games so far. Someone please shoot me for saying this.