There wasn't a great game from the last WC from a neutral fans point of view IMO. 1990 had Cameroon vs England in the QF which was amazing. 1998 had Denmark vs Brazil which I could also watch over and over. There was just no game in the same class as those two. If I am remembering correctly may favorite match was Russia vs Belgium to see who was going to advance. But it wasn't in the quality of the great games the WC saw in the past decade.
Re: Re: Korea we had 14 players one who put the first goal in for italy but missed intentionally in the last 3 minutes, so it wouldnt be too obvious that we paid off to win and the dumb defender who miss kicked the ball which ended up behind the net do u think we're stupid to buy just the ref? if ur gonna do it right u have to buy the other team's players we were told we sold the italian players leg hair removals, so they could apply it before playing a game so their legs would look shinny instead of shaving them off like they did since.
Did you also know notice the goalie Buffon....both goals...he just stood there....and didn't you notice how easy it was for Ahn Jung Hwan...the small powerless Korean...to jump over the head of the italian player...and head the golden goal? Thats right...we paid off Buffon....but he was much more then the defenders, we also had to dine him to. And during the Spain penelty Kicks...notice the players face that missed kicked...he also was under the power of the oh mighty Won$$ Gave him a Hyundi too. And last but not least...Korea paid off the whole Poland team. Believe it...or not....
Agree on your picks Andy. USA Portugal was an amamzing game with tremendous drama. Sorry, but I'm showing my bias. My son thought I was nuts yelling and jumping at 3am. Brazil Costa Rica was fun as a show of attacking soccer. Senegal Uruguay was a great match with an incredible comeback. Fantastic drama. Spain Ireland, another great match. I would also add Nigeria vs. Argentina, a match that ended 0-0 or 1-1, but that had an incredible technical level of play and speed.
England vs Brasil was a disappointment based on how flat England played. It could have been much better.
Spain always looks solid and professional. They tear apart most of the qualifiers they play in, which is why they're named favourites in the first place. Spain lack the mentality to win a major tournament. Their problem is similar to the Dutch problem. They have the quality to win but not the mentality and sometimes, just the luck. And remember Spain's not the only team in World Cup history to have been knocked out and it "wasn't really their fault." Remember Morocco who were knocked out in the group stages in France 98 because of Tore Andre Flo's dive in Norway's match against Brazil. Morocco had even beaten Scotland 3-0 and thought they had made it. Poor guys. Luck is a part of the game. Sometimes u beat them, sometimes they beat you.
Re: Re: Korea Because of all the fuss about the Korea-Spain and Korea-Italy matches, and as a former referee, I watched those matches about five times each and I'm amazed at how one sided your views are. Italy missed their key chances to win the match. That is not the referee's fault. Also Italy did not take the match to the South Koreans and pulled back when if they had attacked more, chances are they could have scored at least another goal to probably secure victory. Plus, Christian Vieri broke the nose of the Korean defender (which is why he wore that red face mask in the later matches) and got away clean. No one ever mentions this. It was a solid elbow to the face. You normally get booked for that. In fact, you can get sent off. Alan Smith can tell you all about it. The Korea-Spain match... the refereeing here was the worst I had ever seen and the Egyptian referee really should have never been at the tournament. At least one of Spain's efforts would have most likely landed in the back of the net if the calls had been accurate and play had resumed as normal. One thing people always forget here is that De Pedro could have easily been sent off again in the first half. His two footed back tackle on Song totally missed the ball and got the player. Two footed back tackles are a textbook red card, but not even a free kick was given for this. Plus another thing. If you keep playing on after the whistle goes, it's a yellow card. The Spanish never pretended to hear the calls and not one was issued. That's poor refereeing, and suggests the referee had no confidence in his calls either. Also you have to question why the Spanish could score well after the whistle went, yet never really scored when there was no whistle. But over the course of the 90 minutes, it was very very obvious that Spain were the better team. But if you don't win the shootout, you haven't won the game. Yes there was some argument that the penalty by Jaoquin that got saved should have been retaken. This is true. But to rule a conspiracy by this is immaturity as goalkeepers regularily go off their line early by about a split second. Remember that Paul Robinson save a month back? It was one of the few penalties that had to be retaken for the goalie moving too early, and when the retake was ordered, spectators never really understood why until a formal explaination was given.
U.S. versus Portugal was the best match I've ever seen the USMNT play. Senegal beating France, the first match of the Cup and it was great seeing the underdog Senegalese upsetting the cocky French.
It was the most shocking definately. I was at a billiards hall when I saw it on the tele there. We at first thought the Portuguese would run all over the US team but when that wasn't the case, we stopped playing, and the hall manager didn't count the time against us when we just sat and watched as we saw something absolutely unbelievable. the Portuguese paid for their arrogance... they had been celebrating when the draw was first made and the result suddenly turned group D into a mini Group of Death.
Best match was Italy-SK. The environment was incredible, as was the storyline of the game. Totti shouldn't have been sent off but it was still arguably the most dramatic game in WC history. However anyone who wants to remain objective has to rate Paraguay-Slovenia as one of the great all time WC matches as well. Down 1:0 at the half, needing to win by 2 to advance, and reduced to 10 men in the 81'st minute, Paraguay got 3 goals in the final 25 minutes, 2 from substitute Nelson Cuevas. The last goal was a glorious solo effort.
Nice to see this thread still breathing. Top 5 in no particular order 1. France-Senegal. France missed Zidane terribly and Djorkaeff plays one of the stinkers of the tourney. Trezeguet and Henry keep finding woodwork and before you know it the upset happens. The best scene was the French fans giving the Senegal squad a standing ovation as they walked off. 2. Spain-Ireland. Amazing back and forth. Ireland showed so much heart, Spain so much skill. It was funny to see them swap roles late with Spain defending and Ireland attacking. Shame it ended on PKs but seeing all the Irish fans stay till the very end to see their team off was delightful. 3. South Korea-Italy. Bad calls aside, to see Ahn beat Maldini of all people for the magical header was amazing. Italians had their chances and missed. 4. Brazil-Costa Rica. The kind of game that could turn soccer haters into soccer lovers. The skill, pizzazz and stylish goals made the whole environment feel like a big party. 5. U.S.-Portugal. Mine eyes have....well it was a perfectly played first half, let's be serious. Not many people outside of the U.S. could have imagined our boys playing on that high a level. OK, Uruguay-Senegal was a great one too, so was Paraguay's comeback against Slovenia. England beating Argentina was great just to see Beckham get redemption. England-Brazil was suspenseful because you just knew Brazil would find a way.
Read the post above by me on this match. The Totti sending off was arguable but it wasn't at a level where "he shouldn't have been sent off" can be said about it. If he had gone down and had come right back up again, then no, he should have never been given his 2nd yellow card. But he was shouting for a penalty. The defender got the ball first, and there seemed to be some contact with Totti so it was never a penalty kick anyway. Also Totti's long history with diving added to it. I also think that seeing he lost the battle to the ball, Totti took advantage of the contact and went straight to earth. It's the begging for a penalty that got him sent off. It was extra time, he wanted to cheat in order to get a golden goal penalty win. That's dispicable if you ask me. The Korean players had no say in the referee's decisions and they got booed off as cheaters and the guy who wanted to cheat the golden goal got away being treated like a victim. It's all farce.
Spain v Korea About the Spain v Korea game... The most controversial decision about the "disallowed goals" was the supposed 'out of play' one, where most people assumed the linesman was flagging because the ball went out of play when Joaquin crossed it. That's what the commentators and most people at the time thought, and if that was the case then it was clearly wrong. HOWEVER, the linesman admitted that he flagged because the ball swerved out of play in the air after the initial contact with the ball, and it was that which he flagged for. In that case (and evidence suggests that it's entirely possible) then it was a perfectly good decision. The other goal was disallowed for a clear foul. Some interesting photo stills can be seen here: http://www.ddanzi.com/ddanziilbo/worldcup/gisa/0624_refereeing_en.html Conspiracy theories sit nice and well to provide reasons as to why a 'smaller' nation beat a 'big' nation, but in reality there are perfectly acceptable reasons behind the decisions here, and the only really controversial call was the wrong offside decision in the Italy game. To call it a "disallowed goal" overlooks the fact that Lee Woon-Jae made no effort to save it, nor indeed the "disallowed goal" during the Spain game. One poor decision does not make a conspiracy.
Re: Spain v Korea This site appears to have been done by the same guy who did the trial in JFK. "Look at the movememnt of Joaquin's foot when he strikes the ball--it goes back, and to the left. Back, and to the left."
But one thing is for certain: the final between Brazil and Germany was one of the most boring finals I've ever seen.