It is the ref's fault this time. You don't give away penalties in the 94th minute. Those refs who gave Greece and now Holland those gifts should fly home. 2) You don't reward penalties because in the first half it might be a clear foul which was 60% at best. Period 3) The Greece penalty in the 91st minute against Ivory Coast was not clear either. As a ref you do not want to decide over the outcome of a game, the teams should therefore go to Overtime in Mexico's case. You let Greece score a goal of their own(Most unlikely)against Ivory Coast. You do not give penalties in those close situations unless the guy is really hurting the opponent, or it is clear he tackled him full force. Period.
Hello, y'all. Because I received news of the passing of a friend's son, I didn't see the game completely. I barely could just hear people screaming, especially Gio's goal... I don't know when or at what time I stopped watching when I learned of the news. I didn't post in Facebook as I have been and I have barely now seen all the highlights from the game. As of right now, I'm still recovering from the moral and emotional drain of being with the family of my friend who is still grieving. I missed probably the entire last quarter of the game. Congratulations, arno_ed and HOLLAND. I hear you guys played a much better last 15 minutes than the entire game, in which Mexico seemed to have the game in our pocket for about a good 30 minutes, until the last few. I believe that if Robben can't get to that end line, there would be no reason for him to fake, receive, flop, or anything else related to the call. We should have defended better, and if we are falling back and not attacking, we should at least keep the ball away from a potent Dutch offense. I saw the first goal... no one I think could have stopped that laser... it was bound to happen after about six or seven corner kicks we gave away. I know that since the qualifiers for this Cup, no one believed Mexico could get this far, much less get out of the group stage. I am proud of the football I saw from my country, but unfortunately as some people have pointed out in this thread, it's the usual "round of 16 exit". That's just a lot better than probably finishing LAST or even losing games during the group stage, or to be out of the group stage. I'd rather see us keep trying, give the host country a good run for their money, have the best goalkeeper in Guillermo Ochoa (whom I just believe will win the Golden Glove Award), and give everyone something to believe in against a powerful Dutch team, than just not at all and leave the tournament early like other countries have. I am not sure I can enjoy the rest of the games. However, I hope I see good football from USA, Costa Rica, Netherlands, Colombia, and everyone else still in the tournament. May the best team win!
Just because today's rules are soft as hell. Both in soccer and basketball. Every little contact is a foul. In the penalty arena there should be more leeway IMO. He fell because he decided so and not because the defender was making him.
I am sorry for your friend's loss but Mexico at least deserved going to Overtime as a matter of fact. The Mexican fans deserved to watch their hero in Penalty shootout. Again my condolences. May you enjoy the rest of the WC.
Wow, Swoly what a terrible news. That really puts a simple soccer tournament in perspective. I wish you and your friends family all the strength. My thoughts are with you.
Mexico played really good, and should be proud. I really think the fact that van Gaal made so many changes eventually got the best of the mexican coach. Ace and others reminded me of 2008, (when we also played great in the group stages, but lost in the second round to a inferior Russia team), but the coaches were the difference between now and then in 2008 Hiddink destroyed Van Basten. I do not like van Gaal, but he really had brilliant in game changes. It is funny during this game Kuijt played, left back, right winger and right back. Jack of all trades. It is also amazing that Huntelaar was so important (1 assist and 1 goal). I really believe he has never gotten the chance he deserves in our national team. he has 63 games and 35 goals. And during almost all those games he came of the bench. It is amazing how much he scores per minutes in the national team. It would be interesting if Costa Rica actually advances further than Mexico and the USA.
With your main players age around 30 there are not many chances to win a WC so maybe this is the perfect time Sneijder 30 Robben 30 RVP 30 DeJong 30 VDVaart 31 Hunter 30
Sorry Mexico fans <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/84E88Gi4iqo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> This is the same radio commentator of the famous Netherlands-Argentina (DENNIS BERGKAMP, DENNIS BERGKAMP, DENNIS BERGKAMP)
Agreed, however most of this team is actually very young. And I expect a couple to rise to stardom before 2018 (altough I do not know which ). Other wise we will have a great generation in about 20 years. If we indeed make it to the semi finals (or even better) than this is our second most succesfull generation (1974-1978 total footbal is still better). But the strange thing is that for me the 1994-1998 was actually a more talented generation, so sad.
Let them rise! Kudos! You guys beat I guess the strongest or maybe the second strongest of all 8 second seeds. 1st tier Mexico, Chile 2nd tier USA, Uruguay, Switzerland 3rd Nigeria, Algeria Last: Greece
Arno, the 1996-2000 generation should have won a tournament. What a pity. Look at these players: Blind, Seedorf, Davids, Overmars, vd Sar, de Boer (Ronald and Frank), Cocu, Reiziger, Zenden, Bergkamp, Kluivert, Stam. And others like Winter, Jonk, Numan, v Hooijdonk. Seriously, what a generation. They dominated Europe (well, Ajax players) and never managed it on the world or European stage. Still can't believe the penalty series against Italy in 2000. Swoly, really sad to hear that. It does put things into perspective. Condolences. :-( Even though this generation is ending, I think another will rise. We've always produced good players and I see others coming through already. In 2004 everyone was worried as the players mentioned above were either retiring or getting too old - then the current crop came through. I'm expecting a lot from Depay - he looks amazing and has a fantastic attitude to reach the top. Maher and van Ginkel should also be strong players for the future. Don't forget players that have already "arrived" like Strootman, who is also young. van Persie and Robben are the only players I think will be VERY tough to replace. Robben in particular is the kind of player that doesn't come along too often...
On national/local radio this morning all I am hearing is how Robben completely flopped and how refs have too much control. Was there a foul? Yes (Marquez stabbed - it's what a tired defender does) Did Robben oversell it? Yes (after the uncalled early CLEAR penalty he started diving all over the place) Mexico lost the game by going into a shell so early and absorbing pressure. As soon as the equalizer was scored the game was over. Mexico wasn't going to recover and win that game. They still had a great tournament and should go home with their heads held high. Ochoa should get a huge contract somewhere with the balls he showed.
Why is a penalty not a penalty because of the time left in a game? I've been a ref for many years and I don't remember that being anywhere in the Laws of the Game. If you don't want to give up a penalty, don't stab. Marquez broke a golden rule. He stabbed, got Robben's foot instead, and, predictably, Robben went down. Why take that chance? The touch that Robben took took him back to the top of the 6 where there was a defender waiting to take the ball. Marquez screwed his team by doing something you learn as a kid...don't stab. Not the ref. That said...as much as it greatly pains me to say this...Mexico should be proud of how they played for all but the last 30 minutes of this game. They were excellent in the first round. Ochoa was simply great and should be getting a big contract somewhere.
The funny thing is that with those loses in the round of 16 Mexico has done it better than the USA during those tournaments 1994 Round of 16 (at home) 1998 Group stage 2002 Quarter finals 2006 Group stage 2010 Round of 16
Suarez bites and Robben dives in the box. That's what they do. If you don't know that then you are new to football.
Not to get into a Mexico/US debate here so that means we've been equal twice, better once, and worse twice (with a chance of being better twice if we win tomorrow)...not bad for a nation that essentially started their national program in 1990 (with our national team essentially being our players only pro team) and has barely had a domestic league for 18 years. Mexico should be better than us...the fact that they haven't made at least the quarters in the past 20 years should be a disappointment to Mexico fans. They have always been able to play with the big boys and have had some great performances in World Cups/Confederations Cups/youth tournaments.
You could argue that Mexico should be better, however you could also argue that the USA should be better since it has got more money, and much more inhabitants. But that is a debate for another time. I agree that it is an dissapointment for mexican that they have lost at this stage in the last tournaments. However I think it is funny that people give them a hard time about it when their own country has done even worse (if the USA beats belgium you can argue that they have had more succes than Mexico, but that has not happened yet.).
Typical American excuse for sucking at something, "we aren't that good because we don't try and if we did we'd be the best".
