I resent you not including HONDURAS in your list, sir. Let's fight. Man... VELA is great... at shooting RIGHT AT THE GOALKEEPER. My goodness...
He will be ok once the cup starts, at least you guys are generating some really good chances...that is very important. DD
^ I hope so, sir. "Let's keep the ball in the air. These poor Mexicans can't stop anything in the air." - Every team vs. Mexico from now on . The bad defending on headers on set pieces and corner kick woes continue for Mexico.
Well of course, playing Mexico is like playing the Umpa Lumpas...the only difference is that they are not orange with green hair. DD
Interesting news on the WC ball..... Players not happy with 'supermarket' WC ball Several players are going all out against the new World Cup ball, with more than one comparing it to those bought on a supermarket. And this time it's not only goalkeepers who are complaining. Strikers, defenders and midfielders are also lashing out at the Adidas ball just a few days before the monthlong tournament is to begin in South Africa. The ball is called Jabulani, which means "to celebrate" in isiZulu, but not many are celebrating it so far. It's hard to find a player who is happy with it, and those who don't like it are not saving adjectives to describe their feelings. "It's very weird," Brazil striker Luis Fabiano said Sunday. "All of a sudden it changes trajectory on you. It's like it doesn't want to be kicked. It's incredible, it's like someone is guiding it. You are going to kick it and it moves out of the way. I think it's supernatural, it's very bad. I hope to adapt to it as soon as possible, but it's going to be hard." Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar on Saturday called the ball "terrible" and was the first to compare it to those plastic ones bought on a supermarket. Italy striker Giampaolo Pazzini said the same thing, calling it a "disaster." "It moves so much and makes it difficult to control. You jump up to head a cross and suddenly the ball will move and you miss it," Pazzini said. "It is especially bad for the goalkeepers if it means they concede a goal because they can't judge the trajectory." Adidas traditionally launches new balls for each World Cup and they usually cause controversy because of the changes prompted by the new technology being introduced. Most of the time the ball becomes speedier and goalkeepers are the ones most affected by it. But this time the livelier ball is causing problems to field players too. "There is no way to hide it," Brazil midfielder Julio Baptista said. "It's bad for the goalkeepers and it's bad for us. It's really bad. The players try to cross it and it goes to the opposite direction they intended it to go." Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas also expressed his anger at the design of the ball after the European champion's 3-2 friendly win over Saudi Arabia on Saturday. "It's sad that that such an important competition like the World Cup has such an important element like this ball of appalling condition," he said. Adidas said the technology on the Jabulani is "radically new," and when it launched the ball in December is said that it would sail true because small dots on the surface would help improve reliability in the air. It said the ball would have "an exceptionally stable flight and perfect grip under all conditions." FIFA and Adidas did not immediately return messages seeking comment Sunday. Adidas has released some promotional materials in which some of its sponsored players praise the ball, including Kaka, Michael Ballack, Petr Cech and Frank Lampard. Ballack called the ball "fantastic." "It happens every time, the players always complain about the ball," said former Brazil great Tostao. "It used to be the goalkeepers only, but now we have the others complaining too. At the greatest competition in the world you would think that the players would like the ball, but that's not the case." Players were already expecting the ball to be affected by the high-altitude in Johannesburg and some other host cities. A study by Adidas last year showed the altitude will have an impact of up to 5 percent on the ball's speed, meaning a 20-yard free kick will reach the goal line 5 percent faster than it would at sea level. The ball is made up of 11 colors to represent the players in a starting lineup and the 11 official languages and the 11 communities of the host country. "That's the ball they chose and we have to accept it," Baptista said. "But it's going to be complicated." The World Cup begins on June 11 with South Africa playing Mexico.
Not a coincidence that the players who speak out against the ball are Nike players (or players sponsored by other competitors of Adidas)...
I was just watching a TV show about past world cups and it occurred to me how well Germany has really done over the past 36 years in world cup history. With the exception of 1978 (bad team chemistry, bad leadership (team captain, etc.)), 1994 and 1998 (when we had a terrible coach...you guessed it...same guy as the captain in 1978) we either won it or lost to the eventual winner . 1974: won 1982: lost in the finals to winner Italy 1986: lost in the finals to winner Argentina 1990: won 2002: lost in the finals to winner Brazil 2006: lost in the semi-finals to winner Italy 2010 would be a good year to win it again! Not too bad...
in 2006, USA TIED eventual winners Italy. I feel good about our chances in 2010. in 1994, we lost to eventual champs Brazil. It's safe to say USA will dominate for the next 50 years.
That's cause Adidas players are not allowed to say anything bad about it even if they feel the ball is bad.
Actually it's 32 years. Oh, and 3 world cups excluded are 12/32. That's over 1/3rd. Also, never won outside Europe. If anything, I'd say Germany's chance was the 2006 World Cup at home. Just sayin
2010-1974 = 32 Seems like you are starting to apply similar "logic" as in the D&D in the Hangout now...
Ok, should I have spelled it out for you...in 6 of the last 9 world cups (=2/3), we either won or lost to the eventual winner. Your posts seem petty and stupid in this light-hearted football thread. Present me a country with a better record in the same time frame.
LOOOL!! Overreact much? haha Calm down I'm just poking fun If you want to talk about same time frame.. Let's compare the most glorious period in Germany's history to the same period for Brazil. Ignoring that, if you go back just ONE world cup, Brazil owns this comparison. For those World Cups, Europe hosted 5 times and of those times, Germany was the host 2 times... Germany has gotten 1st place twice (once in Germany and once in Italy), 2nd place three times (Spain, Mexico, Korea+Japan) and 3rd place once (in Germany). For the same period, nevermind that Brazil didn't host the World Cup once in this period, and in fact it was only IN South America ONCE for this period (1978 I think)... Brazil won it twice (USA and Korea/Japan), got 2nd once (France), got 3rd once (Argentina) and 4th once (Germany). In case you are unsure about the value of the location of the world cup, see "how many european teams have won the WC in South America?" and "how many South American teams have won the cup in europe" and "how many times has Japan made the quarter finals?" and "how many times has South Korea made the Semi Finals?" off the top of my head.. So overall, very impressive for Germany. In this handpicked time frame, they have been stellar. Good stuff. Germany are the best World Cup team in their best 9 World Cups. In the interest of light-heartedness, let's leave it at that . If I can offer my opinion without offending you though, I don't think Germany have the quality to make a run, especially in South Africa. Then again, the beauty of the World Cup is that everyone needs a tiny bit of luck at least.
Don't be a sour puss! lol Is that all you got out of my post?? You really want to start the best 9 discussion?
