1) In the land of Oktoberfest and 1300 breweries, the official beer of the world cup is Budweiser!
2) Why doesn't Fifa clamp down on all the fake injuries and theatrics? Can't they impose bans or suspensions after the match based on TV replays? Watching these tough guys writh in agony and then get back on the field the moment there's no red card is frustrating. They're highly paid athletes representing their country in the biggest tournament in the world but have no qualms coming across as a bunch of wimps. Remember Rivaldo in the 2002 World cup against Turkey? These guys should be made to watch some American football. If they see the kind of pounding the average NFL quarterback takes from a 350 pound defensive lineman they'll probably realise how ridiculous they look sometimes.
3) The Dutch put on a sick display yesterday against Ivory Coast. One of the halftime commentators called it cheating for all the theatrics and shameless fouls. The Ivory Coast team was vastly superior and it's a pity they're out of the tournament.
4) France, England and Germany have put on the most boring displays in the tournament so far. Though I have a feeling that their tight defense will carry at least one of England or Germany through to the final.
5) Ghana is (till they're knocked) my favourite team now. Their domination of the Czech republic was fascinating to watch and I loved the way they kept attacking and didn't fall back to defend like the Germans or the English.
6) Ever noticed how a goalkeeper behaves when he makes a save? He rushes out, shouts at his players and then waves his arms around. That's his moment in the sun. But after he lets a goal through it's a shrug of the shoulders, nobody to blame and a feeble kick at the football.
7) Are the Italians more concerned about their hairstyles or the game? Each one of those players seems to take a lot of time adjusting their hair the moment they're not near a football. Maybe that's why teams like Brazil and Germany do well - most of their players have short, cropped hair unlike the Italians.
8) The Italy-USA game was pretty dramatic and very open. Maybe referees should hand out red cards more regularly to reduce the number of players on the field and make it more exciting. It also gives the players who are sent off a break towards the end.
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5 comments:
ghana vs brazil -- who will you back?
read about big ben's accident. what a stupid thing to do.
ghana vs brazil - definitely ghana. brazil looks very shaky right now.
i heard the rumour about mahajan and maitra being lovers. apparently they used to sit in the jacuzzi very often. also that papa mahajan was shot because he was having an affair with his brother's wife.
middleroad, anshuman summarised my main grouse nicely. watching teams fake injuries and waste time is what pisses me off. and what surprises me is that fifa has done nothing inspite of TV replays being available. what the dutch were doing against ivory coast was cheating. and they're not alone.
test cricket (and even baseball) can be very dull and boring but i still love watching both for all the subtleties and stragies. if you get hit on the head or the body by a hardball at over 90 miles an hour you still don't collapse and act like you're about to die. and in almost every sport except soccer, timeouts, breaks, etc make sure you can't waste time like soccer players do.
football rules shouldn't be changed. just clamp down on faking injuries and time wasting.
stretcher a guy off immediately if he's down for more than 30 seconds and don't let him back on for another 5 mins.
allow rolling substitutions if players want a breather or are injured and want to get back on. allow up to 2-3 such subs so that it's not misused.
finally, there is no D in football. in hockey, yes. in football it's called the penalty area.
btw, middleroad the world has moved on and you're stuck in a posting almost a week old.
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