FIFA World Cup 2014

Page 22 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Jun 15, 2009
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Referee performance so far... F-

I mean if you fall for Uruguays divas tricks falling on soft holding, and thus give penalty kick, and call holding in own 16m box... do the same favours for Costa Rica. In 31st and 43rd minute there was the same (soft) holding against Costa Ricans, thus should have been two penalty kicks for them also.
Inconsistent performances by refs change the outcome... Bah

The USA ref OTOH, in the early game was great I heard. You didn´t see him, you didn´t hear him... That´s how it should be. Non influence in game outcomes.
 
Jul 24, 2011
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Arredondo said:
We could already went out after the match against Brazil. 0-3 after 45 minutes would be normal then.

And then they turned the match around in the second half. That's football (or sports in general), not luck. Then everything's luck :rolleyes:
 
Aug 16, 2013
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l.Harm said:
And then they turned the match around in the second half. That's football (or sports in general), not luck. Then everything's luck :rolleyes:

We did won our matches because we were better, and because the competition was weak. You're right. Not one team played good football, it was a horrible WC
 
Jul 24, 2011
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That's true. This is a far more entertaining World Cup. I did not expect that tbh. Every day there's at least one match to look forward to. England-Italy in two hours. Tomorrow Argentina-Bosnia, the Bosnian coach said he's intending to play every match full attack, well let's see about that. Switzerland-Ecuador is also interesting, contenders for the second place behind France in that group. And Monday Germany-Portugal.




- Costa Rica! Well deserved :) Uruguay very poor.
 
Mar 4, 2011
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Arredondo said:
We did won our matches because we were better, and because the competition was weak. You're right. Not one team played good football, it was a horrible WC

Yes, and I blame the vuvuzelas. Thank god we're done with those!
 
Mar 19, 2009
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Campbell, nice Goal.

I like Costa Rica, but I really want Uruguay to go throuc But well, maybe Uruguay and Costa Rica will top the group. :D
 
Mar 10, 2009
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Arredondo said:
We did won our matches because we were better, and because the competition was weak. You're right. Not one team played good football, it was a horrible WC

The Netherlands was so lucky in that WC. I rooted against them mostly, because I couldn't stand the negative play and the horrible amount of luck that sort of justified that style. Also I hate hate hate Van Marwijk.

On their way to the final they beat Denmark, Cameroon, Japan, Slovenia, the worst Brazil in decades and Uruguay and not one minute of it was enjoyable (well, second half against Brazil was decent although the luck again was infuriating).

The match against Spain last night was so different. I'm not patriotic at all but I rooted for the Netherlands just because of the way they played.
 
Mar 10, 2009
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Costa Rica, the biggest country in the world without a military (well, they are protected by the US so I guess that's not entirely accurate, but still) and statistically the happiest country on the planet, you gotta love that :)
 
Jun 14, 2010
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l.Harm said:
And then they turned the match around in the second half. That's football (or sports in general), not luck. Then everything's luck :rolleyes:

Well it was lucky that one Brazil player went full *** and got himself sent off for some bull****.

Red cards when they are part of the game are part of the game.

For a mental case to go full psychopath and get sent off for something that has 0 to do with football, the game he is playing you in, is a little bit lucky.

Call it a get out of jail card when one doesn't expect it.
 
Jun 22, 2009
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Arnout said:
This World Cup is so much better than the one in South Africa in terms of quality and entertainment already. Every match has been good (apart from some referee controversies) at worst.

No vuvuzelas.;)

Suarez warming up after CR take the lead. Uruguay have been seriously disappointing.
 
Mar 10, 2009
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The Hitch said:
Well it was lucky that one Brazil player went full *** and got himself sent off for some bull****.

Red cards when they are part of the game are part of the game.

For a mental case to go full psychopath and get sent off for something that has 0 to do with football, the game he is playing you in, is a little bit lucky.

Call it a get out of jail card when one doesn't expect it.

And the equalizer by Sneijder was equally lucky.

Why didn't Suarez start by the way?
 
Jul 24, 2011
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The Hitch said:
Well it was lucky that one Brazil player went full *** and got himself sent off for some bull****.

Red cards when they are part of the game are part of the game.

For a mental case to go full psychopath and get sent off for something that has 0 to do with football, the game he is playing you in, is a little bit lucky.

Call it a get out of jail card when one doesn't expect it.

The red card was after Sneijders goals, so the Netherlands were already in front. And if you've seen Felipe Melo playing over the years, you know this wasn't the first time he's done something like that. If you put him in your team you're going to run that risk. Besides, he was probably frustrated because Brazil gave away the 0-1 lead. So I wouldn't say Holland won that match because of that red card. It certainly helped to retain the lead ye.
 
Jun 14, 2010
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Arnout said:
Costa Rica, the biggest country in the world without a military (well, they are protected by the US so I guess that's not entirely accurate, but still) and statistically the happiest country on the planet, you gotta love that :)

Of course they are happy. Its economically stable like all other happy countries, but unlike all other happy countries they have nice year round weather.
 
Jun 14, 2010
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l.Harm said:
The red card was after Sneijders goals, so the Netherlands were already in front. And if you've seen Felipe Melo playing over the years, you know this wasn't the first time he's done something like that. If you put him in your team you're going to run that risk. Besides, he was probably frustrated because Brazil gave away the 0-1 lead. So I wouldn't say Holland won that match because of that red card. It certainly helped to retain the lead ye.

Well it was also lucky that Brazil didn't score more in the 1st half. IIRC a few chances were a few inches here a few inches there a few times.

Not saying it was unjust or anything, Holland won fair and square. The Game is the Game. Just, to borrow a phrase often used here, they "rode their luck" a little bit. A butterfly that didn't flap his wings that day, does, and Holland might find themselves out of the game at half time.

But that's football.
 
Mar 10, 2009
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The Hitch said:
Of course they are happy. Its economically stable like all other happy countries, but unlike all other happy countries they have nice year round weather.

And stunning natural beauty to boot.
 
Jun 14, 2010
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These weaker teams are probably often harder to play in the first game than the last. Since they go in with hope and belief and still level on points with everyone else. As they eventually lose the first game by a small margin, they lose that hope a little bit. Same happens after the second game. Like how North Korea last time pushed Brazil but then lost 8-0 to Portugal.

Arnout said:
And the equalizer by Sneijder was equally lucky.

Why didn't Suarez start by the way?

Recovering from injury.

Uruguay also probably thought they could win this one without him so don't want to risk it.
 
Jun 14, 2010
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Arnout said:
And stunning natural beauty to boot.

iirc something like more species of birds in Costa Rica than the entire rest of the world combined.

Edit, maybe not that ridiculous, but some amazing statistic anyway.
 
Jan 27, 2012
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This could turn out to be a nice little surprise.

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