FIFA World Cup 2014

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FoxxyBrown1111 said:
LOL. Of course from now (end of OT) it´s 50/50. Half of the miracle is completed. I wrote my post when Navas didn´t even made the last second save vs Samaras.
Its not that uncommon at all for 10 men to be able to defend if they go full defense mode. Greece themselves managed it 2 matches ago.
 
Jun 15, 2009
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The Hitch said:
Its not that uncommon at all for 10 men to be able to defend if they go full defense mode. Greece themselves managed it 2 matches ago.

I thought you mean to overcome to win...

Whatever; Here we go. I love penalty shootouts.
 
Merckx index said:
Brazil and Chile missed 5/10 PK. CR and Greece missed 1/9.

Is this random fluctuations, better kickers, less nerves, or poorer goalies?

So close to having Brazil and NL eliminated. Who woulda thunk?

Poorer goalies.. half the penalties of CR and GReece where right down the middle almost. Goalie's went to the corner way too early.
 
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Merckx index said:
Brazil and Chile missed 5/10 PK. CR and Greece missed 1/9.

Is this random fluctuations, better kickers, less nerves, or poorer goalies?

So close to having Brazil and NL eliminated. Who woulda thunk?

Random... and maybe pressure (if one believes in chokers, like I do with Peyton Manning :D)
 
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Dekker_Tifosi said:
Poorer goalies.. half the penalties of CR and GReece where right down the middle almost. Goalie's went to the corner way too early.

That´s where you have to go (middle and/or high). A GK must decide upfront for a corner, because the shot arrives faster than if a GK can react.

So actually that were great pen kicks. Even the Gekas one went high, and needed a monster one handed save. Completely different to the weak pressure shots of yesterday...
 
I wonder how you can enjoy a match if you think literally everything is fixed. What about the Brazil match? You said they would do anything to let Brazil win but Howard Webb did a good job imo. And if Proenca somehow wanted the Netherlands to win he could have done much worse.
 
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I said before I don´t think everything is fixed.
OTOH, guys here said something like that would never happen on the highest level.
In the end it will be somewhere in/at/below the middle.
It´s like with doping. Not everybody does it. But you never know who does it. How can you still watch cycling?

Edit: Yes Webb did a great job. Good they had some great refs in the last two tight contested BRA games (MEX, CHI)...
But now it´s time to get a cheap one in there, otherwise my bet will bust. ;) :eek:

Edit II: I also said I don´t believe the NL game was fixed (if you go back to my origin post), just poorly ref´ed, which left a sour taste. If the ref felt to give Robben a free pen for the "not given one" in the 1st half, he should have penalized MEX earlier, so that they´d have a chance to come back.
 
Merckx index said:
Brazil and Chile missed 5/10 PK. CR and Greece missed 1/9.

Is this random fluctuations, better kickers, less nerves, or poorer goalies?

So close to having Brazil and NL eliminated. Who woulda thunk?

Random I would say. Sometimes penalty shootouts have no one score for the entire first round. Other ones have everyone score. It really seems to me to be random. Out of 10 penalties you can have any number.

Those who say worse keepers, well the 2006 final had 2 HOF goal keepers including Buffon who is considered one of the best of all time and very good with penalties, but there also 9 out of 10 penalties were goals and the one that wasn't a goal wasn't saved but hit the bar and came 1cm from crossing the line anyway.

On the other hand Brazil's team of superstars missed 4 out of 4 penalties against Paraguay when the Paraguayan goalkeeper wasn't even a highly rated keeper.
 
Penalty shootouts aren't random. I disagree with DT - both Greece and Costa Rica shot very good penalties, unlike Brazil and Chile who did some appalling ones.

A properly kicked penalty is almost impossible to save for the goalie.
 
hrotha said:
Penalty shootouts aren't random. I disagree with DT - both Greece and Costa Rica shot very good penalties, unlike Brazil and Chile who did some appalling ones.

A properly kicked penalty is almost impossible to save for the goalie.

True and with every keeper having a weak side as well so..... ..for me it was the left side in my playing days.
 
The best players don't necessarily make the best penalty takers, most of playing the ball in a match is instantaneous, players have to play on instict, with a penalty they have to think about it

I look at an average footballer like Ameobi, who I don't think ever missed a penalty (at least I can't remeber one), whereas others much better players seemed to have problems with them.
 
There recently was a compilation on Dutch tv of all the penalty series of the German team in World Cup history. They took 19 penalties, and missed just one... Taking penalties is a science, stopping them is too (to some extent) but if you take a penalty properly it can't be stopped.