Bag 'm and tag 'm, the World Cup has come to an end with a final that must qualify as one of the ugliest finals in history.
Unfortunately my country lost but that's the way of the game and although my fellow Dutchmen and I are sad we're also rational enough to admit that the better team won. Personally, of course I woudl've been overjoyed if my team won, but I'd rather see the Dutch play the game the way they used to: beautifull soccer but perhaps less rewarded.

Either way, it was an ugly game and apparently claimed a record: most cards during a World Cup final with 14 cards if I'm not mistaking (the previous record was at 6... makes you wonder ne?).. Howard Webb probably shouldn't go on holidays to Spain, The Netherlands or Poland this summer especially the last since their government announced a kill on his head. o.O

that ref was anything but fair , at first i thought he was unfair only with NL , but then he was unfair with spain too sometimes , it's not courage what he did it's total misgudgement at sometimes and totally missing somethings with no punishment , like that time when a player from spain pushed a player netherland on purpose right after the latter took the ball from him.

Done and dusted for another 4 years. After all the complaints I wonder whether FIFA will actually go ahead with a video ref? 
Having watched the Women's World Cup, at least the girls don't cheat like the men, or act bitchy!

QuoteAfter all the complaints I wonder whether FIFA will actually go ahead with a video ref? 

not likely , i don't think so . they are so hung up in the rules as if it was sacred rules or something
hard luck for NL , their loss makes me wonder why is it that every single team i rooted for in this tournament lost

on a slightly separate note , does anyone know where i can find the full closing ceremony video? i've looked all over and all i can find is the part shakira was on . i kinda missed the whole thing and heard it was awesome

It wasn't exactly the game to give people 'soccer fever' who've never watched it before.

I'd be awful hard pressed, like back to the good old days 'cold war' Olympics, to find a bunch of officiating that sucked that hard.

If I NEVER hear another game with those vuvuzelas horns blaring in the background I'm going to die happy.

QuoteIf I NEVER hear another game with those vuvuzelas horns blaring in the background I'm going to die happy.

lol , itotally don't get it , why in the world would someone pay ,let's say, 50$ to just stand , not interacting with the game ,barely watching , and just blowing in a horn . kinda mystery

Oh no, it's a cultural deal, I get that.  And I don't think it was unfair as some claimed, as the volume was equal for both teams on the pitch.  And it can be a factor, teams hate playing in places like Autzen Stadium because it's just so loud
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alqi5jzfmkM&feature=related#  (turn up the volume, it's wicked), it's just that I'm not from that culture and simply find it annoying.  So too the drunken sing-along that England does during its games.

yeah that too was loud , but i mean people enthusiastic cheering  sound is cool , understandable , even tolerable to some point. but that thing.. Gah!! too frickin' annoying .i mean i live in africa , i get it (the horn itself i mean) , and even though we have none of those where i live but  i'm familiar with this horn going off occasionally during a game playing anywhere in africa , and it was pretty cool . but all game long?and evveryone? that's just too much
i mean even south africa wasn't like that , i remember long ago egypt played in S.Africa on African Cup of Nations tournament , it wasn't continuous , it wasn't like that at all . it was actually nice ,like when there's heat you occasionally hear it , but not like that . that sudden appearance in the confederations cup tournament is still a mystery to me ,  i mean it's different now than the original cultural habit that i actually used to like .

Well see I didn't know that, its like an American learning that instead of the 'Boo' deal, in some places they whistle to display the same sense of an entire crowd going 'you suck.'

But they are gone, what's next Rio in it's trial run for the Olympics.  That's going to be a whole different set of problems.

I really think some major rule changes are in order however.  Major changes in reffing need to occur, vid replay, and maybe moving from one to three refs.   I think if you changes the onside rule it would be higher scoring, and hence, a lot more interesting.

Octopus Paul is the bigger news than Spain's win here in my country 

Barbie~~

Quote from: barbie on July 12, 2010, 11:11:10 AM
Octopus Paul is the bigger news than Spain's win here in my country 

Barbie~~

yeah this octopus deal is so epic , hard to believe but it happened

Quote from: eNTROPY on July 12, 2010, 11:25:25 AM
yeah this octopus deal is so epic , hard to believe but it happened

Yep goes to show the odds of a 1 in 2 chance. The stats don't change for how many repetitions it's still a 50% chance of calling it right (or wrong) each time. There are no cumulative odds. But it is different if you are betting on the octopus!
I think it demonstrates that the octopus was totally unbiased.