Brandish your vuvuzela! The World Cup kicks off at 10am (EDT) this Friday, with host nation South Africa taking on Mexico in the opening match. The US team, confident after a narrow Confederations Cup Finals loss to Brazil following their shocking win over Spain, opens play this Saturday at 2:30pm (EDT) against England.
Who you got? Anybody taking the trip to SA, or going to any particularly awesome world cup parties?
Originally posted Wednesday, June 9, 2010 (2 years ago)
My dad and I love the World Cup. We couldn't care much less about soccer any other time, but the World Cup gets our attention. I think the country divisions get us excited, even if they're made up for the event.
We'll cheer for the nobodies, so Côte d'Ivoire is our team. We want to see dancing in the streets of Yamoussoukro. Once Côte d'Ivoire falls out, Brazil returns as our perennial favorite. We love Brazil's heart and playful style. If Brazil falls out, we'll cheer for whichever country or team seems most easygoing and relaxed.
Originally posted Wednesday, June 9, 2010 (2 years ago)
Cheering for Brazil is like cheering for the Yankees. It's the easy frontrunning choice. If you want to cheer for an underdog with a real shot at the title, cheer for the Netherlands or another African team like Nigeria. Heck, cheer for your own country and root for the US. They're not terrible this year.
As an Argentine native, I'll be rooting for my countrymen, but I'm not too optimistic about Maradona being anywhere near that team. Which is a shame because Messi is in his prime.
Originally posted Thursday, June 10, 2010 (2 years ago)
Argentina has five great forwards, obviously led by Messi who is probably the top player in the world. Maxi Rodriguez and Mascheroni make the middle strong as well.
I don't know what formation the Argentines play, but if they could get Messi, Tevez, and Milito on the field together that would be a tremendous attacking side. Higuaín would still be available for substitution or they could pull Tevez/Milito for a midfielder with a late lead.
Group B doesn't seem like a difficult one, and the group B winner faces the runner up of group A in the ro16 -- my pick for that is the host nation, South Africa.
Originally posted Wednesday, July 7, 2010 (1 year ago)
The supertalented La Roja had me on tenterhooks for 90 minutes but they are THROUGH! I will be watching the Sunday match at the Spanish Benevolent Society :-D (I hope it's not too crowded)
Did anyone else LOSE THEIR [bleep!] when Pedro for some reason refused to pass to Nando? The Guardian, which must have a different feed from us, described "a full-blown nuclear meltdown featuring Torres in the middle". I can't blame him, I was having a full-blown meltdown in front of the TV, involving phrases like "WIDE OPEN IN ACRES OF SPACE!" "UNSPEAKABLY SELFISH", and "SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF". The two people in the office pantry with me who didn't know me kind of sidled a little further away.
Puyi got some ridiculous height on his jump for the header. He made it up in the air a full inch or two higher than Geri, and Geri has maybe 6 extra inches of height on him!
I was watching the reply on Telemundo and I'm pretty sure the announcing went a little something like this:
"Pedro! Pedro! Pedro!" ::gets tackled:: "Mucho, mucho asshole!"
I don't think he was refusing to pass to Torres, he was just lost in the moment. You could tell he really felt like a dick once he'd realized what he'd done.
Originally posted Friday, July 9, 2010 (1 year ago)
So I've been saying, re Luis Suarez, that it's not about the mistake you make, it's about how you react to it. (That's one of my life lessons -- I say it all the time to the kids I manage.)
My take on the Uruguay/Ghana handball (though it's old news by now) was that I do think the handball was instinctive rather than premeditated -- 99% of players in that sitch would have done the same thing, he was crushed when he realized, he was appropriately punished with the red & the penalty, etc, and it's not his fault that Gyan missed the kick. But at the end of the day, it was still a foul, which means that he REALLY did not have to act like such a DOUCHE about it. When he celebrated after the miss, and then got carried around the stadium like a hero, and said things to the media like "I made the best save of the tournament" and "this was the REAL Hand Of God" -- that's just douchey. You committed a foul, and there really shouldn't be any going round being proud about it. At this point it's not even about the foul itself, but about how he reacted to it -- and he reacted like a real douche.
Which brings us to Pedro, another player who made a HORRIBLE mistake. It looked like a mix in equal measure of selfgloryhunting, a failure to be sufficiently observant, and just general immaturity from a young, inexperienced player. Which is why it gladdened my heart to read this, from Sid Lowe at the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/jul/09/world-cup-2010-pedro-spain
Quote Pedro Rodríguez was still furious with himself. He had been withdrawn five minutes before, apologising to Fernando Torres as he departed, but the anger had not subsided. Nor had the recrimination, the self-flagellation.
Spain had reached their first ever World Cup final but Pedro had wasted the night's best opportunity. Worse, he had failed to lay a simple goal on a plate for Torres, the striker who so desperately needed one – and he could not forgive himself. "It was a terrible mistake, I got everything badly wrong," he said.
"I didn't see Torres alongside me – I was so focused on the goal. When I cut inside, the ball got left behind and I lost the chance. I was overconfident," Pedro continued, the normal smile, incisor edging its way across his front teeth, gone. Forget celebrating, there was sadness in his eyes, shame.
There's a kid who knows he made a mistake that day and will probably take the lesson away and learn from it. I'd take this one over Luis Suarez any day, not just as a footballer, but as a human being.
World Cup 2010
Brandish your vuvuzela! The World Cup kicks off at 10am (EDT) this Friday, with host nation South Africa taking on Mexico in the opening match. The US team, confident after a narrow Confederations Cup Finals loss to Brazil following their shocking win over Spain, opens play this Saturday at 2:30pm (EDT) against England.
Who you got? Anybody taking the trip to SA, or going to any particularly awesome world cup parties?
Schedule / Groups are:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/index.html
Group A: South Africa Mexico Uruguay France
Group B: Argentina Nigeria South Korea Greece
Group C: England United States Algeria Slovenia
Group D: Germany Australia Serbia Ghana
Group E: Netherlands Denmark Japan Cameroon
Group F: Italy Paraguay New Zealand Slovakia
Group G: Brazil North Korea Ivory Coast Portugal
Group H: Spain Switzerland Honduras Chile
- James
Yehoodi Featured Topics
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Brazil will win it's 6th World Cup Title.
My dad and I love the World Cup. We couldn't care much less about soccer any other time, but the World Cup gets our attention. I think the country divisions get us excited, even if they're made up for the event.
We'll cheer for the nobodies, so Côte d'Ivoire is our team. We want to see dancing in the streets of Yamoussoukro. Once Côte d'Ivoire falls out, Brazil returns as our perennial favorite. We love Brazil's heart and playful style. If Brazil falls out, we'll cheer for whichever country or team seems most easygoing and relaxed.
Samba time brother!!!
Cheering for Brazil is like cheering for the Yankees. It's the easy frontrunning choice. If you want to cheer for an underdog with a real shot at the title, cheer for the Netherlands or another African team like Nigeria. Heck, cheer for your own country and root for the US. They're not terrible this year.
As an Argentine native, I'll be rooting for my countrymen, but I'm not too optimistic about Maradona being anywhere near that team. Which is a shame because Messi is in his prime.
I like to watch the Netherlands. Mmmmm....those boys are beautiful...
I'm supporting España all the way!
I've also got soft spots for the England and the Netherlands as well... though Spain will be the trump.
Reuben Brown - www.JiveJunction.com - Southern California
Oggy, Oggy, Oggy!! Oi!Oi!Oi!
Argentina has five great forwards, obviously led by Messi who is probably the top player in the world. Maxi Rodriguez and Mascheroni make the middle strong as well.
I don't know what formation the Argentines play, but if they could get Messi, Tevez, and Milito on the field together that would be a tremendous attacking side. Higuaín would still be available for substitution or they could pull Tevez/Milito for a midfielder with a late lead.
Group B doesn't seem like a difficult one, and the group B winner faces the runner up of group A in the ro16 -- my pick for that is the host nation, South Africa.
- James
Spain - Netherlands in the Final.
One more game to go! Viva España!
Reuben Brown - www.JiveJunction.com - Southern California
The supertalented La Roja had me on tenterhooks for 90 minutes but they are THROUGH! I will be watching the Sunday match at the Spanish Benevolent Society :-D (I hope it's not too crowded)
Did anyone else LOSE THEIR [bleep!] when Pedro for some reason refused to pass to Nando? The Guardian, which must have a different feed from us, described "a full-blown nuclear meltdown featuring Torres in the middle". I can't blame him, I was having a full-blown meltdown in front of the TV, involving phrases like "WIDE OPEN IN ACRES OF SPACE!" "UNSPEAKABLY SELFISH", and "SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF". The two people in the office pantry with me who didn't know me kind of sidled a little further away.
Puyi got some ridiculous height on his jump for the header. He made it up in the air a full inch or two higher than Geri, and Geri has maybe 6 extra inches of height on him!
I was watching the reply on Telemundo and I'm pretty sure the announcing went a little something like this:
"Pedro! Pedro! Pedro!" ::gets tackled:: "Mucho, mucho asshole!"
I don't think he was refusing to pass to Torres, he was just lost in the moment. You could tell he really felt like a dick once he'd realized what he'd done.
Reuben Brown - www.JiveJunction.com - Southern California
So I've been saying, re Luis Suarez, that it's not about the mistake you make, it's about how you react to it. (That's one of my life lessons -- I say it all the time to the kids I manage.)
My take on the Uruguay/Ghana handball (though it's old news by now) was that I do think the handball was instinctive rather than premeditated -- 99% of players in that sitch would have done the same thing, he was crushed when he realized, he was appropriately punished with the red & the penalty, etc, and it's not his fault that Gyan missed the kick. But at the end of the day, it was still a foul, which means that he REALLY did not have to act like such a DOUCHE about it. When he celebrated after the miss, and then got carried around the stadium like a hero, and said things to the media like "I made the best save of the tournament" and "this was the REAL Hand Of God" -- that's just douchey. You committed a foul, and there really shouldn't be any going round being proud about it. At this point it's not even about the foul itself, but about how he reacted to it -- and he reacted like a real douche.
Which brings us to Pedro, another player who made a HORRIBLE mistake. It looked like a mix in equal measure of selfgloryhunting, a failure to be sufficiently observant, and just general immaturity from a young, inexperienced player. Which is why it gladdened my heart to read this, from Sid Lowe at the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/jul/09/world-cup-2010-pedro-spain
There's a kid who knows he made a mistake that day and will probably take the lesson away and learn from it. I'd take this one over Luis Suarez any day, not just as a footballer, but as a human being.
I suggest reading Declan Hill's The Fix for a really eye opening look at the past and current history of international soccer:
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