This is the most exciting lull three and a half hours before the matches start that I think I've ever experienced.
Oh, wait, no. Second, maybe third.
But your country's big day isn't until tomorrow.
Ogged contains multitudes of countries.
But Bosnia and Herzegovina played yesterday. (And there was some other country on the field as well, as I understand.)
I hope Steve from San Jose leads Iran into the Round of 16.
I cannot believe we're seeing a red card this early.
Wait, you can't headbutt a guy who's sitting on the ground? This sport is so weird.
So I am gathering "guy who gets red cards for ridiculous reasons" is Pepe's thing?
He even has an acolyte in that guy from Uruguay who looks just like him and got a red card in the 94th minute on Saturday.
Oh yeah. And he also does stuff like this.
So,the Iberian peninsula sucks at soccer. Amirite or amirite?
Saw a guy rolling around on the turf, thought "meh", but then saw that he went down with nobody around him and thought "oh no! He must be really hurt!"
Did Germany just get away with a pretty big no-call?
That went really, really badly for Portugal. Kind of sad to be at the big public viewing here in Lisbon. :-/
Seen just now on Twitter: "This Iran team is glued together by the joint will of the nation and diaspora and lots of hair gel."
Oh and 16: I think it's safe to say Ronaldo thinks so.
Why do my people have such a love of product? We have low-maintenance hair, and yet.
How do you measure the hair maintenance needs of a whole people?
There's an Iranian Hair Standard, kept in a glass case in Shiraz.
Then the hair is soaked in wine, not hair gel.
Stain your prayer rug with winehair gel.
And I love that one of the Iranian players is nicknamed "Gucci".
The guardian liveblog for this game is pretty awesome. It's mostly about Coors Light, but it's pretty awesome.
8.45pm BST
45 min: I'll drink ten pints of Coors Light if someone from either side does something interesting in the next minute.
"Gucci" is short for "Ghoochannejhad". He's from the Netherlands. Also, the Iranian team captain is an Armenian Christian. The announcers have probably mentioned all this already.
Did they also mention that one of the assistant coaches is American?
Martina Navratilova on twitter earlier: I find it funny that when women play football they just put their hair in a ponytail. The men on the other hand- hair products galore.
Someone needs to come up with a hair gel product that
1) protects the head from concussions
2) makes the ball project faster off the head
3) looks great.
Well, that was exciting (note: I didn't watch it).
Damn. Was in the other room. Nothing ever happens in the first minute of a soccer game.
Someone tell the announcer that referring to the Ghanains as "the Africans" is dispreferred.
"You can't measure intangibles, and that's where Michael Bradley is on top for this team in every category."
Good thing they got that early goal because they're not doing shut since then. And now Altidore just blew a tire.
Oh man. Altidore seems quite done for the tournament.
So kicking a guy in the face and breaking his nose is not a penalty, then?
I don't understand conservatism in sports. This is a made-up game that's a little over a hundred years old; you're not exactly desecrating the graves of someone's ancestors if you add instant replay and two more referees. The NFL is really good about changing the rules when they're clearly broken. Even the NBA has three refs for a much smaller field of play.
46: there's really no way to institute instant replay without destroying the game; possession's entirely too fluid for it to work. I mean, on the Dempsey kick to the face it's not unreasonable, in real time, to not even think a foul was committed.
I don't understand 47. If possession is fluid, doesn't that support instant replay?
You can totally see my buddy dressed up as Elvis right now on the Guardian liveblog.
I don't think that's entirely true. Fouls inside the box could be challengeable, for example, which would partly address one of the real problems in the game, which is the effect one bad call can have on the outcome.
And they should have more refs.
48: This comment explains the issue better than I can.
Having more refs wouldn't be a bad idea... The only real issue us that it's hard enough to get good refs as it is. (Making them professional would be a good start.)
Two hamstring injuries? When do we start questioning Klinsman's fitness program?
bradleys touch is awful today
The whole goddamn game is being played in the us end.
One of those fucker Ghana fans snuck a vuvuzela into the stadium.
It would be really nice if the US could string more than three passes together. Or would even try.
Howard is having to do too much in too wide an area.
It's almost as if soccer is not one of the major sports in the US.
It's hard to say a goal at 40 seconds is against the run of play but that's apparently the case.
hush, you. I think we could do a lot better than we are.
I was just thinking there must be a hundred tall dudes who aren't quite skilled enough for the NBA, but would be awesome soccer goalies. And, of course, there are a whole lot of track runners who could have been awesome, if they'd ever played.
I think ghana is playing up from their level and we are playing down
THIS GAME IS SO BORING I HAVE TIME TO POST ON ECLECTIC WEB MAGAZINES.
68: Jesus Christ no. The focus on raw athletic talent is everything that's wrong with soccer in this country.
Vuvuzela!
As boring as this game might be, it's infinitely more entertaining than the Kansas City/Detroit game. Baseball really is unfathomly boring.
I'll bet present day Bo Jackson would be the best American soccer player ever.
nice couple of subs to be able make, ghana
That's why I limited it to goalies, man.
Holy shit is that another defender grabbing his hamstring?
At this rate, Portugal is going to have US for a snack.
77 maybe, if there ae any of then left, too
And that's considering how Portugal did today.
Ghana's gonna take dive in the box real soon.
75: yeah but keeper is traditionally the US's strongest position.
71: Yes, I was thinking more of poor first touches and inability to get the ball to someone's feet when under pressure.
The Univision guys keep calling jones JJJ.
It would've been too easy otherwise.
Well that seemed pretty inevitable.
The US is well known for its set pieces of course.
They're too tired to properly celebrate.
And Ghana takes possession again. I hate this end of the field.
But when it's interesting, it's really interesting.
I went to the Indian buffet for lunch because they show World Cup and I am JUST THAT DEVOTED TO SOCCER. It was Iran v. Nigeria and nothing happened because it's soccer.
I went to the Indian buffet for lunch because they show World Cup and I am JUST THAT DEVOTED TO SOCCER. It was Iran v. Nigeria and nothing happened because it's soccer.
I blame Brazil for rushing construction and making a field tilted 20 degrees towards the US goal.
I am so out of my head about soccer I say everything twice.
I had my interview today and Germany was on when we went out to lunch but I managed to not watch.
Well we're going to have to play better than that against Portugal.
Go here for the two minutes it'll be up.
That game was like Pennsylvania, nice parts on either end and shit in the middle.
The revision history reveals all.
Baseball really is unfathomly boring.
Baseball and soccer were the two sports I played growing up--and enjoyed playing both--but neither one appeals to me at all as a spectator sport.
Now give each soccer player a bat, and Apo would be all over that. And trampolines. Don't forget the trampolines.
123: Wafer was pretty clutch in there, though.
I was thinking more of poor first touches and inability to get the ball to someone's feet when under pressure.
Was watching the the highlights of the quarter final match against Germany in 2002, and it makes this kind of thing even more depressing. That team probably had better technical skills overall, while relying on fewer foreign-raised players. Despite all of Klinsmann's talk about transforming how we play, we're in a vanilla 4-4-2 and creating very little through central midfield. Same as it ever was.
I hadn't expected Apo to be such a kosho fan.
Does this mean we get to go to the Sweet Sixteen?
The central midfield was unusually ineffectual today, we're more technically sound, but everyone else is more so, and Ghana is unusually physically better than many other teams.
And we weren't in a standard 4-4-2 by some distance.
Nice to see the USA win, just for the trolling the world factor. Maybe I can find some Ghanian website and do some taunts. "I bless the pain down in Africa."
The "most important match in four years won by the team that clearly deserved to lose" factor isn't really selling me on soccer, but whatever, USA WHOOO #1.
"We haven't ruined your country with a totally unfair outcome this badly since the slave trade."
132: On the technical quality, I'll take your word for it, as I don't watch them regularly. On the formation, Bradley has a pretty free role in possession, but what else is non-standard about it?
136: Bradley had an atrocious game. He was misplacing passes even when he wasn't under pressure; usually he's very calm and has much better touch on his passing.
I mean, I'm happy, but kind of shocked.
134, 135: But I would not say the outcome was "unfair". The US was generally dangerous the few times they did get in deep and for all the possession Ghana's final attempts were pretty wayward (their goal was beautiful, though); Howard had to work hard but did not absolutely stand on his head. Finishing is a skill like any other.
Yeah I mean they were pretty good on defense (against a team mostly as shitty as they were, but anyhow) seemed like. And it's not like the goals weren't earned.
I actually thought Beasley stunk it up the worse. Seemed to just be running around out there.
140.last: that's actually a matter of much discussion in the soccer analytic community right now. The current thinking is that it isn't; the skill is in getting shots from the right positions. And for all of Ghana's possession, they took a bunch of shots from locations that the US should have been perfectly happy with.
I'll take back the formation comment until I can watch it again. The opta stats do show much more a conventional formation than I was "feeling."
I think the biggest part of that is how compressed we were in our own half.
Now I have a sad.
the skill is in getting shots from the right positions.
I've seen the processed data, but not the raw data. I reaaaaally don't think we're getting the story from the processed data.
the skill is in getting shots from the right positions
Fair enough. But I would put that into the general bucket of "finishing." And yes, Ghana hit a lot of long-distance prayers that became more prayer-like as the game went on and legs tired.
Boy, it sure was obvious how much shittier the US and Ghana are than Germany and Portugal. So many more pointlessly bad shots.
the skill is in getting shots from the right positions
OK, so did the US suck in the game or not? All the in-game commentary said yes, is now the position that no it didn't because even though it looked like we did in fact we were relentlessly pushing team Ghana into taking shots from bad positions?
Why can't it be the case that Ghana also sucked and was unable to deal with a relatively ably managed conservative defense? I like that story. That story makes me proud.
The US defense was really pretty good. But did you notice how Ghana had the ball and was attacking the whole time? That's because the US was just horrendous at keeping the ball. Contrast.
Of course, possession alone doesn't get you points, and that style of play requires players who are way better than the Americans, and is susceptible to counterattack.
144: Yeah, out of possession almost all teams look like a 4-4-2, since two banks of four is a pretty solid defense. The US had so little possession that it's hard to tell what the formation really was.
145: what raw data do you mean? StatsBomb has raw shot charts. Is there something else you want to see?
148: the US wasn't great. In possession they were atrocious, misplacing passes and dribbling into bad positions. Out of possession they were marginally better; they didn't do a great job of covering the flanks. But the central defenders did a pretty good job of maintaining their positions, and they were helped a *lot* by the fact that Ghana didn't get much interplay going and got impatient (hence all the shots from distance). Against a more patient and organized side (like, say, Germany), the US would have been shredded.
144: Yeah, out of possession almost all teams look like a 4-4-2, since two banks of four is a pretty solid defense. The US had so little possession that it's hard to tell what the formation really was.
145: what raw data do you mean? StatsBomb has raw shot charts. Is there something else you want to see?
148: the US wasn't great. In possession they were atrocious, misplacing passes and dribbling into bad positions. Out of possession they were marginally better; they didn't do a great job of covering the flanks. But the central defenders did a pretty good job of maintaining their positions, and they were helped a *lot* by the fact that Ghana didn't get much interplay going and got impatient (hence all the shots from distance). Against a more patient and organized side (like, say, Germany), the US would have been shredded.
So, terrible offense that managed to score two pretty lucky goals, adequate defense sufficient to beat a poorly-coached, impatient team that was also unlucky?
two pretty lucky goals
The goals were solid. Nice pass leading to some very nice dribbling and a good shot for the first one, and a well-executed set-piece for the second. Those are legit goals.
adequate defense sufficient to beat a poorly-coached, impatient team
This is correct. Like Josh says, it's hard to imagine that Germany won't murder them.
Historically speaking, it's hard to imagine anyone Germany won't murder.
Reasonably stout if I creative defense and occasional solid set piece goals has pretty much been the USMNT way, right? Ghana never expected that from Klinsmann!
"uncreative", not I creative. I not so creative.
Never murder the bag man, mama always told me.
153: the goals weren't lucky. The first one was just individual skill rather than teamwork, and the second one was from a traditional strength of the team. (Set pieces are the part of the game where pure athleticism is the most valuable, and the US has always relied on strength and height.)
And it's not *that* surprising that Ghana had a hard time scoring. It's something that even the best teams that've been playing together constantly struggle to do, and the national sides get very little practice time. (This is also why the video in 150 is such an unfair comparison: most of the guys in it have been playing together for years if not decades.)
It's something that even the best teams that've been playing together constantly struggle to do, and the national sides get very little practice time. (This is also why the video in 150 is such an unfair comparison: most of the guys in it have been playing together for years if not decades.)
Wait, so you're saying I should follow the Premier League or whatever to watch real teams who know how to play together play?? This is like Olympic basketball or hockey vs the NBA or NHL, a slightly bullshit nationalistic version of the real sport?
Don't watch. Please. It's beneath you.
161: okay, but good lord there were a lot of passes that sailed disconsolately off in the direction of no one in that game today.
162: but like Olympic hockey everybody kinda cares more, right?
162: yeah basically. OTOH a number of the better teams have a bunch of players from the same club (Germany, e.g., started 7 Bayern Munich players today) so it's not quite that bad. But the best of the Champions League is better than the best of the World Cup.
161: sure, it wasn't a great game. OTOH part of the reason it seemed so bad is that the other games have been so good (except for Iran-Nigeria); in 2010 or 2006 this would have been par for the course.
It is all intense and fun for sure. But, a big problem with the World Cup for me, aside from not really understanding the sport, is that I find regional hatred way more fun than national hatred. What did Ghana or Portugal ever do to me? Germany is super hateable of course but hating on them feels pretty intense, hard to avoid going all "nice goal how did your Nazi grandma feel climbing over the rubble of the Gestapo headquarters when we bombed it to shit."
The Olympics is all about world peace and athleticism and high ideals, this feels like it calls for more ordinary sports world hating. I dunno, I'm rambling here.
Champions League seems pretty sweet.
Rooting for Germany feels kinda weird, even though I am doing it for obviously laudable reasons.
And Özil is pretty darn likable. (don't disabuse me of this notion, Josh)
there are a whole lot of track runners who could have been awesome, if they'd ever played
No, the whole point of track is that vaguely athletic people with no hand/foot-eye coordination can play a sport.
I had to choose between watching Germany/Portugal and US/Ghana, and clearly I made the right choice. That "head butt" was kind of unbelievable. It was a little sad at how less exciting the game was after Pepe got sent off. I can't believe the amount of bitching from Portugal though. As my friend said, "what was their game plan, play like shit and whine about it?"* From reading fan comments, you'd think Portugal had been up 3-1 most of the game and the Germans squeaked out a victory at the last minute through dirty refereeing.
*Other possibility: to strengthen Intra-Iberian relations, Portugal agreed to play in a way that in retrospect makes Spain's loss seem less embarrassing?
171: dude Özil plays for Arsenal. I love him.
With Klinsmann as coach rooting for this US team is like rooting for our missiles against the Soviets.
"That "head butt" was kind of unbelievable
As noted, Pepe has a distinguished career as a an pantomime villain.
the whole point of track is that vaguely athletic people with no hand/foot-eye coordination can play a sport
Are you American? Here, a lot of the collegiate male sprinters/jumpers also play football. They're just fabulous all-around athletes. Which brings me back to:
The focus on raw athletic talent is everything that's wrong with soccer in this country.
I don't think we should choose the most athletic players from the current pool of players. I meant that if soccer were a major sport here--imagine the kids on the South Side are playing soccer, instead of basketball--the US would be fanfuckingtastic. This is both trivially true: bigger pool of players, better team, but also fun to think about: imagine someone with Derrick Rose or Alan Iverson's quickness, leaping ability, and coordination playing soccer. Did I just describe the Ghanain team? I'm a big racist, aren't I? Go Germany!
There is no reason not to love Oezil. He was a stand-out star on the 2010 German team, which was one of the reasons he got signed to Arsenal for a massive fee (where his record has been a little so-so), but it's also really lovely to have a Turkish-German star. That's the sort of national symbol that helps to normalize the on-the-ground fact of immigration patterns.*
*Good lord, does this not begin to describe the complexities of the Turkish-German relationship, or the absolutely shitty condition of the 2nd generation Turks who are bound by German immigration-law to be perpetual outsiders.**
**Also Oezil is handsome, if you have a taste for men who when exerted look a bit like 19th-century tubercular patients--as some do! It's an especially good look when combined with extraordinary passing and dribbling skills, goal set-ups, and scores.
177: give me a good first touch and tactical know-how over quickness and leaping ability any day. Sure, once you've got those things the quicker and better-coordinated you are the better you'll play, but there's a reason Pirlo's still running games at 35 and it's not 'cause he's an amazing physical specimen. The big problem in US youth development is that the focus is on full-field, 11-a-side games played competitively at way too young an age. Keep that up and it doesn't matter how large the pool you're drawing from is, you'll still get your ass handed to you by the Germans, the Dutch, and the Spaniards.
good first touch
I haven't watched much soccer in years, and never played, and am no expert, but there's always been a noticeable difference between most US players and players on the top European teams in terms of ability to simply bring in a pass and control the ball. And it makes a huge difference in the amount of decent chances a team gets to build an attack.
Yeah, touch is the ultimate foundation of everything in soccer. That's what makes Messi so incredible; his control is just unreal. If you watch his goal from yesterday, what makes it is the last touch he takes before the shot. Most other players would shoot at that point, or try to take one more touch and end up giving the ball away, but since his control is so good he can go that extra little bit of distance to get the right angle on goal.
And that's why American youth development has historically been such a problem: when you play full-sided games, you just don't get to touch the ball that often. Other countries build their youth programs with the intention of getting players as many touches on the ball as possible.
It is all intense and fun for sure. But, a big problem with the World Cup for me, aside from not really understanding the sport, is that I find regional hatred way more fun than national hatred. What did Ghana or Portugal ever do to me?
Ghana knocked the US out of the last two World Cups. Bad example.
And Portugal, did you even read all those papal bulls back in the fifteenth century? Arrogant pricks.
Maybe Portugal will take it's revenge for 2002. Also a game with an early goal by the US.
re: 181
One thing that's noticeable in English football, is that a lot of young players have much better touch and control than they did a few years ago. There has always been the odd player [attacking midfielders, classy number 10s, etc] who's had it, but coaching, I think, has gotten much better.
In the game with Italy, even though England lost, lots of the one-touch passing, and ball control [Sturridge's goal on the half-volley, etc] was more in line with what I'd think of as usual 'continental' or South American practice, than with traditional English playing style.
touch is the ultimate foundation of everything in soccer
Let me guess, you think youth coaching would be really rewarding.
Youth soccer is the bane of my existence. I guess that is a sign of how comfortable my life is, but I'm still annoyed with it.
Well, the countries that have a track record of producing talented players tend to have quite a lot of youth coaching,* or are countries where poor kids spend every waking moment playing football.
* Germany has 5,00 UEFA 'A' licensed coaches, Spain has 13,000. The UK has .. 1000.
where poor kids spend every waking moment playing football
This is my dream for America. At least for the short kids.
America will never have a great youth soccer program until we change the AYSO mantra from "everyone plays" to "weak children die."
We walked past the local peewee soccer or whatever it is and they seemed to be doing 2-on-2 drills, so presumably inner Boston burbs will be soccer powerhouses any decade now.
190: Nah. That's the usual British approach - throw 22 assorted kids onto a full-size pitch and wait for natural selection to take its course. Oddly enough we get a lot of precociously tall guys with sharp elbows, and scrawny hard-running fullbacks, and nobody who can trap a ball because this is a useless skill in context. After all, if by some mischance you were to start running with the ball or something, tall sharp-elbow guy or scrawny hard-running psycho is going to knifecrime you in a flash. Best hoof it at your tall guy.
179 is interesting because that's basically British football in a nutshell. The people you see on the pitch are the ones who were selected for getting a kick at all, ever when they were 11.
I don't know if 11-year-olds play on a full field here, but eight- and nine-year-olds play a smaller field with smaller goals and no goalie and water breaks every 15 minutes regardless of how warm it it.
water breaks every 15 minutes regardless of how warm
Dammit, there's our problem.
re: 193
Yeah. Scotland used to have a tradition of producing a third genus.* The small sneaky type. Sometimes a bit fat, sometimes alcoholic. The kind that survives those kinds of childhood games just by being a really cheeky bastard. I don't think those emerge as much anymore.
* Jinky Johnstone** , Jim Baxter, Denis Law, etc.
** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Johnstone#Later_life
186: I was wondering how long it'd take you.
194: yeah, the American game (unsurprisingly) resembles the British game quite a lot. Same emphasis on athleticism, strength, and hearts/desire, same basic mistrust of technical skill and tactical knowledge, and the same moralistic attitude towards diving/gamesmanship.
the same moralistic attitude towards diving/gamesmanship
And I desperately hope that never changes.
Speaking locally, there are way more Italians (as in having at least one parent raised in Italy) out there playing kiddie soccer than any other nationality.
201: Huh. It's definitely the Mexicans and Central Americans here.
I'm sure it is. I haven't been there for ten years and wasn't involved in anything kid-related while there, but the number of moving was pretty obviously large. Pittsburgh actually has more immigrants from Asian than all of Latin American. And Pittsburgh doesn't have many immigrants.
Belgium seems kinda tiki-takish
So, no waffling?
Brazil-Mexico being very entertaining even though 0-0 in extra time. Some excellent saves.
Ends 0-0. Mexican keeper did the stand on your head thing.
I'm not sure if I should be rooting for Mexico because CONCACAF or against them because rivals.
211 - show some solidarity with the blog founder.
Fucking wankers were wandering around downtown mpls last night chanting "USA! USA!" in a particularly idiotic and performative manner. I blame soccer.
I thought USA-Ghana was very exciting. Ghana were better but the US weren't bad at all.
The US weakness is defense, not offense. I've read numerous times that the US is always one of the fittest teams, but they seem the least fit this time, the players were completely spent the last 15-20 minutes.
Ghana seems like the strongest African team this time round too, and could still lose all their games. Such a shame.
There were stretches of the game that was all Ghana, but the result isn't that unfair, they couldn't create that many really good chances and didn't convert chances into goals.
Now sympathy for the Korean goalkeeper.
At this point, CONCACAF is 3-1-1. Concentrating only on interconfederation play, that's 2 points per game. 1.9 for CONMEBOL and 1.4 for UEFA(out games only).
Probably won't last, but nice for a day!
A nice NYTimes interactive on US vs. Ghana showing shot locations.
Australia?!
They musta gotten Belgium drunk before the game.
Right, Belgium. Good one, Sifu.
Shit, I just started WWI, didn't I?
This world cup seems to be much more exciting than the last one.
I sure jinxed that one. Sorry, Australia. Don't boot me.
221.2: That's right. Blame him.
8 shots on target out of 21 seems like a pretty damn low percentage. How do they judge what are shots vs. crappy passes?
If Australia had gotten the tie it would have helped Spain's chances a fairbit.
225:Not sure, but a good hard close miss over the bar or just to the side is often a "better" attempt than some middling thing which does not trouble the keeper--so not wild on that stat in general.
255, 257: they have humans coding it, so: subjectively, but usually isn't THAT hard to tell.
The end of an era...
They just looked defeated. When Iniesta can't handle a simple pass in the midfield, the writing is on the wall.
...oops mine, either. Your picked champion being one of the first two out is bad, right?
Wow, that Ivory Coast goal was some really beautifully deceptive footwork.
Does that "am I falling over or am I about to score a goal?" style have a name? That's awesome.
A friend put a couple of Euros on Chile to take Spain 2-0 at 35/1. Should have put €200.
235: oh Gervinho. (Yes, the Ivoirian soccer player has a Brazilian nickname.)
Uruguay, the best country in the world at intentional handballs.
Wow, Uruguay should be down to 10 men in two different ways by now. The first yellow should have been a red, and that should have been a second yellow.
Jesus Christ don't let the guy who just took a knee to the head come right back on.
Yeah that one was pretty clearly an actual concussion. He did boxer's pose and everything!
Fencer's pose? Whatever it's called.
The calls really are striking in this game. I thought my husband was being a bit of a paranoid when discussing how ref calls always seem to go against England but this game has me agreeing more than not. (Though the English are definitely unintentionally injuring more of the Uruguayans.)
The calls really are striking in this game. I thought my husband was being a bit of a paranoid when discussing how ref calls always seem to go against England but this game has me agreeing more than not. (Though the English are definitely unintentionally injuring more of the Uruguayans.)
Ian Darke mocking the guy for timewasting (before he saw the replay) was also really fucking distasteful.
Man, first the loss of the Raj, now this.
I was going to comment on Suarez and his oversized mouth before I learned that he had been banned for biting.
Japan was inexcusably timid for the final 25' or so.
Perhaps bob can provide some insight.
CONCACAF!!!!!
The guy who's taking the free kicks for Italy looks like the Hound.
And of course a Costa Rica win mathematically eliminates England so it's bound to happen.
256: your lips to God's ears.
From the Groan at half time: "Time for England players to make a decision on that always-tricky moral dilemma: to sneak some hotel towels and toiletries into your case before check-out or not." (won't link it's a live feed. I'm not really paying attention because there's a cricket international on.)
Almost there. Come on, CRC. Score one more.
God what a relief! At last the papers and news channels will start talking about something else.
Man, first my comment "Man, first the loss of the Raj, now this", now this.
I don't usually expect to miss two goals when I look away from the game for like a minute.
My predictions for the WC are not holding up so well. I expected Holland to underachieve majorly but instead it was Spain. I expected Italy and England to edge out Uruguay and CR not to be in contention. I guess this serves me right for being so Eurocentric. I'm hoping Italy beats Uruguay for second place. I'm also a little excited that the plucky N. American underdogs are dominating the group. They could easily get 9 points. And honestly, even though I was hoping for Italy to win, The Ticos clearly were the better team. Sigh.
I'm really hoping for 9 for CRC.
COME ON, Germany. Please beat Ghana.
The 2nd half has been much more interesting.
269: yes, as in the apocryphal curse.
Holy shit, that game.
Although you have to admit it's attractive for the US to have a chance to eliminate Germany.
274: More attractive--BY FAR--would be for Ghana to have no chance whatsoever to eliminate us.
I was hoping Ghana would win. As for the US implications, sometimes things gotta play hard.
Huh. I guess she has a history problems that I was not aware of.
This is certainly going to make US V Portugal more interesting. Personally I'm pulling for Portugal to win but Ronaldo to have some sort of disastrous injury right at the end so Ghana can just roll right over them and out of the group.
Also let's face it if Ghana had knocked the US out of contention by 2-1, only against a different team this time, that would have been hilarious. "Oh, you thought we weren't go to do that a third time? Surprise!"
538 has our chances going down from 69% to 64%. But presumably our odds of topping the group and getting to play H2 went up. (I can't see those odds from the phone.)
Hey - even if you are from the United States I think you have to admit that Ghana is more fun to watch.
I'm not even sure what I think about that match, except to be sad to have missed what was apparently a great second half. I hear Özil made some good setups, but they didn't come to anything?
Best match so far?
Okay fine, who am I kidding (Ger Gha) was an exciting match.
287: that was certainly entertaining, but not really a good match.
It's a matter of what yardstick you're using.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PQ6335puOc
Note to future self: no, you don't want to fly Lufthansa. Tiny seat, giant Russian guy using my armrest and covering up the light and volume controls.
I've noticed that on newer planes that the the twisty vent-control is no longer there. Do not like.
It must be horrible to have to worry about new planes. Fortunately, on the routes I fly, you can get a DC-9 unless you fly Southwest.
They actually use it to vent the bathrooms now and it is always on.
Yeah, the air just flows from the overhead. It can be chilly.
295 was just kidding. I haven't flown on many new planes of late.
288: Yes, it was.
298: I don't know. I'm just never that into games where the only thing saving one side is a goalkeeper standing on his head.
299: Ochoa just did *so much* compared to the rest of the team
I don't think he featured in the Netherlands-Spain match, though.
Oops! Sorry, was thinking 298 was to 285.
I'm in a cell phone waiting lot and my phone is insufficiently entertaining.
299: On the plus side, that is the one thing you can really say didn't happen in the Spain-Holland match. As little as the rest of the Spanish side did, the goal keeper did even less.
Ha, that's perfect. Thanks. But where are my parents?
304: yes, it is a good thing the keeper was already sainted. Or else he'd be going straight to hell.
Paaaaaaaaaaaarents. Where aaaaaaaaare you.
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So we're heading out at 3 and the party is still going strong. Based on this n of 1, I'd say the portuguese party hard at weddings.
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Hey the waiting lot has air conditioned bathrooms. Aahh.
Parents. Can they never get their luggage or what.
Finally! Thanks for your rapt attention, all.
312: I was rapping, not rapt.
Except for the whole "losing" thing I think the US are looking a lot better.
My "live" feed is a minute or two behind the feeds in the bars around here. Or else large crowds of people are watching some other event that's leading to occasional cheering.
Yes, after they conceded an early goal to the US Portugal Ghana the US really went back on the offensive and have dominated play. Ghana The US hasn't managed to score a goal against the US Portugal yet, but if this keeps up it's hard to see how they don't.
I'm still pulling for a Portugal win, though. I'm sure Ronaldo really, really wants one after that humiliating loss to Zorro Germany.
316: I think I'm a little bit behind but I can't figure put what the yelling guy is reacting to so I'm not sure how much.
I should tell the people chanting "USA" about spoiler warnings.
For the record, I posted 319 before my feed even got to the corner.
Airplane wifi is not very good. :'-(
Well that might have been the wrong time for the stream to die
I took advantage of the delay to see if I could get Univision over the air now that I've moved the tv to a somewhat worse location, but also got a better antenna. It doesn't look like it, but I cut my testing short when I heard more cheering.
Oh my. And it was all so well set up to rest the wounded against Germany.
The bars weren't cheering for that one. I guess there isn't a huge Portuguese population here.
I guess the most likely scenario now is that Ghana knocks the US out of the World Cup.
If they could do it by beating Portugal 2-1 the irony would be magnificent.
I may be wrong, but I believe if Ghana beats Portugal by one goal and Germany beats US by the same score it goes to a drawing of lots.
No, never mind, US beat Ghana head to head.
This is certainly the outcomes that maximizes ongoing interest in the US.
A 2-2 draw is actually a much better outcome for the US than a 1-1 draw, right? So despite the heartbreak we're in a pretty good position.
Another really entertaining game.
538 gives 76% odds of the US making it through. Also apparently betting the US to win or draw in this game would have been fairly lucrative.
341: sure was
342: they already updated?
Indeed.
Well, I don't really feel better.
This is the small update, they'll update further tomorrow and the US's chances may go up again slightly. I'm kind of surprised that 538 has Portugal still having more than 5% chance of making up the 5 goal deficit against the US.
Germany could even more easily do to US what they did to Portugal. Hence the chance. Hopefully Portugal and Ghana will tie.
They only have Portugal winning 40% of the time against Ghana. So I think that means they think the odds of Germany beating the US by 4 or more is around 1/8.
348: Or Portugal beating Ghana by enough more -- just by they win/US lose you get down to +3. So it is 3 (since almost surely more total goals) or a margin of 3 & 2 etc.
I was not clear -- need 3 "extra" goal margin in total between the two games.
I just noticed that Em/ly Os/ter is a contributer at 538. She would not know who I am, but I have a long history of being two degrees removed from her and hearing lots of stories about her, and then she's recently moved into the public eye more with the freakonomics of pregnancy type peddling, and I've been...not impressed. It's shed a bit of light on the past 15 years of second hand stories.
There's been a couple of things over the years I could have a made a killing betting against, but the whole idea of betting makes me nervous.
The whole tournament has been great, but group G in particular. American soccer fans seem obsessed with growing the sport, so they should be happy.
Croatia-Mexico seems like it might be gettin' kinda ugly.
351: Spill! My cousin the famous mathematician linked positively to her book on pregnancy, but I don't know anything else about her.
354: any game with both Mario Mandzukic and Rafa Marquez in it was always going to tend that way.
355: Andrew Gelman thinks her dissertation is wrong.
Odds are looking pretty decent that the rest of the world will get more teams through to the knockout (6) than either Europe (5) or South America (5).
Not that I'm any big fan of Italy, but what was that bullshit red card?
362: Studs up, into the opponent's shin. That's a totally reasonable red card.
The Italian guys who make me lunch had the game on. I asked them why they didn't take the day off and they said the team wasn't good enough for that.
363: huh, I totally missed that. Off to find a replay!
I can't decide who to root against in this game. I wish they could both lose.
WTF?!
Holy shit did he just bite someone again?
So running your spikes down somebody's leg, that's not one of those rules you can break and still be morally sound?
If he were a toddler he wouldn't be allowed in a daycare.
370: Exactly.
Suarez better be suspended for the rest of the tournament.
Shit. I was in a room full of Italians twenty minutes ago, but got bored and left. Now I want to know how they're reacting.
I did appreciate his rolling around on the ground. "OH GOD! I WAS FOULED RIGHT IN THE TEETH!"
I couldn't tell but he may have gotten hit in retaliation.
374: How many nationalities can you bore out of a room?
It does look like he got a knock in the head as the other guy went down. The bite itself is hilarious looking though: what exactly was he pretending to try to do?
So one of the Italian scrubs is going to punch Suarez here, right? He'd be a hero.
I feel like Suarez may have Pica.
That or he's a vampire.
Yeah, or there may be something deeply wrong with him.
It would rule if the outcome of this is Uruguay going through but without Suarez.
In fairness, though, there's no way Suarez was going to let himself get overshadowed by Balotelli's Ong Bak style tackle.
On the other hand those teeth are made for biting. It'd almost be a shame to be given such teeth and not use them to bit people.
The thing about basketball flopping is that usually, even with a slo-mo replay, I'm willing to grant some benefit of the doubt to the flopper. I mean, it really doesn't take much of a hit to knock someone off-balance, so hey, maybe he really did get knocked over.
But the soccer floppers are so blatant. That shit would totally be a penalty in any well-run sport.
I'm legitimately surprised the ref didn't call anything. I can't tell for certain, but this looks a lot like a bite.
