World Cup 2010

[ezee ryder]

Yay, Japan go out. 120 minutes and a clean sheet for the Paraguay keeper, nice chunk of fantasy football points for me.

[Supergoal]

What an anti climax world cup though. So far definitely the worst tournament in my lifetime. Still can't believe most of the stadia aren't full, let alone the constant vuvuzela nastiness. The best thing about the England Germany games was there was barely a horn in sight. I loved hearing chants and songs from the fans. Especially the ones aimed towards the ref!

[GarageNation]

why does everyone hate the horns so much , it's part of the world cup atmosphere. you pretty much only hear them every 4 years

[Supergoal]

why does everyone hate the horns so much , it's part of the world cup atmosphere. you pretty much only hear them every 4 years

Don't know about everyone else, but I love the banter the fans come out with in the stands. Just that the horn drowns out these witty and sometimes abusive chants.

[saturn-gamer]

Japan can look back on a good tourney I think, just penalties shy of the final 8.

Their preparation stage was awful, and Okada was still puzzling right before the start of this tourney. A lot of people out there thought they wouldn't survive the group, but Japan claimed 6 points and won outside of Asian soil which is a record for them iirc.

[nakamura]

Japan can look back on a good tourney I think, just penalties shy of the final 8.

Their preparation stage was awful, and Okada was still puzzling right before the start of this tourney. A lot of people out there thought they wouldn't survive the group, but Japan claimed 6 points and won outside of Asian soil which is a record for them iirc.

Indeed. I feared the worst going into the tournament. Okada was all over the place and very nearly lost the dressing room. Did well in the end and we saw some real quality at time, unlike England!

[MisterBubbles]

Well for all the nice touches and possession between Spain and Portugal, you gotta say it's a slow as a week in jail.

[abigsmurf]

Looking very unlikely this world cup will give us any classics

[Anpanman]

Just wish Japan had gone out and went for the win in the style that they played against the Danes, thought they would have won it.

Said to the wife re the penalty miss that the guy didn't look up for it and sure enough he smacked the crossbar.

Still they've played overall much better than some teams.

[NemesiS]

How much possession have Spain had!!!! Portugal can't get the ball and when they do they waste it. Ronaldo is a peripheral figure here.

That red card is SHOCKING. He should be banned from the rest of the world cup for acting

[Anpanman]

Spain have been good for the money in the second half, enjoyed watching them.

The card looked flakey at first but the distant replay may have shown an elbow. Does look harsh though.

Ronnie's been well out of it, Portugal have been poor overall, particularly at thee sides, unable to get a quality ball in.

[abigsmurf]

What an utterly dull game with a disgraceful finish.

Curse of the Nike advert strikes. Ronaldo did nothing that game

[NemesiS]

I'm not flaming Torres as i think he's a great striker and i know he's been injured but, you put him alongside David Villa who is moved wide to accomodate him and he's like a rabbit caught in the headlights in comparison. I can well understand why he hardly ever gets the nod for Spain over Villa.

Villa terrorised the Portuguese down the flank and it's just a pity Del Bosque tried to accomodate both as Villa would be better on his own up front. If Torres who can't hold a candle to Villa is worth ?80m then Barcelona have got the bargain of the century at ?35m for him.

Boring game again tho tbh. Iniesta and Xavi looked good for them in midfield and i think their game against Brazil should be decent if they both go for it.

That red card was extremely harsh. When i saw the full replay you could see his arm raised but even so, what the spanish player did was disgraceful and i'd give him a 5 game ban.

[SharkSkin-Man]

I'm not flaming Torres as i think he's a great striker and i know he's been injured but, you put him alongside David Villa who is moved wide to accomodate him and he's like a rabbit caught in the headlights in comparison. I can well understand why he hardly ever gets the nod for Spain over Villa.

Even if he was fit, there is always the same two issues for Torres with Spain IMO.

1. He really doesn't fit in with the whole tiki-taka thing, you need to have someone behind him always looking for the early forward pass (a-la Gerrard) to get the best out of him.

2. He can only really play as a lone-striker. Doesn't ever look too hot with Villa, doesn't look good with anyone right up with him at Liverpool and I don't remember him looking to clever the few times he played down the middle with Kun Aguero at Atletico.

Up front on his own with someone looking for early, direct passes like Fabregas behind him he'd look a different player...but unfortunately for him David Villa is just too good to drop.

[saturn-gamer]

Yup, Torres can't cope with the fast passing game of Spain. This was already evident during Euro 2008.

But the diving of these latin teams is crazy. Spain are notorious for it, but yesterday even CB's like Lucio dived as if their life depended on it.