World Cup 2010

[ShadowDancer]

Nothing like a bit of history to heat it up. Is Voller around....lol.

That was pretty disgraceful...and Frankie. (Dutch/Germany)

I can't wait for that game. (Germany/argies)

[Jebus]

How was the handball rewarded? Suarez is a vital player to them, he was sent off and misses the next match. Ghana's missed penalty wasn't saved by Suarez, it was missed.

The rules are the rules, they shouldn't be changed just because ITV want to make a big deal about Ghana being the only African team left in the tournament. The player they should be bollocking is the one that took that first (shootout) missed pen...that was shocking, the worst penalty I've ever seen.

Maybe England vs Germany the Mexico vs Argentina matches should be replayed because of the over the line/offside incorrect decisions? Where do you draw the line?

I doubt my opinion will be popular, but there it is.

[gamelife]

Suarez being out of the semi will defo help Holland but i think they a missing a few players too, i think De Jong is out of the squad?

I though yellow cards were wiped at this stage??

[ezee ryder]

How was the handball rewarded? Suarez is a vital player to them, he was sent off and misses the next match. Ghana's missed penalty wasn't saved by Suarez, it was missed.

The rules are the rules, they shouldn't be changed just because ITV want to make a big deal about Ghana being the only African team left in the tournament. The player they should be bollocking is the one that took that first (shootout) missed pen...that was shocking, the worst penalty I've ever seen.

Maybe England vs Germany the Mexico vs Argentina matches should be replayed because of the over the line/offside incorrect decisions? Where do you draw the line?

I doubt my opinion will be popular, but there it is.

Totally agree with you mate.

Rewarded is the last word I would use to describe the Suarez sending off.

[saturn-gamer]

Rewarded because Uruguay would be sent home for very damn sure. That ball had beaten the goalie and could only be stopped by a handball which is considered cheating.

A Penalty is pretty much a lottery on the other hand. And Suarez knew that.

Now they advanced a round, despite losing Suarez.

[abigsmurf]

Ultimately it's impossible to award a goal for that kind of situation.

At any time other than at the end of a match, a Red card and a penalty would seem fair.

As far as I'm aware there are no FIFA laws that state a goal can be awarded when the goal hasn't crossed the line (although a pitch invasion type situation stopping a goal could possibly be one occasion).

Would a goal award be fair for someone on the line with the hands up in front? Who's to say that if a guy hadn't used his hand he might have been able to head it? That someone else could've got to it had he not been there? Too many uncertainties to award a certain goal.

The penalty is to even out the goal chance, the red card is to discourage the act.

[EJG1980]

I guess it is too much of a grey area to change the rules, but it's a situation that's heavily weighted in favour of the team breaking the rules when done at the end of a match.

Uruguay swapped a certain goal and elimination for a 50/50 massive pressure penalty and a chance to stay in. Sure, they lose a player for the next match, but that's nothing compared to not being in the tournament at all, in that situation it's a no-brainer to cheat.

And I'm not an ITV Africa cheerleader, so I'd be saying the same whatever team had been on the end of it

[Kongster]

Don't you just love ITV theme song?

[saturn-gamer]

It is a grey area, but I try to place myself into Ghana. It must be horrible to lose like this.

Look at Suarez celebrating Gyan's miss during his walk to the catacomb, despite knowing he won't be appearing again. Surely hes being punished.

[nakamura]

How was the handball rewarded? Suarez is a vital player to them, he was sent off and misses the next match. Ghana's missed penalty wasn't saved by Suarez, it was missed.

The rules are the rules, they shouldn't be changed just because ITV want to make a big deal about Ghana being the only African team left in the tournament. The player they should be bollocking is the one that took that first (shootout) missed pen...that was shocking, the worst penalty I've ever seen.

Maybe England vs Germany the Mexico vs Argentina matches should be replayed because of the over the line/offside incorrect decisions? Where do you draw the line?

I doubt my opinion will be popular, but there it is.

I 100% agree with that. Yeah it was very naughty by Suarez but he didn't get away with it and Gyan took a terrible penalty. If it happened in the first minute it people wouldn't be calling it cheating.

[abigsmurf]

Would say a Penalty award is closer to 70%+ than 50/50. Just look at penalty Shootouts score rates. Those have a keeper who has 'warmed up', you're forced to use people other than the best takers and you can't do a followup kick. Even then you expect teams to score more than they miss.

[saturn-gamer]

Suarez being out of the semi will defo help Holland but i think they a missing a few players too, i think De Jong is out of the squad?

I though yellow cards were wiped at this stage??

They would be if you didn't receive a following yellow within the QF's. De Jong would be wiped clean if he didn't take one today and leave it at just the one booking from earlier on in this tourney. Missing De Jong is kind of bad, but they likely miss their natural leader Lugano, and their starlet Suarez. As well as that other dude.

We can miss our back Van der Wiel, he is defensively weak despite being good on offense. I reckon Boulahrouz will play, which means more focus on defense on that wing. On the plus side, our main CB Mathijsen will likely be back into the squad.

For De Jong, we can replace him with De Zeeuw. Same kind of player, but less dirty regarding tackles and quite an annoying smart bugger on the field (a lot like Van Bommel).

[dataDave]

I'm pricing up a flight and 1-night hotel in 'Dam as we speak. Wish I was there today.

[On The Edge of Insanity]

So glad Uruguay won last night - to shut up the obscenely biased ITV commentators/pundits if nothing else.

Yesterday's results have really opened things up. On paper you would expect an Argentina - Spain semi-final from today's games, but it wouldn't be out of the question to see one of Germany and Paraguay go through instead. Looking forward to more drama now we're getting down to the business end of the competition.

[On The Edge of Insanity]

On another note, it will be interesting to see what Tabarez does with Suarez now suspended for the semi-final. Will he stick with 4-3-3, with Abreu coming into the team as the reference point up front and Forlan cutting in from wide, or bring in Lodeiro to play off a front two of Forlan and Cavani? With the Dutch looking susceptible to pace I think the latter option would be most effective, but it places a lot of responsibility on Lodeiro's young shoulders.