World Cup 2010

[On The Edge of Insanity]

the smaller skillfull ball players and even those who are simply up to 11 months less developed than their peers have no platform on which to thrive as the big lad who was born a week into the school year will be gaining all the praise for his 'passion' & 'commitment' from a sideline full of tattoed chavs who chain smoke & stink of the cheap drink they got twatted on the night before.

This is an interesting point and one that I think needs to be addressed, perhaps by clubs taking players at an earlier age and removing some of the competitiveness that leads to coaches picking players simply for their size rather than their ability.

Along with Spain, many would consider Argentina the home of small, skilful footballers, but even there this same problem exists. I was reading an interview with the head of Velez Sarsfield's youth development in which he stated that even at under 11 level, coaches were doing everything possible to win, from picking the biggest kids who could kick the ball furthest to smash in free-kicks from the half-way line (Argentine youth sides tend to play on smaller pitches) or pressing high up the pitch against teams with a weaker goalkeeper, thus making it very difficult for their opponents to get out of defence. As he rightly pointed out, the bigger kids are the ones who will likely end up centre-halfs or centre-forwards further down the line, so it does them, and the smaller creative players who will in the future likely be in charge of set-plays, no good to have them taking free-kicks and corners in the youth sides simply because they can kick the ball further.

If this problem exists in Argentina, then I can only imagine how much this is amplified in England, a football culture that has always favoured energy and endeavour over technical ability.

[nakamura]

Best match of the tournament for me. So much excitement, almost an exhibition.

[MisterBubbles]

So Paul gets it right again , anything he can't do?

[prinnysquad]

Not a bad game, this Germany-Uruguay effort. Decent finishes and some nice, open moves. Saurez, what a diving little weasel! Gunnell very unlucky not to grab the Golden Boot lead there. Octopus correct again.

Damn that octopus. Tomorrow's game will probably be cocking awful. A real tippy tappy grindfest, with liberal bouts of diving from the Spanish. And they'll win, the boring bastards.

[teenagewasteland]

Long live the octupus lol.
Hopefully the final will be half as good as that.

[Skull Commander]

Saurez is a cheating wee ****e. He should be buggered in the locker room by the entire German team as Rammstein's "Du Hast" plays in the background as way of punishment.

[saturn-gamer]

Nothing at stake in such a useless match. In 1998, I didn't even watch this. Third place matches tend to be quite open in general, so nothing surprising.

Spain, they did play the best football of this cup in the semis, flair of total football... but shy of goals. I hope history repeats, and the best playing team stays empty handed yet again. Even so, a final is far beyond our expectations. Party ensured.

[Kongster]

Johan Cruyff is rooting for Spain haha.

[fallenangle]

I rather enjoyed the second half of the game tonight. Meaningless as it might be it was more entertaining than either semi-final. End to end football and good skills on show. The Forlan goal was particularly decent and he hit the bar with the very last kick of the game.

[Paulos G]

Nothing at stake in such a useless match.

Doesn't the team which comes third automatically qualify for the next World Cup?

[nakamura]

Doesn't the team which comes third automatically qualify for the next World Cup?

No. Not even the champions get auto qualification. Only the hosts.

[Paulos G]

Hmm. Maybe I'm thinking of the rugby.

[Jebus]

For the first time ever, I am thinking "What is the point in the 3rd place play off?". The football season is crowded enough...one more fixture? Hmm...

So Paul gets it right again , anything he can't do?

He can't have sex with a human female.

Or have freedom!

[saturn-gamer]

Johan Cruyff is rooting for Spain haha.

He's rooting for the best football to win it all. He didn't say it, but he doesn't want us to be world champions as our current style bores him to tears. That his house and life is in Spain probably plays a part too.

His way of thinking shows he's not a true winner though. Thats also why Van Basten failed so bad, because of Cruyffs influence he didn't select dirty players like Van Bommel. Who I think is the best player of this tournament.

[abigsmurf]

He can't have sex with a human female.

My extensive collection of hentai begs to differ!