:::[Official]World Cup South Africa 2010 Thread:::

[keepie uppie]

halftime...

i don't think Slovakia threatened to score even once...

 

[persiafly]

This game and Paraguay/Japan seem to be flying way under the radar, understandably. To think this game could've been Holland/Italy.

 

[keepie uppie]

Robben almost scored another one if not for the keeper...

 

[TheGift23]

Saved it with his face

 

[ValarMorghulis]

Players that i have a new found respect for:
Luis Saurez
Diego Forlan
Wes Sniejder ( hes about the only one whose crosses, corners, through balls are on point 80% of the time)

 

[kidoopz]

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by kidoopz

Originally Posted by Keepie Uppie

first match,first goal...

Messi,you watching this?

lol.. Doesn't matter according to some he doesn't need to score.  Even though he's taken the most shots so far lol.

Don't want to start the debate again, but I don't think there are any hard and fast rules either way.

You could score 5 goals and not be the best player at the WC, or you could score 0 goals and be the best player. People need to pay attention to his game and not just rely on the stat sheet to determine whether or not he's playing well. If Nigeria's keeper hadn't made that ridiculous save, would Messi be having a better tournament right now? Maybe by some measures, but if he's playing a part in most of their goals and unleashing all sorts of shots on target, it's tough to criticize him for not scoring IMO.

I pay attention to everything.  I also pay attention when people make biased comments and state as if Messi has been playing heads and heels above everyone else when that is false.  I watch every aspect of football and notice the integral things such as spacing, passing, defense, drawing defenders and so on.  But, when I see people saying *Higuain scored a hat trick b/c of Messi, or Tevez is pouring in goals b/c Messi is drawing defenders* I mean like really.  It's annoying.  I mean he did play a part, but where is the credit giving to these world class strikers.  If Messi were to get a hat trick, I bet we'd hear 0 about Higuain, but more saying Messi is that dumb G nickname.  Truth

 

[banginbundchen]

Wish I had more money. I would've loved to see us possibly play Brasil!

HUP HOLLAND!

 

[carlos tevez]

Originally Posted by kidoopz

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by kidoopz

Originally Posted by Keepie Uppie

first match,first goal...

Messi,you watching this?

lol.. Doesn't matter according to some he doesn't need to score.  Even though he's taken the most shots so far lol.

Don't want to start the debate again, but I don't think there are any hard and fast rules either way.

You could score 5 goals and not be the best player at the WC, or you could score 0 goals and be the best player. People need to pay attention to his game and not just rely on the stat sheet to determine whether or not he's playing well. If Nigeria's keeper hadn't made that ridiculous save, would Messi be having a better tournament right now? Maybe by some measures, but if he's playing a part in most of their goals and unleashing all sorts of shots on target, it's tough to criticize him for not scoring IMO.

I pay attention to everything.  I also pay attention when people make biased comments and state as if Messi has been playing heads and heels above everyone else when that is false.  I watch every aspect of football and notice the integral things such as spacing, passing, defense, drawing defenders and so on.  But, when I see people saying *Higuain scored a hat trick b/c of Messi, or Tevez is pouring in goals b/c Messi is drawing defenders* I mean like really.  It's annoying.  I mean he did play a part, but where is the credit giving to these world class strikers.  If Messi were to get a hat trick, I bet we'd hear 0 about Higuain, but more saying Messi is that dumb G nickname.  Truth

Who do you think have been the standout attackers in this tournament so far? For me it's been Messi, Forlan, Villa and probably Ozil too. These guys have all been very instrumental in their teams' success so far and I dont think Argentina, Uruguay, Spain and Germany would be performing as well without those players.

Messi is not 'dominating' and he obviously hasn't scored goals but he's done almost everything well. He has made life so much easier for players like Higuain (who is a great striker but he scored the easiest hattrick in history against South Korea

). No one is taking anything away from Messi's supporting cast, it's just that he has been the standout attacker for Argentina so far.

And you are right, if Messi scored a hattrick we wouldnt hear anything about Higuain because they are two totally different players. Messi is a play-maker who can score plenty of goals. Higuain is a flat out goalscorer. He has no other responsibility on the pitch other than to bury any chance that comes his way. So far he's done just that

Anyways, I think its fans of the game who are making too big of a deal of Messi's performances so far. I understand some people are upset about Messi being pre-maturely labeled as an all time great but to be fair to Messi, it's his supporters who are making these claims. You think Messi cares about being scoreless so far? His team is 3-wins away from winning the World Cup. He'll take a World Cup trophy over the World Cup Golden Boot any day of the week. History ultimately remembers winners.

 

[carlos tevez]

This Chilean team is very hot headed. I wouldnt be surprised if they started acting goonish if things dont go their way.

I'll be supporting them today though...we havent seen a 2nd round upset yet.

I'm also terrified of Brazil

 

[elpablo21]

Chile with the upset

 

[breakyaneck3000]

time for an upset!

 

[persiafly]

Originally Posted by kidoopz

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by kidoopz

Originally Posted by Keepie Uppie

first match,first goal...

Messi,you watching this?

lol.. Doesn't matter according to some he doesn't need to score.  Even though he's taken the most shots so far lol.

Don't want to start the debate again, but I don't think there are any hard and fast rules either way.

You could score 5 goals and not be the best player at the WC, or you could score 0 goals and be the best player. People need to pay attention to his game and not just rely on the stat sheet to determine whether or not he's playing well. If Nigeria's keeper hadn't made that ridiculous save, would Messi be having a better tournament right now? Maybe by some measures, but if he's playing a part in most of their goals and unleashing all sorts of shots on target, it's tough to criticize him for not scoring IMO.

I pay attention to everything.  I also pay attention when people make biased comments and state as if Messi has been playing heads and heels above everyone else when that is false.  I watch every aspect of football and notice the integral things such as spacing, passing, defense, drawing defenders and so on.  But, when I see people saying *Higuain scored a hat trick b/c of Messi, or Tevez is pouring in goals b/c Messi is drawing defenders* I mean like really.  It's annoying.  I mean he did play a part, but where is the credit giving to these world class strikers.  If Messi were to get a hat trick, I bet we'd hear 0 about Higuain, but more saying Messi is that dumb G nickname.  Truth

Just to be clear, I wasn't referring to you in particular in saying people need to do more than read stats, you seem like a knowledgeable dude. Just meant in general, I sometimes get the impression that the reliance in stats is carried over to soccer by some fans of other games, when it's really not nearly as applicable. You can measure a basketball player's performance by his stats, same with baseball and football, but you really can't with soccer. How do you measure a player like Xavi's performance with stats?

And I agree somewhat that other players wouldn't receive this sort of praise without scoring goals, but how do you explain Xavi getting player of the tournament at Euro 2008 despite scoring only one goal? I think that was a very similar situation to this one. A world-class midfielder getting recognition for his role in creating goals rather than directly contributing goals. The fact that the award in Euro 2008 didn't go to David Villa although he won the Golden Boot, or Torres, although he was on the all-tournament team, shows that offensive players can and have been recognized despite not scoring many goals.

 

[Sinner]

Robinho REALLY needs to stop doing those little flicks...

What a great build-up to that goal. So smooth.

 

[TheGift23]

Jesus too easy. Perfect timing on the play.

 

[persiafly]

Sick header by Juan, but the corner by Maicon was excellent. He hit it almost like a free kick attempt at goal, it had huge arc on it and spun back towards the Brazilians waiting to head it.

 

[dgk3188]

lol condorito!

 

[TheGift23]

Damn it Robinho....Kaka was streaking into the area...PASS IT!

 

[marionthebarberian]

is lucio the most annoying player?

 

[kidoopz]

Cool no offense taken PersiaFly... Yeah you can't really look at stats and say okay this guy had the most tackles so he must of been the best defender.  Probably was out of position on the wing and was getting beat time to time and had to make some tackles, while another man marked and frustrated his man/area and won 50/50 balls and so on.  Gotta take everything into account.  As far as Attacking goes Carlos, I think Sneijder, Forlan, Messi, Villa, And I'm a put Schweinsteiger before Ozil (Although Ozil has been very good as well) b/c he has simply controlled that midfield.  From containing midfield attacks to battling off defenders and also setting up attacks for Ozil and whoever is up front, i've been really impressed by Schweinsteiger's play this tournament thus far in every game.

And yeah you can bet Messi doesn't mind that he's not scoring and his team is winning.  But, you can really tell recently that he's trying to end his scoreless streak lol.. Gotten a wee bit selfish and hopefully he doesn't try to do too much against a Germany team who were brilliant in their counter attack vs England.   
Yeah and the Euro's 2008 that Spain team was just ridiculously good.  The passing was almost video gamish.  I still

@ the celebration they pulled while Bastian was interviewing lol..

 

[TheGift23]

Que golazo, Robinho.

 

[maddenfan04]

Netherlands vs. Brazil
Argentina vs. Germany

Too sick

 

[persiafly]

That 40 yard bomb from Dani Alves.

Missed the top corner by about a yard and would've been goal of the tournament IMO.

 

[jd214]

This was to easy for Brazil.

 

[kidoopz]

Man if dani Alves hit that...
I just noticed Kleberson is on the team lol.. why?

 

[persiafly]

I guess the tournament is put on notice now.

This Chile squad played its %!$ off and didn't have any major defensive gaffes (although Juan was a bit loose in the box on the header). Brazil still ripped them apart with precision and seeming ease.

Holland is in for a treat.