World Cup 2010 (that's interesting)

Skipper · 2010-07-03T13:24:50.000Z

Wow, Robsam. Great predictions.

MrCoffee · 2010-07-03T13:24:57.000Z

Are you saying we have bad hair?

Lurb · 2010-07-03T13:25:56.000Z

Juan Rayo:

way to call it Robsam!

I bet he has a DeLorean parked behind some bushes

sinfony · 2010-07-03T13:26:17.000Z

Tim Partlett:

That’s a highly abridged definition. Where are you getting it from?

Ha ha.

Anyway, great game, despite the referee making a complete hash of it.

Skipper · 2010-07-03T13:28:40.000Z

Lurb:

I bet he has a DeLorean parked behind some bushes

Maybe we can have Stusser give him the title of “1.21 Gigawatts.”

delirium · 2010-07-03T13:30:19.000Z

Good game, good result. No disrespect to Paraguay, but I didn’t want to see a turtling team like that play Germany in the semis. I’m happy that they made a good game out of this one, though.

sinfony · 2010-07-03T13:31:45.000Z

Also, while we’re all deciding how the rules of soccer should be changed, players who approach other players who are lying on the ground injured and try to pull them up should be shown a red card and probably shot.

JM1 · 2010-07-03T13:32:29.000Z

Spain’ll take huge confidence from that result. They played poorly, they were nervous, they missed that retaken penalty and the Old Spain would’ve choked at that point. Doubt they’ll be that poor against Germany.

newbrof · 2010-07-03T13:40:14.000Z

robsam:

Nice, managed to hit both posts, well done.

Achievment unlocked!

robsam · 2010-07-03T13:54:33.000Z

sluggo:

Someone deserves some props here.

Haha, thanks. The one I felt strongest about was Germany over Argentina, the second half went how I thought the entire game would go, Argentina actually had me worried in the first half.

Hanacker · 2010-07-03T14:08:57.000Z

So Spain gets by thanks to some awful cheating by Pique. Typical European cheaters.

JM1 · 2010-07-03T14:26:10.000Z

There was no cost to what he did!

Juan_Rayo · 2010-07-03T14:27:04.000Z

Interesting article on the “reinvention” of Germany’s futbol.
Here.

Edit: something I’ve been meaning to ask. How does a dude like Klose score only 3 goals in a full season for his team, and then go on to score 4 (so far) in the world cup? and it doesn’t seem to be luck either, he has shown to be able to finish with great form. Anyone?

JM1 · 2010-07-03T14:39:31.000Z

He’s the main man for Germany, but Bayern always have a big money star or two.

robsam · 2010-07-03T14:42:01.000Z

I blame Suarez.

Eric_T_Cheng · 2010-07-03T14:42:06.000Z

robsam:

Haha, thanks. The one I felt strongest about was Germany over Argentina, the second half went how I thought the entire game would go, Argentina actually had me worried in the first half.

I hope you put some money down in a pool.

Nawid_A · 2010-07-03T14:51:36.000Z

Does anyone think Uruguay has a chance? I don’t think they deserve to be where they are and I don’t think they even have a chance to be the third place team.

robsam · 2010-07-03T14:51:55.000Z

Eric,unfortunately I didn’t. It’s funny, I really felt good about all of those predictions, especially Germany, but the semis are much tougher. I can see both matches going either way. I don’t think Germany can run roughshod over that Spanish midfield, and the Netherlands could be off and lose to Uruguay, even without the most hated man in Tim’s (and apparently Nawid’s) world, Suarez, on the bench. Much tougher to call.

bandidoquest · 2010-07-03T15:00:39.000Z

Nawid A:

Does anyone think Uruguay has a chance? I don’t think they deserve to be where they are and I don’t think they even have a chance to be the third place team.

They do have chances. Uruguay is a much more victorious team than Spain or Holland and even though they’re not favorites I don’t think they can be dismissed yet.

Gorath · 2010-07-03T15:22:08.000Z

Juan Rayo:

Edit: something I’ve been meaning to ask. How does a dude like Klose score only 3 goals in a full season for his team, and then go on to score 4 (so far) in the world cup? and it doesn’t seem to be luck either, he has shown to be able to finish with great form. Anyone?

Make no mistake, Klose is a shark, not a fish. ;)

Klose plays in the Bundesliga for ca. 10 years now, and 8 to 9 of them he was both a (often very) dangerous goalgetter and a hard worker for his team. He is well known for being a selfless player with a great fighting spirit, so even if he doesn’t make a goal he at least keeps 1-2 defenders busy, creates space for his teammates and disturbs the opponent’s offensive build-up.
This year a lot of stuff went wrong for him.

Bayern got a new coach (van Gaal) …
… who plays a different system …
… which is not fully compatible to Klose.
Bayern hired new attackers, which meant more competition …
… but Klose is somebody who excels when the coach is 100% behind him. (Same for Podolski.) Before the tournament Löw said about both something like “I don’t understand the doubts about K. & P. . Both have proven time and again how valuable they are for our team. I trust them 100%. Both are seeded in our offense.” Knowing they’re still in after a bad game has worked wonders.
Klose missed part of the preparation for the last season, plus he was injured a couple of times. 100% fitness is a must if you want to get playtime in one of the world’s 5 best club teams. Even more so as a central attacker who always has at least one defender nearby. See his goal against England.
The other attackers used their chance and the team was successful. Van Gaal had no reason to change something.
Now both Klose and Podolski are fit.
The German team has been together for 7 weeks and counting. That’s a lot of time for learning how every teammate is playing, what can be done and what can’t.