World Cup South Africa 2010!

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 10:43 am

To many big egos not enough team work.

Post by **spot** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 10:53 am

Whoever takes over as manager has to swear on his sainted mother to select the best teenagers in the country and train them as a team every now and then, and never to look at anyone who went to South Africa for as long as he's got the job.

To think, they could all have had knighthoods if they'd just got their act together.

Dixie · Post by **Dixie** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 11:08 am

You have to hand it to the German team, when they "click" they do it well. Granted the English gave them enough room, but still they work together like a well oiled, German precision machine.

Also, because they are so young, they are just fearless...I really enjoyed this encounter.

Snowfire · Post by **Snowfire** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 12:06 pm

CARLA;1319403 wrote: To many big egos not enough team work.

Thats absolutely right. They will all go on holiday now and return to their clubs before the beginning of the season in August. By then this will have been a distant memory for those players and they will return to earning Â£100,000 a week or more. THAT is what seems to be their priority. Me and Abbey will spend our hard earned on season tickets if our pockets allow and subsidise the lifestyle of those egos

What annoys me most is that Messi (Argentina) is touted, quite rightly, as the best player in the world. He is consistant for Barcelona and in this world cup he has been mesmerising, influential, inspiring, everything his reputation promised and everything Argentina demand. Rooney, one of the top 3 or 4 players in the world has been none of them. Dull, uninspiring and arrogant. Once again the fans have been left empty handed, not of a trophy necessarily but of the grit and determination that we deserve

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 12:52 pm

Messi is something else outstanding individual play but also a great team player as well that is what is necessary to be great and he has it, he never gives up and he makes thing happen that lead to GOALS.... :-6

K.Snyder · Post by **K.Snyder** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 7:03 pm

I would have enjoyed seeing USA beat Ghana but sadly this didn't come true. I'm happy with USA's performances throughout the World Cup with the exception of a very conservative and timid first half vs Ghana. They had shown quite alot of character coming back to draw vs Slovenia and that game will be what I remember most about World Cup South Africa 2010!

The England game vs Germany I think appeared far more disastrous on the score sheet but I suppose I could be wrong after only seeing highlights. Quite honestly getting the 2-2 scoreline England deserved wouldn't have seen them push forward frantically which allowed for the defense to be exploited. The English are very critical of their national team from my observations so I suppose there's not much use in furthering this particular discussion.

I will be watching the rest of the World Cup with complete respect for the game without promising I might start pulling for a particular team I'd like to see win it.

littleCJelkton · Post by **littleCJelkton** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 12:04 am

I read an artilce that a octopus names larry in Austrailia picks the winner of the world cup out by picking the ball of a certain countries team and the past like 12-15 years he has been right.

Post by **spot** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 3:32 am

littleCJelkton;1319509 wrote: I read an artilce that a octopus names larry in Austrailia picks the winner of the world cup out by picking the ball of a certain countries team and the past like 12-15 years he has been right.

I'd be surprised if Australians were such credulous pagans.

Though if it were Germans I'd believe it like a shot.

Post by **spot** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:44 am

I do like this...Not only do the English never learn. They appear to thrive on the masochism of outlandish hope followed by tragic defeat, he argues.

"I think people enjoy the ritual. Every four years it happens and takes you back to previous tournaments. It's a communal moment, people sharing the pain with each other at the bus stop. It's that thing about big World Cup games that end in tragedy - usually on penalties, ideally to Germany."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8768122.stm

Dixie · Post by **Dixie** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 11:17 am

At the risk of making myself very unpopular.... I wonder about the Premier League.

I read in our newspapers that a number of our players are in the process of negotiating contracts for the PL.

While England hires players to play in English clubs, the English players are not developed.

In a country so far from England, we just do not seem to see our above average players again. Granted our soccer administration is not what it should be, so I cannot blame the players for going, also they earn pounds which is very roughly 1:10 to our currency.

Worst still the players become such "Prima Donna's" that they have difficulty "meshing" with the other local players. We could not use our best player in the WC because of discipline problems.

It is just that I feel that the Premier League sometimes ruins players for their own country and yes I agree it should depend on the player himself.

*ducking under the table*

Snowfire · Post by **Snowfire** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 12:45 pm

Dixie;1319620 wrote: At the risk of making myself very unpopular.... I wonder about the Premier League.

I read in our newspapers that a number of our players are in the process of negotiating contracts for the PL.

While England hires players to play in English clubs, the English players are not developed.

In a country so far from England, we just do not seem to see our above average players again. Granted our soccer administration is not what it should be, so I cannot blame the players for going, also they earn pounds which is very roughly 1:10 to our currency.

Worst still the players become such "Prima Donna's" that they have difficulty "meshing" with the other local players. We could not use our best player in the WC because of discipline problems.

It is just that I feel that the Premier League sometimes ruins players for their own country and yes I agree it should depend on the player himself.

*ducking under the table*

Its not controversial. We are asking the same questions. While it is universally agreed that the Prem League is certainly the most exciting, is it the best ? Maybe not in terms of technical skill but we do still have some of the best players . There are many questions to ask but they all have differing answers.

Too much money ? Sure but thats not exclusively a PL problem

Lack of home grown talent ? Yes without a doubt. It seems to be cheaper to find a decent player from the far flung corners of the globe, something that needs to be adressed

Should we have a winter break ? Probably, we are the only major league that doesnt

Ego problems with such high wages ? Sure but again not confined to the PL and I think that is more than likely to be the very young players. They find there wallets full and young girls are readily available and when mixed with the alcohol and the bright lights of the clubs, many lose their way. There is more money in the Spanish League and its thrown about like water. If wages and transfer fees are to be capped it has to be Europe, if not world wide.

I dont know the answers. I could think of a hundred reasons why England fail so consistantly at these tournaments. I suspect its a measure of all of them. I would add though that the FA have a huge burden of guilt to play in our down falls. They are and never have been a progressive insitution, prefering to appoint many "yes" men as coaches/managers. They dont like people to ruffle too many feathers and prefer the Staus Quo for as long as they can get away from it. Years ago we had a manager called Brian Clough. A wonderful football brain who took an unfashionable club - Nottingham Forest - to two consecutive European Cup wins. Everybody wanted him to manage England and we were all sure he would be successful but every year he was overlooked. He was opinionated, he spoke up, he ruffled feathers, he had a big mouth, he was arrogant, everything we loved because it came with success. The FA were terrified of him and their lack of backbone held us back

South African players coming to play here is nothing new. Lucas Radebe had a fine and distinguished career here and is much respected

Dixie · Post by **Dixie** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:38 pm

Snowfire - One of our players, Teko Modise, is perhaps a good example. An excellent player, well recognized in PSL, yet he fails to make Bafana Bafana a better team. When he was critised by the press and public, his retort was that if he shot a goal, we would have felt otherwise.

Thereafter I thought he put himself under pressure by trying to go for goals where he should have been more patient and work with Tsabalala and Pienaar. We played so much better in the France game when he was on the bench.

This is a player that contributes a lot in PSL but with Bafana Bafana he contributes little.

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 6:02 pm

Paul the Octopus, the renown oracle, has selected Spain to win Sunday's World Cup final against the Netherlands. I think Paul has it right..!!

flopstock · Post by **flopstock** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 10:40 am

CARLA;1321358 wrote: Paul the Octopus, the renown oracle, has selected Spain to win Sunday's World Cup final against the Netherlands. I think Paul has it right..!!

How long has this thing been going on?

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 12:09 pm

Since 2008 he has picked Germany wins over Urugary for third place.

Paul the Octopus or Paul Oktopus (hatched in 2008, German: Paul der Krake) is a common octopus living in a tank at a Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany. The octopus is used as an animal oracle in an attempt to predict the results of football matches, usually international matches in which Germany is playing.

During a divination, the octopus is presented with two boxes. Each contains food, and is marked with the flag of a national football team in an upcoming match, among which he is said to choose his predicted winner. The octopus is reported to have chosen the box with the flag of the winning team in several of Germany's six Euro 2008 matches, and in each of their first six matches in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. On July 9, when presented with a box with a Spanish flag attached to it and another with the Netherlands flag, he ate the mussel in the box with the Spanish flag. That act was interpreted as a prediction that Spain will win the World Cup final on July 11.[1] On the other hand, Mani the Parakeet has a Dutch win over Spain.[2]

Post by **LarsMac** » Sun Jul 11, 2010 8:41 pm

Well the Octopus was right again.

However a guy at the airport today said that the octopus always picked the box on the right.

I don't know if that is true, but it was for the three times I saw pictures of it.

Nonetheless, Spain Wins the Cup.

Dixie · Post by **Dixie** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 9:59 am

Today I am one very proud South African.

We have a unemployment rate of 25% (a very conservative figure), we are fighting an AIDS pandemic, we are totally overrun by millions of Zimbabweans and I can go on..

But, we hosted a world class event. We matched the technology regarding the media, the stadiums, the security, the transport actually virtually everything with that of the big first world countries.

We did all this and also showed the world what Ubuntu is all about. We hope all the visitors are now just as much in love with our beautiful country as we are.

Just had to blow our own vuvuzela:)

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 10:07 am

You should be proud it was a beautiful event and your country put on a first class show.

YZGI · Post by **YZGI** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:16 am

Jimbo trying to get at the world cup.

Post by **LarsMac** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:28 pm

CARLA;1321718 wrote: You should be proud it was a beautiful event and your country put on a first class show.

Absolutely. The people of South Africa should all be proud of the way they hosted the World Cup games.

K.Snyder · Post by **K.Snyder** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 1:23 am

CARLA;1321448 wrote: Since 2008 he has picked Germany wins over Urugary for third place.

Yes the Germans are funny,..They slag the hell out of the poor guy every time he's wrong!...

Congrats to Spain...Wonder if USA's rank will increase due to beating them in the Confederations Cup...:sneaky: