"If we upset the manager then so be it. If people need to get things off their chest they should do. If we feel that things need to be changed then everyone needs to voice their opinion. If that upsets him or any player then so what?"

Pretty much summarizes that FIFA have screwed this one in the bum pretty good.

Nah, I just think the unbreachable gap between Footballing powerhouses and the rest of the world is slowly being bridged.. really its been coming for a long time now, the globalisation of football has obviously made this so, BUT the likes of England, France & Spain etc along with their fans and media are stuck in the mindset of the past 100 years where they're meant to be unbeatable and shouldn't be troubled by anyone outside the traditional top 10..

Those days are way over, and the primadonnas of England & France along with their fans espescially need to realise this..

I've seen more red cards in the World Cup than I did in the last A-league season.

It goes to show that red cards are more influenced by soft players and officiating than hard tackles (which the A-league has a fair share of).

Further to that John Terry quote at the top of this thread, Capello has just re-asserted control:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/21/john-terry-england-squad

Chelsea's captain. Screws his mate's wife and then screws his coach. Should never have been there.

Brazil playing boring football? Did you even watch the match this morning, especially the second half.

Germany flattered to deceive they dominated Serbia after going down to 10 mean and would have won had it not been for Podolski missing a penalty.

People will say that it's all FIFA doing it to get as many African teams through as they can when only one has a really good chance of going through in Ghana. Eevery other African team has failed.

I am all for more read cards, as long as they are shown to the players who deserve them. That's not what's happening here.

If anything, this World Cup shows an alarming decline in the worldwide standard of refereeing. Surely that's another good reason to introduce video refs?

A European country has never won a World Cup outside of Europe. I think, England/Spain/France and Italy not performing to their best at this World Cup is no suprise.
A South American country will win this World Cup. Argentina have been fantastic, and Brazil this morning have just started to get into their stride. Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile are also raising some eyebrows, especially the latter two.

Chile have only beaten Honduras. Let's see how they go tonight in terms of eyebrow raising.

Paraguay on the other hand look very impressive and are definitely one of those teams that you don't want in the next round.

Spain didn't play badly in the first round just lacked that cutting edge I'd wait to see how they go tonight against Honduras before passing judgement.

Also all those people complain about the lack of goals in the first round well that lack of goals has contributed to most groups being wide open going into the last round of games leading to some very exciting match ups.

IMO I think Argentina will win it but Brazil really impressed last night the way they took Ivory Coast apart. I wouldn't count out Germany if they can get into the Round of 16 and get on a roll. They are a team built for the knockout stages.

Europe: 8 wins, 8 draws, 7 losses (13 teams)
South America: 7 wins, 2 draws, 0 losses (5 teams)
Asia: 2 wins, 1 draw, 4 losses (4 teams)
Africa: 1 win, 4 draws, 7 losses (6 teams)
CONCACAF: 1 win, 3 draws, 1 loss (3 teams)
Oceania: 0 win, 2 draws, 0 losses (NZ)

Of course European teams played each other in some groups. So much for Africa's WC...and Asia's doing rather well.

A European country has never won a World Cup outside of Europe. I think, England/Spain/France and Italy not performing to their best at this World Cup is no suprise.
A South American country will win this World Cup. Argentina have been fantastic, and Brazil this morning have just started to get into their stride. Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile are also raising some eyebrows, especially the latter two.

Meanwhile the French have imploded, the Germans flattered only to deceive, the Italians have dived in more ways than one, and even Holland and Brazil are just grinding out boring wins without showing much style. Let's not even mention Spain.

Meanwhile the French have imploded, the Germans flattered only to deceive, the Italians have dived in more ways than one, and even Holland and Brazil are just grinding out boring wins without showing much style. Let's not even mention Spain.

And then we have the refs, who are starting to make the A-league guys look good...

What's going on? The big European guns are failing to fire, if not shooting themselves in the foot. The Africans that were supposed to set this tournament on fire are instead playing boring, defensive football. Tha Jabulani seems to epitomise things, really.

World Cup image takes a dive
1Comments
22 Jun 2010 | 00:00


Fans around the world would be forgiven for feeling let down - even cheated - by the main events surrounding the 19th world championship of football.

Much ado about nothing: that just about sums up the FIFA World Cup at its midway stage.

South Africa 2010 has been a huge disappointment so far with most big guns struggling to fire in a tournament designed to portray the beautiful game at its sumptuous best.

And what about refereeing, which again is not up to scratch.

Too many shocking decisions by inexperienced referees have marred the tournament and those men in the middle who are abiding by the stringent guidelines set by FIFA have turned the competition into a farce.

There are so many yellow and red cards being dished out for innocuous infringements that FIFA has changed its rules for this tournament and decreed that cautions will be wiped out after the quarter-finals to reduce the risk of big-name players missing the final.

Referees are becoming like parking inspectors: the more tickets they issue the better they look with their bosses.

Despite its intentions FIFA is losing the war against simulation. Too many players are milking fouls and penalties by exaggerating body contact or falling over as if hit by a bus.

It is all too good to criticise referees but one should also remember that a major responsibility for the smooth running of a tournament lies with the players themselves.

If those misguided players who feel that gamesmanship and trying to get an opponent sent off are part of the game were to put in a bigger effort to play better and honest football the competition would be richer for it.

With the exception of some magnificent patches from Argentina and Brazil, the football generally displayed so far has been dismal, frustrating and downright sub-standard.

Euro 2008 was a 10 times more entertaining event from round one to the final.

The first World Cup in Africa, through no fault of the South African hosts, is leaving a lot to be desired.

And If things don’t improve dramatically, FIFA will find it hard to blow its own trumpet over its party in the Rainbow Nation ... although South African fans just won’t dump those bloody vuvuzelas.

The minuses have far outweighed the pluses.

So far no player, except for Argentine whiz kid Lionel Messi, has stood out like Zinedine Zidane did in 1998 or Ronaldo in 2002.

Most teams amazingly can’t string together more than half a dozen passes.

Finishing is generally poor so goals are at a premium, several coming from calamitous keeping or dubious penalties.

And let’s not even talk about the atrocious quality of free kicks and set-pieces in general.

But there is hope. The knockout phase usually brings the best out of most teams as they are forced to go for the jugular so the level of play should improve accordingly as we head towards the final in Johannesburg.

If not this World Cup will go down as one of the worst in living memory.