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Now, I understand football - Printable Version

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Now, I understand football - yvonne - 07-11-2010

[flash=200,200]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sD_8prYOxo[/flash]

;D

Re: Now, I understand football - Farm93 - 07-11-2010

I love the idea of the World Cup, but not always FIFA futbol itself.

Honestly, the final was boring.  I probably watched 20 of the matches, and the final was by far the worst.  Boring!

Sadly, the most important lesson was that everyone should fall if touched.  Holland could have easily had a PK in the second half if the Dutch striker knew how to act.  The Holland player\'s ability to stay up despite the grab and 360 leg swipe attempt was noble, but clearly not the way to win.  There was more than enough to take a dive and get a PK.

In the end both teams acted as much as possible in a sad attempt to get the person with the whistle to decide the game for them.  In the end Spain beat Holland in the whistle war and managed to get a Dutch player kicked off the pitch.

Even the biggest soccer fans have to know this was a bad showcase for the game.

Which is why the WC should be played by lawyers - Redrum - 07-11-2010

Sadly, the most important lesson was that everyone should fall if touched.  Holland could have easily had a PK in the second half if the Dutch striker knew how to act.  The Holland player\'s ability to stay up despite the grab and 360 leg swipe attempt was noble, but clearly not the way to win.  There was more than enough to take a dive and get a PK.

Which is also why this WC has been, in a way,  a panoply of disgrace.
We saw it again in every game of the Cup.  Ever notice how they writhe and roll at the end of the dive as if dismembered...only to be up and running when they don\'t get the call?  Often they bury their faces in the turf,  maybe to hide their smirking grins,  maybe  to hide their involuntary blushing.   Wait...I take that back.   By the time these guys play top level professional soccer,  they are incapable of blushing.  They have mastered the art of the dive,  something that in other sports can get you penalized, thrown out or even prosecuted.

I  thought the final was OK.  The Dutch played physical soccer which garnered them yellow cards galore.  It worked for a decent time but Spain stillseemed to play most of the game in the 3/4 of the pitch closest to the Dutch goal.  The final result seemed fair.  The problem is just what I quoted,  in which Farm 93 has fairly represented the common wisdom.  Those knowledgable about soccer think it would be better to dive.   Robben was not taken down or impaired enough to warrant a free kick without the dive.  He finished the play, just not successfully.  So the unwritten rules of pro soccer say he is a chump.  Acting is considered better than playing.   What a weird, sissyfied, legalistic aspect to an otherwise tough sport.

Re: Now, I understand football - Canalejas - 07-11-2010

Robben\'s moment of nobility was noteworthy precisely because he is usually the most theatrical of offenders.  That one moment aside, he was absolutely insufferable tonight, as he has been most tournament.

As for the game being boring, I couldn\'t disagree more.  These were not two teams just booting the ball down the field hoping to get a lucky bounce to fall in front of a striker.  These were teams that were showing a lot of ability in the midfield and on defense.  Add to that the Netherland\'s mistaken impression that they were there for some kickboxing and I\'d say this was a very entertaining match.

Now, Torres going down near the very end.  Yeah, that was disgraceful.  

Re: Now, I understand football - washingtonismoney - 07-11-2010

I don\'t know if Torres going down at the end was purposeful. For one, they didn\'t stop play. For two, if he gets at the end of that ball, maybe he gets off of the schneid and clinches the World Cup right there for Spain.

I\'m pretty mystified by the somewhat-widespread belief that somehow Spain were flopping relentlessly. From my vantage point, looked to me as if the Dutch were playing the thuggish, dirty game that van Bommel and de Jong have specialized in for quite a while now.

My comments NOT about particular player or team - Redrum - 07-11-2010

My complaint was about the sport and how all players at the elite  level buy into the fake foul/fake injury paradigm.   The term, taking a "dive", catches it perfectly.  

They all do it?   I rest my case.

The karate kick to the chest was pretty bad.  But for the most part the Dutch paid for their rough play,  ultimately playing a man down (red card) which, arguably,  made Spain\'s score possible.

Re: Now, I understand football - washingtonismoney - 07-11-2010

Yeah, I was just airing a general complaint--judging from my twitter feed, this was the reaction of many.

Re: Now, I understand football - Spiny_Norman - 07-11-2010

One of the announcers earlier in the tournament used a term to describe Uruguay that I especially liked - "pantomime villains."  That could apply to just about any of high paid footballers/actors/divers I saw today.

Re: Now, I understand football - Canalejas - 07-11-2010

If you want to see a team step outside the paradigm of flopping and exaggerating most fouls I invite you to re-watch the North Korea matches.  They won a lot of admirers with their style of play precisely because they didn\'t roll around on the ground.  I felt bad for them once Portugal completely figured them out, especially after having played Brazil so well.  

As far as flopping being a brobdingnagian problem, I agree that it is, but after becoming consumed by the world cup this year I think I can understand why soccer fans have come to accept it.  I compare this to drawing a foul in basketball.  For a very long time it struck me as downright unsportsmanlike to kick out your leg after every 3 point shot or jumping into the chest of a defender during a fast break.  I would be all too happy to see a duty to mitigate in basketball.  But I\'ve become a basketball fan just the same for other reasons.  I\'m sure long-time soccer fans have made a similar compromise.

Edit:  I have no idea why the opening sentence of my second paragraph is such a grammatical abomination.  It doesn\'t look like that in the post editor.  Strange.