Spain versus Portugal - that's #2 versus #3.

My call for the next round;

Uruguay, Ghana, Germany, Argentina, Netherlands, Brazil, Paraguay, Portugal

Uruguay haven't been scored against, South Korea have leaked goals.

If Ghana can hold their shape and keep it together then I think the USA striking power is going to have problems, and the USA have also leaked goals a bit. Probably going to be a close match, 1-0 or 2-1.

Germany have proven they have the striking ability, England's defense has held out pretty well apart from a goal keeping error. I suspect it'll be a 1-0 result here to Germany as their strikers seem a bit more on the ball.

Argentina have played some of the most impressive, in my opinion, football so far. I think they stand a good chance of winning the whole thing tbh.

Netherlands have conceeded 1 so far with a good strike rate, Slovakia however have again leaked goals.

Brazil v. Chile was hard to call; Brazil haven't really impressed so far, although they had some good moments via NK where they played flowing football. Chile on the other hand while trying hard are down on players and seem to lose their head. Brazil should win, but not by much.

I think Paraguay will be hurting a bit from their draw with NZ so will probably want to go out there and make a point. Japan however had a good strike rate and good defensive record so far, but I think Paraguay will just edge it if they step their game up.

Spain v. Portugal; well they both have the talent but, todays game not withstanding, I think Portugal might come on song at just the right time and could beat Spain. Again, another close game here, probably only one goal in it.

Quote: Original post by Crazyfool
Except there is a specific rule stating, when in doubt, give it to the attacking player.

There most definitely is NOT a specific rule stating the aforementioned (url for FIFA's laws of the game for reference):

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/generic/81/42/36/lawsofthegame_2010_11_e.pdf


The referee makes black and white calls. Which side they end up on is usually a matter of perception. What one linesman might see as offside, another might see as legal. It's no different than any other sport (there is no video review of offside or penalties in hockey for instance). Hockey teams need to adjust their play to how the game is called. So do footballers.

When a referee makes an incorrect call, it's unfortunate, but honestly, they're human. Mistakes will be made. The US is far from the only team to have a bad call go against them. The Swiss were screwed completely against Chile and now they are out of the tournament as an example.

Ah, I didn't think there was a rule stating that but didn't care enough to look it up [grin]

And yes, it can be annoying when the calls go against you, but there is also the sense of 'woah, got away with that' when they go for you. Its all part of the game and honestly, as long as the refs are trying their hardest to get it 'right', I wouldn't have it any other way.

The only changes the sport needs are more respect for the ref from players (see Rugby for an example), less diving and none of this invisable card waving which has snuck into the game of late.

Quote: Original post by dashurc
There most definitely is NOT a specific rule stating the aforementioned (url for FIFA's laws of the game for reference):

You're right, several announcers stated it and it is known to be a "rule of thumb" so I guess it is not officially stated in the rules. I shouldn't have immediately trusted the announcers (I saw no reason to disbelieve them). I still think you should agree that when in doubt its better to not make the call (we can argue all day, but realistically that'd be a more simple and elegant action)


@Phantom: Diving will only be stopped if the referees make better calls against simulations. Once diving is stopped by the refs (if they enforce it, it will be a deterrent) then people can probably start respecting the refs more. Likewise, asking for cards or calling out of bounds, handball, etc, is something players will do because they feel refs respond.

Edit: cautioning diving will hurt the "big names", too. Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, is terribly obvious at taking dives.

In yesterday's Brazil-Portugal match the referee gave a yellow card to a Portuguese player (not Ronaldo) for taking a dive in the penalty box. The card was well deserved as the player opted for theatrics and in the process threw away a real opportunity to score.

In the Uruguay-South Korea game that just ended, the refs missed a clear hand ball by a Korean player in the penalty area just before half time. Uruguay still managed to eke out a win with a brilliant goal late in the game.

After seeing how hard South Korea worked and how close they came to winning but didn't, I'm nervous about the USA-Ghana game. ...

The pollsters at FiveThirtyEight have boosted Uruguay's odds of winning the cup to 14.6%, second only to Brazil. I suspect that number will fall as more games in the first knockout round are played. They put the odds for the USA-Ghana match at US 48.7% to Ghana 51.3%. It might seem strange for a political polling web site to be dabbling with odds in the World Cup, but Nate Silver, who runs the site, began his career in statistics via baseball, so soccer odds isn't a stretch for him at all.

While I wasn't closely watching the game earlier I have to say I wasn't impressed by Uruguay. They seemed to have trouble breaking down the SK defense alot of the time and I think the only reason that game didn't end in a draw was down to SK not taking two excellent chances.

The first Uruguay goal was also down to a massive defensive error (you can't have 4 defenders ball watching like that), although the 2nd one was indeed a class act.

While I think Uruguay can probably beat whoever wins the USA/Ghana match they are likely to come up against Brazil in the Semis and I think that'll be that from them.


Edit: You know what, early call; Brazil - Argentina final.

I'd love to see more cards for simulation and diving. I'd also love to see cards for any players tucking in their feet when they feel the slightest shirt pull, and I'd love for anyone delaying the game due to injury(real or simulated) be forced to sit out a specified period of time (until next stoppage?) if they are not substituted. I doubt this will ever happen though.

Soccer is a much more physical sport than people give the players credit for, mainly because of the simulation and diving.

As for cracking down on diving hurting the big names? So what? The big names have all the talent in the world. They would learn not to dive if it caused them to be ejected or no longer gave them an advantage.

There is a pretty cool predictor on the castrol website.

My heart wants an England v Netherlands final, but my head says Argentina v Brazil.

Quote: Original post by _moagstar_
My heart wants an England v Netherlands final, but my head says Argentina v Brazil.

People thought WWIII is going to start in the middle east...