Rostere

I'm still rooting for the Netherlands. I like the orange colour of their shirts It would be fun if the Germans somehow lost in the finals after this match. I think Germany-Algeria was the most entertaining match to watch (it really felt like the Algerians were fighting tooth and nail to win), although I must say I missed most of the games before the elimination rounds. EDIT: Just saw this guy on the web.

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/im-comic-sans-****

For a lot of people, the latest developments might make zero sense. It all started with the kidnapping of three Israeli settler teenagers, a deed which the obscure or perhaps hitherto non-existent group "Islamic State in Jerusalem" (compare to ISIS) claimed responsibility for. Hamas said they did not do it, but also made a lot of typical stupid and non-constructive Hamas statements about how kidnapping was a form of defence against occupation and land theft. Then - and we must absolutely not forget the newly agreed upon Palestinian unity government now - Israel started arresting Hamas members en masse in the West Bank, also seizing political campaign materials and making raids into places they usually never go to. At first, the kidnappings was used as a pretext to strike against Hamas. Then, due to the increased coverage the kidnapping had gotten due to the ridiculously oversized response (when the authorities knew the teenagers were likely dead - how typically Israel...) a lot of really ugly Israel ultra-nationalist extremists got geared up. A Palestinian kid was snatched and burned alive near Jerusalem. Avigdor Lieberman's right-wing nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party has split from the prime minister's right-wing Likud. In this political climate, Gaza acts as a "punching bag" where the ruling party can get nationalist credentials by bombing Palestinians to oblivion and thus showing they aren't soft. It's just like the last time. Sadly, this is what things have come to.

I heard this was the biggest defeat ever in the elimination rounds.

Yeah, I feel bad for Özil. Not scoring in this match must feel really bad, especially considering his chances.

Yeah. Arjen Robben is pretty much a kamikaze magic free kick generator. I believe he is both simulating and seeking out situations where he can fall at the same time. It's simply not possible to get free kicks and accumulate yellow cards for the opposing team at that rate in any other way. Maybe he should become an actor after he quits football?

Yeah. I'm not really knowledgeable enough on the subject, and there's bound to be both good and bad examples. It's just a feeling I good from reading some threads on a military aviation forum a couple of months back. I saw a lot of companies with impossibly broad portfolios of products. What about the parts in the F-35? And the Sukhoi PAK FA? I have the feeling that a company that is supposed to construct all the parts of such a modern aircraft risks getting very bloated and unfocused, organizationally speaking. The buyers of military hardware should be adamant in insisting on maximum modularity and not lock themselves into being forced from buying more parts than ideal at the moment from one designer.

I believe that a lot of the problems in today's advanced weapons industry might come from that too much of the design is carried out internally by the same companies. If you take one tank or aircraft and then break down the components, it is my impression that they are often overwhelmingly produced by the same companies, despite being very different areas of technology. This might lead to a lot of cost inefficiency and technology lag, when you could have one company which only does targeting and visual identification systems, one which does only ECW, one which does only armour, one which does only communication systems, and so on and so forth (and these companies may of course sell civilian products as well). This is made even worse when countries insist on buying internally from within their own country. I think what the EU would really need is a very competitive internal market for each of the sub-systems which make up a tank or aircraft, and that the countries allow themselves to buy components from other EU countries if they are better. Today I think engines and guns (and missiles) are pretty much the only parts of military aircraft and tanks which are typically purchased separately from the vehicle itself, right?

Yeah, that's pretty much my problem as well.

While I understand your tongue in cheek concept, I'm not in favour of these holy-rolling rapists invading anywhere. Not even the land which is (uh, was) money-rolling the holy-rolling rapists? If I could choose between ISIS being suddenly abducted by aliens or them attacking SA, I would obviously choose the former, but where is the Shakespeare in aliens? If I was George R.R. Martin writing current real events I would totally have ISIS invade Saudi Arabia. As a powerless observer who has no way to influence current events down there, I know for sure I will procure my popcorn and pretend the world is a grim-dark parable or apologue.

Completely and utterly disagree. It'd be nice if they could play attacking football, but they are just outclassed talent wise. Costa Rica has maybe three good players, one being the keeper. They actually employed a very aggressive high defensive line trap, trying to congest the midfield, limiting the ability of their opponents to go out on runs. They bought in completely and put on a CLINIC on team defense. That was beautiful tactical football and defense pr0n. No. You use a lot of words for what was just plain and simple ordinary all-out defensive football. The objective behind that strategy is to force the game to penalties, where there is typically a higher probability for weird **** to happen. This is obviously only a feasible strategy in games which can be won on penalties (which is why you don't typically ever see this). So to exploit the fact that this is elimination rounds in that way is a very underhanded strategy in my mind. They surrendered 0 goals in regular play during the group stage and flat out won their group. Sorry if you can't grasp tactics and appreciate perfect team execution. You are wrong. Uruguay scored one goal against them. Furthermore, they are tied with Belgium for the lowest number of goals for a group winner, and they did not win all their matches. In any case, it does not matter here. It's not that I can't appreciate "perfect" team execution. My complaints are not against the skill of the players. It's not that I can't grasp tactics. I understand their tactics perfectly well. It's their choice of all-out turtling in this match (at least during the first parts, the later part is usually always more back and forth) that I don't like. It's not their style of defence, it's the ridiculous balance towards defence (in a match which must be decided by penalties, otherwise this would be no problem). I guess this is OK if you think penalties are just as integral a part to football as the game itself. For me it's like delaying a losing match in Starcraft in the hope that your opponent will disconnect or lag out. It's not cheating, but it is also not about winning what is really the game. I also think you ascribe too much of the offsides to efforts from the Costa Rican side. It was not really only Costa Rica (even though they clearly have a great defence line discipline) but the Netherlands who played clumsily. In any case, offside is just another way of seizing the ball from your opponent on your side of the field. That is not the issue, but the overly defensive overall formation.

I'm not at all complaining about the fact that the result after extended playtime was 0-0, I'm complaining about the strategy Costa Rica used to get there. Of course it's their right to play as they want, it's just that they are not using their skills to win the game, they are using a special rule which is there for the elimination rounds. An other example of **** strategy would be if a coach should instruct all his players to always lie still on the ground and scream after they fall, if the team has a goal advantage, or pass their own players safely back and forth. It is completely in their right to do so, as much as they can get away with at least. But it is using the rules against the purpose of the game.

Completely and utterly disagree. It'd be nice if they could play attacking football, but they are just outclassed talent wise. Costa Rica has maybe three good players, one being the keeper. They actually employed a very aggressive high defensive line trap, trying to congest the midfield, limiting the ability of their opponents to go out on runs. They bought in completely and put on a CLINIC on team defense. That was beautiful tactical football and defense pr0n. No. You use a lot of words for what was just plain and simple ordinary all-out defensive football. The objective behind that strategy is to force the game to penalties, where there is typically a higher probability for weird **** to happen. This is obviously only a feasible strategy in games which can be won on penalties (which is why you don't typically ever see this). So to exploit the fact that this is elimination rounds in that way is a very underhanded strategy in my mind.

Hah. Serves them right for playing **** football. And by "****" I am not referring to their skill level, but the craven strategy to play with 5-6 defenders and 9 defending players. It's not the first time this happens, typically these types of teams lose when their opponents score one goal and they are unable to even the score. Costa Rica did some interesting stuff in the extended playtime, but their overall strategy here is just utter **** football.

WHAT. THE. HECK.

Costa Rica plays like I remember North Korea from the last WC. Five or six defenders behaving like if they would be shot if their opponents score a goal.

They are allegedly a rather mediocre team which is led by one very good player, whom some people also think is overly hyped.

For a second, I thought the Swedish commentators referred to USA's team as Team Howard. Then I realized that the goalie's first name was Tim.

It has also been interesting to watch all the videos the fans from various countries has made to their teams. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz7U0g8Puqc

LOL You don't need to try very hard to achieve that.

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4354/isis-jordan Syria, Iraq, and maybe Jordan next. I would SO like to see these guys take on Saudi Arabia. Pwetty please? I'll bring my popcorn. That way the Saudis will finally get to look militant Salafism in the eye. And maybe the rest of the world can get a well-earned vacation from that entire segment of religious nutjobs. EDIT: Okay, maybe I should be careful about what I wish for. Speaking seriously, I would of course want less conflict in the world, not more. Seeing SA and ISIS duke it out would definitely be some sort of poetic justice, though. Here is another very informative article, detailing the ISIS fifth column in Saudi Arabia. When you think about it, the odds are ISIS might even have an easier time in SA than in Iraq.

I must say I was very sad to see USA lose. I thought they played a much better game, and it would also be exciting to see them in the 2nd stage. Now their future looks much more unsure.

I can't bother to check, but I seriously can't remember any map called "Phantom"...

u wot m8? I'd like to iterate that I generally believe people are better off together. Just like I generally believe that people are better off with all their body parts left intact at their bodies, at their appropriate places. But there are instances where medical amputation is advisable, because of illnesses that are impossible to cure with what you have at hand, plus the current condition might be life-threatening. Crimea has a longer history of being Russian (than being Ukrainian), and a large majority of Russian inhabitants. The connection to Ukraine is rather dubious (except through proximity - it's a Falklands situation). As such, if the question must be reduced to a binary choice, I believe Crimea is a more natural part of Russia. That said, I reject any violence used to achieve that goal. The Donetsk and Luhansk situation is entirely different - throughout history, the area has been populated with a majority of Ukrainians and a lot of the Russians living there can be traced to immigration of industrial workers under Soviet rule. The current secessionist movement there does not have any obvious demographic and historical legitimacy. Furthermore, the fact that they are under the influence of an autocrat such as Putin does not make the situation better. The Iraq situation differs from both Crimea and Donbass. The invention of "Iraq" as a political entity started with the independence from the British Empire in 1947. Although there had been an Ottoman province by the same name, it had not covered the same area as British, that is, our current Iraq. Basically, during the (early, at least) Ottoman era, Iraq was divided into four parts - Iraq (Shia parts today), Kurdistan (obviously Iraqi Kurdistan today, although parts of Kurdistan stayed in what was to be Turkey), al-Jazira (the non-Kurd Sunni areas north of the Euphrates) and al-Sham (in Europe is known as Syria - included from Iraq the Sunni areas south of the Euphrates, in addition to all the areas which today form Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel + occupied Palestine). So in the Iraqi case, a partition would just be returning to the situation before imperialism ****ed it up. If Kurds, Sunnis and Shias (and Turkmens, and Yazidis, and...) could just magically make up and do this together I believe they would be better off. For a partition to be justified, we must be absolutely sure the alternative is unworkable. You might wonder how the (Sunni) ISIS could occupy the non-Kurd Sunni parts of Iraq so quickly. You might have noticed the tensions between Maliki and the Kurdish-controlled Iraqi north. Currently, the big boys are still talking as if Iraq is going to stay together. But if the situation of sectarian tensions continues to deteriorate, like it has done now with few exceptions since 2003, we must partition Iraq to save it from genocidal civil war.