Is there still no world cup thread? (the sequel)

[BruceVC]

I have to say the penalty shootout must be one of the most exciting things a person can watch in sports.

 

I felt sorry for Costa Rica because they have played skilfully throughout the whole series and achieved more than anyone predicted  but my team got through, go Netherlands !!!!

 

Now I predict a Germany vs Netherlands final ...the problem is these are my 2 teams I generally always support...so who do I support in the final ?

[Rostere]

Now I predict a Germany vs Netherlands final ...the problem is these are my 2 teams I generally always support...so who do I support in the final ?

 

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

[Malcador]

Well, speaking for myself, I would really rather be bitten than to have someone break one of my vertebrae, especially since if it had been one a bit higher up Neymar would have been paralyzed for life.

 

But that's just me.

 

Reminds of the demented Liverpool fans out to defend Suarez after the incident, saying it should get less penalty than a red for violent conduct, etc.  A tackle gone wrong is a lot different from one intended to injure (see Witsel's famous one for an example) or just plain biting/spitting/punching someone.

[JadedWolf]

 

Well, speaking for myself, I would really rather be bitten than to have someone break one of my vertebrae, especially since if it had been one a bit higher up Neymar would have been paralyzed for life.

 

But that's just me.

 

Reminds of the demented Liverpool fans out to defend Suarez after the incident, saying it should get less penalty than a red for violent conduct, etc.  A tackle gone wrong is a lot different from one intended to injure (see Witsel's famous one for an example) or just plain biting/spitting/punching someone.

 

 

Please quote where I am defending Suarez. Also, this wasn't a tackle. There was no attempt at hitting a ball. He came from behind Neymar and put his knee in his back.

 

He should be punished for it. End of story.

[Malcador]

I said it reminds me of them, not that you did, as they bring up the comparison as a reason why the bite isn't bad. No one said they want to get a back injury over a bite, either.  It does look like a really clumsy attempt to get the ball that had a bad ending, but the kind of thing you see a lot (aerial challenge with a forearm across the other guy's shoulder or neck is a common one). 

 

Should have been booked for it, is a really clumsy tackle and worth a yellow.  It is funny that if it were some Bosnian or Honduran, no one would give a damn, heh.

[JadedWolf]

I said it reminds me of them, not that you did, as they bring up the comparison as a reason why the bite isn't bad. No one said they want to get a back injury over a bite, either.  It does look like a really clumsy attempt to get the ball that had a bad ending, but the kind of thing you see a lot (aerial challenge with a forearm across the other guy's shoulder or neck is a common one). 

 

Should have been booked for it, is a really clumsy tackle and worth a yellow.  It is funny that if it were some Bosnian or Honduran, no one would give a damn, heh.

 

I am convinced that it was deliberate. Unless Neymar was wearing some sort of invisibility cloak, Zuniga knew exactly what was going to happen when he went up with his knee. Of course Zuninga didn't mean to break his vertebrae - though God only knows what he was thinking. Maybe it was frustration at Colombia not being able to play their game or whatnot. But his action was stupid and reckless.

 

The ref was also to blame, of course. It was actually Brazil that started to get too physical, and the ref allowed it. Then the Columbian players started to get in on it too, figuring that if the ref was going to allow all that they might as well go along with it.

 

As for this only being a thing because this happens to be Neymar - well, I am not a huge fan of the current Brazil team and Neymar out of the lot seems to be one of the few, if not the only, player in the whole team that's worth watching, so it really is a big loss to the tournament. But if it had been any other player that was sent out of the tournament with such a serious injury caused by thuggish behaviour like this I would still feel the same way.

[Labadal]

In that case, Fernandinho should have been sent off for at least two yellow cards for the battering he gave James Rodriguez. The played dirty against him all game long and he should have had at least 10 free kicks that were not given to him. In many of those situations, the Brazilians weren't even close to getting the ball. Neymar's case was an unlucky one, but it's not like challenges like that happen in other games. The ref is to blame for how physical the game got. I am a follower of the English league and the game is physical there, but the Brazil v Colombia game was absurd.

[Tigranes]

Well, speaking for myself, I would really rather be bitten than to have someone break one of my vertebrae, especially since if it had been one a bit higher up Neymar would have been paralyzed for life.

 

But that's just me.

 

 You can't punish people for the end result of a collision in a contact sport. Sometimes you just bump into somebodyh and they fall over the wrong way and they rupture their cruciate ligament. Is that your fault? 

 

I've long been an advocate of much harsher punishments for those who deliberately go in dangerously on people (see: some British dumbass both feet flying studs high in 2008, breaks the leg so bad you can nearly see the bone in open air, basically ruins the guy's career for life.) (Also see: the greatest British idiot of them all, Roy Keane, who does flying karate kick and really does ruin a guy's career for life.) But the Zuniga case is not something like that - it was reckless but it wasn't some kind of kung fu targeted hit on the spine.

[Malcador]

Nah, Eduardo's career recovered a bit.  i still chuckle that the guy that broke Diaby's leg is now in a call center, or was.

[Pope]

 

Now I predict a Germany vs Netherlands final ...the problem is these are my 2 teams I generally always support...so who do I support in the final ?

 

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

 

Same here.

 

On one hand, out of the 4 remaining coutries, the Netherlands gave us imo the most entertaining match (vs Spain).

 

On the other, if they ever become World Champion, we'll never hear the end of it... I have a camping trip planned right after the World Cup, which in south Europe inevitably means lots of Dutchies, and let's just say they can be loud enough as it is. I can't imagine how in-your-face they'll be once their country just won the World Cup.

[Tigranes]

Nah, Eduardo's career recovered a bit.  i still chuckle that the guy that broke Diaby's leg is now in a call center, or was.

 

I'm just bitter that here's a guy who finally makes his big move to a big European league aiming to play those few years that will be his career high, and some moron comes and nearly amputates his leg, with the end result that he never recovers and goes back to Dinamo Zagreb or whatnot. "Welcome to England, here, experience one of our lovely legbreakers".

 

I've tipped Germany since the start of the tournament and they should still be favourites. They've been disappointing in their attacking verve, though. My favourite result would be a Dutch win where Robben has a horrible game and gets sent off for diving. Just so they can't pretend he won the entire Cup for them again, and so that their less high profile players like Vlaar or de Vrij get credit for the great job they've done this tournament.

[Rostere]

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?

[Malcador]

Holding up Neymar's jersey during the anthem, you'd think he was dead.

[kirottu]

Blitzkrieg!

[Labadal]

KLOSE! GOAT!

[Keyrock]

Klose does as Klose does.  Germany 2-0.  

[Malcador]

Klose!!

[Labadal]

Lololo krjdejetluöulyhqfrjtlu

[Keyrock]

And ze Germans score again just like that.  The rout is on.

[Keyrock]

AHAHAHAHAHAHA!  4-0!

[Labadal]

Brazil are great! Bazinga!

[Malcador]

Uh....Brazil throwing this ?

[Pope]

LOL'ing so hard right now

[Keyrock]

5-0!  LOL!

[Blarghagh]

What the hell!