As a typical North American "once every four years" soccer fan, I found myself drawn in to the action of the recent World Cup in Germany. It certainly was an exciting tournament, marked by fierce play and stellar athleticism. So after a month of action, 147 goals, and unparalleled moments of drama, why does it have to come down to ten spot kicks?Think about it. You play through the Round Robin, the Round of 16, the Quarters, the Semis, play 120 minutes in the Final and you stop to decide the winner by something completely unrepresentative of the rest of the tournament. Heck, why make the players take penalty kicks at all? Why not decide it over a nice game of checkers or Parcheesi instead?
There are those that say with out penalty kicks the game would go on forever, with neither team scoring. I disagree. If you leave players out on the field long enough, one of them will either make a mistake, or a dramatic play, that will lead to a winner being chosen.
Having such a well played tournament decided by penalty kicks is a travesty, and I have to believe the majority of fans would agree.
Oh yes, and congratulations to all the Italians out there. You were the best team in the tournament and were full value for your victory.
10 comments:
WOOT WOOT VIVA ITALIA!
In the old days, a tie game would be re-played. But in the today's world of Television and advertising contracts, travel schedule, media deadlines, and other VERY IMPORTANT factors....a replay of a game would be too difficult.
I don't despise the shootout because every team knows the deal going into the tournament, and the shootout is used in many other soccer tournaments. (Notice that I said "I don't despise"...do not mix this up with me liking it).
Cheers,
Nathan
Am I the only one who find it amusing that you have chosen to post a picture of Australian goalie Mark Schwarzer in this post?
Let's refresh our memory, shall we? It is a game between Australia and Italy in the round of 16s. We are at the dying seconds of injury time in the second half. Using a typical Italian soccer strategy, Italian player dives and falls down by himself in Aussie's penalty box. After his incredible acting -which I think should deserve an Oscar award-, Italy gets a penalty kick. They score and move onto the next round.
After couple more games with dirty tatics, Italy moves on. They make very racist remarks and send off a French captain. Then they win it all. By the way, I heard that McBride from the USA is still suffering from that elbowing by that Italian..
Italians were the best team? Think again.
I do believe that the World Cup is a competition decided by the number of goals scored.
Dirty tactics, diving, whining, and trash talking are part of the competition. (Note that Zidane did not say that there were any racist or discriminant comments.....he's got to get over the "Yo' Mamma" jokes)
Italy won...fair & square...and therefore, are the best team in the WORLD!!!
Nathan (Not Italian) Tellis
Dirty tactics, diving, whining, and trash talking are part of the competition. (Note that Zidane did not say that there were any racist or discriminant comments.....he's got to get over the "Yo' Mamma" jokes)
No they are part of Italian soccer. Many other teams do not resort to such tatics like that.
Zidane said in his interview, "Yes. They were very hard words. You hear them once and you try to move away.
But then you hear them twice, and then a third time... I am a man and some words are harder to hear than actions. I would rather have taken a blow to the face than hear that."
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/france/5174758.stm
So saying that "Zidane did not say that there were any racist or discriminant comments" is a false statement. Some experts in reading lips have stated that Materazzi said something like Zidane's mom being "dirty terrorist w****." Now, how is that not racist?
Italy played dirty football and they are not the best team in the world. The worst "champion" in the world indeed.
Ok...this is my last comment on this...feel free to reply, but I am not following Chad's predictions just so that I can get trash talked.
"No they are part of Italian soccer. Many other teams do not resort to such tatics like that."......I agree, and just to make it clear....many teams do NOT win the WORLD CUP.....Italy did.
As for the lip reader comment....lip readers of various linguistic backgrounds have all concluded on many different results...I have also heard that the Italian's lips were read to have said "Henry is a filthy nigg**"....and other's have said that it was comments about his mom and sister being hookers.....This is just boys trash talking each other until otherwise proven.
Furthermore, BBC is definatly not the worlds best source for information, especially when it comes to football.
I do not beleive that Zidane would behave in that manner if he was not provoked. But in this case, he should be quoting what was said to him. (I don't want to hear about how he is a bigger man and won't speak out about it....he is retiring and this is the only black-eye in his career-which is one of the most celebrated is football history).
Anyway....this is not meant to be personal....just random sports talk.
Love, peace, and harmony,
Nathan
All I can say is that the BBC page that I posted was a whole transcript of that interview.
Also, Zidane came out and said that he is sorry for his action and Materizzi did not. When you hear such a horrible insulting targeted at your mother and siter and when you hear if three times, I am sure most of us would've taken similar action as Zidane.
Doesn't matter at this point. For many people, Zidane will be remembered as a great footballer who was born into a poor immigrant family than rose to a star. Italy will be remembered as a dirty "champion."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzF6C7gzhOQ
Just watch this if you still think Italy is the best team.
Enough said.
Oh and one more thing.
I just hate Italian soccer with passion. I have nothing against most Italian people, especially Italian girls.
Peace out.
Woosang
Hey. Hazim Here. I lost a lot of money betting on France to win. Now all my friends and people who know me are sending me clips of Zidane's famous headbutt to me just to rub it in. If I see another smug Italian on the streets, I'm gonna give 'em a major wedgie
But Woosang forgets to point out that Zidane himself took a dive in the box during the semi-final against Portugal.
Never mind the head butting nonsense, something drastic needs to be done about this.
When a huge game can be decided exclusively by some wimp taking a dive on a certain part of the field, why even bother watching?
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