The 2010 South Africa World Cup thread

Felicitaciones a la Furia Roja

Originally posted by ninerlifer:

Originally posted by IdentityCrisis:

Originally posted by IdentityCrisis:

Originally posted by vrabbit:

Originally posted by IdentityCrisis:

Originally posted by vrabbit:
ten players have also been nominated for the Golden Ball - award given to the best player of the tournament.

LINK

David Villa (Spain)
Xavi (Spain)
Andres Iniesta (Spain)
Arjen Robben (Netherlands)
Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Mesut Ozil (Germany)
Bastian Schweinstegier (Germany)
Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
Asamoah Gyan (Ghana)

for me it comes down to Villa, Sneijder, Schweinstegier and Forlan.

Villa and Schweinsteiger have both been great, but to me it is a two man contest between Snejider and Forlan.

Of course that could change with one gam left to play.

if Forlan leads Uruguay to an upset of the Germans he may just get enough hype to win it

I very much doubt Uruguay upsets Germany.

But that wouldn't stop me thinking he is deserving of the award. He almost single handedly took Uruguay farther than anyone anticipated. That sort of performance is deserving of the golden ball.

http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/news/forlan-gets-golden-ball-mueller-wins-golden-boot--fbintl_ap-wcup-awards.html

right on. it was between sneijder and forlan.

congrats to forlan though, he deserved it.

Forlan was simply amazing he earned it.

Hell yeah.

Forlan curves that ball like David Beckham.

Dude's a beast.

Originally posted by NickV:

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:

Originally posted by NickV:
Well if we had to lose at least it was to the eventual champs and our neighbors. congratz Spain. We will be taking your Euro trophy in 2 years. Until then enjoy it.

Sorry bro, Portugal has little chance at Euro 2012. Germany looks very very strong, and Spain is still young enough to have another go at Euro and WC 2014. People are not realizing, Spain's best player was injured for most of this WC and Fabregas is another player who will start on any other team but this team. Jesus Navas and Silva are 2 other players who will start on most WC squads. This team's bench is one of the best I've seen in recent times.

Let me inform you about the influx of young talent coming to Portugal this coming Euro.

Carvalho and Deco will retire from the squad. Both gave us great runs and will be missed. Then we have our bright youngsters Ricardo Vaz Te, Yannick Djalo and Bruno Gama coming to the selecção and the best young LB in this world cup Fabio Coentrao. Also Ricardo Quaresma, the wild card, has stated that he will work harder than ever (I hope) to return to his old form. We had the best defense I have ever seen in my 22 years of watching Portuguese football and it took a offsides goal by Villa to beat us.

Not only that our two best players were missing also. Im sure you recognize the names Bosingwa and Nani? Two positions that were a rotating door in the starting line up this WC. Without Nani, Ronaldo tried too do too much. Danny will be better as well as Hugo Almeida taking over the striker position full time.

I hope we play them again. Hell i want to play Germany again after they CHEATED us in euro 08

Our future is just as bright. FORCA!

Oh I don't doubt the future of Portugal football. I follow EPL quite a bit and I know some of the guys you mentioned. You guys do have a bright future, but not for 2012 imho. They are young and untested, and tournaments like Euro Cup and World Cup are won by teams that are tested and have experience.

This is why I say, this WC was huge for Germany. There young players got invaluable experience, therefore they will be one of the favorites to win the 2014 WC.

I follow the German Bundesliga quite closely and it never ceases to amaze me how well this team (national team - Germany ) plays in tournaments. The have no where the talent of teams they beat in tournaments, but because of discipline, fitness and game plans , they win. Their goalie was really second rate (late replacement), their strikers were second rate and their defenders were second rate.

Spanish team finally got it together in a World Cup. - por fin.

Espangoooooaaalllll!!!!! What a game. I originally predicted the game 2-1 and after the second extra time started I thought oh boy penalty kicks. What a way to end the World Cup. Congrats to Spain and their fans.

OMG, so hung over.....but totally worth it!!!!!! Spain deserved to win it and now I won't have to deal with some of my Dutch co-workers about being the kings of futbol, hehe


I'm going to finish recovering from my crazy shenanigan-filled day (damn free pitchers of beer) and, before I forget, VIVA ESPANA!!!!!!!!!

ESPN and whatevers saying that soccer is boring and irrevelent is dumb as hell.




If U.S. was in the finals, soccer would be huge in the U.S. but since U.S. always loses in the World Cup, it's always,'' Meh, soccer sucks.''

You can bet your arse that ESPN made $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ so they need to STFU and embrace the best sport in the world!!!!!!!!!!

FOOOOOOORRRRRRRRLLLLLLLAANNNNNNN!

Originally posted by rigs49:
You can bet your arse that ESPN made $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ so they need to STFU and embrace the best sport in the world!!!!!!!!!!

I was with you till you called soccer the best sport in the world.

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:

Originally posted by rigs49:
You can bet your arse that ESPN made $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ so they need to STFU and embrace the best sport in the world!!!!!!!!!!

I was with you till you called soccer the best sport in the world.

Global popularity tends to back this statement up.

Originally posted by redrose49er:

Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:

Originally posted by rigs49:
You can bet your arse that ESPN made $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ so they need to STFU and embrace the best sport in the world!!!!!!!!!!

I was with you till you called soccer the best sport in the world.

Global popularity tends to back this statement up.

Too many people that don't like soccer get way to offended by this statement. It's completely ridiculous. I mean, there are people that feel that cricket is the best sport in the world. It has an enormous following, yet some people have no idea that it's as big as it is. That doesn't mean that the cricket fans are wrong. To them, it is the best. What the hell is so wrong with somebody feeling the way they do about something?

Originally posted by RedRazor:

Pelota de España

My WC All-Star team


GK - Iker Casillas (SPA): looked shaky at the beginning of the tournament but his performances got better and better with each game, truly one of the best in the world right now, if not the best.



RB - Philipp Lahm (GER): Captain, excellent defender, and great ball control when he projects onto the opposing team's side of the field, he had an excellent tournament.



CB - Diego Lugano (URU), Gerard Pique (SPA): A lot of guys that maybe deserve to be here but I have to pick only two. Lugano was the heart of an Uruguayan defense that was important to their run to semifinals as Forlan's MVP tournament. Pique backed up an excellent season with Barcelona with a terrific tournament in South Africa, he is a pleasure to watch on defense.



LB - Giovanni Van Bronckhorst (HOL): for me it was between him and Joan Capdevilla, and I just think Van Bronckhorst meant more to his team. Obviously he was their captain, but it was more than that for me. He was on his game throughout the tournament, AND scored the best goal of the tournament by far IMO.






MF - Xavi (SPA), Thomas Müller and Bastian Schweinsteiger (GER), Wesley Sneijder (HOL): I wanted to pick only one player from one team but I couldn't leave either of these Germans out. I don't even think I need to say why they are the ones I'm picking. These other guys I'm about to mention could have an argument to crack the All-Star squad, but I'm sticking with the ones I picked


FW - Diego Forlan (URU), David Villa (SPA): these were the easier picks for me. Forlan rightfully won the Golden Ball, and Villa's clutch goals helped Spain stay alive. I considered Miroslav Klose instead of Villa but I consider the Spaniard a superior overall player in this tournament.



Best Coach - Oscar Tavarez (URU): granted, Uruguay's road to semifinals was easier than the other three final four teams, but Uruguay was also the least talented team to make it to the semifinals, and Tavarez deserves a lot of credit for their performance in this tournament because he was not afraid to switch his gameplan to adapt to what his opponents would bring to the table.



***

and since I mentioned the best goal I'll mention what I thought was the best save of the tournament.

Yes, the Stekelenburg save on the Kaka shot in quarterfinals was pretty impressive, but every time I see this play ... WOW.