EN World World Cup blog

[Klaus]

FORZA AZZURRA!!!

I *was* rooting for Zidane to end his career on a high note (i.e., as a World Champion). But his stroke of dumbassness made me change my mind.

ITALIA! ITALIA!

 

[Keith Robinson]

Congratulations to Italy

But what was Zindane thinking? Madness.

 

[Keith Robinson]

I *was* rooting for Zidane to end his career on a high note (i.e., as a World Champion). But his stroke of dumbassness made me change my mind.

But what a terrible way to retire from football. After all the great things he has achieved, it is such a sad way to bow out.

 

[Klaus]

I suppose that's a very Brazilian answer.

Saying that there's a definite tier between Pele and Maradona is quite a stretch.

Not only is there a tier, but it's not a small one.

Maradona was a good scorer, but he's in the same league as Romário, Ronaldo, Tostão, Rivelino, Carlos Alberto, Beckembauer, Zidane, Sócrates, Zico, Falcão...

Above all these are Pelé first, and then Garrincha.

 

[johnsemlak]

FORZA AZZURRA!!!

I *was* rooting for Zidane to end his career on a high note (i.e., as a World Champion). But his stroke of dumbassness made me change my mind.

ITALIA! ITALIA!

Just about agreed totally. That was incredibly stupid by Zidane. It's no excuse but it looks like the Italian player might have said something that really provoked him.

And I was hoping Zidane would cement his status as among the very best--this mistake will have a huge impact on his legacy.

 

[johnsemlak]

I suppose that's a very Brazilian answer.

Saying that there's a definite tier between Pele and Maradona is quite a stretch.

I'll agree with Klaus here. Pele is a tier above Maradona, though public opinion doens't always reflect this. Maradona's career was absolutely brilliant for a period but shortened by drug use and fitness problems. Absolutely great, but below Pele. In AD&D terms, Pele's a Greater God, and Maradon'a a mere Lesser God. Still far better than a level 5 magic user though.

 

[johnsemlak]

Grrr! I'm still so disappointed in the French. They clearly had the advantage after halftime, yet they never sent enough attackers forward to score. Had they done so, they surely would have won.

One particularly defining moment was when a French forward won the ball from an Italian near the corner, passed to a French player--Ribery I think; the Frenchmen got the ball to the goal box and centered it, and there were no French players anywhere near the goal to take what would have been a fantastic scoring opportunity.

Gotta give credit to the Italians though--They've had a great tournament. Only two goals conceded--one a penalty kick and the other an own goal.

 

[GlassJaw]

What a lame way to end the World Cup. France was clearly the better team but it goes down to the god-awful penalty kicks to end it. What a useless tie-breaking system. Watching the goalies try to defend against them is brutal. It's almost pointless. You might as well use a coin-flip to decide the winner.

On top of that, the game will be remembered for that Zidane fool. What an absolute disgraceful act that was.

I'll take my American sports like baseball and football over today's mess any day.

 

[Jdvn1]

What a lame way to end the World Cup. France was clearly the better team but it goes down to the god-awful penalty kicks to end it.

Did you watch the same game I did? Italy was clearly the better team in the first half, France played better in the second half.

The overtimes, I thought, were back-and-forth.

Playing overtimes until one team scores, I think, is a much sillier way to end it. Then, it's not about skill at all, it's about which team is less exhausted after playing for hours.

 

[STARP_Social_Officer]

I predicted 3rd and 4th place. After my ninth prediction. Other than that everything I predicted was incorrect. Oh well. My career as a soccer predictor falls by the wayside. I will, however, survive. Excuse me while I go headbutt something...