[OT] 2002 World Cup, part 2

[Quickbeam]

Germany continues to squeak by on the play of Kahn and Ballack...and not much else. The US outplayed them and should have faced Korea today in a rematch of their 1-1 first round tie. The Korean team performed extremely well, and their fans can be very proud of the effort put forth throughout the tournament.

Now I'm torn: I don't want to see to lackluster teams like Germany and Turkey playing for the World Cup title, but who (other than a Brazilian) can root for Brazil?!? I'm gonna start rooting for some bizarre FIFA ruling that returns Senegal, USA, and England back onto the pitch !

 

[Ruvion]

I'm happy for Team Corea for making this far. May they improve and solidify their skills and prove the unbelievers that it was not dumb luck that brought them thus far, but true grit and spirit cumulating in a budding super team! We'll have to see come World Cup Germany 2006.

 

[Melkor Lord Of ALL!]

Uhm, Ruvion, Korea was good, I congratulate them, but they scored 0 goals till the penalty strikes against Spain, and Spain scored 2 times( and I am not from Spain). Of course Fifa had to be politically correct and choose referees from Trynidad and Egypt for this match.

 

[Lars Frehse]

YAY!!!!

 

[Dinkeldog]

I think I have to root for Germany now.

 

[ninthcouncil]

Germany continues to squeak by on the play of Kahn and Ballack...

And they won't have Ballack for the final - he's suspended.

 

[Lars Frehse]

Ballack wasn't vital for the game. After reaching the final in the championsleague, he is exhausted. The game won't be much worse without him.
Also, whoever wrote that squeaking by comment hasn't watched the game, obviously. Germany had been superior throughout the game and had never been in any real danger.
But there are always bad losers who can't take their own failure with grace. But, hey, maybe I would be like that, too, if it had been 36 years since my national team had won any significant title.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Also, whoever wrote that squeaking by comment hasn't watched the game, obviously. Germany had been superior throughout the game and had never been in any real danger.

He was referring to the Germany vs. US game. If that is what you are thinking of you must have watched a different game from the one I saw.

Germany played a good game. And the US played just as well.

It was a close fought match. A single different bounce or a different referee call and it could have gone the other way. Never in real danger? A team never in real danger doesn't need the benefit of a second goaltender to keep their lead.

Neither team was dominant at all.

 

[Quickbeam]

Ballack wasn't vital for the game. After reaching the final in the championsleague, he is exhausted. The game won't be much worse without him.
Also, whoever wrote that squeaking by comment hasn't watched the game, obviously. Germany had been superior throughout the game and had never been in any real danger.
But there are always bad losers who can't take their own failure with grace. But, hey, maybe I would be like that, too, if it had been 36 years since my national team had won any significant title.

Ridley's Cohort has responded fairly well on my behalf, but I'll add a bit more to the mix. Most of the German fans I've spoken with agree that this team has been very mediocre overall, and is one of the poorer semifinalists in recent World Cup memory. Kahn has been superb in goal, and the defense limits opportunities quite well, but this is no juggernaut squad we're discussing.

The US could have won that game last week just as easily as they lost -- and I'd certainly say the extra goalkeeper's save qualifies as lucky. Perhaps Germany still prevails if the USA ties the score, but we can only speculate. I didn't see more than 1/3 of today's game unfortunately, and I can't say who played the better match. Germany has advanced, and doing just enough to win is a formula that seems to be working for them right now. You'll have to forgive me, though, if I'm not overly impressed or excited about their style of play.

Three final points:
1) The team will ABSOLUTELY miss Ballack, and you're being foolishly optimistic to think otherwise. Outside of Kahn (who's proving to be the best Keeper in the world right now), he's been arguably Germany's MVP along with Klose.
2) There was no need to attack anyone else's national team track record in your comments (BTW, the USA does quite well for itself thank you!!). I didn't attack Germany (or their teams) and I'm not Korean or a Korean supporter, so you were barking up the wrong tree anyhow. Even if I were, what relevance does their historical performance in worldwide sporting events have to the 2002 World Cup?!?
3) There will certainly always be losers who cannot take their team's failures well, but you are a perfect example of a very poor winner.

 

[Blackthorne]

Now we all just calm down, okay?

I think the German team played much, much better today than against USA or Paraguay, dominating the match throughout. It still aint no beautiful football, but hey - this IS a German team. Playing beautiful is best left to the South Americans, thank you.