See you south of the equator in 4 years
Alas, it was too short, but all good things must come to an end, even if they weren't so good.
I try to get more people hooked on soccer whenever possible, but this world cup really didn't give much to cheer about.
By and large, I think teams played too tight. It was the lowest scoring cup in 16 years if I'm not mistaken. Too much tentative, cautious play, and not enough of The Beautiful Game, innovative attacking, possesion passing, one vs. one down the line. All in all, a bit boring.
I DESPISE diving, and it was rampant. I don't like the fact that what is basically cheating is running so rampant in the game, and the rules committee can't do anything about it.
In my humble opinion, soccer needs some new innovations. First and formost being: Instant Replay. Seriously, the ref can not cover that much pitch by himself. Time to put egos aside and join the modern world. Seriously, if Rugby, an international sport that fought professionalism tooth and nail until the late eighties can adopt Instant Replay, why not soccer? Especially at this level. And especially given the amount of "gamesmanship" or cheating going on by guys flopping all over the pitch.
Second, and this is not as important, but would it be too much to ask for there to be an official timekeeper who stops the clock on subs and out of bounds and injuries and whatnot? I hate seeing road teams get jobbed for 2-3 minutes of game time by home officiating deciding that 1-2 minutes is enough. And seriously, timewasting should NOT be a strategy.
Thirdly, and here I may just be venting. Can we do something about the offside rule? I think refs and linesman actually do a great job of getting this right a majority of the time in actual gameplay, and it's so hard to get it right, given what they have to watch. But if this is something that they can only probably get right, at best, 75% of the time, something needs to give. I think the solution is simple. Let the game flow, and review the play with Instant Replay. If they score, go back to the tape. If the guy was offside, call it back (like they do in hockey). If he wasn't, goal stands. Seriously, too many 1-0 games with 2-3 questionable offisde calls. Goals change everything in soccer. We need more of them. Too many stagnant games this world cup.
Most people will complain about how there were too many cards this tournament. Truth be told, there probably weren't enough. There were some very dirty games: Portugal-Netherlands comes to mind. Something on the order of 16 cards and 2 ejections that game. Most people roundly agree that that was the worst officiated game of the tournament, saying that there were too many cards. Honestly, watching the game, which card do you not give? Frankly, there should have been more cards that game. Figo should have been tossed, but he only got a yellow because no one saw it. Who else's card do you take back? All the cards were legit. You may argue that some of the fouls were retaliatory, for things that weren't called, but that only reinforces the point that there should have been more cards.
Quick side note, I'm a Yank, and I can't argue with the cards our guys got in the USA-Italy game. Pablo Mastroeni had been playing a reckless game to begin with, and had been mouthing off to the official. His tackle was studs up, blind sided, two footed, and completely unnecessary. The other guy was stationary. And he was full speed. The official was 3 feet away. Definite straight red. I heard lots of griping about it being a make-up call from Marcello Balboa and Alexi Lalas, who are hardly unbiased. But how do you have a makeup call for a foul that was blatant and indisputable, as De Rossi's elbow was? And Eddie Pope did commit two yellow card fouls. The first might have been a bit harsh. I think he took the card that was intended for Oguchi Onyewu, who had been using his hands all game. Case in point, it was a badly played game by the USA, and it's a shame that we played our best soccer 9 on 10 (incidently, coach Bruce, when we are threatening, and guys are tiring, and 80 minutes have gone by, and we are 9 on 10, WHY THE BLOODY HECK DIDN'T YOU MAKE A SUB? AT THE VERY LEAST, SAVE SOMEONE AND GIVE THEM SOME REST FOR THE NEXT GAME!!!). Seriously, we weren't well prepared, and we were badly coached. So much for all the hype. It's a pity that guys like Claudio Reyna and Brian McBride have to go out like that. They have been great internationals, and we probably won't see them in the Red White And Blue anymore.
Still, the World Cup is a spectacle unlike any other. There were some great stories, and great moments. Argentina's second goal against Serbia, the epitome of teamwork. Ronaldo setting the all time record. Klose, finally showing up after pool play. Zidane reborn (Zidane, what were you thinking? Why did you headbutt Materazzi?), Italy playing past the Match Fixing Scandal.
It's going to be a different game in 4 years. So many familiar names gone. So many new faces. And a great host country. Well, let's hope things are better next time around. See you in four years.
I try to get more people hooked on soccer whenever possible, but this world cup really didn't give much to cheer about.
By and large, I think teams played too tight. It was the lowest scoring cup in 16 years if I'm not mistaken. Too much tentative, cautious play, and not enough of The Beautiful Game, innovative attacking, possesion passing, one vs. one down the line. All in all, a bit boring.
I DESPISE diving, and it was rampant. I don't like the fact that what is basically cheating is running so rampant in the game, and the rules committee can't do anything about it.
In my humble opinion, soccer needs some new innovations. First and formost being: Instant Replay. Seriously, the ref can not cover that much pitch by himself. Time to put egos aside and join the modern world. Seriously, if Rugby, an international sport that fought professionalism tooth and nail until the late eighties can adopt Instant Replay, why not soccer? Especially at this level. And especially given the amount of "gamesmanship" or cheating going on by guys flopping all over the pitch.
Second, and this is not as important, but would it be too much to ask for there to be an official timekeeper who stops the clock on subs and out of bounds and injuries and whatnot? I hate seeing road teams get jobbed for 2-3 minutes of game time by home officiating deciding that 1-2 minutes is enough. And seriously, timewasting should NOT be a strategy.
Thirdly, and here I may just be venting. Can we do something about the offside rule? I think refs and linesman actually do a great job of getting this right a majority of the time in actual gameplay, and it's so hard to get it right, given what they have to watch. But if this is something that they can only probably get right, at best, 75% of the time, something needs to give. I think the solution is simple. Let the game flow, and review the play with Instant Replay. If they score, go back to the tape. If the guy was offside, call it back (like they do in hockey). If he wasn't, goal stands. Seriously, too many 1-0 games with 2-3 questionable offisde calls. Goals change everything in soccer. We need more of them. Too many stagnant games this world cup.
Most people will complain about how there were too many cards this tournament. Truth be told, there probably weren't enough. There were some very dirty games: Portugal-Netherlands comes to mind. Something on the order of 16 cards and 2 ejections that game. Most people roundly agree that that was the worst officiated game of the tournament, saying that there were too many cards. Honestly, watching the game, which card do you not give? Frankly, there should have been more cards that game. Figo should have been tossed, but he only got a yellow because no one saw it. Who else's card do you take back? All the cards were legit. You may argue that some of the fouls were retaliatory, for things that weren't called, but that only reinforces the point that there should have been more cards.
Quick side note, I'm a Yank, and I can't argue with the cards our guys got in the USA-Italy game. Pablo Mastroeni had been playing a reckless game to begin with, and had been mouthing off to the official. His tackle was studs up, blind sided, two footed, and completely unnecessary. The other guy was stationary. And he was full speed. The official was 3 feet away. Definite straight red. I heard lots of griping about it being a make-up call from Marcello Balboa and Alexi Lalas, who are hardly unbiased. But how do you have a makeup call for a foul that was blatant and indisputable, as De Rossi's elbow was? And Eddie Pope did commit two yellow card fouls. The first might have been a bit harsh. I think he took the card that was intended for Oguchi Onyewu, who had been using his hands all game. Case in point, it was a badly played game by the USA, and it's a shame that we played our best soccer 9 on 10 (incidently, coach Bruce, when we are threatening, and guys are tiring, and 80 minutes have gone by, and we are 9 on 10, WHY THE BLOODY HECK DIDN'T YOU MAKE A SUB? AT THE VERY LEAST, SAVE SOMEONE AND GIVE THEM SOME REST FOR THE NEXT GAME!!!). Seriously, we weren't well prepared, and we were badly coached. So much for all the hype. It's a pity that guys like Claudio Reyna and Brian McBride have to go out like that. They have been great internationals, and we probably won't see them in the Red White And Blue anymore.
Still, the World Cup is a spectacle unlike any other. There were some great stories, and great moments. Argentina's second goal against Serbia, the epitome of teamwork. Ronaldo setting the all time record. Klose, finally showing up after pool play. Zidane reborn (Zidane, what were you thinking? Why did you headbutt Materazzi?), Italy playing past the Match Fixing Scandal.
It's going to be a different game in 4 years. So many familiar names gone. So many new faces. And a great host country. Well, let's hope things are better next time around. See you in four years.