World Cup SA 2010

[theashtraysays]

apparently 1 more....

 

That was not the finals match that FIFA needed to garner additional fans. I know very little about the game, but that was pretty dull to me.

[uncool2pillow]

Dull and IMO, more poor officiating. Lots of dives by Spain. No excuse for Netherlands. I only saw 2nd half and extra time, the ball hardly made it near Spain's goal. Spain deserved to win.

[pillowy star]

 

 

Were you even watching the same game? Germany could have been 4 goals up by the time Fat Frankie's hopeful slash went in off the bar. The to compound matters the Germans took the English apart and won handsomely.

 

 

you know, i agree we were shit, but, saying the german's could have been 4 goals up by the time of the disallowed goal means nothing at all - unless the 4 goals they should have been up went in the back of the net and then were not counted. 2-2 would have been very very different, and the game could have gone in england's favour, there's no way really of knowing that. it also wasn't a hopeful slash, it was a very good shot - the only one he made in the whole tournament. i think the chances would have been, if they'd allowed the goal, that we'd have gone another goal down, but i doubt 2 more would have gone in, and then we might have had a few minutes of playing well like we did in the first half, then who knows?...

 

Yep. I still think Germany would have won in the end, because they really were better than England, but even hardcore Germany fans (the ones that play football and/or train teams) agree with me that the match would have been completely different if both teams had had 2 goals and would have had to lay back and rethink their strategies rather than England having to catch up still.

 

Dull and IMO, more poor officiating. Lots of dives by Spain. No excuse for Netherlands. I only saw 2nd half and extra time, the ball hardly made it near Spain's goal. Spain deserved to win.

 

Seconded. One of the worst matches I've ever seen. Hard to admit as a Holland fan.

[cryptique]

Oh, I've seen far worse matches. Some were also World Cup finals.

 

I cheered for the Dutch, but Spain had the better of the play. Lots of hard fouls, but way too many cards. I had high hopes that Robben or Sneijder would finally find the net, but Spain had too many good chances to go scoreless for 120 minutes. Spain were the better team in an ugly match.

[bjorn_skurj]

Spain were the better team in an ugly match.

Yes. Did you all see that one play where the Dutch guy kung-fu'd the Spanish guy? DAMN.

[Sunken mountain]

I´m waiting for your congratulations,ladies and gentlemen.

Even if your soccer knowledge are far away from the real world,please say thank you to the Spain team,fighting against the worst way to play:the Netherland-kung fu team and their English best supporter (dressed in black).

Good football won,Mourinho lost again

 

If I was a Netherland supporter last night (and I was for years) I felt embarrased:where is the spirit of Cruyff and Neskens,where is the wonderful team of Van Basten and Gullit?

And the answer is :they´re all trying to play football last night,but in the Spanish team.

[uncool2pillow]

Congrats, Sunken Mountain! I will soon go into Soccer withdrawal. NFL training camp will cure me.

[IATTBYB]

I´m waiting for your congratulations,ladies and gentlemen.

Even if your soccer knowledge are far away from the real world,please say thank you to the Spain team,fighting against the worst way to play:the Netherland-kung fu team and their English best supporter (dressed in black).

Good football won,Mourinho lost again

 

If I was a Netherland supporter last night (and I was for years) I felt embarrased:where is the spirit of Cruyff and Neskens,where is the wonderful team of Van Basten and Gullit?

And the answer is :they´re all trying to play football last night,but in the Spanish team.

The Dutch did what they had to do in order to have a chance to win the championship. If Robben chips that first breakaway over Cassilas, they win most likely. Spain was toying with them for the first 15 minutes or so, until the Dutch got physical. Well I would have loved to see a free-flowing game like Germany-Uruguay gave us Saturday, I also knew going into Sunday's game that it would be completely different because the stakes were monumentally more important to both sides.

 

And congratulations to all are VC friends in Spain in winning the WC.

[auctioneer69]

I´m waiting for your congratulations,ladies and gentlemen.

Even if your soccer knowledge are far away from the real world,please say thank you to the Spain team,fighting against the worst way to play:the Netherland-kung fu team and their English best supporter (dressed in black).

Good football won,Mourinho lost again

 

If I was a Netherland supporter last night (and I was for years) I felt embarrased:where is the spirit of Cruyff and Neskens,where is the wonderful team of Van Basten and Gullit?

And the answer is :they´re all trying to play football last night,but in the Spanish team.

 

Well played to Spain the whole tournament. With the honourable exception of Chile every team played very negatively against them. Even the fantastic Germans could barely get out of their own half in the semi-final. I would have had a bitter taste in my mouth had the Dutch performance merited a victory yesterday. Having an English ref they took a calculated gamble to play the dirtiest 45 minutes I have ever seen in a World Cup Final. It started with Van Persie's assault on Capdevilla in the first ten minutes, and was followed by shocking challenges by Van Bommell on Iniesta, De Young on Alonso and Sneidjer on Busquetes. A better and less cowardly ref would have reduced Holland to 9 or 10 men by half-time. The Dutch have long ago sullied their once glorious football reputation and after this and their game against Portugal in the last World Cup they resemble a cynical South American team of old. A couple of calls went against the Dutch in extra-time but their over-physical performance deserved nothing. A couple of additional points: Van Persie to me had a terrible World Cup and yesterday he added nothing to the Dutch attack. His Arsenal team-mate Fabregas was the key substitute for Spain and after his shot which was well-saved by the Dutch goal-keeper and his pass that led to the only goal of the game, it's hard to see why won't be an automatic first-choice from now on. Congratulations to South Africa for hosting a great World Cup which to me was definitely better than 2006 and arguably better than 2002.

[theashtraysays]

I´m waiting for your congratulations,ladies and gentlemen.

Even if your soccer knowledge are far away from the real world,please say thank you to the Spain team,fighting against the worst way to play:the Netherland-kung fu team and their English best supporter (dressed in black).

Good football won,Mourinho lost again

 

If I was a Netherland supporter last night (and I was for years) I felt embarrased:where is the spirit of Cruyff and Neskens,where is the wonderful team of Van Basten and Gullit?

And the answer is :they´re all trying to play football last night,but in the Spanish team.

 

 

Yes dear, congratulations. A great team, if not a great match!

[bjorn_skurj]

I´m waiting for your congratulations,ladies and gentlemen.

Even if your soccer knowledge are far away from the real world,please say thank you to the Spain team,fighting against the worst way to play:the Netherland-kung fu team and their English best supporter (dressed in black).

Good football won,Mourinho lost again

 

If I was a Netherland supporter last night (and I was for years) I felt embarrased:where is the spirit of Cruyff and Neskens,where is the wonderful team of Van Basten and Gullit?

And the answer is :they´re all trying to play football last night,but in the Spanish team.

Congratulations! That was cute how they got their brand-new jerseys with the star on them at the end. Truly, the better team won Sunday.

[bjorn_skurj]

NEW YORK (AP) -- World Cup television viewership rose 41 percent over four years ago for English-language telecasts in the United States, with Spain's 1-0 overtime victory over the Netherlands setting a record for a men's soccer game.

 

Sunday's game in Johannesburg, which gave the Spanish their first World Cup title, was seen by 15,545,000 viewers on ABC, according to fast national ratings. The previous high was 14,863,000 viewers for the United States' 2-1 overtime loss to Ghana in the second round on June 26.

 

An additional 8,821,000 million viewers watched Spanish-language coverage Sunday on Univision, according to Nielsen Media Research, bringing the total to nearly 24.4 million.

 

ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 averaged a 2.1 rating, 2,288,000 households and 3,261,000 viewers for the 64 World Cup games. The rating was up 31 percent from a 1.6 four years ago, while households increased 32 percent from 1,735,000 and viewers rose from 2,316,000.

 

The increases had been higher while the U.S. remained in the tournament. Through the first 50 games, the rating was up 48 percent, households increased 54 percent and viewers rose 60 percent.

 

"We always expected that the presence of the U.S. team would provide us with these big spikes," John Skipper, ESPN's executive vice president of content, said Monday. "The TV rating is only a little piece of the story. One of every three people watched on something other than the television at their home, either watched in a bar, or on their phone, or in their office on a computer."

 

ESPN paid FIFA $100 million for rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, while Univision spent $325 million. With the next tournament scheduled for Brazil, where most of the host cities are only one hour ahead of EDT, the possibility of some prime-time telecasts could boost ratings again. South Africa is six hours ahead of EDT.

 

FIFA has not yet set 2014 game times.

 

"We do know that we have the advantage of the time zone and we will get prime time games, so we have every confidence that we will see another fairly significant ratings increase in '14," Skipper said.

 

And looking ahead, the 2022 tournament could be in the United States. FIFA's executive committee will vote Dec. 2 on the 2018 and '22 sites, and while the first is expected to go to a European nation, the U.S. is favored for 2022.

 

The only World Cup game with more U.S. English-language viewers than for Spain's win Sunday was the 1999 women's final at the Rose Bowl, when the U.S. beat China, a game seen in 11,307,000 households and by 17,975,000 people.

 

Sunday's match received an 8.1 rating on ABC, up 6 percent from the 7.7 for Italy's penalty-kicks win over France in the 2006 final. This was the fourth-highest rating for a men's World Cup game behind Brazil's penalty-kicks victory over Italy in the 1994 final at the Rose Bowl (9.5), Brazil's second-round victory over the U.S. in 1994 (9.3) and this year's Ghana-U.S. match (8.5).

 

The U.S.-Ghana game narrowly edged the final in households, 9,455,000 to 9,389,000.

 

Miami-Fort Lauderdale finished with the highest average tournament rating on ABC/ESPN at 3.9, followed by New York and Washington (3.6), and San Diego and San Francisco (3.5).

 

Viewership for the final on Univision was up 49 percent from 5,903,000 for 2006. Sunday's game was the third most-watched program on U.S. Spanish-language TV, trailing Argentina's win over Mexico on June 27 (9,405,000) and the finale of the novella "Destilando Amor (Essence of Love)" on Dec. 3, 2007 (9,018,000).

 

Univision averaged 2,624,000 viewers for the tournament, up 17 percent, and 1,625,000 households, an increase of 11 percent.

 

[Sunken mountain]

Thank you,guys

 

I would prefer a better match for our first World Cup Final,maybe next time.

 

PS.- And good job USA team!:see you in four years!

[Winston Legthigh]

I used to read this guy's column quite a bit back in the day.

 

Nice write-up on the final.

[Calexico]

Yes. Did you all see that one play where the Dutch guy kung-fu'd the Spanish guy? DAMN.

 

That's about as apt a description you will get. He just committed GBH on him!

 

 

Shite final and I really can't give a toss about Spain winning because there is so many reprehensible Cheatalona twats in that team. Cesc changed the game for SPain when he came on, again. Then you get Reina, Poodle Head and Pique trying to pull a Cheatalona shirt onto Cesc on live tv. Arseholes.

[bjorn_skurj]

Continuing the Cosmos' tradition of bringing declining stars to New York, the Red Bulls have signed Thierry Henry.

[Sunken mountain]

Continuing the Cosmos' tradition of bringing declining stars to New York, the Red Bulls have signed Thierry Henry.

 

I prevent you:Raúl was in NYC last month

[auctioneer69]

That's about as apt a description you will get. He just committed GBH on him!

 

 

Shite final and I really can't give a toss about Spain winning because there is so many reprehensible Cheatalona twats in that team. Cesc changed the game for SPain when he came on, again. Then you get Reina, Poodle Head and Pique trying to pull a Cheatalona shirt onto Cesc on live tv. Arseholes.

 

Come on. Arsenal pinched Fabregas from Barca when he was a nipper. He grew up in the city and is a Barcelona fan. As much as I'd hate to leave the English game, it's only a matter of time before he goes. It might be better for all concerned to think about how to build a team without him as opposed to pressuring him to stay another year. Also, given Wenger's lack of success recently can you blame the lad for wanting a reasonable chance at winning a domestic championship and Champion League winner's medal? I am not a gooner so maybe shouldn't say this but if Arsenal have another barren season with or without Fabregas maybe Wenger's time at the Emirates should be called.

[Calexico]

He has signed a long term contract, Barcelona are offering a pittance compared to what they have recently payed for players half as good and they are conducting all this "business" in public through the papers which makes them all the more reprehensible.

[Wailin]

Any idea how I can get a DVD of the championship match? I realize the game is available through a webstream, but that won't work for me. My daughter missed the match and wants to see it...

[Winston Legthigh]

Any idea how I can get a DVD of the championship match? I realize the game is available through a webstream, but that won't work for me. My daughter missed the match and wants to see it...

FIFA will put one out eventually. No idea on the timing, but they always do...

[auctioneer69]

He has signed a long term contract, Barcelona are offering a pittance compared to what they have recently payed for players half as good and they are conducting all this "business" in public through the papers which makes them all the more reprehensible.

 

 

Fair points. Looks like Barca are the latest club to discover that they haven't got the proverbial pot to piss so maybe he's going nowhere.

[uncool2pillow]

What a sad, strange little country.