World Cup Final

The World Cup final is over; some ludicrous number of people watched some team beat the other team. The next tournament will be held in Germany in 2006. If you haven't watched the game for whatever reason, obviously you might want to avoid clicking through (or reading any other news site, or talking to anyone...). Neither of those two links should be a spoiler, though.

And for those that did click through, the final standings are up, as are lots and lots of reports about the game.

Comments

soccer?

[miffo.swe]

A bunch of grown ups hugging and kissing every time someone kicks the leather into the goal? Id rather have hot grits in my pants than too se that. Besides, until theres an engine in the ball its no real sport. Real sports says wrooom!

does that work both ways?

[gimpboy]

would it be ok if the germans gathered in a circle cursing god and jesus for their loss? i mean heck if you credit god for brasil's win, do you also give the big G credit for germany's loss? does it work out more like this:

good event = praise god.
bad event = the lord works in mysterious ways.

to me it's an all or nothing thing.

bah!

[jedie]

There are many resons why I think the worldcup is a bad thing that should be stopped:

1- the money: the amount of money that is poured into the WC is ridiculous. Just consider the ad campaigns Adidas and Nike launched for the WC, and try to visualise this on a global scale. That money alone could rebuild a third-world country. Keep other stuff in mind: stadiums had to be built, little leaflets had to be printed (millions and millions of them), the teams had to be flewn over (they were luxurously accomodated), the refferees had to be payed, etc. etc.
I don't know about the rest of the teams but all the Korean players got 40 million euros _each_ (not from FIFA) for reaching the 4th place.
In short, we are talking about massive sums of money, billions of euros/dollars... that's decadent. This money could be used for somthing far more better to the benefit of mankind.

2- Bread and games: if you keep the mass satisfied with useless stuff such as this, they turn into plants and stop thinking. "Couch-soccering" is mindnumbing and should be made illegal.
Can someone please explain to me why there are people who know everything about soccer (I mean EVERYTHING, they'll tell you who scored a goal in what game and what year, and give background info on the player) and yet they fail to read a decent book?
Again... decadent.

3- "fair play" and "sportsmanship": I have one thing to say on that: "HAHA!". There is no such thing as fairplay in the WC, everybody can clearly see that players just pretend to be hurt and throw themselves on the grass. And I'm not talking about the shirt-pulling and the nasty blows in the backs.
On this subject: let's not forget about the Hooligans.
International soccer and WC is all about winning and money (or fame or women or drugs... whatever...)

in short: BAN the FIFA WC!

jedie's list of other stuff to ban:

• "Eurovision songfestival" and any other songfestival without any form of talent but lots of spectacle.
• All forms of professional sports.
• sport channels and news(who the hell came up with a stupid idea like that? a channel dedciated to sport?)
• reruns of scoobydoo

Flame on!

Are there drug tests?

[WildBeast]

I watched a few games, and some players seem out of this world. They don't seem to get tired, they keep running as if the game has just started. So, my question is; is there any drug tests that are performed on the players?

We all remember Maradona, don't we?

Why soccer is a bad game

[Reality Master 101]

Yes, I'm an American. Yes, I hate soccer. But I like other sports. The problem with Europeans talking about the "Beautiful Game" is that they have so little exposure to other sports. In the US, we are literally saturated with sports.

Here is the fundamental problem with soccer: the offense/defense balance is completely out of whack. In any good sport, you have a balance between the offense and defense. Soccer is HUGELY biased towards the defense. It's not that "defensive battles" are always bad. In baseball, you can have pitcher duels that are extremely compelling. But in soccer, having an "offensive duel" is a huge joke. A good goalie will beat a good offensive player EVERY TIME. The goalie has way too much of an advantage.

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with the concept of soccer. But it desperately needs to be fixed. Widening the goal posts would be a great start.

Now, I understand the world's "passion" for the sport. If that's the only sport you have and it's all you grew up with, then it's not surprising that you would be into the game. But there's a reason that kids in the US all grow up playing soccer, and then abandon it as soon as they are physically able to play other sports.

Re:Why soccer is a bad game

[Reality Master 101]

The whole world (minus you) thinks it's great.

"The whole world"?? I guess you missed this little part of North America called "The United States". The point is that only countries with few other options think it's great.

Do you REALLY think that you have some special insight that 1.5 billion people have missed? No you don't, so keep it shut.

As a matter of fact, I do, as I explained. Am I supposed to care what 1.5 billion people think who have few other sport options? That would be a big, fat NO. Just as I don't care what 4 billion people around the world think of the US who don't live here (not to say that ANY foreign opinion is worthless, only the vast majority).

Typical soccer fan. Criticize their sport, and they go off the deep end.

Re:Who cares?

[phunhippy]

Stop calling football "soccer", and start calling the sport that you guys play but no-one else does "American football", which is a far more accurate term for it.

You have to face it on this one - both history and worldwide usage are not on your side. :-)

Perhaps.. but your missing one key important detail about America here.... We ARE NUMBER 1!!! WE ARE NUMBER 1!!! WE ARE NUMBER 1!!!