Oh my goodness. I finally have the opportunity to do a post for the World Cup posts within Sidepodcast - awesome! I myself am a football fan but the great thing about the World Cup is that you learn so much you didn't know before, like this stat - did you know that the Jinglgjonljelly ball being used for the World Cup is round? It's causing many arguments because it's a ball doing ball-esque things. Fabio Capello called it the 'worst ball he has ever seen' - take that Jellybanana Ball! He hasn't played with my old year 10 team I did in school, clearly. I for one am outraged it is a ball being a ball. Rugby never has this problem. Anyways, I digress, there is another big World Cup day to concentrate on.
Just one more thing...
Before I go into the main World Cup stuff for today, I thought it would be nice to let you know a bit more about being a Welsh football fan watching the World Cup. You see, Wales have a startling history with the World Cup. Oh yes. We first qualified for our first World Cup back in 1958, back when the world was always black and white and a young fellow called Elvis was storming the charts. Didn't qualify for a World Cup did you, Elvis? Bet he could though.
In 1958 Wales actually had a good team with one of the finest British players to grace the soils of football in John Charles. For me, Charles was the greatest Welsh player there ever was and I'm glad he got the chance to compete in the tournament whereas the likes of Ian Rush, Ryan Giggs, Neville Southall and other Welsh legends didn't. We did alright though in 1958 - got through to the Quarter Finals actually! Stop laughing back there. The problem is, we played the likes of Pele and Garrincha, a team made of Brazilian legends who beat us unfortunate Welsh 1-0.
...aaand that's where our World Cup history ends. As we have not qualified since. Not even close, I'm afraid. See, we're a funny old country Wales. Every few years in Rugby we do amazingly, and then we do ok, then amazing and so on. But in football, we seem to be consistently rubbish. The good thing about being a Welsh football fan is that we embrace our awfulness, and a victory is much celebrated but a loss is expectedly the outcome. I do hope we can qualify again one day, when cars fill the sky and we're all drinking invisible orange juice whilst having Greggs delivered to our homes. But that is Wales, and this is a World Cup about a bajillion miles away, so let's get back to South Africa.
Yesterday, all my shots seemed so far away...
...unless your name is Diego Forlan of course.
The first of yesterday's games saw a generic 1-0 win for Chile as they beat the mighty, uh, Honduras. That was a bit of a boring game for me, not too bad but it was another World Cup game that was a typically generic game and a bit scrappy. Like getting a piece of toast but spreading butter too hard and breaking the bread - you can't go back now, but you should enjoy what you have to put up with.
The second of yesterday's games is so far the shock of the tournament without a doubt. Switzerland 1-0 Spain. Yes, that was not a typo, I am not silly, Switzerland beat current European champions Spain. Oh the madness, oh the shame of it all! Oh how I love football when this happens. Former Man City striker Gelson Fernandes got the winner for Spain in a pretty good game that came to life in the second half once Switzerland had scored. Spain attacked and attacked, bringing on Fernando Torres and Jesus Navas, but it was not to be. The dire performance from Gerard 'I used to play for Manchester United's bench' Pique and Carlos 'I ran over Lukeh's foot 6 years ago in my car' Puyol in central defence was paramount for Spain's loss personally. C'est la vie, as B*witched once said.
Finally, we had Uruguay and South Africa fight it out under the floodlights that can only be described as Diego Forlan vs South Africa because he was the man that led to the 3-0 thrashing for Uruguay. He was simply outstanding for Uruguay and scored two of the team's three goals. Several years ago Forlan left Man Utd ridiculed by many because he didn't seem good enough - then went onto be one of Europe's most prolific strikers. Yesterday proved why, and I'm delighted that he's showing how good he is.
And now, onto today's games
Finally we get to today's matches. I'm sorry if this has been a bit long winded but there's just so much I wanted to get packed into today's World Cup post and stuff to discuss with you guys! Nevertheless, here are the three games that make up today's schedule that I hope you shall be tuning into:
- Argentina vs South Korea - 12:30 BST - ITV
- Greece vs Nigeria - 15:00 BST - BBC
- France vs Mexico - 19:30 BST - BBC
Three pretty good games there if you ask me! Not that you did, but I thought I'd answer anyway because it seemed right in this kind of thing. All three games have me wondering the possibilties and stuff to watch out for in them...
- Can Messi, Higuain, Tevez and co. get many past a resiliant South Korean team or will the mighty Park Ji Sung lead his merry men of Korea into a shocking win?
- Will Greece make up for a disappointing opening loss for the tournament or will Nigeria make up for their loss to Argentina?
- Will France actually bother turning up tonight after a seriously rubbish opening game or will Mexico come out and get their first win of the tournament?
Make sure you tune in guys, because sadly I won't be able to join you today. I'll be there in spirit! I'm thinking Argentina 1-1 South Korea, Greece 1-2 Nigeria, France 2-2 Mexico but we shall see! Wales would beat them all anyways. We don't need to qualify for a World Cup to prove we're the best team in the world anyways.
Ahem.
Yay for great football posts! Thanks Lukeh!
btw, was browsing websites and just thought I should share this. And no, it is not for Schumi. :P It is from a very funny German football pundit's blog here.
Trying to beat Brazil back then was trying to beat 5 Goliaths with a stick and a sense of blind optimism. And at least you made it out of the group stages, exactly 1 more time than Scotland ever have...
I listened to 5Live for the Chile v Honduras match, it sounded like game of the tournament there, both teams offering attacking football. I heart the Chile formation of 3-3-1-3, just bloomin attackingly awesome.
Game of the tournament has to be a German one. :P
But 3-3-1-3 is really inventive and sounds fun. Will be trying it out on FIFA manager... ;)
I'll try it out on Football Manager and inevitably get thrashed 5-0 the next game...
Great Post Lukeh! *Golf Clap*
How did you do the bold headers?
header tags. I am learning :) #minime
Not is you are an Aussie :-(
hello Mr Goat, form now on I also support New Zealand, although they did score the goal few minutes too early, it should have been in opening minutes of their next match ! :-)
This isn't a post, it's an essay!
It's a good one though.
That's the spirit ;)
Did you see the link to the Kiwi-Friendly World Cup Planner earlier? :D
heehee. I repeated Arsenal's 'invincible' run with a defensive Liverpool side, then splurged even more than real life when I became Real Madrid's manager. Before getting booted out before half the season was gone.
Aw. You may get a chance to score more against Ghana. Hopefully. :D
Yep. I had to concentrate
Not holding my breath. We don't seem ton have a great team this time.
In accordance to my new plan of supporting all Asian teams, I am cheering for S. Korea. Are majority of you guys Messi-lovers?
Going down to the coffee shop again. See you guys later!
Enjoy!
Learn to love the vuvuzela with the Vuvuzela Orchestra http://vimeo.com/3854584
"Gerard 'I used to play for Manchester United's bench' Pique"
"C'est la vie, as B*witched once said"
hehe! if i had the money, i'd pay lukeh to write me posts all day :)
The toast bit!
he's spot on.
Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooalll.
Well, own goal.
I just realised this post says "Former Man City striker Gelson Fernandes got the winner for Spain"
#wrongteam
ooh, i have a bit of time to watch this. yay for football.
i see maradonna's been to greggs too.
Who ate all the Paella?
:D
Argentina... are too good.
2-0!!
And make it 2-0.
making it look easy.
ooooooh. this is fun!
Oooo dear
2-1!! Shocker.
WOWOWOO!
Or should I say....Goooooooaaaaaalllllll
where did that come from!?!
terrible defence.
Argentina thinking about their half time oranges
It's like the just walked it in ;)
why is there a green sonic the hedgehog hiding in the tunnel?
:)
Messi to score next at 4-1, the way he's been finishing so far its a bit kind to him.
Half time entertainment? Maybe he rolls around the pitch
That's Zakumi...
:)
Ah that explains it.
Um...........?
Greek Dip?
Watching replays. That was a a great own goal.
Nooooooooo, Sky Sports News is becoming pay per view on freeview which makes me angry.
No Georgie Thompson for you then?
I'm more concerned of not being able to watch Soccer Saturday with Jeff Stelling.
And Kris Kamara!
You know what, its just unbelievable Jeff.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING!!!
So.. I can't see it. How do South Korea compare to their Northern counter-parts?
Is Hey Yoo-Suk playing today or is he on the bench?
nk looked altogether more organised to me. but sk might be able to run faster with the ball.
France are playing today, too. Yay for my team!
Is it 4-1 now???
High scores!
Why was this game on now and not later? :(
according to the wallplanner i printed the other day, it should be..
Brings the goals per game ratio to a slightly healthier 1.83
Intersting stuff, if this game ends up as a draw, Argentina qualify.
Nice to see Papaststhopoulos getting a game
Nigeria goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9SSX_ag2H8&feature=player_embedded
The names of these players are fascinating!
Random fact: John Utaka's younger brother Peter plays for Odense BK (my old town club), but he's a bit Danny Shittu ;)
Red card!!! Nigeria down to 10 men, stupid, stupid, stupid.
What happened!?
The ball went out of play, and Greek player had the ball. And then the Nigerian pushed him and kicked him, uncalled for, no reason to do it. Just, stupid.
Boooo.
And I'm off to my appointment. When I get back I expect the Greeks to have scored.
I'll keep an eye on them for you.
Hi all
Half time Nigeria1 Greece 1
Greece equalised with a dodgy deflected goal after a stupid boy got sent off
Oops.
Steven will keep an eye on them for you.
Awesome 30 seconds. Nigerian defender gives the ball to a Greek player right in front of goal. Great save from the Nigerian keeper and then Nigeria sprint up the park and almost score
I am back. Greece have scored, all is good.
Both should have scored.
If Enyeama does not make the team of the tournament then there is something seriously wrong.
And then goes to make a howler to let Greece take the lead
2-1 to Greece!
Lukeh predicted it but the wrong way round.
Greece win, booooo
The sending turned the match. Stupid boy. What he did was moronic
via @Pressdog:
If you can't get enough vuvuzela, now you can thrill to it while you Web browse! http://www.vuvuzela-time.co.uk/
Back at home. The French are looking very dandy in their suits.
France!
Haha. The Rugby players got booed :)
The referees are back in yellow again. Boo.
I miss the days when the refs wore black...
What's wrong with yellow?
Too close to the French colours
I think the colour change was to stop the song :)
I don't like it. It's too yellow.
They were wearing black when the people with the yellow tops were playing.
You can easily substitute 'black' for 'yellow' in that song though ;)
Me too. Made them look more unassuming and less attention seeking.
Ooh, it's Abu Dhabi again.
Too many sylables in yellow. Besides it is hard to sound venomous when sining yellow
:D
Jan Mølby is being VERY Danish right now...
Does he have the Liverpool accent in Danish?
He sounds very different on Danish TV... but so does Schmeichel ;)
Blimey, there was no one there. He can run fast.
Pass that ball to Vela... ela... ela... eh... eh... eh...
I thought he did 5Live coverage?
What was that? Flag stayed down so Mexico definitely should have scored.
Schumichael? :)
He *is* right now... but TV3+ in Denmark have him as a pundit too...
Blah. My television just went black. :(
France need to practice on their back passing technique
Can't take your eyes off it for a second. Blink and the other team have snatched the ball.
That French shirt is ridiculous. It looks like they have strips of black duct tape on the back
oh no. Does that mean i've just missed a goal or something?
Nope. No one appears to be able to hold on to the ball long enough.
Singing, is that, singing?! Is that...allowed?
It's beautiful!
Oh how I missed thee...
Aw I missed it when I was putting my shopping away.
thank god for small favours. Coverage is back.
The French defending has been terrible
Aww, look at them with their little blanket.
The French subs have tartan rugs over their knees. Never seen that anywhere before. Not even games in the Russian winter
It's a bit weird they chose a country with such cold weather to host it...
Not the first time the French have embraced the tartan, is it? ;)
They had it in England once
FIFA forgot it is winter south of the equator?
There has been the odd minor contact in the past
You looked outside today?
:D
Not in England
Was that Darth Vader doing the voiceover?
No but heat is definitely not lacking. It's too hot for me :(
That would be good for the boring matches... one by one a player would find himself short of air
And to cure that you are going to Dubai?
Whenever the French people, uh, cross it (is that right?) there's no one there to catch it.
I do believe they are supposed to head it.
I'm going to bring a parasol. I'm sure that will solve everything.
Oh yea. There is someone there to catch it, but they don't want him too.
Catch?....
Unfortunately it's not netball...
No, it's the French. The gameplan is to cross it to Henry who catches it and then guides it onto his feet, remember?
He's not even out there!
I'm sure he'd be happy to lend a helping hand from the bench even :P
That's why they're not winning then! ;)
There is no-one there to catch it and Henry isn't there. Co-incidence?
Do you think the coach will use him as a handy substitution?
How do they decide who's going to throw it on without talking to each other?
I'm only messing. I ♥ Henri
Its usually the left/right backs who take them, depending on which side.
They press 'X' followed by 'O'...
Actually, I like him too - the jokes are just too easy ;)
:D
Did someone give the commentators some coffee? They suddenly started talking a lot.
WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY was the Argentina vs. Korea game on during working hours? This game is tres dull!
Ribery looks like he has had a stud down his face
Paper, scissors, stone?...
That's either Darth or the guy from Robot Wars
It's time they started red carding players for that
Really? This has been good, end to end. Shooting could be better though.
Blatent yellow card... maybe this refeering lark is easy.
Hmm. I'm not getting this world cup, don't know why...
Has Gary been watching a different match? Interesting??
To the player and his team it is well worth taking a yellow card to stop the attack so give them red cards and it will stop. Used to be putting a hand on an opponent was a red card. Football referees are gutless
Maybe he's RG?
Just be the aftereffect of a poor first round of games. We haven't had a game of fewer than 2 goals since the second round.
Red card is given when the attack is through in on goal. This wasn't as Toulalan is not the last defender. I think occasionally you should give the defending side a chance. Toulalan taking one for the team there was good work by him.
Agreed. This 2nd round seems to be yielding much more goals all around.
Yeah I've tried to get into the Cup but have found it a bit boring, disappointing. I'm absolutely sure it'll get better when it starts to matter.
Well in the next three days I will be going somewhere to watch the games, so hopefully I'll start to enjoy it more...
It was definitely good for him to do that but is that how we want football to be? To me once he is beaten the rules should punish him severely iff he cheats. What he did is just the same as a driver who has lost a position punting an opponent off knowing he has a points lead in the championship
Maybe. But the Euros (2008) was hitting the right notes from the start. I think the world cup dilutes quality too much by insisting on all confederations getting almost equal opportunity, while the Euro concentrates it.
Yes but F1 is an individual sport, while football is a team game. I think taking one for the team is in the spirit of the game. Not in the spirit of scoring goals, but definitely shows unity and willingness to sacrifice oneself for the team.
Actually I just thought of a better F1 comparison. Toulalan's foul is like team orders to let your faster team mate pass you to challenge opponents in the lead. Hurts your own chances, but helps the team out.
I just don't see a yellow card as a commensurate penalty. He may be taking one for the team but in all probability he will not suffer any real penalty as a result. Taking a red and risking his position in the team I can see a self sacrifice
He will miss the next match.
Did he have a yellow already? Didn't know
From the previous one. Evra is the other Frenchman on yellow.
Does your captain have to be out on pitch?
Nope, he can be replaced and then someone else becomes captain
He'd normally pass on the captain's band if he was substituted. I guess it's okay if he's just off temporarily for quick treatment or something.
Yes.
Someone on the pitch has to be a captain and wear the armband but you can change the captain as often as you like.
Gotcha.
All the players are giving the ref a lot of argument. I think he needs to start carding them, they'd soon pipe down.
This seems to be the game with all the pre-planned free kicks. I haven't really noticed many in the other games
Ooooh, that was close.
After all that fuss, it was a terrible kick.
x2
I think even I could kick better than that.
#unlikely
I bet you wouldn't have launched it as high as that
Very, very true.
Goal
What a bunch of amateurs....
WHA
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay #sorrymrsc
What was that? Flag down? He was offside!
If those were my defenders, I would have murdered them for that.
Not France's week
Sadly no. I don't think so.
Current group standings with one match per team to go
Mexico 4 points
Uruguay 4
France 1
South Africa 1
I'm with you. They were rubbish!
That's what I thought but I know nothing :)
Really really, shockingly poor!
He wasn't, level with last defender
To be honest, something had to happen in this game....
Rubbish
Why is Henry not playing?
Henry is sulking.
Domenech's in charge
The manager has, as suspected, lost his mind
Well my tv replay complete with shaded pitch to show the defensive line says he was a foot offside. But I admit the angle was quite bad for the linesman who was running to catch up.
We knew that years ago.
France getting shafted by a bad refereeing decisions? Oh sweet irony!
How he kept his job after Euro 2008...
Ours said he was onside, interesting.
Old news :P
No one there for the cross again.
I so sound like I know what I'm talking about. This is ace.
Just think what you will be like by the end of the tournament.
She already knows more than most of the TV pundits ;)
If it stays like this, France won't have won in an international tournament since Zidane's retirement...
"The longer this game has gone on, the worse France has got."
Brilliant.
Dream team
PENALTY!!!
What.a.dive
Penalty. Game over. Goodbye France
Penalty!
Or not, dodgy angle.
A bad tackle too!
Cor, the pressure.
Miss I reckon-
which just says everything doesn't it?
Can I turn off now?
I think he could have stayed on his feet but you've no business sliding in like that when you're in the penalty box. It's asking for it.
2-0
How long was that run up?
Spot on.
Aww. Poor goalie. Penalties are rrrrubbish.
Wow. Normally when you are asked to move the ball it puts you right off. Well done man!
Who's stopping you?
Nahhh, I love em me. The feeling when you save one is fantastic
And the feeling when you don't?
I don't mind. As long as the penalty was definatly a penalty. All the pressure is on the striker, he's expected to score.
No-one really expects you to keep them out so.... It's no lose for a goalie. You can be the hero for saving it but there's no real pressure.
That's not so bad then.
Is there anyone left in this game without a yellow card??
The Referee?
I guess the managers haven't been sent to the stands
SINGING!
Djibril Cisse. He has a haircut you won't miss
I feel sorry for the men dressed as the musketeers! They've come such a long way and their team could hardly be worse...
Yeah it sucks for the French fans...
My Danish colleague told me that a a three-day world cup trip would have costed £3000 each, so a bit of an expensive disappointment :(
Au revoir (almost)
Game over.
I guess the Mexico - Uruguay game is one to miss. Both go through if they draw so it could be one of those where absolutely nothing happens.
Shearer laying into the coach..
He effin well deserves it. So do the FFA for not firing him after Euro 2008.
Easy target but the problem is the players. Christine should be able to coach that team to beat Mexico
He can talk...
I've all but lost my £2 now as well!
:D
In fairness, it's hard to polish a turd.
:D
Awwww the pure joy is so cute though.
FFF actually. French Football Federation. ;)
Pedant! :P
I can't say I'm sorry to see them out since I've wished them a swift exit ever since Samir got dropped from the team. :P
I love France :( Maybe I just love their dream team that doesn't exist anymore though....
Someone who I follow on twitter made a good point:
1998: France won, 2002: France rubbish, 2006: France finalists, 2010: France rubbish.
So, they'll come back good in Brazil 2014.
I would love a team with Samir Nasri, Claude Makelele, Didier Deschamps and Zinedine Zidane in it. So in a way, I love France. But definitely NOT Domenech's France. :P
Before 1998? Rubbish from the mid 70s and before the 70s rubbish for decades
Here's to hoping Samir gets a big part in it. #suchafangirl
So Greece have never scored a goal at the World Cup but somehow they won Euro one...
*had
They had a good defence.
By making Euro04 the dullest tournament EVER.
Greece have never had a good team and I doubt anyone knows how they managed to win that tournament
I guess you score a fluke goal and defend like your life depends on it.
Perhaps there are some Greek Gods afterall
I suppose to be fair to Greece at least they qualified for the tournament. Denmark won the 1990 championship without qualifying for it
:D
Haha :)
Awesome eh? Just like the Danes to do it the laziest way possible ;)
What are the BBC trying to show with all these films?
That they have 20 minutes spare at the end of these night matches that they need to kill?
Why don't they just show longer highlights of the games instead?
Oh God... as it it couldn't get any worse!
What happened?
Danny Baker!
o.O BBC coverage?
But its.. Danny Baker!
Actually he was quite entertaining tonight ... much better than usual!
Okay... Take things easy, the match is over so you can stop watching. ;)
I'm not watching it... catching enough Sky Sports News before it goes.