World Cup 2010 official thread

#2,727
#2,727
bleedorange0037 said:
Who would you give the award to for biggest disappointment?

The 3 most hyped players going into the WC were without a doubt Rooney, Messi and Christiano Ronaldo. They all disappointed on some level. Messi to a large extent because he was constantly blanketed by the other teams defenders. He got his touches and shots, but just never put one in the back of the net. At least Christiano Ronaldo scored a goal, but so did almost everyone else for Portugal that day.

I'll give it to Rooney simply because I wouldn't have known the difference if he never saw the field. He literally made no impact for England in any of their games.
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I will agree with you and say Rooney. Early in the season, people were saying he was the best player in the world. I would argue that he had just as much of an impact in this tournament as Altidore, an average player. He doesn't look to get involved enough.

Messi was a disappointment if you look at the scoresheet. IMO, after watching every Argentina game, he certainly didn't show out but I wouldn't say he was a disappointment. He created tons of opportunities in the group stage but tapered off in the knockout stage.
 
#2,729
#2,729
After watching that final game, I'd rather go back to not understanding soccer. The ref and floppers ruined that game. I'm a fan of Holland, but when De Jong kicked the Spanish player he should have been sent off. Some of the yellows were undeserved. FIFA said the reffing had been great... no way.
 
#2,730
#2,730
volball625 said:
And that's exactly what the Dutch wanted.
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Just curious, but what's with this holier-than-thou attitude you have with regards to Spanish soccer? I know you like them, but give me a break. You did it after the Germany game too, saying they didn't try to score so they didn't deserve to win. It seems you think that Spain plays some great attacking brand of soccer, but in reality, nothing could be farther from the truth. In seven total games, they scored more than one goal just twice. No one has ever won a WC and scored fewer goals than this team. They don't really attack as much as just pass the ball around and try to hold it the whole game, then let chances come if they do. Holland did the only thing they could to combat this tactic by trying to forcefully get the ball from them. In the end it didn't work out. Not trying to pick any kind of a fight, at the end of the day Spain deserved to win, but mainly because of the amazing job they did of keeping opponents off the board. Not conceding a goal in the entire knockout stage is incredible.
 
#2,731
#2,731
bleedorange0037 said:
Just curious, but what's with this holier-than-thou attitude you have with regards to Spanish soccer? I know you like them, but give me a break. You did it after the Germany game too, saying they didn't try to score so they didn't deserve to win. It seems you think that Spain plays some great attacking brand of soccer, but in reality, nothing could be farther from the truth. In seven total games, they scored more than one goal just twice. No one has ever won a WC and scored fewer goals than this team. They don't really attack as much as just pass the ball around and try to hold it the whole game, then let chances come if they do. Holland did the only thing they could to combat this tactic by trying to forcefully get the ball from them. In the end it didn't work out. Not trying to pick any kind of a fight, at the end of the day Spain deserved to win, but mainly because of the amazing job they did of keeping opponents off the board. Not conceding a goal in the entire knockout stage is incredible.
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Throughout this World Cup, team after team attacked Spain in the exact same manner as teams do against Barcelona. Sit ten men behind the ball and look to get some miraculous counter with the lone forward. If you play like that, you have no business winning games. I can understand if you are Switzerland because you are clearly outmatched. It ended up miraculously working for them. The Germans, it backfired and made them look silly in the process. With their attacking firepower, you don't neuter that with sitting 10 men behind the ball.

Please don't give me this Spain is not a good attacking team. When a team defends with ten players behind the ball, it's hard to score. That's why Spain didn't score many goals. It's stupid to sit here and say they don't attack well. It really is. If a team defends like that, you have to be patient and take your chances well (something Spain did not do well). You say they just pass the ball around meaningless. That's because they have to move the ball so much to find small breakdowns in the defense. And even if you do find a small breakdown, you have to take your chances quickly and efficiently. Otherwise, you will get swarmed by the other nine guys surrounding you.

Their defense hasn't really been that good. Netherlands had some cheap chances today against a shaky middle with Pique and Puyol. They don't concede goals because they have Casillas and the other team hardly ever attempts to attack. The Dutch were the only team that really defended them differently. They tried to rough up the midfield to disrupt play, which ended up costing them with all the yellows.
 
#2,732
#2,732
Ratings are in...

Initial ratings for Sunday's World Cup final in which Spain defeated the Netherlands 1-0 in overtime appeared to be flat compared with the 2006 tournament, ESPN officials said Monday, though other figures indicate that more people may have been tuned in.

Sunday's pre-game activities and match on ABC and ESPN scored an 8.6 rating among the nation's top 56 "metered" markets, exactly the same rating that the final in which Italy defeated France on July 9, 2006, according to ESPN spokesman Bill Hofheimer. The ratings figure is the percentage of households watching the match.

The match itself, which ran from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. EDT, posted a 9.9 rating, Hofheimer said, but comparable figures for the 2006 match were not available. "Fast national" ratings, an indication of the entire country's viewership, are expected to be available later Monday.
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The identical metered market ratings come despite a jump in overall ratings for the tournament. The three Walt Disney Co. (DIS) networks broadcasting the games -- ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 -- averaged a 1.9 rating for the first 62 World Cup matches, or all games up through the semifinals. The figures don't include Sunday's final or Saturday's third-place match in which Germany defeated Uruguay, 3-2.

Those ratings are up from 1.4 through the same point in 2006, an increase of 36%. And while the metered ratings for Sunday were identical with four years ago, statistics show there likely were more households overall that were tuned into the contest.

ESPN figures show that the average numbers of households tuned in for the first 62 games of the month-long tournament was up by a greater percentage, 41%, with 2,227,000 against the 1,575,000 from 2006. The number of total viewers was up 45%, to 2,984,000 from 2,057,000.
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Initial Ratings In US For World Cup Final Flat - WSJ.com
 
#2,733
#2,733
Quite a few viewers.

A global TV audience of more than 700 million watched yesterday's World Cup final, according to the tournament's organizers.

TV deals were signed allowing every country in the world to watch the Netherlands play Spain, according to FIFA's Head of Television Niclas Ericson.

"We think [Sunday's match] will be bigger than the 2006 World Cup final, which was, I believe, around 700 million," Ericson said.

Preliminary ratings are due out later today. The 700-million figure was a prediction based on past games.

If the World Cup final meets predictions, it will beat the estimated 600 million viewers for the opening ceremony at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which was the biggest event in recent years.

"I think this is the first time anyone has succeeded in more or less placing the rights in every territory," Ericson said.

In some countries, rights sold to more than one network -- meaning games are shown on nearly every channel at the same time, like presidential speeches here.

FIFA reported that ratings in the US rose 50 percent from the 2006 tournament.

Read more: 700 million watched the World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands - NYPOST.com
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#2,734
#2,734
Out of curiosity, anyone know how many of those 600 million viewers for the Beijing opening ceremony were Chinese?
 
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