2006 FIFA World Cup

[jessexy]

Ok - Unlike another member of my coaching staff, I'm not a soccer afficionado.

So, help me out - does this new ball that addidas rolled out really make that much difference in the game?

Rob

the goalkeepers are saying that they cant see it, which means that it doesnt spin and they cant gauge how its going to end up when it gets to the goal. the players have said that the ball flies so true that they can hit the spot they are trying to from up to 40 yards (they dont have to over correct for wind or anything). the ball has no seems to weave the panels together. it is made as one piece so the ball flies thru the air smoother than ever. its kinda like a bowling ball that slides down the lane with no spin on it until it reaches the pins.

Wasn't T&T's goalie second string? He played out of his mind. I loved seeing how excited T&T and their fans were for a draw, and the shot of the Sweden fan with his head in his hands at the end was priceless.

Shaka Hislop was T&T's backup because he is 37 years old. he is the starter for West Ham in the EPL, though, and is still a very good keeper.


Todays game was horrible. the US midfield was considerably below par...and that was supposed to be our strongest area. of the 4 midelfielders, only Reyna played like he was ready. Mastroeni was nowhere to be found and Convey and Beasley just didnt attack with any balls. Keller had no chance on any of the goals (a header from 4 yds, and 30 yard swerver into the side netting, and 1v1 with the best player on the Czech team).

Bruce deserves some blame for having the wrong players there to start. O'Brien and EJ were much better in the 2nd half and i bet they start in game 2, with Convey going to the bench, Beasley going back left and Donovan dropping back to right midfield. Italy will be a HUGE test on Saturday and im afriad the US wont be up to it.

If you were amazed by Nedved and Rosicky (im excited for Arsenal after watching this guy today), wait until Nesta, Totti, Camornesi, Pirlo, and Del Piero get a hold of them.

[JosueSays]

The US just wasn't attacking enough. They rarely went one on one against the Czech's and they were INCREDIBLY slow on offense. And since they couldn't produce much of an attack they should have at least taken more outside shots in the hopes of scoring a goal. I mean, you'd think that they'd give up just lobbing the ball after the billioneth time that it FAILED (the passes/crosses were also terrible). If you dont have the height or speed advantage, play the ball low not high! IT was just a very frustrating game, and for the sake of the US, i hope they play a lot better against Italy on Saturday.

Anyway, so being from Spain i'm pretty excited about the game tomorrow against the Ukraine... The team is young but we have a lot of good goal scorers and technically solid players (something that spain has always excelled at). Hopefully this game will be the beginning of World Cup that does not end in disappointment for us (in 2002, I think Spain could have easily defeated Germany to go on to the finals... Those two legitimate goals that were disallowed against South Korea, one being a golden goal, will hopefully not happen again this year).

[Brent Burns]

Revisiting the Australia-Japan game, what's remarkable was that the Aussies were given 4 cautions (yellow cards) and the Japanese were given 3 yellow cards. Altogether, Australia had 22 fouls and Japan had 11 fouls. It sounds like it was a very physical game although soccer is always physical. Anyway, the Socceroos despite 4 yellow cards and 22 fouls still won the game by, I guess, being aggressive and attacking. The US, on the other hand from what others have seen on TV today, was not aggressive and attacking.

Was Gooch (US) close to being red-carded? I see that he was given a yellow card, but he also was whistled for about 3 or 4 fouls, didn't he?

[dubbs11]

If you were amazed by Nedved and Rosicky (im excited for Arsenal after watching this guy today), wait until Nesta, Totti, Camornesi, Pirlo, and Del Piero get a hold of them.

I attended a Roma v. Juventus game last December, and watching both Del Piero and Totti on the field was amazing. I would be surprised if the U.S. didn't lose to the Azzurri by a similar score as the Czech Republic match.

[Lax_Stats]

Ya know, if lacrosse players faked getting hurt as much as soccer players we would have to stop play after every slap check or any body contact.

Why do you think the "dive rule" 6-6-U was added to the rule book?!?!

[Lax_Stats]

Ok - Unlike another member of my coaching staff, I'm not a soccer afficionado.

So, help me out - does this new ball that addidas rolled out really make that much difference in the game?

Rob

the goalkeepers are saying that they cant see it, which means that it doesn't spin and they cant gauge how its going to end up when it gets to the goal. the players have said that the ball flies so true that they can hit the spot they are trying to from up to 40 yards (they don't have to over correct for wind or anything). the ball has no seems to weave the panels together. it is made as one piece so the ball flies thru the air smoother than ever. its kinda like a bowling ball that slides down the lane with no spin on it until it reaches the pins.

From the shots I have seen so far, the ball seems to be flying pretty straight and true. The only shots I have really seen so far with the traditional "banana" bend came off the foot of David Beckham from England who is well known for putting an incredible bend on his shots and passes. If you watch the shots closely being taken by most players, you will pretty much be able to clearly see the writing as well as the design on the ball as the shots are almost "knuckling" on their way to the goal.

[Lax_Stats]

The Aussie comeback today was absolutely amazing!! I wonder if any team before has ever come back and scored 3 goals in 8 minutes in the world cup?!?!

[UofMLaxGoalie11]

Ok - Unlike another member of my coaching staff, I'm not a soccer afficionado.

So, help me out - does this new ball that addidas rolled out really make that much difference in the game?

Rob

the goalkeepers are saying that they cant see it, which means that it doesn't spin and they cant gauge how its going to end up when it gets to the goal. the players have said that the ball flies so true that they can hit the spot they are trying to from up to 40 yards (they don't have to over correct for wind or anything). the ball has no seems to weave the panels together. it is made as one piece so the ball flies thru the air smoother than ever. its kinda like a bowling ball that slides down the lane with no spin on it until it reaches the pins.

From the shots I have seen so far, the ball seems to be flying pretty straight and true. The only shots I have really seen so far with the traditional "banana" bend came off the foot of David Beckham from England who is well known for putting an incredible bend on his shots and passes. If you watch the shots closely being taken by most players, you will pretty much be able to clearly see the writing as well as the design on the ball as the shots are almost "knuckling" on their way to the goal.

If im not mistaken, divits are put on the golf balls to actually make them fly better. Im not sure how making the ball smoother is going to help. But I do think its cool how the balls are rolling then once they get kicked they just kinda float their way along.

[jessexy]

Ok - Unlike another member of my coaching staff, I'm not a soccer afficionado.

So, help me out - does this new ball that addidas rolled out really make that much difference in the game?

Rob

the goalkeepers are saying that they cant see it, which means that it doesn't spin and they cant gauge how its going to end up when it gets to the goal. the players have said that the ball flies so true that they can hit the spot they are trying to from up to 40 yards (they don't have to over correct for wind or anything). the ball has no seems to weave the panels together. it is made as one piece so the ball flies thru the air smoother than ever. its kinda like a bowling ball that slides down the lane with no spin on it until it reaches the pins.

From the shots I have seen so far, the ball seems to be flying pretty straight and true. The only shots I have really seen so far with the traditional "banana" bend came off the foot of David Beckham from England who is well known for putting an incredible bend on his shots and passes. If you watch the shots closely being taken by most players, you will pretty much be able to clearly see the writing as well as the design on the ball as the shots are almost "knuckling" on their way to the goal.

If im not mistaken, divits are put on the golf balls to actually make them fly better. Im not sure how making the ball smoother is going to help. But I do think its cool how the balls are rolling then once they get kicked they just kinda float their way along.

the way that the balls "float" makes them harder to judge by the goalkeepers. Usually, you can see the rotation on the ball while they are spinning and curving (doing the banana), but these balls are curving (banana) while they are not spinning. That goal that Rosicky scored against the US had plenty of bend on it and nobody could tell until it was in the back of the net. and the goal that Frings hit for Germany from 40 yards and Lahm hit for Germany into the top corner (Germany 4-2 ove Costa Rica) both had a ton of movement on them but the ball did not spin at all. its almost like the seamless ball is cutting through the air.

[Rob Graff]

Jess and others - thanks for the ball explanation.

Also - for USA soccer fans, it could be worse - you could be fans of France.

[Brent Burns]

Also - for USA soccer fans, it could be worse - you could be fans of France.

I would never forget the dazzling and dizzying display of Zinedine Zidane during the 1998 World Cup in France.

[Rob Graff]

Brent - true, and that may be sufficient

But as of today, France hasn't scored a World Cup Goal since ....

[cjwilhelmi]

I was watching the Brazil game just now and one of the announcers was saying that Croatia only had one sub left. What are the rules on subs?

[Brent Burns]

Brent - true, and that may be sufficient

But as of today, France hasn't scored a World Cup Goal since ....

I am sure jessexy will fill that blank. I find it interesting that both teams, France and Switzerland kept saying that they have played to draws several times. Both teams actually said that they were satisfied with the tie. Hmmm..... However, one guy from France DID say that he would have loved to have 3 points whereas another guy from Suisse remarked that he was inspired by seeing sea of red in the stadium.

Recap:

South Korea 2 Togo 1
France 0 Switzerland 0
Brasil 1 Croatia 0

At the Yahoo!'s FIFA World Cup site, you can click on "Fan of the Match." Each fan would be rated.

Looking forward to Jessexy's excellent commentary on the soccer games.

[StrykerFSU]

Each side only gets 3 subs per match. If you use all of your subs and then have an injured player, then you must play down a man.