World cup SOCCER

[lawrocket 3]

Quote

I thought it made him look like as much of a pussy as anyone else who dives, just as I thought of anyone on the American or Australia team who took a dive. Diving is giving up. I have no respect for people who give up.

Here's an interesting development. Some group I never heard of, the British office of Information Builders, apparently compiled statistics on their idea of sportsmanship and ranked teams according to several factors.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060707.wwcstudy7/BNStory/World_Cup06/home

Quote

Who's the baddest World Cup team of them all? A software company says Paraguay ranks at the bottom when it comes to misbehaviour at the global soccer tournament.

Staff at the British office of Information Builders (IBI) tracked a string of alternative statistics during Germany 2006, including dives, feigned injuries, referee intimidation and tantrums — even players who didn't sing their national anthem.

According to their findings from watching TV broadcasts of the games, Italy leads in dives (32), France in tantrums (28), Paraguay in fake injuries (12), and Serbia and Montenegro in players not singing the anthem (31).

Croatia, France, Italy and Portugal are tied in bullying the referee incidents with five, although Croatia played half the games (three) than the others did.

To create an even playing field to compare teams, Information Builders devised the "IBI Foul Play Index," which awards points for yellow and red cards, bullying the referee, dives, fake injuries and tantrums. The total is then divided by the number of games played.

Paraguay leads the tournament with a Foul Play Index of 45, followed by Italy (40) and the Netherlands, Ivory Coast and Portugal (37).

France, Italy's opponent in Sunday's final, is tied with Germany, Switzerland and Togo for 14th at 26. England, tied with South Korea, is 19th at 23.

Trinidad and Tobago were the goodie two-shoes of the tournament, according to Information Builders with a Foul Play Index of just 14. Next were Brazil, Costa Rica and Sweden (all 15) and the U.S. (16).

T&T were nailed for just four dives, three tantrums, two fake injuries and three players not singing the anthem.

Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Spain all scored perfect marks in anthem singing.

I thought this to be amusing. Sure, plenty of subjective comes into this.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[murrays 0]

Quote

> I have to say I'm sick of seeing these guys (not just the Italians...although I think they are pretty bad) rolling around on the field like they are dying after light contact
————————————————————————————
OK, my friend, it's pretty obvious that you are NOT keen on soccer.
Let's state it clear: yes, it's true that 50% of players moaning on the ground they are "acting" hoping" to get a free kick/penalty from referee.
The other 50% of players moaning are really hurt.

I have no problem with somebody who is actually hurt laying there...but if you say half of them are faking they should be getting yellow cards...they'd get up without the dramatics when they aren't hurt if the referees started doing it consistently.

Not keen on soccer....I watched my first World Cup Games in 1998...did nothing for me. In 2002 I had a neighbour from Nigeria that explained the game to me and I enjoyed it a lot more. This year I was really looking forward to watching but as it went on I thought the diving was terrible...followed only by the officiating...the calls and none-calls were pretty bad. I've tried to get interested in a sport that most North Americans don't watch but I have to say that this year will likely be the last World Cup for me.

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[masterblaster72 0]

Quote

Congrats to the Italians. I'll state that the dive by Malouda was pretty flagrant. It was brutal. And I can't help but think that the ref decided to look the other way on the pretty obvious penalty on Henry in the box.

I actually thought the game was great, and I believe that the French decided ultimately to use Italy's strength against it. Italy's defense swarms. France used ball control. It was pretty obvious toward the end of regulation that the Italians were getting spent. It was then that I saw more dives but I didn't have a problem with those - those players on both sides were bloody tired. 10 seconds on the ground could be a needed rest. if you can draw a foul for it, even better.

So, ironically, I saw some dives that I didn't mind. I understood them as actually serving a legitimate purpose to give some rest.

The French seemed to pretty much dominate. Nobody had that many scoring chances against the Italians. Nobody pressured the Italians like that. Nobody bent the Italian defense the way the French bent it.

The Italians did not break. An amazing showing by the team. They bent and didn't break.

Bravo to the Italians.

Zizzou - what the hell were you thinking (or not thinking). Another poster commented that it's out of character for him to do something like that. Well, it "has been" out of his character recently, but he wasn't exactly a saint. I believe he was booted for a nasty kick against an arabian team in the 1998 World Cup.

I'd like to send an Azzurri jersey to your dropzone for you to pick up. Do you make it out to your dropzone often?

Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

[murrays 0]

After reading [url="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=395046&in_page_id=1770"]this[/url] I wish Zidane had taken out some teeth and broken an Italian nose with that headbutt.

Zidane's mother was very ill in the hospital on Sunday and the Italian calling him "a son of a terrorist whore" as well as other racial slurs.... a mother who struggled desperately to raise 5 kids in poverty stricken circumstances...no wonder he finally lost it.

Good for Zidane!

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[benforde 0]

Quote

After reading [url="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=395046&in_page_id=1770"]this[/url] I wish Zidane had taken out some teeth and broken an Italian nose with that headbutt.

Zidane's mother was very ill in the hospital on Sunday and the Italian calling him "a son of a terrorist whore" as well as other racial slurs.... a mother who struggled desperately to raise 5 kids in poverty stricken circumstances...no wonder he finally lost it.

Good for Zidane!

ditto

[base689 0]

> Zidane's mother was very ill in the hospital on Sunday and the Italian calling him "a son of a terrorist whore" as well as other racial slurs....
————————————————————————————
My friend, please, don't swallow all the bullshit newspapers say.... Only Materazzi and Zidane know what they said to each other. There are NO official news about what Materazzi said to Zidane. According to islamic web site, Materazzi is going to be killed and similar stuff.
Let's wait for official news (if official news will ever come to light).
In any case, there is no fucking excuse to give a head hit in the middle of the chest of another player during a match while the attention of other players and referee is somewhere else.

Stay safe out there
Blue Skies and Soft Walls
BASE #689 - base_689AT_NO_123_SPAMyahoo.com

[piisfish 140]

just write what Materrazzi said to Zidane
www.headnut-zizou.de.vu

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[masterblaster72 0]

Quote

just write what Materrazzi said to Zidane
www.headnut-zizou.de.vu

Kinda like this game.

Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.