FIFA 2010 World Cup

[comicshorse]

I don't want France to go out, they're the only time that make me feel OK about England's performance

[Haruki-kun]

*whew* OK, things are looking up.

[Delta]

I don't want France to go out, they're the only time that make me feel OK about England's performance

Oh, how the mighty English have fallen...

[SaintRidley]

You'd be surprised with how hard can it be to say goodbye to Italy. They'll score a goal in a lucky rebound, probably with some player's ass, and advance into the next round.

I remember 2006 quite well, thank you.

[Klose_the_Sith]

And so were the hosts eliminated in the first round. There I was hoping for an 80's sports movie finish and everything

Night cruel, cruel world.

[d13]

Seeing that this is the first time I see my country winning a game at a World Cup, I couldn't be more happy

Too bad SA, though. They deserved the second place. Still, congratulations to any Mexican around here.

Now let's just hope that Argentina wins today, so we don't have to get them out of the Cup this early

[Coplantor]

Seeing that this is the first time I see my country winning a game at a World Cup, I couldn't be more happy

Too bad SA, though. They deserved the second place. Still, congratulations to any Mexican around here.

Now let's just hope that Argentina wins today, so we don't have to get them out of the Cup this early

*High five*

[Kobold-Bard]

SA were tearing France apart for the bit I saw, I feel bad for them

[Calmness]

Well, it seems Mexico got to eat the humble pie. Hopefully it makes them play a little better next time.

[Kobold-Bard]

Is S. Korea vs. Nigeria on tv in the uk? I don't see it.

nvrmnd BBC3 is magic and invisible.

[Killer Angel]

I remember 2006 quite well, thank you.

Italy's big luck when it's needed to pass the first turn, has a looong tradition, since long before 2006, I assure you...

BTW, I imagine Ireland is happy for France?

[dehro]

Italy's big luck when it's needed to pass the first turn, has a looong tradition, since long before 2006, I assure you...

BTW, I imagine Ireland is happy for France?

they didn't do well in the group last time around either..and look how that ended

[Haruki-kun]

Well, it seems Mexico got to eat the humble pie. Hopefully it makes them play a little better next time.

They'd better.

I seem to notice a trend in my team's playing style. They only play well when the game is a life or death situation.

[Telonius]

Too bad the hosts didn't advance. At least they went out with a win!

[Tirian]

I seem to notice a trend in my team's playing style. They only play well when the game is a life or death situation.

But it was a life or death situation, wasn't it? They wouldn't have advanced if the South Africans had scored one extra goal.

[Coplantor]

Actually, SA should've scored two extra goals and Uruguay another one.

[skywalker]

In baseball, there's no benefit to acting injured when you're not. You can't get somebody called out by writhing on the ground, and you won't score the run by exaggerating your collision with the catcher at the plate. But over the years, you have seen spit balls, corked bats, steroids, and all number of things that are looked upon as providing a competitive advantage. Anything To Win.

Actually, you do see guys acting like they've been hit by a ptich, etc, etc. But, as Telonius said, when you do see people cheating/getting an unfair advantage, they often get something back (a ball in the backside, usually) shortly thereafter.

And in hockey, the act of laying someone out on the ice has been raised to the level of a fine art. You defend by smashing someone into the wall, and you get broken defensively when you don't back up fast enough to cover the play. Since there's no reward for playing like a sissy, you start to develop a culture of tough guy attitude around these games, to the point where people with concussions lie about how they're feeling to get put back into the game, and you're considered a softie and a laughing stock if you don't pull out your own half broken tooth in the middle of the play or get back out onto the field with a cast over your arm (and why didn't you insist on just a brace so you could have better control of your fingers?).

Again, not totally true, diving is extremely frowned upon in the NHL, and it does happen. You see guys who, just as in soccer, feel contact and go down. As in soccer, you get a lot of jockeying and not-strictly-legal stuff going on, and you see some guys trying to take advantage, and some guys diving, and they force the refs to decide whether it was a light tap and then a dive, or a vicious cross-check in the back. But guys who do that too often get blasted in the press, or are consigned to being "one of those wimpy Euros."

As we see more and more suspensions being handed out in hockey for incidents that lead to injury, we may get some taste of this.

In basketball? Lots of benefit to flopping, and it plagues the NBA like crazy. It's not quite the same situation as in soccer, because a foul doesn't mean quite as much, so if you get the other guy fed up with you, he's eventually going to say to himself, "All right, if I'm going to get a foul called on me every time we brush elbows, then I might as well put you on the ground for real." That can put a stop to exaggerated contact for a bit. But when the game is on the line and you know leaping backwards like you've been shot out of a cannon can get you to the free throw line to win... you're still probably going to think about doing it. Especially if the ref has been calling it. It all comes down to reward, and how much it helps you win, much more than actual cultural differences.

Again, wouldn't say it plagues the NBA like crazy. Taking an offensive foul is considered a valuable skill to have. In reality, there is a lot of contact in the NBA that is let go and, strictly speaking, is let go for the sake of a better game.

At the end of the game, I challenge you to find a player flopping. In the "risk vs. reward" dialogue, it goes something like this "if I get a foul called, we'll be in a good position to win. But... If I don't get a foul called, they'll get something easy and I'll look like an idiot laying on the floor." You see very little flopping at the end of an NBA game.

Also, it is not necessarily the exaggeration of contact, it's the acting afterward. You never see a player rolling around in fake agony after taking a foul (dive or not) in NBA or NCAA competition. They would probably be ostracized within their own team if they did so. That is the primary difference, IMO. Even if there is exaggeration of contact, the immediate aftermath plays out differently. It probably helps that in American basketball, the ref can go to video-replay to determine if you hit another player in the head, whether it was done maliciously, etc.

[Haruki-kun]

Actually, SA should've scored two extra goals and Uruguay another one.

Or a combination of both.

But no, it wasn't quite a Life or Death situation. The chances of either France or South Africa advancing were really low.

[Worira]

Also, you don't die when you lose at soccer. Barring very unusual circumstances.

[Delta]

They would probably be ostracized within their own team if they did so. That is the primary difference, IMO. Even if there is exaggeration of contact, the immediate aftermath plays out differently. It probably helps that in American basketball, the ref can go to video-replay to determine if you hit another player in the head, whether it was done maliciously, etc.

You got the problem right, but IMHO you got the reasons wrong. The main reason why people pretend being hurt in football? Time. The clock's always running in football, so if your team's up, 30 seconds of you lying on the ground while the ref's debating whether or not to call the medics on the field is 30 seconds the other team won't be able to score. Sure, you dive to get a free kick, but pretending to be hurt afterwards wouldn't help you much, if it wasn't for wasted time.

And no, stoppage time does nothing to cancel this effect. In theory, it should, but in practice, you almost always get 3 minutes of stoppage time at the end, sometimes maybe 4 if there was much going on, and that's it.

[Tirian]

Also, you don't die when you lose at soccer. Barring very unusual circumstances.

Since those very unusual circumstances have in the past included not advancing from the first round after highly unexpected bad play and allegedly ticking off one of your nations many high-profile drug lords, it is perhaps something that Mexican players keep in mind.

[Calamity]

And no, stoppage time does nothing to cancel this effect. In theory, it should, but in practice, you almost always get 3 minutes of stoppage time at the end, sometimes maybe 4 if there was much going on, and that's it.

I've seen 13 minutes of stoppage time before. No, I'm not kidding.

[Delta]

And I really don't want to be on those North Korean players' skin when they get home after that 7-0 slaughterfest.

[Delta]

I've seen 13 minutes of stoppage time before. No, I'm not kidding.

I know such extreme cases have happened. But look at the Switzerland-Spain game, with people berating the ref and calling him bought out because of a mere 5 minutes of stoppage time.

It's pretty simply, in a usual football game, you get 3 minutes of extra time, less I've seen only in games where the lead was 2 or 3 goals and it really didn't matter. If there was an unusual number of injuries and other disturbances, you get 4 minutes. This alone shows you how ridiculous the concept is, as often, a single injury takes more than a minute off the clock until the players is finally off the field. 5 minutes you only get when a team was doing their very epic best to run off as much time as possible, which usually means wasting at least 5 minutes more than in a usual game, but all you get is a mere minute or two of extra time.

There was a very epic case in the Czech - Turkey game in 08, where there was 3 minutes of extra time, Turkey needed to hang on to a 1 goal lead, and just after 90 minutes where past, Volkan, the turkish goalkeeper got a red card. It took them almost all of the three minutes just until the turkish were done arguing, Volkan was off the field and another player in the goal, and less than a minute later, the ref called the game done, so in the end, Turkey got rewarded for having their goalkeeper sent off by practically taking away 3 minutes in which the Czech might have tried to equalize. Absolutely disgusting.

So yes, diving and pretending to be injured pays off in football as long as your team's in front, as does arguing with the ref, and as long as that is the case, players will pretend, it's as simple as that.

[DanReiv]

Boyz do we suck. (now you know where I come from) It's incredible, I wished you could follow the new stunning tv show of this summer.

"France goes to world cup."

It's not even about soccer anymore. Arrogant billionaires refusing to train in response to one of them being kicked out for insulting the friggin' coach (who sux, but that's another subject).

In. World. Cup. Thanks to SA for the final slam, and a nice organisation overall.

Geez. Hopefully this is still a great world cup, with some serious games coming right ahead, and some quite nice played already.

Tomorrow B and C groups games will be quite interesting. Vounching for US and Ghana personally. These guys play soccer all right.

[comicshorse]

Tomorrow B and C groups games will be quite interesting. Vounching for US and Ghana personally. These guys play soccer all right.

I have been very impressed by the US's enthusiasm. Its been such a refreshing change from England and France's almost palpabable disinterest.

[Crimmy]

They'd better.

I seem to notice a trend in my team's playing style. They only play well when the game is a life or death situation.

No, they only play well the first two or three games.
Then they botch it.

Besides, we need more Márquez and Temoc, and less Chicharito.

EDIT:
Dos Santos is meh.

[Tirian]

And I really don't want to be on those North Korean players' skin when they get home after that 7-0 slaughterfest.

Hard to say. They also scored a goal against Brazil, so they could be rock stars if that's how the homecoming committee wants to frame it.

[Murdim]

SA were tearing France apart for the bit I saw, I feel bad for them

As a French person myself, I actually felt good for South Africa to win one of their matches. They're the host country, after all. Les Bleus... hadn't any face left to lose at this point, and that's not just because of their results. I think that after all the hypocritical, needlessly cruel snark following the 2002 disaster (and the ensuing decupled hypocrisy in 2006), we deserved to learn what having a sucky, unsympathetic, unmotivated, crumbling, ineffectual team did really mean. And we learned it this year - the hard way.

[SaintRidley]

If anyone wants a good laugh, read TheMarquisdeSade's posts in this thread on IGN.

His hope for Italy is a bit misplaced, in my view.