The Official 2014 FIFA World Cup Thread

[Degenerate Heart of HetRio]

World Cup as expected and warned is bringing shame to my nation's name, yes or obviously?

(Image)

I imagine you're frustrated, my good Bosnian Croat.

Just know that Marcelo's goal DOES represent my sentiment.

[Polar Islandstates]

He was definitely still moving forwards. Keepers are meant to stay on their line for penalties too of course but how often do we see that? Pletikosa definitely shuffled forward a bit. Both keepers and attackers band the rules to their advantage and you shouldn't be too harsh on one without being harsh on the other, imo. Penalties are designed to favour the attacker for a reason. That's why they're called penalties.

Also, Pletikosa's just not that great. We had him on loan at Spurs once, to be our third choice keeper. He played once in the League Cup and that was it. Now we know why.

Probably shouldn't have been a penalty when you look at replays, but yeah, at full speed I like Osarius was saying "oh, maybe." Fred cheated, ref was duped, Lovren shouldn't have had his arms there.

[Yellow Yellow Red]

He didn't come to a complete halt, he only delayed his last left step.

Dude, he started tap-dancing ON THE SPOT. That's a complete halt.

I sometimes can't help but chuckle (inwardly and to myself!) when I see kids do that sort of thing in matches I'm reffing. It's absurd. Don't do a cute little dance. Don't try to be Neymar with the shuffling feet or Ronaldo with the hesitation. Be Ricky Lambert (an absolutely fantastic penalty taker who doesn't get enough credit for that aspect of his game) or del Piero or Frank Lampard. Power and placement.

[The Blaatschapen]

Dude, he started tap-dancing ON THE SPOT. That's a complete halt.

I sometimes can't help but chuckle (inwardly and to myself!) when I see kids do that sort of thing in matches I'm reffing. It's absurd. Don't do a cute little dance. Don't try to be Neymar with the shuffling feet or Ronaldo with the hesitation. Be Ricky Lambert (an absolutely fantastic penalty taker who doesn't get enough credit for that aspect of his game) or del Piero or Frank Lampard. Power and placement.

Eh, I don't see anything wrong with mimicking players with their celebrations.

Then again, I grew up doing the Pi-Air (a belly flop, done by Pierre van Hooijdonk)

[Risottia]

Dude, he started tap-dancing ON THE SPOT. That's a complete halt.

I sometimes can't help but chuckle (inwardly and to myself!) when I see kids do that sort of thing in matches I'm reffing. It's absurd. Don't do a cute little dance. Don't try to be Neymar with the shuffling feet or Ronaldo with the hesitation. Be Ricky Lambert (an absolutely fantastic penalty taker who doesn't get enough credit for that aspect of his game) or del Piero or Frank Lampard. Power and placement.

Or do a Totti and go for the spoon.
Although my favourite style was always Beppe Signori's. Without any run, directly from the spot.

[Yellow Yellow Red]

I sometimes can't help but chuckle (inwardly and to myself!) when I see kids do that sort of thing in matches I'm reffing. It's absurd. Don't do a cute little dance. Don't try to be Neymar with the shuffling feet or Ronaldo with the hesitation. Be Ricky Lambert (an absolutely fantastic penalty taker who doesn't get enough credit for that aspect of his game) or del Piero or Frank Lampard. Power and placement.

Or do a Totti and go for the spoon.
Although my favourite style was always Beppe Signori's. Without any run, directly from the spot.

Yeah, that's pretty brilliant. This penalty remains one of my favorites - I've watched it over and over again.

http://youtu.be/_YOrYqTuAes?t=1m2s

[Osarius]

Yeah, that's pretty brilliant. This penalty remains one of my favorites - I've watched it over and over again.

http://youtu.be/_YOrYqTuAes?t=1m2s

Haha, class. I make my players practice penalties like that (with one step). They hate it.
On a related note, it's odd how many good Italian penalty takers I can think of, considering their awful penalty shootout record as a nation.

[Polar Islandstates]

Signori penalties. Mihajlovic free kicks. Death. Taxes. And then Germany win on penalties.

[Yellow Yellow Red]

This question is more directed towards those familiar with Japanese (or AFC in general, I suppose) football:

Was this referee's demeanor the norm? I thought it a little odd and less than ideal. I'm not talking about his decisions, but rather his body language and how he presented himself. Standing tall, kind of puffing out his chest, almost robotic arm motions, glaring at players when showing yellows. Even just the way he handled showing Neymar his yellow and the way he stared down Lovren before carding him on the penalty seemed, I dunno, a little weird and like it was inviting way more hostility than it had to.

[Eastern Equestria]

El oh el

[KoloToure]

El oh el

That's a photoshopped image from the last Euros from the day after Denmark beating the Netherlands.

[Kanis]

El oh el

That's a photoshopped image from the last Euros from the day after Denmark beating the Netherlands.

Speaking as a Dutch guy. It would still be funny though. You know, as long as it's in good spirit and all.

[Yttribia]

Well, it's around 8:25 in the morning here, and my neighbors are already up and about, grilling carne asada, and singing their hearts out. Yup, there's a Mexico match today.

Personally, I'm not surprised by Chicharito's benching today. Your thoughts?

[Philippic Peoples]

Well, it's around 8:25 in the morning here, and my neighbors are already up and about, grilling carne asada, and singing their hearts out. Yup, there's a Mexico match today.

Personally, I'm not surprised by Chicharito's benching today. Your thoughts?

Chicarito is not doing very well lately, so yes I am not surprised.

[Kainesia]

My dad got brazil in the world cup sweepstake at work.

Come on brazil.

If not england obviously.

[Estado Paulista]

I'll probably be rooting for Cameroon, the Netherlands and Chile today.

[Alcmaria]

I'll probably be rooting for Cameroon, the Netherlands and Chile today.

Mexico, Australia and the Netherlands for me, in ascending order.

[Estado Paulista]

I'll probably be rooting for Cameroon, the Netherlands and Chile today.

Mexico, Australia and the Netherlands for me, in ascending order.

I usually root for the weaker guys, but seeing Australia getting their asses kicked by Chile would be incredibly satisfactory for me.

[Starblaydia]

Rather than a long, boring forum or blog post, I decided to put my thoughts over the top of a game of Super Soccer on the SNES, the video is here.

This game is so old that Croatia didn't even exist as a choice, so had to go with Brazil vs Yugoslavia instead.

Like, comment, subscribe, etc., please!

[Yellow Yellow Red]

Well, it's around 8:25 in the morning here, and my neighbors are already up and about, grilling carne asada, and singing their hearts out. Yup, there's a Mexico match today.

Personally, I'm not surprised by Chicharito's benching today. Your thoughts?

Tough call, but Peralta's form has been very good, whereas Chicharito has been stuck on the bench. Peralta links up better with Gio dos Santos, too, which is another plus in his book. It's one of those situations where the best player (Chicharito) might not be the best fit for this squad and formation. Herrera decided to go with 3 center backs, which means one of either Peralta, dos Santos, or Hernandez have to sit. It's unfortunate, but it's ultimately a tactical decision.


And now to put back on my USA hat - come on Cameroon, let's have a real goal glut.

[Maineiacs]

Well, it's around 8:25 in the morning here, and my neighbors are already up and about, grilling carne asada, and singing their hearts out. Yup, there's a Mexico match today.

Personally, I'm not surprised by Chicharito's benching today. Your thoughts?

Tough call, but Peralta's form has been very good, whereas Chicharito has been stuck on the bench. Peralta links up better with Gio dos Santos, too, which is another plus in his book. It's one of those situations where the best player (Chicharito) might not be the best fit for this squad and formation. Herrera decided to go with 3 center backs, which means one of either Peralta, dos Santos, or Hernandez have to sit. It's unfortunate, but it's ultimately a tactical decision.


And now to put back on my USA hat - come on Cameroon, let's have a real goal glut.

I need Cameroon to win. I picked them in my picks bracket.

[The Archregimancy]

Now that's what a proper wrongly disallowed goal looks like...

[The Archregimancy]

Now that's what a proper wrongly disallowed goal looks like...

Or two.

It's an anti-Mexico pro-Africa conspiracy, clearly.

[Czechanada]

So was there that person doing the opening kick with the powered exoskeleton? I missed the opening ceremony.

[Lindenholt]

I think it is about time the rightful owners of the world cup of 2010 get the cup this time...