Official World Cup 2010 Thread

FUCK! D:

Uruguay

too bad for ghana

I hate seeing "flop teams" win

When you miss a PK at the 120th minute or so, it's pretty much your fate to lose....

Mick Jagger is 0 for 3 now -- he supported Brazil today:

[YT="cursed!"]9E69ZhnCCZk[/YT]

If he goes to a match tomorrow, find out who he is supporting and bet on the other side.

More about Mick: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/video/video=1265390/index.html

FIFA.com: You've been spotted taking pictures at a few games at the FIFA World Cup™. So far, how have you enjoyed the matches?

Sir Mick Jagger: Well, I watched the rounds on TV when I was back in England, and I came for the post-group stage. I was kindly invited to go to the USA game [v Ghana, in Rustenburg]. I’ve got a large extended US family, so they said ‘Go!’ you know, but it was quite a long way. I didn’t realise how far it was! But it was fun. I enjoyed it, it was a good match, but USA lost, though they did pretty good.

You seemed to be supporting USA against Ghana...

I kind of was... I don’t have any Ghanaian relatives but I’ve got lots of American ones. I support England and my team is England. When I was there and you’re with 30 Americans in the box, I’m not going to support Ghana really, let’s face it!

Who will you be supporting now that England and USA have gone out?

Well, my son is half-Brazilian and absolutely mad keen on football, like most people who are Brazilian, so we are going to see Brazil [v Chile] tonight. I hope they do better than England did.

You were sitting next to former President Bill Clinton at the Ghana match. How was he after the game?

Well, they were a bit disappointed. Obviously, every team wants to get as far as they can but I think they were kind of almost happy with getting past the group stage and obviously very happy coming top in that group. We always thought we were going to that game to see England play because we thought that was a relatively easy group.

What are you impressions of the first FIFA World Cup to be played in Africa? That’s quite special.

Yes, it’s very special. I was actually here about six months ago, just on holiday, and obviously everyone was so revved up for it and so proud. It’s a lot of work, but I think through it all it seems to be going well, there haven’t been any major problems... there’s the odd thing here and there but you’ll always get that. I think they should be really happy with it. I hope the host nation has enjoyed it as much as everyone who has visited.

Like any Englishman, you would have been disappointed to see England go out but why do you think England can’t match those expectations that are always there?

Well, obviously England always thinks of itself as a top international country, so that’s your expectation. It’s not like the United States that thinks: ‘OK, we’re glad to be in it... we’re not lucky to be in it, but proud to be in it’, whereas England you want them to go at least to the semi-finals, you know you expect it. When they don’t come up to that expectation, well... the higher the expectation, the bigger the disappointment, obviously. It has to be said, though everyone’s a pundit, that they didn’t really play. In this tournament they only scored three goals, so you are never going to win much if you only score three goals. You cut away the rest of it and that’s really where you’re left. I mean, you can let a few in but you’ve got to score a lot more, so that’s not what they did.


I hope the host nation has enjoyed it as much as everyone who has visited.



How many other FIFA World Cup finals have you been to?

I’ve been to two. I was at the France one [1998] and I was at it when it was in Germany [2006]. I think that was the only two. I sometimes get a bit confused with my European Cups, but I’ve definitely been to two.

Do you have any special memories of the finals?

My special memory, which was unfortunately not 100 per cent happy, was England v Argentina at St Etienne [1998], which was at a small ground in a very small town and it was an amazing match, for anyone that wasn’t there. I think David Beckham got sent off in that match for a pretty marginal incident, but it was an amazing game, England-Argentina, and that was one of my definite really stark memories of the World Cup. In 1966, God knows where I was, in America on tour I should think! This is my third World Cup and I’m very pleased to have brought my youngest son to it and it’s a great thing to be able to do, so I’m really having a good time.

You’ve been watching the games from home from the start. Which teams and players have impressed you so far?

Argentina. I think they’ve got fantastic scoring ability, which is what we were talking about earlier, which England didn’t seem to be able to match in this tournament. With [Carlos] Tevez, last night you could see how good they were against Mexico, so I think they are impressive. I mean, everyone fancied Spain pre-tournament. We’ll see, but I don’t know if they are going to be as good, and Germany have got some very good moves. I think this is quite wide open, this tournament, as we speak.

Where does your love of football stem from? Were you any good at it at school?

Useless, but actually I never played soccer at school. I went to a school that only played rugby and soccer was kind of frowned on, but we did play at the weekends. We didn’t play very seriously, but we always loved soccer and my family was always a great Arsenal-supporting family. I support Arsenal, but my eldest son goes every week, and I don’t go every week. We come from a family of keen supporters.

The sound of this FIFA World Cup has undoubtedly been the vuvuzela. What do you think of them?

Yes, it’s pretty mad really! It wasn’t as loud in the two games that I have been to as I was led to believe, but we’ll see tonight. It’s kind of odd rhythms that it sets up and you get used to it. You see so much of it on telly, so it’s not a surprise, but it is pretty loud in the stadium.

Have you had the chance to catch any South African music while you have been here?

I haven’t yet but I hope to now we’ve got a little bit of respite, so I hope to go and hear some live music in the next couple of days.

What are your plans from here? Are you going to stay with Brazil all the way?

We’ll see how Brazil do and then stay with that!

Argentina for the win!

I am conflicted because I went to a German K12 school growing up, played socccer and was practically raised by ze Germans but was raised in a household supporting Argentina and then the US in that order. I guess I would just like to see a good, hard fought game where they both put it on the line and the best team wins...

I have money on Argentina. They'd better win.

Ok here's the problem, I'm rooting for Argentina but, I kid you not, every team I've rooted for has lost. Honduras lost, Chile lost, USA lost, Ghana lost, England lost, Spain even lost a match when I wanted them to win. So now that there's this Argentina vs. Germany game, I know Germany's gonna win just because I don't want them to.

Germans score at 3:37! We will see what Argentina is made of now, whether they have the grit to fight back.

Don't worry, I want them out.

NOT looking good for Argentina...

What I was afraid was going to happen happened...Argentina under Maradona as coach really haven't gelled together as a team and they really haven't played together that much...A bunch of individually great players that just have not really been tested as a team until now?

Also their defense has been suspect all along and that really came out today.

Fucking hell. I had the Argies tipped to win the final.

Oh well, Paraquay then hopefully.

Argentina just got hammered! Germany really outplayed them in every aspect of the game. Definitely a bit shocked at the 4-0 result.

It's loooking like we may be seeing a Netherlands/Germany final. I don't see either Spain or Paraguay downing Germania--not the way they;re playing currently. And I doubt Uruguay can upset the Dutch. But then, that's why they play the games, eh?!

A lot of people don't know this but Germany and Netherlands are really nasty rivals. Much more of a rivalry than the much hyped England/Germany rivalry. if you ask the players they will all say Germany vs Netherlands.

Fuck yeah Germany! Fuck Argentina!

I am not a fan of the Germans, au contraire. At least they are Alemanni, and I am a Helvetian and of Celtic origin. However, they played amazingly today. They deserve to be world champion. But there is still one team to beat: The Spanish. They didn't play too well up to now, but the Spanish don't need to play good football. They can win every game just because they have such good players... Believe me, I hate to say that, but these fucking Germans are the best team of this world cup when it comes to commitment and intelligence, and they should win. Because they fight and run and straddle and it is marvelous to see them play. Such passion, such perfect organisation...

:headhurts: Yeah, I feel ashamed, but as a soccer fan, I think that the Germans should win this cup. Even though I hate their guts...

Correct. But when it comes to a final between Germany and the Dutch, and the Germans play like they've played against Argentinia, I see black for the Netherlands. The Germans will rip them apart. But the ball is round and a game lasts 90 minutes...

I am soooooooooo happy! :germany:

*Breathes in* Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!

It's still looking good for the Spanish!

The quarter-finals have been good for Europe so far! :euro:

Spain wins it! 1-0 against Paraguay. Yes!!! Three out of three European teams into the semi-finals! :euro:

Edit: In the three quarter-final matches that pitted European teams against South American teams, the Europeans outscored the South Americans 7 to 1. Why were people saying a week or two ago that the Europeans were not up to it this time around?

After what we saw from Germany today, Spain should be a walkthrough for them.

If Germany plays the way they did today, they will demolish anyone and everyone with no difficulty.

Which suits me fine!

Spain will beat Germany.