Strangest world cup

This this must be one of the strangest in history.

So many upsets. The bookies must be happy.

Slovakia 3 - 2 Italy...damn exciting in the dying minutes!

actually only the powerhouse of europe has faltered.....

not impressed with england or germany either, mayb the dutch play better

but the south americans are still the tops in m book, the way they played, how not to be impressed, esp argentina n brazil

Only 2 words...

Shockingly Amazing

eat ball all e way n i'm sure u will be the big winner

What a difference 4 years make. So the top 2 teams are nothing now.

I still remembered the last time when France went home early. They were trying hard to tell the world one man does not make a team. It appears that all their successes are hugely linked to that one man.

France without zizou never appear to be a team

It is truly a bookies game, laughing all their way to the banks.
Upz for the blue samurais and kimchi warriors!

Good thing i didnt do any side betting this year.

I think South American is going to win this time around. Personally I am still pinning hopes for Holland. But statistically, Arg is looking very strong. Now, you can expect Maradona to speak louder....

So tonight's the big match of the group matches..

Brazil VS Portugal.. Who will win??

This year's world cup only 1 word to describe UNPREDICTABLE..

France out, Italy out, England almost didn't make it.. Next round of 16, England VS Germany.. Another exciting match to watch.. So Germany will let history repeat or will the not up to standard England show us another unpredictable match??

This year did not really follow WC. In office keep hearing ppl say win and lose... MONEY...
I think this year Brazil shld make it out eventually as the winner.

>> tammie, are you the lady i think i saw at TPY range yest?

Its the world cup.. so nothing shocking about it... professional players will not go all out for it cos there is nothing in for them.. you can say its for country but do they care? I dun think so. Asian countries have been always the most hardworking ones during the world as they hope to be spotted by some scouts.... eg, Park Ji Sung, Nakata..... As for the european professional footballers, i dun think they will want to get injured during this period and put their career in danger....

aural>> Na.. think u saw my sister, vyvy =) I dun go TPY range, too far for me..

Tammie wrote:

aural>> Na.. think u saw my sister, vyvy =) I dun go TPY range, too far for me..

Lol, ok. Still a alittle confused who is who. Was there with my wife last night then saw this face that i saw at one of the SSN. Not sure who.
Of course i saw some TPY frequents there too.

duffader wrote:

Its the world cup.. so nothing shocking about it... professional players will not go all out for it cos there is nothing in for them.. you can say its for country but do they care? I dun think so. Asian countries have been always the most hardworking ones during the world as they hope to be spotted by some scouts.... eg, Park Ji Sung, Nakata..... As for the european professional footballers, i dun think they will want to get injured during this period and put their career in danger....

But some of the european pros are going all out to up their value also...

Gambate Nippon!!!

Anyone feels that maybe the international bookies are working behind the scenes to affect the results?

Elbry wrote:

Anyone feels that maybe the international bookies are working behind the scenes to affect the results?

Possibly.....match fixing is a prevalent phenomenon that has been around for ages, not just soccer.
So I won't be too surprised.

This, coupld with the fact that pro players are paid absurd wages by their clubs, plus match bonuses. So their loyalty would be more towards clubs than countries in that sense, save for the few South Amercian, Asian and African countries.

Yea....Diego's team looks good but Oranje may cause an upset with their more balanced play and teamwork (previously unheard of Dutch teams).

my personal opinion...

it might be that some of these power teams are going through a transition stage, good ones retired but none good enough to replace.....i think italy is an example

but i feel that the rest of the world is catching up with these teams, esp asian n african players moving to europe to ply their trade..

i thought the french can play better, given the players they have but mayb the dutch pass the disharmony virus to them from their previous world cup campaigns...haiz

as for the s. americans we all know argentina n brazil can play but this time round, we see chile, paraguay, uruguay all in the last 16.... cos these players do play in europe

there is a correlation between economy and sports....

asahi wrote:

Elbry wrote:

Anyone feels that maybe the international bookies are working behind the scenes to affect the results?

Possibly.....match fixing is a prevalent phenomenon that has been around for ages, not just soccer.
So I won't be too surprised.

This, coupld with the fact that pro players are paid absurd wages by their clubs, plus match bonuses. So their loyalty would be more towards clubs than countries in that sense, save for the few South Amercian, Asian and African countries.

Yea....Diego's team looks good but Oranje may cause an upset with their more balanced play and teamwork (previously unheard of Dutch teams).

Hi Asahi, I beg to differ from your opinion regarding players' loyalties towards their countries for money for certain teams. I think the chances of bookies in action relate more towards lower paid players with lower salary from poorer countries than those from European countries who has huge ridiculous salaries and allowances. If they are well paid enough, like being paid to be a millionaire every year, there is no point accepting bribe monies which might endanger their current status. I can't speak the same for the South American countries and other poorer countries. To represent their country, it is a real honour for this millionaire players. Money they already have. Why would they want to upset the apple cart leh? As can be seen from the failure of 2 prominent 'powerful' football European nations which fared badly this year, we can see clearly there were disharmonies within the team itself, disgrunted players' against their coaches and managers and the likes. France and Italy are fine examples of such. For Italy, l like to lean towards what Slinger said about the changing of guards. England nearly fell into the same vicious circle but luckily, they managed to avert from that situation just in time. As for Holland, they HAVE ALWAYS been a powerhouse in football but always no luck when it comes to World Cup. Hopefully their luck have turned around this year. Have you heard of the legendary Johan Cruyff, Van Basten and the likes....?I personally am looking at Holland as a potential champ this year. JMHO.

titu

Tituman wrote:

asahi wrote:

Elbry wrote:

Anyone feels that maybe the international bookies are working behind the scenes to affect the results?

Possibly.....match fixing is a prevalent phenomenon that has been around for ages, not just soccer.
So I won't be too surprised.

This, coupld with the fact that pro players are paid absurd wages by their clubs, plus match bonuses. So their loyalty would be more towards clubs than countries in that sense, save for the few South Amercian, Asian and African countries.

Yea....Diego's team looks good but Oranje may cause an upset with their more balanced play and teamwork (previously unheard of Dutch teams).

Hi Asahi, I beg to differ from your opinion regarding players' loyalties towards their countries for money for certain teams. I think the chances of bookies in action relate more towards lower paid players with lower salary from poorer countries than those from European countries who has huge ridiculous salaries and allowances. If they are well paid enough, like being paid to be a millionaire every year, there is no point accepting bribe monies which might endanger their current status. I can't speak the same for the South American countries and other poorer countries. To represent their country, it is a real honour for this millionaire players. Money they already have. Why would they want to upset the apple cart leh? As can be seen from the failure of 2 prominent 'powerful' football European nations which fared badly this year, we can see clearly there were disharmonies within the team itself, disgrunted players' against their coaches and managers and the likes. France and Italy are fine examples of such. For Italy, l like to lean towards what Slinger said about the changing of guards. England nearly fell into the same vicious circle but luckily, they managed to avert from that situation just in time. As for Holland, they HAVE ALWAYS been a powerhouse in football but always no luck when it comes to World Cup. Hopefully their luck have turned around this year. Have you heard of the legendary Johan Cruyff, Van Basten and the likes....?I personally am looking at Holland as a potential champ this year. JMHO.

titu

Cos you stay holland rite,, oh sory i mean holland village (spore)

nowadays where got bookies bribe players, where got so much $$$ to give.....

now they buy dinner for referees n assistant referees.....

just look for penalities n offsides lor

bookies aside, I see many bad calls from the refs at this cup e.g. usa's disallowed goal, glen johnson's yellow card, the poor algerian capt's yellow, gourcuff's red (should've been yellow). Is it just about normal? Offside calls so far has been good (at least based on the replays).

i've also been a long time holland fan, dissapointed cup after cup yet still loyal to oranje. Maybe its the ex-colony syndrome

Smitten with oranje because of the trio of Van Basten, Guilit and Rijkarrd.

Hope they can go on to win this WC