FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa - Day 20 - Live Thread: Brazil V Holland; Uruguay V Ghana

07.02.10 | Perdogg

[MontaniSemperLiberi]

Congrats. Big kids beat little kids.

I thought the field was going to do Holland in but it doesn’t matter on set pieces.

[dfwgator]

It would be something if the Dutch won the WC in South Africa of all places.

[Textide]

Shhhhhh, don’t give FIFA any ideas.

[AGreatPer]

Congrats on the prediction.

Factors no one will talk about:
1. Played at sea level. The Dutch never wore down from the altitude.
2. Overall team height and bigger players. It showed on the 2nd goal.

Admit, I NEVER saw this coming.

[dfwgator]

And playing in a country where they have more support from the locals, even from the black population in SA, which was surprising.

[TitansAFC]

I was already rooting for the Netherlands once USA went down (my heritage), but seeing Brazil go down is always SO SWEET!

I spend a lot of time in South America, and the Brazil bandwagon is just insulting. I am so tired of everyone feeling like they have to root for Brazil just because they’ve won five World Cups. That and the whole “I have to root for every Latin country” crap.

EVERYONE in South America (and worldwide, for that matter - same issue in Thailand, etc., in my experience) jumps on the Brazil bandwagon, and all for one primary reason: they are usually the winners.

I hate that - really, really HATE that. It’s like how every foreigner buys a baseball hat, and of course it’s a Yankees hat — or a Lakers jersey (NBA), etc.

[ml/nj]

Nice pics!

GREAT game today! Even the ESPN post game show was good!

ML/NJ

[cartan]

src on/Obviously the ref is racist. Does not not realize Brazilians are passionate and emotional so therefore Melo lashing out at the diving Dutch is acceptable behavior. Not everybody can be unemotional like the Germans, hee hee./src off/

Not only that, the ref is Japanese! Obviously, he was trying to get Brazil out of the tournament in order to make it easier for his old Nazi buddies!

[C19fan]

/half src on/Japanese are not exactly fans of blacks or mixed races./half src off/

[Perdogg]

I beat you to it. ;)

[SilvieWaldorfMD]

You did?

Wow! You’re GOOD!

[dfwgator]

WHAT A GOAL FOR GHANA! 1-0!!!!!

[SilvieWaldorfMD]

A BEAUTIFUL GOAL!

If Ghana wins this match, they will be the first African nation to go to the Semifinals in a FIFA World Cup... a historic day!

I’M STILL ROOTING FOR URUGUAY, THOUGH!

[mikrofon]

Q: You always hear soccer aficionados talking about someone scoring a "beautiful" goal. Exactly what constitutes a beautiful goal?

A:  As the proverb goes, beauty is often in the eye of the beholder, but a "beautiful" goal in soccer is typically one where the players display fluid team-work and exceptional football skills; but it may be easier to define what is NOT a beautiful goal:

• A goal that the defending goalkeeper is able to make contact with is NOT a beautiful goal -- a beautiful goal must go in cleanly without any deflections.
• Any goal resulting from a rebound (whether by a goaltender's save or another defender) cannot be a beautiful goal -- this would better be termed a "garbage" goal.
• Similarly, a goal that strikes the woodwork before going in is not a beautiful goal, and at best is simply dumb luck.
• Any goal put in from extremely close range without an intervening defender able to make a play on the ball (i.e. a "gimme") is NOT a beautiful goal.
• A goal that exits the scoring zone too quickly to be detected by the officials (despite all visual evidence to the contrary) thus causing discord and delaying the game, cannot be a beautiful goal.
• An "own goal" put in by a defender can NEVER be a beautiful goal; in fact, one could call it a "hideous" goal, and the player would be severely chastised for doing it, were his (and his family's) lives not in danger from his countrymen in many places.
• Regardless of the skill and finesse involved, any goal more than the side's 3rd in a winning match cannot be a beautiful goal, as this would be "piling on" and demonstrates poor sportsmanship.

[SilvieWaldorfMD]

VAMOS URUGUAYOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dfwgator]

I am heartbroken for Ghana.

I guess in the end Suarez saved the day, because without him handing the ball, it goes in, and Ghana wins.

Frankly, I think when it’s so blatant like that, the goal should be awarded w/o a penalty kick.

[spetznaz]

Ghana can keep their head held high. They are a team to watch, have cultivated their football talent the old fashioned way (from the ground up), and looking at what they did in this tournament (plus them winning the under20 WorldCup) they will be a very formidable team going ahead. Furthermore, they fought hard to the end. Great job Ghana.

[ml/nj]

I guess in the end Suarez saved the day, because without him handing the ball, it goes in, and Ghana wins.

THIS was a legitimate Hand of G-d!

I'm not sorry to see Ghana go out. At least we won't have to put up with the disgusting PCing of the ESPN crew.

ML/NJ

[TitansAFC]

Ghana had their chance.......and missed an INEXCUSABLE penalty kick at the end of the game. Then, they missed two more penalty kicks in the shootout. No team who misses three penalty kicks should ever advance. Too bad......they were a great story.

[LuvFreeRepublic]

I wonder if the soccer world will stop talking about Maradona’s infamous hand ball and talk about this one!!! Guess it will depend on how far Uruguay goes in this Cup. What a finish, what a final pk, what drama.