2014 FIFA World Cup

[MIJB#19]

Just jumped in and the first thing I see is Pepe getting sent off. Awesome!

[cartman]

Red for Pepe of Portugal. Not as stupid as Zindane's headbutt, but moronic nonetheless. Pepe is out for the US game.

[bbor]

Wow...that was dumb

[Butter]

Eye poke and headbutt. Bye Pepe.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Nothing better than watching a frustrated Portugal team. Bunch of babies are going to be complaining the next 60 minutes.

And just like that a red card. LOL!

[MrBug708]

Muller flopped, but Pepe's head has amazing healing powers...lol

[kingfc22]

Now if Germany can pile on two more that would be fantastic for GD.

[SirFozzie]

Portugal are doing the imploding all over the place as the Special One would say.

I love it.

[cartman]

Turning into a rout. 3-0 Germany.

[flere-imsaho]

I wonder what the betting line on Pepe getting a red card was.

[Abe Sargent]

3-0, nasty

[flere-imsaho]

As a U.S. supporters I was/am going for a Germany win here, mainly because the U.S. play the Germans last and one could hope that by then Germany might not have much/anything to play for and the U.S. could scrape a draw.

That would assume going into the last game:

6 points: Germany (W over Portugal, W over Ghana)
4 points: US (W over Ghana, D with Portugal)
1 point: Portugal (L to Germany, D with US)
0 points: Ghana (L to US, L to Germany)

That's kind of a best (realistic) case for the U.S., meaning getting a W over Ghana and a D with Portugal would be excellent news.

[SirFozzie]

With Pepe out and Portugal taking a shitkicking from Germany so far.. we're officially in "So there's a chance..." mode.

[ColtCrazy]

Stuck in a work session for school today and just looked up the score. Way to go Germany. Shame I can't see Portugal's thrashing.

[Ryan S]

The British TV halftime analysis is a 15 minute rant about Mueller's playacting.

[flere-imsaho]

One of these days they're going to figure out a reasonable way to sanction players for playacting, using video, even if it's after the game.

Or at least I hope so.

I mean, how hard would it be for another official to be sitting on the sideline (or even up in a booth) with a monitor of the live feed and the ability to communicate down to the referee about, say, Fred's "penalty" from the first game.

Ref: Really a penalty?
Official: No, total dive.
Ref (to Fred): No penalty, and you get a yellow card, boy-o.

[SirFozzie]

File under total burnination:

QPR midfielder Joey Barton on Twitter: As a one time connoisseur of the dark arts of madness, in my expert opinion, that from Pepe, was supreme, world class madness.

When Joey Barton says you mad bro... you mad bro.

[flere-imsaho]

Glad to see Pepe out from the US game. Ronaldo will still be a huge threat, but Pepe's exactly the kind of guy who could psychologically terrorize a relatively unseasoned group of players like the U.S. have. I mean, that's what he specializes in for Real. And love him or hate him, he's very effective in that role.

[Ryan S]

An interesting question from British TV. When do you consider resting Ronaldo?

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Nothing better than watching a frustrated Portugal team. Bunch of babies are going to be complaining the next 60 minutes.

They're always good for a moment of frustration-induced stupidity at every major tournament. Guess Pepe took care of that this time!

[SirFozzie]

Stay Classy Raul Meireles:

Twitter / worldsoccertalk: Raul Meireles showed just how ...

Too bad the ref didn't see it. Would've been fitting

[sterlingice]

In a perfect world, I think the red was mostly warrantted but it should have also been a yellow for the dive, upon further replay.

SI

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

One of these days they're going to figure out a reasonable way to sanction players for playacting, using video, even if it's after the game.

Or at least I hope so.

I mean, how hard would it be for another official to be sitting on the sideline (or even up in a booth) with a monitor of the live feed and the ability to communicate down to the referee about, say, Fred's "penalty" from the first game.

Ref: Really a penalty?
Official: No, total dive.
Ref (to Fred): No penalty, and you get a yellow card, boy-o.

That's wayyyyyyy too logical for fucking FIFA. I mean how long did it take them to adopt goal-line technology?

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

That's wayyyyyyy too logical for fucking FIFA. I mean how long did it take them to adopt goal-line technology?

Harder to fix the games, I suppose

SI

[cartman]

Portugal make a sub at halftime, so they only have one to use the rest of the game.

[saldana]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Stay Classy Raul Meireles:

Twitter / worldsoccertalk: Raul Meireles showed just how ...

Too bad the ref didn't see it. Would've been fitting

maybe that means something different in Portugese?

[ColtCrazy]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Harder to fix the games, I suppose

SI

The cynic in me agrees with you!

[Butter]

Then you are just giving the TV official the chance to fix the games.

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Stay Classy Raul Meireles:

Twitter / worldsoccertalk: Raul Meireles showed just how ...

Too bad the ref didn't see it. Would've been fitting

One of the first comments on the image indicates that they're his index fingers.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by saldana

maybe that means something different in Portugese?

They're also his index fingers, as others have pointed out below the picture.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

One of the first comments on the image indicates that they're his index fingers.

He's probably doing that to try to avoid a post-match ban I'd assume.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Ryan S

An interesting question from British TV. When do you consider resting Ronaldo?

I wouldn't. You get so little time for the team to actually play together as it is, and with the indicating that Portugal haven't been clicking from an offensive standpoint, I'd use as much time as possible to try and work on that, even in a losing game.

Besides, they only have one more sub, so I wouldn't bring him off until 80 minutes at the earliest.

[Butter]

Portugal can't get out of their own way.... Nani steals a pass from Coentrao.

[Coffee Warlord]

C'mon 5-0.

[cartman]

That looked like a torn groin for the Portuguese player

[kingfc22]

And another key player gone for Portugal. This game couldn't have gone much better if your the US.

Now they just need to get the W later.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

One of these days they're going to figure out a reasonable way to sanction players for playacting, using video, even if it's after the game.

Or at least I hope so.

I mean, how hard would it be for another official to be sitting on the sideline (or even up in a booth) with a monitor of the live feed and the ability to communicate down to the referee about, say, Fred's "penalty" from the first game.

Ref: Really a penalty?
Official: No, total dive.
Ref (to Fred): No penalty, and you get a yellow card, boy-o.

As much as I hate to see it, but until I see officials consistently calling for penalties for an attacking player without the attacking player flopping all over the place, I can't attack the players too much. For me it is a chicken or the egg situation. I know as a professional, blah blah blah but the laws of the game do not require a player to hit the ground to justify a penalty yet that is only way many match officials will justify giving the penalty.

All that said, the decision for Fred was HORRIBLE.

[Ryan S]

That would have been a harsh penalty, especially since the attack started as the referee got in the way.

[cartman]

4-0 Germany

[Coffee Warlord]

Portugal has given up. Complete apathy on the back line.

[bulletsponge]

did that Ghanian witch doctor put a hex on Ronaldo or the rest of the Portuguese team?

only way this could get better for a US supporter is if CR7 gets a red

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by Ryan S

The British TV halftime analysis is a 15 minute rant about Mueller's playacting.

But it's Germany - Portugal, we knew in advance this would be a master class of acting.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Portugal has given up. Complete apathy on the back line.

CR7 couldn't even handle a simple pass, and ended up knocking it out for a throw in.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by cartman

That looked like a torn groin for the Portuguese player

Who?

edit: nevermind, found it

[Arles]

As a Germany/US fan, this result is fantastic. If the US can beat Ghana, they would just need a tie vs Portugal to advance given the massive goal differential. This Ghana game is huge today.

[Coffee Warlord]

Nice cheap shot there, Portugal.

[cartman]

Took 91 minutes, but finally CR7 did something exciting.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Arles

As a Germany/US fan, this result is fantastic. If the US can beat Ghana, they would just need a tie vs Portugal to advance given the massive goal differential. This Ghana game is huge today.

I think it could be the opposite. I think we end up tieing Ghana today, and that's rough, but hey, at least we didn't lose and we take that and defeat a damaged and batter Portugal, and get the 4 points the opposite way people are thinking. Portugal beats Ghana to get 3 points and we are out clearly, or Portugal ties Ghana and both have less than us, and we get out clearly. Only a Ghanian win over Portugal, in that situation, would lead to a TB moment with us.

[vex]

Ian Darke ‏@IanDarke 11m
No Michael Essien for Ghana v USA it seems - or Boateng we hear

[flere-imsaho]

Seems like players are dropping like flies before matches more than ever this year.