Official World Cup Thread!

So you tossed Germany over side?

 

Ja. Hey, can't win 'em all! This World Cup has really delivered so far.

 

What I got from this is Metal likes taking balls to the face.

 

I had France winning the whole thing but after watching the group games and yesterdays match they will have to play really well to beat Uruguay, they are a very good team.

 

They are, but stow the dramatics! Suarez had about eight seizures yesterday, lol.

 

I've got a comment and a question.

First I think it's kind of bull to get called for a handball if it hits your hand or arm when it wasn't intentional.

Then if it is a call, why do they raise their arms at all and risk the call?

This is in regards to the Spaniard that cost them the penalty kick goal.

 

It's more natural to raise your arms when you jump, it gives a sort of "leverage" to get into the air.

As for the call against Mr Shakira it looked to me that he pulled his arm up again after reaching full height, his arms should have been lower by the time the he made contact with the ball.. Penalties are often given when the arm is in an "unnatural" postion, ie away from the body. Sometimes it's a case of the ball hitting the arm and the player can't do anything about it, they are often ignored by the officials. It is an area where there are sometimes inconsistences.

 

100% agree. Even unintentional, still a foul. Doesn't happen much if you watch alot of football. Kind of a shrug shoulders type of thing.

 

Wow here we go again!

 

if u have FB lol

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2016996701644103

 

Maybe Honda can make a rule change so the Spaniards have an advantage next cup.

 

I wouldn't say that was good goal keeping, instead it was shitty penalty kicking.

 

I played goal keeper from the time I was 5 until I finished college, having played select, elite, Olympic Development, and Collegiate ball. On average, keeper's save ratios are about 5% (1 in 20) when you have PKs.

I'm not sure which set of penalties you are talking about, but if you are referring to the Russian keeper's second save,
I'm going to disagree with that statement. To make a trailing leg save with the upper leg is in the "super fucking difficult" probability range. It's a damn good save.

Now, we can agree that there were several kicks that weren't well struck (poor placement, or poor pace, or both), but that one was not one of them and definitely was a "good save" instead of a "bad kick"

I have yet to see the PKs from the Croatia / Denmark game, but some background on the Danish keeper. He's the son of Peter Schmeichael, who also played for Denmark and Manchester United, and was one of the top keepers in the English Premier league for about 15 years. LINK

Since Croatia/Denmark went to penalties, I'm guessing that the shots that made it past Denmark were very well struck (both pace and placement). I'll have a look and then report back

 

No, it was the Denmark/Croatia game. As a goalie dad (hockey anyway) I have nothing but the utmost respect for the position. But the aforementioned game had some pretty bad kicking.

 

Kasper saved a penalty in extra time plus two in the shootout. He shouldn't really be regarded only as the son of Peter Schmeichel now, he's rewriting the records set by his father. He now has the most minutes without conceding a goal for Denmark (Peter held that) and he has also saved more penalties in the EPL than his Dad did. Although Peter won a bunch of Premier League titles I would say what Kasper achieved with Leicester a couple of years ago equals that, but then I might be a bit biased.

 

The announcer during the Croatia match called Kasper a yellow wall. Pretty accurate...

 

This comes from a soccer noob, but in my opinion the penalty kick shootout needs to be changed. (I know...what the f&*k does this noob know).

Let's put it into perspective...this was quick research but came from viable sources and I have no reason to dispute the facts.

In hockey shootouts tracked for 4 years since the rule was instituted, shooters scored on 31.94% of attempts, so 1 in 3 went in. A fair amount since it should be harder to score than to save. In soccer shootouts, 71.5% of shots resulted in a score. I'm sorry, but that's ridiculously biased towards the shooter.

I think the solution is quite simple... either move the length of the shot back or if it's kept close allow another player to roam in the zone to help the keeper. Gimmicky you say? The shootout itself is a gimmick, so I don't see why anything to make it fairer would be any less of a gimmick.

 

I did notice a new trend. Almost every PK shot has been on the ground. I think the new school of thought is to keep it on the ground and on target instead of shooting for upper corners or harder to block shots. Maybe statistically they think that you are better off.

 

And yet some still miss.