World Cup Finals vs. 3rd place match

[CycloneWanderer]

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Uruguay play Germany for 3rd place. It was high scoring and entertaining soccer filled with creativity and pretty solid officiating/non-dirty play.

In contrast, I hated watching the million (14?) yellow cards handed out in the finals match. The most influential person on the field was clearly the official. The one time a player actually gets fouled on a breakaway but doesn't throw himself to the ground and flop around like a fish the ref ignores it. The only red card went to the victim of a hardcore flop. Then, the person who flops is the one to score the winning goal!

Did anyone else think the final game was that ridiculous while loving the 3rd place match?

 

[LeSchmick]

That breakaway with the arm was WEAK! Quit your ********!

 

[CycloneWanderer]

That breakaway with the arm was WEAK! Quit your ********!

Wow, I don't give two shakes of a stick who won either of the last two games. I'm just comparing two games of soccer I happened to watch. I thought one was clearly a better match all-around than the other and not because certain teams won or lost. For the record, I thought the Dutch could have been given a few red cards early in the game as well (foot to the chest?). I am asking if anyone else was a little disturbed by the complete opposites off the final two games with one being the model of awesome soccer and the the other being the model of terrible soccer.

 

[tman24]

I thought the opposite. There was a power struggle in the final game. Back and forth. Near makes, tons of excitement. I couldnt get into the Germany game.

 

[CycloneWanderer]

That breakaway with the arm was WEAK! Quit your ********!

As a separate note, if the "breakaway arm" was weak, what was the leg which led to the red card?

 

[Spam]

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Uruguay play Germany for 3rd place. It was high scoring and entertaining soccer filled with creativity and pretty solid officiating/non-dirty play.

In contrast, I hated watching the million (14?) yellow cards handed out in the finals match. The most influential person on the field was clearly the official. The one time a player actually gets fouled on a breakaway but doesn't throw himself to the ground and flop around like a fish the ref ignores it. The only red card went to the victim of a hardcore flop. Then, the person who flops is the one to score the winning goal!

Did anyone else think the final game was that ridiculous while loving the 3rd place match?

The only thing ridiculous about the final was the game plan of the dutch- kick the living shites of the Spanish. The referee should have been much harsher than he was, and contrary to your opinion, I think the referee tried as hard as possible not to become the most influential person on the field. Too bad the dutch did not allow that.

As for the 3rd place game, those are always fun to watch. Not so much fouling/diving/defense. You see more of the players' true talents come out on those.

Overall a bit of a disappointing world cup, I thought. But the best team did win in the end.

 

[CycloneWanderer]

I thought the opposite. There was a power struggle in the final game. Back and forth. Near makes, tons of excitement. I couldnt get into the Germany game.

The only reason there was tons of excitement is because it was the finals match. I'm talking about the actual play on the field, not the excitement of the situation.

 

[CycloneWanderer]

In hindsight, I wish I could have seen Uruguay-Germany as the finals match, regardless of who is to blame for the odd number of cards.

 

[cyclonez7]

The final was horrible in terms of entertainment. The most entertaining event was the karate kick to the chest of the Spain player. Way too many missed opportunities gone down the toilet for the Dutch. The 3rd place game was pretty good and Diego Forlan definitely deserved the Golden Ball award.

 

[cyatheart]

The final was horrible in terms of entertainment. The most entertaining event was the karate kick to the chest of the Spain player. Way too many missed opportunities gone down the toilet for the Dutch. The 3rd place game was pretty good and Diego Forlan definitely deserved the Golden Ball award.

Agree, the final was horrid and I enjoyed most of the tournament. All the guys said so afterwards. Thought the official did as good as possible, tried to remove himself from the game and not give either team a huge advantage, so the Dutch just decided to be cheap, not attack, pray for a counterattack that rarely came, hope that Spain made a horrible mistake or try to get to penalty kicks which is a coin flip anyway. The way the Dutch played is everything that people don't like about Soccer. Too bad, I really enjoyed the rest of the tournament.

 

[hurdleisu24]

In hindsight, I wish I could have seen Uruguay-Germany as the finals match, regardless of who is to blame for the odd number of cards.

Im not sure it would have been as good as it was if it was a final match. Historically the 3rd place game has been a high scoring game because both teams open it up

 

[cyko42]

I didn't see the third place game, but you do need to remember that a lot of the final is played tight because you don't want to lose. It is an once in a life time oppurtunity and you don't want to go down in history as the guy who made the mistake. No one really cares who wins the third place game so its a lot more open. That and 2 of the best offenses were uraguay and germany.

 

[LeSchmick]

As a separate note, if the "breakaway arm" was weak, what was the leg which led to the red card?

It was a red card. He missed it

 

[Erik4Cy]

of course the 3rd place game is a lot more wide open, fast paced, up tempo game. there is room for error. like the dutch learned the tiniest mistake can cost the game. they didn't want to give up the home run.

 

[Spam]

The third place match was like watching a pickup basketball game in the bronx, while the final was more Greg McDermott style.

 

[Cydwinder]

The one time a player actually gets fouled on a breakaway but doesn't throw himself to the ground and flop around like a fish the ref ignores it.

I guess this proves why players take dives.

 

[azn4cy]

I guess this proves why players take dives.

or.. Since robben is always the boy that cries wolf, it's a good lesson on why not to dive all the time.

 

[Cydwinder]

or.. Since robben is always the boy that cries wolf, it's a good lesson on why not to dive all the time.

he does have quite a reputation for diving but for the majority of the match he actually tried to play through most contact and didn't dive all to much.

 

[azn4cy]

he does have quite a reputation for diving but for the majority of the match he actually tried to play through most contact and didn't dive all to much.

just saying.. If he didn't have the reputation, he might benefit from more calls.

 

[bawbie]

just saying.. If he didn't have the reputation, he might benefit from more calls.

So after three blatant flops late in this game (Xavi in the box and Iniesta's two in the second overtime), does spain have a reputation for flopping?

because they should.