Oh my lord, the Brazil-Colombia match was a travesty of a match. Hands down the worst officiating performance by the Spanish referee of these World Cup. How Fernandinho did not get sent off in this game is beyond me. It was a brute fest out there and this referee was unwilling to book players.
Not only that, the flopping was pathetic and he even bought into one (by Hulk) that led to the second Brazil goal. I stand by my assertion that Brazil is not a semi-finals caliber team. They got some major breaks from referees to get to this point and when they didn't, they needed penalties to get past Chile.
Worse, it has been reported Brazilian striker Neymar has a broken vertebrae. I point this directly at the ref for failing to control the game.
Not impressed at all.
The 2002 World Cup descended into madness in the Italy/South Korea and Spain/South Korea matches but 2014 will go down as an officiating disaster from start to finish.
My worst fears have been realized. One can only hope a top caliber referee will put a stop to this nonsense in the Brazil-Germany semi-final.
Speaking of Germany, they're not exactly angels either. In addition to lackluster play (boy, how weak is the field that Brazil and Germany are able to get to the semis with such meh performances!), they're not above not resorting to antics. As we saw with Muller and Klose attempting to dive their way to penalties. Moreover, no clue how Schurrle and Schweinsteiger weren't booked more often. The Germans were getting away with slide tackles that didn't come close to touching the ball.
Nonetheless, the French weren't exactly up to the challenge. As I warned people, the draw flattered France. They were at best a R16 caliber squad. That they managed to reach the QF was thanks to having drawn Nigeria (not exactly a top flight team) in the R16.
The one thing they exposed was Germany's slow defense. In fact, Germany (like Italy) can't seem to handle pace. I'd actually be surprised if they or Brazil win the title. For me, the contenders are on the other side of the bracket with Argentina, Netherlands and even Belgium. Each of these teams have pace and power.
****
I've always been fascinated by how teams are perceived. Take this comment for instance I spotted at ESPN:
"The Germans sportsmanship is flawless with only 2-3 yellow's in total the whole tournament (so if the refs decide to go trigger happy people will know whats up)"
I believe they've been lucky to not get more yellows because there have been quite a few tackles and dives that could have easily been book but weren't for some reason.
Seems like no matter how many memorable and notorious infractions Germans make, they will always be perceived as 'sportsman' in the eyes of - naturally, their fans - and possible the neutral fan.
It's interesting because it feels as though they - as well as Brazil and Holland - can get away with almost murder on the pitch and fans will have short memories.
Italy on the other hand, though not without their own drama, fans love to keep long memories.
It elicited this response:
"The Germans sportsmanship is flawless" Are you kidding me? Did you not see the dives attempted by Muller (who has been flopping all tournament) and Klose? See, this is where I get fed up with 'Northern' soccer fans. They can dive and they'll still think themselves 'sportsman.' Moreover, the Germans (who aren't flawless sportsman just look at the history of soccer buddy. Man, they won a WC on a dive in 1990, Klinsmann was a notorious diver and please don't get me going on Schurmacher's assault on Battiston not to mention that disgraceful gentleman's deal with Austria in 1982)) got away with a lot of hacking. Even in that game the ref kept the cards in his pocket. Please."
In 2006, the Germans did their bit to dive and I might add Rudi Voeller to the list next to Klinsmann.
We see a lot of 'Italians are divers' on the internet. The Brazilians, Argentinians (though to his credit Messi does not dive), Germans and Dutch measure up.
Not only that, the flopping was pathetic and he even bought into one (by Hulk) that led to the second Brazil goal. I stand by my assertion that Brazil is not a semi-finals caliber team. They got some major breaks from referees to get to this point and when they didn't, they needed penalties to get past Chile.
Worse, it has been reported Brazilian striker Neymar has a broken vertebrae. I point this directly at the ref for failing to control the game.
Not impressed at all.
The 2002 World Cup descended into madness in the Italy/South Korea and Spain/South Korea matches but 2014 will go down as an officiating disaster from start to finish.
My worst fears have been realized. One can only hope a top caliber referee will put a stop to this nonsense in the Brazil-Germany semi-final.
Speaking of Germany, they're not exactly angels either. In addition to lackluster play (boy, how weak is the field that Brazil and Germany are able to get to the semis with such meh performances!), they're not above not resorting to antics. As we saw with Muller and Klose attempting to dive their way to penalties. Moreover, no clue how Schurrle and Schweinsteiger weren't booked more often. The Germans were getting away with slide tackles that didn't come close to touching the ball.
Nonetheless, the French weren't exactly up to the challenge. As I warned people, the draw flattered France. They were at best a R16 caliber squad. That they managed to reach the QF was thanks to having drawn Nigeria (not exactly a top flight team) in the R16.
The one thing they exposed was Germany's slow defense. In fact, Germany (like Italy) can't seem to handle pace. I'd actually be surprised if they or Brazil win the title. For me, the contenders are on the other side of the bracket with Argentina, Netherlands and even Belgium. Each of these teams have pace and power.
****
I've always been fascinated by how teams are perceived. Take this comment for instance I spotted at ESPN:
"The Germans sportsmanship is flawless with only 2-3 yellow's in total the whole tournament (so if the refs decide to go trigger happy people will know whats up)"
I believe they've been lucky to not get more yellows because there have been quite a few tackles and dives that could have easily been book but weren't for some reason.
Seems like no matter how many memorable and notorious infractions Germans make, they will always be perceived as 'sportsman' in the eyes of - naturally, their fans - and possible the neutral fan.
It's interesting because it feels as though they - as well as Brazil and Holland - can get away with almost murder on the pitch and fans will have short memories.
Italy on the other hand, though not without their own drama, fans love to keep long memories.
It elicited this response:
"The Germans sportsmanship is flawless" Are you kidding me? Did you not see the dives attempted by Muller (who has been flopping all tournament) and Klose? See, this is where I get fed up with 'Northern' soccer fans. They can dive and they'll still think themselves 'sportsman.' Moreover, the Germans (who aren't flawless sportsman just look at the history of soccer buddy. Man, they won a WC on a dive in 1990, Klinsmann was a notorious diver and please don't get me going on Schurmacher's assault on Battiston not to mention that disgraceful gentleman's deal with Austria in 1982)) got away with a lot of hacking. Even in that game the ref kept the cards in his pocket. Please."
In 2006, the Germans did their bit to dive and I might add Rudi Voeller to the list next to Klinsmann.
We see a lot of 'Italians are divers' on the internet. The Brazilians, Argentinians (though to his credit Messi does not dive), Germans and Dutch measure up.
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