Greenhill

10 July (Saturday)...predictions before 3:30pm AST please

* Uruguay 0 Germany 0

Partially discharged

PartiallyDischarged Uruguay 1 Germany 2

The game that nobody wants to be in......any players on either team not played yet (other than the GK's)..if so, this could be their chance.

Oink

Oink Uruguay 0 Germany 2

Oakvillian

I think FIFA could learn a great deal from that other code of football, rugby union. Four rules I think should be adopted by association football:

- concession of ten additional yards towards the goal for any dissent shown to the referee, including backchat, after a free kick has been awarded. That would put an instant stop to all the petulance, mouthing off, and mobbing of officials.
- introduction of a "sin bin," perhaps as a better intermediate sanction between a free kick and a sending off. The yellow card rule doesn't really seem to work as the sanction is either too light for a first offence (a free kick) or too severe for a subsequent offence (sending off). Ten minutes off the field would give the other team a reasonable advantage and not vary so much on how much of the game has already been played.
- the ability to refer specific decisions to a video ref. In rugby, there is a very limited list of questions a referee can ask for clarification on. Was the ball grounded in goal (and, if not, was it held up or lost forward); was a foot in touch; was there a double movement to ground the ball. The same could easily be applied in major football games: was the whole of the ball over the whole of the line in goal; was a player offside as the final pass was made; was an inappropriate body part used to play the ball (a la Henri or Maradonna).
- deliberate foul play that would otherwise almost certainly have resulted in a goal should result in a penalty goal: this would have been the case in the Ghana-Uruguay incident.

jimf

Just wondered if anyone knew the answer to this - has any team lost one of their group matches and then gone on to win the World Cup - under the present format of one group stage then knockout rounds?

Oink

I think West Germany did in 1974. Scotland were the only team not to lose a match.

JamesM

I forgot about this game. Usually played by understrength teams who want to get home so hard to predict.

JamesM Uruguay 2 Germany 4

Lord Vader

Whatever is going to make the game more entertaining. Eliminating the diving fairies would be a good start, but that would leave the ref by himself on the field. About 50% of the goals scored seem to be "unfair" in some way, which means a lot considering the few number of scoring opportunities and goals in the game.

LordVader Uruguay 2 Germany 1

VadersGoldfish Uruguay 3 Germany 4 PENS

Clematis

Clematis Uruguay 1 Germany 2

Alan2005

Alan2005 Uruguay 0 Germany 3

JamesM

Should Spain win then New Zealand will be the only unbeaten team at the World Cup!

jimmydean

An Englishman will be in the World Cup Final for the first time since 1974.......


......Howard Webb selected as referee

Oink

Apparently the Germans want to roast Paul the Oracle Octopus.

Octopus Story

jimmydean

Nobody has ever lost their first match and then won the World Cup but in various different formats over the years

West Germany lost their second group game in 1954 to Hungary

West Germany lost their third group game against East Germany in 1974

Argentina lost their third group game in 1978

(Italy never won a match in their group in 1982 but won the cup)

Auld Yin

And all this means exactly WHAT? A big fat Zilch. For many years I have ridiculed the North Americans for the overly statistical approach to Baseball, NA Football etc, etc. Now it's happening in soccer, FCS. If Argentina lost its third group game in 1978 it's strictly happenstance and nothing else and does not warrant any comment other than it lost.