Soccer really sucks, doesn't it?

[Barnabas]

Why can't Russia qualify when they have over 140 million people? It is too cold to play football?

[Serb]

Ask Germans (about close wins against us in our group).
And Slovenians (about wining the qualifing rounds between teams that came second in their groups).
And FIFA for their dumb qualifying round rules.
How the f*ck Slovenia deserved this WC more than us, if we have beaten them 2-1 and then lost 0-1 (after ABSOLUTELY UNFAIR red card to our forward right after the the half of the game)?
How the f*ck France deserved this WC more than Ierland after Henry's hand? Though France did deserved this disaster actually (Despite I loved these guys four years ago. Than again - how the f*ck Italy deserved its victory in the finals back than? Matarazzi).

Life is unfair. And FIFA is just a bunch of f*cking idiots.

[MOBIUS]

Whining like a stuck pig!

I remember when Russia had to cheat just to beat Wales in a play off for the last major competition - How pathetic for such a huge nation!

[Az]

Russia had a solid effort in Euro 08...

how the hell did they not qualify - it is sad. Then again, England is like an entire nation that worships football, and they qualified for the 1/8s after the US... so I don't know.

England-Germany was one of the best games I've ever seen ( best was Argentina Germany in 2006 )

[Serb]

Whining like a stuck pig!

I remember when Russia had to cheat just to beat Wales

WTF? We beat them fair.

in a play off for the last major competition - How pathetic for such a huge nation!

Our last major competition was two years ago - Euro-2008 where we won bronze medals and lost only to champions (Spain).

[Serb]

Then again, England is like an entire nation that worships football, and they qualified for the 1/8s after the US... so I don't know.

And they didn't qualify to Euro-2008 (we did, instead of England, thanks to Croats and our 2-1win against England in group).

[Drake Tungsten]

Yeah, I know - "won't happen, Serb."

Anything can happen in soccer, since you don't know if the goals you score are going to count or not...

[Asher]

Jesus...

http://mungowitzend.blogspot.com/2010/06/soccer-shennanigans.html

There was an unusual match between Barbados and Grenada.

Grenada went into the match with a superior goal difference, meaning that Barbados needed to win by two goals to progress to the finals. The trouble was caused by two things. First, unlike most group stages in football competitions, the organizers had deemed that all games must have a winner. All games drawn over 90 minutes would go to sudden death extra time. Secondly and most importantly, there was an unusual rule which stated that in the event of a game going to sudden death extra time the goal would count double, meaning that the winner would be awarded a two goal victory.

Barbados was leading 2-0 until the 83rd minute, when Grenada scored, making it 2-1. Approaching the dying moments, the Barbadians realized they had no chance of scoring past Grenada's mass defense, so they deliberately scored an own goal to tie the game at 2-2. This would send the game into extra time and give them another half hour to break down the defense. The Grenadians realized what was happening and attempted to score an own goal as well, which would put Barbados back in front by one goal and would eliminate Barbados from the competition.

However, the Barbados players started defending their opposition's goal to prevent them from doing this, and during the game's last five minutes, the fans were treated to the incredible sight of Grenada trying to score in either goal. Barbados also defended both ends of the pitch, and held off Grenada for the final five minutes, sending the game into extra time. In extra time, Barbados notched the game-winner, and, according to the rules, was awarded a 4-2 victory, which put them through to the next round.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

That would have been absolutely brilliant to watch.

[Wezil]

Jesus...

http://mungowitzend.blogspot.com/2010/06/soccer-shennanigans.html

LMAO!

[Drake Tungsten]

Leave it to folks in the New World to realize that awarding different amounts of points for different types of scoring leads to more strategy and excitement in the game.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Any sport can be improved by occasional bits of wacky pointlessness. Ice hockey would become at least four times more interesting if it was played on very thin ice over deep water. And with a polar bear.

[Wezil]

I'd watch that.

[Asher]

http://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/worldcup/article/831037--dimanno-world-cup-is-one-big-crying-game?bn=1

World Cup is one big Crying Game

When Brendan Shanahan missed the final shootout attempt at the Nagano Olympics, bouncing Canada out of the gold medal game, he was devastated. But he didn’t bawl for all the world to see.

On none of the three occasions that Dave Stieb lost no-hitters with two outs in the ninth —before finally nailing it one memorable night in Cleveland — did he colvulse into blubbering, though tears of rage at some limp fielding from teammates would have been justified.

Not even a notable mama’s boy like Vince Carter ever turned on the waterworks whilst on the court.

There’s no crying in hockey, no crying in baseball, no crying in basketball and sure as hell no crying in oblong pigskin football.

But the other football, as most of the planet calls soccer, is one big Crying Game.

Oh, the boo-hooing at the World Cup. A New Zealander sobs before the start of that country’s final match here, overcome with emotion. A Blue Samurai weeps profusely when Japan is ousted on penalty kicks.

It makes for great drama, I suppose, a grand opera of soccer sentimentality, feelings worn on one’s sleeve. But, sheesh, get a grip girls.

Admittedly, I’m a Philistine at the gates of the World Cup. I can barely keep my Ronaldos straight from my Ronaldinhos and Robinhos. I am not excessively moved by any team’s anguished departure from the tournament.

And I’ve spent enough time in losing dressing rooms, across the spectrum of sports, to know that athletes do choke up, get lachrymose, over dreams crushed. But at least they usually have the good grace to keep these moments relatively private. That’s what renders those occasions when tears are spilled out in the open even more poignant — such as Mats Sundin wiping away salt droplets from his cheeks after the long standing ovation upon his return to the Air Canada Centre as a Vancouver Canuck.

Soccer players, by comparison, weep at the drop of a hat, or the strains of a pre-game national anthem — joined arm-in-arm-in-arm (way too much touching, as me) — fists squinched into eyes, forearms raised across faces.

They are as prone to sappy histrionics as they are to ouch-oomph-owie dives, faking flamboyant spills when barely touched by an opponent.

Perhaps this over-the-top emotionalism has something to do with ethnic extraction, soccer most wildly popular in countries where passions percolate close to the surface and males aren’t considered sissified for showing their sniffle-sniffle side. That might explain the Latin nations, anyway. If Italian players can get away with carrying man-bags, they surely don’t have an image problem making like onion-peelers. At least the anal English side maintained a stiff upper lip when tossed so ignobly in the round of 16. (Paul Gascoigne sobbing inconsolably at the 1990 semi against Germany was a famous exception to Albion stoicism.)

It could be that my own cultural aversion to men weeping — or, ahem, holding hands — has predisposed me to wincing at the display of overt emotionalism in South Africa, all that mawkishness. But between the crying and the diving — excuse me, the simulation — it’s been like one long *****-fest.

On the matter of the latter — players sprawling to the pitch as if shot — referees are supposed to be trained in detecting real fouls from flagrant fakes and feigned injuries. Yet they’ve often been as blind to hammy theatrics as to obvious goals un-counted and hand-balls un-called. Meanwhile, some of the game’s biggest stars — Cristiano Ronaldo come on down — endlessly whine about ghost molestation.

Didier Drogba, who really did have a fractured elbow coming into this tournament, is another serial simulation offender. In a moment of shocking candor, he once admitted: “Sometimes I dive, sometimes I stand.” Later he retracted the comment.

Crying ’n’ diving — I’ve had a bellyful of both.

Man up, boys.

[a.kitman]

suprise, people in diffrent countrys are diffrent. maybe you should stop crying about it. thats what this thread is tho, one big cry fest for the north americans, because no one else like there ****ty sports.

funny thing is despite all the "Crying ’n’ diving" and scoreless games its still a more exciting sport then all your american fake ****(except hockey, i consider them equal).