Ok, can people stop with this myth that Europeans play "boring" football. I admit that watching Switzerland makes me want to slash my wrists, but Holland and Germany (until the last match) have been positively electrifying. So have Portugal and Spain in most matches. Brazil, the supposed epitome of awesome South American football, weren't exactly dancing the samba when faced with Holland.

It's a sport, the objective is to win. If the way they do it is sometimes not "exciting" enough for you, you're welcome to change the channel.

That said, I have no trouble admitting that yesterday's match was sometimes boring as sin, I am just kind of puzzled by the "European football is boring" cliché. All teams have their good and bad days, no matter what continent they're from.

And here I was hoping for us to have a finale with Germany and Spain -_-

I wonder what's wrong with Germany since their last matches with England and Argentina were awesome.

By the way, my first post here and it was about football

Spain did what they did best - kept possession, passed beautifully and the relatively young German side gave them too much time on the ball - and paid the price.

Mueller's absence is evident. Podolski, Klose Schweinsteiger were all virtually invisible instead of picking up the slack. And to be honest, the score was flattering to Germany. They should have gone out with at least a 2-0 scoreline if not for the fact that Pedro is a selfish git.

Thomas Müller did not play (suspended yello card against Argentina)
....he is the force behind the german team.

But a lot better than Torres ...

The man has become a donkey ... he make Heskey look useful!

I think it had less to do with Germany playing badly but more Spain completely overpowering them with their passing game. It's a testament to how good Spain is at keeping the ball that they transformed Germany from the 4-0 giant winners into a team that could barely keep up.

I guess Germany could have tried playing a more offensive game, but that wasn't their undoing. On paper, Germany's tactics were sound, it just didn't work out for them on the day. Had they tried playing a more open and offensive game, Spain would have went for the jugular.

On the bright side, lessens the competition from other teams to tempt him away from Liverpool this summer.

I still miss Alonso *whimpers*

A friend just sent this and I cant.stop.laughing

Class!

He's obviously not fully fit and far from in-form. Would have probably been better for him to stay home this time but who can resist the chance of being world champion?

That's from the '08 Championship.

....but still very appropriate

lol, where is the thank you button when you need it?

What is great about this clip is that schweinsteiger could not recognise this human emotion thing occuring behind him. What is this "conga line" does not compute.......

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1863/wor...tter-dismisses

So old man Blatter has dismissed the idea of penalty goals, which essentially means we will see penalty goals being incorporated into the game sometime before the 2018, perhaps 2022 WC.

Englishman Howard Webb has been chosen to referee the World Cup final between Netherlands and Spain in Johannesburg on Sunday, Fifa has confirmed.

The 38-year-old Yorkshireman has had a good tournament so far, as have his assistants Michael Mullarkey and Darren Cann, who will join him in the final.
Webb is the first Englishman to referee the final since Jack Taylor in 1974.
He has refereed three World Cup matches in South Africa and has neither shown a red card nor awarded a penalty.

However, Webb has handed out an average of 5.67 bookings per games in South Africa - the second highest tally in tournament.

Webb made his World Cup finals debut in Spain's shock 1-0 defeat by Switzerland.
He was also in charge for Slovakia's 3-2 victory against Italy - which saw the defending champions knocked out of the tournament - and was praised for his handling of a dramatic finale to the match.

In the last-16 stage Webb refereed Brazil's 3-0 win over Chile, but he missed out on the quarter-finals and semi-finals.

For Webb to be chosen to officiate the biggest game in football in his first World Cup finals is a superb achievement.

It comes off the back of a highly successful season for Webb and his assistants Cann and Mullarkey, after they officiated the Champions League final in May when Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in Madrid.

Their performances have boosted English officials' standing around the world after the debacle in the 2006 World Cup when referee Graham Poll handed out three yellow cards to one player during the match between Australia and Croatia.

Webb, a former police officer from Rotherham, started officiating in the Northern Counties League in the mid-1990s.

He has been a Premier League referee since 2003 and took charge of the 2007 Carling Cup final between Arsenal and Chelsea - won by the Blues 2-1 - and the 2009 FA Cup final, also won by 2-1 Chelsea, this time against Everton.

One of Webb's assistants, Mullarkey, recently revealed how Fifa training sessions had included preparation for the noise of the vuvuzelas in South Africa.
Mullarkey said: "When we're doing our training exercises Fifa is actually playing recorded sounds of vuvuzelas through the speakers.

"For three hours a day we're exposed to that sound which helps preparation."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...10/8802425.stm

If you are in the Lucerne area on Sunday expect a large crowd of Holland supporters at Mr Pickwicks. This was the crowd for the semi-final.

Howard Webb has been awesome. 5 yellows handed out so far, and one for Van Bom-Bom. Finally. Yay!

Ramos' header...
[edit: according to couchmate 'hottie Sergio Ramos']:



D'Oh(!)

I just influenced the Final of the World Cup by putting my 1st bet on a football match for Holland.

Bugger

Calamari anyone ?