[LUconn]

Did anybody see Brazil's first goal? It's most likely why NK is an atheistic country. I don't even care if it wasn't on purpose. It was amazing.

[Rooster Cogburn]

Did anybody see Brazil's first goal? It's most likely why NK is an atheistic country. I don't even care if it wasn't on purpose. It was amazing.

Absolutely amazing and the best gooooaaaallll so far.

[Sly Fox]

For those who somehow missed Saturday's 1-all tie ...

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[ALUmnus]

They only scored one goal but Chile dominated Honduras. They are really enjoyable to watch, and they don't play dirty, either.

[TDDance234]

For those who somehow missed Saturday's 1-all tie ...

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There was an article in the USA Today this morning about this. Crazy.

[Schfourteenteen]

I don't know how much this relates to the scoring, but I've never understood why a NEW ball is introduced at the World Cup.

[ALUmnus]

So Adidas can sell more soccer balls. Same reason they get teams to wear new uniform designs, to sell more jerseys to the fans. They introduce a new ball pretty much every World Cup, and every time everyone complains about it.

[LUconn]

yeah, I do recall players complaining about the ball every world cup, but I'm starting to think that there may be something to it this go around. There has just been so many terrible shots. People are ripping it with confidence and it's like 5 yards past the post. There's also been a lot of awful crosses and long passes that just look like amateurs. I think it's gotta be the ball is acting different than they're used to.

[SuperJon]

I'm not sure I've seen a single free kick come close to scoring this year. That's gotta be partially because of the ball.

[Schfourteenteen]

So Adidas can sell more soccer balls. Same reason they get teams to wear new uniform designs, to sell more jerseys to the fans. They introduce a new ball pretty much every World Cup, and every time everyone complains about it.

I knew that. There's just a point where a major change in the ball can make the best in the world look like League 1 material.

[01LUGrad]

Spain loses to the pocket knives/cheese makers 0-1 today. I didn't see that coming.

[blwall1416]

Religion up 1 - 0.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/ ... 901&ver=us

[Sly Fox]

I'm jazzed about the game tomorrow morning. And then I just turned green with envy when I saw the following pic on Facebook ...



He just needs to have a FlameFans shirt for our old FlameFans goes Global thread. But the hat makes up for it.

[01LUGrad]

We are in some deep doo-doo right now. Down 0-2 at the half. Somebody get Findley out of there. He looks completely lost.

[blwall1416]

Okay US...this is your chance to pull me into this...make me a "fan" so to speak. Right now, you're screwing the pooch.

[SuperJon]

That goal from Donovan was fantastic.

[01LUGrad]

Elevator, Elevator! We got the shaft!

[SuperJon]

Nuts and bolts. Nuts and bolts. We got screwed.

[ATrain]

So if we beat Algeria and England beats both Algeria and Slovenia, how does the point system play out? England would advance, but who else?

[SuperJon]

So if we beat Algeria and England beats both Algeria and Slovenia, how does the point system play out? England would advance, but who else?

England 7
USA 5
Slovenia 4
Algeria 0

[Sly Fox]

I guess we should feel great that we managed a tie after that halftime deficit. But forgive me for not being celebratory. I disagree with Lalas ... the ref did take away 2 more points from us that would have likely assured the Round of 16.

[LUconn]

It is unbelievable to me that a ref can make a game deciding call and NOBODY knows what the call was for. Just that the goal was disallowed. What if an NFL ref threw a flag and never explained why?

[blwall1416]

It is unbelievable to me that a ref can make a game deciding call and NOBODY knows what the call was for. Just that the goal was disallowed. What if an NFL ref threw a flag and never explained why?

I obviously have no soccer experience, but I could tell from the ref's body language after his first contested call, that he was not comfortable. It seemed to snowball on him from there. I know how that feels. Although, so far I've been able to explain my call, or at least tell the coach that I messed up.

[LUconn]

yeah, they said it was his first WC game and I understand bad calls happen. But he was consistently bad and it just irks me that there's no reason given.

[Sly Fox]

Dude supposedly has been the top ref in Africa in recent years. What does that say about African referees?