The Official World Cup Thread

[Transmogrified Tiger]

haha, eat it shevchenko

[goonys evil twin]

these guys suck at PK.

[Jon]

Not a very good kick by Steller.

[Outshined_One]

Doink.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Cripes, how do you go 0 for 3 you schmucks

[goonys evil twin]

Seriously, they are awful. Two right down the middle and one off the pipes.

[Jon]

That was pathetic, Switzerland.

[Marco4]

That was an appalling attacking performance by both teams; though there were some wonderful moments of defensive play by both.

 

Italy will be rubbing their hands together.

[sethuel1]

I appreciated how much the crowd booed that crappy game.

[Balsa]

I'm not sure who was doing the color for the Fire game on CSNC last night, but he kept on going on and on about how the complaining over the World Cup officiating by analysts has been unwarranted. His main point was that it only matters how much the fans enjoy the games and that the fans have been pleased with the officiating

What a locd of bolocka. I have never seen seuch absymal reffing in; my life. FIFA shoudl be ashamed of thesemleves.

[USSoccer]

No soccer player beyond junior high level should EVER miss a PK.

[Marco4]

No soccer player beyond junior high level should EVER miss a PK.

 

Roberto Baggio had an 86% success rate with penalty kicks in Serie A which was, apparently, the highest success rate of anyone ever.

 

There's presumably a cut-off point of number taken.

[USSoccer]

No soccer player beyond junior high level should EVER miss a PK.

 

Roberto Baggio had an 86% success rate with penalty kicks in Serie A which was, apparently, the highest success rate of anyone ever.

 

There's presumably a cut-off point of number taken.

 

I stand by my statement. :D

 

You pick your spot and shoot. The more you think about the PK, the better the odds are that you'll think yourself into a stupid shot.

 

I'm happy to say I never missed one in 18 years of organized soccer.

[brinoch]

No soccer player beyond junior high level should EVER miss a PK.

 

Roberto Baggio had an 86% success rate with penalty kicks in Serie A which was, apparently, the highest success rate of anyone ever.

 

There's presumably a cut-off point of number taken.

 

I stand by my statement. :D

 

You pick your spot and shoot. The more you think about the PK, the better the odds are that you'll think yourself into a stupid shot.

 

I'm happy to say I never missed one in 18 years of organized soccer.

 

Bah. That's crap.

 

Caveat #1: Like you, I've never missed a PK.

Caveat #2: I've saved multiple PK's as a keeper.

 

As a keeper, you can read the shooter. If you watch how he sets up, the approach and the location of the plant foot, you can get a pretty good idea of which side he's targeting. If you watch the hips, head and the shoulders, you can get an idea if the striker is going up or down. If you can analyze all of this in the instant that you have to decide, you too can be a World Cup goalie.

 

As a keeper, if you just guess which side to cover and commit yourself, you might get the lower corner on the dive, and you might save the ball if its poorly struck. Upper corner -- no way.

 

As a forward, I always tried to put the ball in the side net at a reasonable level of power. I blanked my mind until the whistle, picked my side on the approach, and went. No thought.

[brinoch]

By the way, the angriest I've ever gotten at my team was on a PK. I made the save on a full-out dive to my right -- about waist high. On the rebound, a different player put the ball in the net. Literally every single one of my teammates watched the play and didn't charge to clear a rebound. There were 5 or 6 opposing players and me off the rebound. I never had a chance.

 

I was so furious at them for putting me in that spot, and when I bailed them out they didn't even make an effort to help me out. Appalling.

[USSoccer]

No soccer player beyond junior high level should EVER miss a PK.

 

Roberto Baggio had an 86% success rate with penalty kicks in Serie A which was, apparently, the highest success rate of anyone ever.

 

There's presumably a cut-off point of number taken.

 

I stand by my statement. :D

 

You pick your spot and shoot. The more you think about the PK, the better the odds are that you'll think yourself into a stupid shot.

 

I'm happy to say I never missed one in 18 years of organized soccer.

 

Bah. That's crap.

 

Caveat #1: Like you, I've never missed a PK.

Caveat #2: I've saved multiple PK's as a keeper.

 

As a keeper, you can read the shooter. If you watch how he sets up, the approach and the location of the plant foot, you can get a pretty good idea of which side he's targeting. If you watch the hips, head and the shoulders, you can get an idea if the striker is going up or down. If you can analyze all of this in the instant that you have to decide, you too can be a World Cup goalie.

 

As a keeper, if you just guess which side to cover and commit yourself, you might get the lower corner on the dive, and you might save the ball if its poorly struck. Upper corner -- no way.

 

As a forward, I always tried to put the ball in the side net at a reasonable level of power. I blanked my mind until the whistle, picked my side on the approach, and went. No thought.

 

I looked at PK's like a golf shot. If you strike the ball anywhere near decent, the keeper can guess correctly and still not save it. It's all about your approach. You mind your mechanics, and you won't miss.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

No soccer player beyond junior high level should EVER miss a PK.

 

Roberto Baggio had an 86% success rate with penalty kicks in Serie A which was, apparently, the highest success rate of anyone ever.

 

There's presumably a cut-off point of number taken.

 

I stand by my statement. :D

 

You pick your spot and shoot. The more you think about the PK, the better the odds are that you'll think yourself into a stupid shot.

 

I'm happy to say I never missed one in 18 years of organized soccer.

 

Bah. That's crap.

 

Caveat #1: Like you, I've never missed a PK.

Caveat #2: I've saved multiple PK's as a keeper.

 

As a keeper, you can read the shooter. If you watch how he sets up, the approach and the location of the plant foot, you can get a pretty good idea of which side he's targeting. If you watch the hips, head and the shoulders, you can get an idea if the striker is going up or down. If you can analyze all of this in the instant that you have to decide, you too can be a World Cup goalie.

 

As a keeper, if you just guess which side to cover and commit yourself, you might get the lower corner on the dive, and you might save the ball if its poorly struck. Upper corner -- no way.

 

As a forward, I always tried to put the ball in the side net at a reasonable level of power. I blanked my mind until the whistle, picked my side on the approach, and went. No thought.

 

As a keeper, I would always outthink myself if I tried to read the shooter. I would be slow reacting because I was concentrating so hard to find a sign. In practice when we'd practice a bunch of PK's around tournament time, I'd stuff my team at about a 50% rate, sometimes more. Of course that's because I knew them and got in their heads, but still.

[sethuel1]

 

I looked at PK's like a golf shot. If you strike the ball anywhere near decent, the keeper can guess correctly and still not save it. It's all about your approach. You mind your mechanics, and you won't miss.

 

Example: Totti's PK today.

[CubsBullsBears]

First World Cup induced riot of 2006 will be tomorrow!!!!

 

Huh?

 

I think he's still pissy because everyone laughed at his WBC vs. World Cup argument.

No, France and Spain are playing tomorrow. When you combine a 400-year bitter history with a few pints of beer and a soccer match, you've got a riot on your hands.

[USSoccer]

First World Cup induced riot of 2006 will be tomorrow!!!!

 

Huh?

 

I think he's still pissy because everyone laughed at his WBC vs. World Cup argument.

No, France and Spain are playing tomorrow. When you combine a 400-year bitter history with a few pints of beer and a soccer match, you've got a riot on your hands.

 

I doubt that very much.

[USSoccer]

 

I looked at PK's like a golf shot. If you strike the ball anywhere near decent, the keeper can guess correctly and still not save it. It's all about your approach. You mind your mechanics, and you won't miss.

 

Example: Totti's PK today.

 

IMO, the guys who usually miss are the guys who try all sorts of shoulder and hip fakes, and the guys who try and use funny routes to their shot.

[brinoch]

I looked at PK's like a golf shot. If you strike the ball anywhere near decent, the keeper can guess correctly and still not save it. It's all about your approach. You mind your mechanics, and you won't miss.

 

Yep, that's very true. It's a big goal for a keeper to cover, from a very short distance.

[brinoch]

 

I looked at PK's like a golf shot. If you strike the ball anywhere near decent, the keeper can guess correctly and still not save it. It's all about your approach. You mind your mechanics, and you won't miss.

 

Example: Totti's PK today.

 

IMO, the guys who usually miss are the guys who try all sorts of shoulder and hip fakes, and the guys who try and use funny routes to their shot.

 

You can't effectively disguise a plant foot (watch the toe -- it nearly always points in tthe direction the ball will travel). Trying to hit the ball across your body to fake out the keeper is how you miss.

[sethuel1]

I really enjoyed that guy from the Ukraine hitting "il cucchiaio" today and then shushing the Swiss fans. Only good part of that entire game.

[soccer10k]

That was a clear penalty. the defender didn't get the ball, and then impeded the progress of the offensive player from getting to the ball.

 

And Totti absolutely hammered that PK.

 

I don't buy that. Neill slid well before Grosso even touched the ball sideways. Then he touched it and let himself fall over Neill, who again was there before he changed his dribble, instead of following the ball. There was another defender coming towards the side dribble, so it's not like he was alone with the keeper if he doesn't fall. Like USS said with regards to the US-Ghana PK, you're essentially saying he had a clear go at goal without the "foul". That's not true in this case, it was a bad call.

 

All that said, in the brief replay I saw of the red card, that didn't look like a red.

 

I could care less if Neill had been shot and was writhing on the ground in pain, the fact remains that Neill impeded the progress of Grosso. It's highly likely that Grosso would have had a decent chance at goal or could have passed to a teammate that had a decent shot at goal. Neill prevented that from happening. It doesn't matter in the least whether the foul was accidental or on purpose - the referee dealt with that by not handing out a card which he likely would have had Neill pulled him down - a foul occurred on the play. And please, don't use the US-Ghana PK as a corollary because absolutely no foul occured in that game. Sure, Grosso likely embellished the play a bit but there have been hundreds of more pathetic dives with less contact than this play in the World Cup this year. A foul, albeit not a bad one, occured on that play and the referee definately made the correct call.

 

That being said, it's too bad for Australia that the game had to end like that but I can't say I feel sorry for them. They played up a man for the whole second half and couldn't break through.