The Official World Cup Thread

[CaliforniaRaisin]

That was pretty much akin to Barrett punching out AJP, imo. Italy had it coming, it was highly inappropriate, and incredibly hilarious.

 

What a way to go out. Wow.

 

Yup.

[ConstableRabbit]

I just ordered this shirt from Sports Authority.com I don't know how/why, but it's awesome

 

http://tsa.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/p3066542dt.jpg

[soccer10k]

Congrats to Italy. Now half their theam can enjoy playing in Serie C or the Italian 3rd division or wherever they are getting relegated to now that the match fixing scandal is being prosecuted.

 

I believe that all of the players on all of the teams will basically become free agents if they are relegated. I'm pretty sure this would be the case if Juventus is relegated to Serie C but not completely sure for the other three (Lazio, Fiorentina, AC Milan) if they are relegated to Serie B. We'll just have to see how this plays out. Should be interesting.

[soccer10k]

During today's game they said the average age for the 2 teams was 29, at least I think they were talking about the 2 teams. Keeping that in mind, I don't think it would be too much to expect 'Dolo and Boca to still be useful.

 

Goalkeepers can play effectively into their mid 30's quite easily. Defenders can play effectively into their low 30's and sometimes mid 30's if they are a star. It is rare for midfielders to play effectively past 31, 32 with the exception of a bigtime star (re: Zidane, Figo, etc.). Once forwards hit 30 they are likely done (Ronaldo is 29 right now). Obviously this isn't a rule and there are exceptions but it is a trend. All of this is for the national teams, not club teams.

[Outshined_One]

Let the fun continue!

 

So, earlier in the match, Zidane injured his leftshoulder/pectoral muscle. Apparently, Materazzi was getting cheap shots in on it from that point on, trying to take Zidane out. The final straw came when this happened.

 

That's right. Materazzi gave Zidane a purple nurple.

 

Turns out, Materazzi's a known cheapshot artist.

delightful video has a good number of clips on the guy, although the music accompanying it is NSFW. I wouldn't be surprised if the two have a history with one another.

 

So, it turns out the Barrett/AJP comparison might well be a better one than I originally was aware.

[wvcbxl]

Premiership starts in the fall, but MLS is going on right now!

 

Actually, Premiership starts on 08/19.

Even in England, that is still summer. 8)

[davecubsfan]

:lol:

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/8667/zidane6ki7np.gif

[soccer10k]

Let the fun continue!

 

So, earlier in the match, Zidane injured his leftshoulder/pectoral muscle. Apparently, Materazzi was getting cheap shots in on it from that point on, trying to take Zidane out. The final straw came when this happened.

 

That's right. Materazzi gave Zidane a purple nurple.

 

Turns out, Materazzi's a known cheapshot artist.

delightful video has a good number of clips on the guy, although the music accompanying it is NSFW. I wouldn't be surprised if the two have a history with one another.

 

So, it turns out the Barrett/AJP comparison might well be a better one than I originally was aware.

 

I didn't know Materazzi was a cheap shot artist. That's great and all, but it still doesn't excuse what Zidane did. I don't care if Materazzi claimed he had sex with Zidane's sister before the match, there is no excuse for what Zidane did. None.

[soccer10k]

Premiership starts in the fall, but MLS is going on right now!

 

Actually, Premiership starts on 08/19.

Even in England, that is still summer. 8)

 

That's a lie. Everyone knows there is no summer in England. It just rains all the time. :)

[soccer10k]

Zidane still won the golden ball for the tournament's best player. Which is crap. He shouldn't have won it anyway even if he didn't get the red card.

 

Link

[Mark Priors Calves]

Any published reports about what was said to Zidane?

[Jon]

SkySports.com[/url]"]Italy defender Marco Materazzi has strenuously denied reports that he called Zinedine Zidane a 'dirty terrorist'.

 

................

 

SOS Racism claim well informed sources told them of what Materazzi allegedly said to the now-retired Zidane, but the Internazionale player denies making any such statement to the former Real Madrid man.

 

"It is absolutely not true, I did not call him a terrorist," Materazzi told Italian news agency Ansa.

 

"I'm ignorant. I don't even know what the word means.

 

"The whole world saw what happened on live TV."

[Outshined_One]

Don't mess with Algerians.

 

http://content.ytmnd.com/content/8/6/9/8691b2eb002f26a2c99a034d741ce5c8.gif

 

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/8770/125e067ac32841a86fc20e71015e58.gif

 

I enjoy how Materazzi tried to kick Zidane with his left leg and whiffed.

[Jon]

http://content.ytmnd.com/content/4/4/0/440a4a26c091a599b292f4ad0e389b52.gif

 

http://content.ytmnd.com/content/8/1/7/817fe38746d322bef0966dd2c7b24524.gif

 

http://content.ytmnd.com/content/8/6/f/86f3406826dbafbeaae1685e7880da11.gif

[Chocolate Milk]

Zidane video game.

 

http://tinyurl.com/ke3os

[USSoccer]

Hopefully Adu will be ready next time around. I'm sure he will be on the team, but will he live up to the hype?

And will he play for the US?

Screw Ghana. He is a US citizen is he not?

 

He hasn't been forced to choose yet, although I don't see why he wouldn't choose the US. It's not like he was born and raised in Ghana and just came over here to play soccer.

He was on PTI a couple weeks ago, and seemed honestly undecided.

 

He (Adu) was capped for the US in March against Canada. From that moment on he cannot appear for another country in international play, so his mind is made up. He can have mixed feelings all he wants, but he's a US player.

[goonys evil twin]

He (Adu) was capped for the US in March against Canada. From that moment on he cannot appear for another country in international play, so his mind is made up. He can have mixed feelings all he wants, but he's a US player.

 

What is capped?

[USSoccer]

He (Adu) was capped for the US in March against Canada. From that moment on he cannot appear for another country in international play, so his mind is made up. He can have mixed feelings all he wants, but he's a US player.

 

What is capped?

 

He appeared in a game. Games appeared in is measured in caps. I have no idea of the entomology of that word.

 

Regardless, once that happened, he can pine all he wants to play for his native Ghana, but he's stuck with us.

[goonys evil twin]

He (Adu) was capped for the US in March against Canada. From that moment on he cannot appear for another country in international play, so his mind is made up. He can have mixed feelings all he wants, but he's a US player.

 

What is capped?

 

He appeared in a game. Games appeared in is measured in caps. I have no idea of the entomology of that word.

 

Regardless, once that happened, he can pine all he wants to play for his native Ghana, but he's stuck with us.

 

I just read all about getting capped, some Saudi dude just set the men's record. Kristine Lilly leads all though.

 

It doesn't say anything about not being able to switch sides later, but I'll take your word for it.

 

http://soccerhalloffame.org/ColinJose/What%20is%20an%20International%20Cap.htm

 

The practice of wearing caps in soccer goes back a long long way and may well have had its origin in English Public Schools (Editors note: These would be private schools in the USA) where it was, and no doubt still is, a part of the dress code. Thus when one school played some form of football against another the players wore their school caps. An account of a football game as early as 1851 at Rugby School mentions the players wearing house caps of different colors. Engravings of that period also show Rugby schoolboys wearing a variety of caps, some resembling American football helmets, some bowler hats or jockey caps. It is claimed that the first true international caps were awarded in 1886, although some form of headgear was worn in the first international when Scotland played England in Glasgow in 1872. At a meeting of the Football Association of England held on January 30, 1886 N.L. Jackson proposed that "All players taking part in future England internationals be presented with a white silk cap with a red rose embroidered on the front. These to be termed "International Caps." A sub committee then met to select a suitable cap and on May 10, 1886 the design was decided upon; Royal blue velvet, with a rose in front and date on the peak. Later editions would contain the name of the country played against on the peak, along with the year. The caps had a silver tassel, and three lions in place of the rose.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I always thought Caps stood for Career appearances, huh.

[1908]

He (Adu) was capped for the US in March against Canada. From that moment on he cannot appear for another country in international play, so his mind is made up. He can have mixed feelings all he wants, but he's a US player.

 

What is capped?

 

He appeared in a game. Games appeared in is measured in caps. I have no idea of the entomology of that word.

 

Regardless, once that happened, he can pine all he wants to play for his native Ghana, but he's stuck with us.

There's no system set up to deal with players who change citizenship?

[Outshined_One]

He appeared in a game. Games appeared in is measured in caps. I have no idea of the entomology of that word.

 

http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/3439/41049894insect63cv.jpg

[USSoccer]

He (Adu) was capped for the US in March against Canada. From that moment on he cannot appear for another country in international play, so his mind is made up. He can have mixed feelings all he wants, but he's a US player.

 

What is capped?

 

He appeared in a game. Games appeared in is measured in caps. I have no idea of the entomology of that word.

 

Regardless, once that happened, he can pine all he wants to play for his native Ghana, but he's stuck with us.

There's no system set up to deal with players who change citizenship?

 

I *might* be mistaken but if you've appeared in a game for your country and it was a FIFA sanctioned game or friendly, you can't appear for another country, even if you do change citizenship. FIFA has that set up to prevent player recruiting. And IIRC it has to be for the national team. U-21 games don't count.

[goonys evil twin]

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=entomology

 

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=etymology

 

 

 

FYI, I didn't know this.

[USSoccer]

Found this explanation from the FA's website:

 

FIFA made a wholesale revision of its statutes and regulations at its Extraordinary Congress on 19 October 2003. It rewrote the entire article on "Eligibility to play for Association teams," renumbered it and provided a procedure for players to change their national team affiliation. Article 15 of the Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes, which took effect on 1 January 2004, now reads:

 

"1. Any person holding the nationality of a country is eligible to play for the representative teams of the Association of his country. The Executive Committee shall decide on the conditions of eligibility for any Player whose nationality entitles him to represent more than one Association.

 

"2. As a general rule, any Player who has already represented one Association (either in full or in part) in an official competition of any category may not play an international match with another Association team.

 

"3. If a Player has more than one nationality, or if a Player acquires a new nationality, or if the Player is eligible to play for several Association teams due to his nationality, the following exceptions apply:

 

"(a) Up to his 21st birthday, a player may only once request changing the Association for which he is eligible to play international matches. A Player may exercise this right to change Associations only if he has not played at “A” international level for his current Association and if, at the time of his first full or partial appearance in an international match in an official competition of any other category, he already had such nationalities. Changing Associations is not permitted during the preliminary competition of a FIFA competition, continental championship or Olympic Tournaments if a player has already been fielded in a match of one of these competitions.

 

"(b) Any Player who has already acquired eligibility to play for one Association but has another nationality imposed upon him by a government authority, is also entitled to change associations. This provision is not subject to any age limits.

 

"4. Any Player who wishes to exercise this right to change Associations shall submit a written and substantiated request to the FIFA general secretariat. After submitting the request, the player is no longer qualified to play for his current Association’s team. The Players’ Status Committee shall decide on the request. The committee’s decision may be brought before the Appeal Committee. The Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players contain more detailed provisions.

 

"5. Any Players who have already had their 21st birthday at the time of implementation of these provisions and who fulfil the requirements in par. 3 (a) are also entitled to submit such a request to change Associations. This entitlement will expire definitively twelve months after implementation of this provision."

The major substantive change was designed to deal with repeated complaints that players had made irrevocable commitments to a particular national team by taking part in international youth tournaments when they were too young to make an intelligent decision on such an important matter and when their tender age rendered them peculiarly susceptible to pressure from others. The new provision seeks to rectify this problem by allowing a national team change in limited circumstances. It contains five limitations preventing country-shopping: the player must not yet have reached his 21st birthday when he makes the request to change his national team, he must already hold the dual or multiple nationality when he makes his first appearance in a competitive international match, he must not have appeared for the A or senior level national team of his current association, he may change his national team only once and he may not change his national team during a preliminry competition in which he has taken part. FIFA waived the age limit for making the request for the first year of the new rule's existence, thus allowing players already 21 or older to change national sides during that one-year adjustment period provided they are otherwise eligible to do so.

 

It seems to indicate that Adu could have switched prior to the appearance against Canada.

Edited July 10, 2006 by USSoccer