SOCCER - the other football

VIVA ESPANA!

An ugly game, a physical game, but the better side pulled through in the end. Iniesta's winning goal was a spectacular shot, but the real hero is Casillas. If Spain had Uruguay's keeper guarding the goal today, the Dutch would've won this 2-0 in regulation.

Great win. Well deserved. Congrats to Spain who have now joined the elite company of WorldCup winners.

Casillas was amazing. It was no question for him to get Golden Glove, but I would have considered him heavily for Golden Boot. How many goals did he let in throughout the tournament? 3?

It wasn't a great game, but we got to see a few moments of each team's greatness. Netherlands decided to take a gamble and play ultra-physical to pull Spain out of their game...didn't work...Spain persisted and looked like the better team throughout.

He did some great stuff in the finals but looking at the whole tournament I'm not too impressed by Casillas. He did not give the secure impression as he usually does nor had a calming effect on the defense. I'd say he was one of the worse starters in team Spain and the reason for not allowing more goals was certainly more the outfielders than him.

Spain as a team played two really good matches, the loss against Switzerland (I'm not kidding, this could have been 5-0 to Spain with the marginals on their side) and the semi against Germany. In the other games Villa bailed them out and he was their by far best player during the tournament.

Without any longer contemplating, here is my top performers during the WC.

GK - Neuer GER (looked very, very solid and I was very impressed by his handling)
D - Friedrich GER (a commanding presence in defence, dangerous on set pieces and great passing to start off the counter attacks quickly)
M - Sneijder HOL (both the engine in the Netherlands offense and the scorer)
A - Villa SPA (without his goals, Spain wouldn't even have advanced to the second round)

Hounorable mentions - Forlan (URU), Muller (GER) and Pique (SPA)

Player of the tournament - David Villa (SPA)

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Hol still gets the sickest goal.

I disagree. Casillas was very good in the game against Portugal too and he was one of the best in the tournament. Neuer was also good, but that German squad allowed way too many goals for what they are.

Schweinsteiger from Germany had a better cup than Sneijder IMO.

Anyways, here's the official list:
Golden Ball (best player): Diego Forlan (URU)
hard to argue with that one. Without Forlan, Uruguay wouldn't have made it out of the groups, let alone play for 3rd place.

Golden Boot (top scorer): Thomas Mueller (GER)
Villa (ESP), Sneijder (HOL) and Forlan (URU) also had 5 goals, but Mueller had 3 assists which earns him the award.

Golden Glove (best keeper): Iker Casillas (SPA)
Casillas only allowed 2 goals in the tournament.

FIFA Fair Play Award: Spain
I guess this is given to the team that receives the least number of yellow/red cards.

Best Young Player Award: Thomas Mueller (GER)
Hard to argue with that one.

OEEEEEEEEEEÉ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡Spain had been in flames all nigth¡¡¡¡¡¡ Thanks Roscoe,we didn´t believe we have won, througth years spanish football teams had falled,because we aren´t good enougth,or referees(like 1994 against italy or south corea),but our team plays ofensive style and fair play,that´s great for football,an example for young kids and our basketball team to repeat in september against the great usa team, i know usa is the best and favourite team(and there will be great other national teams),but we must believe in play like a team without Pau Gasol.
Great nigth,important is we have made history,spain is in deep economic crisis but football players had make happy all country people(in spain,our troops in afganistan or liban,all citys had been in flames tonigth),great¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡

Casillas was awesome,but our ofensive leader had been Iniesta,for me the best final player taking the ball in hot moments. Casillas and Robben as well very good.

I watched the game. It seemed like 3 minutes of action crammed into three hours. A real snoozefest.

I guess it's a matter of perspective. I had fun watching the final and was hoping it would go to overtime so I could watch more. The perseverance of Spanish midfield against the disruptive efforts of the Dutch was very impressive. The ingenious exploits of the Dutch with Robben were very exciting as well.

Oh well, I guess I'm too much of a soccer fan.

Maybe it's like going to the Opera. I did that once and knew that it was something I should appreciate but I couldn't force myself to do it. Or maybe like reading Ulysses by James Joyce. It's a classic work of fiction but I never was able to slog through it. Or The Brothers Karamazov. I have started about 10 times but never get past page 112.

I wanted Germany to win the cup.

I'll just have to drown my sorrows with some friends.

http://www.40cozy.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/german-oktoberfest-girls.jpg

Yes. It was just like the opera. The overtime was quite reminiscent of the finale of La Traviata.

Why are they so secretive about the time clock? Why don't they just put 45:00 up on the clock at the beginning of each half and have it count down like every other timed sport? The referee could be given a wireless control to start/stop the clock for injuries, scores, etc. This really bothers me. I can't sleep at night.

Hji,

I don't like it either. Wiggles once posted that it was a conspiracy to keep Americans awake at night [STRIKE]but I can only think of one knucklehead in the entire country who would lose sleep over it.[/STRIKE]

P.S. I'm really glad you bumped up the Cato appreciation thread. It was nice hearing from Buddah and Booger again.

Billiam, you are really digging bringing these threads back to life, aren't you? You're a good person.

Have a nice day.