merde, portugal's in, cote d'voire out

Doesn't seem to be moving enough - the flight is too true. There certainly seems to be fewer dipping long range efforts, or as many swerving long rangers as we are used to.

It also seems to lead to a lot of over hit passes and crosses.

Why they feel the need for a new ball every tournamnet is beyond me

Look at this: http://www.mysoccerplace.net/video/kaka-red-card-vs-ivory-coast

Kaka raises his elbow as Kaita runs towards him. It was deliberate. Unless a chicken impression is a normal part of your play it had nothing to do with preparing for a throw in.

when cristiano and portugal stop bluffing, playing easy and seriously, they can do a good job. let's see if they can play like this the rest of the cup

@Checkmate: leopards don't change their spots. Seeing them against Brazil will be interesting.

Sorry to see NKorea get a stuffing after they played so well for the first half hour.

@Pete - Not sure if you saw it a few nights ago, but Saturdays match of the day had some expert on who said that its too circular, and that now the air wont 'stick' to it, which is why players can't get it up&down in time.

@diplo - think we're going to have to agree to disagree. I refuse to believe that was intentional

@Checkmate: I think the lightness of the ball is the problem: it is going further/higher than players expect which is why their are so many shots over the bar (and those two stupid handballs).

@Pete U: "Why they feel the need for a new ball every tournamnet is beyond me " simple: money.

@Figs: it is just such a strange movement by Kaka

Not sure there, but if I recall he doesn't go above the chest - and if you noticed a large Ivorian running at you you'd probably put up an arm to soften the impact!

Wow, don't think anyone expected Portugal to be this clinical.

with deco out, and cristiano not bluffing... 7-0, poor coreans (they'll be tortured back in home)

I am Brasilian and think Kaka was really stupid to raise the elbow, as the Ivory Coast player just want it, it was intentional. I think the red card should stay and the other player should get some punishment too.
But what make me really upset whas the referee letting Ivory Coast players do some really violent tackle (like the ones on Elano, Maicon and Luis Fabiano) without a real punishment.
And the same referee validates a goal where Luis Fabiano uses the hand twice!!

Probably the worst referee on the Wrold Cup (the one on USA game did a more decisive mistake, but it was just one time).

I wish people would stop saying the new ball is lighter - it's not. I think it's actually a few grams heavier than the previous one, and well within the spec of (from memory) 400-450g.

@figle - that makes sense

7-0 for Portugal.In football that must be major blow out given how tight most matches are.Kim Jong iL must be rounding up players families and planning on sending them somewhere not so nice.

@rdrivera: thanks, I was starting to think my eyesight is dodgy enough to ref a match

@Figles: put your hand up: yes, elbow: ?, look away: no. Look at this sequence of stills:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/68879/1.jpg - Kaka can see him coming
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/68879/2.jpg - raises arm, OK with that
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/68879/3.jpg - starting to change it's position
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/68879/4.jpg - elbow now pointing to wards Kaita
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/68879/5.jpg - start to push back
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/68879/6.jpg - push back
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/68879/7.jpg - impact
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/68879/8.jpg - Kaita feels it
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/68879/9.jpg - but realises he can do better

Kaita's a cheat, Kaka's stupid

@Pete U: thanks for the info re ball weight. Let me rephrase: it behaves as if it is lighter.

Worst ref: the Spanish one in the Germany-Serbia match, giving out yellow cards for looking at another player.

PORTUGAL!

The ref in Chile Switzerland was horrible too. Most of the time you didn't even know what he was calling.

I'm getting really tired of all this referee-bashing. Of course they make mistakes, they're human. They often make seemingly ridiculous mistakes that we can't understand. But there is one constant. . .every game of football they referee, involves 22 players trying repeatedly to cajole, mis-inform, and more often than not, cheat. This is described as players using their 'experience' and being 'clever'. If people are willing to accept this type of behaviour by the players, they should accept that the referees will make mistakes (often costly ones).
Individual cases of a referee's decisions will in no way detract from the central point that footballers are bunch of immoral cheating gits, which makes a referee's job nigh on impossible.
I might add as well, that I am a huge football fan, it is still the sport I would choose to watch/play over all others, but just wish that people wouldn't continually take the easy option of blaming referees for everything that doesn't go their way.
*Rant over*

@Rosg: yup, players make it much harder and I don't like it when anyone from my team does it. By refusing to revisit decisions made by refs, with no replay and little time, the people who could do something about it, FIFA, are letting them down. A retrospective ban for the cheats who clutch their face after a tap on the ankle would clean up the game.

the penalty for diving is a yellowcard and change of possesion.... FIFA really doesnt enforce it since is difficult to tell you dives. Spain and David Villa are known divers and got called for it in the Euros and theve stopped... Hopefully they will enforce this on the international order

@diplomat: I absolutely agree. If the players faced punishments for blatant displays of foul play then they may start behaving themselves, making an already difficult job for the ref a darn sight easier.

sudafrica for americans! (except honduras, all the american countries will be in the next round)

(hate the use of "americans" for usa citizens)

@ref talk:
What really needs to happen is the introduction of video evidence. Goal-line action, questionable handballs at key times, things off the ball - there are so many times that the game *does* stop and it would be logical to check something. Also, more needs to be done about diving after a match. I don't care if the ref saw it or not, if its on video it is punishable.
Another major one on that is shirt-pulling. In almost every case, its a case of 6 of one, half a dozen of the other, but the referee's almost always give a defensive free kick rather than a penalty (recent exception happily accepted).

Another rules issue that needs to be looked into is the automagic red for preventing a goalscoring opportunity. Any hint of intent, and yes it should be a red, but often they're accidental. You watch the Aussie game, and Harry Kewel was clearly trying to move his arm out of the path of the ball, but didn't do so in time, and as a result the ball didn't go in. It would be much fairer if in these cases the referee was allowed to award a penalty goal (not a penalty kick where it might be saved: a goal). This would make up for what would otherwise have been a goal, and would prevent the defending player being penalized for something completely accidental.

Basically FIFA need to look at how Rugby Union applies its rules and consider which elements should be applied to football!

players play to much during the season that's why all the "big teams" are exhausted. Too much matches.

@Chamois: I think the French players should be applauded for making sure they don't play too many more this season.

Though surely we got to give Anelka some credit for voicing what many in France thought of the Raymond Domenech.

My opinion is that players have commitment to defend their country colors on the field, not to choose who will lead team or which tactics will that team use. Raymond Domenech is the one who is chosen to lead his country, and only one responsible for that. It would not be fair if he is takes the burden of responsibility and someone else choose players and tactics.

@cham - if that's Portugal exhausted...

@yay - Many in the world I would suggest. His tactics have been naive at best, and how with such a potent strike force they failed to defeat 10-man Uruguay I don't know. With Ribery, Malouda, Henry & another centre forward on the pitch, for some reason he had Ribery & Malouda as the central pair :/

if I were France, I'd let South Africa score other 5 goals, to eliminate mexico