[WC] World Cup 2010 - General Talk Thread (5 Viewers)
- Thread starter Tommy
- Start date
One of my favorite sportsmen, Steve Nash shares his thoughts about the WC.
World Cup
I’m definitely excited for the 2010 World Cup checked out the final draw last week. My family is from England so since I was born I always supported the England team. We have what most people say is a favorable group with USA, Slovenia and Algeria, so that’s a positive thing to many people, but at the same time soccer is a funny game and you lose one game and you put yourself in a bad position, anything can happen.
When the draw came out everyone said that Group G was the Group of Death and I think it’s more of a group of death by default. Usually I feel there is a legitimate group of death, but this year I feel more like there’s no group is that daunting or difficult, but I think you could pick the toughest group, that could be the one.
Thierry Henry is a friend of mine so I’ll be following France to see how they do. I think France is the most talented team in their group by far, but at the same time they have to go out and prove it, they are going into the world cup in some controversy, and Thierry might even be suspended, so you never know. They are still the best team in the group, but I would say that, obviously South Africa at home is going to be very inspired and Mexico and Uruguay are two historic soccer nations that will be up for it. So France has to play well, if they play well they will go through, if they don’t they will be in trouble.
Obviously when Thierry’s name comes up now everyone talks about the handball and I think it’s a shame. I don’t think he mean to do it, I think it’s a split second thing, the ball came over a bunch of people’s heads, he couldn’t see it, all of a sudden it pops up skips off the grass hit his hand, and then he redeflected it again and in that second it’s impossible to say “oh, this is a guy we should throw out of the earth.” I mean it’s a shame he did it, if he’s penalized, he should be only penalized by the precedent, where other people are being penalized for it. If not, we see people gaining an advantage in sport especially in soccer everyday, so whether it’s pulling someone’s shirt, whether it’s fouling, whether it’s pretending they got fouled in the penalty area for a penalty kick, so I think you have to set to precedent that they will watch the replay, and they will suspended everyone, if they going to do it to Thierry. So if they create that precedent, then I am fine with a suspension, but if they don’t, it’s unfair to single him out. I don’t think he left his house that morning saying “hey, I am going to cheat to win the game.”
I don’t have a prediction right now because it’s so far away, but I think the best teams are Spain and Brazil, but Argentina can always get up to speed, I think England is going to have the best team they had in a long time, and you know Germany and Italy are always difficult, so.
Now Baron is not really a soccer guy. I know you scored in the charity game so you think you’re a striker now and I’ll give you a passing grade for your first time playing. I know you haven’t spent much time with the ball so we can’t really expect Maradona.
http://www.nba.com/india/news/pointcounterpoint_blog.html
World Cup
I’m definitely excited for the 2010 World Cup checked out the final draw last week. My family is from England so since I was born I always supported the England team. We have what most people say is a favorable group with USA, Slovenia and Algeria, so that’s a positive thing to many people, but at the same time soccer is a funny game and you lose one game and you put yourself in a bad position, anything can happen.
When the draw came out everyone said that Group G was the Group of Death and I think it’s more of a group of death by default. Usually I feel there is a legitimate group of death, but this year I feel more like there’s no group is that daunting or difficult, but I think you could pick the toughest group, that could be the one.
Thierry Henry is a friend of mine so I’ll be following France to see how they do. I think France is the most talented team in their group by far, but at the same time they have to go out and prove it, they are going into the world cup in some controversy, and Thierry might even be suspended, so you never know. They are still the best team in the group, but I would say that, obviously South Africa at home is going to be very inspired and Mexico and Uruguay are two historic soccer nations that will be up for it. So France has to play well, if they play well they will go through, if they don’t they will be in trouble.
Obviously when Thierry’s name comes up now everyone talks about the handball and I think it’s a shame. I don’t think he mean to do it, I think it’s a split second thing, the ball came over a bunch of people’s heads, he couldn’t see it, all of a sudden it pops up skips off the grass hit his hand, and then he redeflected it again and in that second it’s impossible to say “oh, this is a guy we should throw out of the earth.” I mean it’s a shame he did it, if he’s penalized, he should be only penalized by the precedent, where other people are being penalized for it. If not, we see people gaining an advantage in sport especially in soccer everyday, so whether it’s pulling someone’s shirt, whether it’s fouling, whether it’s pretending they got fouled in the penalty area for a penalty kick, so I think you have to set to precedent that they will watch the replay, and they will suspended everyone, if they going to do it to Thierry. So if they create that precedent, then I am fine with a suspension, but if they don’t, it’s unfair to single him out. I don’t think he left his house that morning saying “hey, I am going to cheat to win the game.”
I don’t have a prediction right now because it’s so far away, but I think the best teams are Spain and Brazil, but Argentina can always get up to speed, I think England is going to have the best team they had in a long time, and you know Germany and Italy are always difficult, so.
Now Baron is not really a soccer guy. I know you scored in the charity game so you think you’re a striker now and I’ll give you a passing grade for your first time playing. I know you haven’t spent much time with the ball so we can’t really expect Maradona.
http://www.nba.com/india/news/pointcounterpoint_blog.html
Nowhere else to post this to my knowledge, unless its being discussed in the EPL thread.
Soccernet can exclusively reveal that Fabio Capello considered four key criteria when assessing whether to strip John Terry of the England captaincy, with a desire to prevent the defender being "destroyed" by media pressure key to his eventual decision.
The England boss brought the axe down on Terry's reign as skipper on Friday, and his decision was made after considering several factors, according to a source close to the England boss.
"The decision was based on the thinking about what was best for the team, the dynamics of the dressing room, respect for each other within the squad, and also to avoid the intense pressures on the player," the source told Soccernet.
The England insider revealed that Capello wanted to save Terry from being "destroyed" by the deluge of accusations and media scrutiny on his private life. Capello did not consider it the appropriate time to attempt to explain that particular reasoning to Terry, but the Italian is adamant the decision was also made for his own good.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-...paign=rss&source=soccernet&cc=5739&ver=global
Soccernet can exclusively reveal that Fabio Capello considered four key criteria when assessing whether to strip John Terry of the England captaincy, with a desire to prevent the defender being "destroyed" by media pressure key to his eventual decision.
The England boss brought the axe down on Terry's reign as skipper on Friday, and his decision was made after considering several factors, according to a source close to the England boss.
"The decision was based on the thinking about what was best for the team, the dynamics of the dressing room, respect for each other within the squad, and also to avoid the intense pressures on the player," the source told Soccernet.
The England insider revealed that Capello wanted to save Terry from being "destroyed" by the deluge of accusations and media scrutiny on his private life. Capello did not consider it the appropriate time to attempt to explain that particular reasoning to Terry, but the Italian is adamant the decision was also made for his own good.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-...paign=rss&source=soccernet&cc=5739&ver=global
I don't get what JT's bedroom acts have to do with his footballing career, so what if he cheats on his wife, if I was Capello I would have kept him as captain over any other England player. I think it would be better to show confidence in your players through a moment like this. Maybe Lampard could get it...