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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2010 17:03:40 GMT
Another quiet night in my neighborhood, since Algeria was eliminated. But the Algerian supporters were still happy with their team's performance.
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Post by lagatta on Jun 24, 2010 4:14:14 GMT
You are happy about beating a country from the Global South? Let me tell you that much as I love France in some (cultural) ways, I was thrilled to see them get a beating from the South Africans.
I guess we should leave that there.
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Post by cristina on Jun 24, 2010 5:00:12 GMT
Lagatta, I am confused at who and how many you were addressing. Since I did not think K2 was celebrating a win, but the US was. Both teams playing against a global south member.
Personally, I was thrilled to see France sent home. I just was sorry that they couldn't have been better behaved.
But despite my unwavering and longtime support for Spain to win the cup, I was over the moon about our win today. Algeria played an excellent defense today, but this was a well deserved US win.
But soccer, as the only real global sport (I think), really rises above politics, IMO. There are a whole lot of really fabulous teams from many countries, including the Global South countries, who have every right at a shot at the cup.
I hope I didn't misunderstand you...
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2010 5:16:13 GMT
I enjoyed the USA-Algeria match because both teams really kept trying to mark, instead of just rolling the ball around the field.
The French team is supposed to arrive back this morning. They're not even arriving in a commercial airport but at Le Bourget instead. It is obvious that they are going to try to prevent any interaction between the passengers and the French sports fans, because it will not be a pleasant thing to see.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2010 9:49:54 GMT
I didn't misunderstand....I deleted my USA flag . I will not get involved in this political crap. "Twas all done in a patriotic team spirit Lagatta. I guess we'll just leave it at that.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2010 12:06:47 GMT
Politics is rarely far from sports -- after all, a lot of the countries are using the World Cup to get people's minds off the real problems. However, it would be nice to just admire the quality of the teams and the players and not think about who should win for sociological or symbolic reasons. If the African teams are not good enough to win this time, maybe they will be good enough next time. It is not a North-South battle. It is sports, damn it! (Grrrr... After the French fiasco, the government is trying to meddle with such things and thinking that they can get players to sign a 'code of conduct' charter before a match and force them to sing the Marseillaise against their will. Shit! I refuse to sing the Marseillaise as well due to the despicable lyrics. And what about tennis players or swimmers? Should they be forced to sing their national anthems before competing? The world is going crazy!)
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2010 12:18:04 GMT
Casimira, it was totally justified for you to be proud of the victory of the United States. Both teams played well, but the U.S. played slightly better, and I will be interested to see how far it can go in the competition.
All of the Algerians that I talked to were proud anyway, because it was the first time that they had even qualified for final phase of the World Cup in 24 years, and they were thrilled just to be there, particularly since most of them are actually French but not highly ranked enough to qualify for the French team -- hah! that should be easier now! -- most of them can't even speak Arabic or Berber.
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Post by lagatta on Jun 24, 2010 12:37:48 GMT
That wasn't my point, I just thought that image was very belligerent - I'd love an image of happy US fans, for example. I think that was what got up my hackles, not supporting your side!
Thank you so much.
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Post by palesa on Jun 24, 2010 16:14:02 GMT
Not really sure why Casi should not have posted the US flag, but moving swiftly on
BYE BYE ITALY!
A World Cup of surprises!!!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2010 17:06:35 GMT
I can't deny that there is a considerable amount of satisfaction in France tonight over the elimination of Italy, but of course that has nothing to do with 2010 and everything to do with 2006.
Frankly, I thought that Italy was sensational in the final minutes of the game when they were fighting for their lives and had a chance of pulling through. And the Slovaks were exhausted and only capable of pretending to be Italians of the past, writhing around on the ground at any excuse, just so that the clock would keep on counting down...
But I was thrilled by the Slovak victory, even though I expect them to be swept away immediately in the next match.
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Post by lagatta on Jun 24, 2010 17:11:25 GMT
That was no surprise. Italy have not played well at all. Edited to add: agree with kerouac that they rallied spectacularly at the end of the match. Quite thrilling.
I'm sorry. Of course casi has the right to post whatever image she chooses.
I think it just raised my hackles because I associate that particular type of flag pic with the kind of bellicist nationalism many of us resent so much chez our powerful neighbours to the south, when casimira's posts usually reflect on the contrary the things we like and admire among them, whether the rich culture of jazz, Mardi Gras, the myriad lesser-known festivals and so many other things, and the warm welcome - we are more reserved, even in French-speaking regions.
Actually it is very good for football as a global game for stronger sides to emerge north of Mexico. If there were a stronger national side here, we wouldn't have the phenom of third or fouth-generation "Italians" supporting the Italy side - you'd sure as hell never see that in Argentina.
Edited again to add that I was in Germany for a short while during the 2006 World Cup and it was odd indeed to see all the German flags on cars, buildings and t-shirts, when for obvious historical reasons Germans tend to play down that sort of nationalistic display. It really marked a change - and some of the friends I was with - a son of Jewish DPs and an Iranian refugee who is now happily integrated in a small city along the Rhine - are anything but the "Aryan" stereotype.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2010 20:24:12 GMT
Yay for Japan! Lots of new teams advancing this time that we have never seen before.
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Post by fumobici on Jun 25, 2010 19:06:43 GMT
Quite enjoying the Spain-Chile match on right now. Oh jeez, one of the Spanish guys just potted another. This could run away from Chile now. Pity.
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Post by palesa on Jun 26, 2010 21:11:45 GMT
Go Ghana!! This is the cup of surprises!
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Post by lola on Jun 26, 2010 21:34:26 GMT
I'm happy Africa's still in it.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2010 4:33:48 GMT
There was much horn honking in my neighborhood when Ghana won. There is definitely a feeling of African solidarity snce very few of the immigrants in Paris are from Ghana (except for prostitutes, I have read!).
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Post by palesa on Jun 27, 2010 7:30:25 GMT
This afternoon's game between England and Germany will be interesting.
Security has been stepped up and this is considered to the game that is most likely to end with hooligan like beahviour. I am glad that I live in a different province.
They have also relaxed liquor laws for the day (not allowed to buy alcohol on a Sunday unless it is in a licenced establishment. So you could walk into a shop and buy a bottle of wine to take home). Obviously done for the revenue, but of course more alcohol will just increase the risk of hooligan behaviour.
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Post by lola on Jun 27, 2010 14:36:50 GMT
Germany and England probably have some non-football related history too recent to quite forgive yet?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2010 14:37:28 GMT
I saw many German flags in Paris this afternoon but no English ones.
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Post by lagatta on Jun 27, 2010 14:44:22 GMT
Well, we're talking more great-grandfathers than grandfathers of most of the players by now...
Is it usually illegal to buy a bottle of wine or beer in an off-licence/shop or supermarket in South Africa on a Sunday?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2010 15:42:21 GMT
England and Germany apparently have a score to settle dating back to the World Cup in 1966 (something about a denied German goal, I think). So this will be their revenge.
France completely supports Germany (especially where England is concerned) in just about every appropriate sporting event but still needs revenge some day for the inadmissable thing that happened in the World Cup against France in 1986. (Harald Schumacher, you know we are talking about you!)
The geopolitics of the World Cup are fascinating. No possibility of same in the Olympics because there is not the same system of the various qualifying rounds to allow you to support teams that are not your own.
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Post by bjd on Jun 27, 2010 16:07:35 GMT
For the past few days, the BBC has been writing about how the English and Germans have this big confrontation and who might win. England just lost 4-1. Serves them right -- another bunch of overpaid egotists, like the French and Italians.
We went to a party last night and one of the topics of conversation was the World Cup, of course. Nearly everyone was French and they all said the French team was lousy and deserved to lose. There were lots of compliments for the US team.
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Post by fumobici on Jun 27, 2010 18:17:28 GMT
From America it's hard to believe FIFA would be stuck in an antediluvian past where through willful refusal to avail themselves of video evidence the English goal was disallowed even though everyone watching at home knew it was in the goal within seconds of it happening. Why not get the calls right instead of being obstinately luddite? Especially given the stakes. I spoke to a German friend at the dog park this morning and even she felt cheated by the failure. She thought it slightly tarnished the inevitable German victory.
I'm quite looking foreward to the Argentina-Mexico match about to begin. Argentina is my pick for the whole enchilada.
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Post by lagatta on Jun 28, 2010 14:27:28 GMT
Evidently there was also an Argentine goal against Mexico that should have been disallowed (offside) though I think Argentina probably would have won anyway. I phoned an Argentine friend to congratulate her, but would have phoned a Mexican friend had Mexico won, and I have friends in both those countries as well. I do agree that the current Argentine side seems very strong (have a huge soft spot for Messi as he outplays guys twice his size).
The whole enchilada is a set phrase but shouldn't it be the whole empanada for a Cono Sur country? Yeah, I know Mexico has them too but they seem to be a major food group in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2010 20:35:44 GMT
Bravo to both Paraguay and Spain. I admit that I was rooting for Japan and Portugal, but as long as the best team wins, that is fine with me.
On to the quarterfinals!
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Post by fumobici on Jun 30, 2010 0:04:16 GMT
Spain looked masterful. They were clearly the better squad and for the 2nd overall seed to show that well against the number 3 is impressive. The Paraguay-Japan match was comparatively uninspiring stuff.
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Post by cristina on Jun 30, 2010 3:04:16 GMT
I was personally thrilled for Spain today. It was the only game I got to watch today, and even then just the second half. What I saw was great soccer. I think Portugal played well too, Spain was just better. I filled out my predictive bracket at the start of the 16. So far, my picks for the right hand side are on target. I pretty much sucked with my picks for the left. Its a good thing I don't have money on my bracket. Although I do have pride.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2010 7:11:26 GMT
First day without football since the World Cup started!
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Post by hwinpp on Jul 1, 2010 6:42:09 GMT
Don't even know why Portugal is rated so highly. They're a very average team and looks like Ronaldo is a very average actor/ striker. Good they're out.
Tough to predict things from now on.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2010 16:46:13 GMT
Goodbye, (arrogant) Brazil!
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