Thread: Final Draw for FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014

Hello Frank!!

Wow! How could I forget that you're from Belgium. Just not thinking!!!

Vamos a ver, mi amigo!!

Un abrazo! Good luck!

I tend to agree as well. I haven't seen Belgium play yet but the U.S. has managed to get this far in spite of some real injuries...not those stupid flops...so they have proven themselves to be gutty. It's possible.

P.S. I wonder where our friend exxcéntrica has gone? She hasn't been here since Spain lost. Do you suppose Spain is in a state of mourning?

With no bad teams left, each game has to be played.

Belgium certainly has a lot of first quality players who make one very good team.
Pretty much like the neighbouring countries (Germany, Holland and France)
we offer less "Samba" but more output.

In Spain, soccer is a religion.
From world-champion to immediate elimination is hard to bear.
So yes, they must be in a state of mourning and numb with disbelief.
Es una lástima.

Anyway, we will all be watching TV next Tuesday ...

Frank.

Frank

Here's a humorous article on why USA CANNOT LOSE to Belgium that you might enjoy.

Y! SPORTS

Vicente,
I enjoyed the article, especially the Brussels sprouts !
Very funny.
But... he laughs best who laughs last...

Frank.

I'm relatively new to this game and I still don't understand the timing system.

I was watching the Costa Rica/Greece game and CR was leading 1-0 with 89.59 left and I was all excited that we were about to win, then the clock turns 90.00 and keeps on running!!! I thought this game was 90 minutes and I knew that they can somehow add minutes (arbitrarily, in my opinion) but the TV clock had expired with no indication of extra time.

How can anybody follow a game to the end when they have no idea how long the officials are going to let it run!!!?

It isn't over yet but I'm a little upset!!


NOTE: All's well that ends well!!

Vicente,

I agree with you.

The problem is a result from the past when some players made a habit of gaining time.
Especially Italian teams were reputed to do that once they were one goal ahead.

Normally this extra time is clearly indicated before the 90th minute.
Which they sometimes fail to do here.

I don't approve of extra time at all. A game should be 90 minutes sharp.
If players try to gain time, they should be punished with a free kick against them.

Groetjes,
Frank.

Hi Frank.

I sort of understand the reasoning behind the extra time but what I fail to understand is why it would not be shown on the TV clock. There must have been tens of millions of people like me watching the game throughout the world. I was totally confused for a few minutes when the game continued. I guess I immediately knew that there had to have been extra time, but how much? There was only a very short span of time before they showed it on the screen, but that short interval was agonizingly long for a fan who thought the game had been won.

We have a "delay of game" penalty in American football. I suppose the criteria are similar but the penalty is assessed in distance (loss of yardage), not a time adjustment.

As passionate as soccer fans are I am a little surprised that there have not been cases of the officials being assaulted for adding time to a game.

Regards
Vicente