[Gabriele]

Argh, and today there's Saturday Opera. Why could it not have been yestereday when the soccer match was boring? But if I have to chose between soccer and opera, the latter will win except maybe if the German team plays and even then it'll depend on the opera.

[Gothos]

Slava.

against expectations, even mine, Russia played a spectacular game, and there's absolute justice in their win. absolutely fantastic. they beat Holland in their own game :-)
amusing to think that we've drawed with them last year in Moscow, 2-2 iirc. that's evolution.


also, please BAN the word "soccer" please. BAN IT.

[Gabriele]

And the Dutch are out, neiner, neiner.

No, I'm not mean but as German I'm supposed to gloat when the Dutch lose, it's an old tradition.

And they do the same when the Germans lose.

[polishgenius]

Gothos;335953 said:

amusing to think that we've drawed with them last year in Moscow, 2-2 iirc. that's evolution.

We played them off the park in the second half of that game too. ;_;


Brilliant today. Arshavin's pricetag is going up and up - the man's a genius.

[No-God]

Gothos;335953 said:

also, please BAN the word "soccer" please. BAN IT.

But us North Americans already have a 'football'.

[Bhurnae]

Great game Russia should have been 4 up before half time............

[amphibian]

Why was the Dutch midfield so far back during the entire game? The Russians are good at counterattacking, but that don't mean you stop dancing with the one that brung ya.

I'm sticking with the name soccer. As I go through life, I realize that the American way 9.9 times out of 10 is better than the namby pamby European method. Yew Esss Aaaayyy yew esss aaaaay yew essss aaaaaay.

[Gothos]

the american way eh? :-)
http://carcino.gen.nz/images/image.phpi/66...g?cb=1115204527

[Optimus Prime]

Gothos;336125 said:

the american way eh? :-)
http://carcino.gen.nz/images/image.phpi/66...g?cb=1115204527

Nice "ERROR" link there Gothos...way to back up your point

I call it both at times, but if we want to call it soccer we will. Beat us in a war to stop us...oh wait....

[Aimless]

http://en.wikipedia....mes_of_the_game

[Optimus Prime]

Well done.

We only call it "soccer" because our most popular sport is "Football". Also, we know it annoys some Euros

[Gothos]

better?

and football doesn't have much of a popularity in the states from what I hear. american football and baseball kinda ruin the culture

[Binder of Demons]

I'll always call it soccer, since at home our two national sports are HURLING (the best field sport in the world) and FOOTBALL (also known as Gaelic Football to distinguish it for Association Football).

Having moved down to New Zealand, i'm sticking to soccer since Football down here means Rugby Union, and in Australia it can be Rugby Union, Rugby League, or Aussie Rules depending on the region.

[Dancer+]

amphibian;336062 said:

Why was the Dutch midfield so far back during the entire game? The Russians are good at counterattacking, but that don't mean you stop dancing with the one that brung ya.

I'm sticking with the name soccer. As I go through life, I realize that the American way 9.9 times out of 10 is better than the namby pamby European method. Yew Esss Aaaayyy yew esss aaaaay yew essss aaaaaay.

Poor you, there is some inherent bias in these odds. I disagree with many things American but I wouldn't put Europe above 6 or 7 out of 10, judge each case on merit. Namby Pamby methods are often the best way to go.

I'll continue to use Football as it's what it actually is, and it's what the majority of the world call it.

[Tiste Simeon]

This could be the first time that Gothos and I have ever agreed on something, but I do completely agree! It's called football, dammit. We invented the game, we get to call it what we want! The US took rugby, made it wussy so the jocks wouldn't mess their hair up, and stole our name because they knew how popular it was. Hey guess what? In football, you can't use your hands! FOOTball!! Clever, eh? Far to clever for you yanks...

[/rant]

@Gothos - that picture is both win and true!

[Gothos]

actually, I recall the Aztecs played a more hardcore version of football before you anglo-saxons

[Tiste Simeon]

Didn't they call it headball or something?

And I believe our blood-soaked medieval gore fest that was called football was around the same time as the Aztecs, right?

[Aimless]

Tiste Simeon;336354 said:

Hey guess what? In football, you can't use your hands! FOOTball!!

And people say Americans don't understand irony...

Can we agree that the Italians must lose?

[Cougar]

Yeah, it's a myth. They say the Chinese played football too but, we are talking Association Football here. On a techncial point, I have to disagree with you all, all the codes are called football. I call Association, Rugby School Rules and the Northern Union variant all 'Football'. The game isn't called rugby, it called football, the Rugby part is the rules variant. Same with Gaelic, Aussie rules,Canadian and American. In the early days of the game it was common to play a half of each since different schools had different rules and many of the rules were more similar. ie: in early games of football it was common to catch and mark the ball which is retained in other variants.

We invented it and gave it to the world, then became crap at it. Go to the Maracana; there is a memorial to an English guy who supposedly brought Association football to Brazil, both River Plate and Boca Juniors carry anglacised names as do Athletic Bilbao. AC Milan were founded by Brits as a cricket club as can be seen in their retention of Milan over Milano, and Genoa are still called Genoa CFC (Cricket and Football Club) There are lots of examples of this in other countries where sports clubs were started by Brits. It's one of the only positive legacies of GBs history!

[Binder of Demons]

I came across this fantastic quote about the history of gaelic football

Quote

One of the first records of football in Ireland comes from 1308, when John McCrocan, a spectator at a football game at Newcastle, County Dublin was charged with accidentally stabbing a player named William Bernard.

That must have been some game!