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Thread: Explain the World Cup to me!

  1. #1
    AO Soccer Mom debwalin's Avatar
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    Explain the World Cup to me!

    Okay, I love soccer, played it when I was younger, and my son plays. I understand soccer, but this whole points thing with the World Cup blows my mind! How is it possible that the US played as badly as they've played and yet still have a chance to move on if they beat Ghana? Can anyone explain how the points work in this round of games? And what the groupings are, and how they're decided?

    I think this is why it hasn't caught on in America - we don't like things that make us feel stupid!
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  2. #2
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    Win = 3 points
    Tie = 1 point
    Loss = 0 points

    If Italy beats the Czechs, and the US beats Ghana, then the final standings would be
    Italy 7 points
    US 4 points
    Czech 3 points
    Ghana 3 points
    The top 2 teams from each group moves on

    Check this site for the standings of Group E
    http://www.google.com/ig?source=wcob

    Hope this helps

  3. #3
    AO's Resident Redneck The Texan's Avatar
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    I know nothing about the world cup either, but my roomate is brazilan and he is crazy about it. I did find you a link to help you out though.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup
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  4. #4
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    To add to what devpon said: the goal difference becomes important when points are equal...
    And also: The US were great against Italy, imo...

  5. #5
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    You know..I'm freaking sick of the refs and the yellow cards. It's just out of control. They hand out an average of 5 per game they're saying. That's just insane.

    As far as the points goes..yeah what they said.
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  6. #6
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    I believe the reason they are giving out so many yellow cards is to cut out on the sillyness .. like diving coughs *Italy* ... whining about a refs call *Italy* , tackling etc etc etc ...

    As for the U.S.A. doing great against Italy .. I beg to differ they just got lucky ...

    As for how the point system works The_Texans link does a good job at explaining it ..
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  7. #7
    AO Soccer Mom debwalin's Avatar
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    Originally posted here by devpon
    Win = 3 points
    Tie = 1 point
    Loss = 0 points

    If Italy beats the Czechs, and the US beats Ghana, then the final standings would be
    Italy 7 points
    US 4 points
    Czech 3 points
    Ghana 3 points
    The top 2 teams from each group moves on

    Check this site for the standings of Group E
    http://www.google.com/ig?source=wcob

    Hope this helps
    Perfect! Concise and easy to understand, thank you!

    Texan, I don't know why I didn't think of checking wiki - D'oh! That was a great link, thank you. I had no idea that the qualifying goes on for almost all of the 3 years leading up to every World Cup year.

    Neg - when the only goal you score to get to a tie game is scored by the opposing team for you, I don't count it as a really great performance.

    As I mentioned before, my son plays soccer. When he chose soccer over baseball, my husband was ready to gouge his eyes out - til he learned more about the game, and now he really enjoys it. It made me laugh today, cause we were watching the Korea/France game, and he looked at me and said "You know, watching this, it really doesn't surprise me that most people think American Football is a game for wusses". This is very close to treason to him, so I was amazed he said it. I think he's just about a complete convert now.
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  8. #8
    AO Guinness Monster MURACU's Avatar
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    Debs,
    The reason we say the US done well was that a) for the ball to go in someone had to kick it in the right direction regardless of who it touched last. B) Everyone was sure that the US would get hammer by Italy.
    The US played well not to have lost that game and I would say Italy was lucky to get a draw. So you can be rightly proud of the US in that match.
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  9. #9
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    For those of you that look down on the US's play against Italy...

    The game of football is won and lost in midfield. The team that controls midfield wins the game. During the first 20 minutes, (up until the silliness with the cards began), the USA controlled the entire game but, most significantly, they were dominating midfield. They were playing with confidence and were being innovative when trying to penetrate Italy's defense. Italy could only pass the ball from the rear to the front, (risking offside calls every time)... If they took the ball into midfield they invariably lost possession. Even after the cards fiasco the USA, (a team that Italy _should_ have walked all over), managed to hold Italy to a tie with only 9 men - which means that even though they were only 1 player down everyone has to run even more than usual.

    It was a very good performance despite the best efforts of a referee that was banned from World Cup refereeing in 2002 and should never be allowed to ref a game above kindergarten level again... He was nothing short of atrocious...
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  10. #10
    The ******* Shadow dalek's Avatar
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    I thought the US/Italy game was good, until like TS mentions the stupid cards, the Italians though based upon their league play are notorious defenders, so the US got a lucky strike, but to play with only 9 men and hold Italy off is a good result, and I like that fact as it opened the whole group up so that the last game is "very" important. Unlike some of the other groups where the last game is now meaningless.

    The Brazilians look like they are in second gear right now, which is scary when you think about it.The French game was hilarious, they score for like the first time in 8 games and can't even hold off the Koreans who I thought played really well, and their fan support is terrific.

    The next round is the best round from here on as they are 1 game knockouts, so if you don't bring your "A" game then it's goodbye...

    I think the team to watch is the Argentinians, based upon their last result, but who knows, will be a good test match tomorrow UK/Sweden.....
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