World Cup is boring

[Vegas_Cowboy]

Anyway, that misses the point as that 'low scoring' argument always does. A) a goal in soccer is worth 1 point, not the 6 that a touchdown is worth so yes, every game by comparison will be low scoring. B) In a low scoring soccer or NFL game, all that means is that the defensive players have demonstrated their skills better than the offensive players. Low scoring does not equal low quality.

Good. Maybe you can educate me. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about Soccer. Trying to learn though..

 

[Pompey-Cowboy]

Good. Maybe you can educate me. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about Soccer. Trying to learn though..

I'm not actually arguing against the view that some people find soccer boring. If you don't like something, you don't like it. What I don't understand is why anyone would go as far as leaving posts on websites slagging something off because they don't like it. If you don't like soccer, don't watch soccer. Simples.

 

[Vegas_Cowboy]

I'm not actually arguing against the view that some people find soccer boring. If you don't like something, you don't like it. What I don't understand is why anyone would go as far as leaving posts on websites slagging something off because they don't like it. If you don't like soccer, don't watch soccer. Simples.

Sometimes I need to get a nap in.

J/K

 

[Flamma]

No reason to duck for cover, Brother.

I just can't stand how in Futball you have to keep going back in order to move forward. Watch a game for 3 hours and it ends up 1-0.

Granted that does happen in baseball sometimes but not nearly as often.

Soccer is like watching a Monday Night Football game that ends in a 3-0 score.

Snooze fest.

JMO.

Soccer is different as scoring is inherently more difficult than say in the NFL. In soccer you can have a very exciting game end 1-0 depending on the play. That same game could just as easily ended 3-2 with just a few inches either way, a better strike here, or a better placed corner. The play is what matters most as far as good games. I've watched 1-0 snooze fests in soccer too. Same with football (NFL) to some extent. Lower scores could be just poor play, or just really good D. All low scoring games as far as entertainment is concerned are not the same.

 

[DoctorChicken]

Whoever thinks the Belgium-Japan game was boring wouldn’t be excited by cocaine or skydiving either.

 

[Sarek]

Whoever thinks the Belgium-Japan game was boring wouldn’t be excited by cocaine or skydiving either.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Well, today's Belgium and Japan's match was quite entertaining.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Good. Maybe you can educate me. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about Soccer. Trying to learn though..

Well, here's what makes football different from other sports. In sports like handegg (NFL), basketball, hockey, and rugby, it's basically about brute strength. Football is more about finesse. Let's first take a look at a few similar things.

Similar:

You do see a lot of man coverage and zone coverages in both defensive styles. In football, man coverage is referred to as "marking" your opponent. This is particularly critical in set pieces (which will be explained further later). If you fail to mark your man, then it becomes a very daunting task for the keeper to try to cover the mistake, otherwise it's a goal. Thus, communication between the defender and the keeper is important. Similarly, a corner must be able to mark the WR successfully before the QB can see any slight opening. If he's having trouble, then he can request the safety's help, so communication is critical. If it fails, then the defense will usually give up a TD. After all, players like Frazier are basically the goalkeeper for the defence.

Offensively, you can choose to pass short, medium, long, or a mixture of them in both sports. In football, the passing is critical to try and find your open players along with moving the ball, which is the same as handegg in this regard. Obviously, the open player has a better chance to score.

Now, to understand offside in football, offside is called when the attacking player receiving a pass is beyond the last defencive player on a play that is not a corner kick or a throw in. Thus, when you are watching the WC and you see the side official raise his flag, that's usually the problem.

Now, here's where the finesse of football comes in:

Here's are some good tackles:

As you can see, the goal is to dispossess the attacking player, which is a bit like trying to force a fumble. You're goal isn't to take the chap down so much as it is to strictly go after the ball. Where you run into trouble is when you start throwing players to the ground or trying to take the player down such as sliding into the player's leg. Obviously, that's a dangerous way to defend, and making that sort of tackle will get you booked (Yellow card or red card depending on the severity of the foul).

Additionally, the passing is rather finesse in football. The crosses and slide passes (when you pass it to the player just to the left or right of you near the goal) are designed to pass the ball in from the wing into the centre of the pitch. As you can imagine, this has great effect if the receiving player strikes it properly. Thus, the passing is a tad more finesse in that it takes more art than it does brute strength to make these passes successful, and then turn it around for the shot.

If you have any additional questions about football, please feel free to ask me.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

As for the saves being better than the goals, here are 10 examples:

 

[Clove]

Ummmmmmmmmmmm, Roy. (It's soccer)

That and baseball. Baseball doesn't get good until the post season.

 

[Flamma]

As you can see, the goal is to dispossess the attacking player, which is a bit like trying to force a fumble. You're goal isn't to take the chap down so much as it is to strictly go after the ball.

Ok. If you hit the ball first, it's ok? If you kick the ball away and he trips over your legs, it's ok as long as you hit the ball before hitting the player? Take the 1990 finals between Argentina and West Germany. A penalty was called on Argentina in the box with about 5 minutes left. It appeared the defender touched the ball first, but there was some contact with the upper body prior. Not much, but some. How would you call that? And if you're familiar with that incident, do you think that was a good call?

 

[StylisticS]

The NFL could definitely learn something from soccer, where 90 minute games are completed in 2 hours. It's amazing how they still make a ton of money without stopping the game every 5 minutes to run commercials.

Meanwhile, we can't play 60 minutes in 3 hours and the excitement stops repeatedly so someone can try to sell me beer or an SUV.

This. If there is anything anyone can take out of football/soccer, it's that games will usually last under an hour. If there is extra time, it's 2:20 minutes. Basically, with extra time, it's 2 1/2 hours. Still less times than the NFL and College Football which has games now lasting up to 4 hours. I appreciate that if a game starts at 2, it will be over by 4.

 

[Flamma]

I was watching one of these games yesterday when my wife asked me to do something. It was just something minor so when I got up to do it she said, you don't have to do it now, wait for commercials. I'm not joking.

 

[Aviano90]

I think this World Cup has been awesome despite my two teams not participating.

 

[ghst187]

The NFL could definitely learn something from soccer, where 90 minute games are completed in 2 hours. It's amazing how they still make a ton of money without stopping the game every 5 minutes to run commercials.

Meanwhile, we can't play 60 minutes in 3 hours and the excitement stops repeatedly so someone can try to sell me beer or an SUV.

I totally agree HOWEVER no one knows when the game will end and games ending in 1-0 scores are brutal. Also, the game itself is just not that interesting, add some full contact or something, ensure more scoring, put up a publicly viewable clock and maybe MAYBE I’ll feign interest.

 

[Sarek]

I totally agree HOWEVER no one knows when the game will end and games ending in 1-0 scores are brutal. Also, the game itself is just not that interesting, add some full contact or something, ensure more scoring, put up a publicly viewable clock and maybe MAYBE I’ll feign interest.

Your right about the contact, that's why i like it when the refs try to stay out of the game as much as they can. Let the men be men and save the whistles for the youngsters still learning to play.

 

[Blackspider214]

I totally agree HOWEVER no one knows when the game will end and games ending in 1-0 scores are brutal. Also, the game itself is just not that interesting, add some full contact or something, ensure more scoring, put up a publicly viewable clock and maybe MAYBE I’ll feign interest.

More scoring does not equal more exciting. If that is the case, just watch basketball.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Ok. If you hit the ball first, it's ok? If you kick the ball away and he trips over your legs, it's ok as long as you hit the ball before hitting the player? Take the 1990 finals between Argentina and West Germany. A penalty was called on Argentina in the box with about 5 minutes left. It appeared the defender touched the ball first, but there was some contact with the upper body prior. Not much, but some. How would you call that? And if you're familiar with that incident, do you think that was a good call?

I'm not all that familiar with the 1990 incident, but I would have waived it off because the defender had struck the ball first.

 

[Jake]

I totally agree HOWEVER no one knows when the game will end and games ending in 1-0 scores are brutal. Also, the game itself is just not that interesting, add some full contact or something, ensure more scoring, put up a publicly viewable clock and maybe MAYBE I’ll feign interest.

First off, most of the time you can set your clock to when the game will end - 2 hours. The exceptions are tournaments like the World Cup when you can allow 30 minutes for extra time in the event of a draw. Second, there is a publicly viewable clock - have you even been to a soccer game?

As for "more scoring", not every sport needs to be the NBA - trading baskets every 15 seconds for 3 hours before deciding it in the last 2 minutes. I'm guessing you're not big on hockey either.

 

[DoctorChicken]