World Cup

More into F1 than football, but it's great for sports betting.

Got some dough on the Aus/Chile game starting soon.

Don't really care how well England do. They don't stand a chance.

Groups & Schedule - World Cup 2014 - Football - BBC Sport

Of course they have a chance.. Greece won it ffs.

Didnt see that one coming. I guess either holland is underrated or spain is off the boil.

Holland are pretty well rated. 5-1 against Spain is a shocker though of course.

Its because the name. Soccer sounds gay by nature and no one likes to play a game named like that. Which is proven by the fact that the only major country which use it do not plays it. Ok, their girls plays it. But thats the final proof.

Soccer does sound gay but that's not the reason it's not as popular as other sports in America (yet).

They make more money rigging matches - as in for more exotic bets. I remember something like that for Cricket.
No. They aren't rigging matches at a world cup.
 


Except they only play for 1.5 hours.

That's only in the group matches, up to 2hrs 40 in extra time and penalties for the rest (knockout) - and even then if its sstil level its sudden death and could go on in theory for aaaages
 
It's always interesting to see some Americans joking about a highly skill demanding and fiercely internationally competitive event. While they have Superbowl...
 
Of course they have a chance.. Greece won it ffs.



Holland are pretty well rated. 5-1 against Spain is a shocker though of course.



Soccer does sound gay but that's not the reason it's not as popular as other sports in America (yet).


No. They aren't rigging matches at a world cup.

It's not the rigging as in which team wins - it's the penalty goals.

Look up match fixing in Singapore.
 
It's not the rigging as in which team wins - it's the penalty goals.

Look up match fixing in Singapore.
I know. It typically happens in lower leagues, russian, asian, etc. It is much less common in major leagues due to the fact that the games are under so much scrutiny. So many people are watching and everything is checked much more seriously. I doubt anyone is going to try and match fix the first game of a world cup...
 
You can almost guarantee that tonight's game with Italy will provide standards of diving the British Olympic team would be proud of (from Italy though). My prediction is at least 3 incidents of 'checking for blood on the forehead' after launching in the air acrobatic style, laying 'dead' on the ground until no card has been given, and all because a player ran within 5 feet of the 'diver'.

It will be as classy as usual in that respect when these two teams meet.
 
It's always interesting to see some Americans joking about a highly skill demanding and fiercely internationally competitive event. While they have Superbowl...

Actually, we have the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Championship, the Stanley Cup and other smaller championships for less popular sports. And it's not that we don't play soccer here in the US, it's just that only kids play it, and then if they are a real athlete they generally move on to a real sport.

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What kind of magical shit is in those spray cans anyway?
 
Actually, we have the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Championship, the Stanley Cup and other smaller championships for less popular sports. And it's not that we don't play soccer here in the US, it's just that only kids play it, and then if they are a real athlete they generally move on to a real sport.

Yeah, sure. Go and tell rugby or australian football players about "real sports".

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Or the russians about ice hockey. Do not ask the canadians.
BTW, you are sure the Stanley Cup is about sports?
2012

Ever asked a cricket fan what they think about baseball and the fact baseball calls their yearly series world series?

There is one, and only one game played world wide where the usa is real on top - thats baseball. Beside womans soccer.

Do not get me wrong - its no usa bashing. Sports is an exellent indicator about a nations mind set. Great nations tend to focus on theirself, even its not healthy.

It killed the roman empire as it pushed china in nearly 500 years of stagnation.

The really interesting and strange part about china is, that their cultural stagnation is somewhat related to the usa. Because until Columbus and his travel to america, china was the biggest and most sophisticated naval nation of the world.

Compared to the chinese ships the european ones of that time was small and primitive. Except one small difference: In that time portugal's king was fascinated by naval exploration and he had to push for that the maritime sailing developments which was needed to explore the african atlantic coast further down from north to south because the different winds & streams going east/west.

Just in the century before Columbus china's fleet hat reached Africa and established trading points along the whole asian coasts.

But instead to go on, which had finally for sure lead to chinese ships reaching europe and the exploring of america (many sources indicate that chinese scout ships already explored small parts of the american west coast), the chinese emporer and elites decided that china needs to seperate.

They burned their fleet, dropped any further development and exploration, canceld any trade beside the established land routes and dropped interaction to the surrounding nations to an mininum.

The reason is funny - its because china was the strongest and most developed nation on the world. Which was true. So, why interact with the barbarians? What can they add to someone who is ahead and superior? Will that not weaken the strong? That was, more or less, the official reason for next several centuries china degenerated.

Its btw interesting that you will not find much about that time and china's naval state in the wikipedia when it comes to the maritime history. Its complete focused around Columbus and the following Age of Discovery.

What has that to do with topic? Its an example how much nations are focused on theirself. And that since milleniums.

WE here - we are the first generation where that perhaps changes. Because the internet. Perhaps, because we already have a parted internet.

The world cup is the only real global sport event beside the olympics breaching the national borders world wide. At last that fact push football far above all other sports.
 
Thorn, rugby at the high school and college level is taking off in the USA. The total $$$ coming into Rugby as a sport from the USA is > than Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, England, etc.

Make sure you get the actual All Blacks next time too, that's the 7s squad. I just wish they would bring Piri back to just do the Haka and then go into the stands.


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I like Soccer, and World cup is bad ass, but what I never get is when they score, they literally jump on one another and grind like no tomorrow for a few long seconds, might as well make out while you are at it.
 
Had a fiver on at 8/1 & money back (free bet) if Shitlity win. Still though, fuck you England. Fuck you Rooney.

Did enjoy NL rekkin ES. Oranje! <3 Also, CR smashed it tonight so the group is still open..