2-1 Brazil, at last!
and. . . 3-1 Brazil final. At least two good goals for the green and yellows, and I’m on my way to winning several bets.
Madre de Dios!
June 12, 2014 • 2:35 pm
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
That penalty call wasn’t correct. The Brazilian guy just fell down. Oh well, part of the game.
Exactly, “game”, as opposed to sport.
What, bad calls or players lying?
I love the game, played for many years, was considered by many good enough to play pro (maybe not saying much at that time in the US), but I can hardly stand to watch a game these days. I don’t mind hard play. I was taught from the start that it is a contact sport and that is my view. But, I can’t stand dirty play or the rampant play-acting to try and draw penalties. It has indeed become an integral part of the game.
A little of both unfortunately.
It was a very, very soft penalty for Brazil’s second. Most refs would not have given it.
Do you mean “Mãe de Deus”?
nossa!
Jerry, how can you celebrate such a shameful goal? And by using “Madre de Dios”, it suggests you think Spanish is Brazil’s official language.
Are you deliberately trying to be rude or are you unconscious of how you’re coming across. A goal is a goal, and Brazil had two “regular” goals. Finally, I don’t know Portuguese so I used a phrase I often use.
Given that you may not know the rules, you get one chance to apologize.
It was not my intention to be rude, just to be provocative. I do apologize because I have tremendous respect for your work and way of thinking. I just do not think a goal is a goal. Your post came along at the time Brazil scored the penalty and, as Brazilian and fanatic for soccer, I do not celebrate shameful goals. Secondly, the reason I called the attention to “Madre de Dios” is because many make the mistake that the official language of Brazil is Spanish and/or the capital of Brazil is Buenos Aires, etc.. So, it was more to be more informative. I should have been less aggressive.
What a shameful penalty indeed. Let´s hope there won´t be too many wrong Referees´ decisions being as crucial in the games to come. Chapeau to the courageous Croatians, and all the best for a truly promising Brazilian Team!
Maravilhosamente! (sp.?)
We had typical Brazilian caipirinha at the Lillie room. Come in the next game!
How come nobody told me? And have they set it up for broadcast on the big screen?
Yes! (the first own goal was even scarier in the big screen…)
Awful, awful match by Brazil. To be fair, some great moments but they seemed to be sleepwalking or wearing concrete boots for a good portion of the game.
The nerves were evident and hopefully Oscar’s celebration after scoring the third was a sign that the nerves could be put behind them. He was clearly emotionally exhausted.
But we won, 3×1. The penalty was a bad call but not as unbelievable as people are making it out to be.
Can’t wait to enjoy the weekend’s games before I go on heart attack watch again on Tuesday.
Well, the penalty was certainly not unbelievable in the sense that we were all expecting the referee to give some big decisions in favour of the home team – they usually do (S. Korea in 2002 the canonical example).
It was a horrible dive even by modern standards which the ref should never have fallen for, the “foul” on the Brazil goalie for the 2nd equaliser looked non-existent, and it looked a clear foul to win the ball to set up the Brazil 3rd (though I’ve not seen replays of that so could be wrong).
Shame, as apart from that the ref let the game flow and it was highly entertaining.
I can teach you some words and expressions to use in such occasions. They’re NSFW though 😉
Disappointing start – two awful decisions by the referee for the Naymar elbow for which he should have been sent off, and the penalty which was a dive. I hope that the organisors get to grips with the diving otherwise the competition will be ruined.
Bad refereeing agreed but the ‘elbow’ was a set up – he appeared to deliberately run into Naymar’s arm. Croatia had a perfectly good goal disallowed. If this is the refereeing standard then it is going to be a disappointing tournament.
Neymar took a good look before raising his arm, though, and Brazil could have had no complaints if he’d been sent off. Certainly fewer than Croatia did about the penalty and their disallowed goal.
Hopefully, the other refs won’t feel the need to stick to a script in the same way.
Agh! Neymar!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27827271
“The referee who awarded Brazil a controversial penalty should not be officiating at the World Cup, says Croatia defender Dejan Lovren.”
Oscar played well and will have lots of stories to tell when he rejoins Depeche Mode after the tournament.
(Also is it just me or does the Brazilian holding midfielder look like the singer in a 60s soul group and the entire defence like a late 70s funk band?).
The Croatian goalkeeper looked weak at each of the goals (maybe least at the first but surely he should have stopped the penalty, having gotten two hands to the ball, and he was poorly placed at the third). So in attack, this is a flattering result.
Meanwhile Brazil looked rickety at the back when pressurized.
They’ll need to improve as a better team than Croatia will have seen the weaknesses and will know how to exploit them.
Given the numerous cases of referee bribing and corruption in the sport in recent years, it’s difficult to not at least entertain the thought that the game was rigged. Almost every key decision went Brazil’s way, not just the awarded penalty kick.
FIFA had better do more to repair their reputation, lest they sink to the level of professional boxing. I am less enthusiastic about World Cup after yesterday’s game.
While I have to agree that that possibility exists, the poor standard of refereeing in the 1.5 games so far has more to do with FIFA’s policy of selecting match officials from as many different nations as possible, rather than picking the best available.
Surely this tournament, which FIFA’s vainglorious leader, Sepptic Bladder, holds to be the pinnacle of soccer, deserves the latter?
You’re right, they should be choosing the best officials, and it’s more likely that the refs are not very good as that the outcome is actually rigged. But what matters to a sport is avoiding even the appearance of corruption. Previous bribery should never have been allowed to take place, and there should never have been any association with Football4U.
From the NY Times on May 31:
“FIFA’s investigative report and related documents, which were obtained by The New York Times and have not been publicly released, raise serious questions about the vulnerability of the World Cup to match fixing.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/sports/soccer/fixed-matches-cast-shadow-over-world-cup.html?_r=0