The Official World Cup 2010 Thread

[Orange14]

Well, Germany certainly punched their ticket in convincing fashion, didn't they? Argentina were lucky it wasn't 6-0.

That was unexpected, to say the least. Very impressive, considering how young the squad is. Ozil is amazing.

Not by me. They never had a defense worthy of a team of this caliber and it was only a matter of time before a team figured out how to stop Messi and get players forward. I was surprised by the holding mid-fielders pressing so far up the field. In past games Schweinsteiger and Khedira stayed back. Maradona was undressed like the fraud manager he is. Too bad as Argentina has some talented players and it's not their disgrace.

[Amol]

Holland plays counterattacking football like Germany of old. Germany on the other hand is playing quick short passing football like Holland.

Holland to win - I can't believe it took 32 years for this conspiracy to take shape.

[Dubbel]

Fans in all places!

Joe Biden likes the Netherlands to win it all, or at least he hopes so.

Who knew the vice president of the United States was such a big soccer fan?

Or at least a fan of Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and the rest of the Dutch team?

Landing in Baghdad on Saturday to visit U.S. troops and talk with Iraqi leaders, Joe Biden told reporters "we hope the Netherlands wins the World Cup."

Who the "we" was is unknown. Presumably it was not Americans of Spanish, Uruguayan or German descent, but perhaps Biden simply likes the way the Dutch play and favors them over the other three World Cup semifinalists.

Or maybe, as the Associated Press put it, it was because he was about to meet "chief U.S. diplomat, top American military commander and the U.S. envoy to Iraq, Ad Melkert, who is Dutch."

Good thing Melkert isn't Argentine. Who knows what Biden would have said then.

(LAT)

[Philippe]

Fuck war....and Hup Holland !

[Orange14]

just saw a report that says our midfielder Lodeiro broke a bone in his foot and is out of the WC. No word on how long it will take to heal but it looks like he won't be ready for our first match

[ajaxusa]

Didn't exactly make it look easy, but WTF, they're through to the final. And what a couple of goals from the captain and Robben...

[SPL]

A great win with another workman like performance . Van Bronkhorst's goal was super but i think Steks
was at fault with the goal . I did think that if Robben had been taught at Ajax he would have learnt to use his right foot as he should have scored 2 that fell on his right side.Mind he took his goal superbly .

So Germany to win tomorrow and then come Sunday victory for the Oranje.

PS de Jong will come back but i would keep Khalid the beast at right back as he defended very well tonight and I still do not think V D Wiel is a great defender. Would like to know what some of you think on that ?

[Ajaxfanuk]

HUP HUP HUP covered in Orange facepaint, full of Oranjeboom. good times

[Orange14]

A bit dicey near the end of the game and the match official took forever to blow the final whistle (I think there were two extra minutes on top of the three that were signaled). I don't care; we are in the finals and now have a chance to win it all. This is all we can ask for!!!

[Tom_]

Yeah, who would have thunk it? They haven't exactly looked excellent but they've done enough. Well, the winner of the other match has to be the favourite for the final, but that doesn't matter does it. I definitely couldn't see them beating Brazil before that match...

[gordonvandekamp]

I still don't think Oranje has been as good as they were in the warm-up games, but they are still doing enough to win, which is a good sign. Like to see the Germans go down on Sunday if they make it.

I think van der Wiel hasn't looked great in the tournament, but I like him better offensively than the cannibal, and I don't think he's that bad defensively. Bouhlarouz just makes me nervous, he had 2 terrible passes back to Stekelenburg in this game that almost lead to opposing goals.

[Cedric]

This is all we can ask for!!!

We can also ask good football I think. It's a bit strange -and sad- that we now have to count on Germany for that...

[Tom_]

We can also ask good football I think. It's a bit strange -and sad- that we now have to count on Germany for that...

Well, the Germans haven't really been tested by a top team. Not sure they would've won 4-0 against Brazil, either. I'm not denying that they've been far more exciting to watch but their opposition have played into their hands a little.

Anyway, this article from Honigstein is worth a read: 'Criticism of a more defensive approach by the Dutch is misplaced.'

[SPL]

Oh dear another injury . Following Lodiero's broken bone in his foot I just read that Demy de Zeeuw has possibly broken his jaw. Could be a few weeks out ! Looks like we will be seeing some of Lindgren or even V d Heijden.Lindgren is still not 100% as pictures from Austria show he trains alone.

[Philippe]

Oranje lacked speed, probably due to the absence of van der Wiel. I did not enjoy the style, and by no means would I like Ajax to play this way. But I truly enjoyed the result. I think Oranje will beat the Germans and win the final.

[Duke]

Luckily Van der Wiel and De Jong will return in the final.

[SPL]

Good news it appears Demy de Zeeuw has not got a broken jaw.

[Jinne]

It's a great read when going back to the first page of this thread. Shows why this is in the first place an Ajaxforum and not an Oranje one.

[Amol]

So Spain it is then. How many people would have guessed a Holland - Spain final? I got the Holland bit right

[souras84]

Run n gun is the key to the CUP

[SPL]

Oh well it is just going to be Spain that finishes 2nd.

[Purple Cow's Ghost]

I've predicted Spain would win this World Cup since the beginning, so it would be wrong to change now. What I do hope is that we get a really cracking, memorial final. This has been a drab, disappointing World Cup so far, arguably the worst since Italia '90. It would be nice if we could at least finnish it off with one great game, regardless of who wins.

[Philippe]

Interesting article about the Dutch style in this competition.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... -world-cup

[ajaxusa]

Brilliant commentary by the host of ESPN's excellent Off the Ball podcast:

Dutch must avoid self-inflicted failure

He eviscerates Van Bommel, Robben and Van Persie/Sneijder for their feud. But I think the best bit is his comparison of Kuyt to Beaker from the Muppets. And don't fail to read to the very end, and follow the link to Ruud Gullit's spectacularly awful "Not The Dancing Kind".

[ajaxusa]

JOB's latest blog post, written for the Uruguay game, still relevant for the final. O'Brien doesn't mention van der Vaart, probably because he hadn't played much. But Rafael is another example of a player who assumes too much authority and hurts his team, IMO.

Finding the Right Amount of Selfishness