For all you newbees to the World Cup...

This was my first world cup to pay attention to and I can see why Soccer is so big around the world. As well I can see why the players get so excited when they score a goal. I mean if a team is winning 2 to 0 then that is like 21 - 0 in American Football.

What did I like:

The games had an Olympic feel to them.

On any given day anyone can lose. Brazil vs. France

The environment the games create is amazing. People that watch these games really love soccer and love their teams they root for. their is more by far that l liked about the games than I did not but I don't know exactly how to describe this in words.


What I did not like:

Some of the teams reminded me of NBA players in that they complained about every single call against them. They would also get barely touched and would fall down and act out some great scene like they were manhandled. Two words ... Drama Queen.

The Umpire(or refs what ever they are called) would make the match so much about them than about the game. The ref in the US and Italty game was horrible. The two red cards the us received looked like every other play made on the pitch. I saw where one ref handed out 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards ... come on. Let them play.

Pentaly kicks ... deciding a teams fate by using free kicks is a bad idea. I would say they should allow more substitutions on the field and just keep sending the games in to over time.

If you get fouled in the "box" then you are given a free kick at the goal ... no way! I think this should be issued on a case by case basis. Point and case ... Italty versus Austrialia. No way they deserved to win that game. Also France's road to the final game was paved by penality kicks.

 

Maybe they should play Golden Goal - first team to score wins!

 

This was also the first world cup I payed attention to. Reffs are reffs - until the advent of all the replays, we didnt notice them as much or just said it was the rub of the green. The first penalty on Italy seemed much less a foul than what the reff saw! IN fact there was a play later in the game that looked much worse to me that the reff ignored.

Here is what I would change.

Revise the offside rules to open up the game - the rest of the world doesnt care what americans think, but if you want to get the US more involved, you need more scoring.

diving - if a player has to be carried off the field, make him stay on the sidelines for 5- 10 min, or at least until the next dead ball. If teams are hurt by players being forced to sit a bit they will clean up thier acts.

If there is a foul in the box, the player fouled shoud be the one to take the kick!

Games decided by PKs - it is almost as bad as an NBA game being decided by free throws. If you are going to use it - start the play at the 35 yard line and go one on one with the goalie - he should be able to move a la the NHL, in fact I think all PKs should be this way. The offensive player still has the advantage - but it would add a level of excitement and even the field a bit.

 

I watched some of the games, but it did not really appeal to me. I found myself bored pretty quick. I probably will not watch soccer much in the future.

4_His, did I read that correctly that you like a CHICAGO team?