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Speaker: KICK IT! The Wee Fella

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  • LegBreak,

    The best villians are the smart ones.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1162 posts Report Reply

  • andin,

    Obviously Maradona's Hail Mary prayer strings didn't work and God was on the side of the Germans today.

    Seems god isnt favouring the catholics amongst the footballers.
    Good on s/he/it.
    I'll be glad not to have to look at anymore superstitious athletes making the watch/wallet/testicles/spectacles supplication for a while.
    What does the kiss on the lower part of the forefinger mean?

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    I know where the end of your finger has been?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    You basically have a 70%+ chance of coverting a penalty, the Ghanain should have scored it.

    I don't think you understand probability.

    I know where the end of your finger has been?

    roflnui

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    What does the kiss on the lower part of the forefinger mean?

    'Bacia el anello'. 'Kiss the Ring', to show respect for the holy Roman Emperor, sorry Pope, in deference of his position as divine global ruler.

    Sort of like a yard stick.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • BlairMacca,

    I don't think you understand probability.

    Haha good point, Monday morning etc etc. What I meant was that a penalty is the best consolation the opposing team can be given under the circumstances. A penalty goal would be a very slippery slope

    Wellington • Since Apr 2007 • 208 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    What I meant was that a penalty is the best consolation the opposing team can be given under the circumstances. A penalty goal would be a very slippery slope

    :) Yeah I got it. And as someone who opposed the rule changes to help England I'm not going to suggest rule changes to help Ghana. But I will say this, I hope it's one of those situations where Suarez's plane home "accidentally" has to make a refueling stop in Accra

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    The pressure of a big match with a crucial outcome is not really very well reflected in a simple penalty statistic. That usually works against the shooter, in favor of the goalie. Shooters are better when they are relaxed, whereas goalies are the opposite.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • BlairMacca,

    Don't wish too hard for South American sporting teams to have a
    plane malfunction

    Wellington • Since Apr 2007 • 208 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    Suarez would have been hung drawn and quartered if Ghana had scored. He is a f*&king hero now. My understanding is that playing the ball with the hand is the ultimate sin in football. The degree in this case is 10/10. If the odds of scoring from a penalty is 7/10 and the handstop prevented a 100% certain goal, then a red card and a penalty is not "fair" punishment. So what would you deal to them (him) instead?

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    Don't wish too hard for South American sporting teams to have a plane malfunction

    Yeah. And no veges for 10 weeks!!!

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • andin,

    What does the kiss on the lower part of the forefinger mean?
    'Bacia el anello'. 'Kiss the Ring
    'I know where the end of your finger has been?

    Ta

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    Suarez would have been hung drawn and quartered if Ghana had scored

    Actually if Ghana had scored it would be far from his fault. I'd blame the entire team in front of him.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    No-one could be more hapless than this fella from Colombia.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    I'm sure Allied and Hanover investors are saying pretty much the same about Horton and Watson right about now - "gosh, I may think they're slimy thieving pricks but you have to admire how well they went about it, eh"

    Craig, is it you?

    I expect Suarez to be compared to Herod next.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Keir Leslie,

    My understanding is that playing the ball with the hand is the ultimate sin in football.

    Well, not really.

    The real sins in football are things like making monkey noises at a black player, breaking people's legs, match-fixing, bribing referees, playing out nil-nil draws to put another team out, etc. That's bad. Handball's just breaking the rules.

    The anger over Suarez is like people who don't follow cycling getting annoyed at the bunch in the Tour for letting a rider lead the race through his hometown & pick up a few primes. Sure that's `matchfixing' to some extent*, but that's an entirely shallow way of reading, and quite without any attempt to understand the mores of the sport.

    * Not entirely comparable, because it isn't against the rules in cycling, but there's some similarities.

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    quite without any attempt to understand the mores of the sport

    Well said that man.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen,

    Good grief guys in a sport where diving is an art form and a totally accepted and normal party of the game - you are outraged or even surprised at a handball that saved a goal?

    An instant red card in the last minute of the game to save a certain goal. You see defenders make that decision all the time in football and nobody thinks about it for a second. That's what defenders are for, to stop the striker at whatever cost is appropriate at the time. The best defenders are those that can make the appropriate cost benefit judgements for the situation.

    My guess is if he hadn't stopped the ball his coach would have given him a bollocking.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Stowell,

    Yeah, what they said. If Ryan Nelsen had done it for the all-whites in that position, would you be thinking hero or zero?
    I understand wanting Ghana to win- and feeling they wuz robbed. I felt it myself.
    But they weren't just robbed- they did actually lose the game, too. Both missing the penalty, and in the shoot-out.
    Hard, sure. But not so unfair, I think.

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    I understand wanting Ghana to win- and feeling they wuz robbed. I felt it myself.

    Is it worth pointing out that the free kick that led to that last chance was claimed by the Ghanaian player in spite of the fact that he had tripped over the ball?

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    @Keir not quite the same though is it. Suarez is more of a blood-doper in cycling. He cheated to gain advantage. Sure he got caught and was penalised, but that doesn't make him any less of a fuckwit.

    Gio seems to be arguing that we should shrug our shoulders and say he's not a cheat, which I don't get. Just because "it happens" doesn't mean I'm not going to call him an arsehole. He's a sad little man whose main talent seems to be falling over dramatically, his actions saved his country from losing to Ghana and he is probably quite happy about that.

    But he did cheat and I don't see why I'm not allowed to incredibly annoyed by that. The mere fact that we all know what the "Hand of God" means in this context shows that I am not alone in holding on to a grudge because someone cheated to (in this case) deny a goal at the World Cup.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Stowell,

    Not just Gio. I can't understand why you call it cheating. Sure, it's against the rules. In some circumstances, it's a free kick; here, it's (quite rightly) a red card and a penalty shot.
    But cheating is breaking the rules and trying to get away without sanction (what McCaw does at the break-down...)
    You're not allowed to punch another player, either. But if someone does that quite openly, you can call them stupid- and they deserve a red-card- but you'd be a little over-excited calling them a cheat.

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    @Keir not quite the same though is it. Suarez is more of a blood-doper in cycling. He cheated to gain advantage. Sure he got caught and was penalised, but that doesn't make him any less of a fuckwit.

    I don't think fuckwit means what you think it means.

    You know what the football equivalent of a drug cheat in cycling is? A drug cheat. If Suarez had been found to have been using a banned substance, he would have been disqualified for at least a year. Instead he committed an infraction, for which he received the requisite penalty. To repeat: if he had been found guilty of conduct outside of the bounds of the game, he would have got more than the automatic one-game suspension in the post-game review. He did not. Nor was Ghana awarded an automatic win, which is also contemplated by the rule book in exceptional circumstances.

    This thing only upsets people who don't normally follow football, which is fine - hey, that's what world cups are for, innit? - and be upset at Suarez if you must, but really as Keir says you could be making more of an effort to understand what the codes of the sport that you're accusing the guy to have cheated at are.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Keir Leslie,

    No, he isn't like a doper in cycling (and doping in cycling isn't black and white either for that matter), mainly because he just isn't like that.

    I dunno. It's not something you can sit down and prove neatly and simply, because it's part of a thick slab of culture and convention and so-on that you need to try and understand before you can start talking about it.

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    I can't actually work out on what basis you guys are defending Suarez.

    Are you simply saying that he used the rules as they stand to his best advantage, or what?

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

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