…and you waited only 3 seconds before mentioning the guys from ESPN again. Yeah, they’re dorks, but enough bickering already.

Here goes the yellow card flurry again….

Please make it stop! Now I know how Aragones feels when he sees yellow! (couldn’t wait till the next match to say it!)

Gaddamnit!

what’s the score? title says 0-0

Ghana starting to have some chances.

That was close..

Fucking referee threatens to spoil the match. Can’t help himself with the cards. The one before for the “foul” on Kaka, when he tripped over, was the worst.

thank God all the African teams are gone. tied of watching the dirty play and diving.

[...] The match starts in one hour and a half; see the preview here and follow it live here. Also be sure to read Euler’s opinion here (just below). [...]

The entire world and their mothers know it will be Brazil. But I know Ghana can pull off an upset!

yep. im with the entire world and their mothers. brazil 2-0. i dont want ghana even if it is an upset because they beat the us. : ) ghana’s going down hard!

could be that brazillian shooting gallery!! but i think if there is a team that can send the samba boys packin’, than this could be the team. if ghana gets any kind of momentum, it could be a long day for brazil!

This is football, never say never! But here’s to hope today won’t be the exception :D

Brazil 3-1 but Ghana scores first.

hopefully we will see some of that wounderful footwork that brazil is known for!

Ghana is fast and these guys have the lungs of steel. Brazil on the other hand is playing without Robinho so they’ve lost a bit of their agility – it’s the same squad that started against Croatia and Australia. Depending on how this game unfolds Ghana might surprise.

Ghana doesn’t have Essien. Brazil 3-0

Brazil have a weakness against fast counter-attacks, probaly Ghana will exploit that.

Good Morning all. We’re really looking forward to this game. Watching the Univision pregame – still can’t understand a word…

Ronaldinho will be injured when a Ghanan runs into him like a charging elephant.

Ronaldo will start to dive about halfway through the match, once he starts getting frustrated.

Kaka will win it for Brazil as his teammates are taken down, tackle after tackle.

I think this game could be REALLY ugly….

Emerson looks SO old. I think Juninho should start becase Brazil will be getting lots of free kicks, and Bob Carlos and Ronaldinho are so out of form it hurts!

Ronaldo will probably break the World Cup goal record today though.

I hope to see Brazil win this one- for payback sake since the US got eminated.

This may very well be the best game of the tourney so far. Would love to see an upset just because. Wish I could watch this one.

If this turns into a blowout, I’ll be glad the US didn’t advance :)

I’ve just put down my wager..,
Brasil to win by 2 goals or more margin within the 90mins.
A good bet..?

as badly that the US played its almost scary to think what would of happened had they advanced!

ESPN is showing NASCAR? I could understand maybe showing the Indianapolis 500, but this a World Cup elimination round with Brazil playin!

What about ABC?

I can’t believe I did not call in sick to stay and watch this game…Ghana was playing some incredible football. This is THE game to watch, hooray for Liveblog. I

ESPM would probably talk about NASCAR while watching soccer…I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Viva Univision!! Passion for football knows no language.

ESPN commentators are boring anyway, they always leave us with a WHAT ARE THEY TALKING about expression….

Trish, I feel for you. At least you get to blog. We’re loving the blogs

Yeah. Balboa is a good guy, has some knowledge of the player’s perspective, but has no commentary skills.

Erica Wynalda was, is, and will always be a loser. His brash predictions and bold statements are about as respectable as his atrocious first touch.

I think Univision is great because they have professional announcers, not former players. The only decent former player who is an announcer that I can think of is Charles Barkley, and he’s not really a good play by play man

This is a strategy of coach Parreira, he uses his main players, when Ghana players get tired, he puts some fast and rested players to attack more against a tired defense.

watch for(if you can see it) carlos to rip a couple of those missiles they call shots!

Yeah, Bob Carlos is still dangerous on setpieces. Un misil!

I expect Emerson to be subbed at the half. He is old, out of form, and has looked awful.

HEy thanks for the info, we didn’t know bookings carried over. Still learning about Soccer/Futbol

Hey – I’m American too and in my mind you want ot root for the team that beat you! Especially since it was clear that the US was not going to advance after the first game. And anyone who knows anything knows Ghana is really quite good.

But…Brazil by two – I hpoe for 4-2 but expect 3-1 or more boring 2-0.

pk’s anyone?

Blog Gods: in elmination rounds, is it also a two yellow card accumulation rule? For example, if Totti got a yellow in the quarters and another in the semis, would he miss the finals?

3-0 Brazil

Really? We should watch out for Carlos to take long shots? I never knew he liked to take long shots.

ETucker: yes.

ETucker,

After the knockout round starts, there are no more clean slates. Ballack had to miss the finals in ‘02 because he picked up his second yellow of the knockout stage in the semis.

Nooooooo! It wasn’t offside!

I expect to see at last one red card this game, maybe two.

I’m praying with all my heart that Ghana gives Brazil the hardest time ever! They should never forget this match!!

Off-side for only a little bit. :(

any scouting report on our slovakian ref?

Roberto Carlos is only good in kicking, the rest of his playing is crap.
his participation in this cup is not good.

carlos is one of a handful of players that can beat you from 40 yards!

4-nil.

This has the early smell of a rout.

not the acting bit again!

That was fast

What a goal.

Jesus christ.

Ronaldo, the record breaker!

Thanks Ze and James: I remembered Ballack missed the final, but wasn’t sure how many cards he had gotten.

Two yellow cards seems a bit harsh to me….especially given how easy they are to get this tournament!

GOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL —–

GOaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllll

GOOOAAALL!!!

1 – 0

RONALDO!!!!!

First yellow.. I’m still waiting for the reds..

Congrats Ronaldo (Even though he’s not reading this…he has better things to do at this time)

Lack of skill = Hard tackle = Yellow Card

let the bloodbath begin.

People say its an unfair stereotype that a lot of African sides lose they’re cool when they face adversity….we’ll see how true it is!

boy he left that keeper in the dirt!

Hahah re:Carlos…I was being sarcastic.

Record for Ronaldo ! 15 goals in World Cup, one more than Gerd Muller

oh my. this is gonna be like watching the brasil vs japan game. all i remember watching was that brasil kept making a goal after goal after goal. twas a snoozefest i tell ya.

it’d be great if Ghana starts jumping on these brazilians. I mean thats the only way they are goign to win this game. at least the game will be quite entertaining once theres some pushing and fighting.

ETucker: yeah.. on a 7-game cup like the World Cup, having yellow cards is specially hard. It makes more sense on leagues or longer cups.

Now, lets see what the pace will be. I am satisfied that a card or two has been delt, and that goal… what can I say?

Its tough because on the one hand, less games means maybe less yellow cards should lead to a suspension. But on the other hand, missing 1 game when there are (at most) 7 is huge.

It seems statistically disproportionate to me.

Cicinho instead of CAfu would had taken that “lost ball”

Kaká seems injured; Juninho Pernambucano start warming up.

if brazil gets another quick goal, than that should be it.

Kaká gets back on track, renders my previous post useless.

81 fouls in 2 games?

I wonder how many Oscars we need for this game. Both sides have great actors.. I believe they will make good use of their “skills”.

yeah “dietmar” if they get another goal. they should just stop playing because it would be complete waste of time. OOOOHH i see another yellow card. this is much better than the swiss vs ukr game yesterday. everyone kept fouling each other but the refereee didnt do anything. perhaps he was told not to hand out wayy too many cards if it wasnt necessary bec of what happened to the por vs netherlands game

got’em for diving!its about time!

It was offside… then the yellow card to Adriano was bollocks.

Did Adriano dive? Yellow for him !

He didn’t simulate, he didn’t dive. Watch the replay.

They missed Robinho then – Adriano pass it quicker! I want to see more possession!

Bamn! another card.

Adriano is so stupid, he could had scored instead of simulating a foul.

Did the ref err on the other side here?

I’ll say it again: fat and slow, Ronaldo is still the best forward at the World Cup.

That’s how Grosso should have been dealt with.

Still shows 0-0 on your score card

Ghana needs to score now….to scare Brazil.

Here’s a hint: Ghana, your offsides trap is NOT WORKING.

Pinche linea “burra”…..

Come on Ghana! Keep focused! Bring this cocky Brazilian team down!

Ghana needs to forget offside trap. Brazil’s timing is too sharp. Plus Ghanaian defenders have sufficient recovery speed.

it was a mexican ref, and sepp and franz were sitting next to each other…hmmm!

Italian would have dived much more dramatically and gotten a penalty :-)

Brasil should PLAY, that they can do best.

The problem with a Yellow for diving is that the risk of punishing a player who was legitimately fouled is HUGE.

I prefer the other option: dont give away penalties unless they are crystal clear situations.

Brazil will win 3:1!

Andreia & Alex: I agree, but the ref has chosen the worst moment for that.

I was waiting to see a Yellow for diving. I think that is the only way to stop it (or make it less prevalent)

Delighted that Adriano is booked for simulation. So should Grosso, Figo, Pimpong, countless others have been booked.

Ah! The flurry of yellow cards begins! Please make it stop!

Now I know how Aragones feels when he sees yellow (couldn’t wait until the next match to say that!)

Yep, the offside trap is suicide against Brazil

Hmm..that was close!

some must be joking around, my server just popped up and said this blog has been red carded..lol
anyone see that some fans had brought their own red cards to the game last night?

It’s going to be really hard for the Black Stars to keep focused on playing good football. I’m worried that we’re going to see a lot of cards in this game, which will be unfortunate.

Some good chances for Ghana….this could get interesting!

Someone remind Daryl to update the score now and then.

Brazil, when they are trying to be a team, are amazing to watch. Especially on offense. They all mesh so well and their attacking schemes are so fluid. I love it.

I want to see Brazil play a very good defensive team, like Italy.

Whoever keeps his cool now goes home with the victory. Brazil needs to go to offense more oftenly.. if not Ghana will start to like the game.

ghana is keeping their chances, with their offense.

Dietmar.. I got the red card message too.

what we must most esteem of all ESPN play-by-play commentator Dave O’Brien’s many excellences is his uncanny knack of admiring poor play or a bad idea – “nice ball” that goes to wrong side, “beautiful flick” that goes out of bounds, “good run” by a player easily dispossessed of the ball. Feh. Moron.

Brazil’s defense looking like swiss cheese. And so many wrong passes when attacking sure doesn’t help.

They better watch out. Ghana is keeping the pressure up. Brasil better not slip up.

Piece of cake goal as Ronaldo eats up the Ghanian defence. Like stealing candy from a baby.
As for Ghana, clearly they haven’t practiced their shooting since playing the Czechs.

Hey, if that’s been 3 yellows, then I think we’ve hit the 300-mark for yellow cards so far this tournament…

The score finally got updated.. He’s busy you know, I guess kind of distracted like us..

@ blah me,i almost choked on my bagel laughin’ so hard!

Amoah had a nice shot there. GK probably would have saved, tho, even if it wasn’t wide.

what attractive football we are watching now !

Jesus, Brazl can’t keep the ball on their feet :|

What’s he trying to do? Hit a fan?

Oh yes, the beautiful game!!
What a lovely change from the last few matches.

Had Essien played I would have called for an upset. Without his skill I don’t see Ghana being able to sustain any major attack over the 90 mins.

Ghana is making this game interesting.

I doubt it will end 1-0

Terry.. lol. I’m yet to live experience ESPN comments. Those are funny though!

Ghana really look like they could equalise. I Hope it happens.

To this point, we should all be surprised Brasil is finally playing like the Brasil everyone expected to show up. That said, their defense is suspect, Ghana can combine in tight spaces, and simply needs that finishing touch. But they need to be careful about going a man down early – unlike other sides, Brasil can truly exploit a man advantage.

OK the goalie gets my vote.. now that kick was too desparate from Ghana.

best chance, should passed the ball for the equalizer.

I think a great drinking game would be to drink every time Balboa says “but still”.

the DOCS outfits looks hilarious. kinda like a costume for halloween.

Jodido-

drinking while listening to Balboa and Wynalda sounds like the most depressing thing ever.

a better game would be to switch to Univision, and take a shot everytime the announcer says “de pared” or “de primera”

what wass adriano doing???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwGBSSgr4XA

i would volenteer several drinks before that game!

Ghana is not overawed by Brazil’s reputation….good

What does de pared or de primera mean? At least I can say I’ve learned something

Still love my Univision guys, they have lots of energy.

Ghana’s player stuck his face on the line on the grass and has his face all white-powdered now… priceless.

Hey ya’ll he’s a mime now!

This page has been shown the red card
If you typed the page address in the Address bar, make sure that it is spelled correctly.

that thing is annoying me! it shows up every 5 seconds!

Love Gyann’s makeup!

Once more, the Black Stars need to find that finishing touch!

Its very probable they will go down, but I wanna see them score!

good call by the ref.

I thought for a moment that was for Adriano for diving again. lol

Damn, at this rate everybody on the team will have a yellow card.

Man, I wish I had Uni. Although the high def would be hard to give up.

Is Black Stars the name for the Ghana team?

What is the name for the Brazil team?

“de pared” and “de primera” means “first touch”

Ghana looks great. Their solid midfield should give Brazil fits, given that Brazil plays a 4-2-4 with 4 offense only players.

They may need reinforcements in the center of the park. Maybe Gilberto?

I just switched back to Univision. The quality is crap and the feed breaks up a lot but the announcers don’t make me want to run into traffic.

“de primera” is the same as “the primeira” in portuguese… meaning “at first” literally. It means he has hit the ball with one pass only. For example, someone passes to me and I immediately kick it to the goal, without controling it first … that’s a goal kick “de primera”.

You have to like the Ghanian chances. They keep coming.

at soccerazy, WORLD CUP BLOG is just have a laugh!

Thanks Ze’!!

OMG.. now that was devine intervention. Watch out Brasil….

lady luck has deserted Ghana !

ETucker, I never understood why “de pared” means first touch. De pared means “of the wall” or “from the wall” right? Is it just one of those sayings?

Brazil are the “verde-amarelha” (Portugese for green-yellow)

the ESPN vs. Univision debate is a matter of tastes: some people are visual, some are audio.

the refs have got to stop rewarding diving, for the sake of the game.

Andreia and Alex, yeah… that’s for the Black Star on Ghana’s flag.

As for the Brazilians, i’m not so sure, I think they just call them the ‘Seleccao.’

Tom…and that is during rush hour…

I hope that ESPN will reasses their coverage by the time the next World Cup comes around.

“Black Stars” is one of Ghana’s team nicknames.

Brazil doesn’t have any special name, although we usually say “a seleção” (”the selection”), because it’s how we call all national teams.. ie, Germany’s team would be “seleção alemã” (”german selection”).

We have some names such as “seleção canarinho” and stuff like that, but they’re not so widely used.

JUan tsc tsc

Brazil have to be thankful they got that early goal as Ghana seem to be outplaying them at the moment.

Brazil look slow – they are so far lucky not to be even – this line up has to be the factor – so different than Japan – what will be subbed in the 2nd half? There seems to be no possession…

How easy that goal looked !

OFFSIDE GOAL

Adriano was offside twice in a single sequence. Did the linesman even mark him in an offside position?

Well, I timed that comment wrong. 2-0.

Looks like it was offside, though. The bigger nations seem to be getting most of the calls in this World Cup.

What the hell is the matter with Brazil?

Ghana deserve a goal for all their hard work. It’s not such a bad thing they beat us (US), since I have a feeling that Ghana is putting on a better show than we would.

collective sigh of relief in Brasil.

GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!

2 – 0 before half-time!!

So unfair!!!!! :o

Adriano was it?!

GOOOOOOOL Brasil!!

Was Adriano offsides?

Gol!

OFFSIDES!

Goaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Tom-

originally soccer was played in crowded cities, and players would pass to themselves off building walls.

thus, the player simulates the wall.

YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!! Great run and finish!!!!!!

owwwwwww

hi, just arrived.
how’s the referee doing? seems that adriano was offside?

looks OFFSIDE on replay !

OK now that was perfect game. Lovely pass.. can’t be mad.

I love Brasil, but Adriano was offside.

2-0 is very very unfair to Ghana

Brazil looking slow, Ghana dangerous as ever, but overall Brazil is just more efficient – more experienced, I’d say.

One for Adriano. Apparently he was offside though… well, counting the wrongly marked offside for Ronaldo at the beginning of the match, it’s all even.

What you call luck, means lack of skill to conclude their plays and score against a good goal keeper.

Ghana should not bet his defenses on off-sides traps.

talk about “sucker punch”

ETucker,

Entiendo. Muy interesante!

I had a feeling that it was somethign like that.

isnt it ironic, they do all that injury acting, adding time to the clock, and then get burned in “injury time”

Pity about the offside second goal. It was starting to look like a great game.

Let’s hope Ghana can keep pushing Brazil in the second half.

I think scoring at the beginning of the match actually hurt Brazil. The guys are looking lazy on the field.

Still, I’m happy they’re winning 2-0. Ghana is a real fighter and will continue trying to the end, I’m sure, so I hope Brazil can keep up. Parreira has a lot to fix during the half-time break.

Hey ya all, why bother watching any game untill the final. It will be Germany-Brazil.
It is all fixed. Ghana is way better but will loose. Its all about money, they will not make any if Germany is not in the final. And the best opponent is the one that brings in a lot of cash too: Brazil.

Way back when, ETucker said, “I think Univision is great because they have professional announcers, not former players.”

Chilavert is doing a lot of the commentary for them, I believe. He’s just better at it than Balboa.

It is half time, Ghana are 2 nil down and they have no one but themselves to blame.
Hopefully when we see them again in 2010 they will have learned how to finish strikes off.

Ronaldo was not in off-side before, 30 centimeters diference. Bad call on that he would had scored.

I saw two offsides there, at the beginning of the counter and then Ronaldo.

Is it me, or is Cafu instrumental in Brazil’s offense?

Keyser: he’s so-so. Adriano WAS offside, but the referee (or line referees) also marked an offside on Ronaldo at the beginning of the match when he wasn’t (and he was just facing the goal). The referee also gave Adriano a strange yellow card for diving on the penalty area – it didn’t look like a dive for me. Lots of yellow cards for Ghana.

Overall, it’s looking fine to me – as well as a human referee trio can do.

Hey Bobbio, we will not see Ghana again, usually these are one-time appearances. Neither will we see Holland again, what an awefull football do they play now!

Brazil’s finishin is absolutely ruthless.

Ghana has blown a handful of quality chances.

Let’s not forget the object of the game is to score goals, not create chances.

Poor Ghana: now they know how a dubious referee decision before the half can hurt morale! There is justice!

Ghana still has a chance, they were playing like the better team in the first half, I dont know but I think this game still has a good chance to be one of the biggest upsets of the tournament.

Necesito una cerveza pero estoy trabajando. :( Espero que Ghana luchen en el medio segundo.

Seriously, I want a beer.

Adriano was clearly offside, twice – on the initial through ball and on the finishing sequence. ESPN is going to discuss racism in futbol, something that’s clearly relevant when Ghanaians, or any
African side, is on the pitch. (Brasil gets a special break from blanco officials because it’s Brasil. The laws of futbol turn out to be “Brasil laws” and “laws for all other sides” and then “laws for African sides.”)

No way Ghana recovers from 2-0 down now.

I hope Spain will beat France, it will be interesting to see what they can do against Brazil.

I saw two offsides as well. This is terrible. The first could be ignored as he didn’t play the ball, but the rules state if on a shot a player is in the offsides position and are in a position to challenge the keeper, it’s offside.

I really hope Ghana comes back, they’re playing the better game. I don’t watch Brazil, but if this is the world’s greatest team I’m unimpressed.

Vikingo, way better where? If Ghana s attackers were good , they wouldnt miss so well scored goals.

Brazil´s Goal Keeper is good.

For sure the referees was not responsable for their lack of goals.

Brazil is funny. It`s the only team in the world that even when it`s winning by two goals, it`s not playing well.

Imagine when they actually play well !

The second goal was a clear off-side, no doubt about it, but it`ll doesn`t matter, since the defense in line from Ghana is ridiculous, and I bet in more two or three goals in the second half.

My prediction: 4×1

Philip-

good point. I actually haven’t watched any Univision since I’m out of the country, but assumed they were using the same champ’s league tandem.

I actually think Balboa has some good insight and is a good guy, but he lacks the energy and play by play skills.

If he was paired up with the right person (NOT WYNALDA) it could work.

Great play from Ghana so far. They’re looking alive and attacking, but need to exploit the weaknesses of the Brazilian side more. Hopefully they won’t just give up and give the goals away in the 2nd half. I feel bad for Essien who looks so dejected on the bench. I’m sure the Ghanaians would love to him on the field.

ETucker,

Balboa is ok, I guess. Like you said he has no energy. He has some insight but it’s embarassing when he constantly has to correct O’Brien’s lack of soccer knowledge. Seriously, O’Brien knows almost nothing about soccer.

Once again, that second goal is so unacceptable. Sigh.

its almost noon tom..lol

That last goal had indeed TWO offsides.

This is looking a bit like Argentina – Ivory Coast to me… IVC was attacking nonstop, but still didn’t have the quality to actually score so Argentina went there and scored when they had the chance.

Of course there are differences between the teams, but overall that’s the kind of action I’m seeing. Brazil is not dominating ball possession anymore, but is still creating dangerous chances (including 2 goals) while Ghana had a lot of great chances but blow them all.

Rafa, i am sorry, but i just like the creative type of football. I know they have to make goals to win, but we all know that the best team is not always the one that wins.

Offside by Adriano …
Second goal sucks .. it is an offside

Brasil’s style is to turn in on only when necessary. They seem to like closing the half with a goal, kind of like a statement to let the opponents know who is in charge. It is deliberate, but they clearly control the game. They dominate the way the game flows. Their weakness… getting sloppy around the goal. It cost them a goal last time.

thanks Ze,
Just seen the highlights. ghana was really unlucky with the header 2 minutes before brazil’s second goal. but otherwise, they did not have too many real chances to score.
as someone said, you have to score, not to create chances.
looks like the match is finished. against the likes of italy and brazil, you simply cannot waste scoring options. you may not have another one.

Zé,

My guess: If Ghana scores, Brazil will kick it back into attack-mode and it’ll be 3-1.

Brazil is definitely playing down to the level of its opponent. Not until Brazil comes up against a good team will it have to show its real ability. I think everyone will agree that Brazil has not shown its real skill as of yet.

That second goal was crap. The linesman should be sent home. If Essien was playing Ghana would be winning or at least drawing. Someone will find this Brazilian team out before the end of the World Cup — it’s just a pity it won’t be the Black Stars. They are a real football team and not a collection of superstars.

I’m saddened with the current results. Ghana is playin so well – Only that it’s not resulting in a goal.

But It’s a disgrace and painful. The second goal was an offside. Too bad.

But I still have hope I know our boys are gonna do it!

O’Brien admits he knows next to nothing about the game but he’s tried to memorize the terminology and the players “stories.” “I’m a storyteller. That’s what I bring to the table.” Moron.

Brazil is perfect in converting chances.

Terry T: racism in football? Most of Brazil’s players are also black!

Sorry, but this is bullsh*t. Africa is a great rising power in football, Ghana is a wonderful nation and has been quite succesfull for a few years on the young cups (will probably be a major contender for the WC in the future), but calling “Racism!” just because they’re getting a lot of cards or fouls is just ignoring the games. The guys ARE commiting more fouls, and are playing harder. Everybody should be treated the same, and that’s why they’re getting more cards. Just watch the game and decide for yourself instead of going for the scapegoat path and calling racism.

How far was Adriano offside when the pass was made? A few feet or yards?

Hey Bobbio,

i am sorry if i hurt your feelings, but you have to admit that even a team like Ghana plays better then the oranges. Or Ivory Coast, they should have made it to the second round instead of the cheese-heads (oops, sorry, the dutch)

If Ghana starts the second half sending more players forward, this is going to end 4-0.

“….Brazil’s second looked offside to me, waiting to see another replay…”

Perhaps… the camera angle shows that he ref was also at an angle so to him it could have looked legit as it was just by inches, hence the dilema.

Either way, I would be surprised if Brazil lost that one no matter what circiumstances…

Offside!!!!! :((

2-0 is very very unfair to Ghana

so, looks that brazil continues to play half power. even so, they are easily leading 2-0.
not everynody can do so, for sure.

Do not know how much the Brasilians Paid the Referee to give them offside goals.they will all paid if ghana should lose.

wheres ghana’s coach from?

Adriano was a full step offside twice.

Ghana is more respectful of Brasilian technique and is conceding somewhat more space. They need to come out of the high offide trap.

But Ghana itself has speed, technique, stamina, and fully owns the ability to regroup and make a match of what should be a 1-0 Brasil advantage.

Remember WC 82, Brazil played beautifully and offensively the whole game. But they lost to Itataly 3 – 2. It was one of the best game in the history.

Just wondering how much the refs will get paid for these game.

The second Brasil goal by Adriano was clearly offside as the replays show.

But Adriano being sooo selfish blew a real chance by not passing to a completely open Ronaldo.

Ghana is playing very well and controlling the ball much better than Brasil. They just have not been lucky in converting all their chances. Brasil defense is full of holes – they provide so much space between Lucio and Juan in the center at the top of the box.

Ze:

The racism in football was in regard to the Spanish coach telling his players go get those Blacks (in regard to Henry). Has nothing to do with this game. ESPN does stupid shit like that. Oh and it’s from 2004. I don’t see why it’s appropriate to even report on it.

Adriano wasn’t offsides by a mile. Maybe 6 inches, max. I didn’t think it was some absurd call.

I was just reading about O’Brien on Wikipedia. He doesn’t seem to be knowledgable about football at all and tries to play the role of football commentator and political analyst too much. Hopefully ESPN assigns competent individuals to the next WC.

On with the game!

Keyser, i agree, Brazil is playing with the Africans, they enjoy it, but they knew from minute 1 that they would easily win. This kind of confidence is very uncomon in football, except with the Brazilians. 3-0

Ze,
I with you dude. This race card is getting on my nerves. Ghana is just taking more risks against a superior team and with those risks come a price. You are right, there is some great ball coming from the continent of a million flavours, and there will be more great football in the years to come.

Poor Asamoah.

Lurch McCoy: just a bit.. like half a meter. Which counts a lot when you are face-to-face with the goal.

Daryl,
Cheers mate!

did they switch shirts at half? thats nice passing for ghana

OOOOOoo, isn’t that sweet, Bet that pic will be all over the news. One plays holds another in the passion of the game.

I’m gonna say it again: Poor Asamoah. This guy has had a few choice shots that just missed wide.

Uh… Adriano is trying a bit TOO hard. If he continues like that he’ll be sent off. He already has a yellow card.

And the Oscar goes to….

If a bone isn’t sticking out, book him for simulation.

I just hope the dudes from Italy are watching this. This is Soccer! Brazil, oh my my… What a shame Ghana couldn’t get a break in terms of scheduling. They had to meet Brazil NOW! of all the teams. Simply a sweet smooth classical goal by Ronaldo. What a guy! What a sport! I am not sure about the goal by Adriano, but maybe it really doesn’t matter, because these blokes from amazonia can play soccer. Boy do they…

Adriano needs to stop that acting stuff. Brazil needs him in the future.

I see the popular vote for the acting Oscar goes to Adriano. The public has spoken!

Ghanaians are over-passing. Need to hit a few one-timers (and get out of that absurd trap – Brasil’s timing too sharp).

Adriano also can’t hit a ball with his right foot.

Man, if only Ghana had a deadlier finishing touch…..

Picture of Adriano’s dive
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41818000/jpg/_41818812_bra5.jpg

Adriano may join Italy…actors all…

I’ve utterly lost faith in Ghana.
I forsee the majority of rest of the game tking place in the Brazillian penalty box and not a single goal being scored.

The game is slowing down.

Adriano out (THANKFULLY!) and Juninho Pernambucano in.

the 2nd half is dull, not half dramatic as the first

Picture of Ronaldo’s Record Goal
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41818000/jpg/_41818644_bra3.jpg

Fresh legs….

It’s funny. Players dive because they know that most of the time it’ll help their team. But players like Adriano are great without diving.

What I’m saying is that people seem to have some idea that players dive because they’re not good enough otherwise. That’s wrong. Clearly, a player like Adriano doesn’t “need” to dive. But he will because a dive can often result in something better than a nice cross.

ghana will not be able to score even playing for 3 hours

Ronaldinho is beautiful on the move at full speed – absolutely miraculous.

still looks like a good game

is balboa actually bragging about his yellow cards? i’d say it was a new low, but these two are pretty much bottom of the barrel already.

why do they keep talkin about ronaldhino as if hes some sorta magical beast?

Booooooooooooooooring

and ghana continue to play linha burra worse than germany against costa rica

freakaholic: it’s much because of the whole mistique that he carries from Barcelona and from all the prizes he has won.

He is good, but on the way he plays for Brazil, it’s more of a background role than what he does on Barcelona, so he won’t shine so much.

Tom,

That’s just the point, the expected value of diving is greater than the expected value of even one of the better players in the world taking it 1-on-1 (or in that case 2-on-1) against the keeper.

Freak,

Ronaldinho really is a fantastic player. I’m not certain he’s the best in the world (or even on Brazil) but his ball control is amazing and he can lay a pass in on a dime most of the time.

He hasn’t done much in the way of shot-taking this WC but his passes have led to some amazing shots on goal.

It’s all the ref’s fault! He’s put similar facing magnets in the ball and the Brazillian goal! Racism! Ambush marketing! Vegetarianism!

one thing i know, the dutch will never win a cup.

Once again, my brothers from the Continent are showing fantastic skills – playing exciting, fluid and entertaining soccer. But they have to make the Brazialian net bulge. Without any gaols, everything, all efforts, great performance, brilliance amounts to naught.

Ronaldinho IS a magical beast. You may not have seen much magic today, but it’s generally on display – generally the attack runs clearly through him, with R. getting every second or third touch…Ghanaians trying to deny him his touches…

Philip,

I know. I just think it’s unfair to “blame” players and to call them cheaters for it.

Until the game is restructured to account for diving, players will do it. Those that don’t will be at a disadvantage.

vegetarianism..HAHAHA …LOL

A red card for the Ghanaian coach huh? Yikes.

Damn! Damn! Damn!

Hmm, where’s Bob ? I hope he’s up next ;) ….

It’s not really fair the refery isn’t fair, 2 de Ghanas, like yesterday the Australians lost ‘coz of the Italian team had a penalty so they got 1 gol! Why cn’t de brazils win n be a star or Ghana win n b de BlackStars???

Brazil is the best because the players knows how to use very well the chances they have, no matter if is a lot or just a few in the game.

They make goals from hard play chances, other teams as Ghana, do not use well the chances.

why complain about this game? it’s much more exciting than Switzerland vs Ukraine or any England matches!!!

This game isn’t too bad. It’ll still be marred by that Adriano/offsides goal, though. So few matches have ended with one side clearly winning over the other without some controversy.

Yeah, coaches get red cards on matches in Brazil (national cup, state cup, etc) all the time. Screaming at the referee is part of every normal game.

Bobbio..
You feeling the frustration? It’s nerve wracking.

These guys just can’t get the ball on goal, can they? Poor shooting or brilliant marking in the area?

ghana is choking on every shot…at least they are shooting

Yes it is, well I vote 4 de Brazils!! n i agry that it is much mor Excitin’!!!

Ghana passing is quite good. They just need to better their final touch which is lacking. Am amazed with their playing. If they play either switzerland or Ukraine, they may go through. who knows. It’s unfortunate they have to play with Brazil…

This game is very entertainment. Is a fantastic game. Good for Brazil they have Dida a very good Goal Keeper.

I love it when people don’t understand a sport and label it as “boring.”

I don’t understand cricket, but my Indian friends live and die by it. Does that mean it’s boring? No. It just means I dont appreciate it.

My other favorite trait is that when people hear another language, they assume the person is talking about them.

Ronaldo is simply the greatest finisher the world has ever seen.

With the ball at his feet, would you want anyone else besides Ronaldo to be shooting it?

Dida in agony from being struck by Muntari’s ass.

I think that the Brazilians will win..Why ‘coz they alredy have 2 gols in the 1st but who nows wat would happn in de 2nd half???

ETucker,

Estoy hablando sobre todos de las personas que usan WorldCupBlog. Todos! Y ellos no me entienden! jajaja

You’re probably right about that, ETucker.

Agree with Rafi, others – match is extremely entertaining, becomes more so every time Brasil comes out of its crouch to counterattack

Let’s all play “Hit the Keeper!”

Ghana is always hitting into the hands of the GK

Ghana really deserves playing in the group of 16. Before watching this World Cup, I’ve heard of Angola but never heard of Ghana. Their people should feel really proud. The players played it clean as well which is so lacking in many other matches.

BIG big up to Ghana!! your strong and very good team.
Really like the way you play…
What a pity.

Well, thogh Ronaldo ws offside he got the gol by de refery!!!

Red for Gyan

We here at home have decided to alleviate our boredom with the newly invented Ghanian World Cup drinking game.
Everytime Ghana misses a spectacular goal we drink a shot. Everytime they shoot the ball over the entire goal, we drink a glass!

DALENTERA

ETucker:

I definitely agree with your sentiments. People just find it offensive when a person speaks a language other than English or their own native tongue.

Ghana is relentless in its attack. Good for them. They’re a really strong team and so many people have underestimated them because “they’re frm Africa.” It’s going to be awesome seeing all the African teams in 2010. Hopefully they’ll be a new WC champion crowned.

Did Balboa say that Paintsil’s header was a “smart play”?

I’m ready to declare this the best ref of the World Cup. Too bad for Australia that they couldn’t have had him in their game.

Have i mentioned that i really really don’t like diving?

Referees continue to work drunk… It’s a shame. Too much beer in germany!

Hope tonigth the italian guy will be clear!

ETucker – hopefully you weren’t remarking about my “boring” comment.

At the time I made the comment, Ghana were (and still are) making half-assed shots on goal and Brazil was sitting back and allowing it. Hit the keeper is a very boring game. They look like they’re just dicking around.

WHAT A GOAL !!!

And thats the end!!

3 – 0!!

Wat happened rite now did someone kick a gol???

The Ghana offside trap looked this porous against the US, too. The difference is that the US finishes like Americans and Brasil doesn’t.

My gosh.. he was alone! GOOOOOL!!

Pwnd

that looked ridiculously easy

Ghana’s “dumb line” is pretty dumb allright.

Maybe this was the master plan – let Ghana run all over the place – and then let them make mistakes – which they have done and save it for the next round. Brazil seem flat – but they do know what they are doing – oops – its 3 -0 while I am typing – Ghana need to grow up – they acted against the US and got a gift themselves at half versus the US. So now it comes back to bite them – so long – enjoy the fligth home!

I think Brazil is allowing Ghana to play in their third just to keep the game interesting.

I’m really going to miss Ghana. They’re very entertaining. Too bad they can’t finish.

Ghana’s offside trap strategy has gone awfully wrong

am not able to watch. pls leave comments every 5 seconds…..thanx

And another pass from a Ghanaian to Dida!

Has any African team ever played defense well?

Wrong move! I was tempted to bet on 3:0 & 3:1 (exact score). I would have won 7 times my stakes if I did. Now I only bet on Brazil to win by 2 goals. :-(

1) Balboa is mentally challenged.

2) Are any brasilians injured? I missed the middle of the match.

ALL-IN-ALL…good game!

Ghana is trying hard, the guys play with their heart, they’re running all over the place and doing little mistakes. The problem is that the mistakes they DO make are actually fatal mistakes, and end up leaving an attacker alone in front of the goal.

A score like 3-1 would be a bit more fair, but overall Ghana is just showing they have a lot of fuel to burn but no actual engine output.

Now the poor ghananians hve 2 go home ‘coz tis is over 4 them they cn’t make any gols ‘coz they ms de opportunities they hve!! ‘N’ I think that Brazil i gonna make 5 gols all2getha…

I want to see a Brazil-Spain match

That was almost 4-0 there.

Again: Cafu lost a clear goal, and wasn’t offside.

Ghana needs to play better *WITHOUT* the ball. Positioning.. that’s part of football too.

Gp – What language is that?

Still I think Ghana was playing fine soccer. I look forward to seeing them play in 2010. It’s always tough playing the champion. Thumbs up, Ghana!

Yeah but that ws offside…

Ghana’s offsides trap only worked against the US becase we had a single striker who is slow and has no good foot.

Hmm? I think france would attest to Senegal’s defense being good in 2002

I’ve become a fan of both teams

I dont understand why the Ghana players kicked so far off the goal post. They should have known better after playing so many games. They deserve a goal.

Vin, he/she’s from Seychelles which is an island in the Indian Ocean according to the CIA factbook. Primary language is Creole.

With this last 10 minutes people still belive Ghana should win?

Did I mention Ghana needs better strikers? The guy have the ability, and can do great passes, but all clear shots come out too weak or too far from the goal. No real threats to Dida’s goal yet.

Eve: true. If Ghana continues like that, they’ll reign Africa for years to come.

Ghana was way off target vs. Italy also.

If these guys learn to SHOOT ON TARGET, look out!

A sad denouement to an otherwise competitive match.

“Ghana is trying hard, the guys play with their heart, they’re running all over the place and doing little mistakes. The problem is that the mistakes they DO make are actually fatal mistakes, and end up leaving an attacker alone in front of the goal.

A score like 3-1 would be a bit more fair, but overall Ghana is just showing they have a lot of fuel to burn but no actual engine output.”

I agree entirely. I’ve been so disappointed this game because although Ghana definately played the better game, they just lack the talent to finish and their defense is non-existant. None of the goals scored today would make it through a European team. Brazil is going to have to do better if they want to win the WC, their performance today was pathetic.

Is there going to be a debate today about the offside goals gone unnoticed? Or is that a rap?!

What’s the deal with brazilians being selfish in the box? Do I smell dissention among the Select-Cow… I mean Selecao?

Why is that after every game, people always say that the team that lost should have won….get over it, and accept the thruth!!!!!

BRAZIL # 1 !!!!!!!!

Good game by both teams. Let’s see how the match between Spain-France goes. It should be interesting with the tension between Henry and Aragonés.

the pressure to SCORE must be huge for the player, none have really been in this position b4…scoring against brazil!

Forget Passing in the penalty area!

Selfishness is a virtue when it comes to striking, and all teh top scorers have it: Ronaldo, Sheva, and Ruud.

Trying to walk the ball into the goal is a great idea if you dont want to score.

How can one complain about a 3-0 result against a good team?

Brasil is awfully effective at turning on the gas when they need to to win. Teams that do that tend to go far despite not looking as impressive as they might.

GER-ARG and BRA-ESP (if it materializes) should be two great quarterfinals. I wish we could knock out the other four teams and make those the semifinals.

Another great game with a lousy referee…

Brazil vs Spain would be a cracker…

On another note, would be great to see some of the Ghanaians move to more competitive leagues such as the Premiership…Appiah, Sulley Muntari, Richard Kingston, Gyan etc have surely not done themselves any harm by their displays in the tournament

Viva Ghana, Viva! WC 2010 awaits in the Motherland!

Senegal and Nigeria are good African teams. Expect to see them in South Africa. ^^

I am still scratching my head.. I thought I knew what offside is. I guess if you do it enough times, refs will get immune to them and don’t even see.

[...] There it goes. Ghana runs a lot and reigns with ball possession, but doesn’t have enough ability to put a ball in the net. Brazil scores an early goal with Ronaldo – which is now the new World Cup scoring record holder, gets an offside wrongly marked with the same Ronaldo, gets a goal with Adriano after an offside that was not marked this time, then another goal with Zé Roberto after a mistake by Ghana’s defense. A lot of yellow cards are given, and red cards are given both to one player from Ghana and for Ghana’s coach, after he protested Adriano’s offside goal. [...]

Brice give me a break. Brazil’s performance is pathetic and Ghana is great, yet Brazil wins 3-0 ? Brazil’s offense is one of the best in the world. Whether you like Brazil or not, you have to live with this fact.

I’m sure that the premiership will be banking high money on many of the Ghanaian players. Don’t be surprised to see more talented players like Essien play for the top European teams.

would be great to see some of the Ghanaians move to more competitive leagues such as the Premiership

I meant a move to more competitive and lucrative leagues..and certainly with no disrespect or cheek to the leagues they play in now :-)

Ghana phayed beautiful football, but too bad they could not finish given the chances that they had.

Brazil won the game but given the way they played, I think the press and their fans will not be impressed at all. but hey, a win is a win.

Brazil still did not get a good adversary. things are always easy..I would love to see Brazil against argentina!!!!!

if ghana whad any decent striker today

they could have had brazil, they dominated possesion and technically up to the box looked fantastic, but were wild inside it.

brazil looked lethargic old and lacking any team understanding, though they defended ok.

feel for gahna but lads sort out your finishing, its cost you.

Philip.. I was hoping for the Germany vs Argentina match to be a semi-final. It dint happen. It was one of the matches I most looked forward to.

England vs Portugal is gonna be weird but interesting to watch. And as I keep calling it, and “unfair” match unless two players are sent off the England team as well. hehe..

I can seem to get together enough excitement over any of the next Brazil matches.
Oh yes, absolutely correct on them shooting energy out of nowhere when they need it! They have it in them, but prefer to surprise you, rather than give it away at the start!

Ghana clearly played better than Brasil. They just did not have the finish and luck.

Ghana had better ball movement and played with speed and good attack and exposed all the holes in the Brasil defense with many open spaces that a better team will exploit.

Brasil showed many holes in defense and if it wasn’t for Dida’s good goalkeeping they would have given up many goals. And another is that Brasil do not pass the ball to the open striker in front of the goal. Adriano muffing up by not passing to an open Ronaldo. Cafu not passing to an open Ronaldinho.

Brasil through this WC has actually been quite shaky as a team even though they have very good individual players. They don’t play as a team. If they play like they have done so far they will not win against the winner of Spain vs France.

We all know the second goal was offsides.. but the others weren’t, so Ghana did you notice your offside trap isn’t working? STOP IT DUH. Even when it does work the ref doesn’t see it so forget about it and just hustle! GOSH

I agree with Philip,

GER – ARG
BRA – ESP

Let’s hope…

And final game: BRA – ARG

And ARG wins 3 – 2

Is the other teams who did not got a good adversary as Brazil, i’ve seen the other teams playing and they didn´t played thatmuch better than BRazil.

Well, i might be wrong, but im very sure im far from being wrong

Is easy to Argentina play nice against weaker teams.

Let´s the next games.

DOn´t forget Brazil also didnt have an excelent striker as Robinho(injured) or Brazil would have scored much more.

Let’s be real here, Ghana played a better game than Brazil. With a lot of luck on their side, Brazil scored three goals… That’s really nothing to be proud of, since this game should have had a different outcome. Brazil is going home next, and that’s not a minute too soon. They oughta be ashamed of themselves. Brazil has no shot at winning this world cup anyways. FIFA has got to be investigated because the referees made some questionable calls which benefited Brazil. I wonder how much Brazil payed the referee, this was sooooooooo obvious. Red card fir Gyan, for diving (2 yellow cards)????? C’mon, what the hell was that referee smoking? In the end, Ghana might be going home today but they played with a lot of heart. Brazil will soon follow them because one cannot win the world cup by getting lucky. Their luck is about to run out…. Hear the black stars roooooooooar!!!!!!

Fair result, though at least one of Brazil’s goals was from an offside position.

Ghana played valiantly but just didn’t have the finishing power to at least get the “goal of honor.”

Brazil was by far superior in terms of skill/class, but if I were a Brazil supporter (or punter) I’d be a little concerned with their form. They certainly don’t look unbeatable.

Ghana lacked finish but didn’t lack speed and excitement. That could be said about all african teams that qualified. I am hoping they start introducing better finishing strategies in their game so that the world can witness an african world cup soon.

Brazil won but they still lack the spark that they displayed in 2002. I think it’s just a matter of too many big egos on the team.

The game is over… Brazil will be able 2 go 2 de final quarters… who will vs. Brazil? lets find out…..

germany has the goal scorers to finish brazil!

Joanne.. Ghana played well – yes! But better than Brazil? I doubt that. And as for calling those goals lucky? I dont think so. Except for the referee not calling that offside. And even if he has called the offside, Brazil would still have been the one to move on. Everyone knew that even before the match started.

joanne, blah-me is right. deal with it.

Rafael, were youy and i watching the same game???? When a person is drinking, it is hard to see what’s going on clearly. Brazil is going home, not a minute too soon. As i have said before, their luck is about to run out…. :( And by, do i feel bad…. Not!

Thanx Tom – U’re right but i don’t speak creole, I speak English…
Vin- I am writing in short that’s why I’m writing like that..!!

Give credit to the Ghana players. They really played a good game. The three referees just allowed Brazil to get away with their offsides which is not fair to Ghana. If FIFA wants to make more money from attendance at games, they should find another way of deliberately eliminating the new comers especially the Africans. Allowing deliberate offsides is not a fair way. I am sorry for Ghana but if they had had unbiased referees, then that game will be a good game to watch.

Joanne D – speaking of going home – are you legal in the US – or are you here on an outdated visa?

Brasil just won 3-0, exactly the score I predicted. I
could afford 1,000 Hefe Weizen Dunkles right now, but
I’ll just hoist one for the English wanker toast I
will be smelling soon.

JOGO BONITO; baby!!! Why aren’t these Germans honking their horns and blowing their even- louder noses for the Auriverdes???

Dave hamildav@yahoo.com

I am just going to sit back and watch Brazil fall from grace, soooooooooo hard. Ghana was the better team and i am not sure what game you guys were watching…. Ghana had several opportunities to score, they pounded on Brazil. Brazil just got lucky and that’s the reality of the game. I can’t believe that you think that Brazil played a better game, not even close!

Yes, it’s true what u sed Joanne D!

drinking and watching a game…hmmm, what could possibly be more enjoyable…sex, maybe!

Dan, all i have to say is that you do not hold a candle to my PhD from Columbia University. Are you one of those rednecks from the Midwest? I am not surprised by your comment…. Just another racist redneck

Joanne,

Brazil did not want to play hard. That’s all. It’s not that Brazil could not play well.

HELLo I am drunk! yiiiheehe HIC!

And yes Dan, I am a US citizen… no need to get personal because you had your ass handed to you 2-1. Let’s hear the black stars roooooooooooooooooooar like the lions!@!!!!
And yes GP, we’ll be celebrating when Brazil gets sent home with their tail between their legs

how much did they pay the referee?

obviously biased

“…The three referees just allowed Brazil to get away with their offsides…”

If you were to really analyze the game, Ghana was playing really bad offside traps. 1 of 3 goals was questionable (at best, since it was really inches) but the other 2 were quite clear cut.

So let’s see, would you expect Brazil to sit down and not attack to be fair to Ghana? It’s called taking advantage of your opponent’s weakness — just like Ghana managed to find holes in Brazilian defense in hopes of scoring.

Like it or not, Ghana slim chances defeating Brazil and the win was well deserved. If you are trying to start debates, I urge you to look at some previous games that generated avalanches of debates.

Joane, do you understand something about soccer?

Running fast in the field and getting close of the opponents box with the ball shooting badly is not being the best in the game.

Did you see the last 15 minutes of the game how many chances Brazil had against an already playing badly Ghana?

The referees only did 2 bad calls on off-sides, one in favor( Adriano goal) and one against Brazil( This one Ronaldo would cleary do a goal).

Ghana maybe disarved to score some, but Brazil disarved very well to win.

Whoah, Joanne, lay off the Midwest there. Sounds like you have some ethnic prejudices of your own.

Ya joann – redneck from the midwest that’s me –
Columbia phd – in what? Are you paying off your student loan?

GHA is no match to BRA.

It’s that simple.

well well, a phd from colomdia, is that what happened with the US team, they all got a phd from columbia? you may carry your smarts on your sleave, but you dont know jack shit about soccer!

“…Are you one of those rednecks from the Midwest? I am not surprised by your comment…. Just another racist redneck…”

Apparently that PhD wasn’t in Ethics or Sociology now was it?

Brazil is overrated and they will be found out next game, they will be going home to their mommies, crying like little girls. Brazil will be exposed as the fraud they are. They had luck on their side today and anyone who says that they played a better game is obviously bias and does not know good football. All you Brazil fans out there, make sure you save your money to buy tyhem flowers and tissue, they are going to need you!

Joanne,

Put it this way: If both teams played the best game of their lives, then the score could be 10 – 1 in favor of BRA

Your comments do not deserve a response. Of course, it is expected that you will personally attack me. You still got your ass handed to you 2-1, and that’s it! In any case, don’t worry about student loans, they are all paid off… I would suggest Dan, that you stick to soccer!
And no, i do not have anything against rednecks. I just do not have any patience with stupid, ignorant people who make it personal. Stick to the game or is it just beyond your mental capacities Dan?

what freudian psycho-babble crap, your just makin’ yoursself look silly,joanne.

Second goal was clearly offside. This world cup has been marred by consistent officiating calls going against smaller teams/tv markets. Now that all the big name teams are left in the tournament maybe we’ll get more evenhanded officiating.

“Apparently that PhD wasn’t in Ethics or Sociology now was it?”

Or geography, seeing how rednecks are associated with the South rather than the Midwest. And yes, this does rather smack of other prejudices.

But Joanne still has a point: Brazil is overrated. To call Brazil’s performance flawed would be generous. Brazil is still a great team and deserved to win but they could be headed for a fall.

Dietmar,
as i have said, get ready for Brazil to go home after their next game….. You do need to seek help from a shrink…. “psycho babble crap”? Blah blah blah blah… Keep going. You are like little kids, you get off by personnally attacking people…

Obviously there are folks on here who do not understand football at all, Joanne. Too bad for you I cannot allot more time to this forum. You might learn something. Assuming, of course, that you are teachable. You sound more like one of those whiny liberals.

Dan and PF obviously tossing each other’s sauerkraut salad somewhere in redneck country…racist knobs, you are!

someone define redneck!

TO win over this BRA team, GHA might need Linsbaski (best defender of GER in WC 86) AND Cafu (of BRA)

Surprise, surprise!!!! You get beat 2-1 and what’s next???? You’re all bitter…. That’s ugly. Keep the personal attacks coming, i don’t expect anything else from people who do not understand football. Go back to drinking, something you actually are good at!!!!

Mhanayaji also uses the “redneck” slur–and to call someone else racist! Get a clue, people.

You know you are a redneck when……
Google Dan and Co to find the answer

Joanne,

After that redneck crack, you have no grounds to complain about people “getting personal.”

Also, it’s silly to keep on talking about how sore Americans are from losing to Ghana, and how much Brazil is going to cry after losing, while you’re in the middle of acting like such a sore, weepy loser yourself.

The irony _is_ delicious, though.

And Idler shoots…and scores a mighty three….some! Whotaloser!

I tend to stay out of these silly arguements and just enjoy the blog for the soccer aspect, but this is just too much for me. Joanne, stop trying to be all noble and accusing others of getting personal. You are the one who started the personal atacks to begin with. And bragging about having a PhD doesn’t mean a thing when talking about soccer.
Brazil won, they played better and deserved what they got. On to the next match.

“…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redneck…” to those who don’t know.

It would be most appreciated to bring football knowledge to the table now personal insults (yes Joanne and Mhanayaji). So any good arguments are welcome while low-life personal attacks do not belong here.

Silence is golden, so unless you have something intelligent to say, don’t try to be an internet bully – it doesn’t really make you into a hero.

Btw. The point of Brazil being overrated was noted, but I can’t rebut it since it really is a personal perception, not a fact.

for the record, redneck originates from scottish-irish immigrants, very closely related to crackers-and heres the kicker,joanne, crackers are braggards. open-mouth-insert-foot. since your THE ghana fan you may need some help with that!

Let’s talk when you can raise your IQ…. Therefore, i will no longer respond to your childish comments

Thank you, footiefan. :)

Ghana played magnificently and lost graciously. Brazil may have advanced to the quarterfinals, but both are winners in my opinion.

Please stop the ad-hominem attacks. It just reflects badly on your character.

So, Mhanayaji, your point is that it’s perfectly fine to make fun of someone’s ethnicity and race while calling them a racist?

“Let’s talk when you can raise your IQ…. Therefore, i will no longer respond to your childish comments”

As I said before, you are full of hypocricies.
Another one of note: You constantly say “you lost 2-1″ yet you claim to be an American citizen yourself…Interesting.
I guess in the States guess they give a PhD to anyone these days. I sorely hope your PhD thesis had a stronger argument than the one you have put forth today.
That said, lets keep it to soccer EH?!
Spain vs France! oooh!

Some people love to troll, and unfortunately people don’t always get when to stop feeding them. One doesn’t always NEED to respond to the kids on this blog who pretend to have PhDs, we can let them keep making insulting comments to no one.

Well Done Brazil.You scored.Ghana had many chances but just could not score. I enjoyed watching the match. There were good moves by both teams throughout. The refereeing got better in the second half. Did it have to take the Ghanain coach to blow his top to get some fairness, that he was confined in the basement?Ghana will be one of the teams to watch in 2010.

Well I am glad to see that the ridiculous post game is not restricted solely to the Italian blog.

I can’t wait to see the replay of this thing when I get home tonight.

Go Brazil, hopefully we can have a rematch of that loss with the PK’s.

But of course that is a long long long ways off yet.

I have a feeling “Joanne” is really Juanita and was born in Argentina…

Hey, Brazil won, ok? Ghanna played well, but did not win. End of story.

Dissapointingly I doubt there are direct translations of the word “Nerd” used in different language. I’ve never heard a dutch version anyway.

Brazil game the line’s man was sleeping………

He really killed Ghana spirit.

I am sorry I dont know when this cheating will stop.

CAF and FIFA needs to do something about this cheating…they need to bring instant replay in the game.

Ghanians I am proud of you guys and I think you guys were better than the Brazilians today

Ghana certainly played better than Brazil. But i think the younger Nation in the world cup got robbed in this game. I would like to see ghana advance to the quater finals in 2010.

Well, I see still bitterness in some comments here. Brazil won the game and that’s that, but Ghana certainly gave them a run for their money. As the Brazilian and their coach admits they deserved at leat a goal in the first half. The point that most people miss is that African football though it lacks the xperience of the big stages is in many ways similar to the Brazilia and vice a versa, as both sets of players have learned the game in similar circumstances, that why Brazilians have hard time playing African teams, be it in youth level and senior level. Brazil is undoubtedly the masters of the world and they will show their game against a European team, but when playing African teams it’s been like that always because of the difficulty to maneuvre players that predict most of your moves. These facts are to be seen whenever they meet an Africn team, as a Brazilian coach once told me. Today’s game was the most critical game for Brazil and from now on we will see the true Brazilian game, even though France is a dificult opponent unlike many might think.
Expect Brazil vs Germany Final..

For the record, I had moved to germany in 1970 and lived there for 6 years – Iearned German, learned and followed football – saw the world cups of 1970 and 74, the 70 world cup is where I became a fan of Brazil – esp. Pele, Jarzinho, Gerson, Felix etc., went to school with several African friends – one from Ghana – Stanley Lartey to be specific – he and I were best friends until he left germany in 1974. We played football together everyday – even messed around on the reperbahn a few times. Racist is the last thing I am -
Ghana played well, but as I had stated earlier, maybe the plan was for Brazil to let them run around and to play a little smarter, finish the chances they would get due to Ghana’s own errors – to play the game like a marathon and not a sprint. Everyone at this level has skill, but as one looks at the last 8, it is abovious that expereince has a lot to do with getting through – save for Ukraine – but they had more stars than the Swiss and it showed in the penalty kicks. Brazil did not play with the ‘life’ it showed against Japan, but it played smart. For sure Ghana should have scored at least once, but it did not – Brazil for certain should have had at least 3 more. Brazil will need to play with a little more possession and quickness against France – but France is a question mark too.
p.s. I don’t think I attacked you personally joanne d – I was confused as to why you had so much hatered towards Brazil and why, if you were an american, you were so passionate about Ghana? For the record, I am not a fan of the US team – and it does not bother me that they lost. My two teams are Brazil and HSV…

I haven’t seen brazil really pull out a lot of effort in this world cup. Brazil is no more the Brazil that the world saw in the last 3 world cups. The players are playing selfish. If they keep on like this they will not win this worldcup.

Dan and Joanne D

Please let us not take things personally.

I’d love for Ghana to win. They played so beautifully.

But that is football. Not the Beautifull playing Team ends up winning.

Dan, I studied in West Germay too. I can speak very fluent German. Did you remember the cheating game played by Germany Austria against Algeria in 1982 World Cup?

Soon after the Ghana-USA game, I read a lot of angry and NASTY-RACIST comments on World Cup Blog against ALL Ghanaians!!

Now I am reading nasty things against all Brazillians. Africans should see Brazilians as brothers and sister. Even the white Brazillians have some African blood in them whether thery want to admit it or not!
Their food, Music, Dancing is African.

The REAL CRIMINALS in this World Cup Games are the officiating Refrees. After that 2nd DUBIOUS goal against Ghana by a BIASED Refree, there was no way Ghana was going to RECOVER against Brazil. It was a lost cause. The Ghana coach went to protest and said “RACIST/Nazist, it will be better for us if you were wearing the YELLOW Jersey of Brazil”
He was given the RED CARD.
Soon after the Games, the Refree-Linesman went there asking Ronaldo for his Jersey as a sourvenir( or trophy) for remembrance!! That certainly raises eyebrows

The next world Cup should probably have 2-3 Refrees on the Field. 1 Black, 1 White and probably 1 Chineese. That is the only way to stop BIASEED Refrees from officiating the matches

Hey Ricky – thanks for the nice dialoge – I guess my off color humor did not resonate with Joanne – I just found it odd that an american had such a) hatered for Brazil and b) love for Ghana – americans as whole – are pretty neutral if not down right negatively anti world cup and/or soccer. She was going off against Brazil.
Unfortunatley, once I got back to the states in the late 70’s, it was very hard to follow soccer. I remember the heart break Brazil had in 82, but I don’t know the specifics of that cup. The games were on in the states but it was on spanish tv. Same with 78, 86 and 90. Although things got better in the 90 cup and on with espn and all.
I am not sure about Adrianos goal but it looked like it went off the the foot of the defender first? this would elimenate offsides – to me he looked even when the ball was kicked. Plus, first offside on Ronaldo was not offside and the non-penalty on Adriano in the box should have been a penalty. The goalie left his leg out and the ball had passed – plus Adriano’s foot got caught. Ghana got a penalty on much less than that in the US game as did Italy vs. Australia
I agree that officiating is very problematic. I will raise another point though, since the cup expanded to 32 teams, no second level teams (17 to 32) have done much beyond the first stage of knock-out. The adding of teams to 32 has made more money for fifa, enlarged the cup and added more teams from other regions – all of which is up lifting to these countries, but all it seems to do really at tournament time, is force the big teams to play a few more matches in a survivalist approach. These big teams use these games to warm up. Does this make sense? It seems that if you are one of the big 8 or 12 teams, you have to pace yourself through opening rounds, hope to not have injury, use the least amount of energy, because you have to survive more than anything. This is very different than 1970 or 1974 – play 6 to win the whole thing. The extra game is huge – so much can happen – now its 3 knock games instead of 2, to get to the final. Plus those players in the 70’s played together in league play more than these players do. Germamy in the 70’s only allowed 2 non german players on its Bundesliga teams. So it takes a few games to come together within the pressure of the tournament.
There is no way Ghana, the US, Togo, Trinidad or Costa Rica and some others even belong at this level. They have nice players, but Ghana got through because the czechs got hurt and were old and then the US game they rolled around like the Italian teams of the 70’s used to do to kill time.
Brazil knew that Ghana were going to be running today and try to out pace them. But when you do that you run the risk of making mistakes. For sure they got pressure on the defense, and should have had a goal or 2, but it did not happen. The mistakes were turned into goals and Brazil survived – which was the plan all along.
Brazil need to play different to advance on – I think they will – they have so much in reserve. I really liked the way they played in the confederation cup last yaer – they took apart the Argentines and the Germans.
By the way, I read that South Africa has not even built more than 2 stadiums and the infrastructure to move people around is lacking. There is a possibilty that the cup might be moved – and the US is one of the options. Hope this makes sense do you – cheers!