International Football (non-USMNT)

SoxFanInCali

has the rich, deep voice of a god
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jun 3, 2005
15,601
California. Duh.
England just came back from 2-0 down against the Dutch, with Ashley Young scoring the equalizer in the 91st minute...only to let Robben win it in the 92nd.

Gerrard and Sturridge both went off with injuries. Queue up the Liverpool and Chelsea rants about there being too many in-season friendlies.
 

Infield Infidel

teaching korea american
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
11,463
Meeting Place, Canada
So who said New Zealand had a permanent ticket to the Fed cup?


New Caledonia, ranked just 155th in the world, defeated defending champion New Zealand 2-0 Friday to reach the final of the Oceania Nations Cup.

Bertrand Kai scored in the 60th minute and Georges Gope-Fenepej in the second minute of stoppage time to beat the 100th-ranked All Whites, who had won two of the previous three titles.

New Caledonia will meet Tahiti, which is tied for 179th in the rankings, in Sunday's final.
http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/story/_/id/8026981/new-caledonia-upsets-new-zealand-oceania-nations-cup

So either New Caledonia or Tahiti will be 2013 Federations Cup in Brazil.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 15, 2002
14,456
Cape Verde qualifies for the African Nations Cup for the first time. Earned it too by knocking out Cameroon
Glancing through their roster, I am surprised at how many of their players were born in Cape Verde. I expected a large percentage of the squad to be Portuguese of Cape Verdean descent. (Algeria-style).
 

tulse_luper

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 7, 2008
345
England
The Poland vs England game has been delayed/maybe postponed due to a waterlogged pitch in a stadium with a roof on it. Watching Roy Keane make small talk to fill dead air on ITV is more fun than most England games tho, so swings and roundabouts.
 

PedroSpecialK

Comes at you like a tornado of hair and the NHL sa
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2004
27,168
Cambridge, MA
Iran beats South Korea 1-0 in Tehran. After they went down to 10 men on a Masoud Shojaei red card, Javad Nekounam scored in the 75th minute.

Eat it goyang.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
SoSH Member
Sep 9, 2008
42,837
AZ
Pretty interesting ending in Madrid today too. I wonder how many goals could be avoided each year if defenders just kept playing instead of slowing down to raise their hands to falsely claim offsides.
 

bosox4283

Well-Known Member
Gold Supporter
SoSH Member
Mar 2, 2004
4,693
Philadelphia
It was a mistake on behalf of Juanfran, no doubt, to lose the ball near midfield that led to the counter-attack. At the same time, it was two Madrid players--Ramos and Casillas--that once again failed to stop a goal in the air.

Either way, Spain should have won the match, not for this mistake, but instead because Cesc missed a penalty kick. By the same token, it should have been tied because the ref took a goal away from France.

If you are a Spanish fan, avoid reading the press. It is like the world is ending.
 

ossie schreckengost

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 30, 2002
2,481
Sweden came back to tie Germany 4-4 after being down four goals for most of the match.

Absolutely incredible game.

yes. we were great, and we were shit. in an incredibly great and an incredibly shit way of playing the game of football. one of the most fun and sexy games i´ve ever seen in my shit live.

with 30 minutes to go i did ask myself: who, in this world, could, in his obscene größenwahn, try to beat trhis team, my team, my germany?!

30 minutes later i was shaking and shivering and praying for the ref not to play a single minute more, because then we would have lost 4-5.

football, bloody hell...
 

SoxFanInCali

has the rich, deep voice of a god
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jun 3, 2005
15,601
California. Duh.
Gerrard got his 100th cap for England, and led 2-1 when he went off in the 75th minute before ZLATAN went crazy.
 

mgoblue2

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 6, 2010
652
Nice clearance by Joe Hart to set up the fourth. I never understood these midweek friendlies. Just take two weeks off like a normal break.
 

teddykgb

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
11,068
Chelmsford, MA
Jesus. What a miss. At least he can console himself by putting in a transfer request any time he wants and making himself like 50 billion dollars

edit: There's not even anything to be said about that Ibra goal. What a ridiculously awesome bit of football.
 

Billy R Ford

douchebag q momfingerer
SoSH Member
Feb 10, 2010
876
Northeastern
Brazil has fired Mano Menezes as head coach.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1237835/brazil-fires-coach-mano-menezes?cc=5901

They've had good results recently (against some mediocre competition), so the timing is a bit of a surprise, but I've never gotten the impression he was a particularly good coach.

Jack Lang of Snap, Kaka, Pop! is saying on Twitter that he would have kept him on, thinks politics played a role, as Menezes isn't favored by Brazil's federation's president.

I did read an article from the WorldCupBlog site that was heavily critical of Menezes, and I've generally found the Brazil section there insightful. A bit dated but outlines the general criticism of Menezes: http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/at-last-mano-recalls-giuliano.html
 

ypioca

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 18, 2007
8,623
Florianópolis, Brazil
CBF is bringing back 2002 Cup Champion manager and all-around gaúcho bad-ass Luiz Felipe "Felipão" Scolari. He's the guy we've always wanted since he quit in '02. Parreira was stuck in old ways (and hopefully Felipão won't make the same mistake), Dunga really didn't know what he was doing tactically, and Mano just started from scratch and never quite got going. Weird timing, and definitely politically motivated. The CBF is a crooked fucking organization.
 

Billy R Ford

douchebag q momfingerer
SoSH Member
Feb 10, 2010
876
Northeastern
Dunga really didn't know what he was doing tactically
Dunga was excellent tactically- I know a lot of posters here read Zonal Marking, and he was a huge fan of Dunga's.

Jonathan Wilson article http://www.guardian....-brazil-4-2-3-1

ZM:http://www.zonalmark...close-quarters/

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/01/20/teams-of-the-decade-15-brazil-2009/

Which is why Dunga's Brazil won the Copa America, the Confederation's Cup, and South American World Cup qualifying.


Scolari is the uncontroversial pick- it's hard to argue against a coach who has won the World Cup. He also had good success with Portugal, but struggled recently w/ Palmeiras, so we'll see if he's the right choice for Brazil now.

[edit: wrong link for the third one]
 

ypioca

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 18, 2007
8,623
Florianópolis, Brazil
Fair enough on Dunga - the truth is Brazil's style has infuriated me for a good while, regardless of the coach. And in Brazil, anything other than a WC win is a complete failure. Mano was probably the best coach since Scolari, and wasn't even much different than him.

Palmeiras had a really weird season. They won the Copa do Brasil, and subsequently got into next year's Libertadores. Though, by putting all their eggs in the Copa basket, they got into the relegation zone in the league. Felipão left, and now they are relegated.

His definite high points are Brazil and Portugal, which gives me hope he can achieve success again managing a national team. Clubs are obviously a different animal, since you have to work with the players you get. Now, he gets to choose the players to suit his style - and with the talent level available, and home field advantage, expectations are at an all-time high. So, it's good to have a coach who's been there before - the pressure shouldn't be so overwhelming for him.
 

cjdmadcow

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
1,478
St Albans, UK
Hidden amongst the plethora of World Cup qualifying fixtures planned for the next week is this little beauty scheduled for Friday evening...

Croatia v Serbia

First time they've played each other since 1999 and given the fact they still can't stand each other as nations, this has all the makings of a game for the ages. Until the next game is played back in Serbia which, given England's recent experiences over there, could be completely mental.

At least Serbia have a calm, thoughtful manager who's likely to keep things in perspective...Oh fuck...it's only Sinisa Mihajlovic, one of the craziest racists in recent Serie A history, and that's saying something. Just read his Wiki entry under the 'Controversy' section for full details.

And to help administer fair play and good order, FIFA have only gone and appointed the referee who sent Nani off v Real Madrid recently, the Turk Cuneyt Cakir.

I've got to find a way to watch this, this has all he makings of being something really...outrageous.
 

brienc

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 26, 2005
1,304
Shakedown Street
cjdmadcow said:
Hidden amongst the plethora of World Cup qualifying fixtures planned for the next week is this little beauty scheduled for Friday evening...

Croatia v Serbia

First time they've played each other since 1999 and given the fact they still can't stand each other as nations, this has all the makings of a game for the ages. Until the next game is played back in Serbia which, given England's recent experiences over there, could be completely mental.

At least Serbia have a calm, thoughtful manager who's likely to keep things in perspective...Oh fuck...it's only Sinisa Mihajlovic, one of the craziest racists in recent Serie A history, and that's saying something. Just read his Wiki entry under the 'Controversy' section for full details.

And to help administer fair play and good order, FIFA have only gone and appointed the referee who sent Nani off v Real Madrid recently, the Turk Cuneyt Cakir.

I've got to find a way to watch this, this has all he makings of being something really...outrageous.
It's on espn deportes and espn3 at 1pm Friday.
 

PedroSpecialK

Comes at you like a tornado of hair and the NHL sa
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2004
27,168
Cambridge, MA
Appointing a Turkish ref (particularly Cüneyt Çakır) to oversee this is positively Persian-joke-punchline-worthy.
 

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2006
8,241
Falmouth
I'll be rooting for Serbia for the first time in forever in anything. If they can take points from Croatia, the delightful Belgian squad will be in the driver's seat for a WC bid.
 

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2006
8,241
Falmouth
A really quality read about the Croatia/Serbia rivalry on the pitch. Heavy stuff.

http://www.wsc.co.uk/forum-index/27-football/777492-a-history-of-hate-cro-vs-srb-22-mar-2013
 

Vinho Tinto

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 9, 2003
7,067
Auburn, MA
While money talks, this is too bad. Umbro did a great job with the English kits. Nike's shirt can swing wildly for quality. I'd vote these shirts as OK, but it's strange to see the white shirt devoid of red.
 

Senator Donut

post-Domer
SoSH Member
Apr 21, 2010
5,526
Vinho Tinto said:
While money talks, this is too bad. Umbro did a great job with the English kits. Nike's shirt can swing wildly for quality. I'd vote these shirts as OK, but it's strange to see the white shirt devoid of red.
Umbro was a Nike brand until it was recently spun off, so this is not much of departure from England's previous shirts.