<p>They are not always sprinting. Sprinting when an opportunity arises? Yup. Most other times they are standing around scratching themselves or running in circles. And they always get a blow when one of the pansies gets kicked in the leg and they go down like they’ve been shot and the stretcher and fifteen trainers (funniest.thing.ever.) come out. Gimme a break. One difference between soccer and baseball is that it takes real TALENT to hit a very, very small hard object moving right at you, and rarely in a straight line, at 90+MPH. Not only hit the small object, but hit it successfully where the defense is not.</p>
<p>Right, that’s why the scoring in baseball is so much lower than in soccer?</p>
<p>No way to run the clock out in baseball chief. Only so many bases where you can wuss out and keep walking batters you don’t want to pitch to. Its mano a mano (the whole game long, not just when the players give up!)</p>
<p>What is most dissatisfying is how they have to end the games with penalty kicks. Just doesn’t make sense! Its like settling the (tied in the bottom of the 9th or some arbitrary number of innings) 7th game of the World Series by having a home run contest where the batter tosses the ball up in the air to himself and tries to hit a home run, and most home runs wins. No self respecting American would go for this, but its basically the equivalent of the way soccer attempts to resolve a tie. The goalies are pretty much USELESS (like a fence) in stopping penalty kicks, its always the player who stops him/her self in soccer. Same deal.</p>
<p>I agree that too many World Cup games were decided or at least heavily influenced by official’s calls, blatant flops and PKs. I thought that Italy’s flop against Australia with no time left - leading to a game winning PK on a non-foul - was particularly egregious. How’s this for a proposal:
- All penalties in the box reviewed by an “instant replay” official like in the NFL.
- A timed suspension like in hockey for yellow and red cards - including cards to be awarded for phony flops, with more time for red cards but not a complete ejection except for extreme conduct.
- After the 30 minutes of overtime allow unlimited substitution and go for as many additional 15 minute periods as necessary. NO SHOOT-OUTS!</p>
<p>It’s funny, how different the perceptions are…where I come from, American “football” is thought of as a bastardized version of rugby played by “pansies” in full protective gear. They run up and down the field, holding the ball in their hands and falling over each other every 10 seconds. Not very PC, I know, but that is the general thought. Real men play real football, constantly moving, thinking on your feet, no pads, no helmets. And PK’s…love them or hate them, they are part of the game, if you grow up watching the games, like most of the kids I grew up with, you know that. No team is happy when the game is decided by PK’s, but these are the rules, better not to bring the game to this stage.</p>
<p>yes!!! italy won. now i dont have to shave my head.</p>
<p>kluge, i had to log on to compliment you on those excellent solutions that suddenly seem so simple. I guess a lawyerly mind can be useful on occasion,…(dont head-butt me)</p>
<p>
ahh to be young again … PKs are a relatively recent addition to the game (last 20 years or so at the World Cup level) … and if I had to guess driven by TV and the need for the game to finish somewhat close to the planned time slot (that is a guess on my part based on NO information).</p>
<p>The game left a bad taste and I have heartburn from the pizza but Zidane is still the best.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.lemonde.fr/[/url]”>http://www.lemonde.fr/</a></p>
<p>I agree with 3togo. PKs are a recent innovation. And 3togo may be right about the reasons for that innovation.
I don’t like PKs–does anybody? --but they’re useful for bringing games to a close.</p>
<p>Watching the game on an outdoor screen in Lausanne, a city with high populations of both French and Italian descent, was something special. :)</p>
<p>I disagree that soccer players are not very athletic - actually I think it is quite the opposite. However, for soccer to be appealing to me, there needs to be more scoring. With more scoring there would be fewer ties and when there is a tie, it could be settled by a sudden death overtime to eliminate the penalty kick method of ending the game.</p>
<p>To create more scoring the simplest thing would be to make the goal larger. However, I think there are other things that could be done to give the advantage to the offense. Perhaps a rule that mandates that at least one defensive person (besides the goalie) must always remain on the defensive half of the field - thus always giving the offense a one person advantage.</p>
<p>I am glad Italy won but they were certainly outplayed in the second half by France, which clearly had superior athletes. Do not like penalty kicks either, but, again, as hard as it is to score, it may be the only way to end a game without carrying everybody off on stretchers!</p>
<p>It is rather amusing, reading some of the posts above, how we Americans feel the urge to make the game “better” (for our enjoyment no doubt) by suggesting all kinds of rule changes that would make soccer more like traditionally American sports. – another case of “Every problem does not require an American solution.”!</p>
<p>fundingfather,</p>
<p>That is just what I mean! Why must we impose our mentality on others who, if not perfectly happy with the game as it is, at least appreciate it for all the skill, effort and (yes!) TIME it takes to score – making the score all that more important and REWARDING. </p>
<p>Even in this country we have had a sport similar in that respect – hockey! Do you hear a lot of grumbling about how it should be changed to up the scoring?!</p>
<p>Zidane polled 2012 points in the vote by journalists covering the tournament, beating Italians Fabio Cannavaro (1977 points) and Andrea Pirlo (715 points) in the ballot.</p>
<p>No matter what the solution someone is bound to complain but the game has to end -even Oscar speeches are time limited… </p>
<p>More on Zidane winning the golden ball - best player award:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-SOC-WCup-Golden-Ball-Zidane.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-SOC-WCup-Golden-Ball-Zidane.html</a></p>
<p>Kudos to Spain and Brazil for fair play.</p>
<p>If they don’t want to capture the American market they can do whatever they want. I’m perfectly content watching (American) football and don’t really need to have soccer as part of my life. However, if they do want to capture the American market, then perhaps they need to change the “product”. That’s simple marketing 101. </p>
<p>Besides, there seems to be a consensus that penalty kicks to end the game are bad for the game. Changing the rules to increase scoring, thus allowing for sudden death overtime should appeal to all.</p>
<p>PS - just saw your post regarding hockey. My answer is YES. Hockey suffers many of the same problems as soccer IMO.</p>
<p>Eng_dude…Obviously your mind is made up about the rigor of athleticism when it comes to soccer and nobody is gonna change your perspective. Anyway, I just have to say I can’t imagine someone thinking that soccer doesn’t involve athleticism, fitness, and skill. My daughter has been a soccer player for 15 years, and while this is not the only sport she competes in, I know this sport involves being in shape and great stamina given all the constant running. But it is not like cross country running because besides the running and sprinting involved, there is the ball handling and skill with making plays both offensively and defensively and the whole team aspect of it, rather than just the skill of one person. My daughter happens to play goalie (now in college, but did in HS Varsity as well…went to state semi finals) and I get tired just watching what these players do. Baseball requires great skill as well. It doesn’t involve the constant running around. My D was a softball player for 9 years and the skills are different. Softball required less physical conditioning but involved great skill at batting, throwing, catching and strategy. She played catcher (relates to goalie in soccer!). I just can’t imagine anyone watching soccer to think it is a wussy sport and doesn’t involve a great deal of athleticism, skill, and teamwork. I don’t think it does MORE than other sports but surely as much as other sports do. I know in HS, if one couldn’t pass through various fitness tests, including running, they didn’t make the team.</p>
<p>All that said, I didn’t watch the World Cup but would find it a let down to have a big game decided on a penalty kick. My D watched it in France in a very small town where she said the entire town came to watch it together.</p>
<p>I don’t think most spectators are truly happy with a PK victory especially for the world cup. Just the same, in Europe, as in other parts of the world with soccer fanatics, many find the notion of “sudden death”, dubbed the golden rule, to be an even crueler finish if not without its “golden moments”. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.fifa.com/en/news/feature/0,1451,74460,00.html?articleid=74460[/url]”>http://www.fifa.com/en/news/feature/0,1451,74460,00.html?articleid=74460</a></p>