Disgraceful match last night. Holland should be ashamed of themselves for the tactics they employed I was actually going for Holland and u turned during the match asI knew it would be a farce if Holland won last night. The whole thing became a pantomime, the villainous Dutch v the Heroic Spanish. Spain made some bad challenges too but most were out of frustration, and none were as wild and dangerous as the Dutch.

Howard Webb was awful too, he should have sent off De Jong for that flying kick, Van Bommell should have been given a second yellow and sent off twice before the half time whistle even sounded, Heintenga was lucky to have been on the pitch as long as he was, Robben should have been second yellowed when he kicked the ball away as Webb booked a Spanish player for doing the exact same thing.

A lot of my friends U-turned during the match after seeing those orange thugs in action. In any case, I think Spain outplayed them last night. Particularly in the second half and ET.

Dreadful Final and a pretty piss poor world cup in general!

Oh well.

Disappointing final, and a let down of a World Cup. Not to say that I thought the entire Cup was horrible, because it certainly had it's great moments (see Donovan's goal vs. Algeria, the most important moment in US Soccer history), but all in all, not the best.

HOWEVER, I think the popularity and exposure of the Cup here in the states was unbelievable. I was at a callback with a bunch of theatre people yesterday during the final, and there were a few of them who were interested in what was happening. I started to hear more and more people talking about it when I would be out. So although the Cup as a whole wasn't the best, I think it did wonders for the sport here in the states, which I am pretty confident will translate into us winning the 2022 bid.

Oh MK if you see Thierry Henry on your Travels in America, can you give him a massive slap across his face for me?

TA very much!!

Although at least the French where embarrassed in the World Cup! haha... made me laugh.

Rooq wrote:Oh MK if you see Thierry Henry on your Travels in America, can you give him a massive slap across his face for me?

TA very much!!

Although at least the French where embarrassed in the World Cup! haha... made me laugh.

Well, Robbie Keane may well do that for you this week when Spurs play Red Bulls for his debut

Garibaldi wrote:

Rooq wrote:Oh MK if you see Thierry Henry on your Travels in America, can you give him a massive slap across his face for me?

TA very much!!

Although at least the French where embarrassed in the World Cup! haha... made me laugh.

Well, Robbie Keane may well do that for you this week when Spurs play Red Bulls for his debut

Damn right. That would be great to see.

Also, MLS has announced that they will not be accepting transfer offers for Donovan. I completely understand their vantage point. He is the MLS. Without them, they lose the face of the league. However, he needs to be let go. If he is to grow into the greatest American soccer player of all-time, he needs to be able to go back to England, preferably to Everton. So hopefully after this MLS season, they'll reconsider and let him go.

Since when does a football association butt into transfer negotiations between two or more clubs?

Shaun2J wrote:Since when does a football association butt into transfer negotiations between two or more clubs?

As far as I'm aware the MLS is in charge of the registration of all the players in the league so basically they are in charge of hiring and firing. I remember a big deal was made about Beckhams wages and how the MLS itself would be helping to pay for them.

IOV wrote:

Shaun2J wrote:Since when does a football association butt into transfer negotiations between two or more clubs?

As far as I'm aware the MLS is in charge of the registration of all the players in the league so basically they are in charge of hiring and firing. I remember a big deal was made about Beckhams wages and how the MLS itself would be helping to pay for them.

Yeah. Our "football association" isn't anywhere near a European one.

Wow. I let out a loud "WOW" when Russia won the bid, all by myself in my house. Certainly didn't see that coming, with Putin not even showing up yesterday for the bid presentation. I was certain England had it locked in the bag, but congratulations are in order.

Well fuck, that really fucking blows for the US. Huge blow to the progress of the sport here. Surprised FIFA chose back-to-back countries to host that are first-timers.

Very dissapointed England didn't get it. It would cost me nothing to come and go from here to London or Manchester.

I never understand FIFA's thinking on these things. Every time a country bids they point to how they will build world class, all seater stadia.....Englamnd already have those. The countries talk about the amazing public transport they are building to link the new stadiums together......while not amazing per se England already have it. Throw into the mix that racisim is not as relevant in England any more as compared to say Spain or the winners of the bid Russia and I have to wonder AGAIN how England are not hosting the World Cup

FIFA fucks.

FIFA must be satisfied with how much money they have right now, cause England and USA would have been huge money makers. Not surprising choices though, as FIFA looks to be trying to expand to new places.

Flies right in the face of Fifa's anti racsim camapgin, which really sends out the wrong message. Had England fans had that banner up that the Russians had when Peter Odemwingie moved from Lokomotive to West Brom, I recon they'd have been thrown out the vote. That & the fact that England got 2 votes, 1 of which came from England just goes to show how much politics came into it.

I guess an a pair of pampered Eton boys, one of whom will get to live a life of extreme luxury at our expense & a guy that can't string a sentence together didn't impress people. One thing I was thinking though, as much as I dislike him & his policies, Tony Blair would have been better out there than Cameron. The greasy, slippery little bastard would have probably garnered a few more votes.

I think our bid was arrogant, it will mean a lot more to Russia than us. Fifa like a challenge (and brown envelopes) and Russia is one. If Brazil are unable to host the world cup we'll be the one's they call. USA had it in '94, too soon.

As for legacy, what's changed in South Africa?

Major talk of switching the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to a winter World Cup............well done FIFA

The 1978 world cup took place in the winter.