Too little, too late.
Posted on 06/14/2014 12:15:55 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Host Brazil kicked off the 2014 World Cup on Thursday with a 3-1 win over Croatia. Three more matches took place today (with four slated for Saturday, including Costa Rica vs. Uruguay at 1 p.m.). Here are the best shots from all of Friday’s games.
See the full schedule for the group stage of the World Cup here.
Group A: Mexico vs. Cameroon
After having their first two goals disallowed, Mexico finally got one that counted in the second half against Cameroon. El Tri then held on for the 1-0 victory.
Group B: Spain vs. Netherlands
The Netherlands got their revenge on Spain in this rematch of the 2010 World Cup final. While Spain struck first on a penalty, the Dutch responded with five unanswered goals to take the 5-1 victory. Netherlands’ first goal, an astounding diving header by Robin Van Persie, might be the best goal anyone will see all tournament.
Group B: Chile vs. Australia
Chile came out with two quick goals in the first half, but then the Chileans found themselves having to hang on against the lowest ranked team in the World Cup. Australia got one goal back, and missed a few chances to equalize before Chile broke through again late to finish off the Socceroos, 3-1.
The National Felons League and Steroids?? To each their own.
Where is Cahill criticizing reknown cheater and teammate Thierry Henry? Oh, he isn’t.
You could just see Casillas thinking, “Oh, Mierda!”
Too little, too late.
I thought it was now the National Fag League.
Are you referring to the handball against Ireland?
There will be several better goals than Van Persie’s. It was pretty to look at, but not all that difficult.
Robben’s shot on goal on a volley required much more skill. Goalkeeper was just lucky to have been in the right position to stop it.
Group D, England, Italy, Uruguay
Group B, Spain, Netherlands
Group G, USA's
Group E
Group C
Group F
Group A
Group H
Australia must have taken a big tumble in the rankings since the article was written, Australia fired their manager a few months ago after having 2 straight big losses to Brazil and France.
Australia played relatively well last night, I cheered them on. It's too bad that other than Cahill, they did not seem to have any real threats on goal but they definitely got into an area where they could attack, they just could not finish. That player Bresciano was good as well.
You've got to be kidding, it was the longest header since 1970 in the World Cup. If it's not that difficult, it shouldn't be about 44 years since one as long was headed in. And I was looking at how many yards out of the net it was?? About 15,20 yards. It was a masterpiece. Head a ball like that off of a pass into the net. The run and everything has to be right on target. In some ways, I wonder if the goalkeeper Casillas could have dropped back a little to block it but Casillas must have thought Van Persie would let it drop to his feet and make a play in that fashion.
“The Dutch striker, who plays for Manchester United, found the net from 17 yards away, the longest header at a World Cup since 1970, according to an ESPN tweet.”
Off a pinpoint 40 yard pass.
That’s a shame. I didn’t realize that some Americans see soccer as some foreign, ‘un-American’ sport that should be avoided. To the rest of the world it does not belong to any specific nationality, but to everyone.
The language thing puzzles me. The game was invented in England. You can’t get much more ‘English’ than that, surely?
Each to their own though.
Best goal in a World Cup since Bergkamp vs Argentina in 98.
I’m not kidding. It was not a difficult header. He made a very smart play. The pass to him actually required more skill.
He was wide open. There wasn’t anyone within 5-10 yards of of Van Persie. The defense by the fullback was atrocious.
The penalty area is 18 yards deep, so it 14-15 yards when contacted. Casillas was horrible yesterday, but that goal was not his fault. He made the right play in that situation.
The Spanish defense was horrible yesterday, and The Netherlands has much more speed.
Not even close to the best goal since ‘98.
It won’t even be in the top 5 of this World Cup.
The pass was quite a bit better than the actual header.
Just in my opinion, if a better goal comes along, it would have to be a bicycle kick, catching a volley in the air and batting it in a la Zidane or maybe a goal at an angle that curves into the goal. So it’s one of the best.
At about 4:00 in, Forlan strikes the ball off a volley, that’s good, the next goal is one at an angle. Good too.
Top 10 goals at World Cup 2010: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIXlPp_t21k
It sounds like one is saying Van Persie got lucky, well, one can call those “free kick” goals “lucky” as well.
But if one hits a header off of a 40 yard pass, that ball can go in any direction, all cattywompus, the ball needs to have the right touch just like a volley from a pass.
The goal that was set up by the Dutch judged as the best goal had a lot of passes leading up to it.
Just like De Boer’s pass to Bergkamp was a major part of what made that goal against Argentina so great.
So you think you could take a 40 yard pass and head it into a goal without much problem. It has to have the right touch, the pass has velocity on it. Heading a 40 yard pass can see the ball go in any direction.
It’s been 44 years since a header that far away has been scored. That speaks for itself.
One of the videos has David Villa dribble through defenders and that’s why Messi has been so amazing at times, dribble through and shoot on goal. Those are great goals. Hard to compare. Van Persie scored at least the first great goal of this World Cup.
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