Nathan Bransford - The Forums

I think the FIFA declared officially that they would not be banned. They can be a bit irritating, but I thought it rather cool once I'd learned what the sound was. It puts a local colour to this World Cup. :)

Claudie wrote:I think the FIFA declared officially that they would not be banned. They can be a bit irritating, but I thought it rather cool once I'd learned what the sound was. It puts a local colour to this World Cup. :)

My issue with them really is that it's interfering with the players. Alonso said at the Confederations Cup they made it difficult to communicate. Messi, Ronaldo, and others have all said it has made it difficult for them to communicate and concentrate. People have been using them out on the streets incessantly, which is interfering with players' ability to get adequate rest. Hell, even Pienaar, a native of South Africa, said they couldn't hear each other on the pitch because of the volume of the vuvuzelas during their friendly with Colombia. It's great bringing in local flavour and all, but if it's interfering with matches, I would at least put some kind of limitations in place. But it's whatever FIFA decide to do I guess.

New Zealand v Slovakia going good so far. Still no goals, but both sides playing well.

I do agree it's a shame for the players. I didn't mind so much about communication on the field (they all seem to be doing well enough at the moment), but I hadn't considered rest. That's not good.

Also, it was still only rumours yesterday, but they said on the news they were about to sell muted vuvuzelas. That'd help with communication on the field, but I doubt it'd allow them to sleep.

Spain upset! Bit of a shocker, though I must say I always thought there was a chance. The Swiss are always disciplined and good tactically. Good at keeping clean sheets. Admittedly, I was thinking a nil-nil draw more likely, but all you need is one quick counter-attack. And, in this case, and ugly and scrambly goal. :) A little pressure on Spain now for their upcoming matches against Honduras and Chile. And you can't take Chile lightly, for certain.

You may have already seen it, but here's a pretty hilarious Lego re-creation of the England/USA highlights:

HA!

Is there anything Lego does not improve?

I'm just sad that they didn't re-create his apologetic wave.

Argentina crushed South Korea 4-1 this morning. And now the Greeks! 2-1 over Nigeria, with four minutes injury time to go. If Greece button down hard, this could be one of the finest days in the history of Greek football.

It became an especially great day for Greece after Kaito forgot this was the World Cup of Soccer and not the World Cup of Tae Kwon Do.

I don't speak Spanish, but I've found the English-speaking announcers so dull that I've switched stations. Maybe I'll pick up some useful Spanish as a result, who knows?

I have to say, I prefer the Brazilian fans with their drums and constant dancing to the vuvuzelas. And of course there's a vuvuzela app for your iPhone! The only problem is the volume really doesn't go high enough to thoroughly annoy the people around you. You tend to get more of a pitying look and a sarcastic, "really?"

Au revoir?

That lego video is awesome, Nathan. I'm so sad I missed that match but Youtube is always ready to fill in when such an epic fail happens.

Rather happy about Argentina's result too. I know their chances are not that good, but I'd be happy if their team won.

Should have been three points. That was some horrendous refereeing, and a gutty effort by the Americans. Still in it!!!!!

Yeah, I didn't see any penalty on that last goal, except a bunch of Americans being held. I thought the referee wasn't bad except whenever the Americans had a free kick or corner and there was a bit of a scrum in the box. It seemed like he just automatically blew his whistle in those situations. Weird. Fun game, though! And following that strange German game! Oh for that missed penalty shot!

Bodes well for England v. Algeria this afternoon. :)

Bryan Russell/Ink wrote:Yeah, I didn't see any penalty on that last goal, except a bunch of Americans being held. I thought the referee wasn't bad except whenever the Americans had a free kick or corner and there was a bit of a scrum in the box. It seemed like he just automatically blew his whistle in those situations. Weird. Fun game, though! And following that strange German game! Oh for that missed penalty shot!

Bodes well for England v. Algeria this afternoon. :)

He really did just start whistling everything on free kicks, so much that the Slovenians felt confident that they could simply wrestle Dempsey to the ground every time and not have to fear a penalty. Really really frustrating. We never get the calls and so it's something I've grown to expect, but that was just ridiculous.