WORLD CUP WATCH

aruna

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I haven't got the sources to hand right now but I read more than once that Argentine fans had several really really mocking songs about Brazil they planned to sing "when" thy won. I mean, really gloating. If this is true I am so glad they lost.
 

aruna

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So, em, Germany and Belgium in the final,

Germany to win.

My other choice is Germany V Argentina

.

.
).


So again, Final will be Germany v Argentina or Germany V Belgium.

Columbia or Chile might be the shock finalists against, yup...Germany.

You read it here first. lol

I myself was rootin' for Argentina, but yeah, Germany deserved the win.


:D


So, what happened? Why did you swap horses mid-race?
 

rugcat

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I haven't got the sources to hand right now but I read more than once that Argentine fans had several really really mocking songs about Brazil they planned to sing "when" thy won. I mean, really gloating. If this is true I am so glad they lost.
To be fair, soccer fans from any country have seldom been noted for their class and graciousness.

I don't think Messi was acting like a sore loser. He did not play particularly well in this, the most important game of his career, and he obviously knew it.

I think his long face and demeanor came from bitter disappointment in his own play, nothing more.
 

AllenC

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So I take if the love of your life breaks up with in your face, and one second later she/he says "But you will be my best friend ever" You will smile and jump for that prize (just to put it in a situation you could maybe understand).

So, how were the celebrations in Poland, Turkey, Africa, etc. ? I mean in the places where the players that won the worldcup come from?
:p

He's a professional. And these guys are not paid in peanuts.

There has to be an acknowledgement in every professional that in a contest there has to be winner and a loser and there's no shame in losing per se.

Olympic competitors train for up to four years and have their efforts over in minutes or seconds but can still accept defeat with grace and acknowledge both those who defeat them and who support.

I can understand the initial disappointment - but there comes a point when I begin to think - get over it.
 

Bufty

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I simply expressed an opinion and doubt I'm alone. Footballers are in the entertainment business.

So I take if the love of your life breaks up with in your face, and one second later she/he says "But you will be my best friend ever" You will smile and jump for that prize (just to put it in a situation you could maybe understand).

So, how were the celebrations in Poland, Turkey, Africa, etc. ? I mean in the places where the players that won the worldcup come from?
:p
 

aruna

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The most mysterious Useless Trivia Aspect of last night's show --- what do Emirates Flight Attendants have to do with the World Cup???? ie why did they get to present the medals?

Oh, OK I get it. They are a sponsor. Thus the signs etc.
 
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AllenC

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I understand your point, I am just explaining to you that what for you is mere entertainment, for them sportsmen is their life and glory, or frustration. Do you think that the defeated players in play offs dropped tears just for the camera? A worldcup is the biggest goal for them, and it comes with all the hopes a country, their families, etc. puts in them.
That's why I told you that it would be different if the trophy was given a day after, I mean after the shock, they are honest humans with dreams and hopes, not just sitcom actors.
Anyway, for me, the real owner of that trophy is Neymar. He was the difference between winning Brazil, and lame loser Brazil.

I simply expressed an opinion and doubt I'm alone. Footballers are in the entertainment business.
 

Bufty

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I don't disagree with you. And I think Messi is an outstanding player. His skill and bursts of acceleration are quite astounding.

Ditto for Naymar. I was sorry not to be able to see him playing again although Brazil have now learned if the removal of one player means the total collapse of the whole team there might just be something needing looking at.

I understand your point, I am just explaining to you that what for you is mere entertainment, for them sportsmen is their life and glory, or frustration. Do you think that the defeated players in play offs dropped tears just for the camera? A worldcup is the biggest goal for them, and it comes with all the hopes a country, their families, etc. puts in them.
That's why I told you that it would be different if the trophy was given a day after, I mean after the shock, they are honest humans with dreams and hopes, not just sitcom actors.
Anyway, for me, the real owner of that trophy is Neymar. He was the difference between winning Brazil, and lame loser Brazil.
 

robeiae

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I don't think Messi was acting like a sore loser. He did not play particularly well in this, the most important game of his career, and he obviously knew it.

I think his long face and demeanor came from bitter disappointment in his own play, nothing more.
Agree.

Honestly, I don't care a whit about this kind of stuff, how Messi--or anyone else--looked or acted at some moment or another. Messi is a great player imo. He plays to win and isn't an assclown like Saurez. That's enough. Anything else is gravy.
 

aruna

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I believe that being a novelist makes me automatically more interested in the characters and how they behave, how winning or losing affects their behaviour and their interaction, their reactions, the way success or failure influences them, the personal and interpersonal drama -- to me, that's far more interesting than the actual mechanics of the game. There's so much passion involved!

I tend to see everything in life this way. Not WHAT happens, but how we REACT to what happens, how we deal with it. That's what interests me.

Speaking of passion, a novel set in a World Cup scenario could be great, and would be snapped up by the publishing gatekeepers and readers. Who's going to write it? (not me!)

ETA:interesting article: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jul/14/joachim-low-mario-gotze-germany-argentina-messi

“Whether we have the best individual players or whatever does not matter: you have to have the best team,” said the captain, Philipp Lahm.
 
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Kitty27

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My daughter loves soccer and I tried to watch as a mother daughter bonding thing. She patiently explained things to me and we watched the games.

I don't get it. At all. But then I don't like sports in general. My daughter needed smelling salts after Brazil lost. I mean she literally had a hissy fit of fury and then collapsed.

Then Germany beat Argentina. If my daughter could have went through the tv screen,the German players would've been in danger,lol.
 

aruna

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Then Germany beat Argentina. If my daughter could have went through the tv screen,the German players would've been in danger,lol.


Why? Is she principally anti-German (I've seen a couple of people like that!) or principally pro-South American? I mean, they were a good team, the best (according to neutral expert observers) who, and in all fairness surely deserved it? I'm curious as to why people pick sides, if they are not from that country or have close connections to it. I know someone else, a long-time British virtual friend, who was furious about Germany winning, and I couldn't detect why, exactly.
 
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mirandashell

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The British v Germany enmity has very deep roots. All tied in with the history between the two countries.
 

aruna

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Oh! I didn't get that she was British -- because she said soccer, not football. I do know of the British animosity towards Germans (it's NOt reiprocated, btw!) so I get it. Though I believe that is changing...
 
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aruna

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No --- Germans really love Brits, especially. All of it. England (especially Cornwall), Scotland, Wales, as well as both parts of Ireland. You should see the corny British-set movies they play on TV ALL THE TIME. Especiall Rosamund Pilcher adaptations. The latest craze is Katie Fforde adaptations. Usually SUnday night, Prime Time -- your Katie Fforde film! They are filmed using German actors speaking German and are usually filmed in America. You can get Katie Fforde Box Sets http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0055IYUY4/...
Everyone here wants to go to England. Sometimes they go and are diappointed to find it's not like Rosamund Pilcher (stately homes, gorgeous seaside landscapes etc.)
 
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mirandashell

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Really? Odd. From our perspective anyway. But then the connections do run deep. Our Royal Family has been German for 300 years so.... maybe not odd.
 

asroc

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No --- Germans really love Brits, especially. All of it. England (especially Cornwall), Scotland, Wales, Ireland.

Careful there, Ireland the republic isn't British. It's true though, back when I lived in Germany everybody loved British stuff. They were also fascinated by the US, although that's probably no longer true. The main soccer rivalry as perceived by the Germans seems to be with the Netherlands.

I love Germany, so I was rooting for them after the US was eliminated. Happy Germans are adorable.
 

Kitty27

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Why? Is she principally anti-German (I've seen a couple of people like that!) or principally pro-South American? I mean, they were a good team, the best (according to neutral expert observers) who, and in all fairness surely deserved it? I'm curious as to why people pick sides, if they are not from that country or have close connections to it. I know someone else, a long-time British virtual friend, who was furious about Germany winning, and I couldn't detect why, exactly.


She rooted for the USA because that's our country. But she is a diehard Brazil fan. I think whoever beat them was going to earn her hate,lol.
 

aruna

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I too was torn between Brazil and Germany, and very upset by the huge goal difference. But with the Argentina match it was quite clear who I wanted to win!
 
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