South Africa Confederations Cup 2009

Pro. F

Hard luck SA, they gave it a great go. Manager should have been more brave, surely.

Brazil were poor, 'twas weird really.

ShoulderChip

Brazil's Right backs:

Was Maicon picked ahead of Alves for this tournament for pure footballing reasons? or was alves tired/ coming out of injury or something?
I like both players a lot just wondering what the official stance is.

It was funny that Maicon came forward so rarely tonight.

also is alves a genuine option at left back?
I have only seen him play rb for barca, but I play lb with him in Pro ev
did he perchance play lb for Sevilla at any point?

Instant Karma

Is there any reason why the crowd were booing Booth?

ShoulderChip

its an affectionate call for him,

they are like that down under (and around the corner)

Headshot

it's in the bag for usa

Eire-Dearg

Instant Karma wrote: »

Is there any reason why the crowd were booing Booth?

They're shouting Booooooooth.

Instant Karma

ahh.. makes sense, I thought it was a bit odd a home player would get booed by his own fans.

Eire-Dearg

I wonder if anyone here has kept an eye on a couple of the players throughout the tournament. Any stand outs overall?

Soby

Instant Karma wrote: »

Is there any reason why the crowd were booing Booth?

I think they were saying"boooooooooooooooooooooth"

And ye BBC said USA's win made front page of papers over there

Pro. F

syngindub wrote: »

Anyone know if the achievment by the USA team is getting much press / media coverage over there. I know it's not the world cup but even still.

I was watchin baseball last night on ESPN (late night setanta) and they mentioned it in the sports round up. The commentators made a reasonablly big deal of it for what it's worth.

Instant Karma

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

I wonder if anyone here has kept an eye on a couple of the players throughout the tournament. Any stand outs overall?

I liked Bradley from the US team, I thought he's played really well and had a fantastic work rate, shame he will miss the final.

Pro. F

Soby wrote: »

I think they were saying"boooooooooooooooooooooth"

I was saying Booo-urns

Headshot

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

I wonder if anyone here has kept an eye on a couple of the players throughout the tournament. Any stand outs overall?

usa defender ONYEWU
usa forward Jozy Altidore
usa midfielder bradley (looks a very promising player)
booooth
zidan

Eire-Dearg

Ye have me saying Booooooth instead of just Booth now.

Headshot

usa have very good odds atm to win the cup

I honestly think they have a great chance

Eire-Dearg

I'll be rooting for them anyway, it'd be a great change to see the underdogs win an international tourno.

GuanYin

syngindub wrote: »

Anyone know if the achievment by the USA team is getting much press / media coverage over there. I know it's not the world cup but even still.

Why does everyone refer to the USA Manager as the USA coach ??

A little, a guy who has zero interest in soccer came up to me today to talk about the result and the game and people were talking about it during my 2 visits to the staff room.

leninbenjamin

interesting game tonight, really disappointed South Africa weren't more clinical, they really deserved it. Got the balance between attack and defence perfect going up against a team like Brazil, shame they don't have a more clinical finisher in the squad.

I think the confederations cup has been much more interesting than i expected. Not just for the upsets, but more it clearly illustrated how two of the worlds current top teams in Spain and Brazil have gaping vulnerabilities that can be exploited if you get your tactics right (Spain in their defence, Brazil in their midfield). The world cup will be wide open imo.

_blank_

GuanYin wrote: »

A little, a guy who has zero interest in soccer came up to me today to talk about the result and the game and people were talking about it during my 2 visits to the staff room.

Sounds like when Ireland are in tournaments tbh.

Absolute cretins talking shíte about something they know nothing about.

I generally ignore that type.

OH. MY. GOD. Did you see the game.

Pro. F

Headshot wrote: »

usa have very good odds atm to win the cup

I honestly think they have a great chance

If the same Brazil turns up in the final as did tonight USA would wallop them.

mayordenis

reminds me of talladega nights.

Johnny Utah

Is there a 3rd place play-off?

If so, I hope the Apres Match team will be doing analysis & commentary............ certainly more insightful than Razor and Ronnie!

Pro. F

Des wrote: »

Sounds like when Ireland are in tournaments tbh.

Absolute cretins talking shíte about something they know nothing about.

I generally ignore that type.

OH. MY. GOD. Did you see the game.

Ah jaysus, will ya ever cheer up!
Everybody getting excited and getting behind the team can be enjoyable if you can put aside your general misery for a short while.

HalloweenJack

Johnny Utah wrote: »

Is there a 3rd place play-off?

If so, I hope the Apres Match team will be doing analysis & commentary............ certainly more insightful than Razor and Ronnie!

There is a third place match. Don't know if it's on RTE though as there was no mention. It'll probably be on BBC.

Cracking goal by Alves to win the match. That's all that can be said for the match really.

Eire Dearg wrote:

I wonder if anyone here has kept an eye on a couple of the players throughout the tournament. Any stand outs overall?

For me, Julio Cesar has been top class. Bradley and Dempsey have been good for the States while Ramires looks really good too.

ctrl-alt-delete

mayordenis wrote: »

reminds me of talladega nights.

Was actually trying to work out myself earlier who he looked like that i knew....

i think you might just have answered that!

classic

finbarrk

leninbenjamin wrote: »

interesting game tonight, really disappointed South Africa weren't more clinical, they really deserved it. Got the balance between attack and defence perfect going up against a team like Brazil, shame they don't have a more clinical finisher in the squad.

I think the confederations cup has been much more interesting than i expected. Not just for the upsets, but more it clearly illustrated how two of the worlds current top teams in Spain and Brazil have gaping vulnerabilities that can be exploited if you get your tactics right (Spain in their defence, Brazil in their midfield). The world cup will be wide open imo.

Dead on there. The W.C. is wide open allright.

mayordenis

Help me Jesus! Help me Jewish God! Help me Allah! AAAAAHHH! Help me Tom Cruise! Tom Cruise, use your witchcraft on me to get the fire off me!

Seaneh

I think the 3 best players have been Kaka, Julio Ceasar ann Bradly from what I've seen.

Headshot

Seaneh wrote: »

I think the 3 best players have been Kaka, Julio Ceasar ann Bradly from what I've seen.

i wasnt planning to post or anything but mg i couldnt let u away with that kaka remark, no way should kaka be mention for best player of the tournament,kake has had a bad tournament. Im probably harsh in saying he's been crap

Seaneh

He was brazils best player against italy, the usa and egypt, by a mile!

~Rebel~

Seaneh wrote: »

I think the 3 best players have been Kaka, Julio Ceasar ann Bradly from what I've seen.

Ann Bradly was great alright, her son wasn't bad either

LuckyLloyd

Des wrote: »

Sounds like when Ireland are in tournaments tbh.

Absolute cretins talking shíte about something they know nothing about.

I generally ignore that type.

OH. MY. GOD. Did you see the game.

FatherTed

Instant Karma wrote: »

I liked Bradley from the US team, I thought he's played really well and had a fantastic work rate, shame he will miss the final.

Bradley, Donovan and Onyewu have been great for the US.

syngindub wrote: »

Anyone know if the achievment by the USA team is getting much press / media coverage over there. I know it's not the world cup but even still.

Why does everyone refer to the USA Manager as the USA coach ??

In the US, the "Manager" is the guy who normally takes care of the running of the club, not the team. The coach runs the team.

It produced a blip over here on the national scene, e.g. lead story on SportsCenter on ESPN, also it was even mentioned on the local NYC news the other night. Last time that happened was probably getting to the quarters in 2002. But it will be forgotten about in a few days time. The NATIONAL media over here only care about Baseball, NFL, NBA, College basketball and football, Golf to a lesser extent and Nascar which is perhaps more regional in popularity e.g. noone cares about it in NYC but is big down south. Ice Hockey has fallen in coverage and popularity over the last 1 years or so.

It's more of a niche sport here. While it's true there are millions of kids who play the sport, that doesn't really matter because 90% of them have never watched a full in their life and can only name Beckham as a star they've heard of. Then most move on to other sports by the time they're around 12.

For me, I've given up on soccer getting to those levels but I don't really care either. I get my fill of Prem, La Liga, Serie A, German, Brazilian, Mexican, Argentina and MLS games on a weekly bases on the 3 soccer channels. Plus I get to Giants Stadium a few times a year to see the Red Bulls or a few friendlies.

Warper

Steven Pienaar has been in fantastic form for SA just as he was for Everton since Arteta got injured.

GuanYin

Actually, I have 26 SMS messages from people asking can they come and watch the Final with me. Most of these people wouldn't be able to name anyone from the US team except maybe Donovan, Dempsey and Bradley. They might have kids playing soccer in school

Although to be fair to them, they do generally ask me how may games are going.

I've just rented out a bar for the morning so we can watch the game. At the moment I think we have 50 people to watch the game.

mink_man

USA USA!

Johnny Utah

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

I wonder if anyone here has kept an eye on a couple of the players throughout the tournament. Any stand outs overall?

I think Bradley is my player of the tournament. Some workrate, especially against Spain- really must inspire those around him.


Also, Bradley Sr deserves manager (or is it coach?) of the tournament.


I'll be cheering for the US tomorrow night!

legs11

Johnny Utah wrote: »

I think Bradley is my player of the tournament. Some workrate, especially against Spain- really must inspire those around him.


Also, Bradley Sr deserves manager (or is it coach?) of the tournament.


I'll be cheering for the US tomorrow night!

Piennear has been immense for SA, if anyone looked the 2nd most expensive player in the world the other night it sure wasn't kaka...:rolleyes:

Somehow I think if the Brazilian was not such baby faced with his looks he would not be as famous.

CR 7

Johnny Utah wrote: »

I think Bradley is my player of the tournament. Some workrate, especially against Spain- really must inspire those around him.


Also, Bradley Sr deserves manager (or is it coach?) of the tournament.


I'll be cheering for the US tomorrow night!

That's the only reason he makes the team. :rolleyes: :P


Clint Dempsey hasn't had a bad tournament either. And that Tshabalala of South Africa seems to have a handy enough left foot for a player that apparently can't make the first team.

jimmay

Is the final on the box? What channel/time?

mike65

7 pm RTE 2 and BBC 3

Headshot

sa and usa to win tomorrow

Yes im mad

Mikeyt086

I always liked USA, thought they had potential.

I remember watch an underage tournament, i think it was U-17 a few years ago, maybe the summer before last, 2007, where USA went far. They had Adu, Altidore, Bradley and Sztela (sp?) all playing some really nice stuff and i told myself to look out for them. Good to see Bradley and Altidore getting on well, Adu is a victim of his own hype and im not sure what the story with Sztela is. The Gooch has had a good tournament and looked good in patches during his spell at Newcastle, i remember a mate of mine, Newcastle season ticket holder, came back from Onyewu's first game and said he could go on to be the best defender in the Premiership... Obviously lol but just goes to show the potential the guy has.

By the way for anyone that doesnt know about Clint Dempsey, aka DEUCE's other hobby:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6Di8QT98Zk

HalloweenJack

I thought his rap name was Playboy Clint.

They played one of his songs on Football Focus before and that's what he called himself.

Mikeyt086

He said there himself, "What it do, its Deuce."

Headshot

is the sa v spain match on tv?

mike65

I presume its behind the red button on BBC 1/2 RTE have racing and GAA

The 3rd place playoff was down to be being streamed online but the link is not there today

copacetic

for anyone with Sky, it is available now on BBC1 via the red button.

miralize

I reckon USA can pull it off.. They're a bit under pressure at the moment, but maybe thats good for the team.