Yo Ales, sorry Trooper you talk a load of nonsense about football, to say Spain is not a good team is total rubbish, they are one class act. Fact this world cup has seen so far the lowest number of goals scored, I have never seen so many class players having so much trouble trying to control a ball, if they hit it normally it just flies, so they are trying to under hit it and its leading to a lot of misplaced passes. OK the Germans May have used the ball a bit longer but last time I was serving in the forces in Germany it wasn't at ALTITUDE to my knowledge. It just shows how much thought went into making a new ball. Lets make the ball lighter HELLO the matches are at altitude so a lighter ball is going to fly when struck. Most of the players and coaches have said the ball is rubbish, so if they say that its a fact. If you give a Tradesman a tool and he tells you its no good for his job you have to listen, because he is an expert at what he does. Putting 11 players behind the ball to stop a team scoring is not football, its totally boring to watch, and almost impossible to score. It was 63 minutes last night before South Africa had a shot at goal, at least Spain tried to play football, but in Football you dont always get the rewards you deserve for good play. It will open up and you will see all the good teams go through, at the end of the day its about scoring more goals than the other team. These defensive teams just ruin what is a great game to watch. If you like watching boring football move to Italy their league just bores you to death, its like watching paint dry.
Bernard.
I agree with a lot of this, but I disagree when it comes to playing overly defensive, or "boring", football. Switzerland beat Spain mainly because the Swiss out coached the Spanish and Spain couldn't finish. The Swiss coach basically said that if you want to play an attacking style against Spain and open up the game, they'll crush you. He is right and his strategy was absolutely perfect and lead to a huge upset. Was it exciting? Well, normally that strategy does lead to boring matches, but the Spain game was by far the most exciting of the entire tournament so far. I was on the edge of my seat the entire second half. For the record, I was rooting for Spain as I have them picked to win the world cup in my friendly betting bracket with friends and I had this game picked 4-0 Spain. So I wanted them to crush the Swiss, but I have to give the Swiss credit for winning the game. They made the most of the few opportunities that they had while Spain, particularly Torres whose first touch on several balls that could have sent him in alone was awful, choked and choked and choked. Spain dominated the game, had their chances, but they just didn't convert.
Believe me, I would prefer two teams to play attacking football. It would be great if every game was Brazil against Brazil (in style), but you can't expect teams who have no hope of winning that style of play to go for it and then get crushed. So while I'm disappointed, particularly if it leads to a Brazil Spain first elimination round game, hats off to the Swiss for pulling off the upset and score one point for boring football, which in this case, was anything but boring.
And yes, the Italians play too much defense and can be the epitome of boring to watch. But my beloved Azzuri win world cups. It may not be pretty, but it's effective.
As for the low scoring in this world cup, I don't know if it's the ball or the tactics in play, but it is very disappointing. Really, it's shocking. But I think it has more to do with tactics than the ball. I do agree with you however that if the players say the ball sucks, then the ball sucks.
Oh, and finally, I think Spain still wins the world cup. This loss will wake them up. They may even win their group still as I really expect them to pile on the goals in the next few matches and win both.
