World Cup Volume 6

Fri Jun 20 to Sat Jun 21 (morning)

An Irregular Series

And Benzema scores just after the clock runs out!  After missing a PK?  French Firepower.
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Of course HON scores on a quick break long strike.  Nice backspin on that one.

And ECU scores the revenge goal!

1-1.!

Now we're at the point whre both teams are still attacking into the 40th minute in the frst half.  This is a sign of optimism.

And exactly what seems to be the general overall theme in world soccer at this year's World Cup.

Perhaps this only means that the elimination rounds will be more cynical, but then again, if everyone actually feels like they can win, then there will imply be more scoring.

Compare this with soccer in which there is one clearly dominant team and a handful of also-rans.

I appreciate the simplicity of the HON jerseys, but the ECU jerseys are a l(i/o)vely color combination.  how could you not love those?

And ECU ahead on a finish of a cross!  ECU 2, HON 1.
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Today, Saturday, any WorlCupping will likely be done on the radio or via some other audio source.   The thing is that, once again, I will be watching the MLU.  This is not a bad thing, per se, but that I enjoy both World Cup Soccer and Major League Ultimate is not wholly surprising, one would imagine.  Both are full-size field sports.  Soccer even larger than football and frisbee.  Each are predicated on the ability of players to quickly and aggressively move into space from a previously defended place.  New angle and innovative notions are the calls of the day.  They reward both quick creative and slow deliberate players and styles.  The field can be a wide open space or it can be constricted either by style or by skill.

I imagine this is true for other sports too.  Yes certainly for basketball, but in a ver small tight contained space that has very little to do with the wide open spaces that are out there.  The space of a basketball court requires you to create space with excellence to come up with something out of nothing.  Coaches in basketball constantly talk of spaacing and court balance because there is so little real estate for the five giant men at peak physical condition.  In soccer and MLU play, there is so much space that it is a matter of how you choose to use it or whether you choose to use all of it or not.  There are advantages to each.  By using a small amount of space with all of your players ready to provide some sort of assistance immediately, you both give yourself more option and give the defense more options.  If you space out and place players all over the field, the defense is forced to choose one thing or the other as opposed to being able to disguise it or ad hoc it.

So too in Soccer.  If you press your forward up, there will be space for a counter.  If you don't press anyone up, there will be difficulty scoring  unless you have a godlike player a la Ronaldo, Messi, Luis Suarez, Drogba, or a demigod or imp of some kind like Robben, RVP, WRooney, or most of Germany.

There is another style of play as well.  The "CONCACAFFY" as the Men in Blazers put it.  This is an attacking style.  A relentless team spirit that relies on everyone just going all out until they pass out.  A surprising number of the them don't pass out.  This is the limit of soccer.  This is where the US must head.

By the way, we need a fun name for this team.  There are teams called all kinds of fun things.  Super Eagles? Black Stars? Azzuri? El Tri? The Seleção? What the heck are we?  USMNT?  Maybe we need to make sure that we have a cheer that takes advantage of the varius rhythms one can say those letters in.

Anyway, that's the last one I'll put up today, methinks.  Maybe I'll get some words down here and there in between travel and MLU, but it'll probably be very little World Cup until Sunday.  Which should be quite the fun day of spectating and fandom.