04/26/24
June 30, 2002
Brazil wins!!!: Just as it was predicted.
posted by HoldenCaulfield to football at 07:56 AM - 13 comments
Ronaldo's going to be the one on the front pages tommorow for sure - as Gary Lineker said "he may floss his teeth with rope, but he's a great player!". In the end it just seemed right that Brazil should win it. In the other final it ended 4-0 and Montserrat are officially the worst team in the world.
posted by Ben at 08:21 AM on June 30, 2002
Regarding the prediction: "According to the university the simulation was run 2,000 times and came up with the same result without exception." If they ran their simulation 2,000 times and Brazil won every time, how good could the model they're using possibly be?
posted by rcade at 08:23 AM on June 30, 2002
The first goal wasn't Kahn fault. The defender gave up the ball; just like the first goal in the Korea - Turkey match yesterday.
posted by HoldenCaulfield at 08:29 AM on June 30, 2002
Didi Hamman hadn't put a foot wrong until then, so I feel sorry for him: it's a reminder that while Ronaldo may have lost some of his sheer pace, the strength (not bulk) hasn't left him. But, a great final, which now reminds you how good a tournament it's been: wonderful, as one commentator said, that both teams showed up to play today. And that the desire to win the final outstripped the desire not to lose.
posted by etagloh at 08:34 AM on June 30, 2002
Viva! There's more partying here in Portugal eight now than I've ever seen. And England lost to the world champion, by one goal only, so they did better than Germany(never mind the recent 5-1 thrashing). So all is well, after all! ;)
posted by Miguel Cardoso at 09:30 AM on June 30, 2002
Cheating bastards. Good game though.
posted by squealy at 11:45 AM on June 30, 2002
By definition, if there's cheating in a game, it isn't "good." Who cheated and when? Or was your comment sarcastic? I seriously couldn't tell.
posted by HoldenCaulfield at 11:51 AM on June 30, 2002
Every game is characterised by cheating, otherwise we wouldn't need referees. I think Squealy is referring to Rivaldos penchant for behaving like a fairy at every opportunity. If there had been any justice he wouldn't even have been playing after his shameful display against Turkey in the group game. Ronhaldino can be a bit of a bugger too. I think it is generally recognised that as a team they are quite masterful when it comes to the black arts, but within the game it seems to be regarded as acceptable professionalism. Of course, Squealy might just be pissed off that they made England look very mediocre. It takes two to tango though, and I was not at all sorry to see the Germans wallowing in misery. How can anyone have sympathy for a team managed by a man who has achieved the remarkable feat of sporting a perm and a mullet? And whats with the open necked shirt look?
posted by Fat Buddha at 01:27 PM on June 30, 2002
Buddha, yeah I agree, and I think football is the least subjective game of the big 5. I mean, baseball hinges on subjectiveness! Dammit, if they could just get some lasers to mark a visual strike zone and if the ball passed inside it a computer voice could say "strike." Every strike zone would be different for every player since usually it's from the knees to the elbows. And don't get me started on basketball, it's a fucking joke! Oh well, that's why I watch soccer, pure skill is involved, have you ever seen close ups of the one on one battles near the sidelines? Also American football isn't too much on the subjective side.
posted by HoldenCaulfield at 01:44 PM on June 30, 2002
What Fat Buddha said.
posted by squealy at 04:37 PM on June 30, 2002
It was better than I expected, but, you know, I was kinda expecting the worst, it wasn't a classic though. What most surprised was how the German defense was. It was pretty obvious to me by half-time. I think Voeller should have played with a back four. Funny that the Germans failed because they were too attack-minded (or for that matter that Marcos was brilliant and Kahn made the most egregious blunder I've ever seen him do... it was almost Barthezian ;) ). Oh well... but the better team won... if not the best team (but that's another story entirely). But I'm happy for Ronaldo, he's a nice guy (or so I gather from reports and interviews). Now I'll have to deal with four years of unsufferable "purists" (I use that term to describe the kind of person who describes himself with that word) who'll now talk about this Brazilian team as if they were the team of the '70 world cup. And why do otherwise smart and objective sportswriters like CNNSI.com's Marcotti for instance, turn into starstruck fanboys when watching Brazil. But it was okay... it was a game I was emotionally disassociated from... if it had been France or South Korea playing in the final I'd have been gutted now... but oh well. Oh, and though everyone will remember Ronaldo from this match for me the man of the game was Oliver Neuville (followed by Jeremies)... to bad the rest of the team were to busy being Neverkusen. And Silva and Kleberson were also very good... and Marcos of course. And Rivaldo managed not to be a selfish bastard once, at a very crucial moment, and that won the game... who'd have predicted that? ;) But he regained his title of most selfish bastard in the world by fighting through a pack of photographers to get into Ronaldo's spotlight when the game ended. Actually it's a shared title because Sepp "Complete and Utter Disgrace of a Human Being" Blatter tried to tear away the trophy from Pelé so that he could present it to Cafu with him. But still... an okay game. Though I think the image that will stay with me from this WC (hmm... why doesn't anybody ever abbreviate it?) is the shot of Ahn facing the crowd after his goal against Italy... it was magical.
posted by Kattullus at 05:54 PM on June 30, 2002
Brasil! Brasil! Brasil! I'm glad for the result. And being able to just watch the goals on the news. This was not the Brazil of Pele's day nor even of the 80s, but still, the better and more entertaining team won. Good on Ronaldo. I was sorry he had that little episode at the last Cup final, and dismayed at how Brazil just crumbled in that game (to take nothing away from France and Zidane, of course). Most importantly, he's proven that gap-toothed people rule the world. Diastema! Diastema!
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:15 AM on July 01, 2002
I was rooting for Germany but today was Brazil's day. Ronaldo was priceless. Feel bad for Oliver Kahn, the man was solid throughout the cup.