Quarter Finals Costa Rica v Netherlands

[Philosophical Dan]

He's 30?!? :shock:

Honestly thought he was a couple years younger than Ryan Giggs at best

He looks like he's in his fifties

He looked that age when he signed for Chelsea, aged 20 or so.

[ooh look who it is]

Yeah I remember when they signed him. He looked older than me and I'm 40 :lol:

[bobcar]

Convinced of this even more after last nights games, without a doubt something fishy going on, no matter how fit someone is you can't do what he is doing naturally, even more so when you compare him to other players at the world cup. He's older than most, had a lot of injuries throughout career, just played a 45 game season yet in ridiculous temperatures and after a lot of games in a short space of time is running at full speed for 120 minutes and outpacing players who have played a lot less games and are younger.

At 30 he should be around the peak of his fitness as far as endurance is concerned, certainly he should be fitter than a 21 year old.

[Hambrosia Stu]

How the ref can let that piece of **** keep on with that unfair crap is unbelieveable

Pathetic by Krul.

There is a right way and a wrong way to win a game.

Indeed.
I guess the Dutch won't care though. Absolutely disgraceful behaviour from Krul I thought, and just as bad from the ref who allowed it. A shame that such a tight tense game was ultimately determined by "gamesmanship". So much for may the best team win....

Very Unsporting....how the mighty have lowered themselves.

I don't want ANYBODY to win this thing now....all the nations left have lowered the spirit of the cup.

I couldn't agree more
I actually said to my Costa Rican bro-in-law, "all I hope is that it's a fair game, and that the Dutch don't cheat it off you". Although the Dutch were up to their usual tricks throughout the game, there was nothing that stood out as being so despicable as to turn me against them totally. Until the penalty shoot out.....

I'd started the tournament thinking the Dutch would be my favourites to win the thing (once England were inevitably knocked out). Even moreso after their rout of the Spanish. Yet despite having a soft spot for them as a nation, once again I find their football team completely unsupportable. Once again anything they've achieved in this WC is overshadowed in my mind by their cheating and unsportsmanlike behaviour. So I won't be supporting them to win it

Hard to get behind Brazil, for similar reasons. I'm not convinced the Brazilians actively set out to cheat anything like as much as the Dutch do, but they've been given so much lee-way by referees along the way that it does make you wonder should they really still be in it? So it is hard to get behind a team when you have such doubts about their merits.

Which leaves either the Germans or the Argies.....

I suppose I'll watch it if I'm around, but I won't be busting a gut to watch the remaining games

[James P]

Which leaves either the Germans or the Argies.....

Something has really gone wrong somewhere when I find myself wanting the Germans to win as the rest are even more unlikeable. Funny old game.

[Billydinho]

It's not a lottery as to which team's players are more likely to be able to put their penalties in the top corner. Nor is it a lottery as to which team's goalkeeper is more likely to save those that aren't put in an unreachable position.

This is true.

However, with the pressure of the world cup semi finals factored in, you may not quite reach the top corner.

The other reason it's a lottery is that a penalty is only sh*t if the keeper goes the right way. If I trickle one down the middle but the keeper has guessed right, I still get a little green tick on the scorecard.

Give Krul his due, he went the right way for each penalty but he only saved two. What's to say the other guy wouldn't have saved three or four?

Not the masterstroke everyone is making out.

[Philosophical Dan]

At 30 he should be around the peak of his fitness as far as endurance is concerned, certainly he should be fitter than a 21 year old.

In some instances, not necessarily. Look at Rooney, for example - his best years were clearly before his mid-20s, and he's declined a fair bit since then. Injuries and continual management of injury also have an influence on things like mobility and pace, which can have a detrimental effect on endurance. Can't train 100% every day if your ankle/knee/hip needs a day's rest after a workout.

I wouldn't be surprised, the way the game is going, if more players are on the wane by the time they hit their late 20s, and closing in on retirement by their 30th birthday.

Anyway, type Arjen Robben into google, then put a space after his surname, and look what the first suggestion item is.

[warp]

Anyway, type Arjen Robben into google, then put a space after his surname, and look what the first suggestion item is.

wiki?

[Philosophical Dan]

Hmm... I get "Arjen Robben Steroids" when I do it. I meant the suggested field contents.

[bobcar]

In some instances, not necessarily. Look at Rooney, for example - his best years were clearly before his mid-20s, and he's declined a fair bit since then. Injuries and continual management of injury also have an influence on things like mobility and pace, which can have a detrimental effect on endurance. Can't train 100% every day if your ankle/knee/hip needs a day's rest after a workout.

Indeed an injury can hit a player hard, an obvious example being Michael Owen as he lost his pace. That is clearly not the case with Robben though as you can see on the pitch.

I wouldn't be surprised, the way the game is going, if more players are on the wane by the time they hit their late 20s, and closing in on retirement by their 30th birthday.

I would expect the opposite. Most players at the top now look after themselves better and should go on longer well into their 30s. Obviously injuries will limit this but if a player can keep away from injuries that affect their long term outlook then at 30 they should have more endurance than at 20.

Anyway, type Arjen Robben into google, then put a space after his surname, and look what the first suggestion item is.

I have no idea if Robben takes drugs or not, all I'm saying is that because he is fitter than ever at 30 doesn't mean he is taking them.

[warp]

I have no idea if Robben takes drugs or not, all I'm saying is that because he is fitter than ever at 30 doesn't mean he is taking them.

the "issue" isn't the fact he's fitter than ever. it's the fact he's fitter than everyone!

[bobcar]

the "issue" isn't the fact he's fitter than ever. it's the fact he's fitter than everyone!

Well somebody has to be the fittest. You do also notice him more because he's at the business end, somebody like a defensive midfielder you tend not to notice as much.

[Philosophical Dan]

Much as I'd like to believe otherwise, professional sports are rife with drug taking, make absolutely no mistake about that. It isn't new - they were giving speed to footballers back in the 70s and 80s (to sharpen the reflexes or, more commonly, sort out their hangovers). Whether or not the authorities actually want to do anything about it, and my instinct is that they don't, is anyone's guess. But as far as I can tell, as long as the money keeps rolling in, they'll keep turning a blind eye and hoping nobody gets pinged.

It may be less visually obvious in football than it is in, say, athletics, NFL or rugby, but we're not just talking about drugs to build super-hero proportion muscles. They're there to increase endurance, improve balance, recover more quickly from injury, mask pain, prolong declining careers - you name it, there's a drug for it.

My prediction that in the future, some player's careers will be shorter, not longer, is a reflection on the relentless demands of the modern game of the human body. Training techniques have improved with time, for sure, but physiologically speaking, humans haven't changed much in the past few generations. That the speed, intensity and frequency of professional sport have changed far more radically suggests a breaking point will be reached soon enough.

[westham,eggyandchips]

Great effort from Costa Rica. Well done to them for getting this far.

The Dutchies are getting on my nerves-Robben flopping, RVP trying to con the ref instead of looking to score, the #4 with his 25 fouls, Krul's antics.
What about the Dutch asking for a yellow card for a hand ball when the ball struck the player in the shoulder?

.......all of that is true, but they're in the semi-final whilst England are at home (or on holiday) watching it on the box. I know what they and I'd prefer. Shame we dont adopt some of their antics......every otherfucker does it and seems to progress!

[Clucking Bell]

Pathetic by Krul.

There is a right way and a wrong way to win a game.

Indeed.
I guess the Dutch won't care though. Absolutely disgraceful behaviour from Krul I thought, and just as bad from the ref who allowed it. A shame that such a tight tense game was ultimately determined by "gamesmanship".

You know what ..... I'm really not that bothered by the Dutch substitution and Krul's antics. I think it was quite clever on Beavis' part. The whole penalties thing is a mind- game anyway and Van Gaal just played it better.

Also, let's be honest here. If the Dutch had used it to knock out Germany, Brazil or Argentina, we'd all be saying what a clever idea it was ...... it's only the fact that they knocked out the last of the underdogs and the team that we were all hoping would go through didn't.

[claretcloggy]

yup, well done costa rica.

[Hambrosia Stu]

Also, let's be honest here. If the Dutch had used it to knock out Germany, Brazil or Argentina, we'd all be saying what a clever idea it was ...... it's only the fact that they knocked out the last of the underdogs and the team that we were all hoping would go through didn't.

Honestly...?
It would have been one of the few things in the world that would have made me instantly switch allegiance to the Germans (or whoever)

It's not the switching of the 'keepers I have a problem with. I agree it was a clever idea (if Krul was so obviously a better bet to save them). It was the blatant, in-yer-face bad sportsmanship. Call it what you like, cheating, gamesmanship, but to my mind a line was crossed by Krul, and football takes another step towards being a completely unwatchable sport

During the first week of the tournament, my Irish bro-in-law was over, and we were around a mates for a Barbie. My mate was saying he just can't watch football anymore, as all the cheating makes it unwatchable. Instead of appreciating the joy of a piece of sublime play, he finds the over-riding emotion is one of utter contempt for the cheating, diving, and non-stop attempts to get a sly one over the opposition. How it has, in recent years, just taken over the entire game. The bro-in-law totally agreed, and was saying it's frankly embarrassing watching football in the pub in Ireland, as a lot of the time you'll have the GAA match (Hurling or Gaelic football) on first, followed by a Premier League game. So you might have 80mins of 30 blokes playing the fastest ball sport in the world, belting each other with sticks, not even flinching as sticks fly, crashing into bone, no one whingeing, no one crying to the ref, just a fair physical battle of skill and wit, played with honour and dignity. Then when that finishes, they flick over to the football, and within seconds you've some over-paid primadonna diving and writhing like a 7 year old girl whose dropped her ice cream, because someone brushed against his hair style, and he thinks he might be able to con something out of the ref....

Krul's antics were just another step towards the end of football as a fair sport played by sportsmen. Sure, you see 'keepers do a variety of things to psyche their opponent out. The Costa Rica 'keeper was doing a bit of it, making himself look small as the guy was walking out, then standing up large when he was placing the ball. But that's a world of difference to what Krul was up to.

That the Dutch had to resort to such unpleasant, unsporting, behaviour completely soured it for me. Had they won that shoot out without Krul being a **** (as they were likely to do, imo), I'd be here wishing them all the best, praising the decision, etc, getting behind them for the next round. As it is, any interest I had in them doing well just evaporated. Not least, as is often the way in such things, they had absolutely no need to do so. They would have been favourites to win that shoot out, but instead chose to deny the watching public a fair contest to decide the outcome

[warp]

During the first week of the tournament, my Irish bro-in-law was over, and we were around a mates for a Barbie.

gangbang?

[Hambrosia Stu]

If you're imagining a line of people waiting to take their turn, like a Barbie queue, you're close, but no cigar

[_fortunes_]

I missed this game..so what the hell did Krul do? What was he doing that was unsportsmanlike?