FIFA World Cup knockout stages

[dan08]

Brazil were so concerned about Zuniga's tackle at the time that they didn't even kick the ball out of play and ran up the other end.

[dan08]

I've seen a lot worse tackles than that which have hardly been punished at all. 5 match ban is fair i think.

[dan08]

And before shanky starts trying to pump me for my views again, since they are apparently so important, let me remind him that I picked Colombia to win this match before it started. The difference is that this time around, Brazil played Colombia the way Holland played Brazil in the South Africa World Cup four years ago...and nobody had any problems with the way the Dutch played then, until they tried the same tactics against Spain, and that's when all the outrage broke loose.

Everyone has had problems with the Dutch right back since the 2006 World Cup as they were by far the dirtiest team.

[mikesiva]

But nobody said anything until they played that way against Spain....

I've seen a lot worse tackles than that which have hardly been punished at all. 5 match ban is fair i think.

The boy's life was endangered by that tackle. When is it okay to take a swing at a man's spine?

Forget football...the boy will have to be immobilised for weeks, maybe months, in order to ensure will be able to have a normal life, much less kick a football again.

As I said before, when I see the reaction on this MB to this tackle, it reminds me why I no longer go to live football matches any more.

[dan08]

As I said before, when I see the reaction on this MB to this tackle, it reminds me why I no longer go to live football matches any more.

Same as the reaction of the Brazilian players. They didn't think much of it.

[dan08]

Neymar's out for 4-6 weeks by the way.

[SaintPowelly]

Boy who cried wolf springs to mind with Neymar, he spends 50% of his time diving and feigning injury.

[D/L]

I don't watch much Soccer, but I'd heard that Brazil were quite a good team, so I recorded their match against Colombia last night. I couldn't watch it live because it clashed with the Rugby League derby between Wakefield Trinity and Leeds (which Wakefield won!).

It was quite an exciting game of Soccer but I was glad I had recorded it and able to fast forward through all the feigned injuries and the histrionics (what a contrast to the Rugby) and the interminable time it took to arrange each free kick on goal. I learned later that one of the injuries was genuine and quite serious but, on my TV, the stretcher came on and disappeared down the tunnel in about 10 seconds.

Brazil didn't seem all that good, by the way. Certainly, the 1970 World Cup winning team, Pele, Alberto, Rivelino, Jairzinho et al, would have destroyed them.

[Aidan11]

That 70 World Cup side was probably the greatest team ever to walk on a football pitch.

The Brazil of now are poor, even though they will reach the final.

[The Waugh Twins]

But nobody said anything until they played that way against Spain....

I've seen a lot worse tackles than that which have hardly been punished at all. 5 match ban is fair i think.

The boy's life was endangered by that tackle. When is it okay to take a swing at a man's spine?

Forget football...the boy will have to be immobilised for weeks, maybe months, in order to ensure will be able to have a normal life, much less kick a football again.

As I said before, when I see the reaction on this MB to this tackle, it reminds me why I no longer go to live football matches any more.

Yes reports are one thing, but it could be the end of his career.

The ref showed in his previous match that he was well and truly out of his league and again in this match he was not even close to maintaining control and as a result you have players losing the plot. Not blaming the ref for a moment of anger by the Colombian, but perhaps it could have been avoided with a few more yellow cards out there.

Fact is folks like Messi and Neymar need more protection as they are continually brought down.

[mikesiva]

This is the way I saw the Julio Cesar incident too....

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foot ... 86093.html

"Had David Luiz not been the covering defender, Brazil would have been without their goalkeeper for the remainder of this game and the semi-final."

Football lesson number 35: that's why Julio Cesar rightly did not get a red card.

Some folks like to pretend that David Luiz wasn't there....

Remove your blinkers!

[budgetmeansbudget]

I reckon James Rodriguez was fouled more times than Neymar and not a single one ended up with a yellow card. Ironically his sole mistimed challenge of the game ended up with him getting booked.

With hindsight the ref should have given out a couple of yellow cards in the first half which may have reduced the number of niggly challenges in the second. On the other hand over zealous refs who start booking early end up with criticism when they then hand out reds in the second and the game becomes massively effected.

[budgetmeansbudget]

Can anyone explain to me how Luiz managed to do what he did with that free kick with that part of his foot, unbelievable.

[mikesiva]

Higuain scores a classy goal....

Losing Di Maria to a leg injury in the first half could be a serious blow, though.

[Aidan11]

All the Q/Fs going to form so far.