meazza

He won 2 consecutive scudetto's for Napoli. Given that he was the reason they won their only titles says a lot about why they would love him. Since then, they've been mediocre. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.S.C._Napoli My parents were born in Salerno which is an hour drive from Napoli but my team has always been AS Roma. I'm assuming that the north hates Maradona because he took two titles away from them

One things for sure. They loved him in Napoli. But I don't hate him as a person. I just wanted to see him fail as I don't like Argentina. Hell, I don't like any other World Cup contender.

Because I think that he was probably the worst coach you could put in charge of such a talented team and 1990 did hurt. What happened in 2006 was different. Coach kept Messi on the bench (although I don't think he was that much of an impact player that year) and did not risk as much. There's a difference between playing totally defensive (i.e. catenaccio) and playing fluid ball control football. Maradona put a team on the field that couldn't defend against anyone, let alone Germany. Did he really believe he would outscore his way to the World Cup? A good coaches focuses on the strengths and plugs the weaknesses. In this case, he didn't.

Rematch of Euro 2008 final. That's the beauty of these tournaments. Sometimes you get revenge, other times you don't. Germany certainly got their revenge against England in 1966. Italy got their revenge from Germany for what happened in 1990.

Yep. Only Brazil once won in Sweden in 58.

You know there's something to be said about history. Look up the WC history on Wiki and you'll clearly see that there is a few countries that are always contenders. Germany has always been there and you could never count them out. Of course they never beat Italy in a WC game so that's something to be said as well. Now where's Hardy Pyle? Surely he must have a reasoning why Argentina showed up so flat today? And regarding team USA, their defense doomed them to fail. The attack was there though but you need a defense to win these knockout games.

Maybe Maradona could coke up his players at halftime to get them to wake up.

You know I really hate Brazil because of the rivalry but Juan is AS Roma's best defender and was instrumental in the scudetto run this year. I feel sorry for him as he played lights out. The biggest problem in Brazil was Juventus defender Felipe Melo who scored in his own net (though it was a Julio Cesar blunder) and that terrible straight red. To me Dunga is a class act and it's sad that he'll be forced to quit.

It was a smart foul. He took a chance and it paid off. WTF kind of penalty kick was that???

Looks like it's karma for the vuvuzela's

I always tell people the sting of losing in penalties. It just comes down to emotions since it's a clear easy shot to take. Cheers to Ghana for fighting so hard but what a bad way to go down. Been there, done that.

Doesn't matter. As long as you care.

The Dutch have always had a great pool of talent. They just seemed to always screw up at this level. Good for them, honestly.

In Boca Lupo

Honestly speaking, I am very happy I was wrong. All I hope is that the Germans go out too and the top two spots in the world will remain unchanged after 2010.

Dunga has been criticized for the last 4 years for his "tactical approach". If they don't win this game, you can bet he will be let go right away. Sad as he is a great player.

Guess I spoke too soon?

At first glance I thought it was a screwed up offside trap. After looking again, it was just blown defending. The Dutch never win...

Offside traps in soccer. When they don't work, you get scored on. Just ask Holland

Meh. The Germans will always have Grosso memories in their head You know I just watched a BBC documentary of the Germany - Italy back in 2006. I think what really stood out for me was the refs. For me, the Mexican ref kept the pace going, did not ruin the game by making any boneheaded calls and let them play. There were a few iffy calls on both ends but that's sport. Amazing how difficult it is to find another referee like that.

Poutine is probably one of the worst things you can eat. I haven't touched one in years. I could just imagine how a competition must ruin you

Bleh. It's a nice day off La St Jean is when it's cracking here

Gang bangs will do that to a guy.

From what I heard Bill Clinton has already vowed his support to paraguay.

I'm going to move to Paraguay and marry her.