** 2014 World Cup Thread **

[|Zach|]

Final: Germany vs Argentina

3rd Place: Brazil vs Netherlands




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/standings/

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

I'm thinking that, yes, throwing a touchdown pass at the highest level of the game IS more difficult than scoring a goal at the highest level of the game. Goal scoring certainly isn't "exponentially" more difficult. Think about it like this: how many individual players could accomplish each task? Last year in the NFL, only 23 quarterbacks were able to throw 15 or more touchdowns. The amount of humans who CAN play QB at the highest level is significantly smaller than the amount of humans who can score goals at the highest level. Therefore, arguably, passing TDs are more difficult.

But it is a bad comparison in the first place. A great QB can nearly always beat any defense through individual effort. Soccer is just set up so that individual dominance of a game is rarer.

The flaw in you theory is that very few QB's get the chance, while every player on the pitch, the goalie included gets a chance to score goals.

[Prison Bitch]

Golfs my fave sport both to play and watch, but I can see why others find it boring. I'm not a defensive soccer fan who blows up at the mere hint that a 0-0 or 1-0 game sucked for a lot of people to watch. Besides I think they're full of feces anyway, they just don't want to admit that it did suck.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by aturnis

The flaw in you theory is that very few QB's get the chance, while every player on the pitch, the goalie included gets a chance to score goals.

Stanzi homers never quit, do they?

[aturnis]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Stanzi homers never quit, do they?

32 teams, 32 QB's guaranteed, plus a handful more for injuries and controversy.

Versus 26 in a single game for soccer, just field players and subs, excluding goalies.

[blaise]

If you're going to say a goalie can score goals then you'd have to include running backs and anyone else that can handle the ball as a possible touchdown thrower.

[aturnis]

I said they potentially can, but if you notice, I left them out in the next comparison.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by blaise

If you're going to say a goalie can score goals then you'd have to include running backs and anyone else that can handle the ball as a possible touchdown thrower.

Just wanted to post this, more than anything.

[Hammock Parties]

It is true that there are too many commercials during football. But they do afford you a chance to get food, take a shit, etc.

The cool thing about soccer is that you can leave at any time to get a beer or some food and probably miss nothing.

[New World Order]

Originally Posted by Count Zarth

It is true that there are too many commercials during football. But they do afford you a chance to get food, take a shit, etc.

The cool thing about soccer is that you can leave at any time to get a beer or some food and probably miss nothing.

Sorry, it's already been proven that it is the world's biggest and most exciting sport.

[Baby Lee]

A bit more on Messi

For those of us, . . . ahem, . . . who live and die by statistical analysis, 538 has penned an article on the premise that, although it is IMPOSSIBLE for one player to dominate as many aspects of the games as Messi does, the analysis establishes that he does and has for a good chunk of time. MoF, if Messi were two distinct players, each taking a share of his dominant traits, they'd be the two most dominant players in the world.

Originally Posted by 538

I arrived at a conclusion that I wasn’t really expecting or prepared for: Lionel Messi is impossible.

It’s not possible to shoot more efficiently from outside the penalty area than many players shoot inside it. It’s not possible to lead the world in weak-kick goals and long-range goals. It’s not possible to score on unassisted plays as well as the best players in the world score on assisted ones. It’s not possible to lead the world’s forwards both in taking on defenders and in dishing the ball to others. And it’s certainly not possible to do most of these things by insanely wide margins.

But Messi does all of this and more.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/...is-impossible/

Second focuses on dribbling. It's a comparison of Messi to the dominant player of the prior generation, Maradona. Note;

How close he keeps the ball
How swift he remains while controlling the ball
The angle of his cuts
The abruptness of his cuts
His outlets when he's finally drawn max attention

Further, at 6:05 are, back to back, the consensus two greatest individual effort goals of the past 50 years. One by Messi, the other by Maradona.

Both of them have styles very distinct from the Ronaldos and Ronaldinhos of the world, who treasure a little more flash [think back to Ronaldo's 4-5 heel kick escape from caging at midfield against USMNT]

No embedding

http://youtu.be/vpjXpBLImyk

[WhawhaWhat]

[WhitiE]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

I love it.

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by DaFace

This debate seems silly and pointless.

You must be new to Chiefsplanet... 99.9% of all conversations on here are silly and pointless...

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by Reerun_KC

You must be new to Chiefsplanet... 99.9% of all conversations on here are silly and pointless...

Seems low.

[Baby Lee]

A good cross section focusing on Messi's top goals scored in the past 10 years, ranked

No embedding

http://youtu.be/wEhniGlFDtA