The World Cup Controversy thread (renamed)

[Chuft-Captain]

Paul the Octopus seem have been fished in Isle of Elba (Tuscany) and then brought in Germany!.

I read that he was hatched in Sea World UK and later transferred to Sea Life Oberhausen, so if that's true, he's a British traitor, not an Italian traitor (so you don't have to worry )

Holland "Karate's player" should have been for red card.

That was a shocker wasn't it!... and as an Italian you'd have to say "almost as bad as a head-butt to the chest!"

[TERRIER]

Well, the Dutch tactic was just to get in there and disrupt the Spanish game as much as possible, rather than playing their own game. Unfortunately that made for a very messy and antagonistic game with most of the dutch team yellow-carded, and 1 sent off.
It was a pity because it was NOT a "beautiful game", and I think the Dutch team is better than that. I guess that was their strategy (and it may have got them a result) but in the end, I think the best team won.

Yes, I think the better team won the final which was ruined by a very cynical and maybe understandable approach by the Dutch. Perhaps the fan I quoted was actually refering to his teams playing tactics from their 10 outfield "hatchetmen".

Forlan = World Cup's best player (rightly, imho)

Yes I thought Diego Forlan was outstanding - he was one of very few players to totally master the jabulani, but I thought Thomas Mueller had better all round play, at least he deservedly won the young player of the tournament and the golden boot.

NZ is the only team not to lose a single match in the tournament!


PS. Oh, and Paul the Psychic octopus has a perfect record for the tournament as well.

So it's congrats to New Zealand....the real World Cup winners

A few thoughts,
So Paul completed a 100% success rate, but if he can correctly predict the result of a football match, how would he have coped if he had to predict all three of New Zealand's group matches this World Cup?
Does this mean he has the power to eliminate the drawn game entirely from football ?

and one last thought,
There's no doubt that octopus sales will now greatly increase down at the local petstore......
.....so I shall be calling my Octopus....LOTTO!

[Fenerit]

Paul the Octopus seem have been fished in Isle of Elba (Tuscany) and then brought in Germany!.

I read that he was hatched in Sea World UK and later transferred to Sea Life Oberhausen, so if that's true, he's a British traitor, not an Italian traitor (so you don't have to worry )

http://www.corriere.it/sport/speciali/2010/mondiali-calcio-sudafrica/notizie/11-luglio-polpo-paul-italiano_8179b362-8cd6-11df-bfcf-00144f02aabe.shtml

Under the bold title:
"The revelation of the trainer of the guess octopus: I fished him by my hands"

EDIT LATER:
..."his trainer Verena Bartsch has just dropped a bit of a bombshell. She claims that she "caught Paul in April in the sea off the Italian island of Elba, near Tuscany, and he was four weeks old at the time. Italian media immediately renamed him Paolo." http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/294531

Yes I thought Diego Forlan was outstanding - he was one of very few players to totally master the jabulani, but I thought Thomas Mueller had better all round play, at least he deservedly won the young player of the tournament and the golden boot.

Sure, but Forlan have been more decisive for its team. Unfortunately Mueller "sink" sourrounded by other Germany outstanding players: (Schweinsteiger, Friedrick, Klose, Ozil, Lahm etc.; that is, all Germany team is worth).

[Chuft-Captain]

So it's congrats to New Zealand....the real World Cup winners

Well, maybe in 2014 in Brazil!

So Paul completed a 100% success rate, but if he can correctly predict the result of a football match, how would he have coped if he had to predict all three of New Zealand's group matches this World Cup?
Does this mean he has the power to eliminate the drawn game entirely from football ?

I imagine that a draw would be represented by him scoffing both mussels, although as far as I know he hasn't yet picked a draw for any game (and that would only apply to the group stages anyway).

Here's ESPN's WorldCup Best XI team: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/columns/story?id=807589&cc=3436&ver=global
Notice who they picked for Centre-back.

and their Worst XI team: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/columns/story?id=807588&cc=3436&ver=global

[TERRIER]

Perhaps this year's World Cup won't best be remembered for the quality of the football, but it has at least left one lasting legacy.

Vuvuzela has just gained entry into the 2010 edition of the Oxford Dictionary of English, along with 2000 other words such as toxic debt, staycation and Geo-engineering. However this dictionary is not to be confused with it's bigger brother the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) which I've noticed has been reported incorrectly in quite a few sources. The ODofE is mainly used to reflect current trends and phrases in English.

Here's the BBC link http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11020038