See that's my main point about the WC. Don't worry about the soccer part. If you're not already a soccer fan, that part may or may not come with time. Just watch for the drama. I watched the end of Germany-Poland 6 hours after it happened and already knew the result. But it was still amazing to watch. This was Game 7, bottom of the 9th, timeout before the last shot type of drama; it just lept through the TV. And in a first round game!

Wasn't Germany's goal in stoppage time as well? I remember it as happening in the first minute of stoppage time, but I may have that mixed up.

The Germans scored in extra time to win. That's one of the reasons I just have a very, very hard time with World Cup soccer, there's made-up time on the end. No one really knows how much except for one guy. That's so lame. How about they just stop the clock during the match if it needs to be stopped? Then everyone would know exactly how much time is left. That way when the Polish team started their let's-just-keep-not-trying-to-score offense and we'll play for the tie (another reason I have a hard time getting interested in this), they'd at least know how much time they have to kill.

If we're going to pick at soccer referees for the apparent capriciousness of their decision as to when to end the game, we are logically forced to pick at baseball umpires for the apparent capriciousness of their strike zones.

Happy to help,

--JMike

I think that's why so many Americans have a problem with soccer. Action in sports here is defined by scoring (or at least more potential for scoring than soccer offers) while the World Cup is about delayed gratification. Appreciating the athelticism, the defense, the passing. The Germany match was a perfect example -- that game was so exciting with the Germans constantly pressing and coming so close, and the Poles pushing them back and back. The final goal was an absolute thing of beauty (by two substitutions, no less) that made all the waiting worth while. It's like an hour and a half of foreplay with an incredible pay off at the end. Sometimes it only ends in frustration (a nil-all tie, e.g.), but that only makes the good games all the sweeter.

I'm not sure I see how stoppage time is confusing the audience.

I think one of the great things about the game is that it's scheduled to go 90 minutes and usually takes about 90 minutes to play. Unlike basketball, where the final two minutes takes about 90 minutes to play, or football where an hour-long game takes about 3 hours to play.

Sure, those sports don't have stoppage time, so when the clock expires the game is over. But at least soccer is much closer to the advertised time.

"No instant gratification . . . I think that's why so many Americans have a problem with soccer."

So once again the fact that soccer isn't that popular in America is attributed to an alleged character defect. Couldn't possibly be a simple disinterest in the sport.

I rather like soccer. It's the holier-than-thou soccer fans that I find I don't care for.

Enjoy the game. But stop with the holier-than-thou crap already. Soccer is no more or less virtuous than any other athletic competition. Stop pretending like it is.

It's not that Americans need instant gratification. Most of us also appreciate a no-hitter or a 6-3 Football game. It's just so full of "almost".

If we're going to use sexual metaphors I would compare it to dating/wooing a really attractive woman/man for 6 months, only to find out that, when the time FINALLY comes for sex, that they just lay there/last for 2 minutes! Glad I wasted all this time for almost nothing. Weee!

But at least my friends are impressed by my ability to date attractive people/appreciate soccer!

that OT doesn't last as long. Don't get me wrong, I think the increased obstruction, hooking, and holding calls make the game better, no question. And the refs aren't putting their whistle away in the playoffs either, like they used to. Game 5 was case-in-point, although the special teams goal was supposed to a power play.

So the downside is there will be fewer multiple OT playoff games, one of my favorite things in life. I remember watching a 7 OT game in 2000, I was almost literally on the edge of my seat for 6 hours straight. The best thing ever- game 7 OT. One can still hope.

From a soccer thread, uncollaborated.

"The spiderman mask was for one of Kaviedes´team-mates, Otolino Tenorio, who died in a tragic car crash a few month ago. He was also considered one of the Ecuadorian football prodigies and used to celebrate his goals by donning a spiderman mask."

If you actually watched the Germany v Poland game, and were not pulled into the building drama and doomed struggle by Poland to hold off the Germans for just a few more minutes, then you need to just move quietly on to some other activity. Glad you checked it out, it's not your thing, its alright, you're not a bad person or an incomplete human being.

I am not a German fan at all, but that was incredible.

Once again, nice job on the coverage King.

The amount of stoppage time is determined by the fourth official and communicated to the ref, the players, the fans in the stands,and the entire worldwide audience by means of the same lightboard the fourth official uses to signal substitions. So anyone who is surprised by the final whistle hasn't really been paying attention. Once you have watched enough soccer you pretty much know how much stoppage time is going to be allowed before the official holds up the board, and I guarantee that professional players have an excellent sense of what's going on--that's why they so often let up a second or two before the ref blows the whistle.

In any event, every game played with a clock has time-keeping issues. It isn't like the NFL's time-keeping is rational and disinterested. Between the refs putting time back on the clock when it suits them, the guy running the clock letting an extra second or two tick by after every play in the fourth quarter when the home team is ahead, and the occasional running time off the clock because some guy got hurt, the whole thing is basically a mess. The NBA is much the same. I don't watch enough hockey to know what the time-keeping issues are there, but the point is that all clocks are arbitrary, at least the ones keeping time at sporting events.