A largely disappointing game but with a bizarre ending. Portugal had Mano sent off for pushing a Chilean player. As the referee showed Mano the red card another Portugal player Zeguinha then run up and stole the card from his hand.
The referee either had a spare red card or got it back because he sent Zeguinha off.
Having generated some momentum the referee continued his card tricks and sent off Chile's goal scorer Arturo Vidal for a second yellow card issued for time wasting.
All of this in the final minute of regualtion time and injury time.
Chile now plays Nigeria but without key man Vidal. Alexis Sanchez also left the game with a
Other match-ups - Austria vs. USA; Spain vs. Czech Republic; Argentina vs. Mexico.
Portugal tends to play a little "dirty," a least on the senior side. Doesn't surprise me that Zeguinha stole the card. Hopefully this cup won't be marred by indescretions, such as the Zidane incident. We now have a brawl at the end of the Uruguay/US match. Now we have players touching the refs (also Uruguay and now Portugal). Fifa needs to send a message to these kids.
I credit the regrettably violent behavior to immaturity. This is an UNDER 20 tournament. But that is no excuse, and if these players want lasting careers in futbol, they need to keep their emotions in check.
DUMBSWEDE - I don't know what bobby thinks but i for one think its wide open, the argentines are the front runners but spain the U.S. and even nigeria have the tools to dethrone the champs i for one wouldn't be surprised if any of the afore mensioned nick it!!!
The turnament has been very good and 2 goal leads have been very dangerous (ask brazil).... its been a turnament of comebacks nothing surprises me at this point.
It's been an entertaining (if not ugly at times) tournament. If the US plays the way they did against Poland and Brazil, they definitely have a shot at pulling off the whole thing.
And I'd like to be able to chalk up at least some of the immaturity to youth, but these guys should be old enough to at *least* recognize you don't gank the card out of the ref's freakin' hand!!! That's something my one-year old would do.
Just caught the latest on the Tevez transfer saga,
Start with a shady, vague, South American businessman as the caricature villain, add one funny looking Icelandic as the Basil Faulty of a football club with baggage, and one rummy Scott as the manager who appears both grandpa loveable and The Shining scary. Next, throw in a dash of dubious South American newspaper reporting and then let the most incompetent, unhinged, "it would be funny if it wasn't real", groups to ever grace a boardroom or football pitch (and that's really saying something) call all the shots . . . and you've got what critics are already calling, "THE comedy blockbuster of the summer":
It's Kia Joorabchian, Eggert Magnússon, Alex Ferguson, the always farcical, hilarious comedy duo, Premier League and the FA, and introducing Carlos Tevez in . . .
OPERATION CLUSTER####K - The Art of the Transfer!!!
Coming soon to a website and courtroom near you!!!
This is very frustrating hearing all this about the sub-20 cup and Canada's awesome coverage, not being able to see it, I still haven't seen the handbags at the end of U.S. and Uruguay. I haven't seen Freddy's move for the 2nd goal v. Brazil and now I miss this unbelievable incident of this Portuguese taking the card.
Congrats on Argentina's fantastic showing in two tournaments this summer. I think the seniors will take care of Brazil on Sunday. Note- I know you don't care for Brazil but please dispense with the word "hate" as to me it's just such a visceral and ugly word that has no place in sports.
I think the U-20's can win it as well. Aguero is a thrill to watch.
As far as U.S. U-20's having a shot at a World Cup 2010 roster spot I'd have to say the list is: Bradley, Adu, Altidore, Szetela, & Zizzo. Bradley is the only lock and everyone else needs to transfer overseas to improve their game. Adu and Altidore would be a tantalizing option as the pair of strikers in a 4-4-2 (since no one else seems to want to score goals). Szetela & Zizzo have impressed enough that, with much more development, they could work their way into a backup role in the event that Feilhaber or Donovan go down.
Gonga- you are right about 'hate' I use it sometimes too, it is careless.
Any comments on the Galaxy's new kits, I love them, they basically ripped off Real's, but who cares they are awesome. Those green and yellows were so awful, I hated them and I mean that one. If I were a true consumer I would buy one but I am not. I may go to this Chelsea game though, probably a waste of time.
Before the leagues begin are you going to have an article with your take on the summer transfers? I'm curious to read your view on how things went in Germany, Italy, Spain and England.
Change to the old guard?
Re the U-20s: 1) Bobby what if anything do you read into future national teams/balance of power from the performance in the U-20s (probably beyond 2010 since the qualifiers won’t feature many from this group)? 2) In the past, did this translate into later World cup performances?
Tevez
This just gets worse …
1) It appears that League only accepted Tevez West Ham registration if the West Ham MSI agreement was torn up. This it seems in the league’s eye made Tevez a West Ham player, own the rights to him
2) One party tearing up an agreement while the other refuses has never worked in the history of mankind.
3) MSI claim they never agreed to tear up the agreement.
4) Logically this unravels Tevez registration and West Ham won games with an unregistered player- even after the fine and hearings were done.
5) Therefore, the points have to be deducted from the games he played in.
6) What are the League saying when they say the majority of the transfer money should go to West Ham? Does that imply that the majority of Tevez is owned by West Ham and they should be allowed to keep the majority of the points that they acquired when he played?
6) Finally, as if we needed any confirmation of this, Man Utd/SAF have shown complete arrogance in the way that they have dealt with League over Tevez. The correct thing to do was work privately with the League to sort this thing out, not by making statements in press conferences which they know is just going to P everyone off. Man U not winning any friends with this.
This is going to run and run. Meanwhile Copa America underlines what a monster player Tevez is going to be when he finally arrives at Chelsea (I wish).
Last edited by LosAngelesChelseaFan on July 13th at 9:43 AM.
The Portugal Chile game was indeed disapointing. Without Bruno Gamma, Portugal looked listless and without direction. Their defensive game was completely disorganized and it is shamefull that they did not even get a shot on goal until the last few minutes. Chile certain outplayed this underachieving Portuguese side. But to call Portuguese teams "dirty" is completely obsurd. One thing about Portuguese teams is that they stick up for one another. Mano's push on the Chilean player only came about after the Chilean slapped the falling Portuguese player in the back of the head. The fact that we are talking about U20 kids leads one to realize that they are not fully mature or ready to play on the big clubs. Congratulations to Chile.
There is no excuse for taking a card from a ref. And as for "sticking" together, that's ridiculous. These are not boys out there. They're all 17 - 19 years old! Maybe I would buy that argument in the U17 tournament. I remember being disgusted by the senior side in the world cup during one of there knock out games when they went down to 9 players.
Becks had his coming out party at the Home Depot Center.
The fact that FSC carried SKY Sports feed with an English announce team tells us everything. ESPN News took the feed. It was decidedly dull. Oh, how DB's star has fallen. To go from the Bernabeu to Carson, Ca. wow!
Beckham is here for one thing only.... to extend his brand.
He will sell tickets, kits and over time may help the popularity of the sport here. He will probably be in Tom Cruise's next movie. I think he will help the Galaxy win. His crosses and free kicks will make the highlight shows but to me he's just never been or ever will be the kind of player that is sensational and that people must see.
I mean let's face it, he couldn't beat Jay Leno on the dribble. By the way, Posh is on Leno tonight.
Ringo don't feel sorry for him. I think he's worth almost as much as the Queen or JK Rowling.
I can't feel sorry for the Beckhams'. Like gongatore has said, they're making a ridiculous amount of money. Besides that, they KNEW exactly what they were getting themselves into.
MasMaz-That nanny joke u made reminds me, becks better be careful, he had a sextape incident his second season in madrid wich faded quietly after some huges payments i heard, he better not make the same mistake!!! after all the U.S. is the land of the sextape, the headline would be....
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