PCFormat Forum Archive

ryanrich wrote:Good game I must say. Dunga's critics are having to retract those words of doubt very quickly...

Tonight should be good as well, Spain vs Portugal!

ADT wrote:The Sight of Cristiano Ronaldo crying.... was a LOLZ

Anthro wrote:Porto LOSS wow an upset

Stuart wrote:

Anthro wrote:Porto LOSS wow an upset

They lost to Spain. Not so much an upset imo.

GreyWolf wrote:From what I saw last night, Spain can play a VERY good game. Their passing in particular really impressed me, was almost as if they had Velcro on their boots, the ball just stuck to them.

naughty wrote:

GreyWolf wrote:From what I saw last night, Spain can play a VERY good game. Their passing in particular really impressed me, was almost as if they had Velcro on their boots, the ball just stuck to them.

whats new about that - they have been doing that for the last two years - in fact they won the Euro's doing just that

in fact it would have only been an upset if portugal beat spain - Brazil and Spain were favorites going into the beginning of the world cup

MSN Sports wrote:Scientists who have analysed the controversial Jabulani ball have concluded that the World Cup ball may simply be too round to fly straight.

AFP reports that experts believe that when it comes to the Jabulani ball, perfect may not be good enough.

Spain's Iker Casillas has dissed it as "rotten," while Italy's top goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon tagged it as "unpredictable."

Julio Cesar of Brazil suggested he could do better buying a ball in a supermarket

. "Part of the problem may be that "the stitches of the Jabulani are internal, so the ball resembles a perfect sphere," said Eric Berton, deputy director of the Institute of the Science of Movement in Marseille, France.

In other sports - tennis, golf or baseball - the balls have irregularities precisely to insure a more stable and controlled trajectory. The ridges or exposed seams are what make possible spin in tennis or a curveball pitch in baseball.

Despite the Jabulani's so-called 'grip'n'grove' texturing, however, the ball apparently doesn't behave in the same way.

"Because of the shape, the time of contact with the foot is reduced," said Berton.

"As a consequence, it practically doesn't spin. The ball travels a little less far, and will have a floating and unpredictable trajectory, whether for a striker or a goalkeeper," added Berton.

Wind-tunnel tests conducted by Kazuya Seo of Yamagata and Takeshi Asai University in Tsukuba also found that the machine-made Jabulani was close to a perfect sphere, and has a tendency to slow suddenly in mid-flight - a disconcerting characteristic for footballers.

Australian scientist Derek Leinweber, based at Adelaide University, concluded after a series of computer tests that the ball goes faster and is more unpredictable than its predecessors.

"That means the goalkeeper can no longer really anticipate its trajectory," he said.

The Jabulani - "allows for maximum control, stable flight and perfect grip under all conditions," FIFA said in unveiling the controversial ball.

The ball is constructed of eight thermally-bonded polyurethane panels, and is very nearly waterproof.

Adidas has defended its product.

"There are strict FIFA guidelines on the ball (weight, size, bounce depending on what the temperature is).

"Not only does our ball fulfill all these conditions but in fact they go beyond them," commented the German company.

GreyWolf wrote:

naughty wrote:

GreyWolf wrote:From what I saw last night, Spain can play a VERY good game. Their passing in particular really impressed me, was almost as if they had Velcro on their boots, the ball just stuck to them.

whats new about that - they have been doing that for the last two years - in fact they won the Euro's doing just that

in fact it would have only been an upset if portugal beat spain - Brazil and Spain were favorites going into the beginning of the world cup

Last night was the first time I watched Spain play since the LAST world cup, so please forgive my ignorance.

BTW the centre of midfield for spain is the Xavi/Iniesta combo which is the strongest midfield pairing in world football right now - they are the reason why Barca has been so successful becasue they control the midfield with those short triangular passing movements combined with Messi - but despite Messi not being there for them - Spain uses this combination to the fullest anyway with the various other midfielders they have - its the main reason why Cesc Fabregas despite also being considered a brilliant attacking central midfielder cant even get a game right now - so imagine what happens if he leaves arsenal to go to Barca he will only get a game when one of those guys is injured - whereas at arsenal he is team captain and will always be the first name on the team sheet - so it makes me think his proposed move is a waste of time cause he will become another expensive benchwarmer and its the main reason why Barcelona claim they dont want to pay over the odds for him