Pletikosa is like a grandad falling out of his wheelchair. That aside terrible decision from the referee, no idea what he saw. Even on the TV angle straight away without replays I was of the opinion of 'no way is that a penalty'.

Maybe not financial then, but it's the second aspect I mentioned. Remember in 2002, how the whole country was hyped and super-excited throughout Korea's progression? Then FIFA decided they weren't suited for a final, and the referee didn't favor them against Germany.



Yep.

(IMG:http://globoesporte.globo.com/platb/files/89/2014/06/1.gif)

(IMG:http://globoesporte.globo.com/platb/files/89/2014/06/3.gif)

(IMG:http://globoesporte.globo.com/platb/files/89/2014/06/4.gif)

This post has been edited by X-Offender: Jun 13 2014, 10:00 AM

Not sure I'd agree there either, he yellow carded Ballack and blocked him from appearing in the final - their star player was suspended.

Furthermore haven't you just dispelled your own theory? Sure, they're not a Brazil but they were still the host nation - surely if anything by your theory of home excitement and people's attention the focal match of the world cup, the final, would be the most perfect occasion to get the unfancied hosts there?

I think refs are just refs. Sometimes yes, maybe they have been handed a bung or two to influence a result (or ordered), and most cases of this are exposed. But 99% of the time their bad calls are just plain mortal errors.

I do think there will be a small financial benefit if Brazil continue to progress, however small that may be. But this is FIFA, they'd happily have someone die to make an extra cent.

Giving a yellow to Ballack didn't benefit Korea in any way.

And no, I'm not saying that FIFA were favoring Korea to win the tournament, but to make them advance as much as possible. Obviously the semis were as far as they could go. A Brazil-Korea final wouldn't have had much appeal to the rest of the world.

I don't buy it that refs simply make mistakes when they're blatantly favoring one side over the other for the entirety of the match. Maybe the referee last night was too heavily influenced by the atmosphere, but the fact that FIFA are a bunch of thugs doesn't make it sound that far-fetched if the ref was bribed before the game to accommodate the host nation.

Paletta to play instead of De Sciglio, with Chiellini as LB.

Source: Mediaset

Darmian-Barzagli-Paletta-Chiellini, possibly the worst Italian backline ever?

You never know, even Italy's worst defense ever can have a great night. but England are more likely to win I think.

I'd argue the exact opposite. The biggest sponsor of Brazil 2014? Sony, a Japanese company. Biggest sponsor of the Australian Open in tennis? Kia, a Korean car company. Sponsorship from these parts of the world is the most lucrative around, and these parts of the world are the most densely populated.

It would make financial and popularity sense to have a Brazil Korea final as at least a billion Asians would tune in for it and sponsors would be encouraged for the next world cup.



I just think the occasion got to him and he had a bad night all round. I agree FIFA are corrupt to the hills but for me it's at a bureaucracy level and not a football one.

And I argue that less people all over the world would have watched the final if Korea had made it instead of Germany. And besides, these deals have already been contracted. You said it yourself. "The sponsors' cash is already in the pocket. TV rights have all been paid for". In this sense, your argument doesn't hold water.

Population of Europe (750m) is not even that of one country in Asia. China and India together (2.5b) hold almost 4 times what Europe as an entire continent does. Add all the other Asian countries and the TV audience that would be interested in an Asian country in the final compared with the audience interested in Germany is almost painfully larger.

And with Brazil being part of a continent that has a billion in total itself that's essentially 4B+ people who would be interested in Brazil V Korea compared with the 1.7B that would be interested in Brazil Germany.

When it's pure numbers, more Asians would be interested in a final involving an Asian country than Europeans would in a European country.

We're quite Western phobic over here, thinking the world revolves around what us Westerners think, when we're totally outnumbered by the East.

This post has been edited by Danny: Jun 13 2014, 04:06 PM

WTF?

Why? Has Abate offended Prandelli's mother or something FFS???

Why would Prandelli compromise the centre of that defence by putting Paletta in there and moving Chiellini to the left?

He was already thinking of starting Darmian, just stick Darmian on the left and play Abate on the right. It's not rocket science FFS!

Paletta, Darmian and Candreva all in the same starting line-up. England could actually win this FFS!!

Even if an Asian country made it to the final you really think everyone would give a damn? Just because they're from the same continent doesn't mean they all support each other. On the contrary, you've got the Japanese who dislike the Chinese and likewise. I'm pretty sure an Indonesian would prefer a Brazil-Germnay final to a Brazil-Korea final.

But really, I think you've pushed this argument in the wrong direction. The simple reason that FIFA would support Brazil is to keep the Brazilian population "busy" with excitement, them being the host nation and all. It's a matter of entertainment, not of sponsorships or TV rights.

Yeah, it's pretty pathetic.

Mexico had 2 goals wrongly disallowed.

and we think European refs are bad. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)