World Cup 2010

[Kalah]

We'll get a new World Champion; a country that has never won it before. My money's on Holland, but it should be a great final regardless.

[ThunderTitan]

RELEASE THE KRAKEN... see which box he picks.

[Panda Tar]

First time ever to happen a final without any previous Champion. Now I'll watch the game.

[ScarlettP]

WOOT!

All hail the Psychic Octopus!

[jeff]

Damn squid is right again.

On the menu at a German Restaurant near you.



Though it was only 1-0, it was still entertaining and the better team won.

[Kalah]

I found it a little dull, actually. If the goal had come sooner, the match might have heated up a bit more. Now it only really got interesting the final quarter.

[ScarlettP]

I didn't get to see it. I've been searching YouTube for videos, but no luck yet.

[Shyranis]

So this may seem unrelated at first but...

UTAU is a free program that allows you to use virtual singers for any song you can thing of. You can even make your own. Look up UTAU and you'll get a ton of songs even here on Youtube.

People also use them as voice actors for animations.

However (and this is the part to do with the world cup), some crazy person made one with the voice of a vuvuzela (named Bubune Zela no less).

This is how UTAU normally sound.

This is the Vuvuzela version.


Enjoy.

For more info on UTAU see:
http://utau.wikia.com/wiki/UTAU_wiki[url][/url]




Oh, and because Kirby is ultimate cuteness, here is Kirby singing Fukkireta as well.

[Gaidal Cain]

It's easy, you're not allowed to pass to someone that's beyond the last defender of the other team...

Almost, but not quite.

You're not allowed to pass forward to someone who has less than two persons in the defending team between him and the goal. One of the two defenders is usually, but not always, the goalkeeper. You can also not be offside on your own half, or if the ball was passed backwards to you.

[Koni]

Spain was the better team and has earned the victory. The German boys acted too anxiously and with too much respect for their opponents from the beginning. No player found his courageous form which they showed in the previous games. Maybe the Dutch players do it, if they attack the Spains earlier and press them in the middlefield and disturb their circles. Good luck, Holland!

[ThunderTitan]

You're not allowed to pass forward to someone who has less than two persons in the defending team between him and the goal. One of the two defenders is usually, but not always, the goalkeeper. You can also not be offside on your own half, or if the ball was passed backwards to you.

If he read the rules and didn't understand why would you think you needed to overcomplicate the explanation?!

[Gaidal Cain]

Because the trouble with the offside rule is probably less that it's hard to understand than the fact that it's simplified, and then people complain when they "don't understand" why someone wasn't offside.

[Ethric]

You're not allowed to pass forward to someone who has less than two persons in the defending team between him and the goal. One of the two defenders is usually, but not always, the goalkeeper. You can also not be offside on your own half, or if the ball was passed backwards to you.

That's way better than the wikipedia-explanation, I actually understood it now.

[TheUndeadKing]

...or if the ball was passed backwards to you.

Wrong. It's not offside only if the receiving player is BEHIND the ball. Any type of pass is allowed (including forward passes) as long as the receiving player is behind the ball, so it doesn't necessarily have to be a backwards pass to him either.

[Kalah]

Look, all you noobs, it's simple: The rule is there to avoid "fishing". Imagine the typical 10-year-olds picture, of all the players running after the ball no matter where it is. Then there's always one guy who stands still up by the opponent's goal throughout the match. Then his keeper gets the ball, kicks it all over the field up to him, and he scores because he's alone up there.

That is why you are not allowed to stand in an offside position. Now, how to define what offside is exactly? Well, you have to assign just how many players your opponent can have up there to keep an eye on you. That number is two, to include the keeper, since he never leaves the goal. That leads to the definition:

You are in an offside position if you are closer to the opponent's goal than the second last opposing player.

Then to the rule in practice. Keep in mind what I said initially, why the rule is there.
- you cannot be ruled offside if you're behind the ball when it's played to you (obviously), or if it's played to you by an opponent.
- you are not offside if you're on your own half of the pitch (that's so far away from the goal that the "fishing" thing is out).
- you are also not offside on throw-ins or goal kicks (those are set piece situations, and the opponent should be prepared).

The reason this gets so tricky in high-level football is that the pros really know how to push these rules to their limits. That's all.

[TheUndeadKing]

And then there's "Passive Offside"...

[Kalah]

Yeah, like I said, they're pushing the rules to the limit. Basically, it's not illegal to stand offside, as long as you're not doing anything or are involved in the game. That rule has been stretched to its very limit, by saying that unless you actually receive the ball, or gain an advantage by your (offside) position, you're fine.

Illustrated thus:

"Hey, ref! That guy running over there on the right - he was offside!"
"Yes, but the ball wasn't hit to him, it was hit to someone else, who was not offside!"

[Ethric]

I liked GC's explanation...

[darknessfood]

Are we really explaining the offside rule? This isn't the World Cup 2010 for women topic right?

[Kalah]

No, this belongs in the football thread, really. Now, who do we think wins? I think Holland. In extra time.

And we all know I'm right, because I've got eight arms, and I'm an octopus.