Comments on: FA Cup Final Highlights

FA Cup Final Highlights

nthdegx — Sun, 14 May 2006 02:15:10 -0800

5 mins of highlights from yesterday's epic FA Cup Final between Liverpool and West Ham. Read the West Ham and Liverpool player ratings for a good idea of how the players performed individually. This game had everything.

By: MetaMonkey

MetaMonkey — Sun, 14 May 2006 02:22:15 -0800

Skateboarding Dog.

By: MetaMonkey

MetaMonkey — Sun, 14 May 2006 02:26:11 -0800

Well that was stupid. The link was meant for this thread. Was a hell of a game though. I felt exhausted at the end just from watching them.

By: By The Grace of God

By The Grace of God — Sun, 14 May 2006 03:16:36 -0800

Gretna v. Hearts was pretty good yesterday, it went to a penalty shootout!

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Sun, 14 May 2006 03:34:50 -0800

And in the Metafilter tags league, Liverpool beats West Ham 3-1...

By: popcassady

popcassady — Sun, 14 May 2006 04:21:34 -0800

Best. Cup Final. Ever.

By: TheDonF

TheDonF — Sun, 14 May 2006 04:32:14 -0800

Best. Cup Final. Ever. Indeed. It went on so long that I managed to get my hair cut and do my weekly shopping all between the beginning and end of the match as everyone else was watching the game. Huzzah!

By: sveskemus

sveskemus — Sun, 14 May 2006 06:14:46 -0800

That commentator's accent is so... wrong.

By: greytape

greytape — Sun, 14 May 2006 06:42:36 -0800

"Just past the mid-half" That felt kind of like Betty Boo narrating 'The World At War'. However, Steven Gerrard + The World Cup = Victory.

By: the cuban

the cuban — Sun, 14 May 2006 07:04:04 -0800

Jamie Carragher + The World Cup = Knocked Out In 1st Round.

By: NinjaTadpole

NinjaTadpole — Sun, 14 May 2006 07:28:22 -0800

Twice in two years the FA cup has gone to penalties after an amazing match. Twice in two years the wrong team won on the day. Just so long as Mr Gerrard remembers his profession in a white shirt this summer I won't hold it against him. That and I hope Reo-Coker's ushered in to the squad, what a captain at 21. Bloomin' Marlon Harewood; I've seen better crosses made in Sunday school and my breadboard is sharper than this man.

By: daveirl

daveirl — Sun, 14 May 2006 07:37:37 -0800

Woah Tadpole are you saying that Man U V Arsenal last year was a good match? My memory of it is that it was tragically poor.

By: Mean Mr. Bucket

Mean Mr. Bucket — Sun, 14 May 2006 07:41:38 -0800

For the maybe 1 person who doesn't know, in a shootout the goalie can't wait for the kick before he dives - he has to guess which side the shooter is going for and dive before the kick. Unbelievably difficult. Amazing game, thanks! Oh, and I like the announcer.

By: the cuban

the cuban — Sun, 14 May 2006 07:56:44 -0800

Are those the rules? I didn't think there was any obligation for the keeper to dive. So long as he stays on the line until the ball is stuck, it's fine surely?

By: seanyboy

seanyboy — Sun, 14 May 2006 07:59:35 -0800

Football Fans, 1 - Tivo'd recording of Doctor Who, 0. Plus that clip managed to suck all the fun out of the game.

By: dw

dw — Sun, 14 May 2006 08:01:50 -0800

Two great games yesterday. Too bad we only get to see one of them here in the States -- the FA Cup is on Fox Soccer Channel on Tuesday night. Oh, and Steven Gerrard + The World Cup - Wayne Rooney = Leaving Germany on the same plane as the US team.

By: jacalata

jacalata — Sun, 14 May 2006 08:07:32 -0800

@cuban: you're right, he doesn't have to dive anywhere. But the alternative is to stand there like an idiot while the ball whistles past beyond his reach, as you don't have time to react after the ball has been kicked.

By: jacalata

jacalata — Sun, 14 May 2006 08:09:04 -0800

Hmm: as clarification, you're right, the rule is that he can't move off the line before the kick. But he must decide what he's going to do before this, and commit to the leap as the player comes in.

By: the cuban

the cuban — Sun, 14 May 2006 08:28:10 -0800

Not necessarily- there's no must involved. Keepers have been known to remain standing/react after the ball is struck.

By: hoverboards don't work on water

hoverboards don't work on water — Sun, 14 May 2006 09:24:44 -0800

Penalties are no way to end a final. I say keep the match going until the players drop, like Ebdon v Dott in the recent snooker final. (For those who didn't see that one, the players didn't actually drop, but Dott did sit out one break with his eyes closed).

By: DieHipsterDie

DieHipsterDie — Sun, 14 May 2006 09:30:17 -0800

The keeper may move side to side before the ball is kicked. She may not move forward though. Standing still through while the ball sails into the net is perfectly legal, though not advised.

By: einarorn

einarorn — Sun, 14 May 2006 10:28:46 -0800

Jamie Carragher + The World Cup = Knocked Out In 1st Round. Carragher has been one of the two top defenders in the league this season and last (along with Terry). Scoring an unlucky own goal in a cup final doesn't change that fact. But yeah, amazing cup final. It's so much fun being a Liverpool fan. Never a dull moment, especially not in cup finals.

By: LeLiLo

LeLiLo — Sun, 14 May 2006 12:24:13 -0800

Penalties are no way to end a final. I say keep the match going until the players drop This is the strangest aspect to me — an elderly American with absolutely no affinity for soccer. If this is the 'big game' of the year, in the sport the entire country (in this case) is crazy about, why are they so eager to get it over with? Why not play until someone actually wins, rather than this penalty kick nonsense? The NHL, as of last year, now does the same thing, but only in the regular season. To paraphrase what this guy says, writing about hockey: • The shootout may be fun, but it isn't [soccer]. [Soccer] is a team game, not a series of breakaways. Players have to earn scoring chances by outworking and out-[passing] opponents. • The shootout is a gimmick, the equivalent of deciding a baseball game with a home run contest or breaking a football tie by having quarterbacks throw the ball through a tire. • [The goalie] works his butt off all night, stops 40 shots and salvages a 1-1 tie for his team. Two minutes later he's a loser because he couldn't stop a couple of guys on free [kicks]. How fair is that? • What's wrong with a tie? If teams can't decide a winner [after the whole game, plus the overtime], a tie is a just result.

By: DieHipsterDie

DieHipsterDie — Sun, 14 May 2006 12:50:05 -0800

Lelilo - nothing wrong with a tie. Americans though HATE ties and seem to go to great lengths to avoid them. No one wants to see a soccer match end in this manner. Brazil's 94 WC win was the worst example of this. They maybe should have let them keep playing. But wasn't it something like 90 and sunny. Do you keep playing till players drop from exhaustion?

By: afx237vi

afx237vi — Sun, 14 May 2006 14:09:28 -0800

DieHipsterDie: No, you just have a replay three days later. That's what they did for the first 123 FA Cups, and I have no idea why they changed it.

By: ChasFile

ChasFile — Sun, 14 May 2006 15:28:45 -0800

I have no idea why they changed it. For one, it makes a sport that's difficult to condense into highlight reels and clips - and where 1-0 finishes are not at all uncommon - much more SportsCenter-friendly. Bear witness that of this 5 minute recap of a 90+ minute game, fully 2 minutes were dedicated to the shoot-out.

By: dw

dw — Sun, 14 May 2006 15:38:15 -0800

Personally, I wish they'd kept the golden goal, though instead of the 15 minute halves in extra time they should play a full 45 with golden goal. Too often the teams would spend 30 minutes playing for penalties. In the NHL during the playoffs they play 20 minute overtime periods with intermission until one team scores. The infamous "Brett Hull was in the crease" game was a 3OT affair.

By: athenian

athenian — Sun, 14 May 2006 16:33:57 -0800

I thought they hadn't scrapped replays completely, just this year because of the timing of the World Cup - the logic being that if the players replayed on Wednesday, it's an extra three days off their rest before the pre-Cup friendlies. It sounds stupid even as I type it, but that doesn't mean the FA didn't do it. And I missed the match. I had to work. *WAIL*

By: Windopaene

Windopaene — Sun, 14 May 2006 22:19:35 -0800

Gah, Penalty Kick shootouts suck. Now the "running in from midfield with the keeper free to do what he wants" kind of shootouts, those kick ass. As a former keeper, I can say there's nothing I can do in a penalty kick to effect the result of the play. It's all about the kicker. If the kicker is worth their salt, the ball is going an inch from the post, and there's nothing I can do about it. If they screw up, I win. Bah. Now on the breakaway style shootout, it's me vs. the kicker, and I have to decide when to charge, and the kicker has to decide what to do about it. And those are a lot of fun...

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Sun, 14 May 2006 22:40:11 -0800

not a fan of shootouts, but nice that my boys managed to pull off the win regardless. that comic above the player rating links in the original post is pretty funny.