1. Top teams: France and Spain are up there, not necessarily because they've been stellar, but we know they're loaded and we've seen the glimpses of what could happen if they peak. Based on what I'vs seen thus far, I'd place Japan, Netherlands, and Argentina at the top tier. Sure, Messi should have gotten the red card in that game and the refs wouldn't touch the golden boy (which, if continues, could be another solid reason why Argentina might repeat this year), but I've also seen a loose Messi, something we'd never seen before in the World Cup before. His little hat trick was impressive too. I'm keeping an eye on Morocco too.
2. Better than expected: The US. They're a good team. Right now they're playing at a solid round of 16 level, maybe even a quarter finalist if they end up with a good draw. Perhaps England, though it may be too early to tell, you know how it goes with those guys. Canada had me raise an eyebrow. Brazil, maybe. Norway is certainly better than they have been before, though how far can they go, I'm not sure.
3. Worse than expected: I'm gonna reserve my rage and wrath regarding the Turkish team to reddit where I'll be joining the commiseration fest with other fans. Heads need to roll. But let's move on. Germany? What's going on? Switzerland? Belgium? Nope. Nope.
4. Hydration break: I didn't think I was going to hate anything more than the 48 team field that lowered the stakes in the group round, but the so-called "hydration break" told me to hold its beer. This atrocity is not about making sure the players are ok, but a FIFA supported US commercial broadcasting ploy to turn soccer into a four quarter game. I hate the "commercial breaks" with profound passion. It's complete bullsh*t. It breaks the flow of the game, it breaks team momentum, it violates the spirit of the game -- I mean if it's really hot and there are serious dehydration issues, sure, go ahead, by all means. But having a half point break at a halftime in a night game played in Canada? Are you f*cking kidding me?
5. New rules.
a. Keepers wasting time leading to a corner kick by the opposing team: OK. It's fine. I guess.
b. Injured players leaving the field for one minute if the game is stopped: I understand what they are trying to do here (and it's not about player safety, it's about time-wasting and momentum killing by pretending to be injured), but it seems to me that the team who causes the injury, when the injury is real, ends up gaining a one-man advantage for one minute after they've butchered some guy and that doesn't sit well with me.
c. Red card for covering your mouth while talking to another player: I understand the motive for this one too and the racist incident that triggered it ... but how widespread is this issue and was there no other solution available? Are they sure they're not going to punish, at some point, some player who's putting his hands around his mouth to be heard over the crowd noise? I dunno. It doesn't sit right with me.
6. Man are there so many goals in this cup. (Also a lot of early goals. Impressive.) I've heard folks argue that the ball being used in this cup is extra bouncy. There was another world cup that did the same thing, but I can't remember which one that was. I mean if that's the reason for the number of goals we've seen, I guess that's a good way of doing this (instead of meddling with the rules), but I think that's also a reason why so many long distance shots and up going wildly high and don't bend down towards the goal. So I guess that's a mixed bag. Increased number of goals is a good thing though. It helps differentiate teams in the group stage and lowers the chances of a tie in the elimination round.
7. There have been some insane goalkeeping in this cup. It's awesome.
8. 48 teams being trimmed down to 32 at the end of the group stage instead of the conventional 32 team field still sucks a$$. I still hate it. No 3rd place team should be able to advance. Period.
9. Announcers. OMG. Between the colonialist attitude of the Brits and the yak yak yak, everyone's a podcaster now attitude of the American announcers, I'm beginning to think maybe I should learn Spanish and watch these games on Telemundo. Just today, Egypt is up 3-1 over New Zealand in the closing minute of the game, and the only thing the announcers (one Brit, one American) are talking about is how disappointing this is for New Zealanders and what chances they have to get through the next stage by being one of the best 3rd place teams. Any word on Egypt's chance to move to the second round for the first time since 1934? Any word for what that means for Egypt? For Mo Sallah? Nope. Apparently not interested. I hate the announcers. F*ck'em.
Ok. So that's where I am now.
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Note to Dr. Bruin: feel free to crack a joke about the sport with 0-0 ties or some other inanity.