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Aotearoa39261 Posts
The 2010 World Cup is now fading into fond memories. What will we remember from it? Will it be all the diving that took place? France failing harder than BP's attempts to stop the oil leak? How Ghana brought enormous respect to their country despite their political and social climate? Will it just be Spain winning the whole thing? Or perhaps, it will just be Paul the octopus??
Whatever it is, I think I can speak for everyone when I say that the World Cup was a very enjoyable watch this year full of highs and lows and sheer wtfisms. Every time one of these events comes up, we hold a special Liquibet competition and award the winner with a special icon. For football, it is a Golden Ball icon. The last winner of this ball is former staff member Bill307 who still proudly displays next to his name.
This season the competition was fierce, but a clear winner emerged. With 87 points out of a possible 116, Beyonder is the 2010 World Cup Liquibet winner! Bey continues the tradition of staff members taking out this title - no rigging involved I swear! He rapidly rose to first place after a perfect score in the Ro16, he followed that up by correctly guessing the remainder of the bets. The complete top ten were:
1. Beyonder - 87
2. new_construct - 86
3. whatever - 82
4. Speedbump - 80
5. akevin - 80
6. CoMMoDuS - 80
7. lazz - 78
8. Luhh - 78
9. Mykill - 78
10. skyrunner - 78
Also on 78 were RagingFury and Valnyris.
I got a moment to sit down and chat with Beyonder about his success and grab some opinions off of him about the world cup.
Sup bey! Congrats on winning the 2010 World Cup Liquibet. At which point did you realise that you had it won?
Hello mister interviewer! I realized I had great chances the moment Spain beat Germany. That was the match I felt most uncomfortable with. I talked to a lot of people about the match, and no one really knew what to expect.
You predicted everything from the Ro16 onwards perfectly. What was your thought process behind Netherlands vs Brazil, Germany vs Spain and Germany vs Argentina.
Netherlands versus Brazil was a tough one. But prior to the match I felt that the Dutch midfield was way superior and I felt that the Brazilian team was not so strong this year. I could have never predicted that the match would have two totally different faces, though.
Germany versus Spain was the only match I felt uneasy with. Three deciding factors led me to vote for Spain though. First of all, Muller is such an important player in the German team. He was the biggest reason behind the speedy play of the Germans. The second factor consisted of simple logic: most people voted Germany, so I maximized my chances of winning if I voted Spain. And last, a lot of the German players do not play (actively) at the true European top teams, while the Spanish team is filled with Barcelona players. Psychology has taught me that the ones with the most relevant experience are least likely to mess under extreme pressure.
Obviously, you're from the Netherlands yet voted Spain to win the final. What was going through your mind when you did that?
I felt Spain had the stronger team, and the better football. The way they play is such a joy to watch and it made sense to vote for them. In addition, by voting Spain I'd win either way. A world cup online, or a world cup in my country 
There were a couple memorable moments from the World Cup - Gyan's fail, Paul the Octopus, France/Italy failing, the English goal that wasn't really a goal - what will you remember the most coming out of this world cup?
I actually talked about this today with my co-workers. I presume the moment where Robben was alone in front of Casillas in the final, but he missed the shot. Predicting a thousand replays on that moment under the notion "What if?" But really, I doubt I will remember much. I watched every game, yet almost none of them were noteworthy.
Which team surprised you the most during the tournament?
I'd have to say Germany. They performed so well with their young, talented squad. I think they were lucky that Ballack got injured. I’ve gained a lot of respect for our neighbours. Holland and Germany kind of switched roles this world cup which I did not expect that at all. I even ended up cheering for the Germans, and I know a lot of other Dutchies did so too. That is something totally new as we've kind of despised them for over 60 years
Speaking of Paul, thoughts on trading in your World Cup Ball prize for a Golden Octopus?
For sure :D Paul guided me like I guide Nyovne and (especially) Pholon with their new Banling job. I guess I will remember the octopus then!
Forlan won the golden ball this year, but who was the player of the tournament for you?
I'm going to pick Muller for his smart and creative play. One of the few players who actually runs without a ball at his feet. His movement is superb. Such a shame he did not play in the semi final due to a referee mistake. Not like he could have prevented the ball from hitting his hand against Argentina.
What was the most difficult part of the Liquibet season for you?
I haven't really felt uncomfortable at all during the Liquibet. I predicted that Uruguay would do well, as I predicted that France and Italy would do poor. Expected more from Ivory Coast and Nigeria though.
Will the Dutch ever win the World Cup? If so, want to give a prediction for when that will happen?
Honestly, I am very disappointed in my country and I suppose I feel similar to a lot of Brazilians. I want to be able to tell my children the epic story of Hollands' total football, and how it eventually won us the world cup deservingly. We should win the cup with good play, or we shouldn't win it at all. Especially not with fouling and diving. So I’m happy we deservingly lost to a good Spain. I don’t think we will take the cup any time soon. Germany’s time is coming. We might actually have a good shot next time, as our (supposedly) key players (Robben, Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Van Persie) won’t be too old. I doubt it though. If we keep playing like this, I hope we never win the cup.
Can you give the readers some insight into your history as a TL staff member? I'm sure most of the newer guys have no clue who you are!
Sure, it will be similar to this blog, but I’ll try to keep it shorter.
It all started even before this site was launched, as I posted on the old forums. I wrote news for a different site when Nazgul asked me to write news for Teamliquid (note: this was not pro-gaming news, originally TL meant to cover the foreign scene (too?)). I declined as I wanted to stay loyal.
I’m user number 6 on this site and I quickly posted quite a bit, especially in the general forum. Slowly the users messing up my threads started to get to me and after a talk with Nazgul I hatched from user into moderator, specifically for the general forum. Most users won’t really know me, as eventually I ended up going inactive in BW (after winning a vacuum cleaner at the WCG!) and eventually TL too. SC2 however has revived me, and now I’m back to moderating and playing. I might help to host some crazy TL-events in the near future, but it all depends how busy I’ll be with my Psychology master
What are your thoughts on SC2? Going to play it at all?
Actually, I’m very optimistic. I’ve played a lot of SC2 already and I’m enjoying myself, as are my friends. I’m liking it as a spectator sport too. So yes, I’ll definitely be playing. I just hope the maps start becoming better (and bigger!) soon so more creativity is possible. And a few more units which used skilfully can make the difference wouldn’t hurt. That’s all I can complain about though, I just really like it.
Well thanks for your time Bey! Congrats once again. Any last words?
I’ll use this moment to compliment all the staff members who made TL from what it was to what it is now. In the time I’ve (mostly) been away, TL has really grown into a professional, amazing website which I’m proud to be a (little) part of it. The same goes for IRC, which is the baby I share with Carnac. This site has really meant a lot to me, and still does, and it is amazing to see how well TL is doing.
And with that, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to be closing down the world cup forum. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
We'll see you again in Brazil, 2014!
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congrats! nice interview! i believe beyonder > paul
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baaaahhhh,,,,, congrats anyways, lol..
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congrats on winning bey 
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United States10328 Posts
congrats! too bad I didn't know about world cup liquibet until it was too late  but not like i would've done well anyways lol
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FREEAGLELAND26781 Posts
Beyonder imba!
Congratulation~
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Congrats!
I missed the liquibet. I won some money on work when I was the third most successful on betting the whole thing. Would be cool too see what my score would have been here.
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gg beyonder.
you are worthy of being a psychic octopus
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Baa?21243 Posts
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Give him that soccer icon allready!
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Wow, that's pretty impressive with the perfect playoff record. grats^^
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These days TL is truly massive.
- Beyonder, May 2007
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Great article as always Plex, grats to Bey too.
On July 16 2010 14:13 Plexa wrote:
Whatever it is, I think I can speak for everyone when I say that the World Cup was a very enjoyable watch this year; full of highs and lows and sheer wtfisms.
Well not quite, I thought it was boring.
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
On July 16 2010 19:30 Klive5ive wrote:Great article as always Plex, grats to Bey too. Show nested quote +On July 16 2010 14:13 Plexa wrote:
Whatever it is, I think I can speak for everyone when I say that the World Cup was a very enjoyable watch this year; full of highs and lows and sheer wtfisms. Well not quite, I thought it was boring.
What!! Watching it this year was pretty good I mean, certainly not the best football I've seen but the French/Italy fail had me laughing my ass off, Ghana's valiant efforts especially the game against Uruguay were awesome, Germany rolling England was great. The storylines were there and the drama and fail was there as well. It was a pretty decent world cup
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Beyonder: We should win the cup with good play, or we shouldn't win it at all. Especially not with fouling and diving. So I’m happy we deservingly lost to a good Spain
Wow, YOU THE MAN. It was fantastic to hear this from a Dutch, it would have been terrible if you guys had won the WC without trace of the total football of the 70's... So unfair. But I'm glad some of us will remember the teams of '74 and '78, probably the only runner-ups History will remember.
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big thanks goes to germany for playing "such great to watch football"
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Beyonder
Netherlands15103 Posts
On July 16 2010 18:48 Liquid`Nazgul wrote:- Beyonder, May 2007
Just like the jungle.
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so close.... gj to Beyonder though, I suspected you'd vote against your country.
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To infinity.. and Beyond(er)!
Congrats, I completely forgot few bets, not that I had any chance anyways, considering my football knowledge is as good as my countries economy!
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Congratulations! Beyonder ! Well picked in the RO16^_^
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I was doing fine at first, then after some screw ups in round of 16 I decided to drop and missed lots
Congrats!
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Well, well, well, I must admit I am very bitter after this wc liquibet. In 2006 I was second to bill307 by only point, this year if Netherlands had I won, I would have been the winner, but... Brazil 2014 is mine. Glad to hear the reasoning behind Spain > Germany from Bey, I was sure he was gonna vote for Germany after reading his posts about how strong the germans are. But I am happy that Bey won, cause he is my favourite mod
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Beyonder
Netherlands15103 Posts
On July 17 2010 01:17 mdb wrote:Well, well, well, I must admit I am very bitter after this wc liquibet. In 2006 I was second to bill307 by only point, this year if Netherlands had I won, I would have been the winner, but... Brazil 2014 is mine. Glad to hear the reasoning behind Spain > Germany from Bey, I was sure he was gonna vote for Germany after reading his posts about how strong the germans are. But I am happy that Bey won, cause he is my favourite mod
You were more than a worthy advisary, kind sir. I like how you saw through my mindgames and voted for Holland. I was actually surprised. I suck at lying :D
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wow nice BZZZZonder
i had no idea there was a world cup 2010 liquibet?
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I had to go all-in in the Finals and 3rd place match; voted Uruguay and Holland just in case there were huge upsets. I wonder how many people did the same..
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On July 16 2010 17:33 Iplaythings wrote:
Give him that soccer icon allready!
Actually, I like his current icon. I'd be sad to see it go.
So many unique icons have already gone lately with the Banling promotions. 
I'm certainly going to remember Ghana vs Uruguay from the World Cup. And not just because of Gyan/Suarez, but because of the entire adrenaline-inducing second half and beyond.
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'Grats Beyonder, I tried to keep up with ya, but you were too good.
EDIT: How much did teams underperforming in the group stage screw up your early bracket? (More curious as to how people picked the early stages)
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
On July 17 2010 03:24 Psyker wrote:Actually, I like his current icon. I'd be sad to see it go. So many unique icons have already gone lately with the Banling promotions. I'm certainly going to remember Ghana vs Uruguay from the World Cup. And not just because of Gyan/Suarez, but because of the entire adrenaline-inducing second half and beyond.
Bey hasn't lost his icon  it's displayed like the liquibet trophies and fpl trophies are
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Germany / USA16648 Posts
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Gratz Bey, i was sure gonna bet for the sexy spanish guys
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Baa?21243 Posts
That is an amazing icon haha xD
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*cry* the kraken already haunts my dreams and now i have to see it as an icon on tl... the world is not fair!
but grats on the mad guessing skills : ) there has to be some telepathy going on between you and paul
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Nice job Beyonder. How about you become a Dutch team manager in 4 years?
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Brazil's team not strong? I think that was a huge upset for Netherlands to win, Brazil dominated them until team collapse... also they had a really good year just before the world cup and won all invitational tournaments, so I don't see where you get that fact that brazil was not strong this world cup ...
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Forlan won the golden boot this year, but who was the player of the tournament for you?
I'm going to pick Muller for his smart and creative play. One of the few players who actually runs without a ball at his feet. His movement is superb. Such a shame he did not play in the semi final due to a referee mistake. Not like he could have prevented the ball from hitting his hand against Argentina.
My thoughts exactly!
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wow, a complete sweep of the R16, thats impressive.
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Beyonder
Netherlands15103 Posts
On July 17 2010 20:06 dRaW wrote:
Brazil's team not strong? I think that was a huge upset for Netherlands to win, Brazil dominated them until team collapse... also they had a really good year just before the world cup and won all invitational tournaments, so I don't see where you get that fact that brazil was not strong this world cup ...
not as strong. I'm not saying that we were the favorites for that match, I however am saying that Brazil had a pretty weak midfield. Awesome strikers, but Kaka was out of shape. And we, for the most part, could eliminate the upcoming backs with Kuyt.
And same could be said for the Netherlands? 24 games undefeated, 9 games winstreak, 2 goals against us in the qualifiers. Holland had 5 players who almost solely make the difference in their respective international topteams. Good luck finding that in the Brazil team, or any other team.
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Congratulations! You're a veritable octopus! (that should totally be the icon)
"I’m user number 6 on this site"
Damn.
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An entire article without you mentioning the fact that New Zealand was the only team to go undefeated in the world cup. I'm impressed Plexa
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The biggest legacy of this world cup is obvious.
BBBBBBBBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
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There's a typo here. Forlan won the golden ball, not golden boot.
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
On July 19 2010 07:21 Alethios wrote:An entire article without you mentioning the fact that New Zealand was the only team to go undefeated in the world cup. I'm impressed Plexa
Yea what kind of achievement is that. It's ridiculous. We played 3 games, won none. Who cares that NZ went undefeated, we didn't get anywhere lol. We played above expectations, but really, nothing to gloat about.
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congrats, i had a horrible WC for tipping outside of TL. 38.........
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congratz beyonder!
so close... T_T
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damn octopus lol
although a very deserving win by Spain. I was rooting for the Dutch until they bm'ed so bad =(
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EPT![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/paul.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/usericons/world_cup_2006.gif)
