FIFA World Cup 2006 - Official topic

[NickSCFC]

www.fifaworldcup.com

http://www.canyouhearus.co.uk/images/germany_2006.gif

GROUP A

Germany
Costa Rica
Poland
Ecuador


GROUP B

England
Paraguay
Trinidad & Tobago
Sweden


GROUP C

Argentina
Ivory Coast
Serbia & Montenegro
Holland


GROUP D

Mexico
Iran
Angola
Portugal


GROUP E

Italy
Ghana
USA
Czech Republic


GROUP F

Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan


GROUP G

France
Switzerland
South Korea
Togo


GROUP H

Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia

[Fats]

As England are going to fail like they do all the time...

Come on the Japan (Even though Brazil will take the cup again)!

[NickSCFC]

Top players to look out for...

David Beckham (England)
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/fifa/gen/xp/20050330/i/3110298716.jpg

Freddie Adu (USA)
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050614/050614_FreedyAdu_vmed_3p.widec.jpg

Ronaldinho (Brazil)
http://in.yimg.com/xp/reuters_ids_new/20050609/17/640922687.jpg

Lionel Messi (Argentina)
http://contenido.sugerimos.com/contenido/afp/SGE.QZG01.261205150009.photo00.photo.default-324x384.jpg

Thierry Henry (France)
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/fifa/gen/fifa/20040904/i/3000412571.jpg

Andrea Pirlo (Italy)
http://vnexpress.net/Vietnam/The-thao/2005/03/3B9DCAA5/pirlo.jpg

Arjen Robben (Holland)
http://www.psv.nl/upload/85670_296_1126080211659-ROBBENBERICHT.jpg

Oliver Kahn (Germany)
http://www-scf.usc.edu/~ihorowit/itp104/final/home/oliverkahn.jpg

Jan Koller (Czech Republic)
http://www.fussballportal.de/images/portraits/jk001.jpg

[Kay B]

I am one of the few who believe england will do it this year.

Also i dont agree with all those players, henry is class but ALWAYS does shit for france so he wont do anything, and david beckham will do nothing either, better england choices would of been, Lampard, Terry, j.cole or even rooney.

[NickSCFC]

I'd say Gerrard is best we have after Rooney.

[Crow]

Gerrard is a better all round player than Rooney...Brazil will probabily win and Germany will do well

come on Serbia & Montenegro!

Vidic has webbed toes! (well two are webbed together)

EDIT: who voted for USA?

[Ravster]

If Rooney plays any part after the qualifiers then maybe.

[masteratt]

I want to see France in the final just ebcause I like Zidane and want him to have an happy ending.
I don't want France to win though, Brazil deserves the cup. Brazil is always classy/entertaining to watch.

Brazil vs France in the final :drool:

I don't like England...Too boring to watch most of the time.

[Ravster]

^England vs Portugal at Euro 2004, you call that boring huh huh huhhh?!!

[Kay B]

I want to see France in the final just ebcause I like Zidane and want him to have an happy ending.
I don't want France to win though, Brazil deserves the cup. Brazil is always classy/entertaining to watch.

Brazil vs France in the final :drool:

I don't like England...Too boring to watch most of the time.

England...boring?

England and english football in general is one of the most attacking types, also every england game goes to the wire...how's that boring lol

Brazil....Classy?...u oviously missed rivaldo at the last worldcup...ball hits him in the leg and he falls down holding his face, leading to the oposition player being snt off...Brazilains also dive when they dont need to...People ignore the bad side of brazil because they have so much talent...but saying that...they got best chance of winning :(

And france WONT be in the final...there not good enough anymore

[Fats]

If there's one thing that I hate about Brazil, it's the fact that they're diving bastards.

[Gilly]

I think Brazil's gonna win it, but I'm really pulling for the US.
Too bad their group is stacked and Reyna's hamstring isn't feeling well.

[Fats]

America is... Not going to win it!

[masteratt]

^England vs Portugal at Euro 2004, you call that boring huh huh huhhh?!!

Honest mate, my memory is shit so I don't remember.

And to the other guy, I agree that English Premier League has the best attacking football but as an International team I don't ever remember enjoying an England match THAT much, therea re more entertaining teams out there. But of course that might be because I don't support England, in fact I might even hate them; I am Turkish.
Before you point it out, I know we didn't qualify and I'm happy because 'we' dug our own grave (long story) and maybe we'll learn for Euro 08.

America winning...HAHAHA...Good one Gilly. +Rep!

[Kay B]

Entertaining england games...

England 5 GermanY 1....Nuff said lol

Turkey are a good team there just kinda...crazy lol

[Dagarik]

Australia for sure.

[Fats]

^lol!

[Ravster]

Australia for sure.



Ha! I bet thecube told you to say that!



*phew* There is a god, Rooney having a scan a week later, CMON ROONEY!

[Fats]

But he's like... REALLY ugly.

[Kay B]

Rooney having a scan a week earlier isnt a good thing imo...it just means he has a week less to recover lol

[NickSCFC]

Who needs Rooney when we've got this man...

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/fifa/gen/fifa/20060530/i/112158034.jpg

[Ravster]

^True, but even though Gerrard is most likely going to be taking Rooney's position, no one is better there than Rooney himself.


Still hoping that Rooney will make it...

[Kay B]

Gerrard cant play as a secound striker, if he isnt in midfield we will majorly miss his creativity and his range of passing imo...He a player who can create something out of nothing, and he wont do this as often if he is stuck upfront

Crouch & Owen is how it has to be if rooney isnt fit...simple as

[Crow]

crouch sucks....have lennon in midfield with becks, put gerrard forward abit

[Kay B]

Becks n lennon are too similar both right sided players, couldnt play togeather imo...also lennons had one good game...i dont think thats enough for him to be included.

Lennon will be used as a replacement for beckham

[Kay B]

A great 6-0 win today hatrick by crouch, was easily motm imo, should of had 4 to his name but he got too cocky with his penalty, but hey the form he's in who wouldnt, 5 goals in 3 games for england now.....Crouch to be world cup top scorer

*places bet*

[Lonely Bollock]

Becks n lennon are too similar both right sided players, couldnt play togeather imo...also lennons had one good game...i dont think thats enough for him to be included.

Lennon will be used as a replacement for beckham


Lennon and Beckham similar :D

In what way, they both have two feet? Lennon a guy that likes to run at defenders, and slice opposition defences by his smooth skillz and whatnot, Beckham slices them open by pin point passing.

If we were to play them in the team, it could be done. Owen up front doing his bit, Lennon on the right, Beckham slightly inside like he's played for Madrid and England on a few occasions before and Gerrard pushing up, with him and Becks servicing Owen with long, through balls that make use of his pace and get him behind the defence (like today).

However, I'd much prefer to play Carrick instead of two strikers, using him as a sort of playmaker, distributing the ball around the midfield, whilst giving stevie and lamps a license to get forward, be creative and almost bordering on a free role kind of gameplan, which wouldn't be too bad an idea in the group stages. It's just a case of when the knockout games come around, and when we hopefully have Rooney back, that they have to take up more orthodox roles like they do for their clubs.

[Kay B]

Similar in the way they both play in the same posistion neither is good in the centre, beckhammay have played in the centre for madrid but he sucked in that posistion

also if u play both...who u guna drop?....Lampard...Gerrard?

[Lonely Bollock]

I wouldn't, five man midfield. Owen up top on his own.

[Crow]

I wouldn't, five man midfield. Owen up top on his own.

5 man midfield sucked for England...it didn't work with Wright Phillips

[Kiwi]

The midfield is almost always going to be Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard and Joe Cole. I can only really see people like Lennon and Carrick coming on if we need to rest one of the other players.

[Lonely Bollock]

5 man midfield sucked for England...it didn't work with Wright Phillips

That's wright-phillips, not exactly Michael Carrick is he.

[Kiwi]

They're both good in their own ways. You can't really compare them that much, because their styles are quite different.

[Raitei]

Carrick in a holding position maybe? gerrard playing slightly forward. Bring lennon on when the midfield is tired.

Otherwise the standard 442.
Really wish King wasn't injured, we really dont have any decent centre backs if terry or ferdinand are injured, and no, sol doesn't count.

[Kiwi]

Sol Campbell can be alright, when he wants to be. He has made a few howlers lately. But then, Ferdinand is prone to a few himself, like when Man Utd played Blackburn earlier in the season.

My ideal squad would be:

Robinson
Carragher
Ferdinand
Terry
A. Cole
Beckham (C)
Lampard
Gerrard
Carrick
J. Cole
Owen

[Kay B]

England CANNOT play with only one man upfront that is the main reason a 5 man midfield would never work, there going against some of the best defenders in the world... a 4 on 1 is never going to work they'd simply double up on owen and he'd be out the game.

Best england team imo

Robinson
Carragher
Ferdinand
Terry
A. Cole
Beckham (C)
Lampard
Gerrard
J. Cole
Owen
Crouch

And if rooney was fit id drop own for rooney, simply because confidence is a HUGE factor at the highest stage of football and crouch is playing his best football at the moment owen isnt because of his fitness, for this reason i dont see he is as confident as owen at his best is. Owen at his best could cause ANY defence problems but not this owen, his goal saturday was great but it was against a weak defence who gave him far too much time and space, more experienced defenders will not allow him that time and space.

I also hate the fact beckham is captain....Terry should be

[NickSCFC]

Gotta love the Crouch dance :mrgreen:

http://f5.putfile.com/5/14918114583.gif

[Dagarik]

I do believe Australia had a 1 - 1 draw against a full strenght Holland and Aus only had 10 players for half the game.

[Crow]

Gotta love the Crouch dance :mrgreen:

http://f5.putfile.com/5/14918114583.gif

worst dance ever

[Kiwi]

The fact that he's a lanky bastard makes it look even more stupid.

[Crow]

thankfully he'll not get many goals

[Ravster]

thankfully he'll get quite a few goals


I agree!



Crouch has been playing good the last two games, hopefully he'll do just as good at the actual World cup.

[Crow]

i hope he plays well....i just dont think he will

Jamaica aren't the best of oppositions to be fair

[Ravster]

^Yea true, and hes an idiot for trying to 'show off' with his embarassing penalty kick, thats what makes him an idiot, taking it as a joke getting caught up in the moment.

[Kiwi]

Luckily it's only a friendly. If we got a penalty in the World Cup, he'd probably be the last person to go to.

[dncardman]

I want USA to but Brazil and the soccer god proboly will.

[NickSCFC]

It's looking very good for Rooney!

www.skysports.com (http://home.skysports.com/worldcup/article.asp?hlid=392693&CPID=4&clid=114&lid=4161&title=Rooney+sharp+in+light+training)

Wayne Rooney's bid to overcome a broken metatarsal appears to be on track after the Manchester United striker took part in light training on Tuesday morning.

A nation waits on tenterhooks with regards the player's fitness, with a scan on Wednesday finally set to end speculation about whether Rooney will be fit to play in Germany.

If he is deemed not ready then Jermain Defoe will step-in, before Friday's deadline, but the early signs are looking extremely positive.

Rooney looked in goods spirits when training with his team-mates, under the watchful eye of Sven Goran Eriksson, and when coupled with the pictures of him attempting a bicycle-kick on Monday - it does seem to bode well.

If Rooney is indeed given the nod to partake in this summer's showpiece then he will almost certainly sit-out England's opener against Paraguay on June 10, but he would perhaps be vying to play some part in his country's next two group games against Trinidad & Tobago and Sweden respectively.

As yet, Rooney has suffered no ill effects and when put through his paces looked fit and sharp, as he bids to overcome any lingering doubts about his overall fitness.

[Raitei]

No matter what the scans suggest, he should not play.
Sure rooney has made a remarkable recovery, but remember when this happened to beckham? He got back into the team. He started the match against brazil and then he bottled out of a tackle that left our defense flat footed from and earlier attack, and thus brazil equalised.

Now sure im not saying this is going to happen to rooney and i'd love him their more than any other english player. But it seems silly and rushed to let him play even once. Especially as there is a higher chance of him agrivateing he foot even more.

[Lonely Bollock]

No matter what the scans suggest, he should not play.
Sure rooney has made a remarkable recovery, but remember when this happened to beckham? He got back into the team. He started the match against brazil and then he bottled out of a tackle that left our defense flat footed from and earlier attack, and thus brazil equalised.

Now sure im not saying this is going to happen to rooney and i'd love him their more than any other english player. But it seems silly and rushed to let him play even once. Especially as there is a higher chance of him agrivateing he foot even more.


Wrong, entirely different scenario.

Firstly, Rooney is ALOT younger than Beckham was and secondly Rooney is one of, if not the best of a natural footballer, it's second nature to him so hopefully he'll be able to slide back into the routine without any problems.

[NickSCFC]

JUST 1 DAY TO GO...




AND ROONEY IS BACK!!!

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40907000/jpg/_40907036_rooney_al270.jpg

*RUBS HANDS WITH GLEE*

[Lonely Bollock]

Can wear my England Rooney shirt now 8-)

[Ravster]

Good stuff.


He should be able to play in at least one of the group stage games, needs some match fitness.

[Crow]

he wont play in the group stages...too risky

[Ravster]

^Would be stupid to play him after that, as he'll be coming into an important game without any games under his belt.


Would be ideal if he could play in even just one group game, say against Trinidad for the last ten mins or something.

[Crow]

Rooney doesn't really need "games under his belt" to play, they'll probabily bring him on as a sub in the group stages

[Kay B]

If sven plays rooney in the group stages he's an idiot....

firstly, It's a HUGE risk for him to play atall letalone that early, and secoundly, to be honest sven should know we SHOULDNT need rooney in the group stages we should easily go through. If anything he will bring rooney on for 5/10 minutes just for a slow run out

p.s Crouches dance is cool

[Mathx]

I'm not going to go along with the whole "England is going to win" Circle Jerk going on here.

But I do know that a European Team has a very good chance at winning, I feel that Germany has the best chance seeing that they have home a advantage, and they got to the Finals in the previous World Cup against Brazil...

Let's hope England doesn't fall apart like they did in early Euro 2004 (Let's let France score 2 goals after the 90th minute! LOL!)

[Fats]

Germany will not win, they're no where near as strong as they used to be.

[Kay B]

I doubt many english people believe england will win...it's just something you say when your country is in a competition, i mean ljunberg was today saying sweden would win it, which wont happen...but because it's his country he says it. I on the other hand do truly believe they (england) have a great chance at success.

Also i dont think germany will do too well, they dont actually have that good of a team in all honesty, holland,italy,brazil,argentina and england will all do better

[NickSCFC]

Remember most Brazil and Argentina players play for European clubs, climate won't matter like it did in the 70s.

As for Rooney, hold him back for a few games, I wanna see more robot dance ;)

[Mathx]

Climate isn't the factor here, it will be the fans who can crush the morale of visiting teams... As well as the problem with racism that's been making the FIFA worry.

[Crow]

I doubt many english people believe england will win...it's just something you say when your country is in a competition, i mean ljunberg was today saying sweden would win it, which wont happen...but because it's his country he says it. I on the other hand do truly believe they (england) have a great chance at success.

Also i dont think germany will do too well, they dont actually have that good of a team in all honesty, holland,italy,brazil,argentina and england will all do better

Germany are a great tournament side, plus that and them being on home soil will mean they will do well

Ballack may be the only "Star" player but Lehmann is a great keeper, on form and all...Huth has been getting plenty of games as has Jansen which has made their defence abit better

unfortunately for them Ballack will probabily be out of the first match so i think they'll get to the 1/4's

[Kay B]

^ I see your point but if you compare there players to squads that other teams have, they don't compare in my opinion. They aren't a bad team i just think alot of german people will be shocked as they are expecting victory. They have a good starting 11 but if one of them gets injured like what has happend to ballack they dont have the depth to replace good players with another good player, all the other teams i mentioned have so many diffrent options in diffrent area's of the field.

Them being at home will ofcourse fuel them to try harder, but they have to, it's proven that all host nations have done well, portugal in 04..Korea in 02 etc etc, but i dont think germany have the depth in there aquad to win the world cup

As for racism, it'll always be a problem in football as sad as that is, and everyone knows it'll be a problem at the world cup, but most players will rise above it and answer there chants with goals and victorys. The main racism will come from spanish fans imo as here is a huge problem with racism in that country, but they will be shut up when as usual they book an early flight home.

[Fats]

They didn't qualify.

Only two hours to go, Germany VS Costa Rica!

Come on Costa Rica!!!

[Mathx]

Amusing that Greece didn't qualify...

[Crow]

if anyone saw the opening ceremony did you see the guys who looked like they were sexing them boxes

[Fats]

Watching it now Crow, thanks for reminding me!

[Crow]

Russia didn't qualify ? Or they didn't try out ? Cause Russia should have a great team. I'm just shocked that a team who is in 200th place would beat out Turkey, who (If I'm not mistaken) went to the finals in the last world cup.

Russia dont have a great team, they're ranked 37th

[Fats]

Have Russia EVER had a decent team?

[Crow]

erm...no not really

maybe he meant Serbia?

[Fats]

Fuck me. I didn't think that was going to go in, brilliant goal!

[Crow]

it was, Germany fancy their long range shots it seems

[Crow]

wow, that looked offside

EDIT: i guess it was onside

[Fats]

^Aye, onside it was. Game on!

[Crow]

looked off at first though...Germany do have an inexperienced defense

EDIT: fuck this will be a high scoring match

[Fats]

lmao, I thought that as well. I get the feeling that Germany will pull though, even though Costa Rica seem pretty good and better than most people are giving them credit for.

[Mathx]

2-1 For Germany so far.

[Crow]

yeah they seem to take their chances well...they're just not getting many

[Mathx]

Costa Rica just got two hand balls and a yellow card... did they give up already?

[Crow]

the yellow card abit abit tame, a warning would have done

they're attacking better anyways...

half time still 2-1, could be alot more if Germany were confident and didn't always take their first option

[D3adcell]

Yeah Germany has attempted alot more goals compared to costa rica. Though the more you take, the more goals you can get.

Who's playing later, equador?

[Crow]

Ecuador and Poland

[Raitei]

Poland equador

Germany seem competant forward but not as strong back as they should be were they to challenge for the cup.
Stronger teams will be running at germany a bit harder

[Crow]

Germany got an easy ass group

[Crow]

Frings goal of the tournament already?

[Raitei]

I wouldn't say so yet. Brilliant goal though it was, that ball is made for long shots. Swerves a hell lot more than the nike Aero (Premiership) balls

[Kiwi]

I thought they started using Mitre balls again in the Premiership, or is that just for the FA Cup?

Great opening match anyway.

[Kay B]

Meh germany done well attacking but defensively they defintly have a serious worry a better team would of punished them, they failed miserably at the offside trap. n yeah the goal was good but there will be better.

Half-time

1-0 equador....wicked header

[Mathx]

It seems that the German tactic is to boot the ball outside the box. I just saw the highlights, they've got some accurate long shots!

I'm sure they can tighten their defense through learning about the mistakes made during this match.

[Kay B]

^ It's not the fact that they will learn from there mistakes they just simply dont have a good defence, a bad defender is a bad defender.

[WOW! I"M HIGH]

I just got cable for this sole reason yesterday, I watched the germany game today, it was a great cup opener. Started to watch some of the portugal and ECU game..but got bored quickly. I wanna catch the england game tomorrow to check them out, and of course the USA game on monday. I think brazil will more then likely pull out the cup win, they are awesome. But I still think USA has the potential this year to pull an upset, I doubt it will happen but who knows? my money is on brazil though.

[Kay B]

i think u mean poland vs ECU lol

[Fats]

Quite surprised to see Ecuador beat Poland 2-0.

[Kay B]

Poland were actually the better team it was just the fact that ECU took the chances they had, and were throwing body's in the way to block shots

[kaphwan]

I want to see Australia win at least one game.

I also want to see Harry Kewell go for a whole match without being injured.

It's just not in the cards, though.

*sigh*

[Fats]

lol @ Harry Kewell!

[Crow]

Harry....Harry Kewell

Harry....Harry Kewell

[Fats]

1-0 to England then, but they were somewhat lucky in the second half of the game. They can't be seen playing like that against a much better team!

[Kay B]

^ Performance wasnt too impressive they seemd to go defensive after leading 1-0, but end of the day it's the three points that count and with sweden and T&T drawing today, makes qualification looking abit easier, means now we only need awin over T&T to book a place in round 2!

[Fats]

Aye, good stuff none the less and I'm just happy to see a win to be honest.

[[[tavis]]]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-E6weZIdG8

[Raitei]

Today was pathetic.
I don't see us getting anywhere with performances like that. I really question sven in game.
Hargreaves?

Dissapointed with sweden but it makes it easier for us (1 more win and we qualify)

Also Ivory coast put in a brilliant effort today

Why do more people think the us will win, than Eng

[Kay B]

^ Im agreed that the performance wasnt too good but there game will be upped when it needs to be i gurantee that, they didnt need a worldclass performance to win.

I think sven said to get the early goal and sit back and catch them on the break for a secound, as for hargreaves....well i dont understand why he is even a footballer letalone in the england squad but whatever sven likes him for some reason or another, and knowing our luck he is going to come on ande score an important goal and everyone will love him.

Ivory coast will be a huge threat to england they played the argies with everything they had and didnt deserve to lose, the two goals they conceeded were defensive lapses, but it proves that you can play great and fuck up once and a team like argentina will punish you, but ivory coast will be tough for any team, saying that thought it's goona be a hell of a challenge for them to get out that group with argentina and holland both looking strong.

Rooney is back on thursday aswell, im expecting him to be brougt on in the last 10/15 minutes just to get a run out...lets hope all goes well

[Kiwi]

]']http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-E6weZIdG8

Heh, I made a reference to that yesterday at work, shame nobody else knew what I was on about :-(

[masteratt]

Great World Cup so far!

Only matches that bored me were England and the Portugal ones.

I hope this excitement carries on until the World Cup is over and beyond!

Best match so far- For me, the opening match was amazing and the Sweden match had a good feel to it too.

[Kiwi]

It was a shame that Angola weren't very good attacking, because they did pretty well to just concede the one goal. Last time the two teams played the score was 5-1, and the match had to be abandoned because Angola had four people sent off.

[Rizon]

The England match was crap. We scored in the first 4 mintues. Then it was dull for the rest of the game. Hopefully the next match on thursday should be good, everyone at work should be ready for it.

[Crow]

Serbia and Holland was a great game...Serbia deserved a draw

Ivory Coast should have beaten Argentina

[Dagarik]

Australia's turn next, Japan's going down 2 - 1.

[Jesus]

I'm calling for 5 - 1 Australia's Way.

[Ravster]

^Be a bit realistic.


Japan will win 2 - 0



And how the hell did Argentina win?! They didnt deserve it from what I saw.

[Kay B]

^ they took there chances, that's all

and aussies will win 2-1

[Rizon]

Aussies all the way.

[Fats]

Come on Japan!

[Kay B]

^ Hater!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kay B]

Aussies losing 1-0...goal shouldnt of counted tho keeper was clearly blocked, guy just run straight into him!

Aussie played preety well, just there final pass is lacking

[Crow]

aussie's winning 2-1

last minute goal you lucky bastards

[Kay B]

2-1 aussies!

Cracking strike by cahill for the second, he also got the first but was more a scrammble than a good goal!....great game two goals in about 5 minutes

Althought japan maybe should of had a pen, after cahill killed the japanese guy

Edit: 3-1...i have money on them getting outta this group

[Crow]

Kevin please its Second! NOT secound

and 3-1

[Kay B]

My spelling has always sucked, but im on course for winning money, so im cool

The bet was 13-1 for aus to get out the group i put 20 quid on it! Bring on brazil!

[Crow]

thats pretty decent odd's, they're half way there now

[Dagarik]

Ahhhhh what a finish, Cahill's the man.

[Crow]

iyl have it on in the background

[Mathx]

The US got pretty far in 2002, so I'm hoping they can repeat that performance.

also, edit your posts instead of double posting.

[Crow]

im not really cheering for either....

[Crow]

you play 3 games (group stages)

winning 2 will put you through

[Kay B]

Czech are a team i really like, and i hate usa because they think there good since there ranked high in fifa's ranking but it's because they never play friendlys!

Also i like nedved, so yeah, i want Czech to win

R2D...1st and 2nd of each group go through so u can lose and still go through

[Crow]

http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/world-cup-2006/fixtures-results/index.html

that may help you abit

[Mathx]

1-0 for the Czechs already!

edit: and a yellow card as well for the US...lol

[Crow]

the refs are really going OTT with the yellow cards, hopefully the players will learn though

[Fats]

2-0! :)

[Crow]

awesome goal too, Arsenal's new signing seems to be good

[Kay B]

great strike for number 2, i can see this being a high scoring game

And yeah, i think it's good that refs are cracking down but they have to be abit leniant to let the game flow at a good pace

[Crow]

i dont think it'll be too high scoring since Koller seems to be injured

[Fats]

There seems to be quite a lot of injuries this World Cup thus far.

[Kay B]

There hasnt actually been too many,alot of teams seem to be settling for 1-0 wins and resting big players for the later stages

[Mathx]

There have been no offsides for the US (meanwhile Czech has 5)... it seems that they'd rather play it safe and cross the ball instead of risking an offsides for a break away to the goal.

[Kay B]

They should just go all out, at 2-0 they have nothing to lose, the tactics they are using obviously arnt working especially against a good defensive side, they need to switch things up maybe push an extra man forward, they will than risk going 3-0 down yeah, but it could also get them the chances to pull one back

[Crow]

There have been no offsides for the US (meanwhile Czech has 5)... it seems that they'd rather play it safe and cross the ball instead of risking an offsides for a break away to the goal.

thats just because Czech are pretty much owning, 3-0

Rosicky seems to be playing very well

[Mathx]

What's the possession percentage? because on the tracker I'm using, the number of shots/corners/free kicks is the same...


(i won't be surprised if the US had more possession, seeing how the like to pass it back in order to retain possession instead of gambling for a chance of pushing forward)

[Kay B]

US arnt top on anything....

CZE are playing really well

[Crow]

US have 53% on possession, though they're doing fuck all with it

[Fats]

Possession means very little unless you do something with it. I didn't think that the USA would take such a beating.

Perhaps USA will finish bottom of their group, with 0 points? Hum....

[Kay B]

Shit, that suprises me that they had more pocession....

Ans don't lie fats u knew they sucked

[Mathx]

Okay, this match is over.

What do you guys think of the Ghana Italy match? I heard Ghana is a darkhorse, do you see them winning/tying with Italy?

Edit: AHA! my prediction on the US possession was correct!

[Kay B]

On paper id say Italy will win easily they have a great team

But, Italy always under-perform so although i expect them to win easily, they may not

[Crow]

Italy should win

2-0 my guess

[Fats]

Yeah, Italy should win... Actually, wait, they better win!

[Crow]

i'd have liked to see Rossi on the Italy squad

[Mathx]

Yeah, Italy should win... Actually, wait, they better win!


France did lose in 2002 to Cote D'Ivoire...


The African teams are getting better

[Fats]

Yup, that's what I've been saying for a while now. Some of the African teams are quite surprising, full of spirit and determination they are.

[NickSCFC]

France did lose in 2002 to Cote D'Ivoire...


The African teams are getting better
It was Senegal that beat France, Ivory Coast weren't in 2002

[Kay B]

the african teams are good because they have nothing to lose, so they fear no-one, they will attack any team knowing that even if they lose the game they will still go home hero's.

[Mathx]

It was Senegal that beat France, Ivory Coast weren't in 2002


whatever... an ex French Colony...

EDIT:

Italy is up! Right now!

Edit 2: Italy won 2-0... alot of shots on goal for both sides, where is everyone?

[Kiwi]

Probably finishing watching the game. It was a pretty convincing win in the end, you kind of knew that they were going to get a second as Ghana attacked more.

Ghana's goalkeeper kept me entertained anyway with his corner kick antics.

[Kiwi]

If you use all of your substitutes and somebody gets injured, you just hav eto continue playing with 10 men. As for the cards, if you, for example, get a yellow in one match and a yellow in the next, you get suspended for the next match.

[Kay B]

US arnt cheats there just a very physicall team, but they will come against a more physicall team like england and terry will go straight through them

[Kiwi]

That's if they make it past the group stages. I can see Italy and the Czech Republic going through in that group to be honest. They don't play eachother until the last game, so the group could be decided beforehand.

[Jesus]

I have my Money on Australia or Trinidad and Tobagooooooooooal!

[kaphwan]

Australia ftw.

Fucking Japanese other two guys crashing into our goalie.

Grrr.

[Kay B]

I also have money on australia, not to win it though lol

Best bet to win it, odds wise was portugal i think....althought cze are also a good bet

[Kay B]

2-1 korea almost finished, togo have been preety impressive considering they were huge underdogs, but experience has shown and korea have preety much dominated since scoring...both brillaint goals aswell, we seem to see a new 'goal of the world cup' every day!

also, it's raining after a week of sunshine and it's messing with my tv reception so im watching a black screen at the minute :(

[Mathx]

Allez Les Bleues!

France is up!

[Kay B]

France don't look impressive, but than again they arnt the team they used to be, they are playing henry up front on his own which is stupid as he cant play alone he needs someone supporting him...france to lose 2-1

[Rizon]

COME ON HENRY!
Usless git, wheres his style and va va voom?

[masteratt]

BORING first half.....France sucks!

Henry is playing very odd.

[Kay B]

He never plays well for france because he doesnt have the support, at arsenal he has ljunberg/pires/bergkamp/van persie...one of those supporting him up front, he's stuck holding up the ball and lazy fuck wiltord isnt even trying to run so he has no-one to pass to.

[Crow]

He never plays well for france because he doesnt have the support, at arsenal he has ljunberg/Rosicky/van persie...one of those supporting him up front, he's stuck holding up the ball and lazy fuck wiltord isnt even trying to run so he has no-one to pass to.

updated

and he has Viera, Zidane, Wiltord, Makelele at France

[Kay B]

^ He has them but they dont do fuck all, as proven four years ago when they scored no goals atall

Also, i was going by last seasons squad lol

[Crow]

i noticed

[masteratt]

Holy shit what a boring match that was!
England match was a classic compared to that [france vs switzerland] match.

C'mon Brazil!

[Mathx]

Zidane was getting pissed at his team... they should've put Trezeguet in for the tired Henry.

PS:

YELLOW CARDS FOR EVERYBODY YAY!!!

[Kay B]

The refs must be in competition as to who can hand out the most yellow cards lol

Cracking goal by Kaka has put brazil 1-0 up, not been an exciting game...no real chances than kaka pops up with 30yrd+ strike to make it one nil...meh thats brazil all over

[masteratt]

Worse. Day. Of. World. Cup. EVAR!

[Kiwi]

Wouldn't say ever, but certainly this tournament.

[Kay B]

2-0 spain already, spain looking preety good...not the best goals but they all count and there passing the ball around preety nicely UKR not really putting up much of a challenge though

[Kay B]

Now 3-0 to spain, penaltly that shouldnt of been, defender was running shoulder to shoulder with him and barely touched him

[Kiwi]

4-0 in the end, Ukraine are kind of lucky that Tunisia and Saudi Arabia drew 2-2.

[Kay B]

Germany game was ok, loads of missed chances....lucky at the end

[Twilight Prince]

i felt bad for poland... they deserved to still be in the tournament... turns out they're the first ones to be eliminated...

[Kay B]

Im glad, gives england the oppurtunity of an easy tie in the secoudn round :)

GO ENGLAND!

[Crow]

a better game than last time, thank god...2-0 England

shows what bringing Rooney on does to the side

[Kiwi]

Still pretty rubbish by the kind of standard we should really be setting. I fell asleep for about 20 minutes of the second half, woke up to find Rooney and Lennon on the pitch.

[Crow]

Lennon played well, England's team would be great if there could be 12 players on the pitch...Lennon being on really leaves us open at the back though

[Fats]

I found England much, much better in the second half. I loved the fact that they were constantly attacking, constantly making chances and it's football like that that England should be aiming for. A much better performance all round then, especially compared to their first match.

As for Rooney, his time will come, I'm just chuffed to see two Liverpool players score! :)

[nemesis121]

It took England that long to beat T&T, sheeesh you won't get by a true contender in this cup.


GO Argentina.

[Kiwi]

I think that they're just trying to ease themselves through the group stages. We beat the Argies a few months ago, so there's no question that we can perform against a good team.

Still, it would be nice to see them actually put in a few more against the group teams.

[Kay B]

Wasnt a bad game, should of been easier than it was though...Two good goals but were going to need to play alot better to win the cup.

Was good to see rooney back but he clearly still isnt fit enough to start, weve got one striker who can score at the minute and thats crouch, we needed defoe desperatly. Wasnt impressed with becks performance he was too negative, the old beckham would take on players at any oppurtunity he seems scared to attack players.

But....another win

[NickSCFC]

It took England that long to beat T&T, sheeesh you won't get by a true contender in this cup.


GO Argentina.
All teams struggles against sides that stick all 11 men behind the ball and try to grind out a draw.

[Kay B]

Another great performance by the argies today, hammering serbia 6-0, great goals aswell, there definetly the strongest looking team iv seen so far.

Holland currently 2-0 up after 28 minutes which is great for me as my manager (from IC) bet me a tenner holland would lose, two great strikes from van persie and van nistelrooy

Edit: It's now 2-1...Great goal by.....some guy lol

[NickSCFC]

Argentina were stunning, I haven't seen a team rip someone apat like that for a long time!

[nemesis121]

I enjoyed the Argentina game alot, the second Goal off the back heel flip from Crespo is the best goal of the cup so far.

[Twilight Prince]

yeah goal 2 and 5 were beautiful, i cant decide which one to pick

[Kay B]

One of the goal, the secound i think argentina made 24 passes withouth serbia even touching the ball....the 25th touch was a shot and goal

[Kay B]

Czech Republic 0 - 2 Ghana

WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFF! happend!

Italt n US ended 1-1 and with 3 yes THREE red cards lol!!!!!!!!

[Ihsiin]

De Rossi's fowl was one of the most beautiful fowls I've ever seen. Italy should have won.

[Kiwi]

You talking about the elbow?

[Ihsiin]

Yes.

[Kiwi]

Missed the first half, just caught a replay of it. Nasty.....

[Kay B]

Dirty italian bastards....saying that the US wernt any better lol

[Twilight Prince]

That was two amazing games... gotta give it up for both USA and Ghana. Really showing the world what the world cup is all about. The italians desevrved to be caught off guard as always :-) when will they ever learn??
I'd say the biggest improvement in performance by a team from one game to another has got to be USA. They looked so lame against the czech boys. Speaking of them they have to be the biggest de-improvement.

[Kiwi]

Did you see at the end how many times Ghana managed to get through one-on-one with Petr Cech? Could've easily been 5 or 6.

[Twilight Prince]

yeah that was great... they were so hot, they were caught offside by half an inch like 8 times in a row... i agree that could have been many more goals. And don't forget to post your tips again mister bananahead.

[Blaksmoke]

Huh? .........We actually beat someone else again? Cool, I guess.

[Kiwi]

Drew 1-1 with Italy. USA had 9 men, Italy had 10.

[Xer0]

Drew 1-1 with Italy. USA had 9 men, Italy had 10.

Not to mention Iatly scored on itself and a completely incompetent ref that failed to call much, regaurdless of side. Not to take anything away from the US tho, they actually played like they belonged in the World Cup this time.

[Crow]

Huh? .........We actually beat someone else again? Cool, I guess.

again? you lost 3-0 and drew 1-1

[Mathx]

All hopes for France aren't gone yet!

[Rizon]

hahaha France.


Come Ooooon Saudi Arabia! Your only 2-0 down already.

[dncardman]

I can't wait till US actually scores a goal on there own.

[Mathx]

Looks like England is having trouble beating Sweden.

2-2 Final.

[Rizon]

Usless freakin English players. But still, sweden are a good team.

[Twilight Prince]

2-1 to sweden would have been a much more fair result... england had like 2 shots on goal 2nd half (though one of those shots was a beautiful goal).
you haven't beaten us in 38 years!

Really proud that sweden gave england a run for the money... we're gonna give those germans pure hell on saturday.

[Kay B]

Sweden done well, but all there chances/goals come from poor defending

Sad to see owen go down, been comfirmed he's out for 5 months which is a big loss to us and newcastle, since now we have hardly any fucking strikers! Great goal by joe cole

[Crow]

we have 3 strikers though Sven is adament on not playing Walcott

[Ihsiin]

England are so fucking shit. We're still going to win, though.

[Kay B]

we have 3 strikers though Sven is adament on not playing Walcott

:nono:

we have two strikers and a crouch.....

[Twilight Prince]

Sad to see owen go down, been comfirmed he's out for 5 months which is a big loss to us and newcastle, since now we have hardly any fucking strikers!

Yeah I felt so bad for him... he just lied down for no reason and that look in his eye's just said it was so damn bad. I hate it whe that happens... o player deserves that.

[Pro A.]

Well, that's it for the U.S. They remain winless in Europe, dropping to Ghana 2-1. Such a shame. That second goal by Ghana was on a bullshit call, but its not like it would have mattered. They didn't play well enough to win. They had the one really nice goal and then lethargic play for about 80 minutes.

On to South Africa in 2010.

[Crow]

alot of the South African teams play well together, they should do really well in 4 years

[Dagarik]

2 all draw Croatia vs Australia. The refreeing was shocking.

Australia go through to vs Italy :D.

[stanDarsh]

Australia is through!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree the referee was shocking, the "rugby tackle" on Mark Viduka in the box springs to mind. Apparently the ref may face a 1 year suspension for not making sure one of the Croatians was off the field when received a Red Card. That's what I heard anyway.

It should have been Australia 3-2 Croatia, I don't understand why that last goal wasn't allowed.

[Kiwi]

Nice to see tha Aussies get through, next match should be interesting though.

[Kay B]

Aussies done it!...and they wont me money 13-1 odds bet a tenner got 130 winnings plus my tenner back!!!!!!!

What an idiot ref in the aussie game though, booked a player 3 fuckin times before sending him off and aus shoulda have TWO penaltys, although it evened out because kewell was offisde when he scored and linesman gave the goal.

US were again cheated by bad ref decisions....ref's are getting fucking worse in this tournament

Can't believe czech are out aswell.......

[Kiwi]

Been a strange day. Not overly excited about tomorrow's matches to be honest.

[Kay B]

The spain game will be good, they've looked more impressive that usual...but others wont arnt too intresting

[SuperLuigiBros]

Hooray for Australia! Theyll win the world cup for sure.

[Kiwi]

I don't think Spain will be putting out an overly good team though, so I'm not expecting TOO much.

Though saying that, the Brazil team played their best in this tournament so far with a quite different looking team.

[Kay B]

Yeah, brazil and ronaldo especially really impressed me today, after critism showed there true qualitys...japan keeper made some outstanding saves though.

And yeah, i guess your right about spain, as they are guaranteed qualification

[Kiwi]

Anybody watching the Portugal v Holland match?

I get the feeling that this ref won't be making another appearance.

[Fats]

I missed the end of it Matt, I'll have to check the BBC website to see what happened.

[Kiwi]

14 yellow cards, 4 red cards, and only 25 fouls!

[Fats]

Lmao, does that mean that Deco and Costinha will miss the England match?

[Kiwi]

Yep!

Still gonna lose though.

[Fats]

We'll win, I just know it!*















*Isn't very confident at all.

[Shadow Voa]

Portugal will win Saturday, its in the cards and after all... Portugal seems to be the one who's done it in the past. Plus ENG hasnt been playing at their best, most people accept that as fact. Either way, I want Portugal to win, they will win, and Big Phil will have his second World Cup Championship title but this time with Portugal.


Viva Portugal!!!

[Crow]

pretty much anything can happen now, all it needs is for a team to have a bad game

[Mathx]

hahaha France.


Come Ooooon Saudi Arabia! Your only 2-0 down already.

Spain has been hot, hopefully Franve can kill their buzz and get 0-0 and end p beating them in OT (they always do better against harder teams)

[Dagarik]

Here's hoping the great southern land rises another step and beat the Italians.

[Kay B]

We WILL beat portugal....i have a strong feeling that we will win the world cup iv said it since the begining and i am sticking to it!

Deco is one of there best players and he is now banned...so that's only a plus for us, also england ALWAYS play well in the 1/4's...althought we generally play well and lose....but that wont happen!

[Shadow Voa]

We are more then just Deco, but Im sure you know that Kay B. It will be a good game and the one who truly deserves to win and go through towards the cup will have to go through Portugal or England imo anyway. Goodluck to the English team, but being a Portuguese fan... we wont lose, we cant, its our time to hold that cup high!!

[Dagarik]

What the FUCK, Australia get fucked over again by a dodgey call, this time it cost us a spot in next round.

[Shadow Voa]

Yup I said it once and I'll say it again... they pulled an Italian Job!! They stole the game from the grasp of the Austrailians... the call was questionable but Im starting to see that it was fairly called. Unbelievable ending!!!

[Kay B]

We are more then just Deco, but Im sure you know that Kay B. It will be a good game and the one who truly deserves to win and go through towards the cup will have to go through Portugal or England imo anyway. Goodluck to the English team, but being a Portuguese fan... we wont lose, we cant, its our time to hold that cup high!!

I know your more than deco you have other great players but deco is one of your most influencial players in my opinion he is as good as figo or ronaldo, and he is a huge loss to the portugese team.

As for australia i feel bad for them but the ref HAD to give the penalty, the defender went to ground, touched the man and not the ball, if was more a foul than it was not a foul, so the ref had to give the penalty, if the defender had stoood strong the attacker was going nowhere, he went down knowing he could miss the ball, he took that risk.....and it backfired, great penalty though. Australia were definetly the better team, but it's the world cup one moment of madness can lose or win you a game...nothing is certain

[kaphwan]

That penalty was bullshit.

So this kinda stuff always happens in World Cups?

Awesome.

[Fats]

Yeah, and I know the feeling, it's a shitty, heartbreaking way to go out.

[Kay B]

The penalty wasnt bullshit, you cannot slide into a player bring him down not touch the ball and expect not to give away a penalty...The slightest touch on the player that brings him down is a risk.....they took it, it backfired, all aussies are saying it wasnt a pen...but if it had been up the other end and the ref had/hadn't givem it they be screaming that it was a blatant foul...

Also switzerland sucked at penalty's lol...Took four missed four

[Fats]

I'm not saying that the penalty was bullshit, I just know the feeling you have when you go out that way. God, the Ukraine V Switzerland match was SO boring.

[SuperLuigiBros]

When Australia finished equal with Greece last game, there were heaps of people running around the streets yelling and stuff. Needless to say, no one was running around yelling this morning. Its pretty funny but everyone's like "oh well we're proud of the boys". I havnt yet seen what happened cause I just got back from work, but i was listening to the radio and I feel bad for the guy who set up the penalty. He must be happy that Australia isnt one of those crazy countries that attacks their soccer players if they dont win when they come home.

Oh well, Good on ya Aussies, maybe next time.

[SuperLuigiBros]

oops, damn you slow internet.