[Sports] Football Fanatics (Part V)

[jessca]

The old thread's here (http://jay-chou.net/forums/showthread.php?t=6239) but we need a new one.

The World Cup is 23 days away! We need a thread XD



But why is it being revived now? Because that was the most HORRIBLE Champions League final ever.

Did anyone else watch the Arsenal-Barca match? Other than me and Dana who feel exactly the same about it.

I'm not an Arsenal fan, but that was awful. I've been a Red Devil all my life so Arsenal isn't top of my list at all. But the referree was insane. There were so many bad calls, but Lehmann should not have gone off. I was gobsmacked when he yellow-carded Oleguer~ didn't think he was capable of doing anything against Barcelona.

Yes, I'm bitter. But suddenly I remember how heartbreaking it was when England got knocked out 2 years ago. Arsenal didn't stand a chance once they lost their tempo when Eto'o scored.

I'm not saying Arsenal should have won. But they should have been given a fair chance to fight it properly. 18 minutes in and it was practically already over.

[vicks]

indeedy! so so sad *heart broken* and so what if i've never watched footie in my whole life except for the minute but minute play on espn today. to be one player down so early in the game. =((( world cups ._____.

[ftlouiea]

Arsenal were a team of youngsters, a team of kids that had never played Barcelona let alone get through to the Champions League final.

For all values of sportmanship, I don't think I've ever seen a red card so early in a game, let alone a red card in a final as important as this... a yellow card for Henry when he was the one who was fouled? Everything was tainted when a final like this should have been a game of skill.

Remember Liverpool's road to victory last year? And everybody in the world arguing they should be given a chance to defend their title? What will Champions League final 2006 be remembered for? Other than Lehmann being dismissed and Arsenal's ten men battle... I can't think of anything else.

Barcelona were the best team in europe prior to the match, but they displayed below standards of what I expected. Had we been given the chance... how would the results have stood? Still a victory? Or a draw? Extra time? Who knows~

[jessca]

I'll admit that Larsson deserves credit. He's the only Barcelona player that really stood out for me. But Ronaldinho was just.. pleh.

Suppose it's worse because this match had so much potential and there was enough hype all round for it. I feel cheated as a viewer, as well as sympathising for Arsenal and their fans for being cheated out of a fair game.

I agree with Dana~ where was the sportsmanship?!
Compared to the FA Cup final when Liverpool and West Ham gave it their absolute all, tonight was such a disappointment.

Vicki umma chose a good game to start with ._.

[sagara0510]

im not a big fan of Arsenal. but i honestly thought they could repeat what Liverpool did last year and overcome all odds to be champions.

however, full credit to Barca.. they beat Chelsea to get there and they've performed well in their own domestic league. they are deserved winners.

and yay to liverpool for winning the FA Cup :)

[chinook]

I'm an Arsenal fan, and watching the match as the Arsenal players crumbled after the first Barca goal was scored was just.. depressing.. If Lehmann had not been sent off, I believe he would have been able to save both Barca goals.

[catseyes]

Hmm, i didn't manage to get to see that match since i was tired and fell asleep, hope there will be a repeat telecast on tv for me.

As for Liverpool, they are amazing, Gerrard did it again eh? Congratulations to them!

Jess, how many times must i tell you it's soccer and not football~ =P

[Stevenz]

for me, barcelona played really well, and steady. They took control of the ball very well and their passes are perfect. Arsenal wasn't that bad afterall.. Henry was running up and down, trying to score goal. I respect him. and not forgetting Ljungberg, he was like speed master.. He ran so fast! lol. Arsenal's defence line was almost unbreakable. I think if Lehmann was not red-carded, Arsenal might win the game.

Eto'o performed very well, but not Ronaldinho.. he was like under-pressure or what (i dunno), he wasn't playing as well as he usually does. But I'm happy that Barca won the cup (=

Bravo Barcelona!! the European Champions. They won three cups this year rite? they're great!! I think if Henry joins Barcelona, then the team will be "almost unbeatable".. lol :D

[gCjs84]

Personally I think the game was really spoilt by the referee.

The sending off of Lehmann really changed the game especially the way Arsenal approached the game. It was a sending off I agree but that was because the referee had already blown for the foul and he had no other choice but the red card. If he had played the advantage, Lehmann would not have to go. But he did blew his whistle and once he did that, there was no other outcome really. I feel sorry for Pires also for being sacrificed for the red card. Must be tough on him as well.

Nevertheless, Barcelona are worthy winners for this season because their brand of football has simply been outstanding. Beating Chelsea and AC Milan are no easy tasks but their attack lineup is simply the best at the moment.

Kudos to Arsenal also for putting on a fight till the end but I think this season belonged to Barcelona and that red card early simply made sure of that.

[jessca]

The referree has actually admitted that he may not have sent Lehmann off if he wasn't so hasty. :X click (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/4993994.stm)

Oh wells~ Barcelona and Arsenal have proved they are top 2 of Europe. Will start looking forward to the next match. I think South Korea still have a friendly lined up against Senegal next Tuesday for a last minute warm up. :D


So which countries have we got represented and supported here? ^^

Jess, how many times must i tell you it's soccer and not football~ =PNUH-UH Kitty! :rasp: kekkee~

[sagara0510]

i watched a replay of the game last nite and to be honest i don't think lehmann deserved a red card.

but having said that, who can say that Arsenal could fight back from 1-0 down if that goal stands?

there are so many possiblities in a game of football/cats soccer that u really can't say the referee cost Arsenal the game. they coulda lost either way.

[Stevenz]

yea.. the referee should have given a yellow card and penalty for Barcelona.. the referee himself regretted giving Lehmann a red card. Even FIFA president critised his (referee) action. See the BBC report here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/4993994.stm) =) And latest news: Henry is not leaving Gunners (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/4996270.stm)... :( :( haha. I feel that he should go Barca..

[sagara0510]

If Lehmann had gotten a yellow, Barca wouldn't have gotten a penalty.

It would have been advantage play and the goal would have counted.

Arsenal would be down 1-0 at that point in time but at least still have 11 men.

the referee did admit he was too quick to make his decision and that if he had taken afew more seconds to think about it, he woulda given Lehmann a yellow.

but thats life and thats sport. he was well within his power and his right to do so because it was a foul and Lehmann was outside his box.

[ftlouiea]

In a sense, you can't say Barcelona deserves the cup just because they had a good season. After all, once the whistle blows for the 90 minutes to start, each side has a 50:50 chance. YES. I'm still disappointed regardless of what the referee says now, which is TOO LATE.

BUT BUT Henry signed a 4 year contract with Arsenal, I see this as the best news for Arsene this week. Maybe this'll be a sign for Pires to contemplate staying instead of moving to Villareal.

And with everything that's happened in that final, I sure would hope Henry didn't have to think twice about joining Barca. My respect would have been down the drain to see him take the easy route out.

[Stevenz]

here are some images of the final:

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/770/etooclaps3yg.jpg

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/755/ssmallgoalbeforeitwentintotheb.jpg

http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/1425/samueletoo4yk.jpg

THE BEST ONE....
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/6241/partyforbarcelonatheeuropeanch.jpg

[ftlouiea]

Blue and dark red just doesn't quite do the trick like red and white does, let it be Arsenal (mm) or Liverpool.

WORLD CUP DIBS ANYONE?

I can't even be sure of England's success. Blah. But I've predicted, whether we come first or second in our group, we'll face France or Brazil in the semi-finals. Doomed either way... damn.

[ker_ai_teresa]

WORLD CUP DIBS ANYONE?

the Australian team will beat the odds and win the cup! :yeah:

and Hiddink will be made Prime Minister. :D

yes so anywayz....:rolleyes:

I haven't kept up to date with international football so I have no idea about the form of any of the teams.......so just to be cliche-y, :rolleyes: my early bet is on Brazil......and Germany since they have home ground advantage. ^^

[ftlouiea]

And the Socceroos flag made the official Australian flag? :bounce:

Mmhmm. If Brazil don't give into betting forces, and play in their best form, it's Bresil all the way. But that doesn't mean I can't have an inkling of hope for England. YAY! ^^ Apparently Spain are quite good this year. ._.

[gCjs84]

My bet is on Brazil. Man they are strong in attack. The only weak link in their team is probably their defense.

England as usual are always hyped up by people and by the press. But with Wayne Rooney injured or half fit at most, I think it will be kind of hard on them mental wise to cope. Nevertheless, I have a hunch that Theo Walcott could be a major surprise at this year's World Cup.

Spain and Italy as usual always look so strong but they sometimes fail to play to people's expectations.

Anyway, I hope Brazil wins so as to finally break the curse of the South American teams.

[xJayChoux]

oooh ooooh!!! i watched the champions league final as well! i was so shocked when the referee gave the red card away! :glug: barca's goal would've counted... -_-

anyways, TALKING ABOUT THE WORL CUP! :excited: the Netherlands are quite good this year...but i REALLY...like seriously don't understand why van Basten doesn't take Huntelaar with him. ._. why Vennegoor of Hesselink? :wacko: *shoots herself* there's a friendly match tomorrow... the Netherlands vs. Cameroon. im so gonna watch... <3

if the Netherlands dont make it to the finals...im so for Brazil. xD

[BlueChaos]

In today's international friendly, England B-Team lost to Belarus 1-2, what a shame. I think without Rooney they would be nothing at all. But fate could play a game here. Last time he was out in the semi-finals and England lost the match then. This time, he might be back in the semi-finals and help England to win the cup. What an interesting twist of fate, eh?

[ftlouiea]

^ gcjs84 & bluechaos: what. is. the. deal. with. wayne. rooney.
i just don't see the magic in this 'wonderboy'. sure he can kick around some balls, but he is SO overrated. but a disabled striker is better than none since we're pretty short on them. =X

Sinny seng: Is Huntelaar really pro? Everybody's gone a bit nuts in choosing their teams lately. ><

[xJayChoux]

^i actually like rooney. i was remember i was cheering for him a long time ago... am i crazy if i say that i don't like beckham? =\ i've seen better english players...i think. =\

dana unnie, yup...he's amazing. you should know if you've seen an ajax game these last couple of months. <3 ajax was like really down the drain, but huntelaar revived our club. <333 our whole country was like upside down when van Basten revealed his team selection. =\

[ftlouiea]

I'd beg to differ about your opinion on Beckham. =) When he was in his prime, when he kicked a ball, you just knew it'd bend into the penalty area, and it'd be a goal. Him and Owen alone (IN MY EYES HM), are the magic formula for success if they both played at their best.

The guy that looks sorta alright, with a a lot of hair. :rolleyes:
And there's no other way of getting Huntelaar on the team, say 5 players get injured during the friendlies, and he's called up to the team? Hard choice ><.

[xJayChoux]

^i'm sure Beckham is a great player...it's just that what i've seen from the last few games...i don't think he really gives everything. =\ it might depend on the rest of the team of course but i just think he can do better than that. i like Owen a whole lot more than Beckham. and it's only about his footie skills...it's just Beckham in general. as a footie player, and as famous as him, i dont think you should get yourself into those love-affair issues and stuff...i know im not the one to judge him or anything...and i know i should let it rest by now...but still...all those things just make me think the way about him that i do now.

and i dont think so...Huntelaar plays for the Under the 21's now... =\ and van Basten said he didnt find it necessary to bring 4 forwards with him or something like that. ._.

[gCjs84]

^ gcjs84 & bluechaos: what. is. the. deal. with. wayne. rooney.
i just don't see the magic in this 'wonderboy'. sure he can kick around some balls, but he is SO overrated. but a disabled striker is better than none since we're pretty short on them. =X

ftlouiea, the thing about Rooney is the committment and the drive that he gives to whichever team he is playing for. He is strong, has reasonable pace and not forgetting his outstanding shooting abilities. He can shoot really well.
Furthermore, looking at England's strikers, I think there isn't really another striker which has performed quite well as him in recent months. That is also why England is desperate to bring him to the World Cup. But I think it is quite unlikely that he will play in this World Cup. Pity.

[sagara0510]

i actually think Rooney is a very good player. He has pace and strength and creativity. Without him, Englands chances of being successful in the World Cup have taken a stumble.

anyway Rooney will be around for many years to come. He is only 18 after all.. there are plenty more World Cups for him.

[isaac_1988]

i actually think Rooney is a very good player. He has pace and strength and creativity. Without him, Englands chances of being successful in the World Cup have taken a stumble.

anyway Rooney will be around for many years to come. He is only 18 after all.. there are plenty more World Cups for him.


i wouldnt bet on rooney coming back for england... man utd has said he will only return only if his foot fully recover.

this world cup is for brazil to lose. i can't see any other strong teams out there.

[BlueChaos]

anyway Rooney will be around for many years to come. He is only 18 after all.. there are plenty more World Cups for him.
Erh... Wayne Rooney is 21 now, he was 18 when he broke hell loose with that goal against Arsenal when he was still an unknown player in Everton. But yeah, at 21 there can be another 3 or 4 World Cups for him, if he can manage to stay in form until his later years, unlike Beckham, who was very good but age got the better of him in the end. His pace is gone now, only his crosses remain.

[isaac_1988]

just a sidetrack, what soccer jerseys are you planning to buy? i am split betwwen england and italy. what about you all?

[gCjs84]

just a sidetrack, what soccer jerseys are you planning to buy? i am split betwwen england and italy. what about you all?
My first choice is Brazil. Their new edition is cool. I think they opted for the retro look once again. But the price as usual is sky high. That is the result of winning too many World Cups. :worry:

[ftlouiea]

gCjs84: even if rooney does have good shooting skills, being a good striker means you have to know the tricks and not just persist on the straight forward shooting, no? :rolleyes: Don't know if you'll remember, but perfect example would be Owen's goal in France 1998 against Argentina. First time round, shoot blocked by goalkeeper. Second time, was wise and went past the side of goalie to score. That's why I admire Owen more.

isaac 1988: england's shirt's ugly this year. =X i wish they had kept the shirts with the cross down the side and on the shoulders.

[sagara0510]

oh yeah he is too 21. i wonder why i thought he was 18. i think i read it somewhere in an article and mistook it for a recent bit of info

its a shame wen players get injured right b4 the world cup.. after working so hard to help their country make it to the WC only to get injured... what a sad feeling they must have

as for the jerseys... i've already got my Australia jersy from their qualifiers. not sure if i'll buy another one as they are quite expensive here (AU $150)

[gCjs84]

gCjs84: even if rooney does have good shooting skills, being a good striker means you have to know the tricks and not just persist on the straight forward shooting, no? :rolleyes:

Yup I agree. Rooney in my opinion is not those bullish type of strikers. In fact, I think he is quite an intelligent player as well. The best part about him is his energy and drive i think. He can be found anywhere defence, midfield and attack. I just felt that he is the most in form of all the strikers that England has and without him, England has lost a bit of their edge.

Owen is also a good striker I agree. He is faster than most defenders but I kind of think he lacks strength. Furthermore, he just came back from an injury and I think he is a bit below his peak.

[sagara0510]

yeah Rooney is in serious doubt and Owen hasn't had much field time because of his injury

what do you guys think of Crouch? i see him play alot for Liverpool.. he's creative and good in the air but i think he lacks the finishing of Owen.

also anyone see Walcott play b4? i never even heard of him b4 his announcement into the England squad

[BlueChaos]

England 3 - 1 Hungary

Gerrard (41), Terry (51), Crouch (84) - Dardai (55)

Beckham was rated 9 in this game, he was crossing like crazy and both goals from Gerrard and Terry are headers, results of his fine crosses, so two assists for him in this game. Theo Walcott made an appearance in this game, he replaced Owen and almost set up Crouch for a goal with a cross from the right.

This looks promising for England, even without Rooney, Becks still can break hell loose.

[ftlouiea]

I wasn't going to make you guys talk more about England but...

I'm so proud. :rolleyes:
Even if the first half was just a tad above boring, the 4 goals made up for what was lost. Thinking the second half was going to be the same, I had to hear cheers from neighbours to know there was a goal. We can do without Rooney. Point proven. RAH.

Crouch... is a tall good-for-nothing. Personally, I think his height has played an advantage for his place in the team, other than that, he's a bit clumsy in his playing. Needs to establish some confidence in himself, coz his goals still don't look confident enough. Hum.

And and Walcott, a youngster at Arsenal. Who hasn't actually even played a full game in the Premiership, if I remember right. All the pros were, let's say the least, shocked with Sven's decision, saying that he thinks he'll bring a new Pele to World Cup 2006.

[stitchphil]

Haha! I'm proud to be an England fan too! But nowadays, there seem to be so many people that dislike them, I've been supporting them since Euro 96!

This current squad looks very promising, and I think even though Rooney is good, but I don't think he is indespensable (don't think I spelt that right, JCNet should have a spell chek function or something. :tongue: ). Sven just needs to find the right tactics to deploy Gerrard and Lampard so that they don't end up stepping on each other's toes on the field as we have seen so many times before.

And I was pleasently surprised with Beckham's performance in that match! I really thought he has lost his magic (maybe because I don't get to see him play on tv anymore since the Liga matches telecast in the ungodly hours here).

Crouch... is a tall good-for-nothing. Personally, I think his height has played an advantage for his place in the team, other than that, he's a bit clumsy in his playing. Needs to establish some confidence in himself, coz his goals still don't look confident enough. Hum.

And I really think Crouch is highly over-rated, he maybe tall and have the height advantage and all, but his shots are so weak. In comparison, look at Gerrard's screamer at the FA Cup final, that was almost 40 yards out, I don't think Crouch has the strength to fire that kind of shots. I think he just need to throw himself in the air as much as possible to use his height advantage.

Rooney is almost certainly out of the Cup now, I'll be very surprised if Sven chooses him in the Squad of their opener against Paraguay, it'll be a waste of one slot. I was surprised myself when he was included in the squad with the type of injury he was carrying. :worry:

[BlueChaos]

I agree with your opinions on Crouch. First time I saw him, I think he was just a tall guy with clumsy playing style who got no dribbling, no speed, no finesse and nothing, just tall with nothing else. Well, he did improve a bit after bagging his first goal with Liverpool (before that he was hardly any good) but still I don't think he should be on national level yet. Personally I think he needs to play a bit more in Liverpool and find his touch before he goes to world level.

A right club can really do wonders for players, remember what happened when Crespo moved from Chelsea to A.C. Milan for a year loan and Diego Forlan moved from Manchester United to Villareal? Those two players gained a major form and performance boost, especially Forlan, back in M.U. he was nothing, but in Villareal, his performance is comparable even to Ruud van Nistelrooy these days.

Speaking about clubs, Chelsea has followed the trend of getting huge stars in one team, now that they have signed Michael Ballack, Solomon Kalou and just recently Andry Shevchenko. Why do these teams never learn? Inter Milan failed miserably and Real Madrid fall flat on their faces despite the big names they have in they team. But then again, maybe those teams lack a world-class coach. Let's see what Mourinho can do then.

[ftlouiea]

Stitchphil: I remember Euro 96, and the penalties. ._.

You know what? There should be a bet for 'Who do you think is going to win the World Cup?' here. :rolleyes:

BlueChaos: Totally agreed on Forlan. He was SUCH a waste at MU. Never played up to his supposedly amazing level of play, I just wanted him out asap. But even then, Villareal were beaten by the Arsenal kiddos so... ha.

My take on Chelsea accumulating all those biggies into the team is NOT to use them. I mean, to me, Mourinho had the best team when they were playing last year. With that Russian dude as his base, Mourinho and his team are buying every player available SO THAT other teams cannot get their hands on them. It's more like... 'I'd rather let my money be wasted than let my opponents get them' mentality.

[piglet]

Hi Guys :wave:

i came to notice Crouch because of his height too..haha..i was wondering..why dont he join the basketball team..haha..my first impression of him is not too good..he missed too many shots..and he got changed at second half..

that's the first time i came to know about him..impression not so good yea?

until a few days ago..i came to know he would be partnering Owen and seems like he is getting lots of attention recently..

i am not a big soccer fan..in fact, i only started to catch some matches recently..haha..

can ask you guys..what's U21? game for players under 21? sorry for my ignorant..i am a newbie to soccer.. :)

[stitchphil]

Ah yes ftlouiea... Those dreadful penalties and terrible memories of Euro 96 and who can ever forget France 98? (-.-)'''

And you know what? I've given up following the Premiership ever since that Russian dude came in and brought his way to the title. :oops: Granted, before he came brusting into the scene, it was only Man Utd, Arsenal, Man Utd and then Arsenal again.

But back then, the Premiership had its magic, remember how hyped up the derby matches between Manchester United v Man City or Derby County? or Liverpool v Everton? Just look at how they are now? Boring most of the times.

Granted that Chelski is a good team, they really are with world class players in every position. But with that kind of money the Russian dude is pumping in and the players they have, it will be a CRIME not to win the Premiership.

And sad to say, the Premiership is in a totally different league with the spanish liga and other leagues in Europe. It is far away from being 'the best league in the world'. What a joke. Just look at how many English teams have lifted the Champions League in the Cups history? In the past decade, only Man Utd (who famously did the treble) back in 98/99 and more recently, Liverpool last year.

So where is Chelsea? But I must say, Chelsea is a lot more organised than Real Madrid, at least based on their performances in the last two seasons.

Hi there piglet. :wave:

Haha, the only reason why the stickman is partnering Owen is because England's Golden Boy is out injured. So I guess Sven has not much of a choice.

U21 is quite simply Under 21 years of age. Kinda like a youth team. Players under 21 will play for their national side, however, in playing for a U21 team, it doesn't earn the player an international cap.

So it is a very big breakthrough for players like Wayne Rooney, and of course, Theo Walcott to be in the National Side at their young age.

[sleepin'tom]

ZY, the derbies still have their magic, especially the recent merseyside derby at Anfield. Unforgettable.
Chelsea scare the hell out of me. Ballack and Lampard freed by the holding midfielder Makelele(sp?). Robben and Duff on the wings. Oh me goodness. They would walk through most teams in the league. Only if Moanrinho manages to control the egos of Chelsea players. High possibility that Moanrinho will get the sack if he failed to win the CL again. The pressure is intense.
'The best league in the world', heh, the english media..:shifty:
And err.. not to my mention my beloved Liverpool is coming good..:brows: They would be the champions if the season started at october. What a FA Cup Final it was! Bad for my heart.

[BlueChaos]

My take on Chelsea accumulating all those biggies into the team is NOT to use them. I mean, to me, Mourinho had the best team when they were playing last year. With that Russian dude as his base, Mourinho and his team are buying every player available SO THAT other teams cannot get their hands on them. It's more like... 'I'd rather let my money be wasted than let my opponents get them' mentality.
Hahahaha. And it's quite stunningly crazy that those players are crazy enough to get the bait and come to Chelsea, and saying that they are doing this for sportmanship, improve their career, Premier League being one of the best leagues in the world etc etc and just not for the money. Now let's see if they can do the talking on the field, ay?

Back then I dreamed of having Ballack and Sheva in Manchester United. Now Chelsea got them... a dream team? We'll see.

[fowler23]

well. am a soccer fanatic since young so cant wait for world cup to strat. really excited about it. will be behind argentina all the way as they hv a really good squad this time round. think mnay pple will be supporting england due to the exposure the epl has.

any barca fans here?

[xJayChoux]

^i don't think i'll support england. xD

the Netherlands all the way! (and brazil of course. =])

anyways, i'm not a real fan...but i like barca. :D (barca barca barca!) barca has a couple of dutch players (giovanni van bronckhorst, mark van bommel)...and i like deco, eto'o, ronaldhino and larsson. xD

[ftlouiea]

Piglet: Don't waste your time on noticing Crouch~ I kid.

stitchphil: Prince William said to the England team yesterday: "No penalties, please." :laughing: But seriously, the times my heart has been in my mouth, and have it broken every single friggin' time. ._. The only penalty that stays put in my mind quite vividly was England VS Argentina in World Cup 2002. BECKHAM'S DEAD STRAIGHT PENALTY. Oh yes.

Well, yes, the Premiership has been dull, often because, I find the teams don't value the matches as they do with the Champions League etc. I see why, but it's just no fun when I see MU lose to someone like Birmingham City. WTH. It's not at all reflective of their true standards.

Saying that, though I dislike Chelsea because of their world class players, anyone whose not a MU fan, did you ever think MU were the 'Chelsea team' a few years ago? Being a fan, I'm blind to this, but it just occurred to me that we might have been. Saying that, I'd like to defend them in that we USED TO have a lot of home grown talent. Even now, the England team is largely made up of former MU and Liverpool players.

About the Spanish and the Italian Leagues though, you can say that their teams are better in Europe. But it's down to too many international players. And with EPL too actually. The teams that dominate football are from these three leagues, but when international football comes, these three countries are unable to perform. BECAUSE of too much international players. Which is a darn shame.

Hahahaha. And it's quite stunningly crazy that those players are crazy enough to get the bait and come to Chelsea, and saying that they are doing this for sportmanship, improve their career, Premier League being one of the best leagues in the world etc etc and just not for the money.

Blue Chaos: With Schvchenko (Spelling?) I think he's come to secure a steady 4 years ahead of him. Honestly speaking, he's already 29. Chelsea paid a hard cash deal for him. But for him, he's sorted until he's 33, and earning what? No less than £130,000 a week, the same price that Ballack will receive. This type of news just makes me remember how much I should actually hate the world of football. And Schv said he wasn't coming here for the money. x.x

Pfft. Barca. Meh. :D

But England england england.
And maybe, we won't have to talk about our 1966 victory in 2010... once again. :dry: :laughing:

[stitchphil]

ftlouiea, you can just call me stitch, how else may I address you? :happy:

Haha... Ah yes... Beckham's straight penatly in Japan/Korea to 'erase his the bad memories of France 98.' :laughing: But I cheered like mad anyhows when he scored because the Argentinians (is there such a word?) were playing pretty dirty, as they always do.

So I gather you're a Man Utd fan? :excited: I'm am one too! For almost a decade! But I'm not as fanatic as I was a few years back. I used to be devasted whenever they lost a match, but I don't even care now if they have a bad result. I still follow their performances and all, just that, I am no longer as mad about them now.

Hahah... And I know what you mean, a few years back, it was just Utd and Arsenal dominating the premiership. And it has come a long way then, just look at the freaking wages footballers are paid. Some of them earn in a week what we dream of earning in a year. It's simply ridiculous I tell ya. :oops:

But I support your point that back then, they emphasise more on the English players. Just look at the number of English players in the Utd squad when they were at their peak, Sheringham, Scholes, Neville brothers, Beckham, Cole. They make up half the starting 11. Look at them now, you have players from Argentina, Portugal, Netherlands, etc etc, English players in the line up? Rooney and Gary Neville, even Scholes seldom start now.

Look at Arsenal, mostly French players with a french coach. Look at the number of Englishmen managing the Premiership teams. The top 4 teams are managed by a Portugese (spell?), a Scot, two Frenchmen. The English managers are all in lower lying teams. Now with Steve McClaren (?) moving to the England manager position, who's gonna fill the gap at Middlesbrough now?

For all their might and power of the English, Spanish and Italien leagues, they don't seem to match it when it comes to the World Cup or the European Cup. ESPECIALLY Spain, the greatest Under-achievers of all time. So is England, on paper, they really do have the players in almost every position to match the other best teams in the world, bar the injuries. But they can't seem to find the best tactics and gel together smoothly.

Sad to say.... The entire football scene is getting out of hand, just based on the wages the players are earning. Shevey left Milan for 'family reasons', which I think its bullshit, he is just attracted to Roman's oil fields. So is Ballack. Not to mention being able to play in the Champions League. Ballack said something about how good Chelsea is and, 'I always wanted to play for them because they had the depth.' :dry:

Yeah... Rightttt... I'm so sure he felt the same way 4 years ago, heck even 2 years ago. He wouldn't have made the move if Chelski aren't in the Champions League.

Just look at the amount of Revenue teams are making, simply qualifying for the Group stages of the Champions League? It's disgusting really. Everything about football now seems to be about the money. A perfect example would be non other than Manchester United, if you guys remember how they infamously withdrew from the FA Cup competition to compete in the World Club Championships, which by the way, they failed miserably. Why did they not want to defend their FA Cup? Because the World Club Championships was a more lucarative deal for them. Sigh....

[BlueChaos]

Well, yes, the Premiership has been dull, often because, I find the teams don't value the matches as they do with the Champions League etc. I see why, but it's just no fun when I see MU lose to someone like Birmingham City. WTH. It's not at all reflective of their true standards.
Now it's a common thing not only in England, but in almost any major leagues and big teams involved in the Champions League. Resting players ahead of a big match on the Champions League is no big news. They call it strategy and tactics but I say that's no sportmanship. True, they have the right to choose which players they want to play, but think about the opponent's feelings. They will think that "okay, so we are such a lowly sucking team, they don't need to face us with a full first-squad", and yes, they will lose and think how that will demoralize them, that's why it's hard to see small teams climbing up the league with this mentality. Wigan was a pleasure to watch this year, I find myself rooting for them at times, and wished they could have won the Carling Cup but Manchester United in form was hard to beat, as MU fans could testament to that.

Saying that, though I dislike Chelsea because of their world class players, anyone whose not a MU fan, did you ever think MU were the 'Chelsea team' a few years ago? Being a fan, I'm blind to this, but it just occurred to me that we might have been.
You know, there is big difference between Chelsea and Manchester United which is called "spirit". In the United days, no one can hardly call them buying wins with money, because of the way they play, their team spirit etc was enjoyable and it was a great joy to watch them play? Chelsea? When you watch them, you can't help to think that they are all like robots bought by money and told to win, one look at Chelsea, you can almost see money and bling bling on their uniforms. There is a great difference between teams that have great spirit and teams that are made of money.

Remember the Manchester United vs Real Madrid semifinal Champions League match a few years ago? I forgot the scoreline, it was when Real has demolished United in the first leg (Ronaldo goals against Barthez) but in the second half, United fought back and almost turned the tides. The goals just kept coming and even the commentator shouted "One more goal! One more goal!". In the end they lost 5-4 or 4-3 on aggregate, I forgot, but man that was one great match I'd remember always. Chelsea? Don't remember all their matches, how dramatic it is, all I remember is Mouri labelling people as cheats, referees as unfair (that Barca referee incident was a very bad thing in football world) etc. Even Liverpool have better matches to remember, especially the 2005 Champions League finals, oh yeah.

A perfect example would be non other than Manchester United, if you guys remember how they infamously withdrew from the FA Cup competition to compete in the World Club Championships, which by the way, they failed miserably.
Hahaha yeah I remember that. If I'm not mistaken Beckham got a red card there too right? How Ferguson have wished he could have gone back to the FA Cup. That was a shame for Manchester United.

I'm starting to wonder how Brazil manage their league... maybe there's some secret there that makes them strong in the international level...

[ftlouiea]

stitch: dana's the name ^^
have been and always a MU fan. :happy: I don't find myself no longer mad about them just over time, it's just that I'm so attached to the '99 team that I can't help but make similarities and differences between the then team and the team today. Fergie's losing his touch, where did the strict training and ways of lifestyles that he enforced on his footballers... go? ._.

Boy is it annoying losing a whole essay when the computer crashes. :dry:

England and Argentina, always enemies on the pitch. end of story.

I was just saying how disgusted I was when she told me Brazil won their opponent in a friendly 8-0, and that the best margin between two opponents (especially when the opponent is undeniably weaker) is three goals. I eat my words. England just won Jamaica 6-0. x.x

Oh come on, MU were on such a high after the treble, you can't blame them for trying their luck at the World Club Championships. A lesson well taught in the end, I guess. =P

Even Liverpool have better matches to remember, especially the 2005 Champions League finals, oh yeah.

When Liverpool attack, they play well. But damn are they boring when they find themselves in the lead, and decide to sit back and defend. It's like Greece all over again. And we all know how darn boring they played to win that Euro Cup.

[stitchphil]

I have just witnessed England crushing Jamacia 6-0. What a demolishing! Though I'm not sure if Terry and Cole are all right, the commentator said they were injured. But I think they'll be fine. They're both important players to the first team. We're just 6 days away!! :excited:

Crouch scored a hat-trick. And even missed a penalty. Due to over-confidence. :oops: He actually tried to chip the ball from the 6-yard spot. And of course, he did his famous robotic dance goal celebration twice.

All in all, it was a bidding send off for the English team to Germany, however, the teams they'll come across in Germany will be much stronger then Jamacia and Hungry.

You know, there is big difference between Chelsea and Manchester United which is called "spirit". In the United days, no one can hardly call them buying wins with money, because of the way they play, their team spirit etc was enjoyable and it was a great joy to watch them play? Chelsea? When you watch them, you can't help to think that they are all like robots bought by money and told to win, one look at Chelsea, you can almost see money and bling bling on their uniforms. There is a great difference between teams that have great spirit and teams that are made of money.

I think watching Chelsea play, I do see their team spirit on the pitch. Man Utd was, just a few years ago, the Chelski of the Premiership. It's a fact, their payroll on their players back then was something the rest of the league couldn't compete with, only Arsenal come close. And it was that way for many seasons.

Only until recently, Chelski and Roman's oil field came into the picture, they kind of put the daylights out from the rest of the premiership. And that is reflected on the league standings as well. Look at the margin between Chelsea and Manchester United, and the margin between Liverpool and Arsenal. And also, from Arsenal and Spurs with the rest of the table.

The mid-table teams simply don't have the revenue to compete on the same level with the top teams. Just a couple of seasons ago, that was the margin Man Utd and sometimes Arsenal won the title by.

It's just that the problem is being amplified by Chelski when Roman came into the picture. It just goes to show how ridiculous the wages and money that goes into soccer nowadays are.

I'm starting to wonder how Brazil manage their league... maybe there's some secret there that makes them strong in the international level...
It's no secret in Brazilian football. They simply have too much talent around. Their players are all over Europe. They have more then enough players to fill up every spot in the starting 11. Even their coaches are everywhere! Look at Portugal, you have Luiz Felipe Scolari, look at Japan, you have Zico, there are still one or two more, but I can't remember them now. There're simply too much talent in Brazil itself that their players have to look abroad for first team football.

Edit: Haha! dana, you just posted a minute faster than me! Yeah, I've always been a Utd fan too! :happy:

I think the most any team should win a match should be by a 4 goal margin. I mean, just what exactly are you trying to do when you win a match 8-0 or even 6 nil? It's not a rugby match you know. I think that when they have won the match, they don't need to go so far to break your opponents' spirit.

Liverpool is Steven Gerrard. Period. No Gerrard, no Liverpool. That has always been my view of Liverpool. Gerrard has scored in practically all the Finals of the competitions from the Champions League to the Uefa Cup to the Uefa Super Cup and to the FA Cup. Without Gerrard, the team wouldn't be able to put themselves out of a difficult situation.

[ftlouiea]

I think Cole was just injured by fatigue, nothing too serious. My hopes are. But did you see how Owen almost suffered a head injury? I saw it coming, header and high foot up in the air ><.

Man, and I still remember Keane renewing his contract with the highest wages. It was only £50,000. Only.

I'm sure you'd agree on this though, if we were playing someone like... Brazil (HAHAHAHA it amuses me just to think about this ._.) but to win Brazil by a sox... eight goal margin would be bloody marvelous. I hope to live to see the day for ANYONE to do this. But realistically, I mean, it's just not nice to beat your opponent like that. I know I'm crap but you don't have to point it out so darn obviously... ._. Looking at my wallchart today, Brazil are playing Australia in 2 weeks (sorry Tes ><).

Do you know what's good to see? When people like Gerrard and Henry, whether their seasons end in triumph or loss, they still remain at the club to see it through. I'd have killed Henry with my own hands if he frickin' left Arsenal.

[BlueChaos]

I don't find myself no longer mad about them just over time, it's just that I'm so attached to the '99 team that I can't help but make similarities and differences between the then team and the team today. Fergie's losing his touch, where did the strict training and ways of lifestyles that he enforced on his footballers... go? ._.
It all went away with Fergie's "Bootgate". Still remember that incident? Fergie free kicks right on the spot :D

Yep a few years ago he was famous for his hairdryer treatment and all but maybe he's too old to do it now?

It's no secret in Brazilian football. They simply have too much talent around. Their players are all over Europe. They have more then enough players to fill up every spot in the starting 11. Even their coaches are everywhere! Look at Portugal, you have Luiz Felipe Scolari, look at Japan, you have Zico, there are still one or two more, but I can't remember them now. There're simply too much talent in Brazil itself that their players have to look abroad for first team football.
I still remember someone saying that the best football players are born from the streets, not from football schools. As much as England claimed to be the country where football originated, they do not do very much football. In Brazil, football is life, it's the culture and it's what the people do. Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho (and I think Adriano too?) were famous examples of street players turned into big stars.

And yes, England won 6-0. What the heck happened with Crouch that now he found his scoring touch? :glug:

[sleepin'tom]

Liverpool is Steven Gerrard. Period. No Gerrard, no Liverpool. That has always been my view of Liverpool. Gerrard has scored in practically all the Finals of the competitions from the Champions League to the Uefa Cup to the Uefa Super Cup and to the FA Cup. Without Gerrard, the team wouldn't be able to put themselves out of a difficult situation.
ahh.. yes.. Liverpool is a 1 man team. We rely on him so much for the 31 clean sheets(Reina who?) and the second to none offside trap(Carra, Hyypia, Riise, Finnan who?) . We needed him to win all the balls from the opposition(Sissoko who?). During 2004/5 season, Liverpool played better and had better winning ratio when Gerrard was out with that metatarsal injury than when he's in the team. And Gerrard got sent off early in the game during the last merseyside derby, Liverpool won 3-1 with 10 men(Alonso,Sissoko who?). He was invisible during 5-3 comeback against Luton apart from his goal. Another one without him at Charlton, Liverpool were well in control until we made a silly mistake. Gerrard did not score in both UEFA supercup finals and did not play the last game.

He's one of our key players(even though i don't like him) just like Rooney to Man U, Henry to Arsenal, Ronaldinho to Barca etc. Taking one away would weaken their respective teams.

[stitchphil]

Do you know what's good to see? When people like Gerrard and Henry, whether their seasons end in triumph or loss, they still remain at the club to see it through. I'd have killed Henry with my own hands if he frickin' left Arsenal.

I so agree. I simply hate it when players leave their clubs because 'the grass is greener on the other side.' With the exception of course if they fell out with the staff and management. I must say, I was rather taken aback on how aruptly Keane left Old Trafford.

Seems like Nisterooy (?) is gonna go the same way too, despite him saying that his future is not decided until after Germany 2006. But I can't see him staying in a club where he's gonna see minimal first team action. And it seems that Ronaldo is on his way out of Old Trafford as well.

I truely respected Henry for making his choice to stay, as did Gerrard at Liverpool. Unlike Ballack and most of the Chelski team. :oops:

He's one of our key players(even though i don't like him) just like Rooney to Man U, Henry to Arsenal, Ronaldinho to Barca etc. Taking one away would weaken their respective teams.

Sadly, you are quite right. But sometimes, I feel that teams give themselves way too little credit for themselves and over-relying on such players. Which is sad, seems like England is like this as well. In Japan/Korea, the entire nation was hoping Becks recovers on time, and now, Rooney. Give the boy a break for gosh sake.

Granted, it is their moment of magic and sheer inspiration that lift the team to unchartered grounds at times, but never allow the entire team, and the nation to rely on one man. Ok, fine, the final qualification match against Greece the last world cup, Beckham was pratically England on that day, that cannot be denied, he did everything that could have been done, and then some. But every player has his off-days, Gerrard included.

So I think England can go quite far if they continue their current form. That of course depends on their oppenents. The way they played yesterday, one might have went, Rooney who? Haha, but of course, their opponents were low lying Jamacia, things would have been different if they were Argentina or any other potential Cup contenders.

[sleepin'tom]

I so agree. I simply hate it when players leave their clubs because 'the grass is greener on the other side.'

ahh.. That reminds me of the Owen transfer saga which made the some Scousers being so bitter to him. And sadly, he missed out 2 trophies after leaving his homeclub of course, he didn't miss his fat paycheck though. I don't mind him coming back. Mikey, all is forgiven.. ya right

[ftlouiea]

As much as England claimed to be the country where football originated, they do not do very much football. In Brazil, football is life, it's the culture and it's what the people do. Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho (and I think Adriano too?) were famous examples of street players turned into big stars.

We have a different culture to football as compared to the Brazilians. It's just... different. With Brazilians, I imagine them putting so much more emphasis on the tricks, the frills to controlling the ball. It's like they have an affair with the ball. Whereas the English are more on the strength of kicking the ball and whatnot. Whenever I see any English players dribbling the ball in an artsy way, I just think South Americans.

ahh.. That reminds me of the Owen transfer saga which made the some Scousers being so bitter to him. And sadly, he missed out 2 trophies after leaving his homeclub of course, he didn't miss his fat paycheck though. I don't mind him coming back. Mikey, all is forgiven.. ya

Given the time and circumstances, Liverpool were playing below standards. For his international career's sake, he had to play in a team where he was sure of playing against other European greats. You can't doubt Owen's decision and say it was all because of the money.

I'll always say, Rooney is not as significant to MU and England as everybody makes him out to be. :dry:

I must say, I was rather taken aback on how aruptly Keane left Old Trafford.

Keane didn't leave. He was sacked. For criticising his fellow players. Van Nistelrooy's gotten on the bad side of Fergie, it's a dead end. And Ronaldo? SINCE WHEN? :cry:

England didn't treat yesterday's match like a friendly in the first 10 minutes or so. It's true that Jamaica sort of did represent the South American way of playing football, it was entirely different. But anyway, I would like to believe England play differently according to their opponents. The way they played yesterday wouldn't have been how they play Argentina, so it's hard to evaluate performance and match it to how they would have faired against Arg.

[stitchphil]

Haha.. Dana, I'd like to think he 'left' Old Trafford. :tongue: But I think it was a real shame, because many of the comments he made on MUTV about serveral other team mates were true. But of course, he shouldn't have done so so openly. :oops:

And you're right about the culture of football between Brazil and England too. They're just... well, too different to draw comparisons. Brazil in my opinion is very much into fancy football, which can be their downfall at times, but the English are very much on getting the results. That said, they are not as boring as the italians. :whistle: Boy... I remember nearly falling asleep while watching one of their matches in Japan & Korea 2002.

Which explains why they can't seem to get out of playing the 4-4-2 formation. They're simply too used to it since ages ago. Sven didn't get very far with his other formations, though at one point of time, his diamond formation in the midfield seem to work wonders. But then again, the players are different now.

ahh.. That reminds me of the Owen transfer saga which made the some Scousers being so bitter to him. And sadly, he missed out 2 trophies after leaving his homeclub of course, he didn't miss his fat paycheck though. I don't mind him coming back. Mikey, all is forgiven.. ya right

XY, I think Owen was desperate to return to England not because Newcastle was willing to pay him that much, but because he wanted to see first team action so he can remain on the top level for England. He made it no secret during his last days at Real that he wanted to return to Liverpool. He even said that other clubs are his second choice. For such a player to lay his cards on the table so openly, he must have been pretty desperate to see first team action.

Keane didn't leave. He was sacked. For criticising his fellow players. Van Nistelrooy's gotten on the bad side of Fergie, it's a dead end. And Ronaldo? SINCE WHEN?

You mean you didn't know?! It was on the papers last week. I was shocked when I read it! Although he didn't say it flat out that he wanted to leave, but he did drop hints. He said something about wanting to use this World Cup as a platform for him to jump ship to play for one of the Spanish Giants Barca or Real. Though it maybe just wild talk right now. I believe Fergie will not be happy hearing him talk so openly about his ambisions elsewhere.

[ker_ai_teresa]

*pokes tongue out at sinny*

Australia 1
Netherlands 1

:bleh:

though we were a bit shaky and our goal wasn't as convincing as Van Nisteroy's, still, a draw is a draw. :-)

but erm, Viduka really needs to practise his spot kicks. :sweat:

[xJayChoux]

tsk tsk! his name is van Nistelrooy! =X

anyways, i have to admit that our players could have done MUCH better than that. though i hadn't seen the whole match (i was playing football myself xD), only the last 30-40min., i could see that the match wasn't really interesting. hopefully the Netherlands will do better once the World Cup has officially begun. it's sad really... a couple of our players have caught up an injury and might not be able to go to Germany. >< (hopefully there's still a chance for Huntelaar to go to germany...*crosses fingers*)

ANYHOOSSS, WE, THE NETHERLANDS, HAVE WON THE EUROPEAN CUP UNDER 21!!!

yes yes, for the first time in history!!! the finale against Ukraine was soooo interesting. we won with 3-0! go huntelaar (2)!!! go hofs (1)!!!

[BlueChaos]

Some really funny news I've read... (check the lines I underline :D)

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho insists that it is not possible to buy success.

The West Londonders have dominated the domestic scene over the last couple of seasons, with their rise in the ranks coinciding with the arrival of billionaire Roman Abramovich as the club's new owner.

Mourinho has had free rein in the transfer market since replacing Claudio Ranieri at the helm, but the Portuguese claims his signings are based on what the team require rather than spending for spending's sake.

"It is I who makes decisions in terms of the quality and profile of a player, but I don't get involved in the business side at all - it is he (Abramovich) who makes the decisions to pay X or Y," Mourinho said in an interview with O Jogo.

"But the best players in the world don't make the best teams, you have to work hard to be successful."

Leeds United hovered over the abyss for some time after spending big in search of success, but Mourinho does not envisage Chelsea ever treading a similar path.

"There are clubs whose future is affected by the investments they make, but it is different at Chelsea," he stressed. "It is a club that relies on just one person. It is the money of Abramovich that funds it."

Mourinho has already made plans for next term by bringing in Michael Ballack, Andrei Shevchenko, Salomon Kalou and John Obi Mikel.

The Blues were forced to shell out some £16 million to prise Nigerian youngster Mikel from the grasp of Manchester United, but he claims his transfer policy is not based on denying rival teams the cream of the crop.

"I am a believer in having a squad of 24 players - two for each position, not of buying for the sake of buying or buying to prevent a player going to a rival club," he stressed.

"I always try to ensure that I keep a balance with the things I do.

"The only balance I have lost at Chelsea is the amount of money we spent on some transfers, but it is Abramovich's money."

------

Sweet..... hahaha. He think Abramovich is so rich that buying that much won't burn a hole in his pockets.

[ftlouiea]

What Mourinho just said is opposite to what I said of him, but I still stand by my word. I don't think I've mentioned how entertained I am by this man. Ever since his arrival, Fergie's had a rival for major spats at press cons. Oh heat the room up someone.~ :rolleyes:

Back-to-back Premiership champions Chelsea are believed to be interested in van Nistelrooy, one of only eight players to score 150 career goals for United, although AC Milan are also poised to make a big-money offer which may come closest to meeting the Red Devils' valuation of at least £15million.

Not another one into the hands of almighty Chelsea again. :dry:

[BlueChaos]

Whoa, interesting news. For all we know, after the World Cup maybe they will quickly sign shining players and bolster their ranks. But looking at Mourinho's 24 players total and 2 players in one place policy, I wonder who he will kick out, heh. For a 4-4-2 now he has three strikers, Andry Shevchenko - Didier Drogba - Hernan Crespo. I don't count Joe Cole and Eidur Gudjohnsen as pure strikers. If Nistelrooy is in and Crespo is out that would make sense. And if Milan is interested in Nistelrooy, Chelsea can just ship Crespo back to Milan to shut them up.

We can see now why Chelsea can always get their player. Swapping advantage and a bottomless purse. Milan lost Shevchenko, need a new one, Chelsea can give them one... stop chasing Ruud then.

[stitchphil]

There he goes again running his mouth in front of the media. :dry:

Have you guys heard? United will be signing Chelsea's Eidur Gudjohnsen for £8 million. That is some news! The transfer is said to be completed this week.

But I must say, this Jose has indeed added some colour to the premiership, getting into spats not only with Ferguson, but also Wenger as well as just about all the premiership referees. :oops:

[BlueChaos]

Yeah, entertaining coaches are always fun to watch. Other than Mourinho, I think there were several interesting referees in the Serie A, whenever they put up their antics, the camera would oftenly be focused on them. I think one if Capello (if I'm not mistaken) and the Perugia coach from a few years ago. Can you name the others? Fergie and Wenger are quite entertaining, but not too much.

Goalmouth expressions are usually fascinating. Especially if the shot is only missing a few centimetrs.

[IsaBonita]

TODAY THE WORLDCUP IS GONNA START

you cannot believe, everyone in germany is juz going crazy
everywhere Germany Flags...
X_____X
its just an obsession, tho i am also gonna watch the math today...
germany has to win agaist Costa Rica...
wow, one member Iria is gonna watch that, thats so cool, wifh u lots of fun
isnt it nearly impossible to get tickets?
respect...^^

[BlueChaos]

Do you have free World Cup live matches on your TV?

Apparently, Indonesia have it, all 64 matches are free. While in Singapore, only the Germany vs Costa Rica opener, the two semi-finals and the finals would be free, for all others you need to subscribe. What a cheap trick. This is the biggest football celebration in the world only 4 years once! In your lifetime you'll watch at most 15 World Cups, and my first one is the 1998 one when I am 11! There would be maybe only 10 more I can see, and then my spirit of youth would have been gone...

Let the World Cup be free!!!!

[ftlouiea]

Gudjohnsen. No. way. He's forever blue and has Chelsea stamped all over him, Chelsea really are willing to sell him? :glug: Until it happens, I'm not a believer. :rolleyes:

Germany shouldn't even gloat if they win Costa Rica. If they lose, well.. that's a surprise. Haha =X

Germany 4:2 Costa Rica ._.
The 4th was so great. Blah.

All our matches are free. It comes with a footballing nation. ^^ Wouldn't it be better to hop down to the nearest pub where they'll show the match for free? I'm counting on camping out at 2am in the shopping mall to watch the final when England play. It's a matter of when, not if. :rolleyes: And yes I have already convinced myself England shall win. XDD

[stitchphil]

I was surprised how offensive the Germans are! :D 3 of the 4 goals came from outside the box! But then again, no one expected the Costa Ricians (is there such a term?) to win. If they did, it'll be a repeat of France v Senegal. :bleh:

The 4th goal reminded me of Gerrad's goals at the FA Cup Final. It was a screamer!

Yeah... I think the Gudjohnsen talk is just speculations by the British tabloids. :dry: I checked the Utd's official website after reading on our local papers, and there was no announcement of that whatsoever. So I guess I'll only believe it when I see it.

[BlueChaos]

All our matches are free. It comes with a footballing nation. ^^ Wouldn't it be better to hop down to the nearest pub where they'll show the match for free? I'm counting on camping out at 2am in the shopping mall to watch the final when England play. It's a matter of when, not if. And yes I have already convinced myself England shall win. XDD
That's the plan. Tomorrow I will be heading with my friend to a McDonald at 9 pm to watch England play. Let's hope for all this sacrifice I made (I count that maybe this can cost me $100-$150 for eating at McD all the time, plus transport fees) England would not present a boring match. This opening match was amazing. Maybe I need to make a list of what to watch. Can't watch everyday, right? England is a must see for me. I'm thinking whether I should also see Germany, Netherlands and Italy (this last one, maybe not).

And when Rooney plays, it would be a definite must-see.

[ftlouiea]

That's quite a price to enjoy yourself T_T

Btw, do any of you guys know a website that will broadcast the matches in FULL, whether it requires a fee or not. I need to catch a performance that might be pre-match, or in the half time. =XX

Too giddy to see any sense in replying, giddy giddy giddy RAH.

Did you know?
That Brazil have never won the World Cup where it has been held in Europe? Apparently it's their curse, but it might be a blessing for us Europeans if they can't overcome the curse. :rolleyes:

[stitchphil]

Hmm.. I've heard of such services online dana, but as far as I know, they all require a fee of around US$5 or thereabouts. You can try googling for them and a few of them will come up. :happy:

England 1 Paraguay 0

Great first half, boring second half. :oops: And to think their goal was an own goal from Paraguay. They started roaring into the game, and for the first quarter, they looked like they would have scored half a dozen goals by the 90 minutes. They may have gotten away with the 1 nil win, but they simply can't play as such against stronger opponents. Hopefully, they will pick up soon.

And what's the hype surrounding Togo? Their coach walked out of the team even before they started kicking the ball on Tuesday against S. Korea. And all that over what? Money... Sigh...

Yep, no only the Brazilians, Europe has been a pretty bad hunting grounds for the South Americian teams in general. I was hoping that history will repeat itself to deny the Brazilians. :rolleyes:

$100 - $150?! What are you eating in Mac's to spend so much? That would have gotten you 20 Big Mac meals... at least. Surely you can't be serious! The cost of living may be high in Singapore, but not THAT high. Not even the transport fees. :sweat:

[BlueChaos]

SOMEONE PLEASE SEND PETER CROUCH A TICKET HOME! Or better yet let him walk home.

I can't even begin to describe how the England fans who watched with me were disappointed and angry with Crouch. On a scale from 1 to 10, he would have rated -5, they say. He's useless and he looks like a clueless man in the pitch. He doesn't attack well, he doesn't chase after the ball, he doesn't win the ball, he doesn't kick the ball and he doesn't even defend properly. Gosh I could have gone on and on but let my ranting end here.

And yes, Beckham's first free kick was superb! The change of goalkeeper was actually quite favorable to Paraguay. The second goalkeeper was good! He blocked three of Lampard's hard-hit on target shots, one of which was right under the crossbar! Whoa!

Can't see England winning the World Cup in this fashion, unless the Rooney factor would affect greatly.

$100 - $150?! What are you eating in Mac's to spend so much? That would have gotten you 20 Big Mac meals... at least. Surely you can't be serious! The cost of living may be high in Singapore, but not THAT high. Not even the transport fees.
That's not the price of ONE match... :glug:

For one match it would be a Big Mac Meal upsize for me, so it's $6.40 per match plus MRT fee to the Liang Court McD to watch with my friend, take it $1.60 round trip so that amounts to $8 per match, right? But yes I won't watch ALL matches in that fashion. Only on weekends I would go to Liang Court, for the others I'll watch it on a McD near me. But for convenience's sake, let's say I go to McD for 15 times, then it'd be $120 already, right? The cost a real football fan has to take, ah the agony....

Or I could just always order an ice cream cone.... :D

[stitchphil]

I think Crouch was okay... His job was made very difficult with many of the referee's decisions. So let's go easy on him. It's his first major appearance in a major tournement, and yet, every time he goes for a header, it was a foul. Only on one or two occasions was the decision given to him.

There were many of the decisions made by the referee I disagree with, especially one towards the end were the camera caught an obvious foul on Downing, and yet, the ref waved play on.

But for me, the funniest part of the match was still Robinson's goal kick that hit the top to the stadium. :laughing: That was indeed something else.

[BlueChaos]

Ah, yes, the Mexican referee, I forgot that. Send him home too.

Did you know why England got that indirect free kick in the first half? I don't know because I didn't see any fouls there. And the yellow cards for Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch are questionable. And yes there should be more free kics for England. There were many other questionable decisions that I've forgotten. Will come back to that later after I finish my assignment. The referee went greatly in favor of Paraguay. Having said that, there are some fouls by England that were left unpunished too.

Haha, Valdez literally chopped Beckham off his feet, definite yellow for that one!

But for me, the funniest part of the match was still Robinson's goal kick that hit the top to the stadium. That was indeed something else.
Bet they didn't think of that when they designed the stadium :D

[Starylosophy]

It's Argentina VS Ivory Coast now!

I heard Argentina is leading 2-0 now. But I don't know who scored the goals. I'm not a soccer fan, but the world cup has indeed interest me alittle.

About watching the matches online, you can try tvants here (http://www.tvants.com). It's a china tv streaming program. You just need to download the software and you can watch many channels live.

ZY: I think BC is going to watch most of the matches. And if you buy an EVM per match plus the transportation fees, I think it can amount to quite a sum of money.

[BlueChaos]

NOW I CAN SEE ALL THE WORLD CUP MATCHES LIVE AND FREE! :excited:

Go download TVUPlayer from here:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TWNNRR72

Install it and open the program. Then choose ESPN2. Done! :excited:

Even with my 2 Mbps Starhub connection I can still watch it very nicely. I tuned just in time to watch the Drogba goal and it was stunning! Haha I wish I found this program earlier so I could see the Argentina goals but no matter, now I can watch it all! Hahaha hooray to online streaming programs! :excited:

It needs to connect through a port though, so if you're using firewalls you'll need to turn it off while watching. If you're advanced enough to know how to setup firewalls, just open port 8901.

Pity, for their fighting spirit I think Ivory Coast should have managed a draw. And as a fan of England of course I hoped Argentina would lose :bleh: Best of luck for the Ivory Coast, may they advance to the next round as runner up of Group C. The best match for today this one is, undoubtedly.

[ftlouiea]

I've checked, the BBC really do broadcast their matches online for UK user. :happy: Though I don't see the point if all the matches are being broadcast on TV already... :unsure:

ENGLAND

Frankly, my heart was beating like we were playing Argentina. We had so much to lose, so I'm thankful for the one goal from Paraguay. =X The thing is, in defence of the team, we play differently against different opponents. We can be Argentina's level or superior when playing them... yet we can also lose to Wales. =P

And btw, Crouch had it tough during the game. Being the only forward, he was marked to the spot. Whenever he got the ball, it was taken off him because of those 'fouls' and because it was him alone.

And man that referee. Was his hair slick or... SLICK! And his decisions were frustrating. Gerrard did not even touch that Paraguayan guy, and it was a tackle from the front, which is perfectly legitimate. Pfft.

THE STADIUM. Sucked. That screen in the middle made the most hideous shadow onto the pitch, it made me cross-eyed just watching them play, let alone for the players to move from shadow and into the sun during the 90 minutes.

SWEDEN

They played so well for the while I watched the match. Llujnberg was a power machine like always, somehow I want him to tone down now he's not playing for Arsenal. :rolleyes: But anyway, so many shots, but luck wasn't on their side. And the T&T goalie stood his ground. A draw, but definitely a victory for T&T. And I'm certainly not as confident as I was for the game on Thursday ENG vs TRI. x.x

Dont. Like. Argentina. GO THE NETHERLANDS!

I read that the Togo team were demanding ONE fee for playing the game, then ANOTHER fee for when they win. x.x

Though you say the South Americans aren't so lucky... this hot weather is doing much for their campaign and the African nations too actually.

Starylosophy: Do you know anymore about tvants? It says BT, so does it require bittorrent? I don't wanna risk my computer if it's unsafe, 'coz it seems to good to be true. =P

BC: When you watch the other games, assuming you missed half time for this match... tell me if they have coverage of what happens on the pitch pre-match and half time please! =)

[HarmonyCloud]

Hi I never posted here but~
I have been watching several of the world cup games, I missed a few cause of school and the Tae Kwon Do compition today :dry: but I taped a few!

I was so dissapointed with Polands game friday. The second I saw a TV Ecuador scored! Poland's coach really sucks and they were just standing their it was horriable!
I missed Englands game but thanks for everyone's comments, I just hate when you know the score already cause u have a hard time watching them game after...its so much better live...
I saw a bit of Germany's game with Costa Rica...It was such an exciting game! With 6 goals! I love games where the people actually score because its so exciting!!

[BlueChaos]

BC: When you watch the other games, assuming you missed half time for this match... tell me if they have coverage of what happens on the pitch pre-match and half time please! =)
Yeah they do have half-time and full-time analysis and also replays of the other matches for that day. Thanks to that, I was also able to see replays of the Sweden vs Trinidad & Tobago match.

Hislop was like :glug: saving 7 shots and having a clean sheet, even with only 10 players for a half!

The image quality for the program is okay, though it is a bit strange because they decided not to use the WC2006 original graphics interface (the display of scores, who scored, substitution etc) but they used their own interface, similar to what's being displayed when they air NBA, NFL and MLB. If you've seen them you'll know what I mean. But it's not distracting, it's quite fun actually. Now I know how the American people see their interface in football matches!

[stitchphil]

Yes... I know that the BBC does broadcast some matches, but it is only restricted to UK citizens, but anyhow, I can watch it from the my living room so I don't see the need to watch it from my laptop. :tongue:

AND YES!! The bloody design of the stadium, with the stupid shadow of the screen, everytime the ball goes into the shadow area, I'll be going :wacko:

My heart was pumping really hard especially towards the last quarter of the match because the way England was playing, they were really asking for trouble sitting in deep in defence. What a scare!

With the way they played, and seeing how T&T were growing in confidence against the Sweds as the match went on, I must say that I'll a little worried about their match with England come Thurs. And the scoreline might have been different if they didn't have a man sent off so early in the second half. And he was sent off by a SIngaporean referee no less. :oops:

About Togo, you're right. The players are demanding a fee for their appearance, and another fee for a win. From what I heard, it is around £80,000 each to play in the tournament plus an additional £20,000 per victory. That was according to a BBC Sports bulletin. What a shame.

:wave: HarmonyCloud! You're right. Germany did a hard act to follow by scoring so many goals in their opening match.

[BlueChaos]

Oooh! Oooh! :glug: *stood in amazement as the ball flew between both ends of the pitch*

What an amazing attacking match. 12 shots from Netherlands and 11 from Serbia Montenegro. Robben was everywhere and there were attacks from both sides. Netherland have many near misses from Robben and Serbia Montenegro's shots were saved by Van Der Sar. An amazing match, but didn't come close to the Germany opener or the Argentina v Ivory Coast earlier.

Okay, so now Holland and Argentina got 3 points. I hope for the next game Argentina would lose and Ivory Coast wins. What are the next good matches, hmm? Today's rest seems not to be so interesting...

[maddywolf]

eh why holland is also know as the netherlands??
The 1st half holland strike alot Serbia Montenegro remain defensive but at the 2nd half Serbia Montenegro start striking...
funny thing that the refree was been hit by the ball alot time....he even block the ball pass by a holland player

[gCjs84]

First up, comments on the England match. I felt that England played quite negatively yesterday. I felt that they could have scored more but they seemed contented with the 1-0 win. Considering the fact that they have not won Sweden for many years, I thought they will go all out for it in the 1st 2 matches.

I was also suprised at the subsitution. Downing for Owen in the 55th min was really a sign that they are already in the defensive mood. Seeing the way they play yesterday, I doubt they can really deal with the rest of the powerhouse. :worry:

Secondly, I thought Holland played well today. Robben was really superb. His dribbling really wrecked harvoc on the iron defence of S&M. I think they can go a long way and with Argentina winning as well, I think both of them can make it out of this Group of Death. :wink2:

[BlueChaos]

eh why holland is also know as the netherlands??
Long time misconception, really. If you study geography, Holland is a part (a province) of Netherlands.

Secondly, I thought Holland played well today. Robben was really superb. His dribbling really wrecked harvoc on the iron defence of S&M. I think they can go a long way and with Argentina winning as well, I think both of them can make it out of this Group of Death.
Nooooo! Ivory Coast and Holland. Send Argentina home, they are England's enemy! :D

[ker_ai_teresa]

3:1!!! :yeah:

as the aussies say: Go you good thing!

first off, the japanese propaganda of "oh geez the australian team is way too physical!" obviously worked on the egyptian ref. :dry:
practically every time a japanese player was touched it was a free kick or a yellow card. geez.

however, I won't be too biased by suggesting that the japanese goal shouldn't have been allowed :rolleyes:

but erm....karma. :whistle:

[stitchphil]

Hahah! Yeah... I was kinda surprised that Japan's goal was allowed too. The keeper was obviously pushed down.

And in the last quarter of the match, the entire Japanese team just fell apart... How terribly wasted. But Australia were more desperate and hungry for the goals, so well-deserved win.

Next match, Italy v Ghana! But I might not watch all of it knowing how Italy's history of boring football... Let's see how that match goes.

[ColaPoP]

Hahah... Teresa, your siggie. Geez that was quick. Cahill is cute tho :wink2:

I still can't believe it, 3 points in the last 8 minutes. Holy Crap~~

*starts looking up whom Group F will play in stage 2*

[BlueChaos]

This was an amazing and superb match! I enjoyed watching it! :excited:

You know, teams are always complaining when they have to play the 3pm match that it is too hot, that's why England and Netherlands can only get 1-0 wins. But Australia and Japan are hot countries so maybe that's why they were able to play so well. This is undoubtedly the best 3pm match so far!

Yes, that Japanese goal should be disallowed. Hiddink got very angry but I don't agree with his reaction to mouth off to the FIFA officials (or was it Zico and the Japanese team? I couldn't see too well with this online TV) and later he even pushed one of the Japanese officials when one of their players was down injured, maybe he thought they were wasting time.

But yeah, three goals in eight minutes (84', 89', 92') settles it all and Cahill was superb. His days on Everton were worth it. Hiddink got bullish again after the goals came, hahaha, entertaining coach, he is.

It's US vs Czech after this. Let's see how Pavel Nedved and Petr Cech will play in this game.

[xiaoli]

What a bloody good turnaround, I thought Japan had it in the bag at 80 minutes. All the glum faces in the green and gold! To think that we could have been without Cahill and Aloisi cuz of their injuries!

Oh yeah, the controversial Japanese goal:

http://photoimg.enjoyjapan.naver.com/view/enjoybbs/viewphoto/tsports/2565000/20060612115011969443544700.jpg

Oh yes and Hiddink was all fired up, he was being restrained at one point, LOL. I would've been pissed if Japan had walked away 1-0!

[xJayChoux]

woot woot~! i had a loooong football weekend. xD first i watched the match of Sweden vs. Trinidad & Tobago...and then the one of Argentina vs. Ivory Coast. yesterday i watched the match of the Netherlands vs. Serbia Montenegro, the match wasn't really interesting. the dutch players weren't really playing at their best, except for Robben. (gooooo gooo gooooo ROBBEN! xD) i'm so looking forward to our match against Ivory Coast this friday. *jumps up and down*

i also watched the match Mexico vs. Iran. (boring match i must say. xD) and later in the evening i watched Portugal vs. Angola. (RONALDOOO!!! he's such a cutie. xD) anyhoos...i had a fun weekend.

and i just watched the match of Australia vs. Japan. i have to admit that i was cheering for Japan. =\

*runs away from teresa unnie and hides for rotten tomatoes*

[xiaoli]

^ It's okay, if Japan played the Netherlands I'd be cheering for Japan. :tongue:

Oh man, RONALDO IS SMOKIN' HOT!!

The AUS:JPN game is the only match I've watched though, damn exams T_T

P.S. Teresa your siggy's so cute! lol

[lattae]

I can't say I am a supporter of the Aussies, but I love it when they make an attack (cos I can catch a glimpse of Jap GK Kawaguchi... I think he's hot).

I think Aussies deserves the win more than Japan, which could barely string together a decent attack throughout the 90mins. Aussies were so much better in that sense. However the Aussies did play pretty rough tho'. I almost thought I was watching rubgy at certain points of time :glug:

[ColaPoP]

Speaking of hot, am I the only gal here guilty of watching Football for the primary purpose of perving?

On the FIFA site, you can make a fantasy team. Pick a team with members from any competing country... I am tempted to play and choose on looks only.

Shallow, I am.

[xiaoli]

LOL. I'm bad.. but not as bad as you. :tongue:

I'm watching primarily to cheer on the Socceroos, but the hot boys are DEFINITELY a great perk!

Nakata's the best looking of the Japanese bunch. Miyamoto's alright -- back in 2002, he was always wearing that protective mask on his face. Shinji Ono is quite the cutie too, but he barely played today.

Of the Aussies, KEWELL & CAHILL, baby <3

I didn't think the Aussies were THAT rough, really. It was in the papers today how Hiddink was furious because the Japanese were trying to play mind games with the referees concerning Australia's 'foul tactics' -- but hey, about that goal......

Nah, plenty of yellow cards were dished out anyway.

[xJayChoux]

^:lolabove:

i watch football for the football. really. and oooh...i'd so know which players to put together if i were to form a team. :brows:

xiaoli, whaaat?! :cry: ah maaaan...i was like this :drool: during the Portugal match...:sweat:

pin unnie, lol. i think Nakata Hidetoshi and Shinji Ono are cuter and hotter. xP

[ftlouiea]

^ thirds (i think?) the hide nakata motion. WAKAKA.

did you guys hear though, he sure has a big head sitting on that neck of his. he hired out the top floor of a hotel away from the team's hotel because... because he's so famous and egotistical. :rolleyes:

Not excited by Italian match tonight... what a bore to be watching a bunch of eleven guys with long straggly hair. :dry:

GO THE RED DEVILS TOMORROW! WOOT WOOT.

[BlueChaos]

Biggest winning margin in the World Cup 2006 so far! 3 goals to none!

Tomas Rosicky was so damn amazing. After watching the individual majesty of Robben, now today we are treated to Rosicky's ultimate greatness. The first goal was amazing, spot on to the top-right corner of the goal. His second shot hit the crossbar, a little bit below and it would be another goal (how the heck can he get that accuracy?) and later he cut the ball from a US player, made a run and smacked the ball to the net past the keeper. Wow!

Czech is a great team. Nedved is influential. Koller is tall and menacing (too bad he picked up an injury, hope it's nothing serious and he can play next game). Cech didn't have too much to do today even though there were some US cut ins. Let's see how far they can go. Win the WC2006 perhaps??

And the US coach looks so stupid. Just gazing around and doing nothing with that idiotic look on his face. He looks more like a rugby/NFL coach than a soccer team coach to me.

[chineseguyjl]

omg, i still cant believe US lost even when they said they would win all of it. and mexico got first in their division. crazy! oh i gotta check out todays italy game.

[jaychou_21]

Not excited by Italian match tonight... what a bore to be watching a bunch of eleven guys with long straggly hair. :dry:

:roll: If they cut their hair short, would it make any difference? :rolleyes:

I was so surprised by when the Socceroos upset the Blue Samurais.
The most shocking part was when they scored their three goals
in less than 10 minutes, before the game concluded.

The Japanese are ranked 18th by FIFA while the Australians are ranked 42nd,
but bookies around the world were mostly favouring Guus Hiddink's team to win.
I honestly thought Japan would win. I expected a draw at least. :shy:

The Socceroos will take on the Brazilians next Monday morning.
Let's see if they're still lucky. :shifty:

[lattae]

I don't think socceroos have much of a chance agains samba-styled soccer. Tho' I'd be 100% happy if socceroos beat brazil. I am anti-brazil :tongue:

[ker_ai_teresa]

*throws rotten tomatoes at sinny* :tomato:

:bleh:


It's okay, if Japan played the Netherlands I'd be cheering for Japan.
exactly what I was about to say. :D
but not because they're asians but because Nakata and Ono happens to be on the team. :whistle:
let's just say that at times I had to stop myself from looking at the 2 of them too much and try to focus on the freakin game. :oops:

xiaoli--> geez, I was up most of the night. could hardly sleep. :sweat:
I watched the news coverage of what went on at Federation Square, and I swear, the fanaticism there was the most passionate and psychotic....in a good way of course. :D

Of the Aussies, KEWELL & CAHILL, baby
it's a pity they've both got partners and kids already. :rolleyes:

Let's see if they're still lucky.
I woudn't call the aussies' win over Japan, 'luck' though.
and no amount of 'luck' will help us over Brazil if we don't have what it takes. beating Japan is one thing, but this is Brazil we're talking about here.

[jaychou_21]

I woudn't call the aussies' win over Japan, 'luck' though.
and no amount of 'luck' will help us over Brazil if we don't have what it takes. beating Japan is one thing, but this is Brazil we're talking about here.

Yep it wasn't luck at all. It was a product of sheer drive and determination.
But the triple last minute goals, weren't those somehow brought about by twist of fate? :rolleyes:

If Brazil wins again this year - which is almost predictable
despite the so-called Euro curse over the Brazilian team -
and if I was the FIFA president, I would ban Brazil from playing at the 2010 World Cup.
I'd ban them right from the qualifying matches.
They're the world's number one ball kickers (how silly that sounds) and they've won
XXX World Cups already they might want to give others a chance.
But a grandiose final match upset against Brazil would be VERY nice to see though. :shiny:

[BlueChaos]

Ranks doesn't necessarily reflect team strength. Remember Greece? :bleh:

I agree that Aussie's win over Japan was not luck. If it was a draw maybe you can say they're lucky, but a turnover win, even a 3-1 and not a 2-1 win at that, it's skills and determination, baby. I think Aussie will improve their FIFA rank by the end of the World Cup.

And it's no point to ban Brazil from the World Cup. It's not like they win EVERY TIME. Besides, it is the dream of all teams in the world to defeat Brazil. If you take out Brazil then the competition itself will become meaningless. Really, if in WC2002 Turkey defeated Brazil and come on to the finals and then lost to Germany, I think Germany would be a bit disappointed, maybe they will say "Winning the WC is good, but if we can win it by defeating Brazil, it would be even better".

South Korea, go defeat Togo! The greedy players in that team needs to be taught a good lesson!

[jaychou_21]

And it's no point to ban Brazil from the World Cup. It's not like they win EVERY TIME. Besides, it is the dream of all teams in the world to defeat Brazil. If you take out Brazil then the competition itself will become meaningless. Really, if in WC2002 Turkey defeated Brazil and come on to the finals and then lost to Germany, I think Germany would be a bit disappointed, maybe they will say "Winning the WC is good, but if we can win it by defeating Brazil, it would be even better".

Very well said. :wink2:
I get your point. Of course I'm not serious about petitioning for Brazil to get banned from the World Cup. :tongue:
It's just that the Brazilian team might want their much-needed break from the world of football
and put a halt to their enormous winning streak by missing one World Cup and giving the 2010 trophy to Germany. :bleh:

About the South Korea versus Togo match, I can smell Asian victory already.
Not only are the players from Togo greedy, their coach and team manager are greedy as well. :dry:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/master_diao/koreasarang.gif
Go Korea! Aja! Hwaiting!

[ColaPoP]

Of the Aussies, KEWELL & CAHILL, baby
it's a pity they've both got partners and kids already
Yeah, but when you're watching... its just you, and the boys. Lots of cute, talented guys. Mmmm~

Hahaha. Ban Brazil. Got a bite of tall-poppy syndrome have you Brent? Actually, I think even if they stopped for a year it would completely defeat the purpose of a world competition. Why should they get banned? Cos they too good? I say step-it-up. If you were a top 5 ranked team, and you were told Brazil was banned wouldn't that piss you off? It would be a hollow win. And you would be cheated of playing against the world's best!

Anti-Brazil? Thats quite a strong opinion lattae. Why is that?

[lattae]

you know what? we should have this informal bookie thread... then we can place our bets for each game :excited:

anyone game?

[kahel]

i'm game with booking. it's my first time watching a football match tonight. hahah. and i find it so amusing especially when the players fall in line to block a goal. XD (forgive the newbie). i didn't know this game is soooooo physical. it pains me when the players wince in leg pain and I change the channel because i can't bear pain. :shy:

and ooh the energy is exciting.

[BlueChaos]

Yay for bookie thread. It would make watchin the games more interesting and our hearts either break out or shout in joy. Like in this match, the Korean fans must be biting their nails in the first half! :oops:

But.... Hwaiting! :D

Down 0-1 in the first half, goals in the second half from Lee Chun Soo and Ahn Jung Hwan (Man of the Match, BTW) reversed the score to 2-1. It was an entertaining game. 16 Korean shots and 9 Togo shots said it all. Open play, all's good, although I have to admit Abalo(ne)'s red card had an effect on the overall play. Korea got their first goal after that, and with a 1-1 scoreline plus 10-men opponent, they dared to push forward more.

In a group where there's France and Swiss, three points mean a lot for Korea. If tonight's match ends in a draw between France and Swiss, Korea will be the one laughing.

[stitchphil]

Hooray Korea! Asian Pride! :excited:

The free kick equaliser was classy! He made is look surprisingly easy! But with the way Togo was so disorganised and all, and with 10 men, Korea ought to win it. Plus their daring runs at the Togo defence!

First ever win in the World Cup Finals on European soil! Cheers!

[xJayChoux]

teresa unnie ...:cry:

and yup! count me in for the booking! :excited:

ommo! i'm soooo happy! GO REDS!!! HWAITING!

the commentator never had such difficulty with pronouncing names. :laughing: KIM, LEE, PARK...LEE...LEE...KIM...THE OTHER KIM...LEEEE! :roll: i want to watch tonight's match, the one with Brazil. hope i'm able to watch it...(i have to study...:cry:)

[prayer_dos_amantes]

i was watchin the whole match and i was going crazy, they kept giving the ball away, korea had so many chance of scoring and it would have been 3:1 if they tried scoring with the free kick they had nearer to the end.

did anyone notice any stars watchin the game? i saw shin jung hwan and jun jin(shinhwa) at kick off.

my sister was goin mad as well, she was watching it somewhere else and we were just constantly texting each other with updates even though both of us was watching, luckily we have free texting or it would have costed us so much.

france next, i really do hope korea win the match against france but france has such a strong team.
but anyways....
>>>>>>KOREA HWAITING<<<<<<<

[xiaoli]

Argh I'm in the same boat. Had to tape Korea vs. Togo and I'm taping Brazil vs. Croatia. World Cup is soo distracting! My family was watching the game though and I heard how loud the crowd was. Glad to hear Korea won; they were my adopted team in 2002. And Ahn Jung Hwan = strangely appealing, I liked him more than Nakata. Is Nakata married? I know Shinji Ono & Ahn Jung Hwan are.

BTW did Baek Ji Hoon play? He's cute. :excited:

YES, let's make a bookie thread. Are we gonna bet with our points (can the system facilitate that?) Sorry, I'm not that familiar with it yet.

[ftlouiea]

http://imgnews.naver.com/image/117/2006/01/26/200601261750502230_1.jpg

He didn't play. ._. But we can survive with some visual candy. But Park Ji Sung seems to have sorted out his perm! :happy:

Hm, how does the betting begin? I know it's gonna rob me, but my money's on England just because. Anti Brazil, Anti France and Anti Germany. Enough said.

[lattae]

:hmm: I don't think we can tweak the bookie function in vPlaza, seems like it's something only karen can do... but I guess we can start betting threads. Like say, 1-2 days in advance, then we take bets... that'd be fun :excited:

[petricia]

Haha.. betting threads?

I am in! I was so upset by the score last night with Japan and Aussie... I had this 'I HATE AUSSIES' for my MSN nick for a day. My friend thought that I was betting with my whole fortune from my reactions in the MSN after the match.

Luckily, Korea won tonight! I was screaming and shouting. And I just love Lee Chun Soo. Haha... No. 14. I don't know why... but he just left a deep impression on me since last World Cup.

[BlueChaos]

Hmmm, you can go to www.williamhill.co.uk, look for the betting odds (just select a match and select fractional odds from the pulldown menu) and enter it to the betting system. That would be really interesting.

For Brazil vs Croatia...
Brazil (4/11) - Draw (13/5) - Away (8/1)

Betting 10 points for Brazil would only net you less than 4 points profit if they win :happy:

Edit:
Korea drew with Switzerland, that would put Korea on top for the moment :excited:

Suddenly I had a thought about how if Korea, France and Switzerland all drew each other and won only against Togo, that would put all of them to 5 points, and goal difference would matter then. By the way they play, I think Korea can draw with Switzerland but I don't think they can do against France.

For France... please get rid of your 4-5-1 formation and put 2 strikers up front, help Henry with Trezeguet!

[HarmonyCloud]

Hey! I have been watching a few games..
I admit the Japan game was so dissapointing! I expected so much more! I admit I did not agree with the goal and the way they played was pathetic...I am not routing for Aussie but they did play the better game...
I taped the USA game but I heard it was a train wreck..3 to 1 :oops:
I saw Port. vs. Angola, That wasn't a good game..Port should have creamed Angola! After they scored they just wanted to finish the game:dry:
So far the most interesting game was Korea vs. Togo...Korea played really well I really liked watching how they stayed in control of the game and it really was a fair match with some awesome goals :happy: I was just a lil sad that Baek Ji Hoon was an unused sub! He is cute!!

[panda_shine]

I think Baek Ji Hoon is a cutie too!! :angel: I was wondering if he was playing too!! :shy:

I am really glad that the Koreans won!! The game played at 6am at my time so I didn't get to watch it.. I woke up at 7am to check their scores and at that time, they were at 0-1.. I was soo :cry:.. but I managed to watch the last 10 minute and knowing that they were winning was great! Hopefully, they'll repeat this game later coz I want to watch it so bad.. :sweat:

Brazil's playing in 10 minutes.. I'll be watching it :-)

I think the betting idea would be fun too!

[BlueChaos]

I taped the USA game but I heard it was a train wreck..3 to 1
3 - 0 to Czech, that is.

Unfortunately I watched this one via CCTV5 channel in my Online TV because it had better graphics. Had I known that would happen I would have watched it on ESPN2 (a channel in the US) instead. Would like to know what would the commentators say after they saw their national team trashed 0-3 down and their coach just looks like he's out lost somewhere.

[xJayChoux]

the betting would be fun. :excited:

i watched Brazil vs. Croatia's match and i'm glad Brazil won. they weren't giving their everything tonight, that's for sure. but...it wasn't necessary. :sweat: i was sooo cheering for Kaka! he's cute. :love:

and his goal was soooo superb. <333 and ronaldhino was funny, as always. =P

[ker_ai_teresa]

woot! SK Hwaiting! :bounce:

I didn't watch the Brazil v. Croatia match....what was the score??? :?

btw, do we get anything if we win the bets? :shifty:

ommo! i'm soooo happy! GO REDS!!! HWAITING!
yes, I can tell you were excited over SK's win......size="red"???
:laughing:

Is Nakata married? I know Shinji Ono & Ahn Jung Hwan are.
Nakata ain't attached yet. :shifty:
but Ono??? what a pity......:oops:

[BlueChaos]

I didn't watch the Brazil v. Croatia match....what was the score???
Brazil 1 - 0 Croatia. Kaka's goal.

Didn't watch it either so don't have any comment about the way they play... :cry:

[jay_fantasy8]

i was sooo cheering for Kaka! he's cute. :love:
and his goal was soooo superb. <333

^

YES! kaka's so very cute! x) :love:

but i thought brazil was a disappointment though. >< i was expecting more actions from them. x)

ahh, and i'm so happy that SK won too! although the first goal by Togo made me panic, muaha, i'm super glad that SK managed to turn over the scores !

My friend thought that I was betting with my whole fortune from my reactions in the MSN after the match.

hahaha pet jie, that was exactly what i thought when i first saw your msn nick too. ><

hmm soo as for today's matches... i think i'll watch germany vs poland match. :D

hehes, and i like the betting idea too!

[ftlouiea]

btw, do we get anything if we win the bets?

points and the glory of your team winning. :rolleyes:

My mum reckons Ronaldinho's had plastic surgery, his face has gotten 'less uglier'. To me, he's still pretty... not so good-looking. =X

You know what? I reckon France and Switzerland are in on a deal... to get a draw now, so they both thrash their opponents in the other games... and kick SK out of the lead. ><

[lattae]

Hey you soccer-addicts... I started the bookie thread:
http://jay-chou.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19218


Let's see how it goes. We'll see how things go. Constructive feedback on the booking system are welcome.



My dad thinks the same way about the draw between the French and Swiss... It totally feels like a conspiracy to kick Togo and SK out :wacko:

[BlueChaos]

Conspiracy theory eh? I can see that happening. If my theory of all the teams except Togo have 5 points came true, Korea will be at a loss since they only have 1 goal difference. Even if Swiss and France played a draw against Korea, they only need to score more than one goal against Togo. If they win 2-0, they will have 2 goal difference (the France-Swiss draw gave them 0 and another draw with Korea will also give them 0) and pass to the next round, kicking Korea and Togo home.

Hmmm so that's why Domenech opted to use a 4-5-1 formation. So that's why Henry's appeal for handball in the penalty area was rejected, if there was a penalty France would win and disrupt the plan.

Nice conspiracy, this is :whistle:

[xJayChoux]

yes, I can tell you were excited over SK's win......size="red"???
:laughing:

:shy: i saw that later...but was too lazy to edit my post. :bleh:

anyhoos... dana unnie, ehm. i find that ronaldhino still looks the same. still...ugly i mean. =\

jay_fantasy8, what's your name? well...Brazil didn't really had to put in more effort than they did last night. Croatia on the other hand really had to give everything they had.

thanks for starting the bookie thread pin unnie. :hugz:

ps. has ronaldo gotten fatter? :oops:

[BlueChaos]

Woot! The Spain vs Ukraine game turns out to be a highly amazing and entertaining one :oops:

4 goals from Spain eclipsed Czech Republic's previous accomplishment of a 3-0 win. They were dangerous with their passes and very good with their finishing. Fernando Torres, Raul and especially David Villa were all very dangerous. Ukraine looked out of their place and even with Shevchenko they looked like they could never get back into the game, especially after they have a player red carded. This WC2006 turned out to be amazing, and I'm voting on Czech and Spain to become strong contenders for the winners!

On a random note, did anyone recognize there's a player named Voronin? Maybe he's somewhat related to Lara Veronin but Lara is not Ukrainian right? She's Russian? :glug:

And on a transfer note, Eidur Gudjohnsen moved from Chelsea to Barcelona on a 4-year contract worth 8.2 million pounds. Yes it is confirmed, maybe Chelsea has too much midfielders and strikers now they let him go.

[Shay]

Oh my god...those Spaniards are hotties. XD "Yes! Exchange shirts!" And not to mention that they played an excellent game etc etc :P

Damn this world cup this is totally screwing up my sleep cycle... games are on at 11pm, 2am, 5am o_o


This is a bit late but GO THE SOCCEROOS!!! How excellent was that Australia game....3 goals in the last 9 minutes! (including overtime) I watched it in a cafe and it was CRAZY afterwards, people jumping around and screaming on the street!!!! Cahill is proving to be an incredible asset!!! Viduka...seems to be doing ok but not very good to convert. Just really worried now coz we have 4 guys with yellow cards....can't risk any players for hte Croatia game!!!! (popular assumption of course that we have a better chance against the Croatians)

Everyone cheer for the Aussies!!! 30+ years since we've been in the World Cup! And Cahill scored like the first EVER Aussie World Cup goal!!!! O_O Now that's an impressive thing to put on the resume! Watch the Aust. vs. Brazil game!!! :D


And go the Koreans!!!!

[HarmonyCloud]

xJayChoux :D I dont think Ronoldo has gotten fatter :bleh:
BlueChaos I was so dissapointed what was Ukraine doing out there! :cry:
Shay haha this world cup is messing up your sleep cycle? I am sitting home all day since games are 9am, 12am, and 3am I believe :rolleyes:

I missed the first game today but I am on the edge of my seat to see England play! I will admit I never actually saw Brazil play but after all the hype about their team I was a bit dissapointed? I kinda expected more goals during their game...:worry:

[lattae]

I am totally disappointed at how england is playing...
look.... no goal after an hour :cry:

[shez]

england's playing is SO crap today!!! they should've scored SO many goals by now.. BUT THEY HAVEN'T!!!

[BlueChaos]

Crouch was TRASH! (sorry about the word but I practically used harsher words everywhere other than here). The first half chance from Beckham should be a goal, I can't believe how he missed it. And he played so badly I wanted to give him a punch and several kicks in the face. The goal was all thanks to Beckham (Man of the Match), the cross was a very delicate and precise one, pin-point to Crouch's head. He didn't even need to run or make a hard header, only jump a bit and poof, it's in the net.

Kudos to Gerrard though, that was a superb screamer-shot :excited:

My verdict, England can only last until the Last 16 Round, or if they're lucky, Last 8. If they meet the Germans they will be dead outright, but if they meet Ecuador maybe still can manage to win...

[stitchphil]

I'm totally disappointed with the way England played even though they won 2 nil. It was partly because of the defensive game T&T were playing, they had almost 8-9 players in the penalty box every time England attacked. But still, that is no excuse for the terrible way they've played.

Lampard has missed lots of chances, so did Crouch and Owen. Gerrard's goal was a mirror image of his goals in the FA Cup Finals, wonderful. Beckham's cross to pick out Crouch was beautifully done as well.

The way they're playing, I don't see them getting the results against Germany OR Ecuador. Don't write off Ecuador, they've after all won 2 out of 2 and their attack is rather strong as well.

[lattae]

I'd say give them a bit of credit... it was next to impossible to score. There was nothing but a sea of red in there. You barely see your own players... TnT's style is anything but soccer. They've got like 10 players with job description which is to stop the ball from getting in? :wacko: Come on... there's a reason why there are terms like defender, midfield, striker. I don't see any division on TnT's side

[HarmonyCloud]

Sadly today's match with England was GARBAGE! I agree with every statement everyone made at this thread. The score should have been like 5 to zip but I don't know what happend to them! If it would have ended at a draw I would have been furious. I was also mad since like BlueChaos said I expected a lot from Crouch he missed a lot of goals! I was however impressed with terry's save from TnT even though it should have never had come to that...
I watched a bit of the sweden game against paraguay but it was really boring, Sweden like most of the other teams only scored in the last 10 minutes...

[ene]

Yes ! That game was so boring, I fell asleep. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM ?! I used to support them but I'm going to burn my jersey.

Anyway, all football fans - go bet in the World Cup Fever games right here on JC.net !! Check out my siggy for the link :wink2:

[jay_fantasy8]

ahhh. yes yes. england missed so many chances to score. >< i was really disappointed with peter crouch as well. there were several times where he got really close to the net. >< lampard too.

aish aish, and terry's save from T & T was indeed commendable. oh, and it nearly gave me a heart attack. x) like about a few centimetres away from the line. ><

but anyhoos, they won, so i'm still very happy. ^^ gerrard did well. :D

woots. i'm looking forward to holland's match against ivory coast. hehes. hopefully van nistelrooy won't disappoint me. x)

xJayChoux - i'm grace. ^^

muaha, and the betting system gives more excitement when watching the matches. x)

[w4t3r_lily]

:wave:

Well i'm kinda dissapointed with England too but still i thanked GOD for giving them those goals. I think they have tried their best to score in the 1st half. But TnT play soooo defensive!!! It will make i believe not only England but other team to who plays against them frustated with the defensive game their played.

Michael Owen is SUCKS!!! Gosh i dunno why ericksson still giving him the 1st place!! he sucks!!! He didn't make any chance at all when England vs Paraguay nor in the last nite game!!! Gosh..

Lampard should kick the ball better!! he got like 3-4 chances to score but he blew it away.

Terry is one of England saviour. Gosh i almost get a heart attack when the TnT player almost scored but Terry save the ball from the line.

Beckham is the man of the match. He got that because he led the frustated team won against TnT and show his leadership well last nite.

I expect they can do better in the next game :sweat:

[BlueChaos]

Thank Beckham for the goals, his cross was superbly amazing yesterday :D

And in Owen's case, do not blame him. It's the old man Sven's strategy that rendered Owen useless. Just count how much through passes or floor passes did England use? All of England's passes are mostly high passes or crosses towards (the useless one and only) Crouch. The strategy is similar to Chelsea's with Drogba, cross the ball to Drogba, Drogba heads it to another player and the player kicks the ball to goal. Works wonders against Bayern Munich, but this is Crouch we're talking about, not Drogba.

So yes, this year, there will be two guys to blame for England's suckiness, Sven and Crouch. I reckon they can only go to the last 16 and then go home. Germany/Ecuador, go kill 'em and send 'em home.

[stitchphil]

I think Beckham still have the bad habit of having the tendacy to drift to the Central midfield. But when he stays on the right to provide those long balls to the front, it gave England the extra edge.

And I think we should go easy on Sven. His track record when he managed England is better than any of the past managers England had in the past. So I think he deserves some credit.

Terry's goal line clearance nearly gave me an heart attack too! :tongue:

But I gotta say T&T played an extremely frustrating game by throwing nearly all their players behind the ball in the match. I knew T&T were playing a very defensive game, but I only saw the number of players they had in the box only during the post match analysis. :wacko:

Argentina are winning 3 nil... I don't like Argentina... Haha.. But they're good though. Let's see how that match will turn out.

[xJayChoux]

Argentina just won today's match against Serbia & Montenegro so theyre going to the next round. :bounce:

6- 0!!!!

i feel bad for Mateja Kezman though... he wanted to win the match against the Netherlands last time... but lost... and now...he has to say goodbye to the world cup 2006. ><

anyways, only half an hour to go till the Netherlands' match against Ivory Coast! :excited:

[BlueChaos]

This 6-0 win really gave me some shivers when I was watching it.

Any team that meets Argentina in the last 16 better pray, or ask for mercy when they're already 0-3 down. Argentina was without mercy and the goals just kept on coming. I personally think that the first Crespo goal was not offiside and it should have been 7-0 for Argentina, but that would be too rough for the Serbia boys then :bleh:

It turns out to be a very entertaining World Cup this year. We've seen 52 goals in 21 matches so far. It might be able to pass the goal mark of the previous World Cups: 141 in 1994, 171 in 1998 and 161 in 2002. Maybe this year it will be 151, to "round things up" :D

Holland v Ivory Coast, coming up.

[ene]

Yes, that 6-0 trashing by Argentina was definitely something. You noticed how the referee actually blew the whistle although 1 minute was supposed to be added ? I think he wanted to end Serbia & Montenegro's agony :D But wow, SIX goals. The second last goal was amazing. The one by Tevez where he skipped past TWO defenders to score. SHEESH ! Messi was pretty amazing too. He's only 18 ?!?! Gosh.

I've never been a fan of Argentina but I have to say their 6-o win was pretty darn impressive....

[sleepin'tom]

Argentina's 2nd goal is the goal of the tournament or one of the greatest, 24 passes to make that goal. Nothing but pure brilliance. Classic example of pass and move football. Can't remember Riquelme making a bad pass. Stunning display from the Argentines! Abramovich might be considering putting in a bid for the entire Argie squad if they continue to put up that :wacko: performance

[shez]

wow 6-0 today!! that was a GREAT game!!!

can't wait for england V sweden!

[HarmonyCloud]

Argentina's game was crazy! I missed it though! :cry: But I did watch Netherlands game! They were too much on defense though! Also did anyone hear what the Netherlands Coach did? He wouldn't let Jan kromkamp be on the national team because he signed with Liverpool, but he eventually let him on but thus far Jan hasn't seen any action! He is always an unused sub! :cry: Why is the coach being so unresonable? I mean their Goalie is with an english team also! :dry: In todays game against Ivory Coast I didn't expect the Ivory Coast to score against them! I mean the Netherlands were way too much on defense! They had all 11 players on defense at one point! But Van Pierci (is that how u spell it?) was definitly the Man of the Match! He was on fire!:excited:

[xJayChoux]

omg. the Netherlands played such a BAD BAD BAD game. i couldn't believe what i saw. it was horrible. they looked like clowns on a battle field. ._.

the only players who played a "decent" match were Van Perzie, Boulahrouz and Van Bronkhorst. =X

harms, from who did you hear that? i don't think it's true. Van Basten isn't like that. i agree that his decisions are kinda rare sometimes...just like what he did with Huntelaar. (we could've scored a lot more goals with Huntelaar...but oh well. X_X) but yeah... i admire Van Basten for his creativity really. i think he's actually one of my fav. dutch coaches. xD

[HarmonyCloud]

xJayChoux Jan said that himself in an interview you can watch it here Jan Interview (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/international?id=11175&league=fifa.world&season=2006&cc=5901) :D

Van Perzie was super awesome :happy:

[spax]

Although I don't really watch the WC, I'm quite impressed that Argentina scored 6 goals! Never really support Argentina though...

Reminds me of the match between Germany and Saudi Arabia in the 2002 WC. Germany scored 8 goals and Saudi Arabia scored none. Well, this match impressed me more... :shifty: (I think I'm quite biased because I support Germany.. =P)

Just wondering...is there anywhere on the internet where I can watch live matches? :?

[BlueChaos]

Just wondering...is there anywhere on the internet where I can watch live matches?
I think I posted about this a few while ago.

Go to http://viidoo.com/en/index.php, download the TVUPlayer and run it. Later you can watch matches on ESPN2. The network was down yesterday unfortunately but I hope it will be working again today.

[jay_fantasy8]

aish, i was super impressed with argentina last night! they made my jaw dropped so many times! x)

lol, and maradona was so happy last night. :D

eeps, the one between holland and ivory coast got my heart pumping fast for the netherlands. the first half was great, but the second half was practically watching the ivory coast players attacking and the netherlands trying hard to defend. ><

overall, it was a rather nice match, cause i feel that ivory coast fought well so the whole thing was rather exciting to watch. x)

spax - i'm not sure about that, but you can also try to tune in to the indonesia channel to watch the 'live' matches. thats what my father did. ><

[BlueChaos]

spax - i'm not sure about that, but you can also try to tune in to the indonesia channel to watch the 'live' matches. thats what my father did. ><
Ah yes, you can tune it to an Indonesian channel called SCTV if you're in Singapore. Any good antenna will be able to capture that. But please bear with the amount of advertisement and stupid quizzes, that's the way Indonesian channels are. I'd better watch online TV rather than watch THAT...

Imagine that they didn't even air the opening ceremony and replaced it with a musical show opener...

[spax]

Well, JCNET has been quite dead just now. Maybe everyone has been watching the match between Iran and Portugal? :shifty:

BlueChaos: Thanks for your help! Now I don't have to subscribe to the SCV to watch the WC! :D

Anyway, I felt quite bored while watching the match, espacially the 1st half. Both Iran and Portugal had good chances of scoring but everytime it led me to disappointment. At the same time, I felt that Deco's goal in the 2nd half was quite a nice one!

Can't wait for the match between Italy and USA!! :bounce: Let's see how many goals will Italy win... :sweat:

[BlueChaos]

Biggest World Cup 2006 Upset So Far!!! :excited:

This match is a total drama! Ghana scored an early goal, attacked so relentlessly the Czech never had a chance to retaliate. If it were not for Petr Cech they would have gone down 4-0 or 5-0. Then in the second half their player got a red card, but Ghana's penalty missed! But in the end they added another goal with a good attack, and almost made it 3-0 but the effort went offside. Funny to see the guy already celebrating and he freaked out to find it was disallowed.

Ghana 2 - 0 Czech Republic.

And to think that Czech is #2 in the World Rank while Ghana is only #48. USA will be thankful that even that they lose today they won't be eliminated. If Italy won against Czech and Ghana lost against USA later, Italy will have 9 points and the others will have 3 points each and the one with the biggest goal difference will go through. The way I see it? Ghana will also win against USA and surely go to the Round of 16. Italy wins, Italy goes with Ghana. Czech wins, Czech goes with Ghana. What matters is that Ghana must win against USA, simple task for them looking at how they played Czech...

[stitchphil]

I can't believe Ghana beat the Czechs 2 nil! :excited:

I actually didn't want to watch the match, but when they scored in the 1st min and I thought to myself, 'this will be interesting'

And as the matched wore on, the Ghanians (is there such a term?) grew in confidence and they kept attacking! The Czechs had Lokvenc sent off early in the second half. That probably affected their chances somewhat.

But Ghana were clearly the more attacking side in the match, attacking not only on the breaks but also whenever they have an opening.

Now, they still have a chance to qualify on the last round of the group phase! If, and only if the USA can beat Italy (which I highly doubt so, but then again, they may), the group will be wide wide open and we'll have to wait to the last round of matches to see which two will qualify. Let's see how the US v Italy match turns out.

As of now, teams that have qualified for the last 16 are: Germany, Ecuador, England, Sweden, Argentina, Netherlands, Portugal and Mexico.

[xJayChoux]

the USA pulled a draw against Italy!

3 red cards in one game! :sweat: i was sooo cheering for the USA! (so many handsome guys too...xD) ANYHOOS...Italy could've done much better than that. i was pretty confident that Italy would win (before the match that is xD)...but after seeing them play for 10min. i already knew this game wouldn't be easy for them to win.

i'm so proud of the USA. <3

[BlueChaos]

Woah, today all people who betted for Czech and Italy would be crying in tears :D

Yeah, with this draw now the group is still wide open for the last game. I hope Ghana and Italy would go to the next round. Or maybe Ghana and Czech, I don't quite like Italy that much now...

[HarmonyCloud]

I can't believe the USA had a Draw with Italy! I taped the game but while I was out everytime I passed a place with a TV I would peep in to see the game..and I was walking down a block in the city and passed a cafe and heard screams and jumped to see the USA draw! :excited: I mean I really thought we didn't stand a chance! We still have a chance!
I missed the Ghana game too but I can't believe that one too! I agree the biggest upset so far! I can't wait to see Korea's next game tomorrow and Brazil's game too!

[ker_ai_teresa]

i'm so proud of the USA. <3
it was an own goal to italia, was it not? :whistle:

on to tonight's big matches!
japan vs. croatia. i'm hoping japan will some how cause an upset, coz then it might help boost aust's chances of getting through to the 2nd round. :whistle:

aust vs. brazil. I dunno....Hiddink's strange tactic of not letting the team know what his tactics are, is kinda weird. :glug: I just hope we won't see any more yellow cards on our key players. :worry: we need a full strength team to face croatia next.

SK vs. france. ummm......go the reds!!! ^^

[stitchphil]

Wow! Yesterday was a night of upsets! Ghana beat the Czech 2 to nothing, and... the US held the Italians to a 1-1 draw! :excited:

I think it's mainly because the US know that it is a do or die match for them if they want to have any chance at all of qualifying to the round of 16. They had so much motivation and hunger for a result! And what's more, the US had two players sent off! Rossi's red card for the elbow is well deserved! It was a terrible challenge! :oops:

I've sort of given up hope on Japan after seeing how they disintegrated towards the end when Aust equalised. But still, I do hope that they can get at least a point off tonight's match.

As for South Korea vs France, I'm behind the Koreans all the way!!

[ene]

Everyone keeps telling me about how wonderful Italy is but you know, after seeing how the Koreans beat them 4 years ago on home ground and now, they draw with USA, I find it very hard to believe that they are a team worthy of the World Cup :rolleyes:

[xiaoli]

Actually if I remember correctly, their loss to Korea was very controversial, as was the Spain vs. Korea game. Even though I was rooting for Korea, some referee decisions were heavily favoured towards them.

Didn't watch Italy vs. USA game, but perhaps you just underestimate the Koreans and the Americans? USA did pretty well 4 years ago - they reached the qtr finals. France bombed out of the group stage.. that doesn't mean they're a crappy team, cuz remember anything can happen in football :wink2:

Now tonight is the night I've been waiting for! I'm hoping Japan will win against Croatia, and of course for Brazil to go down to Australia. I know, it's a long shot but hey, it happened to the reigning champs 4 years ago, it can happen again! :D

P.S. Cristiano Ronaldo. :drool: I stopped watching the game after he left the field.

[ene]

Ha. I guess you're right. I haven't really watched USA play but I just did (caught the repeat of their game against Italy) and boy, I was impressed ! I swear they played better than those England boys :rolleyes: Definite newfound respect.

Sometimes, I think good teams (the ones that has a high ranking, has lots of star players, etc) think too highly of themselves. So you end up with the favourites losing or even drawing with teams who work very hard.

P.S. Cristiano Ronaldo. I stopped watching the game after he left the field.
LOL! I have to admit that there is so much eye candy on the pitch these days, it's hard to just concentrate on the GAME itself. I mean, I like watching football but it sure doesn't hurt when the players have to-kill-for-abs with hot faces to boot.

:love:

I really hope that Korea and Japan would advance. GO ASIAN BOYS GO !!!

[ftlouiea]

I swear they played better than those England boys :rolleyes: Definite newfound respect.


:shock:

We're just trying to find our feet. ._.

Did anyone catch a highlight of Ronaldo's new dance/dribble? It wasn't his usual left-right-left gimmick, but a full-on tango. :D *utterly impressed*

[spax]

:oops:

I missed the match between Italy and USA because I wanted to wake up at 3am to watch the match but in the end, the ZZ monster forced me to sleep, even if my alarm clock wake me up.

Lesson learnt: Not to sleep before watching any 3am matches. :tongue:

Wow! Biggest World Cup upset?! :glug:

Quite surprised to know that Ghana beat Czech Republic by 2-0. And Italy to draw with USA, all thanks to the own goal by Italy.. :shifty:

Actually if I remember correctly, their loss to Korea was very controversial, as was the Spain vs. Korea game. Even though I was rooting for Korea, some referee decisions were heavily favoured towards them.
Yep. I thought the referees were quite biased too, since Korea was the co-host for the 2002 WC. But, the Korean team was so lucky!! :D

For today's match:

Japan vs Croatia: I'm quite neutral with both teams because I don't really support them.

Brazil vs Australia: I'm rooting for both teams! :bounce: Ever since Australia beat Japan 3-1, I've been quite impressed with them and I believe they can create another miracle. At the same time, I expect great performance for Brazil as well. Sounds to be an interesting match!

South Korea vs France: South Korea all the way!! :yeah: I don't support France because they seem to get fouls all the time. Hopefully, they can create more chances for South Korea to have penalty kicks.. :shifty:

[BlueChaos]

Yes... the Italy vs Korea four years ago was controversial. So controversial that I still remember the name of the referee with the gloomy eyes and droopy faces (yes he just looks like that Droopy dog character), Byron Moreno. Some even say that when he comes home after the match there would be a KIA or a Hyundai waiting for him. I dunno if Totti was diving there but he's just too damn controversial of a referee.

And oh yes, four years ago they didn't have Luca Toni yet. With 31 goals in Serie A booked to his name with Fiorentina this season he's bound to make something. But as we all know, the ball is round. Even the highly dangerous Tomas Rosicky from Czech's first game seems to be dead yesterday.

So what about today? I am a neutral for Japan v Croatia because Japan disappointed me in the first match. For Australia v Brazil, I can't wait for them to STUFF HISTORY, can't wait to see what kind of ad would Nike make if they win or at least draw with Brazil. Maybe now Cahill will kick another ball to his head. For South Korea v France, Korea all the way to go! The way France played their first game with their 4-5-1, Korea could win. But of course, like Ghana v Czech yesterday, anything can happen, we can't judge from first matches alone.

Did anyone catch a highlight of Ronaldo's new dance/dribble? It wasn't his usual left-right-left gimmick, but a full-on tango. *utterly impressed*
Yep, and even at one point he juggled the ball on top of his foot and moved it to inside the penalty area.

[stitchphil]

I watched the Italy v Korea match 4 years ago. And the only reason Korea won was because of many of the controversial decisions the ref made in that match that swayed the match heavily in Korea's advantage. But that was 4 years ago.

Japan and Croatia drew nil-nil, a score which does neither team any good. And Brazil are currently drawing the Aussis by the same scoreline as well. If Brazil were to win, then the second team to go through to the round of 16 will be decided on the final day of the group phases. Let's see what happens by the end of the Brazil match.

And I'm behind Korea all the way!! Asian Pride!! I'm so staying up to watch the France v Korea match!

[BlueChaos]

:cry:

What an amazing match. In the pre-match build up, the commentator said that if he was Hiddink, since he knows Australia can't win against Brazil, the best option would be to play very defensively and rest key players so they won't get another yellow card, and let the final match against Croatia decide everything. But did you see the Socceroos doing that today? NO! They attacked and nailed down the Brazilian defence and even gave them quite a scare at times. They lost 0-2 in the end, but it was a beautifully played game and a decent play by the Socceroos.

I think they defended very well in the first half, they practically closed down "Joga Bonito" Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, giving them no chance for attack. But props to Ronaldo, today he played quite well, juggled the ball a bit then passed to Adriano for the strike. The second goal was no chance for Australia. They played well and made the match entertaining, I like them better than England now. England is turning to be the most boring team this year, taking the place from Italy, who actually play entertaining matches this year.

Now for the good news.

Since Japan and Croatia drew, unless Japan can beat Brazil (which is very unlikely if not impossible), Australia would only need a draw against Croatia to go to the next round. Seeing the way Australia play today, I say a draw is highly possible, but I think they can even go for a 1-0 win against Croatia. Basically Socceroos were unlucky not to go 2-1 because they had the chances and they didn't look like a second rate team at all. I hope they can go to Round Last 16.

Sigh... History must be very happy now... *imagine him jumping around in his chair* :cry:

[xiaoli]

Yeah, it's gonna be a nail-biting game for the Aussies! Far worse than the game against Brazil. If we lose, we're out! Even if Japan defeats Brazil, they'll need to win by at least 2 goals to be level with us.. so I think a draw with Croatia will suffice. I think we can do it! ^^

I watched the game live at Federation Square in Melbourne.. damn I am NOT doing that again! My back was sore from standing for 3 hours and my neck hurt from craning it over the guys in front of me. -_- Anyway, well done to the Socceroos! It was a great effort for a newbie team against the world champs.

I thought the ref made some really bad calls though. Like at the beginning of the match, Kaka sure as hell looked like he tripped over his own feet - and he got a free kick. One that I was quite unhappy with was at the 73rd minute, when Bresciano had possession of the ball and a Brazilian player ran into him (thus causing Bresciano to push him away because he was completely impeded) and the ref gave the Brazilians a free kick!

I heard that Kewell gave the ref a mouthful after the game. :unsure:

Yeah, I'm bummed that Japan was drawn in the same group as Australia, otherwise I'd be rooting for those boys to go through! Gomen nasai Nakata Hidetoshi :(

[HarmonyCloud]

Oh I was soooo dissapointed about Japan's game both teams were just not fighting hard enough, I was so angry every time Japan was on defense I was really routing for them....Alex really played well but it takes more than one person to pull through for a win and Japan just didn't have it.
Brazil's game was played well and had the "expected" outcome. Did anyone watch the game on ABC? Did you hear some of the comments made about Ronoldo's weight? They said some horriable things! They said right before the game "he probably ate two shnitzles before the game" and then after the game they said he's probably hungry and going to get something to eat! that was totally uncalled for! :cry: He's really not that fat! :worry:

[BlueChaos]

To make things more interesting, SkySports have made a special feature called the World Cup Super League. They pick top clubs in Europe, and every time a player scored, the club he's playing for gets some points. It's quite hard to explain but easy if you see it yourself. Go here:
http://home.skysports.com/worldcup/featuresarticle.aspx?hlid=373387&CPID=4&clid=&lid=7791&title=The+World+Cup+Super+League

How's your club progressing? Who will be the winner in the end? Wanna bet? :D

I wonder though how come they choose Dynamo Kiev and not, say, Lyon in the top 10...

[stitchphil]

Even though Japan still has that outside chance of qualification to the round of 16. I seriously don't see that happening, even with Brazil's less than fanciful display in the competition right now. Japan has 2 games with a 3pm kickoff, which isn't quite very fair. As the Zico pointed out. But Japan's point came only because of the performance of their keeper Kawaguchi (?).

As for Brazil v Aussies, I really felt that the Aussies deserved at least a point. But of course, one point for the Brazilians aren't enough. When the second goal was scored, the commentator said that the result was a little harsh to the Australians. As Brazil pressed on with the 3rd, the commentator said, "To concede 2 is harsh, but to score the 3rd would add insult to injury." I so agree.

Towards the end of the match with Brazil one goal up, they were asking for trouble by stepping down their gear. Viduka came so close to scoring. :oops: The crowd were booing Ronaldo when he was taken off! And they were the brazilian fans! How can fans of the team boo off their own players? :worry:

And Korea v France... ASIAN PRIDE! Woohoo! Korea currently top the group, though that might change tonight. When Henry scored in the 9th minute, it looked like there will be no denying the French this time. But they sat back and chose to defend rather than go on the offense. And at times even appeared over confident.

As the match wore on, it was actually the Koreans that pressed on with the attack! So when Park Ji Sung scored, I nearly screamed! But it was close to 5am here so I figured I'd better contain myself. :oops: Not the fanciest of goals, but it was a goal anyway.

Did you guys catch the close up of the moment when Zidane was taken off? He stared at the coach so fiercely and even threw away his wrist band in a rather upset manner. Geez... What is happening to the French team? :worry:

And Togo, my gwad! Threatening to boycott the Swiss match. Whassup with them and their money?! Is money the only thing on their mind?! What a shame! Even FIFA had to step in. Sigh... There are even teams who want to play on the World stage and don't have the chance too... And here they are complaining about not receiving money for qualifying for the World Cup and demanding performance bonous... Shame.

[ker_ai_teresa]

I think poor Viduka is destined to never score a goal for australia.
he tries and tries but..... :oops:

anywhoz, I wasn't going to do it, but I stayed up till 4am to watch the game. I'm quite pleased with how we played. with Hiddink as coach the socceroos will never just sit back and defend. it's always going to be attack, and they tried to do that last night but the samba boys didn't give them the space to move at all.
I was impressed that the first half ended 0-0....too bad we had to concede 2 goals in the 2nd half.

I'm much looking forward to the match against croatia coz we'll just need a draw to get through to the 2nd round! :bounce:

Hiddink, do your magic!!! :yeah:

stitchphil--> I just realised your username changed from stitchpil. :glug:
or did it always have a 'h' in it?

about ronaldo being booed...the brazilians are just a bit over zealous. I suppose they didn't like the way he played and regardless that he's one of theirs, they're not going to forgive so easily. sad really.

and who was the other brazilian player who came off with him? :glug: he looked way tubbier than ronaldo.....a new trend? :rolleyes:

[xiaoli]

lol, Ronaldo isn't even that fat. Actually, he isn't fat at all. I think people just expect too much from him, and he actually deserves more respect than that, especially from the Brazilians, considering he's done so much for Brazilian soccer already.

I was too tired to watch the Korea vs. France game but what happened with the controversial non goal?

[stitchphil]

Sigh... you're quite right teresa, try as he might, his shots just can't seem to find its way to the back of the net. Kewell too. But I still think its a real shame for them to lose by two goals though... I really hope they'll qualify along with Brazil.

stitchphil--> I just realised your username changed from stitchpil.
or did it always have a 'h' in it?
Haha... nope... My username has always had the 'h' in it. :bleh:

xiaoli, yeah.. there was a rather controversial no-goal in the last quarter of the match. Patrick Viera actually had a header that went over the line, but was saved by the Korean keeper. Replays showed that the ball actually crossed the line rather deeply, but the goal wasn't given. Had that goal went in, the outcome of the match would have no doubt be different.

I've watched all three matches yesterday and I'm dead tired. No matches for me today. I'll just follow the scores through BBC Worldservice. I seriously need to get back to studying. :oops:

[cool181]

I got a question.....where is the Denmark group for this world cup?? :unsure:

Yes...I agree with xiaoli that people expect too much from Ronald. Actually, i'm a Brazil supporter :happy:

[stitchphil]

Erm... Denmark didn't qualify for the worldcup.

Haha... Everyone always have expectations on the good players. Sometimes I pity Rooney, the way the entire Nation's expectations weighing on his young shoulders. Give the lad a break. :oops:

And what has Harry Kewell gotten himself into now? The Liverpool winger has reportedly swore at the German official several times after the final whistle and disciplinary proceedings have been opened against him. He is facing a possible ban on the next match. :oops:

[xiaoli]

^ I hope not.. :oops: Hiddink was mighty pissed about the refereeing as well. So was the rest of the team, but Kewell was the only one who actually had the guts to voice himself. He has since swallowed his pride and admitted he got too frustrated in the heat of the moment. But all we had to do was touch Brazil and they got free kicks! I was like, wtf! It was a total of like what, 25 free kicks to Brazil vs. 9 to Ausralia? Naturally I'm leaning more towards the Aussie side of things but even I can pick out some definite uncalled for free kicks out of 20+.. and I'm no professional. He irked me more than the Egyptian ref that gave Japan the free goal!

anyway, do you think it's fair that France's goal was disallowed? Everything I've read states it was clearly a goal except "the referee didn't see it".. I'd be very unhappy in France's position. Actually that's probably an understatement. o_o

[gCjs84]

I think it was really tough on France that the goal by Veira was disallowed but honestly speaking, it is really hard to see all happenings on the field that clearly for the officials especially at the pace that some of the games are nowadays.

Kudos to Korea though for they showed more determination than France in the closing minutes to get a goal and they did. Group G is starting to get really interesting especially after Switzerland won today.

One interesting thing. France did not seem to contest much with the officials when that header by Viera seemed to cross the line. I do not remember a French player raising his hand at that moment. All the complaints seemed to come after the match though. :hmm:

[BlueChaos]

The match between Ukraine and Saudi Arabia serves as another example on how things can drastically change between matches in the World Cup. After being trashed 0-4 by Spain on their first game, now they trash Saudi Arabia 4-0. Of course Saudi Arabia and Spain are very different teams in terms of quality but this teaches us not to judge teams too easily. With that being said, I can't see Ukraine lose this one though... Ghana's win was more surprising than this one to me.

Oh and anyone notice Saudi Arabia's world rank is actually higher than Ukraine's? :whistle:

[KendoTiger]

GO RED DEVILS!!! SOUTH KOREA TO THE FINALS!!!

All I can say ;D

P.S. Muahaha, ruined France's 16:0:0 halftime lead record!

[edit]
Okay, so I have a little more to say.

Regarding the goal, I feel that it evens out some of the calls the ref made against the South Korean team. Honestly, it does get very hard to immediately spot situations like the French "goal" on the field (as said above). If the teams are not quick enough to catch it, I do not believe that they should have the right to argue about it later (and hope to overturn the results). Even against Korea (aka Olympics - you know...), I am pretty firm in this. If Korea had not gotten their goal in the second half - in other words, if they had remained on the defensive like in the first- I would probably not care if the goal were allowed or not. Well, I'm just glad that they picked up their game and showed some spirit and skill.

For the refs (in most of the matches I've seen), its easy to spot "bias" against one team - although you can tell the refs themselves are trying to avoid it. It usually comes down to consecutive minor in-favor rulings, then something big for the opposite team to offset it. *shrugs* it's not as bad as in minor-competition matches though.

The commentators are worse. They have clear preferences, and continually remind the audience of their point of view. It can get very annoying. That's why it's nice to watch in spanish :D (if you don't have anything other than American >_>).

It's kind of a shame for Zidane, getting carded out of the next match. I hope France passes its next match just so he can play another game before retiring. *shrugs*

--

I've had to trade the last few days to work on a finance test and midterm (Mon. and Tues. respectively); luckily, I'll be able to catch the rest of the cup :D.
*perfect on the test btw ;p*

[BlueChaos]

From tonight, the World Cup is going to be very interesting. They will be playing 4 matches per day from now on, playing 8 teams from two groups at once, so at the end of the day, each top two teams from the respective groups can instantly know who they will face in the Last 16 round. Like today, after all the matches are over, we'll know if England will meet Germany or Ecuador right away.

I can't wait to know the outcome. If England meets Germany, I'll wave bye-bye to them, no way they can win.

[ker_ai_teresa]

Haha... nope... My username has always had the 'h' in it. :bleh:
you're joking. :ohmy:
seriously???

geez, I swear I always only saw pil not ever phil until I came to type in your userid for the quote. :wacko:

omg I can't get over it! :oops:

anywhoz....I'll leave this little x-file behind for now.....KEWELL HAS BEEN CLEARED! :bounce: no ban so he'll be able to play in the croatia match!
finally, a bit of justice for the aussie side. :-)

although I was beginning to convince myself that losing kewell wouldn't be too critical seeing that croatia has lost one of their key defenders, so they would have just cancelled each other out. :rolleyes:

[cloUdsuRFer]

so do we have an advantage now tes? since we didn't lose our kewell!!?? :P i sure hope so!!

[BlueChaos]

Hmmm, currently I can't find list of suspended players for each teams anywhere on the net. It will only be available on the FIFA MatchCast a few hours before the kick off, where it is listed in their Lineup/Bench. I can't even see who are suspended between England and Sweden yet. Does anyone know?

German and Ecuador have no suspensions for this match, so maybe German will kick into full gear tonight.

[stitchphil]

From what I know, England have no players suspended from this match, but Gerrard and Lampard are both one yellow card away from a one match suspension. Which is why some are predicting that they might be rested for this match. Let's just wait and see the outcome when the match kicks off in 4 hours time.

Looks like Germany is on their way to top the group.

anyway, do you think it's fair that France's goal was disallowed? Everything I've read states it was clearly a goal except "the referee didn't see it"..
Actually, from the replay videos, not even the french players saw the ball go over the line, when it was saved, the French players didn't protest for a goal, probably because of the pace at which the game was going. Only two korean players seem to know that it actually crossed the line, the goalie and one other defender, because replays showed that they immediately looked over to the linesman when the ball was cleared.

geez, I swear I always only saw pil not ever phil until I came to type in your userid for the quote. :wacko:

omg I can't get over it! :oops:
:laughing: Haha teresa, you're right, lets just leave the little x-file behind and concentrate on the greater things on hand now! :bounce: So happy that Kewell has been cleared! I really hope Aussies will go through to the round of 16!

[BlueChaos]

So it ends in a 2-2 draw. Gosh England have never beaten Sweden in so many years now...

But a good result all in all. With this, England will face Ecuador while Sweden will play Germany. I think England needs to work on the back, maybe it's because of Gary Neville's absence but their defense was awful, they could have lost the match 4-2 if not for Robinson's saves and the crossbar. Kudos to their style of play though yesterday they played with pace and was dangerous, especially Joe Cole, I have to give great credits to him. Rooney looks dangerous but seems like he have not sparked back to his full potential, same thing with his counterpart in Brazil with almost the same name, Ronnie.

Rooney's not fat though, he's just..... muscular :whistle:

[chizzu]

well, england's defence was quite awful. not to mention they let go another goal on the last minute... sigh. pity owen. he injured himselffor nothing looks like this might be the end of his world cup 2006 appearance?

[BlueChaos]

well, england's defence was quite awful. not to mention they let go another goal on the last minute... sigh. pity owen. he injured himselffor nothing looks like this might be the end of his world cup 2006 appearance
Yep, from the looks of it, some news has said that this is a potentially career-ending injury (let's hope not) and might take a minimum of 6 month for him to recover. England will be without Owen for the remainder of the World Cup and it's a pity because an Owen-Rooney partnership would be better to penetrate defenses rather than the post-man Crouch who is just a target man. Right now we can only depend on Joe Cole, Downing, Lennon and Rooney to break up defenses.

--------------------

News Item:
Michael Owen received the news the whole of England was fearing, if expecting, when it was confirmed on Wednesday that he would miss the remainder of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™.

The England and Newcastle United striker was stretchered off after twisting his knee awkwardly in the first minute of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side’s 2-2 draw with Sweden in Cologne, and though the English Football Association has not revealed the extent of the injury, it is believed that cruciate ligament damage has been sustained.

This could well mean a period of around five months in rehabilitation for a player who only recently returned to action from a broken foot that had sidelined him since 31 December.

Owen said today: "Obviously it's a massive blow to suffer the injury – and to be out of the World Cup. As soon as it happened I knew I was in trouble. It was a major disappointment to pick up the injury so early in the game.

"I'll go back home now and work with the Newcastle medical staff to put a recovery programme in place. I'm clearly sorry to be leaving the lads in Germany, but I'm convinced they can go on and achieve success.

"I'll be following all the matches very closely and giving them my full support, hopefully all the way to Berlin. My main objective is now to get fit as quickly as possible for Newcastle United."

The thoughts of England fans will be dominated by sadness for Owen, but there will also be the realisation that the 26-year-old’s injury leaves a gaping void in their side’s attacking armoury, particularly as Wayne Rooney is still evidently short of match-fitness and only the untried teenager Theo Walcott can be considered a genuine like-for-like replacement for the Newcastle striker.

Eriksson, however, opted to leave that particular dilemma for another day and focus on sympathising with a player who has long been his first-choice striker.

"Michael has had terrible luck with injuries since Christmas," said the England coach. "I feel very sorry for him to miss out on the rest of the World Cup - it's blow to him and a big loss for the team.

"However, I am sure Michael will work very hard to get back as quickly as possible for Newcastle and England. He is a true professional and a very mentally strong person. I hope the team can now go on and achieve success in Germany for Michael."

.............so sad :cry:

[stitchphil]

It has already been confirmed by Newcastle United that Owen has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and will be out for at least 5 months. I thought it looked very bad the moment he went down. And that's not looking at the replays. I knew it when he rolled himself off the pitch. To think he just barely came back from an injury.

England now effectively have only 3 strikers left in the form of Rooney, Crouch and young Welcott.

The match, though it ended in a draw, is the best England has played so far in the competition. But whenever the attack, they're ever so exposed in the back. And Sweden has proved that England simply cannot defend against set pieces. The pace of the match was very much faster than the previous two games and had a very European style to it, as both nations are European nations.

[jaychou_21]

Poor Owen. What'll become of him now? :cry:

I hope the English team wouldn't suffer. :worry:
Go England! Or should I say Hurry up, England! You're gonna win the Cup!

Mexico vs Portugal, a match I really want to see but I can't.
But I'm confident that both teams (my other faves) will get through the second round.

[ftlouiea]

Don't be in denial. England is sooooo out of it and everybody knows it. ._.

An injured striker, sent back home.
An injured striker, recovering as each game passes.
A striker, too tall and unpredictable.
A striker, too young and Sven will never use him.

Oh jolly life looks great. :D

*roots for everybody else except Brazil, France nor Argentina*

[HarmonyCloud]

Oh man I too feel bad for England now..
Oh btw I was watching the Netherlands game vs. Argintina (Very boring) But I started to become intersting in VAN PERSIE Robin, so I googled him to read more about him and look what I found! What I found (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4091114.stm) I mean I know it has nothing to do with his soccer game and him being a good player but it totally changed my outlook on him...:worry:

[BlueChaos]

Erh, that was a 2005 news and I think he was cleared from the allegation. Let's face it, footballers are never goody booys. John Terry and Michael Owen bets, Rooney drinks and sleeps with prostitutes. And there would be a long list if we want to check all of them.

[stitchphil]

Netherlands vs Argentina was a freaking boring match! Kinda regretted staying up to watch it. I even fell asleep for a while halfway through the match.

dana, England has been out of it even before they entered the competition when Sven announced his team selection naming only 4 strikers, with one with an injury (whom recovered and played a minute two days ago before flying back home), one boy wonder who is half fit, one tall lanky bloke who seems to miss most of his shots and one untested kid. How to score goals that way?

Edit: World Cup stuff aside. The tentative Premiership fixtures for the 2007/08 season has been released! The new season will start on August 19th. With Champions Chelsea home to Man City. Here's the list of the opening day of fixtures:

Arsenal v Aston Villa
Bolton v Tottenham
Chelsea v Man City
Everton v Watford
Man Utd v Fulham
Newcastle v Wigan
Portsmouth v Blackburn
Reading v Middlesbrough
Sheff Utd v Liverpool
West Ham v Charlton

I'm really interested in how the newcomers will perform in the new season!

But now, back to the WC!

[xiaoli]

Hello boys and girls,

It's currently half-time for the AUS-CRO match, 1 all.. Croatia took the lead not even 3 minutes into the game!! I got out of bed (5am mind you) and first thing I'm greeted by is a replay of a Croatian goal!

Australia equalised at 38 mins.. gotta say the penalty kick was probably a little harsh, but I'm not going to complain cuz I reckon we've had it tough with the refs so far

BTW WHERE THE HELL IS SCHWARZER?! I really really don't feel safe with Kalac as our goalie..

[BlueChaos]

Socceroos are through! :excited:

It did not come without drama though. There was no Schwarzer in their starting line-up and Kalac was a very bad replacement. The first Croatian goal came from a free kick and honestly I thought if it was Schwarzer he could have saved it. Later on Socceroos retaliated with a penalty kick for what seems to be a very stupid handball from the Croatians. The ball went it, and it goes 1-1 until half time.

The second half started with a disaster for Socceroos, as their keeper Kalac made a blunder which made them down 1-2 and when I saw this I honestly thinks that he can't do any goalkeeping at all, that keeper, and I was furiously mad and confused with Hiddink's selection. Fortunately later Kewell struck a ball in and made it 2-2. Frankly it was offside, but there was another handball where Socceroos should have gotten another penalty, so all is fair. The match ended with 2-2 and the Socceroos are through. They're gonna have a hard match against Italy though.

Ref. Graham Poll was a confused man here. He gave THREE yellow cards for the Croatian defender. When he gave the second yellow he forgot to give him the red, which made into the confusion of the viewers and the defender remained on the pitch when he should have been out. Think of what would happen if he scored a goal and made it 3-2 for Croatia, the Socceroos would have been furious.

Ronaldo Unleashed
From another match, I was thrilled when Japan scored first in the first half, but apparently "this awakens the sleeping tiger or dragon or whatever" as Brazil hit back with four goals and finally Ronaldo is out to his potential, breaking loose and netting two goals, making his tally to 14, an all-time high in the World Cup history of goalscorers and he can still get more. An amazing match too after all.

What a day in football. The World Cup is amazing and today it's worth it to see these matches.

[ker_ai_teresa]

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

XIAOLI WE'RE THROUGH!!!!!

SOCCEROOS!!!! WOOT!WOOT!!!! :roll:

I almost died a few times when the ball was in our box but arrrgghhhhh!!! we're through!!!

btw, the ref needs to get his eyes checked. :dry: Viduka was practically rugby tackled in the box and no penalty. ><

and correct me if I'm wrong but croatia's Siminic got 3 yellows???

[BlueChaos]

and correct me if I'm wrong but croatia's Siminic got 3 yellows???
Yes he got three yellow cards.

And it is even officially listed on the FIFA World Cup Website, 3 Yellow Cards!
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/match/stats.html?id=44&year=2006&month=6&day=&day

THIS is history. Ref Graham Poll needs an eye check and also a psychology test. He's wacko today :D

Edit:
They made only the first and third yellow cards stood, omitting the second one.

I think it was after he was touched by a Croatian player and he brought out his first red card, that's when he lost his cool, got a heated temper and started making strange and wrong decisions all over. You can clearly see that he was pissed when the Croatian player touched him :glug:

[xiaoli]

Socceroos are through! :excited:

It did not come without drama though. There was no Schwarzer in their starting line-up and Kalac was a very bad replacement. The first Croatian goal came from a free kick and honestly I thought if it was Schwarzer he could have saved it. Later on Socceroos retaliated with a penalty kick for what seems to be a very stupid handball from the Croatians. The ball went it, and it goes 1-1 until half time.

The second half started with a disaster for Socceroos, as their keeper Kalac made a blunder which made them down 1-2 and when I saw this I honestly thinks that he can't do any goalkeeping at all, that keeper, and I was furiously mad and confused with Hiddink's selection. Fortunately later Kewell struck a ball in and made it 2-2. Frankly it was offside, but there was another handball where Socceroos should have gotten another penalty, so all is fair. The match ended with 2-2 and the Socceroos are through. They're gonna have a hard match against Italy though.

Ref. Graham Poll was a confused man here. He gave THREE yellow cards for the Croatian defender. When he gave the second yellow he forgot to give him the red, which made into the confusion of the viewers and the defender remained on the pitch when he should have been out. Think of what would happen if he scored a goal and made it 3-2 for Croatia, the Socceroos would have been furious.


OMG, KALAC PISSED ME OFF! He did not make even one single good save!!! My heart was in my mouth everytime the ball went near him! Honestly, he ruined the match for me, cuz he freaked me out from the minute I tuned in.

The second goal he conceded was just awful, why didn't he HOLD ON TO THE BALL!? And not longer after Craig Moore equalised with the penalty, he nearly dropped the ball into Croatia's goal! He's LUCKY.. and in the last 3 minutes.. it was so close to going Croatia's way, because he can't throw either! And I have no idea why our NO.1 wasn't played! *bitter* Schwarzer's beautiful saves against Uruguay got us into these finals.. Kalac's butterfingers nearly got us eliminated.

Yay, we got through.. but it wasn't a convincing game for me.

Thank god for Kewell!

[Shay]

Yes....I love Mark Schwarzer and that's no secret...I was shocked that he was replaced with Kalac. Didnt he do good enough in the Brazil match??? If we had lost I would be pissed off right now but right now...even despite my lack of sleep and constant dreaming of waking up to watch the match...I am calm :)
I am sure my Schwarzie should be able to go to the Italy match with that Kalac stuff-up :)

Yay yay yay I keep feeling like we won, but we tied! Sure we probably should have done better... but we tied nonetheless and we're through!!!!!!!!

The referee was right to be pissed off by the Croatian touching him... I guess in the end you have to respect their decision, because even when decisions are made stupidly against the Australians, you don't really see them arguing that much about it (except that Kewell incident on the Brzil match of course..lol and damnit that was warranted!!!!!!) WHEN WILL WE GET A DECENT REFEREE!!!!!!

Quite shocking!!.... It got so chaotic towards the end. For a while I didnt know what was happening!! So funny how stunned the (Australian) commentator was...3 yellow cards...obvious handballs (hello, even I saw it - that 2nd one....how else did that ball deflect!!)...rugby tackles and holds (and poor Viduka copped so much of it!)...lol. There was some heated playing and some dirty Croatian play (ok, im biased...) but I reckon the Australia were awesome to keep their cool and not let it affect them in a bad way, but let it power them on to score goals!

AHHHHHHHH WE ARE IN THE TOP 16!!! IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *runs around like crazy* Italy, we will kick your asses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aussie aussie aussie! Oi! oi! oi! *giggles*

ADDIT: Awwwwwww I'm glad Ronaldo is back :) He needed to show the critics something!

[xiaoli]

^ Why was Schwarzer replaced? Did they mention anything before the game? I just thought Hiddink wanted to give Kalac some game time cuz he's always benched and cuz he's Croatian -_- I thought Schwarzer did well against Brazil! Croatia didn't even have that many good shots at goal but Kalac stuffed practically all of them up. Croatian goalie did well though, like that save where he had these guys scrambling for the ball and falling on top of him. He just wouldn't let go!

haha I just reading this (http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2006/minbymin/0,,1788392,00.html) - good laugh

40 min Under no pressure whatsoever, Kalac catches an easy ball, then fumbles it, falls on his knees and nearly pushes it into his own net with his nose, like a puppy. On the bench, Mark Schwarzer may have injured his face by raising his eyebrows far too quickly. “Wasn't girt Der Bomber Muller's first name?” quips John from San Francisco.

43 min Prso blasts the ball high over the bar!

44 min With Prso in close attendance, Kalac flaps again. The ball's hacked away as Olic appears to be rummaging around in his shorts. Perhaps he's looking for some change to pay for the bus he's waiting for. Schwarzer's eyebrows meantime are currently being sewed back on by Australia's trainer.

***

75 min It's a corner - but it should have been a penalty, as Tomas punched the ball out! Does this silly bastard not learn? Still, he gets away with it; the corner's hopeless.

***

FULL TIME OF A FANTASTIC MATCH: Croatia 2 - 2 Australia Ha ha ha, Graham Poll is a complete clown. After a scramble in the box, Viduka sets about forcing the ball home for Australia... but Poll blows up for full time, Clive Thomas style, with the ball about to cross the line. He disallows the goal - not that it matters - but then he decides to book Simunic for a third time - and sends him off. He then blows up for full time AGAIN... before driving off the pitch in a car with square wheels.

Honk! Honk! The doors have just fallen off Poll's car, and there are jets of steam coming out of the engine. Let's hope nobody agrees to smell his funny flower!

[HarmonyCloud]

BlueChaos I never realized they were so crazy:oops:

Yesterdays game with the netherlands was really boring, I doozed off a few times myself.
USA isn't going through, I must say Ghana is surprising! I feel like they are the dark horse of the tournment, although then again, USA was playing awful, we have such an awful team :cry: Its embarrassing!
I didn't even watch Brazil and Japans game, it was doomed from the start. My dad called me up and said "hey u know Japan's winning 1 to 0" and I was shocked they even scored but when I went to look up how the game ended..no surprise there:dry:

[cloUdsuRFer]

haha!! yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

stupid kalac made me sooo nervous during that match, whenever the ball came anywhere near him...and when he fumbled that easy ball,,,almost gave me a heart attack!! at least schwarzer should definitely be back after that display!

i didn't realise u were allowed to wrestle players to the ground using both arms while inthe box.......guess i haven't watched much soccer.... and the punch!! tht guy punched the ball away!! dang it!!!

but who cares!! we're thru.... EMERTON!!! i'll miss you!

[Shay]

Hahahaha Xiaoli, that site is so cute!! Btw, I only heard the Australian commentator (Simon Hill) say something about replacing Schwarzer with Kalac because of something about his height advantage....like that did any good?!! I don't know. I'm still thinking Schwarzer will replace Kalac against Italy....that seems to be what most people are thinking. Poor Kalac..He'll be under so much Australian scrutiny =( But he can fight back sometime hopefully (well, if he gets the chance) like Ronaldo did =p hehe Not that he compares to...Ronaldo.

Btw, BlueChaos...I dont know if even Schwarzer would have saved that first Croatian goal...That was such a beautiful shot! The way it curved right into the top of the net!! But who knows...Schwarzer is like a God...hehehe

The Korea and French matches should be interesting... It seems to be a bit more difficult to say who will get through Group G. The French don't appear to be doing so well however I havent actually watched any of their games.

Spanish players...hot *giggles* And I'm glad that Ghana are through...I remember watching one of their games and the speed that they play with was fascinating to watch!! But then..they are playing with Brazil next >_< which should be a bit tough....!!! Seems like Brazil are slowly increasing their game! I mean, maybe they're not even showing their full potential yet!

And wow...Japan did good to score a goal I thought!

EDIT: Oh, found an article (http://www.theworldgame.com.au/home/index.php?pid=st&cid=72594) re: the Schwarzer/Kalac thing.

"I'm more relieved than happy now. I really didn't have much to do - I've taken a world-class goal, I've taken a shit goal," Kalac said afterwards. "He put me in because Schwarzy made a few mistakes in previous matches. I've come in and made a mistake."

Doubtless it was for Hiddink too, who has been itching to test Kalac at the highest level and decided to go with him after being unhappy with aspects of Schwarzer's performance in Australia's past two World Cup matches.

When asked whether Schwarzer would return for the Italy game, Hiddink said: "I'm considering that in the upcoming hours."

"Let's face the facts - we were not happy with some performances of both goalies in the past, and we have to make a decision."

----
Hmm I didnt think Schwarzer did as well as he could in those matches (compared to how he could do!) but hmmm....seems like a tough decision for Hiddink. (BRING BACK SCHWARZER!)

[ker_ai_teresa]

WHEN WILL WE GET A DECENT REFEREE!!!!!!

my sentiments exactly.
the way I see it, the only reason why we're didn't seem to perform as well as we did was because of bad reffing. :rasp: it makes me so angry I was even thinking perhaps there's some conspiracy going on. ><

when will football utilise a video referee system like the other codes?
perhaps it will cause more stoppages but surely it can be implimented somehow to make the game fairer.

Why was Schwarzer replaced? Did they mention anything before the game? I just thought Hiddink wanted to give Kalac some game time cuz he's always benched and cuz he's Croatian
nah. Hiddink would never put a player on just to give them some play time. he chooses the players based on whoever has the best form.

but I heard that he put Kalac on because he was taller and he wanted a bigger presence in front of the goal. and I also heard (rumour though) that because Kalac is croatian, he'd be able to hear what the croatian players were saying to each other. I don't how true that is.......but I do feel sorry for him. the goalie is the one who always gets the slack. yeah the 2nd croatian goal was a a blunder and he did throw the ball to an opponent, but so did Schwarzer in the game against Japan.

we're through so that's the main thing. let's look forward to the show-down with Italia! :D

*coughbringbackschwarzercough* :whistle:

btw, speaking of Mark Schwarzer. I was absolutely shocked that Rebel Sport does not sell the aussie jersey with his name and number on the back! ><;; they have the uasual suspects but no Schwarzer! and his name is the only name I want to wear on my back......so I just got the plain jersey.

oh yeah, did anybody find the coaches' reactions really hilarious? :laughing: esp the croatian coach. there was a shot of him doing some weird gorilla-like hand gestures under his legs. :glug: ummm......I need to air out my legs? :rolleyes:

[BlueChaos]

oh yeah, did anybody find the coaches' reactions really hilarious? esp the croatian coach. there was a shot of him doing some weird gorilla-like hand gestures under his legs. ummm......I need to air out my legs?
Yep, and even the commentator said "Hiddink seems to be calm, anxious even, but the Croatian coach (forgot his name) was bouncing up and down the touchline like he was possessed" :D

Well yes, possessed by football...

And they got a new ad on the Stuff History website (http://www.stuffhistory.com.au) :excited:

It's called History's Stuffed and it's really funny :oops:

[HarmonyCloud]

ooo I am so sad! Korea lost!! :cry: That stupid ref! If anything they should have lost 1:0. I think after that stupid call, Korea just couldn't get back in the game. I was really dissapointed they were really on the attack but just couldn't pull themselves together. My favorite moment in the whole game, When the zoomed in on Park after he missed a goal and you can see him screaming in slow motion after "shiiiipaahhll" (for those of u who dont know korean its not a nice word) :whistle:

I can't believe that Netherlands and Portugal are against eachother. I love both of them and I can't choose who to support :worry:

[stitchphil]

Yeah... I'm kinda sad that the Koreans lost too. But the second goal was no fault of the ref though... he made the right decision, but I feel sympathy for the Koreans because of the mistake of the linesman.

The touch did came from a Korean player. But all the Koreans walked away expecting a free kick after seeing the flag was raised, which of course they assumed the linesman's decision stood, but they forget that the ref has the final say and can overwrite the decision of the linesman.

But in a way, they feel robbed and I don't blame them.

Speaking of refs.... Just what in the world possessed Graham Poll in the Australia match. I have never considered him 'the best ref in the Premiership' as what is printed. Many of his matches, or at least in the matches I watched with him officiating, were rather bad.

How can any ref book a player for three times?! Goodness! He ought to be on his way home now.

Round of 16 starts tonight with Germany v Sweden! :excited:

[BlueChaos]

Yes, after 4 nights with great matches of the final group stage matches, now we are ready to enter the round of Last 16! Just a quick recap of the fixtures between all the 16 teams:

* Germany v Sweden
* Argentina v Mexico
* England v Ecuador
* Portugal v Netherlands (big match!)
* Italy v Australia
* Switzerland v Ukraine
* Brazil v Ghana
* Spain v France

If you are looking for betting tips, by all means DO NOT follow what I predict there, especially on Australia and Ghana. I tend to follow my heart rather than my mind and now that I loved those two teams so much (who can not love a team called Socceroos? And those teams are the only representatives of Asia/Oceania - well not really but sort of, and Africa in the Last 16). Socceroos might have a chance, a slight chance, and they should put back Schwarzer, Kalac was so damn horrible. As for Ghana, at first I thought they can win, but after looking at Brazil who just returned to form and trash Japan 4-1, well…

As for England, now Sven is gonna regret it. He only brought four strikers. Two just recovered from long injuries. One is only tall but is a moronic idiot without any skills. And other one is an untested uncapped striker. Now that Michael Owen is injured, he got limited options. Oh well, bye bye England, should you manage to beat Ecuador, you’ll face Portugal or Netherlands, which will send you back home… :cry:

[Shay]

Just out of interest (A thought before I go to sleep) - I dont like to dwell on hte past but you know that last goal that was scored then disregarded in that Australia/Croatia game... Why did Poll blow the whistle. Was it full time? Isnt full/half time blown like after something happens to break the game (i.e. the ball is out, a foul etc) or is it blown like exactly when time is up??
My question being: did Poll blow the whistle coz there was a foul (i saw some guys fall over) or coz time was up?

THat game just got crazy twds the end so I wasnt sure what happened (coz I was like screaming "score!!!")

And yayyyy Stage 2!!!!!!!!!!! Round of 16!!! I'm excited! My (obviously lack of expert knowledge) predictions:
- More perving on Spanish players (yes...take your shirts off)
- More screaming/heart stopping excitement and anxiety during the Australian match (Italy getting its butt kicked - along with other literal kicking from our physical Australian players :P)
- Seeing Schwarzer doing his thing on the field :)
- More action from Ronaldo (I'm so glad he's doing better! Poor guy!)
- More scary smiles from Ronaldino...is it just me or are those smiles like...freaky looking, like a smile you'd see before you die
- More endless stamina running and passing from Ghana players
- Excellent playing by Argentina, Netherlands and Germany :)

[HarmonyCloud]

Ohh The netherlands game is up next! I won't lie that I am routing for portugal (as seen in my sig)~ But My friend is routing for netherlands (sigh the world cup is dividing friendships {okay its not that serious:rolleyes: }) Anyway her favorite player has been on the bench the entire world cup! So if anyone is intersted in some Nethlands news Here you go (http://www.orange.co.uk/sport/worldcup/21337.htm?linkfrom=search&link=link_17&article=tmgfootballnewsmedia1426015) I can't wait to see what happens! :bounce:

[BlueChaos]

Today's games were a treat!

Germany scored two goals through Lukas Podolski which give them an early 2-0 lead and here I was thinking it could go 4-0 or 5-0. But afterwards, with one of their players red carded, goalkeeper Isaksson switch on "God Keeper Mode" and practically saved everything tonight, including a string of Ballack's barrage of shots which in the end led to his frustation (haha I could see that on his face). Magnificent Swedes, but they had to go home, just like Saudi who also has an exceptional keeper but still lost. Germany go through.

Argentina faced a hard match against Mexico, only leading to a 2-1 win after the extra time. Who would have guessed this would be the result? Argentina faces Germany in the next round.

[ker_ai_teresa]

Why did Poll blow the whistle. Was it full time? Isnt full/half time blown like after something happens to break the game

short answer: he blew the whistle and disallowed the goal because he was an idiot.

I watched the game again yesterday, and it makes no sense. Aloisi wasn't off-side, Kennedy was brought down by a croatian player in the box, and he'd blown the whistle and was seemingly pointing at Kennedy and the other guy. so shouldn't it have been a penalty if that was the case? :glug:

and why give a red card to someone after full-time if the whistle was meant to mean full-time and not a penalty? :glug:

anywayz, I heard though that Poll himself was given a "red card" for the rest of the tournament. :laughing:

[BlueChaos]

anywayz, I heard though that Poll himself was given a "red card" for the rest of the tournament.
Not just Poll, but also the rest of the refereeing team of that day.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=372374&cc=4716

"The FIFA referees committee also recognised the oversight and the fact that none of the match officials at the stadium picked up on the error."

Don't you think it is silly that NONE of the other four officials noticed that Poll should have given a red card on that incident? I'm thinking of something under wraps (conspiracy) here but let's not judge too fast and I hope there won't be any bad refereeing against Socceroos in their next match.

And rejoice, Superman... I mean Schwarzer Returns!
http://home.skysports.com/worldcup/article.aspx?hlid=398172&CPID=4&clid=575&lid=13&title=Schwarzer+back+for+Kalac

[xiaoli]

Congrats to England, 1-0 over Ecuador.

Beckham bent it like.. Beckham. It was amazing to see Posh in the crowd jump up, waving her arms smiling and cheering. Posh knows how to smile?!

[BlueChaos]

Beckham Boots Ecuador Home! :bounce:

Me, a fan, walking home from watching the match live in McDonalds, satisfied :happy:

Granted, England have a few more chances and they could easily turn the match 3-0 thanks to Rooney, but Lampard greatly underperforms here, I don't know why he can't turn on a similar performance like what he did in Chelsea, like that superb turn-and-kick goal against Bayern Munich. There are about two or three clear-cut chances that Rooney gave Lampard but he couldn't finish it properly, which led to "awwww's" and "ooooooh's" from the fans watching together with me.

The formation works well, they are quite solid in defenses and are adept in attack. No useless Peter Crouch here so they managed to attack with a full tempo, using speed runs and quick passes here and there. Anyone noticed that there were so little amount of high crosses used by England today? They played more with quick long passes or through passes which worked wonders today.

Either Portugal or Netherlands will face England next, and I hope they can also go past that match. There seems to be something wrong with Beckham, he seems to be in pain. I hope he's alright and will be able to play the next game. Without him, England will lose so much attacking power during set-pieces. No one can kick those free kicks as well as Beckham do.

[stitchphil]

Yeah... David finally Bent it like Beckham. :D Haven't seen him scored like this for a while. Oh, how I missed his free kicks.

Not the fanciest of victories, but its a win and England progress to the Quarter Finals anyways.

His son is all grown up now. Haha.

[BlueChaos]

BBC News Interview with Beckham:

"To be honest, I haven't scored for a while," Beckham told the BBC. "I haven't scored many free kicks this season.

"To be fair, the last two days, I've been struggling (with my free kicks), even in training.

"Wazza (Wayne Rooney) said to me before the game 'You've been terrible the last two days, so you're going to get one tonight'.

"I got a text of Roberto Carlos saying 'Score me a free kick', so it's brought me good luck and we're happy."

Beckham confirmed that he was physically ill during the second half of Sunday's win in Stuttgart, as the effects of the warm temperatures looked to have got the better of him.

"I didn't feel well before the game, but thought it would be fine," he added.

"I felt fine first half, but I came out second half and it just came out."

The England skipper is not bothered by who they will face in the quarter finals, claiming there is more to come from the side.

"We've done our job," Beckham said. "It was ugly at times and again, we haven't played to our full potential, but we'll take that (result).

"We're through to the quarter finals. We've been a difficult team at times, but we know we can play better and we're very happy tonight."

-------------------------------

Haha it was funny of Rooney to say that. It's like "since you got bad luck in the last two days, you'll get the piece of good luck today". And that's so funny and thoughtful of Carlos to send him that text message, Becks must feel warm and fuzzy all inside, that's why he managed to score the free kick :rolleyes:

[HarmonyCloud]

I missed Italy's game today due to classes (gosh I have to have a life outside of the world cup:rolleyes:) But did anyone see the Portugal/ Netherlands game? THAT WAS TOTAL WAR! The game lost all its sportsmanship! People were booing when the Netherlands stole the ball from Portugal. Even the commentators were speechless. The game was completly out of hand, and it was mainly the refs fault. He took no initive to gain control of the game. I was sooooooo mad when Ronoldo got injured! Does anyone know if he's going to be okay to play the next game? :worry: I really do hope he's okay, he really did some awesome moves to aid in portugals only goal. But honestly the game...words can not even describe....

[BlueChaos]

Yeah, Ronaldo was crying :oops: Really heartbreaking you now when you see that.

He's still such a cute boy, when he cried the entire team on the bench patted him on the head to calm him down. Hope he will not be injured and he will play the next game against England. As much as I'd love England to win, I want to see Ronaldo play, and yes, facing "Portugal Reserves" as some people say won't be much fun.

[Shay]

i'm so depressed....

F$(@

this stinks

[xiaoli]

The fact that they lost is upsetting. But the fact that their loss was NOT fair and square is devastating. It was the worst way to lose.

It's not just Australian bias, every single international article I've read disagrees with that penalty kick :realmad:

LUCAS NEILL, WE LOVE YOU FOR PLAYING SO WELL! IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT! <3

[stitchphil]

The Portugal v Netherlands game was THE worst game I've witness in the competition, and quite possibly, the worst 90 mins of football I've sat through for some time.

Especially in the second half, they weren't even playing soocer! It was more like a wrestling match! And the fact that the ref didn't handle the match well did nothing to help. 16 yellows and 4 reds! What the hell was that!?

Portugal's single goal in the match was probably the only high point in the match. It was a good goal at that.

And Australia v Italy, goodness! I think the Socceroos were robbed of extratime and the match from right under their noses. I really really felt that they didn't deserve to lose. Lucas Neill barely touched Grosso! And the ref pointed straight to the spot.

Enough said.

[HarmonyCloud]

BlueChaos When he was crying I cried right a long with him! Or maybe more like just got a little teary eyed :cry:
stitchphil yeah as I said, the game was total war. People were "booing" thats insane! :oops:
I am actual very surprised about France and Spain's game. I missed France's last two goals :oops: But I really did expect Spain to win. I doubt they will get much farther though.
Does anyone know what day Portguals next game is?

[BlueChaos]

England v Portugal will be on 30 June 2006 17:00 CET. Depending on where you live it could mean 1 July 2006, like me in Singapore I will watch it 30 June 2006 23:00 (GMT +8). And now we come to Brazil v France! The old rivalry is there again. Will Ronaldo be able to make his revenge after being defeated 3-0 in the World Cup Final 1998? Heard he got sick or food poisoned that year...

[ker_ai_teresa]

at this moment in time, all I care about is the italian side.

I don't give a hoot which team eventually does it, as long as they beat the crap out of them.

GO THE UKRAINIANS!!!


edit: LOL!!!!!
have people seen this? :laughing:

the italians at training (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccDyp2aRRCg)

[BlueChaos]

So, with 8 teams remaining now, any guess of who will be champions? :rolleyes:

My eyes will be set on Germany v Argentina, I got a feeling whoever won this match will go on to be champions because I see these two as the strongest contenders in the World Cup. Germany might have a bit of an edge as they are the home team but if Argentina can knock them out, they can pass through as being champions, provided they can defeat Brazil in the final (unless somehow France manage to defeat them, if not, either Brazil or Portugal can't stop them).

Both Germany and Argentina can seem to beat Italy/Ukraine with ease. So the final is now quite clear for me already. Germany/Argentina v Brazil. Yes, let's pray Brazil will NOT win this time....

[kirasuran]

i am wishing that the argos will win! cos they are a mad team and they are SO GOOD! i just see them as stronger than germany somehow? but seriously...they better not get beaten by germany! in their previous match, what formation did htey play?

was it like... 3-5-2 ? cos i remember only ever seeing 3 backs.

anyway. GO HEINZE and GO ARGENTINA!!!!

[panda_shine]

edit: LOL!!!!!
have people seen this? :laughing:

the italians at training (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccDyp2aRRCg)

LOL.. :lolabove:


I just finished watching Germany vs. Argentina..
It was a hard decision for me to pick which team to root for because I like them both.. but I a bit sad to see Argentina go.

I have a question though... after the game ended.. It seemed like there were tension between Argentina members and the Germans.. well like Argentina pushing towards the Germans.. what was going on there?? I couldn't really catch what the host was saying.. Anyone know??

[-zhoujielunrocks]

wow, it was a tough match between germany and argentina!! i was rooting for germany though, so i was pretty nervous when argentina scored the first goal. haha but i reckon that the german goalkeeper was great, thumbs up for him!

yeah i saw the tension too, something to do with SCHWEINSTEIGER i guess? they kept repeating his name. it's italy and ukraine later on right??? haha i think it might be a draw. both tough teams!

[stitchphil]

I was kind rooting for both teams... So whichever side that lost, I would have been sad to see them go. And to lose because of penatlies... What a way to be eliminated...

have a question though... after the game ended.. It seemed like there were tension between Argentina members and the Germans.. well like Argentina pushing towards the Germans.. what was going on there?? I couldn't really catch what the host was saying.. Anyone know??

I saw that too... One or two Argentinians were throwing punches at the german players! Surely they will not get away with that.

But there were several lows in the game when some players on both sides reduced to play acting. Ballack's play acting on a foul in his box which never took place, towards the end of the match, was a pretty bad one.

[BlueChaos]

A very good game of football. It was amazing watching this match live in McDonalds with both sets of fans (I am with Germany), trading banters and shouting at each other. As the match went to either sides' favor quickly and both sides threatened many times to their opponent's goals, after the penalty shoot out all of us went home without a voice left :D

Germany had a shaky defending at first, but what really turned the match to Germany's tide was keeper Abbondanzieri's injury, coupled with the fact that they took off Crespo and Riquelme too fast, believing that they have already won the match. In the end, in the penalty shoot out, they lost their first choice keeper and two very good penalty takers and that's what made a difference, with a keeper like Lehmann on Germany's side you have to be at your best to defeat them in a penalty, he saved two shots and ALMOST got the other two, he guessed the first one right and barely missed the third one. What a performance, wonder what Kahn said to him before the penalty shoot out.

Ballack injured, it is likely next they will face Italy. I can see Germany go all the way to the final and maybe face Brazil. I hope they can win the World Cup, they're my only favourites now (England cannot defeat Brazil no matter what they do, even though they manage to beat Portugal).

As for the post-match brawl, this is what happened according to SkySports and Football Guardian:
"As the hosts celebrated another historic win, tempers flared and Gabriel Heinze and German official Oliver Bierhoff became involved in an ugly exchange. Carlos Tevez was also involved."

[HarmonyCloud]

teresa :roll: Thanks for sharing that!!!

I saw Germany V. Argintina! The second biggest upset in the world cup! :cry:At first I though for sure Argintina would win! But Germany really did play well. They were really on offense a lot. Argintina wasn't pushing or trying to get more goals. I was shocked that none of their star players came out like Messi! I felt bad for their goali but the second he was out and they put in their extra I knew it was over for them :cry: Now who knows who the last to teams will be? I sense Brazil but who will go against them? I really feel like Portugal will win their game tomorrow...I just sense it! I hope I am right!! I don't know who France is going against? Brazil in the next round is it? I need to check out what the next game list will be :oops:

[maddywolf]

The German Give me a shock yesterday lor.... Argentina score at the 49th minutes, i thought that will make Argentina win becoz german seem to having hard time to get near the Argentina's penatly box.But after the goal german seem to be mad trying to score the alot of goals.i think the refree is giving the german more chances than Argentina..
i also saw that after the match Argentina member were pushing the german...
i think england will win Portugal which had already have 2 red cards
Is Singapore Refree going ti refree the finals??

[piglet]

Maddywolf: Singapore's referee is out of the 12th who are staying.. :) though he did a good job!

i was quite upset that Argentina has to leave..two teams are as good as fighting for finally yesterday..i cant denied..German goal keeper is good..what a pity..

there's lots of tension during the few mins of the game..haha..they guarded each other tightly.. ><"

[ker_ai_teresa]

poo.

I was rooting for argentina. ><

and what's with the english fans? I heard that there were more rioting between them and germans. :crazy:

so anyway, who's playing italy next?

[stitchphil]

Itaty will be playing the Germans next in the semi finals teresa.

I was half rooting for the Argentinians too. But its sad to see the complete breakdown of sportsmanship after the penatly shootout when the Argentinians went into a match drawl with the Germans. :oops:

[ker_ai_teresa]

Itaty will be playing the Germans next in the semi finals

GO THE GERMANS!!!!!!!!!!!!

*shakes fist*

they'd better win.


I didn't watch the full match only a bit of the replay.
so why did the brawl break out? :?

[stitchphil]

so why did the brawl break out? :?

Actually, I don't really know what exactly happened. The brawl broke out right after the Germans won the shootout. The entire Argentina squad just went into a mad frenzy.

Argentina's Leandro Cufre, an unused substitute, was shown a red card after the shootout for kicking at one of the German substitutes, apparent, he kicked the German sub at least three times.

From what is known is that there were certain incidents during the shootout whereby players on both sides were taunting each other to distract the ones taking the penatly.

[princessKitty]

I have never been so tense and anxious, watching the Eng vs Por game was unbearable to watch. I am not too sure whether Rooney deserved that red card but I think if Rooney, Beckham and Owen was there from the very beginning to the very end, I am quite sure that England chances of winning would be more than the chances that we had. Hard to say. :hmm:

I didn't want to go through what I went through 2 years ago during Euro 2004. It happened again and the feeling of sadness and disheartening is back again.

Well done England, you did well. We are all very proud of how far you have come. Lampard, Carragher, Gerrard, missing those penalties is not your fault, playing in the soaring heat for more than 120 minutes is very tiring coupled with the pressure, it is hard to keep going.

Welcome home, you all did very well. *salute*

[BlueChaos]

The World Cup erupted at the Olympiastadion here last night in scenes that mixed violence and delirium. As Germany began celebrating the 4-2 penalty shoot-out victory over Argentina which takes them into the semi-finals, a mass brawl broke out among the players in the centre circle. The drama continued afterwards when the Argentina coach Jose Pekerman said that he would be standing down from his position.

But it is the fighting that is set to be investigated by Fifa. There were counter-accusations about what initiated the trading of punches but Michael Ballack, the Germany captain, gave the most detailed explanation. He said that as each of Germany's four penalty-takers walked to the box they were abused by Argentina's players waiting on the half-way line.

The first provocation came from Argentina," said Ballack. "They were shouting at our players as they were going to the penalty spot. They shouted something in Spanish and we didn't understand what they were saying. But they were definitely trying to influence our strikers.

"After Tim Borowski scored [to make it 4-2] he put his finger to his lips to tell them to shut up. They were a bit mad at that. After that I didn't see much but I saw one or two lying on the ground. I didn't see what happened."

Germany's coach Jürgen Klinsmann also tried to say he did not see anything despite being in the middle of it all. Klinsmann had been seen trying to separate Torsten Frings and Argentina's Fabricio Coloccini as they squared up. Maxi Rodriguez was seen to catch Bastian Schweinsteiger with a punch to the back of the head. There were further confrontations involving Gabriel Heinze and Germany's general manager Oliver Bierhoff, and Frings and the Argentina captain Juan Pablo Sorin.

Punches were thrown, though it is believed that Germany's centre-half Per Mertesacker was felled by a kick from the Argentinian squad member Leandro Cufré, who was shown a red card after the melee. Bierhoff said he intervened when he saw Mertesacker go down. "It's regrettable what happened after that. It seems that supporters have learned how to behave at these big games but maybe the sportsmen haven't"

The aim of both Klinsmann and Pekerman was to play it all down, with Klinsmann aware that it could overshadow his team's progress and may yet have implications for any Germany players Fifa deems guilty. However, like Ballack, Klinsmann was also prepared to attribute the first blow to Argentina.

"The emotional pop came from the Argentina side," Klinsmann said. "We can understand that with the game going to extra-time and penalties. I have no idea what really happened but I know that none of our players started anything, that's for sure.

"I saw Per Mertesacker lying on the floor but I did not see what happened and I haven't seen any images on TV at all. So I don't know what Fifa will investigate. But I'd like to remind people that there are so many emotions running when you go all the way down to a penalty shoot-out.

"It's easy to lose control for a second and maybe some words that were not the nicest were said. Things happen in football because it is so emotional but we have to forget about that. For us it is no problem, no big deal at all."

Pekerman tried to dismiss it as "a flaring of emotion in the moment. Sometimes you get these spontaneous situations, things happen when there's a lot of tension."

When Fifa reviews the video evidence it is unlikely it will consider the events unremarkable but Pekerman was perhaps concentrating on his own career. "A cycle has come to an end," he said. "I certainly will not go on but I leave with peace of mind. I believe this team has renewed Argentinian football."

-----
Here are some more news you can read regarding the German v Argentina brawl:
- http://home.skysports.com/worldcup/article.aspx?hlid=399867&CPID=4&clid=632&lid=13&title=Blatter+blasts+Berlin+violence
- http://sport.scotsman.com/football.cfm?id=959922006

I... cannot make a comment regarding the England match yet. I need to recover myself first from my broken heart and despair, though when they went to penalties, I knew they were going to lose...

[jay_fantasy8]

ahh yes! the england and portugal game was nerve wrecking. i was biting my nails when the penalty shoot-out was being carried out, and i was pretty sure by then that england won't get through to the semis. >< i'm glad that portugal won though. ricardo's a really good goal keeper.

but the big blow came from the brazil vs france match. ><

boooo.

brazil lost to france. *bawls* ahhh. my favourite team. i didn't dare to watch the rest of the match when henry kicked in a goal. but really, brazil didn't play very well, cafu's passes were a lil' horrible and it was really difficult to break through france's defence. zidane was amazing though, the way he tackled for the ball and dribbled it. wow.

i'm still so disappointed. i thought the brazilians could make it to the finals. ><

[panda_shine]

So about the Argentina and Germany thing... who's fault was it? Did Germany said things to the Argentina guys first? I am so curious because if it was Argentina's fault.. I feel kind of bad for rooting for them haha. Although the article above it.. but it didn't seem to clearly state which fault was it?

I didn't start watching the England vs. Portugal until their first 15 minute extra time.. but I wasn't too surprised that England lost.. and before penalty shoot out.. the commenter was saying how England never won a penalty shoot out before? (or they haven't won in X years?)

I was a bit shocked that Brazil lost but I was pretty happy that France won.. because they played pretty well. I don't know about other games but in this game, they seemed really fit (physically).. everytime they ran, it seemed so fast that Brazil could barely keep up! Henry's shot was amazing!!

[ene]

Like most of you, my heart almost stopped during the penalty shootout between England and Portugal. Somehow, when Lampard stepped up to take that penalty, I somehow KNEW he'd miss it. And I was right :oops: I hate it when I'm right !!!! GAAAH !!!!! He hasn't found his footing for this WC and has been missing lots of clear shots on goal so I was surprised he was fielded to take the spot kick. Grr.

I didn't think Roony deserved the red card. Somehow, from the video playback, it looked like the step on the other player was accidental.

Oh well, this is football.

I've never liked Brazil. They are too proud for their own good so hooray that they're out. A shock exit but a hooray from ene nonetheless..

[HarmonyCloud]

Portugal Won :yeah: I was on the edge of my seat! :love: Christiano :hugz:

I am shocked at the Brazil V. France game...I kind of really expected France to be out a lonnnggg time ago and now they beat brazil :cry: I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE IT! :wacko:

[ColaPoP]

HarmonyCloud I love ur banner! Christiano *squeals* *dies*

Now I know why this is called the football fantatics thread. Sitting down at the local football hangout from 11 to 3am... and then going home to watch the next match till 7am. I'm blown away. This has been so intense and fun. Go football and the FIFA world cup! Go hot soccer boys! Go the singing crowds and the crazy euphoria one feels swept up in the glory of a victorious match. I think the supporters there were a little amused that my Macedonian friend and I (an Asian girl) were hugging and screaming our hearts out when they won. But then she was quite heart-broken when her team (brazil) lost. That was unexpected.... so onwards to the semi-finals:

Germany vs. Italy
Portugal vs. France

POR-TU-GAL
POR-TU-GAL
POR-TU-GAL
POR-TU-GAL

[dagamezmasta]

Be forewarned: my rant is not going to be pretty. It may contain profanity and major rage.



Christiano Ronaldo: the world's biggest cunt.
What a fucking cheater. As soon as Rooney (accidentally) stepped on the other guy's groin, Ronaldo rushed over to the ref, demanding a red card. And he got what he wanted. Afterwards, he winked at the Portugese bench. And I heard somewhere that he had said something to the ref before the game that had left Rooney with an appalled look.
That red card, in the first place, was unjustified. It was a complete accident. Rooney had control of the ball, why would he want to give it up by fouling someone else? I still don't think that warranted a red.
The whole scumming, cheating, fucking Portugese team is a bunch of divers who are more talented at diving than the Chelsea squad.

This was England's year. They had the dream midfield of Cole, Gerrard, Lampard, and Beckham. They had finally found a good goalie. They had finally solved their left midfielder problem. They had finally built a solid defense. A teenage prodigy by the name of Rooney had appeared a while ago. This was their year, and they were supposed to go all the way and win it.

But they didn't.

On the game itself, I must say that Hargreaves and Lennon were remarkably well. Hargreaves especially deserves recognition. He's been under fire for a while now, but he held out and proved his class. What a guy. I remember an incident in which he raced down the left wing, attempted to cross the ball, lost the ball, and then ran back 40 yards to defend. Reminds me of Gerrard.

Gerrard and Lampard both turned in under-par performances, though I'm not surprised that Lampard did.

Truthfully, I thought we were going to win this when we went to PK's.

Of course, that belief was erased when I saw that the first penalty taker was Lampard.

God, Lampard should've been dropped.

But the biggest blame lies on Sven Goran Eriksson. That old Swedish bat is a retard who needs to retire. Why would he leave a sub to the 115th minute??? In the end, the bulk of the blame rests on the coach. Truthfully, the FA really don't know how to pick good coaches.


*Sigh* I'm still lamenting the loss and recovering.

~England 2006
And here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OxhdsI-wk8&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efbtz%2Ecom%2Fforum%2Fshowt hread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D55327%26page%3D60)'s a replay of the stepping incident: