It starts tomorrow and everyone's getting pretty excited here in England. The good weather here and our good form has put a lot of people into a good mood.

Can't wait for it to start now!

How is every other football fan doing?

Couple of my colleagues have took their vacation during that time. I personally couldn't care less about it

Fair enough. How are other football fans doing?

I'm packing my bag right now. In a couple of hours I leave for Stockholm, and tomorrow I'm off to Germany!

Really?? Have you got tickets?

I sure do!
At least for Sweden-Trinidad/Tobago... I'm not entirely sure we managed to get tickets for the other matches this weekend. But if we didn't, that means more time to drink beer and eat German sausages.

It will be a very interesting competition, because no team can be clearly cast as the favorite for winning the cup.

Brazil is considered the most propable winner, but I have my reservations, due to most Brazilians being old and having played quite a lot of big matches this year in Champions League.

England has limited chance, since the moment Rooney got injured. They have some of the best middlefield players (Lampart - Gerard), but they have no good strikers.

Germany is the host and therefore the refs will play them at over 50%, but they do not have the quality players (except Ballack, but he is injured as well) to get to the finals.

Italy is in a state of shock, due to the Mozzi scandal. I would like to remind that something similar happened in 1982 when they won the cup.

Argentina is curiously not being given as a favorite. Nobody speaks about them. That's good for them, but there is only one player (Mesi) that can make the difference.

Spain does not have good chemistry between its players.

Holland is a big question mark.

France is old.

So due to all the above it would really be an interesting competition.

Sounds great! I envy you..
I hope we both win our first two games so the England v Sweden game is not critical.

On TV last night was a '100' best world cup goals programme as calculated by a computer program using the same (ish) mathematical model as used by FIFA.

Anyway what made me really laugh was they showed clips of World Cup 1994 in USA and they were asking the well-informed locals what they thought of Maradonna. The replies were things like,

"who?"
"never heard of him"
"I don't like the music much"

Here we have possibly the worlds greatest sportman....

anyway, although it hasn't started yet, I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing the winners, England, all the best, with or without Rooney's foot.

I'll disagree here:
Brazil: Only there attacking full-backs are really old, but their defenders aren't the best.

England: Rooney is not yet fit, and Owen is not completely back on form. However, by the third game Owen should be sharp and is a world class striker. Rooney should be able to come back soon after if we get through.

France: Saw them play against China. They have good players, but Zidane is past his best and they don't play as a good team.

We trust we will do a good cup. It seems we will begin with Saviola-Crespo as forwards, although Palacios and Tevez have done great in the trainments. The only doubt we have is Heinze. It looks like we will play with three defenses only.

Moggi actually
Other problem is that Totti still ins't in perfect shape after the ugly injury he had and other 3 important players very recently injured...

Nope, never heard of him.

It will be interesting to see how badly Australia goes down in the first round

Well, they drew 2-2 with Holland. I think they will do better than people expect.

there is a nice applet here http://www.worldcupchart.com/applet.htm

Mine (attached) has england 2-1 portugal in the final

This just appeared (and as quickly disappeared ) at the home page of the most popular newspaper in Argentina: FireFox ya tiene un programa gratuito para seguir el Mundial (Firefox already has a free program to follow the World Cup up). It gives a link to FootieFox, a plugin that shows updated WC results. I downloaded a similar one (maybe this same one) before, but since it didn't have support for the argentinian tournament, I uninstalled it.

Thanks for that Neil!

If Brazil come first in their group and we come first we could face them in the semi-final. If we come second we would face them in the final, but have to play stronger times before we faced them (Germany, Argentina, Italy)..

That's assuming we get that far, which is still an unknown!

In order to win the final you have to beat the best anyway. But I know where you're coming from though, Germany always win on penalties and Argentina always cheat their way in.

Since we seem to start off slow and get better as we go on I think it would be better to play Brazil in the final. Still, we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves here, there is a long way to go till the final for all the teams.

My sister has tickets for the final game. Best seats even.

Living in canada i don't know who to vote for. Probably england and france with brazil as a third... not because they are favorites but because brazil has some hot chicks and seems like a cool place.

How come no mention of the czechs.. supposedly they are ranked number 2.

You could support your American neighbours.

The Czechs became a serious power in football again in 1996 (after a long time of being average) when they finished second in Euro '96 which was a big surprise. Since then they've always had a good team and they always did well in qualifying. In Euro '04 they were one of the top favourites alongside Portugal. They got to the semi finals and lost 0:1 to Greece who then beat Portugal 1:0 in the final (Greece didn't make it to the World Cup).

In my opinion Czechs are again one of the top favourites, together with Portugal and Brazil and maybe Argentina. Some other teams that could do well are Germany, England, Italy, Spain, France and Netherlands. Less likely to get very far but still with a good chance are Ukraine (qualified first in Europe), Croatia (nooooooo), Mexico, Ivory Coast (i.e. France #2), Sweden and that's probably about it (unless I forgot a country I really shouldn't forget).

Also USA is ranked #5 in the world, but the formula they use to calculate standings is not very accurate because USA plays very few official games with European and South American teams, so that's not their real position. They'll be lucky to get out of the group stage.

Oh, and you should never forget about Iran!

I'm Canadian and not a football/soccer fan, but I'll be cheering for England (my mum's from there).

FIFA ranking sucks. Plainly.

I don't remember the last time an european country came to South America for a friendly game. However, south american countries always go to Europe. I cannot say about North and Central America countries, I think they play overseas against weak countries. That is why they are ranked so high.

Hmm.. I don't class Portugal as one of the top favourites. I'd put them in the second tier with Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands and England.

They toot their own horn enough don't ya think

It's great here though, lots of soccer fans because vancouver's population is so damn diverse. Iranians, australians, english, french, asians from every country, ukranians, brazilians, well you name it we got it and they all hold tight allegiances to their teams still.

Yeah, well, it's difficult to say exactly who has better chances. Probably those 5 countries + Protugal and Czech Republic are all in 2nd class together with Argentina, while Brazil is alone at the top and most others are in 3rd class execpt for a few exotic countries who don't even belong to the WC and are there just because of the rules (for example Trinidad and Tobago).

Today it begins! Let's see how Germany fear against Costa Rica!

My prediction: 0:0. Costa Rica will play defensively and Germany can't score goals.

On the other hand, if the Germans manage to score an early goal, it could go to 4:1 or something like that

They should beat Costa Rica, but they weren't in great form in their warm up games. I don't know if Costa Rica have enough attacking ability to cause Germany problems though..

Go Costa Rica!

Just over 3 hours to go..!

Incidentally Rey: The line-up for argentina's first game has been announced and it's a 4-4-2 formation.

Yeah. I thought we would be playing with a 3-5-2 instead. I still think the 4-4-2 is somewhat of a liar, because Sorin is everywhere.

My prediction for the first match: Germany 1 - Costa Rica 0.

18:06 - Wow, that was a beautiful goal for Germany! Only 6 minutes gone and already an awesome goal! It's looking good so far...

18:13 - OOh, that didn't last long. 1:1, there was no offside!

18:19 - 2:1 for Germany. That's a fast game!

18:48 - Got a little slow after the second German goal, so first half ends with 2:1 for Germany.

How much room do Germany have?? Amazing!

But their backline look very poor. They could be in real trouble against the top teams..

But it's been a good start!!

sigh Having to work at this time sucks I was not going to come, but then decided I prefered not to come when Argentina plays

19:20: Klose scores for 3:1!

Awful awful defending.

17:33 Wanchope scores to make it 3-2!
Awful defending yet again!

19:31: Wanchope scores second goal for 2:3!!! Go Costa Rica!

19:31? It is 14:32 right now here. Why don't put match time (either 45' or 90' format) instead? It is more useful

Ok then, 71'

Still time for another goal then. 5 goals for the first match, it is obvious the teams need to adjust a lot. Does Costa Rica deserve a draw already?

Yes, they scored 2 goals from 2 shots. That kind of efficiency deserves points. Germany on the other hand only scored 3 goals from 18 shots so far.

Do you want to increase your post count by posting about every goal in this match?

(not to mention the coming matches)

Yes.

Do you want to increase your post count by asking off topic questions?

86': The most phenomenal goal ever!!!! 4:2 Germany!

And Germany score a superb strike to make it 4-2!!

Time, Richard, time.

I gave you time! 86'

93': Match over. Germany 4:2 Costa Rica

Sorry miran, I did not check your post, only Richard's. What about the referee? He was argentinian

The Referee was excellent. He let the game flow and was fair in his decisions.

So, my verdict on the teams so far:

Germany: Good in attack, poor in defence.
Costa Rica: Average/quite good in attack, terrible in defence.

Excellent opening game! And it puts pressure on the other teams to start well too I guess..

EDIT:

So, Ecuador v Poland next. On the face of it not the most exciting sounding game for me, but I hope to be pleasantly surprised!

The referee was very good. Didn't make many mistakes and he let the game flow. There were a few controversial decisions though. There was an obvious hand ball in the Costa Rica penalty area the referee didn't see and a couple of offside decisions were depatable...

About Richard's verdict, I agree totally, there's not much to add. Just maybe that the last goal was really good. It'll probably in the running for the best goal of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Poland - Ecuador is starting in under 15 minutes. I predict a boring game with few goals (if any), and a win for Poland 1:0.

EDIT: On the other hand, if the Ecuador goal keeper can kick the ball far enough, anything can happen...

I just saw a slow reply of the first german goal and the ball actually moved in two different directions before hitting the post. These new balls could prove very good for attacking players!

I fear that Poland - Ecuador will be boring, but I hope not. It's not encouraging that Poland are only starting with 1 striker up front though. Still, that might be their normal formation, I don't know..

Well, the only Polish player I know is Dudek and he isn't even in the team. I saw part of the Croatia : Poland friendly a few days ago, which Poland won (I think), so they're very good, but I didn't remember a single name. And yes, they always have just one striker.

I thought a couple of years ago Poland had a African born striker who was their best player. O.. something? But I can't see him in the line up.

Actually Poland beat Croatia 1:0 in preparation for WC. One other player I knew from before was Žurawski, others are completely new to me.

Ecuador on the other hand is even more unknown to me. From what I hear, they can only play well at home at high altitude...

11 minutes:

Well, it's started off quite well! A bit higher tempo and more physical so far than the first game. Both teams seem to be going on the attack, so it's not bad at the moment.

Blitzball!

20 Minutes:

Well, both teams are cancelling each other out, and it's not the best quality play. I'm surprised by how strong and physical Ecuador are.

EDIT:

23 Minutes:

Excellent little flicked on header from Ecuador! That's a bit of a shock!

24': Ecuador leads 1:0. The goal came out of nowhere. Now Poland has some work to do...

27': And now Ecuador is playing extra defensively

28 Minutes:

Bad miss from Ecuador from about 6 yards out.

39': There's nothing to write about.

46': End of first half, Ecuador leads 1:0. Boring game so far, with basically just 2 or 3 shots on goal. Poland didn't even have one single chance. The contrast with the first game is unbeleivable...

Half-Time: Ecuador 1, Poland 0.

Poland have been disappointing. They are too defensive at the moment and although they did some nice play towards the end of the half, they couldn't get any really dangerous crosses, passes or shots in at the end.

I can't remember a good save that the Ecuador keeper had to make.

Hopefully Poland will be a bit more attacking and fluid in their play in the second half.

51': Poland scores a completely legal goal which the Japanese refere disallows. A huge mistake by the referee!

Yes, it was onside. However the goalkeeper did stop and didn't try to save..

This is a boring game!

As boring as boring gets.

If we get through our group I don't see anyhting in these 4 teams to really scare us.

72': Poland still hasn't had a single shot on goal.

More pressure from Poland though. Can they get a late goal? Can I be bothered?

80 minutes:

great play for a 2-0 lead from Ecuador. Game Over..

80': Ecuador scores from offside for 2:0. Another mistake by the referee

At least now we know Japan won't have a referee in the second round

I haven't seen a replay of the 2nd goal yet, so didn't see if it was offside or not.

The poles are really up against it now. They will have to beat Germany, but they look like a team that's ready to go home already!

'94 match over 2-0 for ecu. Poland hit the post around 90'

Time to go bug my polish friends.

Poland were unlucky, but just didn't do enough. They only had a few shots on target in the last 20 minutes of the game. Ecuador were more fluent and better in defence and attack.

Poland hit the post twice in the last 7 minutes, but it was too little too late. In the end they managed one shot on goal which the goalkeeper had no problems saving...

Well, we saw one good game and one boring one. If it goes on like this, it will be OK

Oh, the replay shows the second goal was onside. But it didn't really matter, Poland just didn't have that bit of invention to break Ecuador down.

Now for the big game (for us) tomorrow when we take on Paraguay!

Poland looked too relaxed to me. They sat back and hoped that ecuador would magically move out of the way.

Tomorrow is a triple-header. England and sweeden both have matches tomorrow.

And Argentina v Ivory Coast!
Looks like I'll do NOTHING tomorrow but watch TV. Good job it's not a SpeedHack!

I'm a little ashamed to be a Pole after what we have shown today, or rather after what we haven't shown... I originally had the intention to clear some things up about the Polish team and that African striker, but I'm not really in the mood anymore - I don't think anybody will even care after today's performance.

It's a very big disappointment here in Poland.

Well, I still liked the first match, and I hope that other games in the tournament will be at least as good. I'm looking forward to seeing how Spain (my personal favourite) fares.

Sorry Jakub.

Yeah, sorry. I don't have friends from Equator, but I have a few from Poland (GenesisMUD is filled with them).

Computer says Czechs will win World Cup

I say: BS!!! I have the real simulation of the World Cup final.
I did all the simulation in my super advanced simulator, and the results are:
Argentina 3 - Germany 1
And here is the proof
http://xs201.xs.to/xs201/06236/final_mundial.png

Argentina vs. Ivory Coast, and England vs. Paraguay, I won't miss those matches!!!:D
BTW, now I think Germany is a very strong team, they crushed Costa Rica badly, the last goal was so so so AMAZING!!!
However, their defense sucks.

Good Morning / Good Afternoon everyone!

I'm now getting pretty nervous!
The England v Paraguay game is only a few hours away and although we should win there are a few reasons to be cautious.

Firstly, I think Paraguay are a better team than many people here in England are expecting, we should not be overconfident. Secondly, historically we start of badly in tournaments. In the last 9 tournaments we've only won one of our opening games.

Things to look out for if you don't know this England Team:

Peter Crouch, our 6 foot 7 inch tall striker. Despite his size he is not great with high balls and is not too strong. However one minute he can fall over the ball and the next he can do a good pass and shoot. He has better footwork than people might think. Let's hope he scores and does his 'Robo-Crouch' dance.

Crouch, Beckham and Gerrard are all on good form after the last two matches. Crouch got a hat-trick, Beckham was excellent with crosses and freekicks and Gerrard was pretty good and scored too. Lampard and Joe Cole have been OK, but need to raise their game now. Our defence is good, but needs to concentrate hard and both Gerrard and Lampard have to be prepared to act defensively when they have to.

Good luck England!!

About Germany: I don't think they'll be having any problems with the remaining teams in their group, but I don't think they can get very far in the tournament unless they change half of their defence.

Friedrich, Frings and Borowski where seriously lacking in this match. While Frings redeemed himself with that excellent shot for 4:2, I don't think Friedrich should play in any of the following games (both goals for Costa Rica resulted from his mistakes).

On the other hand, Lahm had an excellent match. I wonder how wonderful he plays when his arm isn't in a cast .

I also find it mildly amusing that their strikers were told not to use Polish on the field, and to communicate in German only . Both Klose and Podolski were born in Poland and have Polish girlfriends, IIRC .

About today:

The match that I'm looking forward to the most is Argentina - Ivory Coast. IC showed some excellent spirit in the African Cup of Nations and I don't think it'll be easy for Argentina to prevent them from scoring, and Argentina also has an affinity towards attack. I expect another interesting match with lots of goals, but we'll see.

Yeah, good luck England.:)
Btw, kronoman, is that disguised Hakenkreuz(in white) in your screenshot intentional?

My two eurocents to Germany vs. Costa Rica:
Oh well, I'm not a big soccer fan and I only watch the world cup, because I'm fascinated by the size of the whole event, so I'll keep my opinion short.
Go go go Germany, go! Honestly, I don't think that game was that good. I couldn't see many good moves or pass combinations in the german playstyle. They didn't seem to have an actual strategy to get the ball to the goal and to me it appeared that most of the time, they were blindly trying to push the ball on, often failing to make the right pass to the right player at the right time and I remember quite a few situations where they stupidly lost the ball to their opponents, due to wrong passes and... Right, sitting on the couch, making comments 'this and that was wrong' is easy, so well, I don't want to degrade their performance, since they won and that's all that matters in the end.:)

The worst bit is waiting these few hours for the game to start. It seems that time is crawling along..

You'll have to forgive me if my commentry is sparse and not as objective as before!

I think Ivory Coast can get very far. They played against us a week ago in preparation and they beat us 3:0 and it could have been more. They're almost as good as the French 1st team. Maybe even better!

Funny, half of the German palyers are Polish or other nationalities...

Yes, I was also very impressed with the Ivory Coast in the African cup of nations.

I like them, I hope they do well.

EDIT: I don't like the heat factor, but come on England!!

It started!

3': Beckham scores!!!

1-0 to England!!!

Was sleepy Missed the first 10 minutes. First impressions: England has a very solid and strong defense, and they don't seem to attack as much as Roberto Carlos or Sorin, so they are hard to surprise. But so far it is limited in attack, with tall players teams fall back to throwing centers to them. England has many players with a good kick, so instead of breaking the paraguayan defense with quick passes and individual dribbles, they either shoot from outside the area or throw centers to the tall players. With Rooney they should get some more area playing.

Yep, we've been in control, but not played too well in the last 3rd. It looked like they were keeping the ball and slowed the play down a little with the 30 degrees heat.

We are giving the ball away a bit too long with long balls, we need to do a bit more passing..

Still 1-0 is good, we need a second goal though.

I'm not very learned about football, but the Paraguayans seems to have heads of steel; they seem to regularly head the ball as high & far as I would be able to kick it.

Gah! We've got sloppy!! Come on England, go for the 2nd goal!

They are known because of their skill and strength when heading. It is common in Argentina to have a paraguayan defense to clear high balls.

Hmm, that was another boring match...

Well, we were dire in the second half, but at least we got the win!

A lot of work for us to do though!

I liked the scene in which the english keeper hit the video cube and all the english fans went "yeeeaaaah".:D

I think it's a flaw in our football makeup, but we just can't sit back and play defensive for 45 minutes like we tried to do in the second half. I know other teams like Italy can do it, but our natural play is to attack at pace.

Against better teams we would have conceeded a goal or more..

Still, we should beat Trinidad & Tobago and be pretty much in the second round!

Next: Trinidad & Tobago v Sweden.

This should be great, hot dark bikini wearing girls and blue eyed blond lovelies in the crowd!

Sweden v Trinidad and Tobago in 10 minutes! Where are all the Swedes?

My prediction: 3-0 or 4-0 for Sweden. We played T&T about 10 days ago and beat the easily 3-1. Sweden shouldn't have any problems, I thnik...

2-0 or 3-0 to Sweden for me.

Ohhhh! They just showed a shot of some gorgeous blond swedish women in the crowd!

Melberg does look like Arnie a little bit!
Come on Swedes, where are you??

Interesting although expectedly one sided first half. We just need some goals now!

T&T are doing really well, they are trying to counter-attack as well. I expect Sweden will score in the 2nd half though.

Obviously a 0-0 draw would suit us very well, but I don't think it will happen.

Can't watch the game, I don't have cable. Right now, there are 3 channels airing the argentinian team travel to the stadium, another with some cultural stuff, and the last one playing Jumanji (although they will also transmit the match an hour later).

46': Red card for Avery John! T&T are in trouble!

58': Ooooh, T&T hit the post!

Go T&T!!

YES!!! Magnificient performance!

45 minutes with 10 men against Sweden and they held them! Outstanding!!

It's over! Well done T&T! 0:0 against Sweden is an totally unexpected result!

Superb!

And now if we win against T&T on Thursday we are in the 2nd Round..

T&T was almost OK in the first half. Second half was scary to see. Swedes were pressing non stop (11 vs 10), T&T keeper got tired. Some miracle was saving them all the time - Swedes just kept missing the goal. T&T's 0-0 was due to incredible luck, important factor in the cup. Now there's healthy suspense in this group.

Sweden just couldn't finish their moves off. T&T were lucky, but it was some great desperate defending.

Now then, Argentina v Ivory Coast. This could be much harder to call!
We've already seen 2 shock results, will we see a 3rd?

Time to relax and watch the match. Before it starts, I remind everyone that our goalkeeper's weak point are long shots.

I predict 2-1 or 3-2 for Argentina. If Ivory Coast scores goals, they'll all be scored by Didier Drogba.

Heinze is playing in central defence? And why isn't Tevez playing?

First impression: our defense is missing passes, two short passes that created attacks. And Saviola is very light, a simple push from one of the Ivory Coast players and he will fly like Superman.

Saviola understands Crespo better than Tevez.

Ivory Coast started better than Argentina.

Yes, Pekerman is requesting Heinze to cut passes to Drogba, not to mark him directly, and to Saviola to play through the left, not the right. Riquelme is too slow for my taste, but he has always been that way.

Hey, go England and stuff

Meh, this World Cup is making me thirsty.

14': Was that a goal for Argentina?

That was a goal surely!

I thought it was standard to have a camera in the corner to check these situations. It is here, at least in the most important matches. It seems the team is picking some speed up.

They just showed a replay from that corner camera. It showed the ball wasn't 100% in the goal.

Yep, that should have been the first repetition, not the last one.

Both teams are going for the goals! Good game so far!

1-0 To Argentina! Crespo on 23 minutes!

Woo-hoo!

25': Crespo scores!

The strange thing is before the free-kick I thought they'd score..

Ivory Coast have got great close ball control skills!

Pekerman is rotating Crespo and Saviola again. He is trying to keep the defenses off-balance so that later in the game the defenses don't know which one to cover.

Ayala is playing a great game. Maxi Rodriguez and Mascherano are not appearing yet.

Two good chances for Ivory Coast! Maybe they should have scored..

Point blank save from the Argentina Goalkeeper!

That's unbeleivable what Ivory Coast is missing...

Saviola 2-0

2-0!!

They have two or three very fast players. Much like our Saviola and Messi, but with a higher stamina.

Our main problem according to the commentators is Mascherano. When he leaves the defensive position (to attack or cover another forward) nobody covers his back, that creates a hole where the Coastians(?) begin their sprints.

Woo-hoo! Second goal, 37', Saviola. We have good players when the team is not enough.

Hmm... was that a legal position?

This is not fair...

If the Ivory Coast had more clinical strikers it would be 2-2 I think. They are causing Argentina real problems, but can't score.

Our commentators are calling them Ivorians.

Well, off to fetch some keys. Argentina isn't playing very good, but it is solid when attacking. I expect Tevez to replace Saviola before 60', he seems to be tired. We need at least one more goal, the next matches will be hard and it is better to take a good lead at goals when possible.

Fucking Ivory Coast, they are so fucking fast, where the fuck they came from???
Despacito, despacito, despacito, le rompimo' el cu****.
Well, 45 minutes left, we'll se what happens.:o:o:o

(Edited by ReyBrujo: No need to be so specific )

(Edited by Paul): Sorry, but they are so fast, damn, I am a bit nervous, sorry;)

Ironically, The Ivory Coast remind me of a South American team and Argentina of a European team the way they are both playing..

EDIT: I don't like the way some Argentinian players dive and pretend to have been hurt in a tackle to get the opponent a yellow card. I've just seen Sorin do it, and there were a few others too..

EDIT2: 2-1! They deserved that!

81': Drogba!!!

That's why I hate Argentinians.

81', Drogba.

Something I dislike from Pekerman: when his teams are winning, he always remove the forwards to put more people in the midfield.

85': No goal for Argentina! He was offside!

It's over. Best game so far, just too bad Argentina won...

Great game! Ivory Coast can be very proud of their performance, and they have a good chance against Holland and Serbia & Montenegro.

This Ivory Coast team is really strong and fast, this time they were not lucky.
It wasn't easy, but as expected, first Argentinian victory!
However, we have problems in defense, as usual.

I don't like that, that make them look like little crying girls, but everybody does it now, even these Ivory Coast guys.

Not everyone. Most do, but not everyone. Just like most players you see in the world cup are good, but only some are great.

That is an Argentina characteristic. I don't like, but most players do that. The game was not that good. Good that we won, but we won't reach too far with this performance. Not that I really expect to win the cup, Pekerman is too conservative, just like any european coach.

Actually I thought both teams played well.

I expected more order. I guessed Pekerman was going to replace forwards, but was hoping he would put Tevez and Messi. I can understand why he went conservative: against England and Croatia, we lost the games in the last minute.

Yes, we tend to do that too under Erikson (as we did earlier today) we try to play defensively and just invite more and more pressure on ourselves.

So... have you guys put your computer next to the TV to post live commentary of the match?

I saw it with my friends.

OK, Argentine team sucks. Very disappoint performance.

We should have sent a B class team, at least they will play with passion.

This team is a bunch of lame pussies going to the ground every time that someone touches them, trying to fake a injury, and just doing time and hoping the time runs away.

What a shame...

And now for the punchline:

Why? Because it's a cup! AHAHAHAHA eheh no one got it. -_-

Just to count my presence, Vai Brasil! _o/
And I think the games so far have been sweet.

I watched the argentina match live. Good match. Then i stayed the fuck away from the internet until after the english and sweeden re-airings.

England had a really good start. I hope that player who got his own goal doesn't get shot when he gets back home.. south america has a sort of twisted tradition that way..

WTF was up with crouch. surprised the refs didn't end up giving him a red. He had so many fouls (legit and otherwise). I do think the english did sit back on their lead enough. Also seems like beckham needs to learn the quirks of this new ball.

The sweedish match was a pure surprise. T&T's goalie really kicked ass that match and they have him to owe for the win.

I have my TV on one side of the room and the computer on the other, facing each other, so I have to turn away every time I want to write a post. It is most inconvenient. I wish I had a TV tuner card, so I could watch the matches on the computer and write live commentary at the same time

I have my TV on one side, and my computer on the other two. I feel obliged to people like ReyBruno who were worked to inform them of the progress of the games!

As for Crouch, I don't think he deserved a red card. I think the referee for our game was very strange though..

Netherlands vs. Serbia and Montenegro is comming!!!
The Ivorians were hard to defeat, but Netherlands is the strongest team we will face in our group, I want to see what they have to show:D

When Argentina scored their second goal they had like 3 players off-side. Repeat showed it very well. Referi did not notice of course. Ivory Coast looked very good for a first time participant of the Cup.

Argentina scored 3 goals, but the Referi did not notice the first one at 14', ball has passed the line:o
He did compensate the match.

The ball most definately did not pass the goal line 100%. The last replay showed that clearly.

I don't care a lot for football personally, but currently it's way annoying to live in a city that hosts games. The whole inner city of Leipzig was full of drunk Oranje fans. I'm not quite sure yet if it's better for public peace if they win or lose.

I know! Around here it's been very quiet the past couple of days, despite the weather. Looks like everyone moved out.

Same difference, I suspect.
At least, when the Amsterdam football team loses, the town gets razed because fans are outraged. On the other hand, when the Amsterdam football team wins, the town gets razed because fans are mad with joy.
I don't think this will be much different...

Ouch. The newspapers here are laying into the England team today..

The Premiership and the English game is all about high-tempo attacking with medium to long range passes. As such, the heat probably affected our game more than most of the other teams. We just can't play well at a slower tempo or more defensively as we tried to do.

We can't dribble like Brazil, or run with the ball like The Ivory Coast, we have a pass and move game, but this just led to us giving the ball away in the 2nd half when we tried too many long balls to crouch.

Thank God that if we beat T&T we are through, this gives us 2 more games for Owen, Cole and Rooney to get fit. But unless we get back to our fast attacking football in cooler weather we will not go far in this tournament.

Still, we can play much better than this and I think we will improve each game. We apologise for our poor opening performance!

EDIT: One of the football websites has a brilliant headline: "Dutch prepare for S&M"

Serbia&Montenegro v Netherlands starts in less than 30 minutes! Go Montenegro!

I don't know much about Serbia & Montenegro. The interesting thing is with Argentina and The Ivory Coast to come, both teams could see this as a must win game! That could make this is a very exciting game if both teams go for the win..

EDIT: I'm for Holland on this one!

In qualifying their goal difference was 16-1 in 10 matches.

A draw would be nice. If possible, 0-0

That wouldn't make any difference to you, because both The Netherlands and S&M will beat Argentina...

17': Robben scores! No 0:0 for you ReyBrujo...

1-0 to Holland!

The game needed that..

17', Netherlands

You can't play that way in defense. We lost a gold medal in 1996 because of trying to offside a player.

Yes, like Germany did twice against Costa Rica..

Netherlands shoots very well from long distances... we will be having problems there.

So do we..

Netherlands are looking a bit tired now. S&M have played better in this half.

Bleh. Netherlands won.

This sucks. We will be facing S&M now, and they need to win at all costs (you can't pass to the next stage with only 4 points, so a draw is out of question). It will be a very hard game.

Both teams did not play very "clean". Hooray for all the yellow cards.

Holland looked very good at times, but their defence didn't look completely secure and their central strikers didn't do much.

I'm a little surprised that only Germany and Argentina look sharp with their strikers so far..

The Ivory Coast are my favourite team so far. Plus, they have that cool lowercase lettering for their names on their shirts!

Damn, Netherlands won.

I hope S&M will beat Argentina and Ivory Coast will beat Holland in next games, even 1-0 will do. Then Argentina should play 0-0 draw with Holland. Then Ivory Coast will play 2-2 with S&M abd they both go to round 2.

That sounds like a perfect plan!

Nope.. I want the Ivory Coast and Holland to go through.

Mexico v Iran now.

The guy below me in our house is a f*cking noisy bastard who has repeatedly woken us all up late night in the week and at the weekend. Surprisingly he doesn't like being woken up with music when we get up for work! Since he is Iranian, forgive me if I want Mexico to totally stuff Iran!!

Anyway, Iran v Mexico is next. My prediction: 17-1 for Iran.

YAY!!

28' Bravo scores, Yaaay Mexico!!

Doh!!

As expected Iran is much better than Mexico.

Yes!!

Yes!! 2-1!

EDIT: 3-1!!

Yeah Baby!!

Wonderful result for me!

Sorry Miran!

Mexico!!! Mexico!!!!

Yay!!!! We won!!!

Take THAT Miran!!!

:D

Next game: Angola will beat Portugal so badly that Portugal will go home the next morning and won't even play their next two matches.

Your predictions are getting worse Miran!!

But, I think there may be an edge to this game. Portugal used to be Angola's colonial 'overlords'.

Yes, that's what I meant. The last "friendly" match between Portugal and Angola was cancelled before 90' because four Angolan players got red cards for beating up Portuguese players...

Ah, I see. Yes it was 5-1 to Portugal when the match was abandoned because Angola went down to 6 players..

This could be a tasty game!

1': That was almost the fastest goal ever!

4': Pauleta scores for 1:0! Figo was incredible there...

Good game! Great attacking play from Portugal, but Angola have fought back and threatened themselves. Impressive performance from them after 5 minutes!

On the contrary today there wasn't a single yellow card...

Any predictions for Italy-Ghana? Well, any result different from victory would be tremendous for Italy's morale

There's been 5..

Full-time. I enjoyed that. Pity Angola weren't much attacking and have players who could shoot from outside the area.

Still, Portugal weren't too comfortable.

Really?
Then the site i checked must have been broken...

Yes...
You could have watched the game on TV of course..

Bollox. We were crap in the second half because of bad tactical decisions. Crouch was the only striker on the pitch and he can't head the ball to himself now can he

I wasn't just going on that game Neil, but on games in Qualifying, in Euro 2004 and the last world cup. Why do we struggle to keep possession? Why do we always fade badly in the 2nd half?

I don't think it's just the tactics.

Now that Iran has lost against Mexico I guess it's pretty unlikely that they make it to the next round, am I right? At least this will probably spare us a visit of Ahmadinejad, who said that he wanted to come to Germany in that case. To make matters worse if Iran came out second of their group their next game would be hosted here in Leipzig again where our most dangerous neo-nazis plan to congratulate him for his public holocaust denial. His appearance combined with the presence of those right wing extremists would cause major public protests and violence from the left extremist front, who are even surprisingly pro-Israel here. It would end in a blood bath. But as things look this is not going to happen, I hope.

I love when politics mix with sports

Yeah Mars, stop it!

Well, we still haven't seen France, Spain, Italy or Brazil in action. I think any of those 4 teams could get to the final.

Brazil WILL get to the final. As for the other three, I hope not. Especially Italy.

We'll see...

The Ivory Coast for teh win!!

Ok, Australia v Japan. Go Australia!

Japan v Australia starts in just 10 minutes. Are there any Aussies or Japan lovers here?

EDIT:

Go Australia!

For once we agree!

Well, it had to happen some time...

Ok, i'm for Captain Tsubasa

New avatar and new prediction... Italy-Ghana: 2-0

26' What a terrible mistake from the referee! That was an obvious foul on the goal keeper! Nakamura scores for 1-0...

Poor Australia! Very unfair decision..

Tsubasa Ozora ftw!

Well, an open attacking half with both teams pretty much equal apart from the referee's error.

I don't think I can agree with that. For most of the first half Australia was much better than Japan who didn't do anything really. But Australia couldn't score and the referee made that stupid mistake, so Japan leads 1-0. Hopefully Australia will score at least twice in the second half and the referee will be sent home by the FIFA afterwards...

Japanese plan was good: Nakamura shoots, two other Japanese players push the keeper. It really needed two of them to push away that keeper. Referi's mistake of course.

Yes, about equal. Japanese play more technical football, but Australians are more big and heavy.

You know what's funny? On our TV (some commercial people who have no idea about anything) said that was an embarassing mistake by the goalkeeper and never even mentioned the possibility that there was a foul.

Good thing I can watch the games on about three or four channels...

Of course, I think Australia were dominating up to that point Hope we can get through their defence in the second half, as this is basically our final.

I think Japan have got into some very dangerous positions and also could have scored if they had better strikers. Australia also got into dangerous positions but haven't made the keeper make many saves either.

84': 1-1 Goal for Australia!!!

89': 2:1 for Australia!!!!

92': 3:1 for Australia!!!!

Japan was robbed a penalty at the end.

Superb strike for the 3rd goal!
Japan had some chances to score but couldn't do it, now they've been punished.

Looked like a penalty to me for Japan when Cahill tackled the attacker, but then the Japan goal was a foul.

Well done Australia!

/me runs around the block with his shirt over his head

What a nice surprise in the last few minutes.:D
I was tempted to switch the TV off after 70 minutes, because the match was so boring up to that point. So glad I watched til the end.

Ok. Now it's USA v Czech Republic. Will the aging Czech side still have too much for a USA side who are (apparantly) in poor form.

Do Americans even care themselves?

I really don't know what to put down for this game. I participate in a sort of online game (like betting but without the money) and so far my predictions were mostly accurate (I'm around position #300 out of about 3000 players), but this game, I don't know. At first I put down 3:2 for Czech Republic, but now I'm not sure. But if I change my prediction to 1:1 or 0:0 now and it ends 3:2, I'll hit my head against a wall until I bleed...

Well, as long as USA doesn't go for a touchdown, I think we'll be okay...stupid US.

Miran: With your 17-0 to Iran prediction?

EDIT: 1-0 to the Czech's!

Curse you Miran, you always beat me!

5': Jan Koller!!!! 1-0 Czech Republic!

EDIT:

Actually I put down 1-0 for Mexico on that one

And that's just without even jumping.

28': That was close...

36': Rosicky!!!!!!!! 2-0!!!!

SUPERB goal for the Czech's!!!

{"name":"00001372.jpg","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/9\/3\/93b7a19caa4a57f52e3244787c48ea68.jpg","w":765,"h":207,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/9\/3\/93b7a19caa4a57f52e3244787c48ea68"}

3-0!

75': Rosicky! 3-0!!!

90': Good win for the Czech Republic. The USA were defeated as no other team has been defeated so far in this WC. Now I wish I didn't change my prediction from 3-2 to 1-1. I would have got at least a couple of points with 3-2, now I don't get anything...

Yes, the Czech republic were very impressive! Good in defence, very good in midfield and good in attack. My only fear for them is that there main two strikers (Baros and Koller) are injured or unfit (like England's).

Still, very impressive!

Who needs strikers when you have Rosicky?

Their other problem could be yellow cards. They got four of them completely without reason in this game.

And the games just keep rolling on...

Italy v Ghana next:

Now, normally I am quite supportive of the Italians. However the racist incidents and crowd violence over the last few years has now been combined with the corruption we all suspected was in the Italian game. As such, I've gone a bit sour on the Italian game. I'm not sure, but maybe Italy doing badly would be better for Italian Football in the long run?

It's a sad situation though.

I've always been strongly against Italy on all levels. But my prediction for this game: 1-0 or 2-0 for Italy.

Hehe 23rd old that's funny but i guess that can also explain hockey as well.

Oh boy did the US get creamed by the cze. I remember hearing the announcer mentioning that american fans were leaving the stadium before the game was over. What is up with that.

Italy can do well but are troubles at home gonna make the difference. I'm gonna guess 1.5 - 1 for italy (somewhere between 1 and 2)

Yes, this is fully understandable. It's something indeed grave, even more when the coach(Lippi), goal keeper (Buffon) and captain(Cannavaro) are involved.
What i can say is that there are also players who are clean in the heart, take Totti for example. Yes he spit after being provoked, this is human, but NOBODY would suspect him of being corrupt and taking doping. He also donates 50% of all he earns with advertisings to the poor. Italy is also made by men like this who really enjoy football as a game.

Whenever my dad took me to sporting games, we'd leave early if we were losing really bad, or winning by a lot. Mainly, it was to avoid traffic. However, in this situation, I'd bet it's shame.

That's so lame...

What's happened to Italy's defence? Ghana have had 3 or 4 good chances, which you don't expect!

Italia scored?

Italy 1-0, but they'll have problems, Ghana is very fast, this is usual in Africans teams, however they aren't very cleaver.

Ghana are poor in attack and defence, but Italy are giving too much space on the flanks and their defence doesn't look that good. Against a top team they could be really punished!

Welcome to the American way!

Italy won 2-0... now back to my.. uhhh... thesis..

Well, the pundits here on TV thought Italy played well. But for me their defence give Ghana too many chances. In attack they were good, but I'm not sure about them against better teams.

Yes, our defence wasn't very good, luckily they don't have great technique; 2-0 was more than earned thought, we did have more than a few gol occasions that we screwed up

Oh yes! You should have won by more goals as Ghana gave you some great chances. Still, you play USA next, so if you can beat them then you are through (probably to play Brazil..)

Which wouldn't be a nice thing... Italy has to pass as first team so that it will play with (probably)Australia

I think the Czech Republic have a good defence and dangerous attacking midfielders. Unless Italy improves its defence for the third game I think you might struggle not to lose.

Of course Czech Republic will humiliate Italy which will then play Croatia (not Australia), which will then send them home.

...if they don't get invaded!;D

What?

Italy-USA 2-0
Italy-Czech Republic 2-1, or 3-2

Italy-USA 1-0
Italy-Czech Republic 1-3

Although maybe both Italy and Czech Republic will actually want to lose that game to avoid Brazil in the next round...

What, Italy throwing a game?

I don't think they could throw it hard enough to lose to the yanks. If they do, luckily the NSA will have some nice recordings.

They'll beat the Americans, no question about that, but the Italy-Czech Republic match will be interesting to see, because it will probably be better for both teams to lose...

miran, do you assume Brazil will finish second in their group? Why? I think Brazil will finish 1-st and then the loser of Czech-Italy game will play Brazil in round 2. So both Italy and Czech will try to win as hard as they can. The winner of Czech-Italy (Czech hopefully) will play Australia or Croatia, with much better chances.

Oops, my mistake. I don't know what I was thinking.

Too much football in too few days!

Exactly! Three games per day every day is enough for anyone's brain to tilt every now and then.

Yeah! Add to that that it is night here when they play.. (UTC +9 here). I'm then sleepy all day here. Good thing it's once in 4 years only.

Hehe, if we had a Speedhack I'm sure my hypnotized brain would have used a football theme..

I've had a headache the last days from watching too many games and I didn't even watch every game.
Today, I'll only watch Brazil Vs. Croatia and I'm all for a win of Brazil, because I want them to get to the final, so that we can have our revenge for 2002.:D
I'd also love to see England Vs. Germany though...

How do you think we feel after watching all the games in this heat?

The players don't seem to complain about it, but yes, running around 90 minutes is hell already and then they also have to bear those 30 degrees celsius. Those who play on the shadowed side of the stadiums are really lucky.

34 minutes of the next game - South Korea v Togo - are already gone and still no new posts?

Togo are leading 1-0 since 30' btw. Excellent goal by a guy called Mohamed.

Sorry, I watched the first half and it wasn't too inspiring. Excellent goal though by Togo. South Korea have been dreadfully disappointing.

I'm more looking forward to the france and brazil games.

53': Ooh, Togo is now in trouble. 1-1 and down to 10 players. My tip before te game was 2:0 for Korea. Looks like I won't be far off...

72': 2-1 for Korea! Another excellent goal from outsie the box!

You really want to beat that chess thread, don't you?

Was that ever a question? The World Cup lasts for 4 weeks and this is only day 5! At this rate we will easily break 1000 posts. Now please, shut up.

It's just a pity there are not more football fans commenting. Most games have been good so far, with a couple of excellent ones!

This thread is going to beat the chess thread easily, postcountwise. I highly doubt that it will also beat it lifetimewise.

Yay, just a couple of hours left til the Brazil game. (to justify this post as being on topic)

That's because most of us know that football sucks. As for me, i'm just here to kill this thread...

It's the France game first against an improving Swiss side!
(Switzerland drew with France home and away in the same qualifying group)

I'm looking forward to this, I saw france play a 4-4-2 system in their last warm-up match against China and they were very very lucky to win. They went ahead due to a comical and unlucky own goal from China.

In that match Viera was playing on the right of midfield and Henry and Cisse started up front.

However, now they seem to be going to play with a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Makelele and Viera protecting the defence, Henry up front on his own and a attacking three of Ribery, Zidane and Wiltord and behind him.

So, I'm not sure if this is a defensive or offensive formation! It certainly reminds me of what argentina used and might be similar to how Brazil play to. I've suggested before that maybe England should try something similar agianst the best teams as well.

It's interesting to see all the different formations being used.

I don't care much about how France plays, as long as Switzerland wins.

I'm back!

The Swedish fan support turned out to be quite impressive:
http://www.cyd.liu.se/users/~torha229/pictures/VM%2006/P6100016-sm.JPGhttp://www.cyd.liu.se/users/~torha229/pictures/VM%2006/P6100035-sm.JPGhttp://www.cyd.liu.se/users/~torha229/pictures/VM%2006/P6100054-sm.JPGhttp://www.cyd.liu.se/users/~torha229/pictures/VM%2006/P6100056-sm.JPG
The mood before the match was great - chanting and singing and general merriment. That lasted until the second half.

I told people before the game that if this year's team doesn't beat Trinidad-frakking-Tobago they don't belong in the World Cup. I stick to that statement. Their performance on the pitch was simply abysmal. No decent finishes (oh sure, just pass the ball back and clumsily run around the midfield instead of ACTUALLY SHOOTING), stumbling over the ball, tactical blunders... GAH! I was getting Costa Rica 1990 vibes off the whole thing.
We still have a decent shot at getting past the group play, but I'm not holding my hopes up for any decent results...

Impressive indeed! Any full size pictures?

Meanwhile France are being even worse than Sweden

Yep, France are confused.

That was a penalty BTW. Unintentional doesn't count if you have your arms spread out like that in the first place.

Gnolam: I still think you will beat Paraguay.

Yeah, looks like this was obvious to everyone except the referee. And he was supposed to be one of the best...

I also don't know why the defender got a yellow card after Henry went down injured. He didn't seem to touch him from what I saw..

Because the Swiss wouldn't kick the ball out of play. Or something. It's like if you don't do that these days it's a foul....

What for, he was already off the pitch.

In one word: disappointing.

Too bad Maradona wasn't playing for Switzerland.

Well, France were really poor, even worse than England! And the Swiss had two or three great chances to score!

Ouch, they are going to get a battering in their media!

Ok, bring on Brazil!

On a different note, despite what one might think, the first tie-breaker is goal differences and not between-team results.

Now! Brazil v Croatia!

Brazil was quite disappointing up to this point, especially Adriano.
Ronaldo? Was he in the field as a player or observer?

Ronaldo is fat and slow.

Well.. Great goal from Kaka, but apart from that Brazil are disappointing so far..

EDIT: How many more times will Croatia shoot straight at Dida?!

They've had some good chances now!

Figures, the Croatians need a 12th player.

The Croatians played quite well, surely deserved 1-1.
As said before Brazil disappointed, it was a bit better when they actually started playing with 11 players...

Rash: What?

Croatia played well, had a few half-chances and perhaps should have scored as well.
Brazil were really disappointing! Ronaldo was slow and unfit, and Adriano wasn't much better.

Unless they improve it could be a more open Tournament than we thought!

Team performance should be from poor to excellent in a World Cup. They will reach to quarters with little problem, but apparently need some work in the defense.

|̲̅<̲̅Θ̲̅>̲̅| \o/ Brasil \o/ |̲̅<̲̅Θ̲̅>̲̅|
Yeah, Ronaldo was so fat and slow I would have played twice the game he did.
Overall, not that good of a game, but yet I like the result.

They'll probably play Italy or the Czech Republic in the next round, so they better improve in defence soon.

Certainly disappointing. I was waiting for this match the whole day, only to see one team having the spirit, but lacking the shooting ability, and another team that was just standing there most of the time.

Seriously, that was not Brazil. Brazilian players were abducted by aliens and replaced with evil blancmanges from outer space.

Well. 3 disappointing games today! I hope tomorrow is ok. Go Poland!

I guess you missed the part where a supporter invaded the pitch.

Go Germany!

I saw it Rash, but you didn't explain what you were commenting on very well.

Is everyone fecking blind or something? Brazil were crap and Croatia were magnificent (despite the score).

It really annoys me when you have 'neutral' commentators like in Britain reversing everything to Brazil's favour. For example, when Croatia are hammering Brazil, what does Motson (commentator) say, 'Brazil seem to enjoy being defensive', not, 'Croatia are having a good spell here'. Or perhaps when Ronaldo moves (well, waddles) for once in 60 minutes, hits well over the cross-bar and the commentators are saying how brilliant he is.

When Croatia make a really good move, do some fancy flicks and just miss, nothing. Brazil make a couple of passes and, well, I give up.

And to top it off, Brazil didn't play poor, they were probably, 'doing just enough to win'.

Get some perspective chaps.

You kidding me? I'm still torn about whether to watch the match or not... I'm leaning towards not, basing on the performacnce with Ecuador (decidedly the most boring game of the tournament), I'm pretty sure I don't want to see our collective asses kicked.

I'm all for the team, but we need to get serious. We are lacking in technique, physical preparation, and tactics. You can't win if you are poor in every single aspect.

I'm just hoping this time Janas will utilize the little assets we have with a way more offensive set-up.

Did you see the guy who invaded the field?
He sent kisses to everybody. He probably won't be able to watch the rest of the cup now, but that was a funny thing to do.
( at least no violence was involved )

What I saw yesterday was a Brazil that was as good as they can be when the opposing team doesn't let them play. Brazilians are magic on the pitch only when they play against inferior teams, but yesterday Croatia wasn't inferior. They almost completely stopped Brazil except for a few times when they lost the ball in attack and couldn't return to defend quick enough, and in one of those rare counter strikes Brazil scored. On the other side Croatia just needed one good shot. They had many opportunities, but just couldn't perform when it came to scoring the goal.

As for the 12th player, I find it incredible. There's a fence separating the seats from the players and there were something like 200 men in orange shirts all around the pitch, one meter apart from each other, and still someone managed to get in from the audience. And did you see how the politely they escorted him off the field? When this kind of thing happened before (I remember when the WC was in America), at least three security guys would run after him, tackle him to the ground and start beating him right on the spot....

America the beautiful actually applies here =D

Those guys were actually running around the pitch and screaming, and there was hardly another way to stop them than to get them to the ground. This guy here was the polite kind - he walked off the pitch himself .

He just wanted to kiss Dado .

Poland didn't play well. But they now have a must-win game to redeem themselves. I understand they changed their system to play Ecuador. If they go back to their qualifying system maybe they will do better.

EDIT: Ok, Spain v Ukraine now!

I have a lot of friends who are Spanish and I like the country, so I hope they do well. They've always had talented players, but never do well in Tournaments.

Looking forward to seeing Shevchenko for Ukraine too!

EDIT2: Spain 2, Ukraine 0. Well, Spain have been very good! Great passing in their midfield and a bit lucky with the freekick goal and an offside decision which was wrong in their favour. Still, they've been much the better team!

(Where is everyone else though? Miran? )

Very boring game so far. You couldn't expect anything else though, considering the weather (33 degrees). Hopefully Spain won't attack much in the second half and Ukraine will score a goal. I have my (virtual) money on 2:1 for Spain in this one...

I disagree. It's been pretty good compared to the games we saw yesterday. Very nice play from Spain. I've been very impressed with them so far.

To me it looked slow and uninspired. Like both teams are on a picnic in the park and are playing a bit of football as well...

Again, I must disagree.

The pundits here on TV also think Spain have played really well. Spanish football is naturally a bit slower than other styles such as the English and African play of course..

47': That wasn't even a foul, let alone a foul for a penalty, let alone a foul for a red card. EXTREMELY unfair decision by the referee. That's the worst thing any referee has done in this WC. I hope he doesn't get another game this year (or in his life).

This is without a doubt, the most partisanly arbitrated game of the tournament so far.

Terrible Terrible decision. Poor Ukraine have had a wrong offside decision when Shevchenko was running at goal, a defelected freekick, a penalty against them and a red card. Terrible luck.

The only good thing for them is that there next games are against Saudia Arabia and Tunisia.

You're reasoning is off-key insofar as, that if it was a foul then it automatically had to be a penalty. As for the rest, I agree with the sentiment.

Well yeah, I didn't express myself like I should. Of course, there was no foul. The defender pulled the striker's shorts a bit but then he let go immediately and then a couple of seconds later he fell down on his own...

It's not even like Spain needs the help or something. In a poule with Tunesia and Saudi Arabia as well as leading 2 to 0.

MAGNIFICIENT goal!!!!

Hmm, they do have an extra player there, so...

Bah! I know you wanted Ukraine to win, but give Spain some credit!

or two, or three...

Anyway, up next, the probably most important match of the tournament.

OK, the first goal was nothing special, the second was lucky and the third was a free gift from the referee, but the fourth was quite good. Even though as I said, they were playing against 10 players...

Spain will have its first real test in the second phase. In this group, if they don't score 3 goals per match they can't call themselves a team

I think the media will agree with me on this one!

Anyway, I'm not that bothered about the next match, but looking forward to Germany v Poland!

Live coverage of matches: telnet://ascii-wm.net:2006 (or telnet://diego.ascii-wm.net:2006). It is fun

Stupid Arabs! I had 1:0 on this game for Tunisia. And it's been 1:0 for a long time, but can they keep it at that? No. They had to score that goal and it's 1:1 now. Hopefully Tunisia can score another one so I get at least the winner right...

Rey: I get "too many connections" on both of those...

It's curious that this was online before Ukraine-Spain game. (page 191 if it changes).

Miran: You're not supposed to value the games on how accurate you predict the score!

Yeah, now it has been spammed since it was published in The Inquirer and several Linux sites.

Unbeleivable game! Sami Al Jaber scored fro 2-1 his 44th goal in his 161st game after he got on just 2 minutes earlier. But then on 92' Tunisia equalized. And it's not over yet!

95': And now it is. Final score: 2-2

Ukraine will be happy about that result!

Is there an online bracket for this any where? So far, I've just found the live standings and upcoming matches off of google's own site.

Germany v Poland then!

Jakub, how are you feeling?

Type "world cup" in google. The first link is the official web site and google even gives you the result of the last match on top

If you click that link, you can watch random google videos of socc...er football.

It's terribly bloated. I just wanted to look at a bracket to see how this is all set up.

Attached is a spreadsheet. Both Excel and Calc formats. The Calc version works, the Excel one probably too. (not done by me btw)

15 minutes so far and Poland seems to be doing quite OK (but I'm not an expert here). Anyway, it's first match I'm actually interested in watching.

Watching the match in ASCII Wish I were at home to enjoy the game sniff

Well, Germany have had 2 great chances to score! Quite a few mistakes, but quite exciting too!

I fear for Poland in the second half though..!

I'm wondering what people are thinking about Boruc right now. He's been delaying the game, but he has made some really impressive saves.

We lost, but played really well.

Ouch! Always a bad way to lose in the last few minutes..
Well, Germany had the chances to win. Poland just played for the draw which I think was a mistake.

Gah.. I'd rather England played Poland than Ecuador!

I must say I'm pretty depressed about the extended time goal, but I can deal with it - if it wasn't for Boruc and lots of luck, we would've lost this goal earlier, so I must say that Germany deserved.

Our lack of stamina showed badly in the second half of the match - we weren't able to create any danger near Lehman's goal. But, after all, I'm much less angry than I was after the match with Ecuador. This time we at least showed some passion and willingness to fight for the result.

I'm wondering, aren't there any Germans here to comment on the result?

Well, the only thing left for us to hope for is Costa Rica beating Ecuador 1-0, Germany beating Ecuador 2-0, us beating Costa Rica at least 3-0. Otherwise, we're out, and I must say that is the most likely development.

All in all, a shame. Good luck to teams of all fellow Allegroites!

Well, you'll know tomorrow when Ecuador play Costa Rica..

EDIT:

cough
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/worldcup06/2006/06/14/could_spain_be_the_new_brazil.html

Hey, come on, I'm not even counting on that . I just reckon it's possible. If it's time for hell to freeze over, so be it .

I just came back from a friend where we watched the match. We collectively hated the polish keeper who played time from the beginning on (and got a well deserved yellow card for that later in the game). We also kinda disliked that the referee interrupted the game way too often for nothing.
What was the difference to the game vs. Costa Rica?
This time we had Ballack on the field. ==> If Ballack is not on the field, our other players play way better soccer. ==> Don't let Ballack play again.
Another thing that was bad about the german playstyle this time were all those long, high passes to the front that almost never reached anyone.
Failed goals(at good chances): Ugh, way too many.:-/

Ecuador v Costa Rica next then!

It will be interesting to see Ecuador as we could face them in the next round. However, I have to admit that I'm 95% thinking about the England v T&T game.

Good news (but still risky)!!

I have to back at work tonight to get my pay review letter so will end up missing part of it

I fear no one at the minute. Portugal are poor, Brazil are bland, Germany are gruelling, Italy are inspit, Spain still suck, the czechs are c0cks, but England are expialidocious

Impressive indeed! Any full size pictures?
</quote>
Sure thing!
Larger versions of the previous images (until I can be arsed to review and resize more of the pictures I took):
http://www.cyd.liu.se/users/~torha229/pictures/VM%2006/P6100016-md.JPGhttp://www.cyd.liu.se/users/~torha229/pictures/VM%2006/P6100035-md.JPGhttp://www.cyd.liu.se/users/~torha229/pictures/VM%2006/P6100054-md.JPGhttp://www.cyd.liu.se/users/~torha229/pictures/VM%2006/P6100056-md.JPGhttp://www.cyd.liu.se/users/~torha229/pictures/VM%2006/P61000640-md.JPG
(Let's hope people are using the thumbnail feature )

As a bonus, here's me in my mandatory silly supporter outfit:
http://www.cyd.liu.se/users/~torha229/pictures/VM%2006/P6100008-sm.JPG

They were just as bad, at any rate.
And not just them... seems a lot of teams are playing like crap this World Cup.

I hope so. If we do, we should be guaranteed a place (unless Trinidad-Tobago suddenly starts winning ). We'll know in a couple of hours...

Believe me France were much worse than Sweden.

Nice hat btw..

EDIT: Great goal from Ecuador! 1-0..

Go Costa Rica! I NEED them to score a goal.

Gnolam: Awesome photos!

Why do you NEED them?

I hope Ecuador don't keep sitting back like they started to do. They could be 2-0 up or more, but defending a 1-0 lead has proved dangerous so far in this competition!

It's 2-0 now. When did that happen? I went away for 15 minutes and they go and score a goal without me...

Throw in routine, similar to the one they used against Poland. Bad defending and it was at the near post where the keeper should have saved it..

Meanwhile, you know what they did here? They blacked out all the TV channels where they have live World Cup games except for the local TV who has such lame commentators it hurts to listen.

Why did they black out the TV?

So, it's Germany & Ecuador through, and Ecuador could be group winners!

The big game (for us) next!

Because two TV stations here bought exclusive rights to cover the World Cup in this country. Because their commentators and supporting programmes are really REALLY aweful, most people watched the games on other TVs (namely HRT, ORF, ARD, ZDF, RAI). So they demanded that all distributors black out those channels while the games are on...

Ahh I see..

Luckily all the games here are either on the BBC or ITV which everyone should get. Mind you, some of the pundits and commentators aren't too clever either. With ITV especially seeming to want to do comedy features in the gaps between ad-breaks.

As for the next match..

It now seems likely Rooney will come on for 10-20 minutes in the second half. It still seems a big risk to me, but if he has been given the all-clear in a truely independent way by the medical people then it would be the same risk as playing against Sweden. I also hope to see Walcott come on and get some confidence and experience.

So the crucial question is: Can the team who appeared the most unfit out of the 32 teams play better and keep possession! T&T should suit our style with a lot of their players playing or having played in English Football. 3 Points is the priority, but we really do need a better performance now to build up to the next stage..

I can't see England losing this match. T&T are simply not good enough. I mean most players play in the England and Scotland in 2nd and 3rd division or something...

As for my problem with blacked out quality programs on cable, I luckily live quite near the Croatian border, so I can get the Croatian TV with a terrestrial antenna...

18': So far after 18 minutes it's avery similar game as against Paraguay. Except that T&T haven't score any own goals yet.

32': Still no own goal by T&T. Rooney is warming up though!

41': T&T has less work to do in defense than against Sweden.

42': Crouch is the clumsiest striker ever!

44': Terry saves England at the goal line!

Half time: England was better that T&T overall, but their game was waaay too slow and predicatable. They did have a few opportunities from which they could and should have scored but on the other hand, so did T&T.

That was really close there in minute 44. Good luck for the second half England! (You seem to need it.;D) Looks like this game will be just like Germany Vs. Poland.

We've been very very poor... AGAIN!!

We are not playing fast enough, not getting behind their defence enough alongside the flanks and our strikers and midfield aren't playing together.

GRRRRRRR!!!

We have good players, but are a poor team at the moment.
I'm not happy..!

Btw Phipps, why are you not in Germany right now? Or at least somewhere from where you can't post on the allegro.cc forums?

So what's the secret of the Dutch coaches?

In general 4:3:3, but in this particular case, I don't know...

Well, they are playing 4:1:4:1 with Yorke between defence and midfield to give them an extra man. That position is normally the deeper one where Rooney plays, but Crouch and Owen are more forward, hence they have 5 players in midfield and we can't break them down easily enough.

We are not moving them about enough, or running at them to create spaces for us. Everyone seems to be playing as an individual and not a team.

I hear the United States lost to some form of Checkers group. But I don't know, I don't follow sports.

On the other hand, of the small portion I could watch (I had to work), the last ten minutes of the Australia vs Japan game was great!

I think I won't come to work just to watch the argentinian match. Or come very late. The match starts at 10 AM here. Knowing that is about the time I leave to reach work, and that the travel takes me a bit over 2 hours, if I leave before the match starts I will arrive after the match ends. If I leave after the match ends (11:45 maybe) I will arrive work (hopefully) at 2 PM.

England should win if T&T loses a man. From what I am reading, they need some more passes between each other to score.

56': Owen misses a great chance and Rooney is preparing to replace Crouch!

57': Rooney replaces Owen!

84': Crouch finally scores for 1:0!

YES!!!!!!!

Hehehehe, it was time!

90': Gerrard! 2:0!

Gerrard!!!

92': Awwwwwww! Such a great goal and it won't count....

Well, we were lucky! There was such a difference when Lennon & Rooney come on in around the 55th minute and we changed our system. We started to attack with pace, down the flacks and through the middle with much more movement. That's how we should play!

Still, I didn't think we would break through and we would run out of time.

Glad we did, but we need to get our team working properly like it did for the last 20-30 minutes!

PHEW!!

I wolud let them have that goal in 92' . Maybe he was an inch off side, but it still was so beautiful it should've counted .

Well, I must say that I wasn't really impressed with the way England played until 65', but they started shaping up then. If only they'd be able to play that way the whole match, they could hope for the semi-finals at the very least.

I must say that I like this Mundial very much. The "weak teams" show great spirit, and there almost no one-sided matches. It was the same here - T&T had some pretty convincing chances back there, it's a shame they didn't score (sorry Richard ).

Great second half(or should I say fourth quarter). I might go over to watching only the last 20 minutes of each game, because that's when all the exciting action is taking form and they actually start playing good football and yeah too bad that T&T goal didn't count.

That's how we play in the priemership, at speed and with movement. We were at quarter speed in the first 60 minutes and then our normal full on speed was too much for them and we started getting chance after chance.

EDIT: And I'm going to go out and have a few drinks tonight!

I didn't get to watch today's game (hopefully when i get home) but last time i was impressed by T&T's gk. He played well vs sweeden. England will at least make the semi-finals if they play like they should but there are a lot of other strong nations playing. Would be something though to see england play germany. Would be one hell of a riot!

We really didn't play well. We have some good and great players, but our system/manager/mentality doesn't let us play how we should as a effective team.

We are in the second round, but we won't win it playing like this..

The big question of the evening: Can Sweden score a goal?

They'd better. I have $2 on them .

23': Sweden still can't score.

Paraguay are going for it as well. A draw would suit England.

No goal for Sweden. No goal for Paraguay. 0-0 at halftime.

Well, Sweden missed a couple of great chances..

I won't be able to see much of the second half, as I'm off out soon.

Last minute: Sweden scores for 1-0! Allback. 50.000 fans are ecstatic.

Second to last minute. Nice header assist BTW. I thought it was a disastrous scoring attempt at first. Very unusual to do at this close distance.

And now it's very interesting. Sweden will play England in round 3. It's hard to beleive they can win against England as bad as England may be. On the other side T&T will play Paraguay who are already out and probably won't fight very hard. So theoretically it's not hard to imagine the scenario in which Sweden loses to England and T&T beats Paraguay and goes through on goal difference...

Don't say that! Gnolam will kill you!

Note: Responses to this day's matches have been delayed by intense celebration (with Absolut Chernobyl^* and massive amounts of beer).

That said...
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! A goal! Finally!
They finally got Zlatan off the field, and substituted him for Allbäck (which is exactly what I wanted!)... and then Allbäck passed to Ljungberg who scored! Wheeeeeeee²! I had just started to revover from my German Death Cold, but at that goal I shouted myself hoarse again.

But yes, my hopes on us proceeding past the group plays are somewhat based on us playing a draw (or better ) against England.
We usually play better against stronger teams than weaker, for some reason...

^* a mixture of vodka, wormwood (!) and common tansy. Not recommended for the faint of heart, brain cells or tastebuds.

Mexico vs. Angola tomorrow! The whole country will be watching the game. It'll be at 2:00 pm here, so everyone will see it while having lunch .

Some very ineteresting games today. Argentina - Serbia&Montenegro, Netherlands - Ivory Coast and Mexico - Angola. My predictions: 1-0, 2-1, 2-0.

I've now had time to reflect on England's performance yesterday and I think we are going to have to make some big changes to get much further in this competition.

Upto the 58th minute our tempo was too slow and we didn't attack enough through the flanks or through the middle from midfield. I think there were three reasons for this:

1) Beckham drifts inside and doesn't have the pace or skill to beat people on the wing, so he has to hit balls in.
2) Gerrard and Lampard are great at driving at defences and shooting, but with their defensive duties they can't find the right runs and passes. As a consequence and because we couldn't play a killer pass to someone running past a marker we hit side balls and then long balls.
3) Our midfield players couldn't link up with the strikers. No one was playing in the hole between attack and midfield like Rooney does.

We then saw the vast improvement when Lennon and Rooney came on, as we could attack with speed down both flanks and connect with the attackers with ground passes more.

So, we need to be able to keep doing this, so that means we need Rooney, Joe Cole and Lennon. However there is then a problem with Beckham as his crosses and free-kicks can prove goal-scoring opportunities. I think we should do as Erikson did and play him at right back and let Lennon run ahead of him and he can pass from medium-long range. Although not a defender, in effect we would go to 3 at the back as if we did a 3-5-2 formation.

Finally we need someone in midfield who can both play more one-touch incisive passes and sit in a more defensive role to allow Gerrard and Lampard to run forward. For me, that means putting Carrick in and sacrificing Lampard as we need those creative players of Cole, Lennon and Rooney who can get past people with skill, speed, and strength.

So my new line up suggestion would be:

Robinson
Beckham, Terry, Ferdinand, Cole
Lennon, Carrick, Gerrard, Cole
Rooney, Owen/Crouch

In a 4-4-2 or 4-1-4-1 formation..

There is a lot of enthusiasm down here for today's match. Most of my friends (if not all) have stated we will be having a +2 goals lead against Servia. Messi is not likely to play, as his foot is not reacting correctly to the treatments, and replacing Cambiasso with Gonzalez will give more attack to the team. I wish Pekerman would remove a midfield and put Tevez there, though.

My prediction is another 2-1, or a 3-1 if things go smooth since the beginning. I will stay at home during the first half, and decide whether to leave for job or stay here until the end later.

So, to allow Lampard to run forward, you'd keep him on the bench?

Sorry, I meant and/or. My fault.

I'd love to play both, but they need someone behind them. We could do it by going 3-5-2, but I want to say Lennon play as well as Beckham as I tried to reason above.

What do you think we should do to change?

I don't really care.

But your ideas sound good enough. Very small things can make a difference. Like trying to touch the ball two instead of three times before passing it on. That makes the play a lot faster and you create a lot more chances. But OTOH the chance of error is greater too.

Also I think 80% of all attacks should be on the left or right side (more on the right where Beckham plays) with sharp crosses on the 5m line.

Fool!

Also, Brazil & Argentina have 2 defensive midfielders and most other teams have 1.
We don't have any, yet can't attack as much as them..

But you have 2 attacking defenders.

Cole and Neville are attacking players too yes. So we have 2 central defenders and a goalkeeper.

We need a playmaker/defensive midfielder to link up play from defence/midfield and Rooney to link up from midfield to attack as well as down the sides like we've both said.

EDIT: Argentina v Serbia & Montenegro:

Great goal for Argentina! Easy..

Seems I will be leaving for job early Hopefully we will be able to keep the pace.

Now S&M will attack.

We don't have midfield game, only long balls

Beautiful Goal!!

Beautiful goal!

This was scary.

I guess you found out my secret identity, heh heh.

That was a brazilian-like goal, only one touch per player. Wish we could do that more often

An unfairly disallowed goal (plus yellow to boot). Argentina is really putting down the steamroller here.
[edit]
As I was saying...
[/edit]

So it should be 4-0..

Like in the first game, slow one touch passing in midfield and then Boom! they strike with lethal moves and finishes.

Argentina 3 SYM 0. whoooo!
My prediction for second half, 5 - 0.

Ok.. Teams not to play:

Argentina
Spain
Czech Republic

Kezman sent off. I believe the second direct red card of the tournament.

Bravo for Argentina! it seems they are in good shape. Them and Spain are the teams that look good enough to be considered as candidates for winning the cup. The Czechs are also a good team.

Before the competition started, I had high hopes for England. But after seeing them in their 2nd match, I do not think they have the players to reach the final. Crouch is not a world-cup-level player...

This Rosetti guy is the worst referee ever in history of football. He already made some terrible mistakes in his first game (for which he should have been sent home already) and now he continues to make a fool out of himself in front of the whole world....

74': Messi comes on!

78': Messi assists for 4-0! Goal scored by Crespo.

83': Tevez scores for 5-0!

5-0!

6-0!

88': Messi scores for 6-0!

Hell, why not. When you're on a roll...

oh my God!

6x0!!!! And they think Brazil is favorite...

At least Tévez scored hehe

6 - 0, unexpected, but we crushed them badly.
However, next match against Netherlands won't be so easy!

That was something very special!
Sod Brazil, Argentina are the team in form..

Next game: Netherlands - Ivory Coast: 6-0.

Go Ivory Coast! We love you..

23': Phenomenal free kick goal by van Persie! Right into the goalkeeper and it just went through!

27': van Niestelrooj scores for 2-0. So, two down, four to go.

39': Little Kone! Wow! 2-1

This referee sucks.

As the tournament advances, it is very likely the referees will suck more and more. If you have Argentina, Spain, Italy, England, Netherlands, Mexico, Portugal and France for the next round, you will have to use referees from Togo, Iran, etc.

Despite that, what a fantastic half!

Well, that doesn't mean much. I mean in the previous game the referee was from Italy and he was one of the worst so far, even worse than this one from Mexico. On the other hand, the best ref in this World Cup is from Slovakia.

Go Ivory Coast!!!

72': The Netherlands are changing from 4:3:3 to 4:4:2! Ivory coast attacks with 4:3:3.

Ivory Coast isn't that easy.

hmmm it looks the Dutch have to give their best otherwise they will lose to Ivory Coast

It's all over.. but it wasn't comfortable for the Dutch.

Yeah, too bad for the Ivory Coast, they were playing very well in both their games and if they were a little bit luckier with the group draw, I'm certain they would have gone through and then anything could happen...

I saw the last half of the game (didn't wake up in time) but it seemed like a good match. Not boring like watching england

edit: holy shit! 6-0!?!? Wow.. i'm gonna have to see the replay of that match.

So are all the Argentinians here partying now or what?

That is, a poll stated Argentina got a 9 out of 10.

After the first half I decided to leave home and travel to job. Streets were virtually empty, buses were with radios on and very few people in. You can hear some fireworks when there is a goal, but only then. When the game ends, most goes back to "normal". Children in school are allowed to watch the match there, so you can see them shouting and celebrating when they exit it. The overall feeling is that a big weight has been removed from our backs (2002 was a big fiasco here). Now that we are in the second round, people will become more interested, especially with Pekerman's change (instead of removing a forward to put a midfield like against Ivory Coast, this time he replaced forwards with forwards).

27% think Argentina will become champion. That is pretty low compared with the over 50% back in 2002. The feelings around are that next match against Netherlands will be hard (they defeated us in 1998, however there are no "the revenge" headlines yet).

In all, people is much happier now than a couple of days before, but still I don't hear the "We will be champions" as I used to hear in 2002. However, people are stating this was the best argentinian game since winning the cup in 1986.

Most people here agree that Argentina this year is better than in 1986 and that Lionel Messi is better than Maradona.

I bet on current form Argentina would want to play Brazil in a knockout game next!

Portugal v Iran next. The only question is, can Portugal outscore Argentina today? I don't think so, but they might get close. It's going to be about 4:0, give or take a goal...

It seems they are having some problems.

63': Deco! 1-0! Unbeleivable goal.

I've only just come in and missed the goal by a few minutes!

It was an excellent shot from 20 meters. Figo made a pass from the left side, Deco was just standing there and made the shot on first touch. The ball went in just a few centimeteres from the left post.

79': Ronaldo 2-0 from penalty shot!

95': And that's how it ends. Portugal wins 2-0 and is through to the second round and Iran goes home. And I was so hoping for Iran to do well...

Great game by Portugal! They should of scored earlier, but Iran was very defensive (sometimes with all 11 players on defense), so it was tough. Round of 16 here we go!

Ah, I saw the goal again, great strike! Especially when you see it from the overhead angle.

The pundits said Portugal looked nervous and weren't at their best, but they did enough.

I imagine all the other big teams are desperate to finish first to avoid Argentina.

Czech Republic v Ghana just started. I have a feeling we will see many goals in this game

2': 1-0 for Ghana! As I said, a lot of goals!

Ghana are doing very well so far.

31': This is about the time when the Czechs are supposed to start scoring goals...

Well, in their hundreth attempt one-on-one with the goalkeeper, they finally score again!

Well, it had to happen sooner or later...

Never understimate an african team, they are very powerful.

I thought the Czech's might have a problem without their best strikers.

If USA beats Italy (hard, but Italy is too defensive for my taste), we would be having a new Death Group. My prediction is that Italy will beat USA, and draw against the Czech team, and Ghana will beat USA, leaving Czech out of the world cup. That would be a surprise.

What a horrible match (or great, that depends on from which country you are).

Not a surprise if you look how stupid was our defence today. Our shame that we lost two best attackers (and almost only attackers). Today they were not in form, it would be surprise if we could get out of group. Plus it was predictable that in that number of shots on Cech he'll miss one.

Go Italy!
(last post for me, i'm not going to see it at home...)

This next game is the worst possible game. I want Italy to lose and I want America to lose. I just can't decide who I want to lose more. 0-0 would be a good score...

Let's hope for spontaneous human combustion!

I hope US loses badly... we suck!(but...)
I agree with Miran, I want both teams to lose.
If any team deserves to win, it's Ghana

That, or suicide bombers.

Ha ha! We should publish this forum... people would probably find it amusing.;)

I should probably shut up. Nothing is impossible. We've already seen in two separate matches that members of the public came running on to the pitch despite there being something like 200 security guys all around the field. To add to that, we've also seen pyrotechnics used by the viewers during matches. Add two and two together, and you get....

USA is doing a good job!

22': Gilardino 1-0 for Italy!

psst... we have terrorist in our midst! just kidding... JUST KIDDING!!!! if anybody goes psycho because of this, look there vvvv

EDIT: Yes I know... I'm stupid and crazy, too.

Wrong thread Mr. Kindy.

Well, USA has the early pressure and attacks, but try to play offside from a freekick and do it terribly. Italy lead 1-0!

27': Own goal against Italy. 1-1

1-1. Own goal

You're right... I'll have to make a "Psycho-therapy Rehailitation" THread, won't I:-/

WEll, i figure I would rather have Italy win...
GO ITALY!!!

EDIT: Damn... own goal

Red card for de Rossi.

28': Red card for De Rossi!

what'd he do?

EDIT: Nevermind, I found the TV in my room and turned it on.

Ugly elbowing. Completely deserved red card.

I've never seen so much blood in a football game!

I bet De Rossi won't be playing for a long time for the national team.

Very Ugly from Italy. For that, I'll want USA to win.

I'm back on the fence.

EDIT: Italy shot goes wide 31'

It'll be interesting to see what kind of punishment he'll receive for that...

Nah, you want them to win because they are british allies

McBride looks real beat up...

EDIT:

Uh huh

What about that irritating hand swinging for a card?

33': Almost yellow card

34': Foul on US

36': Totti is replaced with Gattuso. Totti is the only Italian player I like...

~36': Foul on Italy

Passing game for Italy...

40': Offsides: Italy

offsides
--------
Italy:4
US: 0

Where is Italy's midfield?

44': Red card for Mastroeni!

44': Mastroeni RED CARD!

THat looked to be a slide tackle that went wrong... I think

It was a deliberate foul on Pirlo. Mastroeni wasn't even going for the ball, he was going directly for Pirlo's feet. Hopefully he's not seriously injured.

We've seen many things in this WC, but two straight red cards in one half...

Ok, that's just what it looked like to me shrugs

Italy and Americans going at it... its like prison football. Some of the most arrogant, aggressive, and stupid football i've seen in a while. But in some ways i wouldn't have expected less as both nations are famous for "attitude".

Couldn't have said it better myself

EDIT: I'm programming, watching the World Cup, typing, editing images, surfing the web, listening to music, and talking to my friends via the phone, AIM, and MSN.:o:D:o

All this at once... my brain hurts

EDIT[2]: That Howie's Pizza commercial is really annoying here in US The stupid dance makes me want to kill those guy(s) or should I call them girl(s)

46': Red card for Pope!!!

WHAT THE HELL!? OMG that ref is cracked up! this guy is red-card happy!:o>:(:(>:(:o>:(

"fouls"
--------
US: 20
ITA: 7

No. Completely right decision. It was a stupid foul by Pope. He knew he already had a yellow card and he still made another bad foul. He desrved to be sent off. Now Italy are playing with 10 men to 9. I can't remember the last time I've seen something like this...

He thought it was a foul for one even though the guy just landed wrong! Just saying, we don't want to end up with US/ ITALY forfeiting because some ref sent off 4 people!

Offside goal for America!

USA is playing quite well. But we know that Italy will win anyways.

Perotta seems to be seriously injured. And Italy already made 3 changes. It will be 9 on 9 if he doesn't return!

"No team in the history of the World Cup has made a goal with only 9 men."

Ghana's gonna win anyways.

DRAW
ITALY:1
US:1

It's over! 1-1. Now it's going to be very interesting in this group. If Czechs beat Italy, they'll have 6 points and Italy 4. And if Ghana beats USA, they'll have 6 points too. This means that it is quite possible that Italy can go out after the first round!

My head hurts. Those crazy italians... it was theirs to win but every attack was offside.

Ugliest. match. ever.

I'm wondering where our midfielders went...

Could be the first time ever I've said this, but I was hoping America were going to win. For a nation of non-football fans, they put on an excellent show and should have won.

If you ignore the fouls, ejections, and lack of scoring they played excellent

Those remaining 9 players on the field did a hell of a job keeping the italians from winning the game. Though as a team they haven't scored a goal yet this tourney.

As i said the whole match was quite boring, neither team played well.
No comment on Italy.
But i wouldn't consider the USA team excellent; they made plenty of fouls (24, while we only made 13) breaking countinuosly the flow of the game, and practically never managed to shoot at the goal. What they did well was an awesome pressing at midfield (which isn't that hard when you play 4-5-1)...

Does this mean that there are eight possible outcomes for this group for the 1&2 places:
It-Cz, It-Gh, It-US, Cz-It, Cz-Gh, Cz-US, Gh-It, Gh-Cz.

Four possible opponents for Brazil, three for Australia if we get there.

Italy should be worried. Their last game is a must win game for the Czech's. So if Italy lose and Ghana beat USA in the other game than Italy go out..

Actually we can afford to draw

Unfortunately yes, which could be quite possible if we'd play as yesterday.

Corrected..

Actually do the Czech's even have any strikers available? I thought Baros and Koller were injured and your other 2 are suspended.

Well I'd rather be silent on that topic Richard

Japan vs Croatia - let's go Japan!

21': Penalty for Croatia!

22': Srna misses!

I thought Croatia would be well on top, but Japan are getting some chances too!

First half ends with a disappointing 0-0.

Second half ends with a disappointing 0-0.

Well, both teams had a few great chances but couldn't finish.
It could be Australia's chance to come 2nd!

But, I really hope they beat or draw with Brazil first!

Well, Brazil is going to crush Australia, there's no doubt about that, and then it's going to be between Australia and Croatia for second place. Croatia will need to beat Australia, but Australia will go through with a draw. So Croatia will attack and Australia will defend, waiting for counter strikes. If Australia gets a goal against Croatia, anything can happen after that, otherwise another 0:0 is quite possible since Croatia hasn't scored a goal in their last three games.

EDIT: No Australians or Brazillians here?

I'm brazilian, but I can't stand soccer, and I don't even want to think about the noise that people will make around here if Brazil wins, so... honestly, I'd rather have Australia win.

33': 0-0 but Australia has more shots on goal than Brazil!

First of all it's called football, and secondly, I'd like to see you go out on the street and say that.

36': Ronaldo is making a fool of himself.

Yes, yes, football... and I don't go on the street saying that, no... I'm not crazy

All my friends do know that I want brazil to lose, though.

Australia is doing a great defensive work. But some of their players are already too tired, I am not sure if they will be able to continue doing this on the second half.

Their system is very interesting - 3:6:1. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before. There was once an overhead shot from the highest camera and you could see all the Australians were inside 20 meters between the foremost player and the last defender!

0-0 at half time. Maybe we actually have a chance?

I don't think so.

If Australia don't get too tired and can maintain their concentration then they have a chance.

I didn't know you were from Australia!

What's wrong whit this Brasil team? they are not playing like they did in the 2002>:(
Where is their "Jogo Bonito"?
In the other hand, Australia has one of the best defences shown in this WC.

48': Adriano 1-0!!!

Australia forgot Adriano is "left legged".

What the Australians are missing now, it's embarassing.

There is a HUGE difference between Ronaldo and Robinho. If not for his résumé, Ronaldo would not be playing this cup again.

90': 2-0 Fred! Awefull defending by Australia. There were 3 Brazillians in front of the defense...

Well, that last goal was a bit unlucky how it came off the post and into Fred's path.

Australia had some good chances and Brazil were lucky they didn't lose a goal..

But this Fred guy is incredible. So far he's played 4 games for the national team in his life. Every time he came on 5 minutes before the end and still managed to score 3 goals in those 4 games...

Aww, bit disappointed about that last goal but that's about all.

France v South Korea next. France needs to win but in the last WC they lost all three games they played without ever scoring a goal and this time they played 0-0 against Switzerland in the first game. South Korea on the other hand are not a big name in the world of footbal but they've already won their first game and 4 years ago they played in the semifinals. So, anything can happen. Good news is that France is playing with 2 strikers. Bad news is, that this is only theory because the second striker is Wiltord...

Neat, first goal in two world cups

France reminds me of Colombia. They had a great generation, but kept going back to the same players even though they were all over 30 years old. With time, younger players should replace the veterans, but you can't hope to do well in three world cups (that is, 12 years!) with the same players.

France blew it. J'suis tres desole! En tous cas, la france a du choisir des plus jeunes commes vous avez dit!

Well, football never ceases to surprise. France were in total control for 80 minutes, but stopped trying to really go for a second goal. They could have won the game easily in the first half if they stepped up like they did after the equaliser.

And now to speculate on that "2nd" french goal.... from the angles i saw i thought it was clearly in.

It was in, they were unlucky. But they were in total control for 80 minutes and didn't go for the second goal to kill the game off.

That second goal was in, it was a mistake by the referees. But it was completely France's fault they didn't win. They could have gone for a second goal any time they wanted, but instead they sat back and waited for Korea to attack. They played very defensively and it didn't work, just like it almost never does. That last move by the French coach when he put Trezeguet on in the 91st minute hoping to change things around was hilarious. I mean what was he thinking?

hey... i heard Ghana's gonna win this time... It woulkd be cool if Ghana won the world cup... anyoine saw last nite's match (France against Korea), I really found France playin bad... they've with time become an aged team... though Korea wasn't any better but France should have had won rather than fallin for a draw..

Jogo Bonito has died many decades ago, after Holland introduced total football and Italy introduced catenazzio (I don't know how that is written, so my apologies). Todays footballers are more like 400 meters runners. So much running does not allow the player to think about jogo bonito. The last time we saw jogo bonito was in the 1982 world cup, and that is why everybody remembers Brazil of the time more than anything else (Socrates, Falcao, Enter, Zairzinio, Ziko, etc). But that team lost the cup.

Everywhere I click, I read the same thing: how awesome Australia's defence was. Let me disagree: Brazil beaten them with both hands behind their back, i.e. without Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kafu, Emerson, Kaka and Roberto Carlos...the only players that played were Robinho and Ze Roberto. And those two were enough to beat Australia. Australia played to the 80% of their capabilities, whereas Brazil played to 30% of their capabilities and they managed an easy win.

You must have watched a different match to me then.

Catenaccio
But really, modern Italy isn't using it, we are playing with 2 (Toni, Gilardino) +1 (Totti) strikers and the whole team is quite offensive.

That was the highlight of my night. For three reasons really, firstly I love the underdog, secondly their support was magnificant and thirdly I love watching the French take a beating. They come a very close third behind Germany and Argentina.

Switzerland v Togo: 1-0 for Switzerland after the first half since 16', but the Swiss are playing like the French did yesterday. It's only a matter of time before Togo scores. They should have already because the Argentinian referee made an obvious mistake (again) as he refused to see an obvious foul in the penalty area...

(Not watching the game) Hmm... Elizondo? From what I understand he isn't playing today, as he is being reserved for the second phase...

(Edited: According to the newspaper, it is paraguayan Carlos Amarilla)

Same thing...

Toga are very unlucky. It was a clear penaly and they've had more chances than the Swiss overall in the first half.

I don't think Brazil was threatened significantly at any point. The 1st half Brazil was sleeping...the 2nd half Brazil dominated the game...especially after 75', there was no Australia in the field.

Thank you for mentioning the right word. The real problem with Italy is that it seems it does not have many talented players, and they seem not to be very 'hungry' for the title. Toni may be the top score in serie A, but where are his goals in the world cup?

Yet Australia missed an open net and had 2-3 other good chances?

3': Ukraine leads against Saudi Arabia 1-0!

This is truly the World Cup of long distance goals.

Saudi Arabia behind Ukraine by two goals...
Somehow, this time i've noticed that the underdogs have been performin over than the usual expected from them...

Ukraine are much better. But it's also the first time it's rained so the ball is moving much faster along the grass.

Ukraine are better indeed but as far as the ball is concerned, well, its movin for both the teams, its the same scenario for both of them...

You think Ukraine are the underdogs?

Especially the Arabs have problems. I wonder why?

Btw, have you noticed how some Arab players (on the bench I think) are wearing long sleeves because it's too cold for them?

I didn't mean to imply that the ball moving faster over the grass was helping Ukraine. Just that the football can be played at a faster pace if a team wants to.

Ukraine should get another couple of goals in the second half.

Did i use the word underdog and Ukraine together...? I wasn't pointin them but the discussion regrdin Togo which had been going before on and also it was a general comment which i think is pretty true...

Yes, in two consecutive sentences in the same post.

Meanwhile, 3-0 for Ukraine. Ševčenko scores his first goal in the World Cup.

Looks like Ukraine's goal difference worries are over for now, but I don't think it's going to be a factor anyway.

Heh, Spain beat Ukraine 4-0, Ukraine beat Saudi Arabia 4-0. This means Spain will beat Saudi Arabia 8-0...

So, Spain should beat Tunisia and then both Spain and Ukraine should win their last games and go through.

Yes, that's the theory.

Does anyone also see a final Argentina-Spain?

I hope not

I'll wait and see for a few more games first..

I just filled in the spreadsheet I posted a few days ago with my predictions. According to that the final will be between Argentina and Brazil.

Well I thought the Czech's would beat Ghana and that didn't happen.

Another big surprise: Tunisia leads 1-0 against Spain!

Tunisia is winning!? Wow. Ukraine was a nice game to watch because of lots of goals. This world cup is pretty hard to predict for about half the groups. Quite a few surprises.

42': Tunisia v Spain still 1-0.

And it started to rain. Heavily!

Tunisia defend awfully from free-kicks and corners. So many free headers!

So far, they are surviving!!

That is what is known down here as "pressure". When your team is compared with Brazil, that you will win the cup after such performance, etc, some players either become cowed, or think too high of themselves, leading to small failures that end in goals. Spain will win this match, they are an overall better team, but need to cool down a bit.

Spain wins 3-1 IMO keeping their favorite status. They completely dominated the second half.

I must agree, if anything, this is a good sign for Spain. One can say that Spain shouldn't have had any problems with Tunisia, but I think that actually recovering from a losing match in the style they did is worth much more for the team, morale-wise.

Fabregas played some great passes and Joaquin gave them more width. Good changes!

I think we can pick flaws in all the teams so far. It makes things interesting doesn't it?

Rey Brujo called that one!

I can't wait to see the highlights or the replay tonight (after the edmonton stanley cup finals of course!).

So I suppose after the first two matches Argentina seem to be in the best form. Hopefully some of the other big teams who haven't played great football yet can improve (Italy, England, France, Portugal, Brazil for me..)

This is the halfway point of the world cup (32 matches)

EDIT: By the way I stumbled across the minute by minute Guardian Unlimited (English paper) account of the France v South Korea match and it's freaking brilliant.

Here are a few choice extracts:

I saw the 2nd half of the Korea-France game and thought it was exciting. Maybe the first half was boring then?

So far, there are three different groups. Brazil and Germany are the favourite (never understimate the power of 70,000 people shouting against you). There is a second group with the world champions and a few ones that have been named as favorites before, including Italy, England, Argentina, France, Mexico, Portugal and Spain. And a third group with all the other teams, that don't have the background nor the experience in these kind of championships.

I always leave the favourites out of my thoughts. France is having big problems and may be eliminated again if they don't win their match. Spain seems solid enough, they need to fix some defensive problems with long balls. Italy is struggling with their "new" soccer, they are not used to attacking so much. England is abusing long balls, but that may be because their star wasn't in the field. Mexico is a very strong team, but they are missing the "star" every big team has, the one that is able to change the tide of a match by himself, like Zidane, Messi, Rooney or Ronaldinho. Portugal is being regular, but they haven't yet shown anything that would surprise me.

Portugal or Mexico will be Argentina's opponent in the second phase. Between those, I prefer playing against Mexico. They are a strong team, but we have played against them several times and know them better than Portugal. And I said, they are missing that star, which Portugal has, and which is the last hope for any team that is being overwhelmed.

Argentina's main problem is the coach. In the first match he decided to go defensive, and we almost drew. In the second match he decided to be offensive, and we won. Against Netherlands neither Crespo nor Saviola will play. I am guessing Tevez and Messi could play from the beginning, with Cruz entering on the second half and Palacios replacing Tevez later. I don't think they will massively change the team as Netherlands has (they are leaving 7 players out of the game!). I still am afraid of teams with good shooters. Our defense is working fine enough, but nobody can deny the problems our goalkeeper has with long shots.

So? 2 or 3 chances are hardly a good statistic for a team that "played so well". It was the best Australia can offer. Brazil had many more good chances.

For the first time, Spain showed character. Usually when they are down, they give up. But this time they fought up to the last minute.

Hold on Axilmar, you said:

So, I pointed out that Brazil were threatened significantly a few times. Now, you are changing your mind?

Anyway, let's talk about something else..

So the plan is for Germany to beat Ecuador (whom I've been impressed with) and England to beat Sweden to England don't play Germany in the last 16.

I already replied to that: a few good chances does not make a good game.

I would have been impressed by Australia if they threatened Brazil 15 times, for example.

On the other hand, a tie is enough to make Sweden progress to the next round.

That's true. But we can't really play for a draw in our football style. It's about attacking in the english game.

Having said that we have a poor record against Sweden, we've not beaten them for 38 years and there have been a lot of draws and a win for Sweden recently.

But, it's a good time for us to try to play a faster, more ground passing style with Rooney in instead of Crouch. I don't think we will win the World Cup or that we are the best team in the competition, but we can play better than we have so far.

Hopefully with Rooney in the side as well as a more defensive midfielder we can start to pass the ball around more and play better football.

So, 3rd round of the group stage starts in 30 minutes. Two matches in the same group are played simultaneously, so it's a big question which games to watch. It's an easy decision for some pairs, but some others are less obvious. Often competitive games get very tactical and boring while those that don't matter any more are fun and entertaining. So which game should I watch? Germany v Ecuador or Poland v Costa Rica? Sounds like an easy choice but is it really? Do I really want to watch Germans not do anything for 90 minutes?

EDIT: Wow, this posts begins the record breaking 7th page!

Good luck Germany!

While I want to see entertaining games, personally I'd rather see a game that decides who goes through (or in which position) than a game where both teams are already out.

1-0 to Germany!
Poor defending from Ecuador..

4': Klose 1-0 for Germany!

Meanwhile in the other game Costa Rica leads against Poland 1-0.

1-1 now.

43': Klose scores his second goal of the match, fourth of the tournament, for 2-0!

It's easy for Germany. Ecuador don't look bothered and Germany are happy to kick it about and play at a slow pace.

Go go go. I'm not really convinced of our play though, there are still too many unnecessary mistakes. I wouldn't be surprised if Ecuador would also make a goal or two in the second half.

Probably Ecuador are counting on England winning group B and don't even want to beat Germany...

57': Poles keep scoring goals. Podolski's first of the tournament for Germany. 3-0 against Ecuador.

Poland - Costa Rica, 2-1.

Well, to be honest, it doesn't make much difference for them. Sweden is as bad as England anyway...

Both Sweden and England aren't playing well. But both can play better..

We'll see that soon.

Oh yeah in just two and a half hours. Good luck England!

Traitor!

But yes, this match will be quite interesting... and nerve-wracking...

Agreed.

Oops, sorry gnolam.;D Alright, Good luck to Sweden as well, may the best team win.8-)

I hope Eriksson puts Lennon on again in the 2nd half to add pace and width, and gives 30 mins for Walcott to get experience and confidence for the future. I think this tournament is too early for him, but it would be nice to give him some time.

Go Dwight Yorke!

It begins...

[EDIT]
And Owen's already out?

1': Michael Owen is out injured after 10 seconds!

DOHHHHHHHHHHH!

That's a killer blow..

Wait... what did I miss? Wasn't Rooney the hurt one?

9': GAH! God our defence is weak...
Offside for the win!

[EDIT]
12': Correction: our defence sucks.

Both Rooney and Owen were injured but they were both back and in the first 11. But Owen got injured again after about 10 seconds of play!

GLARGH. 0-1.

But at least our play is starting to become decent...

Well, the good thing for me is we are now passing the ball and playing much better than in the last two games.

Losing Owen is a nightmare, because Rooney is only just back from a broken foot so will not be match-fit yet. We only have Crouch who is very inconsistent and the untried Walcott.

The only thing we might be able to do is rely on our goalscoring midfielders, and it was a super goal from Joe Cole!!

@Owen: Kreuzbandriss? (cruciate ligament ruptur?)
It looked like he rotated his knee "out", so something might have been ripped apart in that scene.

Yep, think so. He'll miss the rest of the competition.

We could be forced to play with Rooney up front and 5 in midfield with Gerrard supporting Rooney and Hargreaves as a holding midfielder just behind Lampard.

Despite that early blow which shocked us, I think we've played well.

If he is that injured, he will miss the rest of the year.

51': GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!

1-1!
Go Allbäck!

Doh!!

53': Whoa! In the crossbar! Millimeters from another goal.

75': Yellow card for Hargreaves (hands). Not entirely deserved, IMO.

NOOOOOO! 1-2!

2-1 to England!!!!!!!!!!

2-2: God damn!!!!

90': Henke scores!
2-2!

[EDIT]
And the game is over. 2-2.

Gah!!

Yes, we were lucky with some of the crossbar hits, but we looked really bad on every free-kick and corner (which we are normally strong on). Yet in open-play Sweden caused us no problems at all.

We are group winners, but I wanted the win!!

\o/ Germany Vs. Sweden it will be then.

So, 40 years without being able to beat Sweden?

Yep. Having to replace two players due to injuries didn't help either.
We were the better team in the 1st Half, and Sweden were better in the second.

Well, we'll be lucky to do much better in the competition the way things are going for us.

I had no worries. You simply can't beat us

I need a drink (or more) now..

There is one big factor though. we played poorly and got a draw, Sweden played their heart out and only got a draw.

Time for some zep!

Time for some Tyskarna Från Lund!

Can we borrow a striker? I'm sure Argentina can spare one..

hahaha! this guy Cole kicked the ball so well!, beautiful shoot!:D

Poor guy, that's the worst injury a football player can get!

Cole and Rooney are our most creative and technically skilled players. I've seen both of them score goals like that before in the Premiership.

It was a very nice game. I am amazed by the fact that England can not beat Sweden for 40 years! Sweden played really well in the 2nd half, but England managed a 2-2 with 10 1/2 players (I do not consider Crouch to be a footballer...more like a real life scarecrow). I also was amazed by Cole's energy. The guy burns more calories in 10 minutes that other players do in a whole game.

Iran v Angola and Portugal v Mexico next. Not very interesting games because Portugal and Mexico are almost certainly through. But Portugal will play with a B team and Mexico needs to win to be sure to go through, so anything can happen...

I hope that Mexico go for the win against the Portugal B team. Finishing top of the group could see them avoiding Argentina.

It'll probably be a boring game if Angola struggle to win (since they need 3 goals I think even if Mexico lose)

EDIT: Well, good start for Portugal! 1-0 to Portugal after 6 minutes..

Heh, one shot, one goal. Mexico will now be very nervous about the other game. They need to score.

23': Penalty for Portugal!

24': Simão scores! 2-0

Hmm.. 2-1 to Portugal. Portugal were well on top as well!

Why does everyone want Portugal to lose (I think miran also wished for Portugal to lose against Iran)? Portugal rocks!

Portugal's passing and possession game kills us (as we saw in Euro2004). I'd rather play Holland than Portugal again!

OK fair enough

Of course Portugal could still face Argentina next instead of Holland.

How much more stupid can Mexicans get? I mean to get a red card for faking a foul...

Wow! Bravo has skied a penalty and then skied a great one-on-one chance. They get a man sent off (2nd yellow) for diving, yet Simao dives and gets Marquez booked!

It's not their day!

EDIT: Another free-kick or penalty to Mexico, surely!!

EDIT2: Nice referee! 8 Yellow cards and 1 red for a game that wasn't nasty.

In the end nothing special about anything. Portugal will probably play the Netherlands in the next round, which will be a very interesting game. Mexico will probably play Argentina, but I think they have no chance to get to the quarterfinals...

I'm looking forward to Holland v Argentina though! This could be a very good game.

Me too!
It's time to separate the men from the boys, now we'll see our team playing against a true football team!
Mexico sucks! if we win this match agaisnt Holland we will face them in our next match:D

For this one I need Argentina to win so we don't face them in the Quarter-finals (if we get that far!)

Go Argentina!!

Judging solely off reading from this thread, I guess 3-1 for Argentina vs Holland.

You fool! It'll be 0-0 for Holland!

In the other match Côte d'Ivoire will beat Serbia 4-0 and Montenegro 3-0. That's 7-0 all together.:D

Stop drinking Miran!

Messi and Tevez since the beginning.

You want to put some AR where your mouth is?

OK, I bet you 5 AR the game between Argentina and Holland will end witout goals.

God, I hope Argentina don't lose. I really don't want us to face them if we beat Ecuador.

Deal! Heh, I'm just shooting in the dark here, but hopefully I hit something. I bet 5 AR the game will end with Argentina two goals ahead of Holland.

Don't worry, you won't beat Ecuador.

Deal! \shakes hands

I hope you lose 5 AR!

That Spannish referee is already making decisions against Holland!

37': Meanwhile Serbia leads against Côte d'Ivoire 2-1.

Well, tactical game. Each side quite patient and trying to find the best killer passes, but not much really happened!

After first half I'm winning!

Some of the passing moves and dribbling from Argentina was great though!

Boring match. The referee is slightly biased towards Argentina, but overall he had made no mistake to influence the score. Argentina had more time the ball, but as expected, it is not easy to shoot, there are just too many defenses. I don't think there will be more than a couple of goals, but then again, I predicted a 3-1 against S&M.

75': 15 minutes from time I'm still winning. In the other game Côte d'Ivoire equalized against S&M who are playing with 10 men since the end of the first half. It's 2-2 now.

Hmmm...

86': Further development on the other game. Côte d'Ivoire went from 0-2 to 3-2 and looks like S&M will lose their last game in history.

Boring game.. Still the final 0-0 draw suits us.

S&M went down to 10 men after 45 minutes didn't they? That can't have helped them..

I'll take the money now please.

Yeah, they conceded 3 goals and scored none, so no, it didn't help them. Game is over, final score 3-2, btw...

I got bored somewhere shortly after the start of the Argentine match and went bog snorkling in my back garden.

I'm pleased Ivory Coast got the win, they deserved it after being a bit unlucky in the first 2 matches.

It's a pity that the Holland v Argentina match was boring though..

Done! Now I know why Americans don't care about football...we suck!

You said it!

What a bunch of matches today. Quite good quality.

Nice game between Argentina and Holland, but what are the conclusions? is Argentina still the No 1 for winning the cup or not?

My opinion is that we should not judge any team yet, because we will have to see them play against teams of equal strength. Winning Serbia 6-0 is not a criterion (no offense to any Serbians, but your team was one of the worst in the tournament) for safely judging a team.

People jumping on the bandwagon maybe because everyone i talked to didn't think they were gonna win. I think they'll do well no doubt but there are quite a few top teams to surpass.

Ok here we go. We must defeat Italy.

The big match is on in 5 minutes! Italy v Czech Republic! May Italy lose by a lot of goals!

So, the REAL group of death begins! All 4 teams could qualify..

Looks like Italy are going defensive since they only need a draw..

Thanks Miran, I hope so...

Ghana lead 1-0!

Italy lead 1-0!

Damned.
EDIT: USA - Ghana : 1 - 2
I cannot understand why Polak attacked that Italian player and got red card.

Ghana 2-1!
Czech's down to 10 men and needing to win!

Yeah, yeah really group of death.

It's going from bad to worse. What was that Polak guy thinking?

I don't know and I don't rather want to know. Both his fouls were useless.

The Czech's have got to give Baros more support.

I think so, but don't forget he wasn't training as long as others. Even USA could stand Italy even in smaller number. Let's see.

Go Italy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go Ghana go
Edit: Hell no, goodbye World Champ. Cz - It : 0 - 2

Sorry for Czech Republic. Seeing their two best strikers injured or not match fit reminds me of our situation. It was always going to be hard once they lost the first goal, and then especially with the sending off.

Well, at least Ghana got through!

Sorry, but if Americans really got behind Football instead of treating it like a minor sport that's not important then I would support USA more.

Wow, the czechs are out and ghana is in. At least the US finally scored a goal. Well probably see a few more "surprises" over the next few days.

I think our support for it is growing. Unfortunately, every time we lose, we care less, so basically, the team has to get to the second round before USA truly starts caring.

America got to the Quarter-Finals 4 years ago and it still didn't help.
I don't blame the American public so much, from what I've read the big media corporations in the states don't want to support 'soccer'.

Showing just how much he cared to notice

Americans don't really care about hockey except in minisota and places that are winning at the moment.

At that time, I didn't even know the World Cup was going on. This is the first time I've ever been aware of it and have to say, I'm quite a bit more interested.

This could be a $25,000 question in the Millionaire game show:

The World Cup is what kind of sporting event?

A) Golf
B) Soccer
C) Tennis
D) Hockey

America tries to ignore soccer as much as Europe tries to ignore American sports.

It appears that soccer is a kind of national pride in Europe. It's hard to translate that to USA, where the only neighbors we have to compete against are Canada and Mexico. (Cuba doesn't count until Fidel Castro is dead.)

There are countries in central and southern america the USA could compete with.
Unfortunately the USA doesn't seem to look outside its own borders for some reason.

In other news:

It's a size thing. The USA is like 50 countries in one.

I'm not buying that. Russia and China (especially) are into football and don't have this problem.

USA were a bit unlucky really. Ghana dived their way through that match

China is a nationalistic state, so that doesn't surprise me. And both China and Russia are large in land area, but most of the population is heavily concentrated in one area.

We have sports that consist of 30 to 40 teams, most of which are composed only of top quality athletes. It's not like a trip across Shanghai to meat the local rivals. It's a very long trip for Seattle to play Miami. Plus, the USA is far richer than other countries in the area (only Canada competes), so there is not as much money to be made in national sports.

Even if we did have a competitive soccer league, it's problematic to take the top 10 to 20 atheletes from 40 teams throughout 50 states and try to compose a national team. They don't play well together, and they'd rather be home making millions. Just look at how USA fared in the world Baseball tournament, or even in basketball in recent Olympics. I don't know how other countries manage to keep national teams playing at high levels (I assume they also play for local teams), but it's never worked here.

USA interest in soccer has grown in the North East, but I don't really ever seeing it becoming anything more than a second teir sport - especially when comparing our interest in it to the European's.

Take a look at Brazil. Brazil is so HUGE and with so many good players that creating a single "A" division for the country would be crazy, especially if the teams need to play twice per week. So, they divided Brazil in areas, where each has its own "A" division. I don't remember how many, but there are three or four different championships running at the same time (I think). Argentina is big too, and we have several different divisions, but only one "A" division. Most of the teams are located in one state, so most travels are an hour or so, which prevents fatigue.

Now!
Brazil v Japan
Croatia v Australia

Will Ronaldo run?

Who cares. The big game tonight is Croatia v Australia. The Croats aren't even considering the possibility that they might not win. Will be interesting to watch this on Croatian TV, especially if Australia scores early.

Well, I must admit that I partialy expected that we will lose. But definately not like this.

1': Unbeleivable free kick goal by Srna!!! Croatia leads 1-0!

Japan - Brazil : 1 - 0
Sry I'm not at TV and my sister said Korea.

Japan scored?

37': Penalty for Australia!

38': Moore scores! 1-1

Hell, that looks cool
This is kind a Live results on Eurosport (opnenig Eurosport.com)
EDIT: And yes Rey, Japan scored in '34 - Tamada

Damn - I have $100 riding on Croatia (paying $2.65).

'45 - Ronaldo => Japan - Brazil : 1 - 1

Watching Japan Vs. Brazil here. Exciting match so far and late goal from Ronaldo who seems to move a bit more than in the last two games. I'm for Japan, since Brazil is through already.(sorry Pedro;))

Don't be sorry for that, they deserve beating. I could swear that if we meet them in match and our players would be fit it would be nice, exciting and hard match.

Great goal from Japan. Ronaldo looks a bit better. But his touch & movement are still not good. He's not fit unfortunately..

I cannot tell, I'm watching only results
Edit:
Japan - Brazil : 1 - 2 ; '53 Juninho

56': Niko Kovač scores for Croatia for 2-1! A not so great long distance shot from 20m but an incredible mistake by the Australian goalkeeper Željko Kalač, who interestingly is actually Croatian judging by his name (as are 8 Australians)...

Awful mistake from the Japanese goalkeeper here too..

It's now 3-1 from Brazil as they look like they've woken up!

Gee, that's cool:
Japan - Brazil : 1 - 3 ; '59 - Gilberto

Yeah i was wondering if the croatian factor would come into Australia's play. That was kinda dumb using a croatian goal keeper against croatia.

Edit: The $100 i've got riding on this game is a free promotional thing. If Croatia wins I have to put all $265 of it towards another bet. Then if I win that, I can pay it out. It only cost me $30, which I can bet on something else as well.

Unbeleivable. Stjepan Tomas who used his hand in the penalty area for the penalty in the first half did it again, even more obviously this time, but the referee didn't want to see that.

78': Kewel 2-2!!!

87': Two red cards in just a few minutes! First Šimić for Croatia, then Emerton for Australia! Both because of second yellow...

Never in all my years would I have expected to hear Cool Tutu.

90': Red card for Šimunić! Croatia are down to 9 men!

EDIT: No, the ref took it back.

Damn it's looking like i should have bet on the tie. I think that was paying $3.80 or something.

EDIT: NOOO

A Croatian player got his second yellow card, but wasn't sent off.
[EDIT]
IT'S OVER. Australia is through and Simunic finally got his red card after the match.
[/EDIT]

Now he got a third yellow! And a red! And it's over!

This Graham Poll is a funny man.

Guus Hiddink will probably start winning "greatest coach of all time" polls all over the place now.

:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(
:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(
:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(
:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(

What?

In 85' he took out a yellow card for Šimunić which would have been his second, but he didn't show a red. Then in 94' he showed another yellow and a red and then he blew the final whistle all in one move!

Hmm.. Graham Poll's normally OK. Sounds like he had a bad day!

Well done Australia!

Meh, Japan got ripped apart in the second half. They don't have enough breath and balls for the full ninety minutes.:-X

We saw endless replays of Viduka getting tackled - could have been a penalty.

What's with defenders going for Hand of God all the time? Even at a low detection rate, it doesn't pay.

A very exciting game; by going 0-0 1-0 1-1 2-1 2-2, the lead for the finals spot changed four times.

I just saw the highlights of the Australia v Croatia match. The stupid Croatia defender who handled and gave away a penalty did it again later on, but it was missed! Suicidal!!

However, Australia's last goal from Kewell was offside. So I suppose the missed penalty and 3rd yellow card cancelled it out.

EDIT:
Some objective summarising from The Guardian..

Ha ha, hilarious :-)

What a bizarre and fantastic match! We're through!

Early Morning Party, eh Peter?

What's the method to decide which referees make it to the finals? Should be decided on how accurate they are in the earlier games.

Well we're up against Italy next. Where I live there are a lot of Italian-Australians, who won't know who to support.

And that was the first time I got up at 4am since I was working at a lettuce farm!

The best referees advance to the next rounds. However, if their country team also advance, they must direct matches that won't select a team that is going to play against their country in the next step. However, most times they are dropped.

Ding ding ding ding ding! We have a winner. The US is pretty isolationist cultural wise.

If france beats togo and either korea or swiss wins then france advances. If korea and swiss tie then we gotta start looking at goal differentials. I think if france gets two goals they advance. It would be a pretty big shocker if france didn't advance (although its hard not to be cynical at this point)

Ehm...."soccer" (i.e. football) is the world's most popular sport. It is not only about "national pride in Europe". From all the places in the world, it is only Northern America that football is not popular.

I wish France a good game tonight because they deserve a 2nd chance.

Go Brazil! if Brazil plays a little more defense, then there is no chance for other teams. They are the best.

Only if you define Europe as everything other then USA.
Not that I care one iota about football...

I heard a good riddle today

Q. What is the difference between a teabag and the USA soccer team?

A. The teabag stays in the cup longer

Heh that's a good one.

Ukraine v Tunisia here!

EDIT: Boring so far about 30 mins.

45': The same thing happened as yesterday in the Czech match! A Tunisian player got a red card in the last minute because of his stupidity!

Extreemly boring match so far..

The Ukranians are playing extreeeeeeeeemly defensively even though they have one player more on the field...

Well, they only need a draw. But they better hope Tunisia don't get a chance.

64': Free kick for Tunisia!

Can someone explain to me the sudden compulsion for defenders to stick their hand up and touch the ball in the penaly area?

I was speaking to a European about the state of soccer in Europe. I wasn't defining soccer as a sport only popular in Europe.

If you judge the popularity of a sport by the behavior of fans (as reported in the news), then I'd say South America (particularly Brazil) is the soccer capital of the world.

Penalty to Ukraine!

68': Penalty for Ukraine! Yay! Ševčenko tripped on his own! This is funny!

69': And Ševčenko scores.

82': Now it's boring again. The neutral spectators are shouting "Deutschland, Deutschland!"

ZZZzzzzzzzzzz.....

Hopefully the next two games will be better. Three teems can still go through, but they all need to win to be sure, especially France. So chances are no one (except maybe Togo) will play defensively...

Perhaps Zidane being suspended will help France. I feel sorry for Henry as he's at his best when he's on the end of fast passing and movement which creates space for him to run into. With France it goes through Zidane and their play has a slow build up. They should have built the team around Henry instead of Zidane for this World Cup.

12': Still 0-0. France hasn't done anything yet. Other than miss some chances that is...

14': France has a goal disallowed for offside. It was a very close call...

Seems Switzerland scored.

27': Franck "Scarface" Ribery wastes a perfect chance for goal!

Other than that, boring...

Do you think France are a bit nervous in front of goal?

He misses an easy goal again... what a dumbass..

France are going out. I just feel it.
[edit]

[/edit]

Vieiera just scored! 1-0

edit: france is getting a ton of changes.. they really have to start scoring on them. It was like me in my matches yesterday. well i did score 2 but i missed about 4.

edit2: 2-0 france!!1

Let's hope South-Korea wins the other match now.
[edit]
What a shame. I hope these clowns from Group G will bite the dust in the eighths.
[/edit]

Well france wins 2-0.
Suisse wins 2-0.

Sounds like good results to me.

France play Spain! On current form I'd say Spain should win!

The interesting thing is that Switzerland will play Ukraine. So one of those two will play in the quarterfinals, which means Italy will have an easy job getting in the semis. Lucky Italians...

Well, later today Mexico will be out of the World Cup. Frankly, I'm surprised the team got this far, and I don't feel like they did anything worth mentioning. Let's just hope they don't get a 6-0 or something...

Yep, Italy could have an easy route, but they'll probably then play Argentina in the Semi final.

Unless of course Australia beats Italy wchich is not entirely impossible given the way Australians have played so far. Then there will be one of Switzerland, Ukraine and Australia in the top 4!

20 minutes until Germany Vs. Sweden. Naturally it's going to be quite nerve wrecking. Go Germany, go!

These Knockout games are hell for peoples nerves!! I hope that the result is free of controversy!

It begins!

4': Podolski scores! Pol^H^H^H Germany leads 1-0!

12': Podoslski scores again! 2-0!

We're being owned. This match could end 0-4.

34': Lučić is sent off because of second yellow card. This could end 0-6.

I'm not that optimistic. Germany kind of got high or drunk on their two goals and played bad(too self confident and arrogant and thus sloppy) after them. Lots of wrong passes and mistakes in the defence, which lead to a some good chances for Sweden. Hope they get their concentration back in the second half.

51': Penalty for Sweden!!! This will be interesting!

52': Larsson misses!

Can't help but feel that the Penalty was their only chance to get back in the game with 10 men..

I don't like the Referee.

Not true. Soccer (we don't call it football here, that term is reserved for Rugby) is not really very popular in New Zealand at all. The only people I know who are interested in the world cup are not native New Zealanders.

Any sport that tries to compete with Rugby in NZ is doomed to fail.

I don't like the german play"style". It seemed that Sweden, having only 10 players left, didn't make their play any worse and instead Germany had a tough time and a weak defence. (Luck saved us.) If Germany wants to win the next game, they'll really have to work on their defence and they need to concentrate for the full 90 minutes and not become arrogant after scoring a goal.

When they played us Sweden pressured us a lot, giving us no space and time in the 2nd half. Yet they didn't do that against Germany in this match and they give so much space to Ballack and other players.

Isn't that like 98% of the population?

Yay! We just passed 800 posts in this thread.

Supposedly there are big fights going on between German and English fans in Stuttgart right now!

This always happens.

Let's go!

Mexico score!!

5': Wooohoooo! Mexico leads!

10': Well, that didn't last long... Crespo 1-1... Edit: No, own goal...

15' impressions: Mexico is playing just like Argentina used to play with Bielsa as coach, a lot of speed and pressure. No team can stop a team when they play at 110%. However, they can't keep that up for 90'.

The match will be extremely difficult, but I am hoping they will have the same problem Argentina had in 2002: playing at that rate fatigues forwards, making them slow. For now, Argentina can't get the ball.

Mexico was on fire. This is a pretty fun game to watch.

30' impressions: The match is pretty hard. Argentina is currently broken in the midfield, Cambiasso hasn't yet done anything significant, and Riquelme can't control the ball enough to create something. Mexico is getting tired, they don't press when the ball is in argentinian field, however they are still extremely fast when doing counterattacks. Right now, Mexico is somewhat better, they are working as a block.

Messi needs to come on the field in the second half.

45': Only a yellow card for an argentinian player who made an obvious foul for a red!!! Biiiig mistake by the referee! Again!!!

That should have been a red. Yet another mistake by the referees in this cup!

45' impressions: Argentina has defensive problems with high balls. Ayala is playing very well, but mexicans are always behind Heinze. The good thing is that Mexico is using offside as a defensive measure, that is easy to break if we get Riquelme to get the ball.

We either need more play in the midfield (more passes, less long balls), or someone able to pass through defenses. Saviola isn't receiving the ball, Crespo is doing his share and Rodriguez is getting tired. Messi would be able to dribble through the defenses, but he would have most of the problems Saviola is having: the ball is always in Mexico's hand.

The first 15' minutes of the second half will be like the beginning, with Mexico pressuring trying to score again. I am not sure Argentina would be able to overcome a goal if they score again, what they have done was due the shirt's weight. If we were using a less history-rich one, we would be losing for a fair amount of goals.

(Edited: This referee reminds me of Francisco Lamolina, always playing down infractions, using yellow cards when red should have been shown, and red when, in some countries, the player would have been sent to prison.)

60' impressions: Argentina is slowly growing, but not because they are suddenly playing better, but because Mexico isn't pressing as much. Still, Mexico is very dangerous when they begin passing the ball near the area. I believe the argentinian midfield is finally understanding the game. With some minutes more, the midfield would be better used, and Tevez or Messi could enter to play faster near the area.

75' impressions: Aimar replacing Cambiasso. Argentina is trying to end the match before the overtime. Both teams are very equilibrated.

90': Still no more goals. Looks like we're going to have extra time.

92': Messi scores from offside that wasn't really offside! Stupid referees!

93': Regular time is over. 30 more minutes!

That was onside! However these was a foul on a mexican player earlier which should have been a yellow too..

More mistakes!

Very good game though, very tense!
How are you feeling Rey?

Yep. As most thought, a very tough match. I don't like penalties, so with some luck the game will end before them.

Nervous, but hopeful.

Unbeleivable goal for Argentina! 2-1!

Nice shoot indeed. Now comes the harder part, trying to keep Mexico in its own field.

(Edited: The field is awful. Hard, slippery earth. That is why most argentinian players slip so often, they don't like playing with high-heel shoes).

Amazing Goal!!

Now Mexico don't have the energy left to build proper attacks.. Instead kicking it long for Borgetti.

I think this was the first goal that beats the goal by Frings in the first match. It took them 48 games to beat that goal.

Game Over!
Great great game!!

Hardest game so far for Argentina. Riquelme played his worst game as well, that is why it costed so much. There are fireworks outside, you can even see them with the rain. Luckily Mexico still doesn't have the "star", as I stated earlier, otherwise everything may have changed.

Now Germany. What Germany lacks in team work they make up with being local. I am worried with Riquelme's low level, though. Sorin is very tired, he may have some problems next friday. And, hopefully, this referee will be travelling home later today.

What a shot!

Argentina didn't play that well today. Hard to say if they would have won if it weren't for that bit of luck/talent.

Upcoming matches for me: Argentina vs. Germany, Italy vs. Switzerland, England vs. Netherlands, Brazil vs. Spain. The only one I am not sure is Italy, Australia may come on top. I am pretty sure about the other results, though.

Well, that (mexico/argentina) was the game of the tournament for me so far. If the refereeing was a bit better it would have been Mexico, instead the divers and cheats, who won instead

Mexico is a weak team, however they were hard to defeat, that make me think that we don't have many chances to defeat the Germany team:(
On top of that, they are in home.

Ah, I love your opinions

Well, that depends. The Maori have been here for about 1,000 years, and Europeans for about 200. Neither length of time is truly long enough for anyone to call themselves indigenous.

Plus, there are no fullblooded Maori who are still alive, so even if you do consider the Maori to be the native people of NZ, there aren't any left.

Well, Mexico lost. I am quite surprised of what the team did today but, as Rey predicted, they were pretty tired by the end of the game and it was a matter of time before Argentina scored. Still I think it was a great and emotive game and the best of the Cup for me .

Very nervous now about one hour before the game. If Rooney and Owen were fit AND match fit and England were playing well then I'd be very confident. As it is we seem to be stumbling from one match to the next and fading badly in the second half's. With the heat expected to be about 35 degrees I'm not feeling too confident.

Another game, another change in systems and players from our genius (:P) coach. Hargreaves who was excellent in the first half against Sweden gets pushed to Right Back so that his pace can both combat the Ecuador winger, but also overlap with Beckham and give him more space.

Carrick comes into the team in place of Hargreaves and is a different kind of player. He's not a defensive tackler, but a deep lying passing player who can play short to long passes along the ground. He's played great and poor for England so far, so not sure..

With Lampard and Gerrard further up the pitch, they both have more chances to attack and support Rooney with Carrick behind them as a defensive player. The only problem with this is that Rooney will be up front on his own and not be 100% match fit. He likes to drop deep, so Gerrard, Lampard and Joe Cole MUST support him else Rooney will wander all over the place trying to get the ball.

Before each game I wait for England to spark to life for 90 minutes and it's not happened yet. This is their last chance really.. COME ON ENGLAND!!!

It begins. Go Ecuador! Hehe...

Yet again we're playing poorly!

EDIT: I know it's hot and we are deliberatly playing slowly, but it's still crap crap crap!

England wins 1-0 and, given the second half, deservedly so.

Seems we will be having heavy-weight teams for the last matches

We're through, but Portugal and Holland must be rubbing their hands if we play like that..

This was the worst game in this World Cup so far. And Beckham looks like he could use some training...

To be fair to Beckham he said in the interview that he didn't feel well before the game, but felt fine in the first half. Then in the second half he was sick on the pitch.

It wasn't the worst game, that was the Tunisia v Ukraine game.
Also, it was 35 degree heat hence we had to play slower and keep more possesion..

However, I know we are playing very poor football and it's a real shame because I know we have the players to play much better than this..

Is heat always the excuse in Europe?

The average temperature in all the games played in Europe is something like 6 degrees. So, yes.

I know we didn't play well. But with the 35 degree heat both teams played slower than normal. That doesn't help England who always seem to play better at a faster tempo.

I'll be glad when Sven leaves to be honest. After 5 years he still doesn't know what team he wants to play or how..

Anyway, Portugal v Holland next! This could be very close!

Common, Germany is the one that cheats, they buy the referees in italy 90, the will do it again, the world cup is ridiculous, everything is semi set up before hand, there is too much money involved to let the cup be a fair one.

I call that we must do the Allegro World Soccer Cup, 100% transparent and fair.

FIFA, you make me sick!!!

Don't be silly, it's not fixed..

How can you be sure?

You know, Juventus is playing in Serie C next year...

My money is with Juventus staying "A", no matter the proofs.

Btw, about that England game. Did Beckham actually throw up in the middle of the field in the second half? I thought I saw that for a second but then the director switched to a different camera immediately...

EDIT: WTF? Holland is playing in white/blue combination of shirts and shorts?

23': Portugal first shot on goal -> first goal -> 1:0

Could be heat stroke. I missed the game (not getting up for crack of dawn) but sounds like england didn't play that well from everyone who did watch it.

ps: por 1 Ned 0

it was pretty weak game.. 1 free kick making the difference... BORING!

portugal costinha gets red. '46

Yep he threw up, they showed the rather graphic pictures here later..

So, Portugal 1, Holland 0, but Portugal down to 10 men. Looks like Portugal will go defensive for the 2nd half.

Cheating Dutch b'stards.

So Figo gets a yellow card for a slight headbutt (but a headbutt), which should be a red and then the Dutch defender gets a 2nd yellow for catching Figo in the face.

Hmm.....

Wow. this ref needs to hand out red cards instead of yellow this game. It's absolutely getting out of control.

edit: its criminal what some of these players are doing.

The ref started with some harsh yellows, not he has no choice..

This is when the referee fakes an injury, and requests being replaced by the first lineman.

Yeah and just for the time of that goal the screen went black here because of weather problems.>:( (stupid satellite TV)

More cards....

Wow. This is fucking insane.

edit: just thought about how england is gonna have an easy time if all these playesr get suspended.

Another red. The referee has lost it..

is the goalie injured? ouch!

What's going on now? Cancelled Subs?

You're not much if you're not Dutch!

Damn lost the feed again so now they switched to ESPN (american one) and i was getting the brittish one. The new one talks too much describing every little detail.

1-0 Portugal wins
I expect some sour faces tomorrow at work ;-)

[edit]there seems to be some confusion about the number of cards given

Was there some kind of invisible water on the pitch? There was more diving than in the Olympics!

Please don't give us this Referee again..

"Ohne Holland fahr'n wir nach Berlin, OHNE HOLLAND FAHR'N WIR NACH BERLIN!";D

16 yellow cards and 4 red cards, unbelievable...

So, we'll play a Portugal team missing upto 4 first choice players..
The money is in the post Referee!

We'll still lose though..

New record of most cards in a World Cup match

The referee was incredibly bad... Gave some cards when he shouldn't (most remarcably red to Deco), didn't give some he should of. Didn't mark an offside and hand by Netherlands... etc...

Netherlands' players seemed very frustrated, and started pushing around the Portuguese players... Very sad...

EDIT: After all, now I saw that Deco got the red for holding the ball, although the player that grabed him should of got a card too...

So much, you'd think you were watching Argentina

Hehehehe Someone seems to be afraid of the possibility of facing Argentina, or so it seems.

The Portuguese are World Champions

...in wasting time that is!

Of all the teams i've watched it seems argentina takes the most dives. Portugal was really good at getting the stretcher to come out (why there was over 6 minutes extra time...).

It should have been 10 minutes. They even faked a substitution!

I'll see you off the coast of Islas Malvinas then

Actually I thought it should have been 8-10 minutes extra time!

What I disliked worse than the diving was the way players on both sides went down at the slightest touch and feigned an injury to try to get the other player booked or sent off.

There, there, no need to begin a flame war, Neil. We will see how the cup develops. History states that, when played in Europe, an european country wins (with only one exception so far), and when played in America, an american team wins. We will see if the rule is broken this time.

I don't think that rule means much anymore Rey. Nearly all the Brazillian and Argentinian players play in Europe now.

I believe it is not as much a matter of being the best team but instead of counting with local supporters. I am pretty much sure it is virtually impossible to beat Brazil in a brazilian stadium as Uruguay did in the Maracanazo. Argentina did it 1-0 in 1997, and has not been able to win again there. As far as I know, Argentina has never lost a game while playing in Argentina since 0-5 against Colombia in 1993. Teams become very strong at home, and they weaken when they are far from it. Also, the fields are especially treated so that the local team gets the advantage: right now german fields are virtually ice with a slight amount of dirty above it.

yeah, sure, just like professional boxing, horse races and WWF...
money moves the world, and here there is alot of money invested, the home team will not waste so much money making a event to get knocked out before the final.

I bet that if someone reaches the German's goal area, snipers will take him out

ok,ok, just joking, but anyways, most professional sports suck to me, they don't have something to guarantee that what we see is fair and real.

[rant]
I better go watch the kids playing in the park near my place, is going to be much more fun that this pro players that play like sissies.... (all of them, one touch and there they are faking the pain... makes me sick, just play bastards, for all the money they get paid they should play and play unless someone shoot them in the forehead or something)...
[/rant]

That was the ugliest game ever yesterday! I don't think the referee was that bad, he tried to keep it under control, but the players on both sides were definately not making it easy for him. Diving, faking injuries, picking fights with other team's players hockey style, all of that on both sides continuously for the whole second half. The way they behaved yesterday both teams would desrve to be sent home and replaced by Ivory Coast or something....

Yes, it was an ugly game, but it had its moments, too. The Dutch offense (when it was fair) and the Portuguese defense was a great show.
I think one major turn point was when the Portuguese expected the Dutch to handle over the ball but they didn't, instead they started an offense. Like if all players lost their respect to whatsoever. At least I did for the Dutch. No way I could have enjoyed a score after that.

I should go to bed early now so I can get up at 12:30 to watch Australia's last game of the Cup.

Everyone here is talking up our chances. Here's a poll:

Australia by 2 7%
Australia by 1 31%
Australia in shoot-out 29%
Italy in shoot-out 3%
Italy by 1 14%
Italy by 2 14%
Other 2%
3576 votes counted

And to show how unbiased they are, here's a previous poll

Australia v Brazil ...
Australia wins by 1 22%
Australia by 2 7%
Draw 23%
Brazil by 1 15%
Brazil by 2 27%
Other 6%
2976 votes counted

But what does seem clear is that Schwarzer can win on penalties.

So, can Australia pull off a shock?

Yes, they can! I hope...

45': We haven't seen much in the first 45. Australia started well but then Italy came into play and had a few good chances but the Australian keeper got a few good saves. It slowed down a lot towards the end of the half. It's too hot and humid...

Well, interesting game. Not the most exciting or fast paced, Italy seem happy to let Australia have more of the play and then hit them on the break.

Italy had the best chances, but it's not been one-sided at all.

EDIT: Don't mention the heat! We get insulted every time we do that when England play..

But today it's really hot.

REd card for Materazzi! Hist first foul in the WC! And it wasn't even that bad. !!!

Penalty for Italy 10 seconds from the end! And there was no foul!

95': Totti scores, Italy wins 1-0. Unbeleivable luck for Italy. And another huuuuuuuge mistake by the referee!

Dark Art Diving from Italy!

Completely totally unfair. The referee should be shot. And then shot again. And again.

As if England's player never dive It seems the best referee in the tournament is Elizondo. Unluckily he won't be able to continue, as Argentina continues advancing.

Another match ruined by mistakes. Firstly it should only have been a yellow for Italy, and not Red and that was not a penalty!

Are we going to have every match features bad refereing errors?!

EDIT: Unfortunately we do dive, but not as much as what we saw yesterday or Italy do today..

This is so sad. Football lost yesterday and it lost again today. I want to cry.

I haven't seen the match, just listened to the radio. You know, that is the kind of stuff having earned a world cup and holding one of the most important leagues in the world grants you.

I didn't like how we played but IMO Italy didn't dive much, quite the opposite.
I don't know you, but it's kind of hard to continue running when somebody just flew beneath you...

Let's assume it, always "our" team does not dive as much as the others That guy, the one who broke that american player, did receive a long suspension, or just 1 game?

4 games...

Is there a list with the suspensions around? I want to see which players are missing the next encounters.

I'm not watching this championship any more after seen Italy-Australia.

This match (Switzerland v Ukraine) is a difficult game. Both teams don't want to lose so aren't really going for a win.

Woo-hoo! Penalties!

After the first two, not even in penalties they are able to score

Thank God that's over!

The Italians are World Champions

...in diving that is!

So Switzerland is out despite the fact that no one scored a goal against them. How many time has that happened before? Is this a first?

Both teams yesterday concentrated on defending. With that kind of attitude the best thing that can happen is that the game ends with 0-0 and then you can hope to win the penalty shootout.

As for Italy, I really hope Ukraine puts their act together and beats them badly. Despite the fact that the Ukraine-Switzerland game was boring and tactical and there weren't any goals, you could clearly see what the difference between two fair teams and a team of cheaters (i.e. Italy) is. Ukraine and Switzerland both played fairly, there were no bad fouls and (almost) no faking and diving. I prefer to watch a fair game that ends in 0-0 any day over a game in which Italy or whoever scores 5 goals from penalties and free kicks they get for diving and decepting the referee...

So, we are going to have very interesting games for quarters. At least the average is MUCH better than in 2002 (Germany vs. USA, Spain vs. Korea, England vs. Brazil and Senegal(sp?) vs. Turk...ish(sp?)).

It looks quite possible that england will be playing germany for the semis.

I'm quite interested in seeing how france and spain will go. It could go either way depending on which one plays crappier (not better).

Well all of my countrymen are calling for the head of the ref.

All the dedicated soccer fans where I live are of Italian background anyway, so it's not so bad losing to Italy as to another country.

I can't help remembering last year's Korea v Italy (saw a flashback of it a week ago) where Totti was tripped and probably should have got a penalty that would have won them the game. Four years later Italy gets their goal.

Now that Australia has performed well and for a brief month Australia is on the soccer bandwagon, we're talking about a bid to host the Cup in 2018. Doesn't seem likely.

We can't play Germany for the semi's. We are in a different half of the group. If we get past Portugal we will play either Brazil, Ghana, Spain or France in the Semi-final.

Hmm, the next World Cup is in South Africa, then the next one I think should be in the "Pacific area" where Australia is more or less the only serious candidate. Unless Australia is now under Asia in which case it will be a fight between Australia and China for 2014. I don't know...

I know, i know, hating your neighbors is a national sport in Slovania but this is a bit too much.
How is Italy a team of cheaters? Apart from the free kick (and i'm convinced there was nothing fishy in it) where else did we "fake" something? I think we actually played a very honest, albeit not pretty, game.

Three days to go. Currently, my co-workers are worried about the match, especially after Mexico. I don't think Germany will play like Mexico, they don't have the players to do that. Press is cautiously confident right now, mainly pointing that Germany wasn't attacked by the other teams, their defense is slow and clumsy, and that Germany doesn't have the "2nd half reserves" Argentina has with Messi and Tevez. In fact, press is much more worried about referees than Germany, stating that it would not be strange to see penalties like Italy's one.

It is being speculated that Scaloni will not play, and that Tevez may begin playing from the beginning.

They are remembering that the german goalkeeper was the one who caught Riquelme penalty in the Villareal-Arsenal match, and are wondering whether Riquelme or Crespo would kick any penalty during the match (this said with some irony, as it is not likely Argentina will be getting any penalties while playing against the local).

Oh, and some important news program is claiming that, with the recent "problems" Italy had in their own championship, the FIFA is not liking the idea about having it as world champion. They just stated to watch Italy's next match closely.

well, today is Brazil x Gana... I think it will be a great match, but I'm worried, because all the "surprises" have lost the matches (Mexico, Australia, Switzlerand...)

for the other game, Spain is favorite... but anything can happen

Wow! Even the people of Brazil and Argentina are nervous and worried!

Yes, it's our national sport and we're very good at it. But you could at least learn how to spell your neighbour's name...

Slovakia?

Maybe i'm getting better at the same sport?

Poor poor Australia. Australians everywhere are up in arms. The team played with such spirit thoughout the whole tourney and their possible win was robbed by (yet another) bad ref call.

So much for football in Australia after this. I think most Aussies are going to not watch the rest of the matches since our boys are out.

Back to the rugby it is.

I wonder if the Italy-Australia ref has been "visited" the previous days by any Italians. Did he receive a Rolex as a gift? perhaps an interesting date with a top-model?

With all the years I've been watching world cup, the penalty in Italy-Australia was one of the top injustices ever done in football.

Do you honestly think the referee aided Italy during the match? Even miran admitted the red card on Materazzi was pretty exagerated; you don't leave a team you want to help in 10 men for more than 45 minutes

I think there was a mistake for both sides. The red card instead of yellow and then the penalty when he dived over the defender. As such I don't think it's a conspiracy, just another example of refereeing mistakes.

Indeed. I just hope the referee didn't "balance" the red card with the penalty...

Now then.. Brazil v Ghana! This could be a nice show of skills. Let's see if Brazil plays better than their first 3 matches.

Go Brazil!

Brazil playing half what they can is world champion

That referee is well known for compensating for his errors. He's done the same many times beofre.

As for the current match, Ronaldo just broke two records:

1. Most goals scored in World Cup: 15
2. Fattest man to score a goal in World Cup.

Ghana are doing some suicidial high defending.

Plus, the first offside was onside and the second onside (where Adriano just dived) was offside.

I predict a big score, drop deep Ghana!!

Adriano, why score when you could dive?

One more goal and Brazil will become the first team to reach 200 goals in World Cups!

Ghana have settled a bit and have gotten into some good positions in the Brazil defense. I don't think they have a clinical edge like Brazil or Argentina though..

EDIT: The 2nd goal is offside! Ghana have been unlucky, they should have scored themselves.

Definately offside again!

If only Ghana hadn't defended so high, they've had some great play and chances..

Surprised the strongest team got referee help again? I thought you were all used to that already

In fairness, it's been offside decisions (so it's linemens errors). And both Brazil and Ghana have had wrong decisions..

Interesting game but Ghana didn't stand a chance. They tried and they came close, but in the end they just couldn't shoot accurately enough. An expected and deserved win for Brazil.

Yep. Against the Czech Republic they had so many chances due to their clever passing, and they shot most of them straight at Peter Cech. They did the same again here, whereas Brazil were ruthlessly clinical.

Brazil haven't played at their best yet. Spain or France should make them raise their game.

a good game!

yes, the 2nd was in offside, this is sad... but the 3rd was ok. and even the other chances in the end.

Ronaldo and Adriano in 2nd half didn't touch the ball... this is not good :p

well, now we need to wait for Spain or France.

Gah! France are only playing Henry up front on his own AGAIN!

Hmm, so one French against three Spanish strikers. You know what this means? A lot of French players in midfield with nothing to do and quick passes up front by Spain. The French will defend with 9 players and hope for a miracle.

EDIT: You know who the referee is? Rosetti!!! What are they thinking?

I'm sure Henry would love to get the same errors in the Spanish backline as we saw when they played Tunisia. Unfortunately, I don't think they will be able to break quick enough with Zidane in there.

5': What was this just now? There was supposed to be a corner for France. But then Rosetti changed his mind.

26': Penalty for Spain! But was it really a foul?

27': Barthez was close, but Villa scores. 1-0 Spain

Yep, it was a penalty. They showed us the replay and thuram trod on his ankles from behind. Clumsy..

Yeah, at first it looked like another dive, but yeah, it was a clumsy foul.

Spain is playing with a lot of risk in defence. They're catching Henry offside and it's working so far, but sooner or later Henry will get it right...

41': And how right I was! Frank Ribery! 1-1!

That was awesome play by France. Spain caught Henry offside 3 times. Now Henry deliberately went offside and while the Spanish defenders were looking at him, Ribery came from midfield.

That was Mexico's weak point, that was Ghana's weak point, that is Germany's weak point.

I was just going to mention it! Spain play a high back line (not as high as Ghana's though!)

Great game now!

EDIT: We have the opposite problem, our defence plays too deep, making too much space between our midfield and defence or dragging everyone else back. That's one reason we have tried putting a deeper playmaker/holding midfielder in there for the last few games.

Do you think Spain will keep the high line? I know from seeing the Priemership that Henry (on form) is lethal when he's running onto a through ball like this.

I don't think they can change anything. That's the way they play and that's the way it works for them most of the time.

Good no-nonsense referee. No cards given in the first half.

Good for henry to realize he was offside and stay out of the play there although i'm just as amazed the officials got the offside call right

I wonder if this will be another game going to extra time.

After France equalised, the last few minutes were really exciting as the game opened up a bit more with both teams counter-attacking at pace. Hope we see that in the 2nd half.

A team can't change this tactic in the middle of a match, some players may get confused and try to do it anyways

This half has really opened up. Neither team is really holding back and lots of mistakes are being made Not like that boring english soccer at all.

Hey! Look at all the international awards they have gained in the last years thanks to that type of soccer!

First card in the 68th minute. Is that a record for the tournament?

What a dive by #15 of spain. Tripped over his own feet then cried pain and was looking for a penalty.

GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!
1-2, Vieira 83'

C'est le buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut!!!!!

edit: so far the ref has done an excellent job keeping things clean. I suspect its because whiny children know they can't get their way if they throw tantrums.

English 'soccer' has historically been more about fast attacking than defensive play. But Eriksson wants us to play like Italy while Germany play like us.

Zidane!!!! France win, Spain lose..

It's over! Zidane 92', 1-3.

w0w. 3-1 france. What a goal! spain got caught with their pants down.

well.. no more scoring drought for france. They better be ready for next match against brazil. Will be a tough one for them.

It's now also formally over.

You really feel for Spain. This was supposed to be their tournament and I feel France going through instead will hurt the quality of the rest of the tournament.

Yeah, because Germany, Argentina, England, Brazil, Portugal and Italy are not enough names to give the quarters enough quality

Hey Rash, support your country!

I feel sorry for Spain, after the first match they looked great yet don't get past the last 16. They've always had talented players, but never gotten far in the World Cup or Euro's.

That is known as pressure. Argentina and France could not support it in 2002, Spain could not this year. That is what makes Brazil different, they can dismiss it.

So, there are two rookies (Portugal and Ukraine(sp?)), and six world cup champions. Only Uruguay is missing. Odds seem to put the cup in a previous champion again.

Brazil's defence worries me, but I don't know if any team apart from Argentina can trouble them enough. I still think it will be an Argentina v Brazil final.

For the rest of the tournament, I'm supporting Italy and Brazil. Brazil because they're fun and popular (uh oh, peer-pressure) and Italy because we managed to get a draw out of them and they're the underdog.

Go Italizil!

Obviously I want England to win (though I doubt we can). If not I'd like Germany or France to win more than any of the other teams.

Argentina or Brazil. If not, I don't care.

Actually, I'm rather glad we now have a two day break from the World Cup. I've been neglecting my social life and work a little with seeing all the games. It will be good to take a break and recharge ahead of the nerve-racking quarter-finals.

Rey: I didn't think you'd want to support Brazil! Is that because it's another south american team?

Yes, but that is also my behaviour in international team tournaments. First the argentinian, then the american. The only team I would never support is Huracan, which is the rival of San Lorenzo, my own club. I have cheered for Boca when they went to Tokyo.

I don't support underdogs, though, so if Venezuela were in Brazil's position, I would prefer not cheering on them. With polite excuses, the World Cup is THE soccer event, and I don't think it would be that good for the sport image if suddenly a country without background wins the World Cup. Thus, I would like Portugal to win the cup, but not Ukraine. That is personal opinion, though.

Hmm.. I have some Venezuelan friends and I know they want Brazil to win (but not Portugal )

Xbox predictions:

• Brazil 2, Ghana 0

• Spain 2, France 2 (Spain 4, France 2)

Xbox 360 predictions:

• Germany 3, Sweden 1

• Mexico 2, Argentina 0

• England 2, Ecuador 0

• Netherlands 3, Portugal 2

Finaly a great game yesterday. History has repeated again as so many times before. Spain look good, they win games, they win their group, but then they lose the first game in the playoffs. Other than Spain's defence everything looked good yesterday, even the Italian referee (once for a change).

Good thing there's finally two days off. I can actually do some work now...

My predictions for the quarter finals:

Germany - Argentina: Hard to tell. Argentina is better but Germany is playing at home. I say it'll go to extra time and then maybe even penalties and then it's impossible to predict. I think Argentina have a little more chance in this one. I say 55-45 for Argentina...

Italy - Ukraine: Anything but a win for Italy would be a surprise because Ukraine really hasn't shown much and the only time they faced a top team they lost 4-0. But two of those goals were a result of referee errors and they are the only ones scored against them in all the games they played this year (7 or 8 in total) so their defence is generally speaking good. I want Ukraine to win of course but I predict 1-0 for Italy.

England - Portugal: Portugal is better but they'll be missing some players. Similar prediction as for Germany-Argentina, except it's maybe 60-40 to Portugal. A penalty shootout isn't out of the question though.

Brazil - France: In this one I'm affraid France has no chance. Brazil got to this stage without having to work hard and there's still a lot more they can do. If France forces them to play better, they will, otherwise they'll just comfortably sail through 3-0 or something like that.

Predictions: (not that mine are worth shit)

Ger 3 - Arg 1 (argentina chokes against high scoring hometown heroes)
Eng 2 - Por 0 (cautious win, with a late goal to seal it)
Bra 3 - Fra 2 (brazil winning in extra time, that is if france doesn't hand it over right way in which case 3-0 for bra)
Ita 1 - Ukr 2 (italy loses on account of penalties/fouls)

Result:

France 3 Spain 1 (with a penalty)

Where are those who where saying that French team is dead and do not afraid nobody hu ?

;-)

Nice match, nice judges, nice players & supporters.

And my prediction:

As Brazil only did 4-1 against japan, and the japan point was a goal, And as we did 3-1 against Spain, and their goal is a penalty, I could not say howmany point France/Brazil will have, all I can say is: we will have a nice match !!

Spain are losers; proved once more. France's great players finally seem to have woken up a little.

Germany - Argentina 1-0
England - Portugal 1-2
Brazil - France 4-2
Italy - Ukraine 1-0

I feel sorry for Switzerland. They played fantastic in the group match and lost out in penaly shootouts. What a way to go.

And sorry for the Aussies but that may just be because I live down here.

But that is part of the drama of football. Good play doesn't always mean you win.

If we're having a guess the scores then here's mine

Germany - Argentina 2-3
England - Portugal 2-1
Brazil - France 1-0
Italy - Ukraine 1-1. Italy win on penalties

Argentina - Italy 3-1
Brazil - England 2-2. England finally win on penalties

Argentina - England 2-4

It's coming home.

Germany - Argentina 1-2
England - Portugal 1-2
Brazil - France 3-1
Italy - Ukraine 2-0

England 2 - Portugal 1
Brazil 2 - France 0
Italy 2 - Ukraine 1

I don't want to analyze Argentina, although I hope we win

Ha, they announced the referees for the rest of the tournament:

GERMANY - ARGENTINA: Luboš MICHEL (Slovakia)
ITALY - UKRAINE: Frank de BLEECKERE (Belgium)
ENGLAND - PORTUGAL: Horacio ELIZONDO (Argentina)
BRAZIL - FRANCE: Luis Medina CANTALEJO (Spain)

All referees still in the running for semis and the finals:

Toru KAMIKAVA (Japan)
Coffi CODJIA (Benin)
Benito ARCHUNDIA (Mexico)
Horacio ELIZONDO (Argentina)
Jorge LARRIONDA (Uruguay)
Mark SHIELD (Australia)
Massimo BUSACCA (Switzerland)
Frank de BLEECKERE (Belgium)
Luis Medina CANTALEJO (Spain)
Markus MERK (Germany)
Luboš MICHEL (Slovakia)
Roberto ROSETTI (Italy)

This means no more Graham Poll (yay) and Valentin Ivanov (yay). But Rosetti (boo), Cantalejo (boo) and Merk (boo) are still in there. I hope they don't get a chance to ruin more games.

Great! as well as getting a hot afternoon kick-off we get an Argentine ref who's bound to be on our side, not

Mind if I reverse my score forecast as obviously Fifa don't want us to win.

You are lucky, Neil, you got the best referee, the one who did allow both legal Costa Rica goals even when others would have taken the easy way and mark offside Wish he could play in our match

I heard in a TV program that, in this next match, Italy will begin 1-0 to prevent any more suspicious.

Now, putting a spanish referee for France after France eliminated Spain...

Thanks FIFA for giving us Luis Medina CANTALEJO, One of the only referee who is from the last country we have beaten.

EDIT:beaten for hours by Rey, sorry I have not refreshed the page since yesterday evening ;-)

We obviously aren't preparing for our matches properly:

?

Haha... where did you get it from?

A section in The Guardian.

{"name":"Image4.jpg","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/0\/1\/012618106ab630ecc4837b0a5086d3d2.jpg","w":646,"h":505,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/0\/1\/012618106ab630ecc4837b0a5086d3d2"}

Off topic, but inspired by ...

Anyone wants to join in writing the whole game? source attached in The Depot forum

If we all pull together we could have it finished in time for the final

Sorry, no time for that(too busy watching TV, at the same time having to find a room in a city 120km away from here, 'cuz' YAY, found a three-year-apprenticeship as a software developer that starts in August this year) and I also lack the skills needed.

7 hours til Germany Vs. Argentina. Going to watch the game with some friends. Hope we'll win.:) [edit](Corrected, thanks miran.;))

Hmm, better Germany than Argentina I suppose...

Go Germany!!!

This and the remaining matches better be good, especially now that the Tour de France is ruined with none of last year's top four finishers participating.

That's easy for you to say, I still haven't forgot the Third Reich

Then again, nor have I forgot the Falklands

I'm on the ref's side, and I'm on a half day to go home and watch it. I hope bias towards the host nation (1966 anyone) doesn't spoil it.

Don't be a Chav Neil!

football is for the working class Rich, we are allowed our simplistic views on the world.

But not the Xenophobic Racism (even as a joke).. please.

Hehe, the top "German" players are actually Polish

Next: A potentially great game! Argentina v Germany

Good luck for both! I hope a great game.

hey, anyone here knows a good "live match viewer site?" my proxy blocks all that I know...

It started! Again no Messi in the first 11...

Nine-hundred Ninety-Nine posts on the thread, Nine-hundred Ninety-Nine posts. Jot one down, pass it around, One thousand posts on the thread!

My gosh, it's about to surpass my own post count.

Mind-boggling pace.

30': Booooooring...

well here are my predictions:

GERMANY : ARGENTINA ex1-0
ITALY : UKRAINE 0-0 ukraine wins on penalties
ENGLAND : PORTUGAL 1:2
BRAZIL : FRANCE 3:0 ('98 revenge)

GERMANY : UKRAINE 2-0
BRAZIL : PORTUGAL 3-1

match 4 3rd place

UKRAINE : PORTUGAL 0-2

finals

GERMANY : BRAZIL 1-1 germany wins on penalties

45': Still boooooring.

Something like 90% of play is 20m either side of the centre line. Whenever either team tries to put the ball closer to the opposite goal, they loose it in less than 2 seconds...

Yep, both defences are well on top. No proper chances for either team. I can't blame the Germans though for being strong in the defence!

EDIT: Germany can't keep hold of the ball just like England, but Argentina can't pass it through them or break quickly enough to get real chances.

Watching the match with co-workers, so I won't be back until the end of the match. Hard match, but not as hard as with Mexico. The best chance must have been from Germany, but other than long balls, they have problems arriving to the argentinian area. The referee is doing pretty well, although he seems not to be kind of using that yellow card.

Overall, the match is going well enough for Argentina. Tevez and Mascherano are playing very well, but Crespo is having problems getting the ball. I believe Messi could be more useful than Crespo, especially since their defenses are tall.

49': Ayala scores! 1-0 for Argentina! Now it will get interesting!

Goal for Argentina!

Ayala? In Google it's González...

Teh Google is wrong!

That goal definately made things more interesting.

That Friedrich fellow is a bit of a liability it seems.

70': Argentinian goalkeeper is injured and replaced! And the referee didn't even think that was a foul when Klose kneed him under the ribs!

80': Klose 1-1!!!

Klose!!!!

Now it starts again from the beginning. Just ten minutes to go and then extra time...

With the wings Germany just got, that may not even happen.

Full time 1-1.

Now, extra time!
But no chance for Messi or Saviola to come on.. Why Cruz and not Messi?

90 minutes is over. 1-1, twice 15 minutes extra time to follow. And then penalties

We lost the game when Pekerman decided to replace Riquelme with Cambiasso. A defensive change just like against Ivory Coast to try to end the match with the current score. Cruz is a good player for counterattacks and long balls, but now that we are again 1-1 we won't be able to use him. Now Pekerman will have to put Aimar for Gonzalez, as we are playing without a 10 right now, and Messi and Saviola, who were perfect for this kind of game, will be lost.

It was good while it lasted.

Argentina is going to extra time again...

If I was Pekerman and Argentina lost this game, I would be affraid to come home. It's one thing to lose but it's something completely different to lose because of a stupid move like not putting Messi in...

You know, all that stuff about Messi was pretty cooled down when Messi played against Netherlands. He disappointed many fans, so not putting Messi is not a capital mistake. What is one is leaving the team without a 10.

This Julio Cruz guy is a complete idiot though.

Germany should really stop with those acting performances. They're wasting a lot of goodwill here.

I have a feeling that what Ballack just did in the penalty area will be used for a long time to make fun of him. An Argentinian player touches him on the shoulder and Ballack grabs his face and goes down like he was struck by lightning...

Germany never lost a penalty series, but there is a first time for everything.

Penalties!

Yay, penalties! I say Ballack will miss the last penalty and Argentina will go through.

Germany wins after penalties!

Lehman is Germany's saviour!

Germany Win!

Go Brazil!

So why did Messi not play again?

Because Pekerman is conservative, he did the same against Ivory Coast. He should have put Aimar instead of Riquelme and Messi instead of Crespo, but he decided to go defensive.

I agree. It's the same tactics Eriksson uses and leads to us hanging onto a 1-0 lead. After the Argentinian goal, the changes let Germany take control..

Here on our TV they have a guy who was born in Argentina and is essentially Argentinian but spends a lot of time here and appears often on TV as a guest during the World Cup (he's actually an opera singer and a journalist but he's also a huge football fan) and he's furious at Pekerman. He demands that he resigns. We're not used to people talking so openly on TV

So, Germany is now one of the 4 best teams in the world... congratulations!

And I'm sorry about Rey Brujo and others "hermanos argentinos", but at least Tevez and Mascherano will return to Corinthians to prepare for the Campeonato Brasileiro :p

Hehehehe, yeah, argentinians are pretty open, especially in soccer Pekerman will stay as coach, there are no replacements. With some luck he will learn not to go defensive again. A pity Abbondanzieri had to leave, he is good catching penalties (after all, Boca must have won 75% of their titles through them!).

You are taking it very well Rey!

So, the 3 teams who played the best football (Argentina, Spain, Czech Republic) all go out..

Hey! I am a soccer fan, but I knew Argentina was not going to be champion, mainly because of Pekerman's defensive behaviour. Thanks to Bielsa who was the coach until Peru, if we had had Pekerman since the beginning things would have been much more difficult.

Hopefully he will learn that the best defense is a good attack.

Well... i was way off... But at least germany won so i'm gonna count that at least