Anyone watching the World Cup?

Jan Molby.....Its still beyond me how that guy got a pro cortract....the frence, have you realised that they have not scored in the world cup since they won it!! and if a team has to take and reliy on a has been zztop who at the age of 34 and with f**ked knees would be a bad choice signing for hensford town in my opinion it to me leaves me thinking no hopers

brazil, did you see the match analasis on ITV ronaldo over the total time he was on the pitch made 5 posative runs!!! the guys is there on his name alone in my opinion Pele would make a bigger impact in this tornimant

the spanish look good they won well and against a good team the Ukraine have some good players shevchenco (spelt wrong) is capable of winning a match on his own you got to keep one eye on them from now on

I agree when shreck is back 4.5.1 may be a good second half idea but you need some wingers to bang the balls in beckham yes downing yes even arron lennon on the right and move beckham inside keep gerrard on cole as he has been insperational most of the season but lampard....i agree to be honest hes not been so hot this season but you know hes still gunna be one of the first on the team sheet

T&T Please don't play rooney for god sake hes not ready yet, if they do chances are he'll do him self an injury and be out for the rest of the world cup

I say put own up front and start with wilcot hell if he does that and he proes to be out of his depths he can bring on the been pole and not loose face

MY STARTING 11 FOR TOMORROW (As i would play it against a weekest team in the group) 4.4.2

GK Robinson... has to be him
LB cole.... best left back there is im my opinion
FB terry... I would make him capt. i have always favored defenders for that
FB Carragher... i don't rate rio and sol isn't quite ready in my eyes
RB Neville... auto select here to reliable
LW downing... natural left footer but more importantly a winger
RW Beckham... auto select here too you can't leave him out no way
CM Gerrard... hes an animal hes got grit he goes forward gets back has shots plays balls through the kind of player you need to hold a team together]
CM Cole... got the skill to go forward and take players on and with his form of late he's a must
SK Owen... can play sh*t all game but for one 2 min spell the spell that he scores a goal and thats what makes a good striker
SK willcot... she got speed hes got youth hes got determanation and if hes gunna bottle it best find out against these!

what you guys think?
whats your team concept???

I did not see Argentina play, but for my money thus far, I say the C.Republic can take Brazil (and the cup with a little luck) and I would not look forward to having to play Croatia either.

I think the Aussies are going to have a tough go of it.

How much did the TV networks pay to have the USA rated #5, or was that done by a very stupid computer?

USA rated 5 in the world due to the finishing position in the last world cup and them not loseing much since

USA rated 5 in the world due to the finishing position in the last world cup and them not loseing much since

I always wondered how those rankings were determined. The U.S. was/is obviously way overrated. But who knows, maybe they can redeem themselves aginst the azzurri.

Right, I got another 2 wrong, so I think my resignation is imminent.

The Spanish were very good, but also very, very, lucky. BIG Deflections and a disgraceful, appalling referee who should be sent home and NEVER allowed near a stadium again.

Cesc Fabregas came off the bench (to be the youngest EVER Spanish player at the World Cup) and played a part in the 4th goal, the only one they created and took without any luck, so I was not COMPLETELY wrong there...

Ukraine disappointed, but should recover. Shevchenko was a brilliant player in his prime and is still dangerous.

I thought Tunisia would beat the Saudis easy. Now Spain can stroll through and Ukraine and Tunisia scrap it out for the 2nd berth.

The Germans last night deserved to win. The Poles didn't offer enough before the sending off so they now pay the price - not for losing to Germany, but for losing to Ecuador. Still, at least it's a very short trip home for their fans. The Germans are all but mathematically through to the next stage. Watch them get better and better. They always do.

The French:

zztop who at the age of 34 and with f**ked knees

It's worse than that. Paddy V. also has f**ked knees. That's why he was sold to Juve when he wanted to stay here. But who looked interested for them? If they don't care, I won't either. I'm just pleased Le roi Henry 14 will have a longer summer break than expected if they keep going like that. Should also mention the Swiss defence. They were pretty good.

Batteries, I have no major objections to your team. A. Cole had a terrible game against Paraguay, but we know he's much better than that. Rio's chavery means his concentration levels are suspect. I think Sven should send him home with the words "You've been merked" (Whatever the f*** "merked" means). Big Sol, IMO, is finished at the top level. Thanks for everything, now go and design jeans.

Beckham MUST play wide always, all the time. He's one of the best wingers around, awesome crosser of the ball. But he makes for a fairly average central midfielder.

Owen, too, must play. If only to get him to full match fitness for later, should we qualify. And if we don't, the whole lot of them should refused re-entry at Heathrow. I'd start with the streak-of-piss rather than Walcott. Theo can come on for the last 20.



As for the US' ranking, it goes back to what I was saying about CONCACAF nations. The ranking is heavily infulenced by the US' excellent results in qualifying. But, they were playing against, with no disrespect, teams that aspire to one day improve to shit level. The ranking system does not take this into account.

And, yeah, Ace. Of course. Those crooks at FIFA wanted to fool you into watching games, because they know that Americans would never tune in if they thought there was a good chance of their team losing. You can't really blame FIFA for massaging the figures when they have to fight against paranoia, insecurity, isolationism and xeonophobia...



So far, the only really impressive performances have come from Argentina, the Czechs and Spain. Honorable mention to Ivory Coast.

I wonder if Sweden will get their acts together against Paraguay? If not, amazingly, England could qualify for the knock-out stage today, with a game to spare...

I wonder if Sweden will get their acts together against Paraguay? If not, amazingly, England could qualify for the knock-out stage today, with a game to spare...

Well, congratulations for advancing on. For 82 minutes I was “plotting out”
a really sarcastic commentary, but I guess now I will have to hold most of my tongue.

Beckham is F…ing Amazing!!! He could not be more accurate if he was picking up the ball with his hands and throwing it!

But one dig I have got to get in. My 85 year old mother has two artificial knees and walks with a four prong cane and SHE could have scored on that center from Beckham! She could have just let it hit her cane and that ball would have gone in. Crouch didn’t just miss by inches, he missed by meters (several)!

When you get that many chances, sooner or later one will find the mark.

Nice play by Terry. If he didn’t make that, I think the outcome of this match could have been very, very different. And honorable mention to Mr. Gerrard for a very nice left footer.

And hats off to T and T. They played with a lot of heart against a superior
opponent and made quite a game of it. Next to the Aussies coming back again Japan, this was my favorite match thus far.

Hope you guys get a shot at C. Republic (like in the finals maybe).

My guess CF is that you will not read this post for a couple of days as it will take you that long to sober up no doubt.

It had to happen in the end. I finally got a prediction (that England would win by more than 1 goal - check the previous page of this thread) RIGHT!!!

Well, congratulations for advancing on. For 82 minutes I was “plotting out” a really sarcastic commentary, but I guess now I will have to hold most of my tongue.

You SO nearly got to post it. And it would have been deserved. But that's sport, eh? The line between glory and abject failure is not that wide...

You're right - Becks put over some superb crosses. At the risk of sounding like a scratched LP, he has to stay wide and the team have to give him the ball wide.

Crouch (until he scored) was a national humiliation. He is not a footballer. If only Owen wasn't so completely, utterly, unfit and off-form. The worry is we're now stuck with the lanky fool...

T&T had a soilid plan and stuck to it with impressive discipline. The plan didn't allow for England scoring however, and if Crouch or especially Lampard had taken one of the many early chances, they might not have been so impressive. But credit were it is due. They made England look pretty crap for long spells. They won't go much further without a big improvement. But the team is well capable of improving dramatically. Shrek's return will definitely lift them...

Sweden's last gasp winner (Freddie, with his head! Who'd have thought?) sends Paraguay home (although of course they have to play their final game first, with nothing at stake for them but national pride). Harsh maybe on Paraguay who put up a good fight in their 2 games so far, but they never really got at their opponents.

We're beginning to see a lot of late goals now, as the different fitness levels of teams becomes apparent at the end of teams' second games.

Hats of to Ecuador, through to the next phase for the first time ever, and fully deserving. There's a very good chance they will play England in the next round.

I'm really looking forward to Holland-Ivory Coast today, as quite a few players on opposite sides in that one play for the same club teams, and that should add some spice to an already intriguing prospect.

Argentina, who were very impressive in their first game can as good as qualify with a win over Serbia & Montenegro. I'll bet they'll give S&M a whipping...

Mexico could clinch their place too as well as putting Angola out of their misery. But Angola gave Portugal and hard time, and Mexico struggled for much of their game against Iran, so who knows? An Angola win would blow that group wide open.

My guess CF is that you will not read this post for a couple of days as it will take you that long to sober up no doubt.

Ha! I can READ and WRITE drunk. I thought that was pretty obvious by now... Cheersh!

Well, Angola gave the Mexicans a hard time in the match. I'm not surprised after seeing the score on the Portugal-Angola game. So I can't wait for the Italy-USA game and also the Mexico-Portugal game too.

As part of my “commentary” I was going to give Crouch my Player of the Match award for TNT, as he was clearly the best guy on their side!

I wish they handed out yellow cards for bad acting. One guy brushes against another’s jersey and the guy falls to the ground and grabs both legs. Give me a break! Had I been the ref, I would have yellow carded Crouch for the second or third time he grabbed an opponent and then gave the “who me, I didn’t do anything speech”. I suppose the ref answered back, “yea, I saw those last three crosses, but I am not talking about that”.

To give you some idea how well the world cup is received here in the states,
I went out with the softball team Wed night to the sports bar because we had a by (don’t worry, I just keep score and coach third and watch my son play left field except when we are short and will have to forfeit if I don’t play which is rare). Damn, Argentina just scored again and now it is four Zip. 10 TV’s were tuned to the Giants, Diamondback baseball game featuring everyone’s favorite steroid user, Barry Bonds. I asked the waitress if she could change one of the TV’s to the Spanish channel so that I could watch the world cup. A look of shock came over her face and she ran over to her manager and told him what I said. He then called Homeland Security to report that he clearly had an Illegal Alien/Terrorist who must have slipped into the country along Arizona’s southern border. Christ, it is now 5 zip! Fortunately, all the Homeland Security guys were busy building a fence so I was able to escape their clutches! Geez, Argentina is out for blood 6 zip now with maybe 5 minutes left in the match. Enough is Enough boys!

Time to kick back and see how Mexico makes out. Hopefully, it will be a pleasant evening.

And up a man for the last 15 minutes. Damn! Mexico does have a 3 goal
edge and can win it with a tie. It would be very interesting if they can beat Portugal and Angola can get one from the Saudis.

For some reason, I just can't shake this feeling of impending doom.

It might be easier to beat Iran as that is who they will be playing. Also time for me to turn it.

What a day! I guess that is why you have to play the games!

CF, I know you know more about this than I do, but since when is a missed slide tackle in mid field on a guy going laterally (not on a potential
scoring run) a RED CARD! And since when is a hand ball by a defender in the box not a PENALTY KICK! As much as it kills me, I had to agree with the offsides call that brought our second goal back, but you have to give them credit for putting it in, especially down a man.

An now we have to run up the score against a team that just beat C.Republic? At least our boys played like a World Cup Team and did us proud. An exciting match to watch.

Wasn't it the Italians who "Fixed" the Officiating this year? Maybe they can Fix one more match. So all we need now is for Italy to take out
C.Republic and we somehow get by Ghana. And of course, those two matches will be played simultaneously

CF, I know you know more about this than I do,

Nah, I just think I do.

but since when is a missed slide tackle in mid field on a guy going laterally (not on a potential scoring run) a RED CARD!

When it's 2-footed, studs showing.

And since when is a hand ball by a defender in the box not a PENALTY KICK!

When the official deems it to be "ball to hand" - i.e. the player had no chance to get his hand out of the way or wasn't even looking.

As much as it kills me, I had to agree with the offsides call that brought our second goal back, but you have to give them credit for putting it in, especially down a man.

Yes, it was obviously offside. I'd give the US team much more credit than that though. They thoroughly deserved at least the draw. I thought, with the exception of the 2 players who were sent off (Pope, in particular, was really really stupid), the rest of the team were magnificent. I did think all 3 red cards were justified (perhaps the first US one was a little harsh). Crazy game.

What a turnaround though by the US after the first game. Much credit to Bruce Arena and the spirit of the players.

An now we have to run up the score against a team that just beat C.Republic? At least our boys played like a World Cup Team and did us proud. An exciting match to watch.

It's still quite an achievement by Arena and his players that the third game actually counts for SOMETHING. In sport, you never know. I thought the Czechs would beat Ghana. It's one of the most thrilling groups, with all 4 teams still able to qualify going into the last game. Wonderful entertainment (especially for someone not from one of the 4 countries concerned).

Wasn't it the Italians who "Fixed" the Officiating this year?

Yes, it was. Juventus won the league there in a way that is now being investigated in the courts - the evidence is irrefutable, however. The scandal, which the rest of the world is unwilling to let the Italian authorities sweep under the carpet as they are so often inclined to do, is weighing heavily on the Italian team and players of other countries who play for the clubs involved. Juventus SHOULD be stripped of their championship and relegated 2 divisions. It may very well happen after the tournament.

Maybe they can Fix one more match.

Well it worked for Juventus domestically, but one of the stories is that they used a "corrupted" referee for their Champions League quarter final away leg, and still (ha ha) lost 2-0. Seems the influence doesn't work on foreigners.

So all we need now is for Italy to take out C.Republic and we somehow get by Ghana. And of course, those two matches will be played simultaneously

Simultaneously so that none of the teams know what their rivals have achieved and everyone has to try and win and hope for the best elsewhere. Can be amazingly thrilling as the 2 games head towards their conclusions.

Ace, what you ask for is, in betting parlance, a "long-shot". But "long-shots" come in every so often. Far, far stranger things have happened. Good luck to the US team. They both need and deserve it.


Yesterday, France got what they deserved (embarrassed) and Brazil got what they didn't (a very flattering victory). Something is very, very wrong, IMO, with the French and Brazillian dressing rooms. These 2 teams boast many of the world's best players. Brazil are the trophy holders. France won the previous tournament, beating Brazil in the final. But both have looked utter crap so far.

Argentina did indeed whip S&M. To be fair, they put in the best performance of the tournament by a hundred miles and scored one of the greatest World Cup goals ever in the process. The only hope for the rest of us is that they've peaked too soon.

Oh, and Ivory Coast were the most impressive team to be knocked out after 2 games that I've ever seen.

Outside of our last match, I am really looking forward to Mexico vs Portugal and the Aussie vs Croatia match.

And Mrs. Ace most definately does not think in any way shape or form that C. Renaldo is "overated". Something about the "cute buns" factor I think.

I hope I can figure out what channel England is on tomorrow for the VCR.
And please, try to run up the score so that Trinidad has chance!

And I still think that it should have been a yellow, not a Red card. It is what we here in the States refer to as a "make-up" call to even up the score for having sent off one of Italy's boys. No way if we had not been a man up would they have red carded him, but on the other hand, you are a man up for Pete's sake for the next 50 + minutes, why take a chance on that? And then Pope lost his mind!

C. Ronaldo is very popular with the ladies of all ages, Ace. I'm told by a friend of a friend, that it's worth checking out the various internet forums dedicated to cronaldo, just to see the photos that his teenage female fans post of themselves in various states of undress, in the naive belief that their overrated, lightweight, all-tricks-no-end-product hero might actually be interested. Instead, all they get is middle-aged useless wasters (like the aforementioned friend of a friend...) oggling in the comfort of their own homes. Three cheers for the internet!!!

Ace, your better half might also be interested in the England game tonight where she can enjoy the talents of housewives' favourite Calvin Klein underwear model Freddie Ljungberg on the wing for Sweden, not to mention Mr Posh Spice for Ingerlund. At least they're both a bit less girlie than Cronaldo. As long as she doesn't express a liking for Peter Crouch, you'll be OK.

So, what did we learn yesterday? The Togo players' concerns over money (their qualification bonuses were delivered the day before the game in suitcases, after the players threatened to strike and miss the Switzerland game) unsurprisingly distracted the team. Switzerland's normally great defence was a bit wobbly, but they were never in real danger. Now the Togo players have only a dead game and the joy of counting their money to look forward to. Switzerland look well-placed to qualify and South Korea have their destiny in their own hands, too. France are on the brink of yet another humiliation on the world stage unless they can start playing at something like their awesome potential. What is wrong with that dressing room?

Ukraine ain't that bad, but the Saudis are. The Ukrainians even managed to cancel out their negative goal-difference after Spain took then apart first gane. That could be very significant after the last games are played. Mathematically, the Saudis are not out. But realistically, they surely must be. Ukraine will qualify with just a draw against Tunisia. The Tunisians are a hard working team capable of punishing more illustrious opponents if they are not concentrating as they showed for 45 minutes last night. But in the second half, Spain played Cesc-y football and were different class. That boy is fabregastic! Comes on at half-time and manages 3 shots on target and 3 magnificent, defence-splitting passes and has a hand in all 3 goals - after his team had been clueless first half. He's Spain's youngest ever player at a World Cup.

Now, for today. Here we go then with the last of the group games. We already know that Germany and Ecuador are going through from Group A, but who will win the group? Ecuador are in pole-position, and only need a draw to stay there. After these final group games, it's a straight knock-out all the way, of course. The winners of Group A play the runners-up from Group B, which will also be resolved today. England will be hoping to avoid Germany, Sweden will want to be sure of qualification, and as Ace said, T&T are not out of it yet. Paraguay have only national pride to play for, but sometimes at World Cups, teams play better once there is no longer any pressure on them to get a result. And nobody wants to go home having failed to pick up even a single point.

Congrats on winning your group, advancing on and a fine FIRST HALF of
football. A great goal catching the keeper off his line and I understand much better why everyone wants Rooney to play. But I would like to remind you that there are TWO HALFS too every match and your lads were MIA for about 40 minutes and then for the last five. What in the world went on in the locker room at halftime?

Sweden looked hungry and energized and England looked flat and apathetic.
They basically let the other team throw the ball into your net virtually untouched. I had to look at three replays to convince myself that it actually was touched!

Well, the important thing is that you moved on and avoided Germany.
Let’s hope that Mexico can come through tomorrow!

Ace, you're right. England were really poor once again last night. The inability to defend "set pieces" (free kicks, corners etc.) is frankly embarrassing. Three players - Terry, Campbell and Cole - could and should have cleared the 2nd goal. But Sweden have a curse over us - it's 40 years since we beat them and that last-minute equaliser creeping in will keep that bizarre run going for a while.

Rooney is not match fit, and looks a long way from it. Crouch is out of place at this level. Owen wasn't fit and should never have travelled. The coach obviously doesn't think Walcott can play, despite all the furore surrounding his selection. We are not going much further without a miracle. At least we avoided the hosts in the next round.

Can't see anything changing in Group D today - it should be Portugal through as group winners and Mexico as runners up. In group C, Argentina and Holland are already through, but I'm looking forward to their game tonight as Argentina have been superb so far and the Dutch aren't bad either...

Man, that Dutch/Argentina game was a real snooze fest. With both teams not even trying to score I turned it over to the S&M/Ivory Coast game. It was a whole lot more exciting and the players seemed to care more even though nothing was at stake.

I can't believe that guy from Mexico missed that PK. I'm glad it didn't hurt them in the end. Could you imagine what would have happened to that guy if his missed PK eliminated them from moving on? Good thing for him that Angola couldn't beat Iran...

I greatly enjoyed the Mexico Portugal game. Go Saudi's! Thanks to them,
Mexico gets to advance.

I would like someone to explain the officiating (or lack there of) of this match for me. It seemed as bad as the US vs Italy, but I may be slightly
less partial in this match than I was in the US vs Italy match.

Too late at night. Can't believe I was rooting of Iran, but that's the world cup. Rooting Against Italy one match, they wildly for them in the next,
but at least England has scored a couple of goals! It would be nice for us to get at leat one!

Isn't that typical - 2 of the most entertaining teams in their first 2 games then play each other in the 3rd and it's a big disappointment (especially in terms of goals). BUT: Argentina showed flashes of their attacking brilliance (with several first-choice players rested) and Holland showed just how very very hard to beat they are. Both of those teams look well capable of going a long way. Shame they couldn't have managed a few goals.

It was great to see the Ivory Coast finally win a game - they're a wonderful team to watch, packed with great players. Hope they're all back for 2010. Au revoir au Cote d'Ivoire...

What a great day we have coming up today! Destiny time for so many teams.... Italy, Czech Republic, USA and Ghana all can qualify, but only two will. It's going to be a very enjoyable afternoon for us neutrals (as far as THAT group's concerned).

Then later on: could a former penal colony really QUALIFY for the knock-out stages? Australia only need a win over Croatia. If they fail and Japan pull off one of the biggest shocks in the tournament's history, Japan could go through...

So, as Dubya might have said, the US have been "eliminificated" from the World Cup, along with the Czech Republic. Can't fault the American team for effort. They just lacked penetration (killer passing and accurate, lethal finishing) throughout their 3 games, IMO. The Czechs never recovered from the injury to Koller in the first game which left them without a cutting edge. I think Ghana deserve to go through in the end. Italy, meanwhile, win the group without really impressing. Commiserations to my friends across the Atlantic.

I didn't get to watch most of the game because I was tied up with a very long conference call for work. But I saw the highlights of that bogus penaly call that led to their PK. If all refs made that call in every game, there would be 15 - 20 penaly kicks a game!

Anyway, no disrespect to Ghana. They deserved it. They went out and won the game. We didn't.

In the other group today. How about the Aussies moving on? That was a thrilling game. In my opinion, Australia has played the most thrilling games so far. I mean, they beat Japan by rallying for 3 goals in six minutes near the end of the game, they hang with Brazil, and then rally twice to tie Croatia. I wonder if they'll have anything left for Italy.

I never think very much of people who blame their teams loses on the officiating. I looked at the pick of Reynosa that led to the first goal and really could not make up my mind if it was clean or not. The Spanish Broadcasters certainly did not think it was, but they are probably only slightly less biased than I am. If the first pick was clean with that amount of contact, then there is no @#$%^&* way that the aerial challenge in the box should have been a falta. I guess with what we are doing in Iraq, we are none too popular in the rest of the World.
Back to a more reasonable analysis, I thought Donovan played like crap. How many balls did her serve high and wide? We controlled that game, we played it in front of their goal, but we lack anyone who can put the damn ball in the net! One clean goal in three matches. No bad officiating there! Just bad play.

On the bright side, several teams left to root for in order.
1) Mexico, but I don’t see them getting past their next game
2) England, hopefully at least another two or three to go. I actually
know this team better than my own and I have seen every one of
their matches . I could watch Beckham center the ball all day!
3) Portugal. I have seen all three of their matches and just like their team.
4) The Aussies. Someone forgot to tell them that they don’t belong in the knockout round. I am really looking forward to their math with Italy.

I didn't mention anything yesterday, but I didn't think it was a penalty at all. Nothing to do with the US being unpopular, however. It's been done to plenty of teams throughout the tournament. I thought that was yet another example of incompetent refereeing. The officiating at this tournament overall has been dire.

But I don't think that was the real difference between the teams. Ghana looked more like scoring throughout. I agree with Ace - Donovan was a massive disappointment over 3 games. He was supposed to be the heart/engine of the team and the supplier of penetrative passes. But all I saw him do was give the ball to the opposition cheaply.

Whilst it's always nice to see small countries do well, I was happy to make an exception for Australia, but they probably deserved to go through over three games. What's that Skippy? You think the Italians will be too much for them? Strewth!

Japan gave Brazil a real game last night for 45 minutes and then self-destructed with perfect timing to allow the undeserving samba boys the chance to rediscover their previously-missing groove. Japan have played well in their 3 games, just never for long enough. Sayanara!

I wonder which of the 2 Spains we will see today? The nervous, disjointed directionless one of the first half against Tunisia or the Fabregastic attaking force of the second half against Tunisia? Seeing as they're up against one of the weakest teams in the tournament and they've already qualified so are playing without pressure, I hope they put on a show. Ukraine SHOULD join them in the next stage, but Tunisia, who could well go through themselves with a win, did give the Spaniards a scare on their last outing...

Which just leaves the enigma wrapped in a mystery that is group G. Wtf is going on here? SURELY, surely, France with world class players in every position (OK, except in goal) and one of the world's 2 best goal-scorers [see the "Sheer untouchable brilliance" thread in this forum] will wake up, win their game and qualify? Switzerland ought to get through too. But anything can happen. Watch out for Abedayor up front for Togo against France. Not a great player, IMO, but an amazing look-a-like of Outkast's Andre 3000. Shake it like a polaroid picture, Abedayor!

After this, it's a straight knock-out tournament all the way. Now would be a good time for a team to find some form and luck...