2006 World Cup

[CaptTurbo]

Did australia lose with a man advatage or did they lose a man too? ESPN 360 is choppy at best and im on high speed.

 

[Renz]

Very sad to see that Australia lose at the last second

The traditional soccer powers get the important calls. That's the way FIFA wants it.

 

[Stout]

That's Italian soccer for you. Australia deserved to lose that game. Going up a man and playing scared.

Quite true, like our last game. I think Australia got screwed a bit more, but it boils down to having all the opportunity and advantage in the world to advance and completely choking.

 

[SECTION 11]

Not to change the subject, but I hope Bruce Arena calls it a career as the US general. Aside from the fact that he completely squashed our offense and I hold him responsible for a very disappointing #25 finish, I think that his leaving could benefit US player development. Along the lines of Rafa Benitez and his infusion of Spaniards for Liverpool, Arena could tap US players to suit his needs.
I dunno. I'm done with him. We need somebody that can take us further.

 

[Stout]

Not to change the subject, but I hope Bruce Arena calls it a career as the US general. Aside from the fact that he completely squashed our offense and I hold him responsible for a very disappointing #25 finish, I think that his leaving could benefit US player development. Along the lines of Rafa Benitez and his infusion of Spaniards for Liverpool, Arena could tap US players to suit his needs.
I dunno. I'm done with him. We need somebody that can take us further.

To go even further, it's incomprehensible to me that he hasn't been fired already. We're playing Mr. Nice Guy. This is the soccer world, and performances like his bad coaching display do NOT go unpunished.

 

[Stout]

Did australia lose with a man advatage or did they lose a man too? ESPN 360 is choppy at best and im on high speed.

No, they had the man advantage. They just refused to change their tactics to attack. Pathetic.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Ukraine Wins! Woo hoo!

 

[arthurracoon]

my god, you have to be able to make 1 penalty kick out of 3...right?!?!?

 

[CaptTurbo]

I knew it. Here is the training video of the europeans.

http://thatvideosite.com/view/2760.html

 

[dogpoo32]

Come on Ghana! They aren't looking too bad. Almost scored on a header that Dida was lucky to stop. Now another great opportunity on a free kick.

 

[dogpoo32]

So much for that. 2-0 Brazil. Looked offsides to me.

 

[Stout]

Wow, two games in two days have been decided by dives. I mean, this one was far, far worse than Italy's, although the Ref was blocked from the play. Thierry Henry made a flop he'd probably have gotten a red card for if the ref had been on the other side. The defender basically layed his arm across Henry's chest with a little bit of inadvertant elbow. May not even have been a foul under normal circumstances. Henry then flops to the ground and clutches at his face, as if he had been elbowed in the face. The ref could only see an arm come across and Henry's reaction, as he was blocked by their bodies. The result? A free kick that went in for a goal. Way to flop it, Europeans.

 

[arthurracoon]

stupid refs

 

[Dback Jon]

Quarterfinals set - matches Friday and Saturday

Germany-Argentina
Italy-Ukraine

England-Portugal
Brazil-France

 

[BACH]

stupid refs

Blame the FIFA officials.

They put out stricter guide-lines for the refs before the World Cup started, and then publicly blamed the refs for their performance.

 

[arthurracoon]

and I thought the flopping in basketball was bad....

 

[Compa]

Wow, two games in two days have been decided by dives. I mean, this one was far, far worse than Italy's, although the Ref was blocked from the play. Thierry Henry made a flop he'd probably have gotten a red card for if the ref had been on the other side. The defender basically layed his arm across Henry's chest with a little bit of inadvertant elbow. May not even have been a foul under normal circumstances. Henry then flops to the ground and clutches at his face, as if he had been elbowed in the face. The ref could only see an arm come across and Henry's reaction, as he was blocked by their bodies. The result? A free kick that went in for a goal. Way to flop it, Europeans.

I guess you can consider this revenge for Henry's champions league loss to Puyol's Barca. This reminds me, even Arsenal's only goal in that game came from a free kick from a dive. Henry is probably my favorite player in the world, but I hate to see a goal produced by a flop.

 

[English on tour]

so what do you reckon from now then chaps

England are due a good game at some point and see no reason why we cant beat any team left in there to be honest. Ok i know we wont because we are England and thats normally enought to ensure we **** it up somewhere.

for the Port game they have a few players out and Figo should have been out so this cancels out our Owen loss. If Erickson keeps with the 4-5-1 i think we wont make enought chances to win the games - unless he plays it with real width and uses the likes of Lennon and Downing! Cant see croouch playing from the start and Theo Walcott seams like a wasted man on the squad if hes not going to use him!


so what about ARG - ITL and BRZ - PORT in the semis and a Brazil - ARG final

 

[Djaughe]

...so what about ARG - ITL and BRZ - PORT in the semis and a Brazil - ARG final

I'll take it.

 

[English on tour]

I'll take it.

i had heard that, but what about the final

 

[BigDavis75]

My picks are Germany, Portugal, Italy, and France.

 

[dogpoo32]

Brazil, Portugal, Italy, Argentina

Well, I guess the exact same thing English has got.

 

[Stout]

I'm going with Argentina, England, Ukraine (as the dark horse) and, much as I hate to say it, Brazil. I can't root for France, but I hate, hate HATE rooting for Brazil. They're like the Chicago Bulls, New York Yankees, and Dallas Cowboys all rolled into one for me. People love them because they're good. If they were indeed playing the beautiful game this time around, I'd find it easier, but they're playing ugly.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Ukraine (as the dark horse)

 

[Stout]

Interesting fact: there has been an underdog in the semifinals for the past three World Cups.

2002: South Korea and Turkey
1998: Croatia
1994: Sweden and Bulgaria
1990: All big dogs...Argentina v Italy, W. Germany v England

The latest World Cup trends seem to point to underdogs making it to the Semifinals, and the Semifinals weeding out those underdogs. Who saw Croatia makin it that far, or Turkey, or Bulgaria? South Korea? Okay, they were hosts, but still a big surprise. Sweden? As far as I know, they weren't that highly regarded, but I could be wrong.

I think the Ukraine has a great chance agaisnt Italy. Italy is a defense-first squad, and with Nesta out with injury and his replacement, Materazzi, is out suspended. And Schevchenko...well, I'll just say I won't be surprised if Italy can indeed grind it out, but my money is on the Ukraine.