OFFICIAL FIFA World Cup 2006 Thread

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Im happy as a Portugal fan, but obviously not thirlled about their performance. Having said that, they hit a post. had some decent chances throughout the game, had the lions share of possesion, but at times, didnt all that sharp. But, they got the win, and if they win on Saturday, are thru to the next round, and if they come out with a good performace on Saturday, all about this game is forgotten. A notorious slow start for the Portuguese.

[Flame On]

Originally Posted by Jagger

Perhaps you have 51% Scottish ancestry then. You sure sound like a true Scot....or Irish.....or Welsh. Take your pick.

Hear hear. Maybe we should be hearing more about those unqualifying teams.

England has always been the most hyped team with their ridiculous media and ridiculously overrated group of scrubs. Now granted this year I concede that they actually have a good team. But I mean the love in for David Beckham, his idiotic hair styles and the fact that they fall on their faces every single year since 1966 is the reason why they are the leafs.

I'm sick of hearing about England. I'm sick of England being crammed down my throat and hogging all the air waves taking time from other MUCH more deserving teams. I could friggin care less about Wayne Rooney's gambling debts and what he was eating after his 23rd x-ray in a month on his broken foot.

Finally and most importantly, I'm sick of the brainless England fans getting wasted and acting like a bunch of cavemen. This is the worst thing about the team, their small, but ever-so-large group of fans that is nothing less than bad night on Whyte Ave.

I would also like to point out that I am entirely British by ancestry, one half English one half Scottish.

I disagree all we hear about is England too. I hear far more about goofs like Ronaldo and Zidane when they're on their game. And as for drinking fans, yeah that's really exclusive to England...
I do agree that Beckham is bit of a tit though.

[Hakan]

Sorry Flame On but you're acting like a Leafs fan here. If I were to say that I'm sick of hearing about Mats Sundin or Bryan McCabe or Ed Belfour all the time, a leafs fan would respond with "well we hear alot more about Ovechking and Crosby.

The thing is that Ovechkin and Crosby deserve to be talked about more than Mats Sundin and Bryan McCabe just as Zidane and Ronaldo deserve to more than Beckham and Rooney.

[Pagal4321]

Tomas Rosicky...Wow, just wow. Those shots were a thing of beauty. One is a goal the other hits the bar. And what a nice touch on his second goal.

Glad this guy is going to play for Arsenal next year, he looks like an awesome young talent.
Czech's passing is also a thing of beauty. A good game for them.

[Flame On]

Whatever, I just think you're a bit obsessed with Beckham and the Maple Leafs Hakan.

[Suave]

Wow that second half was a clinic put on by the Czech's. They certainly didn't hold back once they had the lead, though my heart did jump a couple of times when Johnson had a couple of chances. This result helps a lot in making it to the second round, now if only we can finish first to avoid Brazil.

[Suave]

Originally Posted by fotze

So maybe Brazil is the Colorado Avalanche of soccer.

That sounds about right. And I would defiantly agree that England are the Maple Leafs of soccer. Mainly because of all the hype and lack of results since the 60's. It's just a byproduct of being over exposed to the premiership here. I’m sure if I lived in Portugal I would have a hate on for them.

[Footscray]

Man Tim Cahill is awesome - Australia got what they deserved after that brutal goal - looked like Japan took tips from the Oilers on cheezy goals and keeper interference there.

USA-Czech commentary - ahahahahahahahaha
that's all i got.

England has been kinda overrated in the past but I picked them this year, Rooney and Beckham are brutal personalities, especially Rooney whose language and antics on the field are boorish, just can't stand the little bugger and what he pulled on the Toffees was weak. Gerrard, Lampard, Terry, Cole, Carrick (Defoe unfortunately) are some of my favourite players and class acts, look at Cole with Chelsea sucking it up and fighting through being on the bench instead of being a prima donna, just pure class.

No need for the potshots on the nationalities themselves, someone's gonna get choked and we all know there are good and bad in any country, especially the England v Colonies which can get ugly real quick - as far as a bad team and drunken poorly behaved fans Poland is at another level anyway (sorry Polish fans had to).

[cSpooge]

Originally Posted by Flame On

Yes and the reason why people like Brazil is because they win, i.e. a lot of front runner, fair weather , or band wagoner fans, pick your term.

not me... im all about Ukraine/Nederlands (im half and half)

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Pagal4321

Tomas Rosicky...Wow, just wow. Those shots were a thing of beauty. One is a goal the other hits the bar. And what a nice touch on his second goal.

Glad this guy is going to play for Arsenal next year, he looks like an awesome young talent.
Czech's passing is also a thing of beauty. A good game for them.

I got giddy watching those highlights. Can't wait to see more of this guy and watch him in a gunners uniform.

[Jagger]

Rosicky is an amazing player. He was a Liverpool target during the Houllier years and I remember Pool fans being very exciting about the prospects of landing him. Benitez never followed up on that interest unfortunately. Liverpool's loss is very much Arsenal's gain.

The Czech's look very impressive to me.

[mrdeeds]

The Czechs are proving they deserve their current FIFA ranking. I am really rooting for Spain first and Mexico second. Either have a good chance of making the finals this year and might just win it all!

[Pagal4321]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

I got giddy watching those highlights. Can't wait to see more of this guy and watch him in a gunners uniform.

If you watched the game, you'd be more giddy.
Though I'm not sure who's place he'll take in Arsenal's midfield. But that's not for this thread now is it.

Was it just me or was Italy whining ALOT...both teams were diving like crazy in that game.

[josef]

rosicky is a very streaky player when he´s not playin for the czechs
i´m not sure why arsenal played 10 mio € for him - he´s not worth it, he has all the skill but he seldom is interested in using them (he´s different when playin for his national team!!)
edit: maybe he´ll make the same development than alex hleb who is now a much better player than he was before he joined arsenal
too bad for the czechs that jan koller is injured they will really miss him

[KevanGuy]

wow, just watched the Japan v. Australiar eplay. Unbelievable. Now that is what the World CUp is all about! Here is to the Socceroos making it to the knockout stage!

[Table 5]

how come after every world cup match they play the old soviet national anthem?

[octothorp]

France and Switzerland tie, 0-0. That's now four straight WC matches without a goal for France.

[Footscray]

Watching the Croatia - Brazil game and I think one of the tablecloth fans has a whistle, everytime Brazil gets a scoring chance they are blowing it - nice tactics guys.

[sadora]

Just got back from watching France vs. Switzerland and Brazil vs. Croatia. France played well but were unfortunately unable to capitalize on some very good chances. I'm glad to see Zinadine Zidane playing well, perhaps to his usual standard, but the chances that France had were started by great balls played in by Zidane. Brazil's game was very entertaining although I was dissapointed with the way Ronaldo played. He looked very uninspired except for one good scoring opportunity. I was happy to see Robinho come in and give the team some spark and I'm wondering now whether Parreira will decide to start with Robinho next game instead of Ronaldo. Overall I was very happy with the way Brazil played. They always have a slow start in the WC and a win against a strong team like Croatia is defenitely a boost for their moral.

I must say that my two biggest dissapointments so far have been England and Argentina. England's play was boring most of the game and they looked bad against an even worse team. Bekham and Crouch played well but their offense was lacking that spark that Rooney provides. Ivory coast surprised the Argentinian's by dominating play and IMO Argentina got lucky with both of the goals they scored, Saviola's goal especially because he was offside. I was expecting both England and Argentina to play better and I hope that they improve for their next respective games.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by sadora

I was happy to see Robinho come in and give the team some spark and I'm wondering now whether Parreira will decide to start with Robinho next game instead of Ronaldo.

I wasn't too happy with him diving all around the field trying to get calls against Croatia though. That was sort of annoying.