OFFICIAL FIFA World Cup 2006 Thread

[Flame On]

Sorta like watching the Flames in that, lots of effort and chances, no finish. Good result (for me) in the end though.
Not to PO anyone though by talking about England.

[J pold]

Just got back from watching the second half of the game!! Wonderful final 10 minutes!!

[kn]

Maybe Canada will one day pull a T&T...

[Scrambler]

Thank god Sweden won against Paraguay in the 90th minute, they definately deserved it after their efforts in the past two games! I look forward to seeing all the English fans at the Rose & Crown on the 20th at noon!

[azzarish]

Originally Posted by Jagger

As I was saying Crouch is really tall, hence the reason he's in there. Happy to see him get that goal after the shocking miss. Great goal by Gerrard agasint Hislop again. He must be sick of the sight of Gerrard.

Lampard was shocking out there too. I liked the performance of Lennon once he came on.

Oh and play Gerrard further forward. He should have Lampards position.

I don't understand why Gerrard is not given a more forward role. We've all seen what he's done for Liverpool pushing forward, England will be a far far better team if Gerrard is given a free role believe me. Brings up the old debate of whether Gerrard and Lampard can play together in the same team. I don't think they can because they are too similar, the other problem ofcourse is that the other 2 midfielders, Beckham and Cole are not defensive midfielders either. Which is why Gerrard is often found playing just ahead of the back line. He is being wasted there, why doesn't Eriksson understand this. We saw today with his goal that he is devastating when pushing forward. Eriksson has to solve this problem and quickly, Beckham is not going to be sacrificed and neither is Lampard, so I think Cole has to give way otherwise England are not going to get the best out of either Gerrard OR Lampard.

[azzarish]

Originally Posted by Pagal4321

AHHH, I wanted T&T to score that goal so badly. This Peter Crouch completely sucks....I don't understand why he's even playing.

Peter Crouch is the only England player that looks like scoring. As was proven today, ofcourse Gerrard got a goal too, but Crouch has been scoring regularly for England recently.

[octothorp]

Argentina destroyed Serbia, and now Netherlands are dismantling the Ivory Coast. Can't wait to see Argentina and Netherlands play one-another. This game also had the first diving penalty I've seen, on about the twentieth time in the WC that I've seen somebody clearly dive. Infact, this dive was far less obvious than a lot of others that have gone uncalled.

[Footscray]

Holland is getting exposed in this game bad at the back - sharp sharp finishing from their forwards but the shots must be about 12-4 ivory coast who have also hit the bar and trail 2-1. Dutch D looks ridiculously slow with a gameplan to greco-roman wrestle with drogba when the ref wasn't looking, good thing their forward play has been clinical.

[octothorp]

Yeah, since that second Dutch goal, it's been all Ivory Coast. They're a good side, it's too bad they're in the toughest group in the tournament. I'm a little bit worried though about my choice of the Netherlands to win it all this year; they aren't showing a lot right now.

[sadora]

I'm pretty excited about the possibilities for tomorrow's matches, especially since the USA might be eliminated tomorrow if Italy and the Czechs win. For those of you that aren't too familiar with Football rivalries having the USA in the World Cup is almost as bad as having the Oilers in the playoffs, it just shouldn't happen...and it will be a great day for Football if the gringos are eliminated tomorrow...it will be an even better day if the Cane's can win their game. I hope to see Commodore kissing Stanley tomorrow.

Go Azzurri

[Jagger]

Originally Posted by fotze

How do you guys get past the acting.

It's annoying as heck but I grew up watching football and the World cup so I guess I've become used to it to some extent. Not that I accept it though as I still end up shouting in irritation at the antics at times. In England acting used to be non existant and you would only see it when an English team played a continental team. Unfortunately it has become more prevalent in the English game too albeit to a slightly lessor extent.

Fifa has said that it will clamp down on diving on numerous occasions but that's just lip service as it rarely is.

Bottom line, I guess I don't totally get past the acting and I wish it would change. However, it never has in my lifetime so unless I quit watching I just have to put up with it. Ridiculous isn't it?

[JayP]

Originally Posted by Jagger

Fifa has said that it will clamp down on diving on numerous occasions but that's just lip service as it rarely is.

It really is.

There's only been one yellow for diving in the whole tournament (against the Netherlands) IIRC. It's funny - a lot of the time the ref makes note of the dive, but doesn't pull a card. I hope these refs are getting reprimanded by FIFA as they're pretty much doing the exact opposite of what they've been told to do.

[Sylvanfan]

Ghana is on the verge of pulling a stunning upset against the Czechs. If the US was to beat Italy today it make for an interesting finish in this group.

[KevanGuy]

What a great game to watch. Ghana was all over the place!

[JayP]

Shame that Ghana didn't score at least one more goal in that win. As of now, the Czechs still hold the tiebreaker.

Oh well, Ghana still has a very good shot at beating the Americans.

[Pagal4321]

An amazing game with quite the shocking outcome.

[Sylvanfan]

If not for some pretty good saves by the Czech goalkeeper Ghana could have racked up 4 or 5 goals. Pretty impressive game by the African squad.

[Oil Stain]

I've been watching bits and pieces of World Cup games as I'm not really a soccer fan, but I couldn't turn away from that game. It was absolutely great to watch. If every game was like that I'd be a huge soccer fan.

The Ghanans (sp?) dancing after the second goal was hilarious. What's up with the Isreali flag?

[JayP]

Originally Posted by JayP

Shame that Ghana didn't score at least one more goal in that win. As of now, the Czechs still hold the tiebreaker.

Oh well, Ghana still has a very good shot at beating the Americans.

Actually I was wrong (..or wikipedia was wrong). Looks like head-to-head results are the first tie-breaker.

[Mccree]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

I

The Ghanans (sp?) dancing after the second goal was hilarious. What's up with the Isreali flag?

Good question anyone know the answer?