World Cup Thread

[Blackleaf]

Re: RE: World Cup Thread

Sorry Blackleaf, but COME ON FRANCE win it!!!!....I'm not a turncoat honest, I just saw their performance and considering how old the team is, I thought they were amazing, COME ON HENRY!!!

I want Italy to win. The French and Germans are arrogant arses, and an Englishman wanting either of those to win is like a Scotsman wanting England to win.

I'm rooting for Italy. They might be cheats, but it'll be good to see them hopefully use their cheating skills against the Germans.

 

[Daz_Hockey]

nah the Azzuri will do nothing, I think to Hate the germans is wrong and short sighted, apart from the first half of the last century who have been our traditional allies?, and France, well they are just a better team than Italy and I want em to walk all over Portugal

 

[Toro]

I've always disliked the Germans, and always cheered for Italy when they played Germany. (My first WC was 1982, when Germany cheated to get to the final v. a fabulous French side, and Italy were playing good, attacking football that tournament.)

However, not this time. I've really enjoyed watching Germany. They are attack, attack, attack under Klinsman.

But I think Italy has a real shot. They play the type of game that works well on foreign soil. Italy may also be the best all round team left in the tournament. And Italy beat Germany in a friendly 0-1 in Germany a few months ago.

But whatever the result, I'll be pulling for the winner of the France v. Portugal match. Even though France is not the electric sides of the past, I've always had a soft spot for the way the French played. Portugal has never won it, and has a talented, skilled side, so I'd be happy if they won it too.

 

[Daz_Hockey]

Yeah Jurgen seems to be playing in very similar style to Ossie Ardiles at Tottenham Hotspur, the first time he played for em in England, .i.e. Attack, Attack, Attack....I also dont think they neccersarily cheat anymore than most continental teams, Italy are pretty bad at diving too.

Effectively I'd just like a France vs. Germany final because, although I dont hate or dislike either, I think it would be fun to watch them go at it.

But also, you know about simple seven law in world cup torniments?...only 7 teams usually win it, and currently Portugal aint one of em (although technically neither is a united germany) so I'll go for france

 

[Toro]

Gerrard blasts Ronaldo

By Mark Buckingham | Sunday 2nd July

Steven Gerrard has slammed the conduct of Cristiano Ronaldo for his role in Wayne Rooney's red card.

Rooney was sent off during England's World Cup quarter final defeat to Portugal after stamping on Ricardo Carvalho.

As referee Horatio Elizondo stood over the incident, Ronaldo came up to the official to remonstrate over the actions of his Manchester United team-mate.

Ronaldo was then pushed by Rooney before the England striker was dismissed for his initial altercation with Carvalho.

The actions of Ronaldo have drawn heavy criticism and Gerrard was fuming with the Portuguese winger.

"If it was one of my team-mates, I'd be absolutely disgusted in him because there's no need for that," said Gerrard.

"I've seen Ronaldo going over giving the card and I think he's bang out of order."

Television cameras also caught Ronaldo winking at the Portuguese dugout after Rooney's sending off, with Gerrard again infuriated by his Premiership rival.

The Liverpool captain added: "I think that sums him up as a person.

"If I was playing against my team-mates from Liverpool and they were involved in a situation like that, I'd never try and get them sent off."

http://home.skysports.com/worldcup/...onaldo&lid=&channel=worldcup2006&f=rss&clid=1

 

[Daz_Hockey]

completely right Toro, I still think the FA should try to sign Big Phil....why? because 1. he is VERY tactically astute, he knew how tired the england players were, how rubbish they are at penalties and fooled everyone into wondering why he didnt add another attacker after rooney went off......he knew Rooney had a short fuse.

and also, this is what my friends dont understand or have said "but he cheats, tells players to dive, foul" yes, yes and yes......but you cannot play Mr Nice-guy anymore now, it gets you nowhere, and you have to be more cunning than stamping on a players balls in front of the ref.

and I think he'd come MUCH cheaper than Erikson nd has proved he's a better manager......although tactically you cannot beat Glenn Hoddle...JUST NOT STEVE MCLAREN he's a carbon-copy of Sven!!! nooooo

 

[glossprincess]

Ok, I know everyone has already moved on but I have to get this out........

Canadianitalian, I've already explained to you that the things I say are directed at the Italian football team not the country!!! I've been to Italy, I love the country, I love the people. My dad even lived there for Chrissake!!

But I dislike strrongly your football team and my anger and resentment is towards them! I never said anything about YOU or about Italians in general so stop insulting me, ok?! I'm only 19 and I have major self-esteem issues and believe it or not, a random on the other side of the world telling me I have no class gets to me! I know I shouldnt let that happen, but it just does. Ok, so just stop, please!

 

[Daz_Hockey]

Gloss, soz, first rule of football supporting for the unwashed countries such s the US/Canada or AUS/NZ, insult a man's national team and you might as well have just insulted him.

Italians are some of the most passionate football fans and I'm sure this rule applies to italian american/canadians too.......ur lucky he didnt call the mafiosy in to put a hit on yo ass!!

 

[Toro]

Terry Butcher's England view

Sven-Goran Eriksson has left his job as England coach after five-and-a-half years in charge - and we are no further forward than when he was appointed.

He has reached three quarter-finals in two World Cups and a European Championship, and that is nowhere near the standard we should be achieving with the so-called "Golden Generation" of players coming through.

England and the Football Association have created a massive bubble that we all have to move around in and it is completely false.

Why should we be proud of the fact that we have one star on our shirt representing the fact that we reached one World Cup final 40 years ago?

We have become all Billy Big Time and become too big for our boots, and yet we have got nothing to shout about

Other countries have two or three stars to signify their World Cup achievements and both Germany and France have the power to add another in Germany.

It is embarrassing. We have only ever been in one final and two semi-finals.

How can we justify calling ourselves a world football power when we are not?

We have become all Billy Big Time and become too big for our boots, and yet we have got nothing to shout about because we have done nothing. This is what annoys me.

We have no right to be as confident or arrogant about our football as we are. It has been not been anywhere near good enough.

And sadly, Eriksson has not taken us on to the next level.

He has never come up with a blend in midfield that can take us forward. Our back four has been terrific, but there seems to be a dearth of forward talent after Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen.

Eriksson has also shied away from the big decisions. Everyone knows my view on David Beckham and the fact that I felt he should have been dropped during this World Cup.

I am not, despite what people have said, anti-Beckham. I just don't subscribe to the theory that you play your so-called best players without question.

Sometimes you need to get the best blend.

Beckham has received plenty of criticism during this World Cup
It's like baking. You need to mix the ingredients correctly or you get a flat pudding - and this World Cup was the football equivalent of a flat pudding for England.

I honestly think England would have gone further had Eriksson sat up and taken the tough decisions, and my honest opinion is that there were times when England would have been better off without Beckham.

Take Frank Lampard. He has not been at his best. Would Eriksson have considered leaving him out if we had gone further?

He has moved from system to system and there have been different teams. There has been no sense of continuity.

Other teams in the World Cup have had their teams and systems set out before they arrived. We never had that.

The 4-1-4-1 system never worked. It was a system that suited Eriksson more than the players because it enabled him to get the star names in the side.

Eriksson's attitude to friendlies has also been poor. His constant use of players for token appearances has been an abuse of international matches.

We had people like Alan Thompson given one match and then discarded. This wasn't conducive to continuity or for players getting valuable international playing time.

So Eriksson moves on to his next job, leaving us no more advanced than when he arrived

The big disappointment in this World Cup was that England just didn't play. I was optimistic, but that was based on Eriksson taking the big decisions - it didn't happen.

At least at Euro 2004 England played well against France, Switzerland and Croatia, and also against Portugal before they went out.

It just hasn't happened for them here, despite the fact that their preparation conditions were perfect and their draw was pretty well perfect too.

They missed a big chance against Portugal because the route was opening up. Portugal will not win the World Cup, and yet they have got past England.

In Eriksson's defence, there have been positives.

He picked up the squad and got us to the World Cup in 2002. There was that magnificent 5-1 win against Germany in Munich and successive wins against Argentina - but not a lot else that springs to mind.

So Eriksson moves on to his next job, leaving us no more advanced than when he arrived.

We have older players who won't be at the next World Cup and younger ones who have had injuries and may not make it either.

There is surgery required as Eriksson leaves England behind.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/england/5138886.stm

 

[fifiindepeg]

all you gentleman,especially" blackleaf" need to get over it.
this world cup is supposed to be about unity and ending racism and yet the racial insults are just flying.
refresh my memory, but when was the last time england won a world or european cup?
you are all allowing your emotions and personal prejudices cloud your abillity to see the situation as it truely is.
england lost to a very talented portuguese squad.it is full of stars:such as deco,figo, c. ronaldo,manich etc.not to mention a kick ass goalie.most of the players are internationals,that team had not lost a game in two years since they were in the final match of euro 2004. lets face it ,isn't it almost the same team that won with porto and mourinho that european team cup tournament? why do the brits and its tabloids think it is so shameful to lose to portugal?
and was i watching the same game on sat.? stomping on someones testicles and shoving merits punishment.your anger should be directed at mr.rooney for being irresponsible and leaving his team in that position.(portugal has also played a man down in this tournament by the way) but don't worry he wasn't going to be your saviour anyway, i did not notice his star shine previous to his send off.
listen i'm not keen on pretty boys but to call ronaldo a mummys boy when your entire squad was crying like babies is hipocritical.brazil left the field with dignity,did the argentines cry?
why are you brits so mad at ronaldo,did you want him to roll over and play dead 'cause he palys in england?i hope that kid does get transferred to sunny spain.good for him!
one more thing, past success does not automatically guarantee present success.you british seem to think it is your devine right to be successful at soccer.honey you gotta get the ball in the net,that's the way the game works!

 

[Daz_Hockey]

fifi, I thank you for your comments, understand where your coming from, but in all honesty, have a cup of tea, put your feet up, maybe a massage? but.......I'm afraid you have more holes in your arguement than a fishing net.

1. Argentina decided to start a mass brawl when they lost
2. Brazil were spat at by their own fans
3. it's called football....SOCCER is just a silly nickname by public upperclass school boys trying to dismiss aSSOCiation Football because they prefure rugby football, it's a stick to beat the common man...please.
4. Britain contains ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, WALES AND NORTHERN IRELAND.....3 of them DO NOT Support England football in ANYWAY.
5. for team sports you must know you DO NOT try to get your team mate sent off and expect to be welcomed back into the country that pays your wages?.
6. Of course the anger should be directed at Rooney, England waited for him for so long and he did that, crucify him for all I care.
7. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.......have you ever seen the scottish or northern irish, or welsh play?....it's definatly an ENGLISH not "British" game, I know that term is interchangable in your part of the world, for that I forgive you.
simple really, now how many sugars was that with the tea?
(although I personally like Lipton Brisk.....apparently I'm the only one)

 

[fifiindepeg]

daz_hockey.i did reply earlier .something must have gone wrong.
thank you for the geo and history lesson you seem like a bright boy.that is why your logic surprises me.

#1 i appologize to all the brits that are non english.
#2 Munited pays ronaldos salary not england.after all it is a business
#3 does your employer own your ass on personal time.surely not in liberal england
#when you play on the same team you are a teammate, opposite teams you are opponents.ronaldo's concern was for his teammate at the present time.

and quite frankly i enjoy my caffiene fulthrottle,i drink espresso no sugar lots of cream.right now however i will put my feet up and have a huge glass of portuguese wine.

 

[glossprincess]

I'm not taking away from what Rooney did, he needs to learn to control his temper or he can expect to get into more trouble again and again. BUT (and I know this is probably mostly propaganda and hear'say) but I saw a news report syaing that Ronaldo whispered into Rooney's ear before the game started that he was gonna get him sent off. And you can clearly see if you watch the match footage that he winks at his coach right after Rooney is sent off. That seems pretty damn off to me.....

AND, just one more thing, no disrespect to you fifiindepeg....but I am SO sick of newbies coming into this thread and attacking other members. You guys needa check out the forum a bit more and get to know long-standing members before you start spitting out insults. Thats just common courtesy in my opinion....

 

[Daz_Hockey]

Frankly, I'm not bothered, but Rooney deserves to be slated for his attitude....he was actually being paid by the FA, and his other employer was english (well american owned) and what he and Christiano Ronaldo did showed a complete lack of interest in their employers...1 ofRonaldo's and 2 of Rooney's, so yes it is England's business, besides it was clear Christiano Ronaldo was angling for a move to Real Madrid.

I'm no cleverer than anyone else, but I AM English, we did invent the game, perhaps like the US and the baseball world series we feel we have a god-given-right to it...christ knows we spent the first 30 year telling ourselves that foreigners couldnt play our game.

And Portugal is an awful team, crickey, they couldnt beat England in normal time without both their strikers, captain and 10 players...doesnt sound like a very good team now does it?.

 

[fifiindepeg]

glossprincess , i didn't intend to ruffle your feathers. hey...i'm canadian,i'm a nice gal.go back and read my original comment, there wasn't an insult in there.it is because i am a newbie that i can be objective,your words certainly do not encourage any new members.
what's in a wink anyway,don't read too much into it.is cristiano that powerful that he can persuade an experienced ref to hand out red cards? get real(no disrespect)maybe if the ref was an 18 yr old female.

as for you daz_hockey, i thought you were O.K.now your true colours are coming thru.please do not use regionalisms,what the hell is "crickey".i have been watching SOCCER since i was a wee girl but i'll admit i'm not an expert.therefore i consulted the males in my life who are players and fanatics.they confirmed what i already knew, PORTUGAL is not awful.they too were playing without their captain and two best players deco and costinha.and...england was only down to 10 men a portion of the time.
if they are sooo superior what kept them from scoring sooner at 11 men? even opportunity during shootout one ball in net,why?what kept them from beating that AWFUL team in 2004? what word do the english use to describe worse than AWFUL?

your nationality does not detemine your athletic superiority. i respect all the players at that level. i for one understand the dedication, mental strength and hours of training involved to be good at your sport.accept that whoever remains deserves it.

seriously...you should get yourself one of those huge supersized portuguese flags to help absorb all those tears.send one to your national team while your at it.

 

[Daz_Hockey]

my true colour are not showing fif, it's actually true, the world cup (or coupe de monde) has been going since the '30's, but England (and I dont mean me) saw fit to join it in 1962, before that they looked down at every other country who decided to join this "french organisation they call FIFA", really, as a Candian you must understand England's views about the French doing anything with a game, that really was created and born in England.

It's not me, I hve nothing against you and I know you wernt being personal, neither was I, maybe my wording was becoming a bit "regional", Crickey is used all the time in the south of England, sort of like Blimey or Flippin 'eck, just a phrase nothing more.

But, on paper, Portugal DID have a worse team than England, Figo is 34, Christiano Ronaldo has a problem turning on his inside left and the rest of the team is made up of marginal players, the difference for them were 2 people...1. Ricardo their Goalkeeper (outstanding) and 2. Phillpe Scholari, great manager.

England SHOULD have walked past them, and if their full squad was avilable, they probably would have, but they didnt, best of luck to portugal against France is what I say....they'll certainly need it.

Please dont misunderstand me, I'm not trying to be agressive towards you, but do just remember, the rest of the world do call it football or fuseball or something similar, Soccer does mean Association football and that will never change, but hey I'm not trying to upset you in any way honest.

 

[Toro]

Portugal beat England, nothing else matters. 'Nuff said.

My prediction today

Germany 2 Italy 1

 

[Toro]

Actually, Portugal drew England, then beat them on penalties. The record will show a 0-0 draw.

 

[Daz_Hockey]

indeed

 

[Blackleaf]

if they are sooo superior what kept them from scoring sooner at 11 men?

What kept Portugal from scoring? The Portuguese couldn't even score against England when they had 11 men and the English only had 10, thanks to our impenetrable defence.

what kept them from beating that AWFUL team in 2004? what word do the english use to describe worse than AWFUL?

England should have beaten them 3-2 after extra time in 2004 but we had a bent referee. It was 2-2 after 90 minutes. It went to 30 minutes extra time. The first goal to be scored wins. England scored thanks to Sol Campbell. The game then should have finished as soon as that goal went in with England into the semi-Final and Portugal out. But the referee disallowed the goal, for some unfathomable reason. No England player was offside when the goal was scored, no foul was committed. There was nothing illegal. But for some reason the referee disallowed the goal. So England DID beat Portugal, but the referee allowed the Portuguese to go through to the next round.