the "Germany 2006 World Cup" thread

[Ten Ton Alien]

ok, ok, it's just around the corner.

here's the full list of teams heading to Germany.

qualified teams (as of 16/11/2005):

African Zone

Angola
Cote d'Ivoire
Togo
Ghana
Tunisia
Trinidad and Tobago

Asian Zone

Japan
Iran
Korea Republic
Saudi Arabia

European Zone

Germany
Ukraine
Netherlands
Poland
England
Croatia
Italy
Portugal
Sweden
Serbia and Montenegro
France
Czech Republic
Spain
Switzerland

North, Central American and Caribbean Zone

USA
Mexico
Costa Rica

South American Zone

Argentina
Brazil
Equador
Paraguay

Oceania

Australia

predictions, teams that will dissapoint, teams that will surprise, winners, losers, etc.

feel free to post your thoughts.

[blizzard_beast]

Go Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Armenia, Belorussia, Germany and England! (In that order)

[obrien20]

Winner - Argentina

Second Place - Holand

Third Place - Brazil

[Def]

Winner - Argentina

Second Place - Holand

Third Place - Brazil
Argentina? are they doing that well now?

I saw their under-20 team in the world cup under 20 final this year, they definetly have a lot of young talent!!

Holland has been doing great lately, since Marco Van Basten is our coach we haven't lost a single match, I think that's about 16 games now.... including last saturday when we beat the czechs at their place with 0-2.

I think Brasil has great chances of getting in the final, I also think Argentina will get far but I don't think they're going to be in the finals, maybe the semi-finals. Anyways, I do expect Brasil in the final.

I don't expect much from asian and north/central american area, except for mexico maybe... America might provide a small surprise somewhere but I don't think they're 'up there'.

as for the european teams;

Germany; it's the host country, they will probably get pretty far. they have too. plus, Germany allways seems to do well in tournaments, it's not allways pretty but they do find a way to 'bore through' to the final few. I think they'll at least reach the semi-finals!

Holland; our team is finally taking shape, it's been rebuild from the ground by Marco 'Goalo' Van Basten, backed up by Johan 'El Salvatore' Cruyff... hey what can I add to that, it should be a great team..
Right now, everything went great, we finished 1st in our qualifying poule with one more match to go. There's loads of new talent in the team and there's some more experienced guys like Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cocu and Davids to back it up.
If we continue to grow even more (like we have in the last few matches) I think we'll have a very good chance of reaching the final four.
Somehow Holland hasn't had a team like this in years, because the new guys never got a chance, Van Basten changed that and it worked out great. I expect them to (at least) reach the semi-finals. maybe even the finals, however I don't see them winning it against Brasil unless we grow a lot in the tournament.

France; I don't expect much from them. they're far from the team that won the ec back in the day. a lot of players from that day lost their touch and the last couple of matches didn't look all too promising. Honestly, I see them going out, very, very soon. Maybe that's just me though.

Portugal; They'll get far but will probably end up somewhere in the quarter finals, not a bad team. I was amazed they didn't crush Holland at the EC, because Holland was very, very weak and it was still the 'old' group with Dick Advocaat as coach. (who only liked defensive tactics and was fired btw..)
Portugal is a pretty steady team, I think they'll get pretty far in the tournament.

England; I heard Owen yelling they where going to be world champions. well... judging by the last couple of matches... I don't think so. I don't know if they will get everything in order but they should be capable of playing much better. Maybe somethings need to change in that team because the England I saw playing last couple of matches wasn't the England I like to watch.
I allways have held English soccer in high regards because it's just far more spectacular then the lame-ass-counter-goal-strategy from southern europe ;) I don't know what will happen with them, I'de like to see them play against Holland in the world cup because it should be a great match.

Italy; another team with loads of talent. somehow they're allways kinda unlucky in tournaments. I think they'll be eliminated by mexico/argentina or whatever somewhere in the early stages. don't know why, but I wouldn't be surprised.

czech republic; hey, they're not even qualified yet! but they probably will be qualified. they're 3rd of the world, they where beaten twice by Holland in the last couple of months. both with 2-0 for Holland.. they're missing a LOT of players now though, Koller and Nedved are both not there at the moment, which royally fucks them over. if they qualify they will reach the quarter finals, at least.


allright, I'm done for now.

I'de like to remind you of the european group results as of now, Holland is the only one with 31 points and still one match to go. which means we've got the highest qualifying score in the whole of europe!
That's quite a difference to the world cup in 2002, where we FAILED to qualify. imagine how much good coaching and scouting helps... we're no.2 on the fifa world ranking list now, even though that list is gay, it's still good to see we're up there again.
I'm happy we're going to Germany and I'm eager to see some great matches! it would be great if we get far but we'll just see about that in due time. :)

[Black_Star]

Well, I still think the WC is Holland's to lose. Talent wise we have everything Brazil has and I think we play a better brand of footy.

If England wants/has any hope of winning I think they need to find an offence that has both Owen and Rooney scoring a goal a game. Personally would like it if they played Owen, Rooney and Crouch. Does any international teams have an answer ariealy for Crouch? No. Major advantage wasted if he starts on the bench.....

[johnmansley]

Biggest disappointment will be England for sure. Our tactics are just plane wrong and besides scoring early and sitting back to defend the lead we haven't got a gameplan that could realistically lead us to glory. Oh, and if Rooney gets injured (or more likely, suspended) we're fucked.

All of this is, of course, Eriksson's fault for being a useless tactician and motivator. How poor does one have to be as a manager to not be able to get the best out of players like Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard and Owen? He can't control that fat twat's temper either although to be fair, neither can that red-nosed cunt masquerading as a manager at U****d.

[Def]

Biggest disappointment will be England for sure. Our tactics are just plane wrong and besides scoring early and sitting back to defend the lead we haven't got a gameplan that could realistically lead us to glory. Oh, and if Rooney gets injured (or more likely, suspended) we're fucked.

All of this is, of course, Eriksson's fault for being a useless tactician and motivator. How poor does one have to be as a manager to not be able to get the best out of players like Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard and Owen? He can't control that fat twat's temper either although to be fair, neither can that red-nosed cunt masquerading as a manager at U****d.

you got a point there John,

Seriously, you guys have all the top players and one of the best leagues around the globe. I enjoy watching the Premiership allmost every week.
If you look at our national team and the most important players, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Robben, Van der Sar, all playing in England. they're on similair level as the guys you've got over there but somehow England doesn't play attractive football like they should do..

Do you think there's any way England will be up to scratch before the world cup? I do hope so but I think they'de better sack Eriksson or change tactics. Else it could be over really soon for England, anyways, Owen is convinced you guys will be world champions ;)

By the way Mourinho is a fucking cunt for talking smack about Johan Cruyff, did anyone hear about that? Someone should shut him the fuck up, all he has done is get 13841302130128310982 dollar to buy a great team together.

[johnmansley]

I can't see us changing in the five games left (including Poland on Wednesday). One of the best games I've ever seen while watching England was the 5-1 victory in Munich but we haven't played like that since. We've forgotten how to.

The problem lies in the fact that Eriksson is picking the best players but they aren't suiting the system that we are currently using. Sure, Gerrard for Liverpool is probably the best midfielder in Europe and Lampard for Chelsea is not that far behind him. Play them together and they just don't work. For a start, Gerrard is forced to curb his attacking nature because Lampard is a lazy twat and won't track back.

That is criminal because Gerrard single-handedly won the Eurpean Cup for Liverpool in the summer because he drove the team forward onto Milan. He can't do that when he has to stay back and protect the back four. He's quite simply wasted in that position and what for? To accommodate Lampard.

My solution would be to play either Gerrard or Lampard - but not both - and quite honestly Gerrard is a batter passer, a better tackler and has a better footballing brain than Lampard. So I would drop Lampard and bring in Michael Carrick or Scott Parker into the holding midfield role. I reckon this would make a huge difference but Eriksson hasn't got the balls.

Re Mourinho: at first he was quite amusing with his arrogance because he wound up that Scottish cunt at Old Trafford something fierce. But now... well, he's very irritating and making a lot of enemies in the game very quickly. Rijkaard, Benitez, Wenger, Ferguson and now Cruyff - he's pissing the wrong people off.

[Ten Ton Alien]

Re Mourinho: at first he was quite amusing with his arrogance because he wound up that Scottish cunt at Old Trafford something fierce. But now... well, he's very irritating and making a lot of enemies in the game very quickly. Rijkaard, Benitez, Wenger, Ferguson and now Cruyff - he's pissing the wrong people off.

and winning games while being the best coach of the new millennium.

seriously, brits especially, stop the bitching about the man. it's not his fault he's miles ahead of any manager you've ever had in England but it is his fault that Liverpool was HUMILIATED 1-4, playing in their own stadium.

Mourinho, days before the games even happen, has already won. learn this and you'll learn how to defeat him.

[Def]

I don't think he's the best coach of the millenium, maybe in England.

to me the guy is just a cocky prick backed up by a LOT of money from his russian friends.

Compare him to Guus Hiddink, who made the semi-finals against Milan and nearly won, hell PSV Eindhoven has 1/10th of Milan's budget, don't even get me started about comparing them to Chelsea.

Oh.. where was Chelsea last CL? Liverpool won it, didn't they ;)

[johnmansley]

and winning games while being the best coach of the new millennium.

seriously, brits especially, stop the bitching about the man. it's not his fault he's miles ahead of any manager you've ever had in England.

He's got a long way to go yet! Remember, Benitez won the Champions' League in his first season in England with a team that - with the exception of Gerrard and Carragher - was nowhere near as good as the Chelsea team of last year. Benitez is the only manager to have wound Mourinho up because Benitez out-thought him in those Champions' League semi-finals and was tactically better than him.

I wouldn't say that Chelsea outplayed us when they won 4-1 either. We gifted them 3 of their four goals and the last two were only scored because we were pushing forward for an equalizer. Chelsea played good counter-attacking football but nothing more. They don't play the sort of football that Arsenal and Manchester United made the Premiership what it is today with.

Sure, Mourinho is winning games... but not a lot else. All the great managers are remembered as great becase they lost with the same grace and dignity with which they won games with. All this, "The goal that never was" regarding Luis Garcia's strike in the CL semi final last year. Yeah, OK, it wasn't a goal - instead we'll have the penalty and red card for Petr Cech that surely would have been awarded if the goal was not given. People forget that incident because you never hear Mourinho bleating about it like he does everything else. Mourinho also doesn't mention that in the last 6 games that Liverpool have played against Chelsea we have had FIVE certain penalties not given. You don't hear Benitez moaning about it, though.

I wouldn't place Mourinho in the same bracket as Busby, Shankley, Paisley, Dalglish, Clough, Ferguson or Wenger either. Mourinho hasn't achieved any standing in the game in comparison to these guys. Bob Paisley won SIX league titles and THREE European cups as well as a EUFA Cup with Liverpool in just 9 years. Not to mention 3 league cups on the trot in the early 80's as well. Mourinho has just ONE league title so I don't think his arrogance is befitting of his stature in England.

[Ten Ton Alien]

Mourinho has just ONE league title so I don't think his arrogance is befitting of his stature in England.

that's no bad considering he's only been there for one year.

so: first year in england = first league title.

and everything points to: second year in england = second league title.

[Cloaca]

Haha.

Anyway, this is about the World Cup, not fucking Mourinho. All I can say is I hope like fuck that Australia will beat Uruguay/Chile to qualify, this is one of our best oppurtunities ever.

[Dahmers Fridge]

I think our England squad will be lucky to make it past the group stages. We always just scrape through to qualify and they are pathetic to watch! We score one goal and then the team turns into 10 defenders and a goalie!
Sven needs to shout at them or make some of them sweat by not even having them on the bench for a few games, they need a kick up the arse!
Owen claims that only Brazil are above them in the world class stakes??? When did the rest of the world become so shit? It's also sad that we have to rely on Rooney being in the squad to bolster the performance, that's a lot of responsibilty for someone so young, who, lets face it has 'anger issues' all it takes is on defender to drag his studs across his ankle and he'll be taking an early bath!
If they play like they have been I shall be turning over to watch 'Little House on The Prairie' or something else less wet blousey than their performance!

[Def]

Haha.

Anyway, this is about the World Cup, not fucking Mourinho. All I can say is I hope like fuck that Australia will beat Uruguay/Chile to qualify, this is one of our best oppurtunities ever.
hey, you got Hiddink as a coach, right?? well that's one of the best guys you can have. I don't know how talented australia's team is (just never ever saw them play) but it would be cool if they qualified.

[Black_Star]

WTF!!!!!!!!!!! King starting in midfield? Whaaaaaat? http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=345442&cc=5901

Seriously I really want to to send the england FA my resume to manage because this is the biggest bone head move if you ask me. King? Midfield? :sickface:
Eriksson no more
Dekking for Manager in 06'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

edit: I guess it doesn't really matter because england is in but I don't think team morale can take another loss.....
-------------Robinson-------------
Rio-----Cambell------Terry----A.Cole

------Becks------Hardgraves-------

---------------Gerrard------------

------Owen-------------Roo-------
--------------Crouch--------------

The diagram really is useless here but basiclly:
Cole plays the leftback/winger role
Becks plays the right side to make up for rio playing rightback
Hardgraves is the holding midfielder
This frees up Gerrard to do whatever
Crouch plays slightly a head of owen or roo, use him mainly for set pieces/ariel passes to feed the other two strikers

[SARS]

The formation is right, the selection isn't.

Having two men behind Gerrard is too negative in my eyes, and Gerrard should only be in that holding role whenever England are on the back foot.

I think playing Ledley King behing Lampard & Gerrard would be a good Idea, that's a central core of players (terry, cambell & gerrard) who are all captains of their clubs and would bring the captain experience into their roles.....so really, Eriksson is playing the selection (if not the formation) I said in the other topic...with the addition of King in the centre of midfield.

[Ten Ton Alien]

Portugal didn't played very well tonight. many missed goals which makes me wonder if our current choices for the attack are the best ones.

both Nuno Gomes and Pauleta have been far surpassed by the giant Hugo Almeida. Scolari should pick him.

anyways, congrats Sweden (list updated).

[Def]

the czechs are also placed, like I expected, tough luck for roumania.

Zinedine Zidane played very well tonight! sure it was against cyprus but hey ;)


It's allways funny how people try to analyse the future but when it comes to soccer, it's very hard. Lots of teams are still growing, France is starting to be a team to, after Zidane got back they got out of the shithole they where in. they're still not the team that they where in the past. I don't see them reaching that level anyday soon.

Portugal, they're hard to judge but like I said, they have the potential of getting very far.

Did anyone catch any of the Mexico matches? man, they should provide for a nice surprise in germany.

About Germany.. they lost against Turkey this weekend :D

[Ten Ton Alien]

to me, one of the major surprises so far was Serbia & Montenegro.

Spain, Czech Republic and Turkey will now play the playoffs against Norway, Slovakia and Switzerland.

anyone expecting any major surprises?

[Cloaca]

So it's Australia vs. Uruguay again. Fuck. Here we go again, another four years of nothing.......

[Def]

to me, one of the major surprises so far was Serbia & Montenegro.

Spain, Czech Republic and Turkey will now play the playoffs against Norway, Slovakia and Switzerland.

anyone expecting any major surprises?
maybe from Slovakia?

there might be 4 dutch coaches at the world cup!

1. marco van basten (holland)
2. dick advocaat (south-korea)
3. guus hiddink (australia)
4. leo beenhakker (trinidad and tobago)

that last one, they beat mexico with 2-1 :eek: australia has got a difficult match there...

[SARS]

I hope spain are dumped out...

...christ, I hate spain.

[Def]

I hope spain are dumped out...

...christ, I hate spain.
any specific reason for that?

man, I just saw the battle of the dutchies in Portugal (Benfica vs. Porto with the dutch coaches) but Benfica really didn't do all that bad.
I hope Porto gets back into the game because Co Adriaanse is really a great coach maybe he's just beeing unlucky..

[Ten Ton Alien]

UPDATE:

World Cup Play-offs (1st leg):

Spain 5 - 1 Slovakia (holy shit)

Switzerland 2 - 0 Turkey

Uruguay 1 - 0 Australia

Norway 0 - 1 Czech Republic

Trinidad & Tobago 1 - 1 Bahrain

[wellington]

great win for England

[Cloaca]

WOO! WE'RE FUCKING IN!! :smash:

[humancorpse]

UPDATE:



Norway 0 - 1 Czech Republic

[/B]
ARGH! :mad:

[far_beyond_sane]

hey, you got Hiddink as a coach, right?? well that's one of the best guys you can have. I don't know how talented australia's team is (just never ever saw them play) but it would be cool if they qualified.

And we did! Go us. Beat Uruguay 1-0, followed by balls penalty shoot-out.

[johnmansley]

WOO! WE'RE FUCKING IN!! :smash:

Yeah, but you've got to bring your own beer!

[BeastOfCarrion]

Yeah, but you've got to bring your own beer!
We should just all steal the dutchies beer.

[johnmansley]

Go ahead... I'll stand back and watch the ensuing "drama" unfold!

[Def]

And we did! Go us. Beat Uruguay 1-0, followed by balls penalty shoot-out.
Congrats man!!!

Hiddink is a great coach, I hope he pulls off more stunts for the Socceroos!! :)

[Def]

Go ahead... I'll stand back and watch the ensuing "drama" unfold!
I'll give you 'drama' if you touch my beer!!! :mad:

[Robbie Filth]

I doubt england will get anywhere so i will support Norway who probaly have even less of a chance :cool:

[humancorpse]

Good choice ;)

[SARS]

I doubt england will get anywhere so i will support Norway who probaly have even less of a chance :cool:


I'm sorry, did you not watch the last 3 minutes on saturday?

[Robbie Filth]

No

[SARS]

No


Oh...well it was a joke anyway.

I love the way we English folk are so optimistic about our chances when the only decent football we have played in the last 6 months came within 10 minutes of football.

[Robbie Filth]

I havn't really been following the football i often don't.

But yeah england are totally shit the players are wankers too.

[SARS]

But yeah england are totally shit the players are wankers too.

Innit?

I swear if most of them weren't playing they'd be serving terms for rape charges.

[Robbie Filth]

Porbably :p

[Def]

I havn't really been following the football i often don't.

then you won't mind dissapearing from this thread.

[Robbie Filth]

then you won't mind dissapearing from this thread.
Not at all mate ;) cya.

[Ten Ton Alien]

UPDATE:

World Cup Play-offs (2nd leg):

Slovakia 1 - 1 Spain (qualified)

Turkey 4 - 2 Switzerland (qualified)

Australia 1 (qualified) - 0 Uruguay (4 - 2 after penalties)

Czech Republic (qualified) 1 - 0 Norway

Bahrain 0 - 1 Trinidad & Tobago (qualified)

first page updated.

[blizzard_beast]

So, are Russia through? What about Georgia and Armenia?

[SARS]

My god, I saw Italy in action against the Ivory Coast on Bravo last night...now I realise it wasn't the strongest team Lippi could put out...but jesus christ they went shit along the way somewhere...

[Def]

Hah four dutch coaches in the WC 2006!! (Australia, Trinidad, Holland and Korea)

Turkey against Switserland was the shit. Thank god the Turks are gone, no bloody cars with flags and yelling Turks hanging out of them.
They couldn't take their defeat, some Swiss players had to be taken to the hospital afterwards, the Turk players went crazy and beat up people in the Swiss dressing room. Fuck them Turks, keep them out of the next WC/EC if you ask me. They don't deserve to be there with this kind of behavior. FUCK THEM.

[Seve420]

Holy fuck.

They actually did it.

[Ten Ton Alien]

So, are Russia through? What about Georgia and Armenia?

check the first post in this thread. all the teams are there.

[Cloaca]

Hah four dutch coaches in the WC 2006!! (Australia, Trinidad, Holland and Korea)

Turkey against Switserland was the shit. Thank god the Turks are gone, no bloody cars with flags and yelling Turks hanging out of them.
They couldn't take their defeat, some Swiss players had to be taken to the hospital afterwards, the Turk players went crazy and beat up people in the Swiss dressing room. Fuck them Turks, keep them out of the next WC/EC if you ask me. They don't deserve to be there with this kind of behavior. FUCK THEM.
Jesus, that sucks. Fucking soccer hoons.

[SARS]

Hah four dutch coaches in the WC 2006!! (Australia, Trinidad, Holland and Korea)

Turkey against Switserland was the shit. Thank god the Turks are gone, no bloody cars with flags and yelling Turks hanging out of them.
They couldn't take their defeat, some Swiss players had to be taken to the hospital afterwards, the Turk players went crazy and beat up people in the Swiss dressing room. Fuck them Turks, keep them out of the next WC/EC if you ask me. They don't deserve to be there with this kind of behavior. FUCK THEM.


From what I just saw - it was a bunch of swiss players running of the pitch becuase of the hostility from the crowd, kicking officials & Turkish coaching staff and dragging down Alpay(sp?)whilst in the tunnel....i'm not suprised there was a backlash.

Though - Turks shouldn't have done it...if they let the Swiss carry on with what they were doing then maybe the result may have been reversed....who knows.

[Def]

Right, the result would have been reversed :rolleyes: in a stadium with 200.000 turks? sure. Come on they didn't do shit, they got their asses kicked in the dressing room by the Turks, that's just fucking gay. those pathetic bastards are just POOR losers.

Suits them right for not beeing in the WC2006, I don't have to deal with bastards like those riding their cars through the streets blasting turkish music, screaming crap and hanging flags out of their windows.

[SARS]

Right, the result would have been reversed :rolleyes: in a stadium with 200.000 turks?

Post match, reviewing and stuff....takes a while, around the value of a few months.

I'm guessing someone didn't have fun in EC2000 then.

[Def]

Post match, reviewing and stuff....takes a while, around the value of a few months.

I'm guessing someone didn't have fun in EC2000 then.
what? :confused:

I remember England not having a lot of fun in the EC2000, they didn't even pass the group stages after losing from Romania and Portugal.

We took care of Romania for you this time, we knocked them outta wc2006 :p

[SARS]

still though, Euro 96.

[Def]

what is the point you're trying to make?

euro 96? man I was 12, I didn't watch soccer yet...

[humancorpse]

world cup 98..... that was good. Norway beats Brazil :) That was such a great moment.

[SARS]

what is the point you're trying to make?



Fuck knows.

[Def]

Well, I sure don't know :D

there's going to be a lot of crap about that turkish/swiss match, blatter is involved now too. he's swiss ain't he?

[SARS]

there's going to be a lot of crap about that turkish/swiss match, blatter is involved now too. he's swiss ain't he?

Aye he is.

Wasn't it a Turkey and England match when a few english players suffered racist abuse in the tunnel at half(full?) time?....or was that another country...

[edit]

So there was... (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/13/1065917334663.html?from=storyrhs&oneclick=true)

[Def]

I can't open that link.. but I wouldn't be surprised. the Turkish fans aren't exactly known for their friendlyness either!

[SARS]

Jesus christ, is anyone watching the draw for the world cup?

It's more confusing than "A brief history of time"

[SARS]

Here's the groups by the way:-

A
Germany
Costa Rica
Poland
Equador

B
England
Paraquay
Trinadad & Tabago
Sweden

C
Argentina
Ivory Coast
Serbia & Montenegro
Holland

D
Mexico
Iran
Angola
Portugal

E
Italy
Ghana
USA
Czech Republic

F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan

G
France
Switzerland
Korea
Togo

H
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia

[Ten Ton Alien]

D

Mexico
Iran
Angola
Portugal

sweet. Mexico sucks, Iran sucks and all players from Angola play in our national league so we already know that they suck.

[Cloaca]

Fuck, why did it have to be Brazil? Here's hoping we can outdo Croatia and Japan... ha.

[metal_monkey]

i know well atleast we beat uragay
:D

[Kai Latvala]

another shocker......
Benfica knocked Manchester United out of the champion cup football on wednesday. :eek:

[SARS]

another shocker......
Benfica knocked Manchester United out of the champion cup football on wednesday. :eek:


we have a seperate thread for this kind of football talk

[Def]

sweet. Mexico sucks, Iran sucks and all players from Angola play in our national league so we already know that they suck.
you'de better look at the last few Mexico matches my friend.

poule D seems pretty easy though. just as the German poule, it's a joke.

The Ozzie's have a hard poule, they have to win from croatia and japan. croatia can be pretty tough!

[Def]

Here's the groups by the way:-

B
England
Paraquay
Trinadad & Tabago
Sweden

C
Argentina
Ivory Coast
Serbia & Montenegro
Holland

E
Italy
Ghana
USA
Czech Republic

G
France
Switzerland
Korea
Togo



These are my favorite poules by far. B has great teams there, the Swedes and English teams are favorite but don't underestimate Paraguay. T&T just got in for the first time under a Dutch Coach (Don Leo) but I don't expect much from them.

Poule C is mine, ofcourse. We've knocked out Argentina before and even though Bergkamp is not playing in the national team anymore, it's not impossible to do it again. It sure will be a clash of the titans!
Problem is, this is the last match of the poule. if we win from the Serbs and Ivory Coast the match won't matter no more. (only for 1/2 position)

By the way Kalou is the man to watch for Ivory coast, his brother might be playing for the Dutchies! haha. he's playing for Feyenoord now and has allways wanted a dutch passport. (it's not that easy though..)

Group E is between the Czechs and the Italians, with USA beeing a possible treath, they usually don't do that well at WC's but who knows.

Group G has Korea as dangerous outsider. Remember Hiddink & Korea at the last world cup? Well, they got a dutchy again this time, Dick Advocaat (remember him from Euro 2002?) He's a dick, like his name says but I expect them to beat Switserland or something and getting further in 2nd position.

It's going to be a great soccer summer!! :cool:

[metal_monkey]

well i reckon we could beat crotia and japan but not brailz

[Def]

don't underestimate croatia, Japan is one of the best asian teams too but you guys should beat them. win against croatia too and you''re into the next round along with brasil!

[metal_monkey]

ahh but we're fucked against brasil

[Def]

doesn't matter. if you finished second in the poule, you're still into the next round.

[metal_monkey]

well we still might have a chance...to beat the rest of the world

[obrien20]

A
Germany
Equador

B
England
Sweden

C
Argentina
Holland

D
Portugal
Mexico

E
Italy
Ghana

F
Brazil
Japan

G
France
Switzerland

H
Spain
Ukraine

Germany x Sweden - Germany
England x Equador - England
Argentina x Mexico - Argentina
Holland x Portugal - Holland
Italy x Japan - Italy
Brazil x Ghana - Brazil
France x Ukraine - Ukraine
Switzerland - Spain - Spain

Germany x England - England
Argentina x Holland - Argentina
Italy - Brazil - Brazil
Ukraine x Spain - Spain

England x Argentina - Argentina
Brazil x Spain - Brazil

Argentina x Brazil - Brazil

[metal_monkey]

how u so sure about that??

[SARS]

how u so sure about that??

He's not, it's a prediction - no ides of march dude.

[obrien20]

hahaha.

Hey SARS, please, kick the bambis arses in Tokyo!

Liverpool 3 x 2 São Paulo

[Sodomaniac]

hey, my town offers their "stadium" (it's areal small one) as a trainings camp for a team that plays in the world cup 2006.
The australian national team seems to be interested in my town.
I hope they will choose Wesel as trainings camp ! :)

[Silent Night 6 6]

hey, my town offers their "stadium" (it's areal small one) as a trainings camp for a team that plays in the world cup 2006.
The australian national team seems to be interested in my town.
I hope they will choose Wesel as trainings camp ! :)
Well, you're not gonna get much from the Australian team. hohoho :o

[metal_monkey]

hay dont go saying shit about us Aussies

[Ten Ton Alien]

it's only fitting that, at this time, this thread ressurects.

anyone hoping for surprises in the Group stage?

here's my picks (first & second place):

- GROUP A

Germany & Poland

- GROUP B

England & Sweden

- GROUP C

Argentina & Holland (probably the most obvious one)

- GROUP D

Portugal & Mexico

- GROUP E

Italy & Czech Republic

- GROUP F

Brazil & Japan

- GROUP G

France & Togo (Togo is my surprise team)

- GROUP H

Ukraine & Spain

[far_beyond_sane]

Hahahahaha last night, the least friendly "friendly" game I've ever seen was on. Afterwards, the Dutch said "WAAAH! You hurt us! Meanies!" to which the response was something like "We came here to hack shins, bloody noses and punch Europeans, so shut the fuck up."

Australia, both team and country, has a tungsten wire up its collective arse concerned with proving that we can achieve slaughter in yet another form of football. All the others (which are admittedly a whole lot less popular) have been done. But this is our new hotness. When I started high school, ten years ago, soccer was a sport for wogs and fags. It has come a long, long way.

Also - fuck you, I WILL call it soccer. "Football" is a generic term from limited cross-eyed shitbox countries that only have one type. Well, we have four. So it's soccer. Deal.

Everyone here will be very upset if we bomb out against Japan. I heard they were shit against Malta. It all remains to be seen, I suppose.

[Cloaca]

"HOLLAND vs. AUSTRALIA POST MATCH INJURY REPORT"

Australia:
None

Holland:
Sneijder - something
Van Bronckhorst - Hurt feelings
Cocu - knee
Van Bommel - Bruised Ego

[PST 88]

It's true that it's called 'soccer' to distinguish it from other forms of football. Good to see that somebody realizes that the Americans didn't make that word up any more than they invented 'rugby.'

Haven't seen a game, but did manage to catch ABC's special fellating the US soccer team, trying to raise some support as though anyone in America will care about soccer until such time as our team wins a world championship. Basically the gist of the program was 'Everybody thinks we suck. Including you. But we really don't. No, I'm serious, we're pretty good. I know we're supposed to lose our first two matches, but, like I said, we don't suck, so we might not. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if we did.'

It was followed by some car racing.

[johnmansley]

True. "Soccer" was coined by the English and is an abbreviation of "association" from football's true title of association football. The sports I have heard referred to in some way as football are as follows:

Football
Aussie rules
Rugby league
Rugby union
American football

Seeing that soccer almost exclusively utilises the foot (except for that cheating cunt Maradona), at least more than the others in any case, I hereby claim football as the correct name for soccer!

[PST 88]

Eh, knees, chests, heads, hands in the case of goalies and Argentians, and all the various other legal places to touch the ball in soccer seem to undermine the exclusivity of the foot, and the fact that every other type of football can be called 'football' makes a distinctive label a good idea.

[Black_Star]

"HOLLAND vs. AUSTRALIA POST MATCH INJURY REPORT"

Australia:
None

Holland:
Sneijder - something
Van Bronckhorst - Hurt feelings
Cocu - knee
Van Bommel - Bruised Ego


AUSTRALIA World cup report
More losses out in group stage
Holland:
Champions

[far_beyond_sane]

Only a handful of days until my sleep patterns are baaaaadly disrupted...

AUSTRALIA World cup report
More losses out in group stage
Holland:
Champions

Holland? Orange-coloured. Largely racists and molesters. Support the introduction of prayer in schools. Ate paint as children.

Australia? Beautiful smiley people. Strong political support for puppies. Great deal of animosity towards bad things and meanies.

Yay for listing dumb stuff!

[Black_Star]

AUS: Criminals.

[moe_blunts]

i havent watched soccer at all in the past 4 years.....if you ask why, then i probably know more about soccer than your stupid ass, but that is the extent of knowledge.

i'll probably watch the world cup this time around......i love the playoffs in college basketball and the NBA, so why not watch THE FUCKIN WORLD GO AT IT. i'm pretty excited.

[YJM04]

yea im gonna watch it friday. i cant wait!too bad not many americans know what world cup soccer is. i asked one of my friends what it was and he thought it was hockey. dont worry i did slap him.
costa rica is gonna loose so bad to germany.

[metal_monkey]

4 minutes till germany vs costa rico

[Ten Ton Alien]

haven't seen the full game, i must say the highlights on the news make it sound Costa Rica was lucky of just getting 4 on their asses.

nice win for the home crowd with 2 impressive goals from Germany.

Poland - Equador has been a nice game so far. i'll update all resultas later on.

[metal_monkey]

yeah germany won 4-2 but the germans made some mistakes in that match

[problematic]

FUCK!

Poland 0

Equador 2

FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK

[BlackRoseImmortal]

To all you taking notice of group C, don't write off Ivory Coast. Their team is very impressive. Argentina will come top, I think that's as certain as Brazil in their group, but the match between Holland and Ivory Coast will decide who comes second. And you all saw the big upset with Poland last night.

[Ten Ton Alien]

results so far:

..:GROUP A:..

Germany 4–2 Costa Rica

Poland 0–2 Ecuador

-: STANDINGS :-

1 -- Germany (3)
2 -- Ecuador (3)
3 -- Costa Rica (0)
4 -- Poland (0)

..__________________..

..:GROUP B:..

England 1–0 Paraguay

Trinidad and Tobago 0–0 Sweden

-: STANDINGS :-

1 -- England (3)
2 -- Sweden (1)
3 -- Trinidad and Tobago (1)
4 -- Paraguay (0)

..__________________..

i'll put GROUP C and GROUP D after today's matches.

nice surprise by Trinidad and Tobago. better keep an eye on them.

[*insert name here*]

Lolz Australia rulez in the soccer.

[The Doctor]

yeah be beat serbia-montenegro, robben rules

[Cloaca]

yeah be beat serbia-montenegro, robben rules
He certainly made the difference.

[BeastOfCarrion]

Lolz Australia rulez in the soccer.
... and aparently they rule more than japan

[far_beyond_sane]

AUSTRALIA World cup report
More losses out in group stage

ALSO I AM WRONG AND ATE A GAY.

Well, well, well.

All you fitness fucks, take note - superior conditioning always wins in the end. Played right up on top of Japan for almost the entire second half and pushed and pushed and pushed and the moment the ball hit the gaps WE FISTED THEM POWERFULLY.

[Black_Star]

Well, well, well.

All you fitness fucks, take note - superior conditioning always wins in the end. Played right up on top of Japan for almost the entire second half and pushed and pushed and pushed and the moment the ball hit the gaps WE FISTED THEM POWERFULLY.

Japan are such a tough team to beat, congrats on beating a second tier team.

[YJM04]

:beer: yea USA lost !!! they suck!! woooo!

[*insert name here*]

Haha,stupid Nips.Nips.Nips.

3-1.

[problematic]

Monkey, learn to fucking spell the names of rather popular countries, it's ridiculous.
Spelling Croatia 'crotia', and Brazil 'brasil'??! Can you even spell your own fucking name?

sun edukashum get.and ten gt a gud eglish thin n it wil b al gud

Anyway,
Well, I sure as fuck can't believe Australia won that match. Lucky im not 18 yet, I would've lost a lllooottt of money. :( Oh and Japan's goal should not have been counted. Stupid ref.

HAha did you hear about that Equadorian who put $674 on his team to lose (versus Poland) yet they ended up winning so he commited suicide!

I assume $674 in Equador would be a fuckload.

But fuck! He hung himself!

[HELLBLASTER-666]

If Japan was better in finishing they would have won
So dissapointed by Ghana yesterday,I wonder if they
will score any goals at all.Kingson is the funniest goalkeeper
I've seen so far.
Kohler got injured yesterday and now the Czechs are out
of good strikers,their other stiker(Lokvenc) sucks.
Brazil-Croatia today is gonna be a good one.
Brazil or England will win it I think

[Cloaca]

If Japan was better in finishing they would have won

Same could have been said for the Aussies. We dominated them for much of the match and without the help of the ref. Unlike the Japs though we came good at the end.

[*insert name here*]

Now,we need Queensland to win tomorrow.And then the decider will be down south.

[SARS]

Brazil or England will win it I think

Did you watch the England game?

[SARS]

Well, well, well.

All you fitness fucks, take note - superior conditioning always wins in the end. Played right up on top of Japan for almost the entire second half and pushed and pushed and pushed and the moment the ball hit the gaps WE FISTED THEM POWERFULLY.


Nice to see that an Everton player can score in this competition.

[problematic]

Did you watch the England game?

Haha yeah, it was fucking terrible. They only won cause the Paraguayan keeper let an own goal in.


Random Fact:

In Polands last 10 games against Germany, they have lost 7 and drawn 3. Hope flickers? nope.

Idiotic quote from some random soccer thread somewhere else:

"Nah, Germany will let Poland win because they feel bad about WWII"

:idea:

[*insert name here*]

"Nah, Germany will let Poland win because they feel bad about WWII"

:idea:
Haha

[Disincarnate]

shit game France v/s Switzerland


for some reason i think that henry cant perform when hes playing in the fresh team but does phenominally well while playing at club level

[HELLBLASTER-666]

Did you watch the England game?
Yes England didn't play so good but I think they will improve.
And with the addition of Rooney,their attack will be much better.
Too bad they will probably play in the semifinal against Brazil(according
to my predictions)

Did you see Togo?Their goalkepper is unbelievably bad!
Too bad Advocaat didn't use Park Choo Young(the best striker
in football manager 2006)

[FearFrost]

I love watching Brazil play... i have sepultura on while watching it!

[metal_monkey]

Brazil won 2-0

[Black_Star]

shit game France v/s Switzerland


for some reason i think that henry cant perform when hes playing in the fresh team but does phenominally well while playing at club level
I think that has to do with the fact that france plays so much differently from how arsenal plays. Henry is a perfect match for the style of Arsenal, whereas Henry + France = No goals.

[HELLBLASTER-666]

Brazil won 2-0
???
1-0

The Swiss referee did a good job with Ukraine today

[Ten Ton Alien]

I think that has to do with the fact that france plays so much differently from how arsenal plays. Henry is a perfect match for the style of Arsenal, whereas Henry + France = No goals.

Arsenal drains their entire game to Henry, that's why his mastery is evident while playing at club level.

problematic, Brasil is Brasil, if you know what i mean...

and i hope Portugal plays alot better against Iran. we need Deco. pronto.

[Black_Star]

Holland Oranje Holland Oranje TOMORROW BITCHES

[problematic]

Haha halftime now, Argentina vs. Serbia-Montenegro. 3 - 0. Should be 4 - 0. The guy wasn't offside. Anyway, if things continue at this rate, a 7 - 0 or 6 - 0 loss I predict.


Haha Serbia - Montenegro = owned.

[problematic]

Final score... 6 - 0. As predicted.

Damn. I feel kinda bad for Serbia. They had a tought time, and just couldn't get the damn ball in the net. Would suck to wacth your team lose that bad live at the stadium.

[far_beyond_sane]

They had a tought time, and just couldn't get the damn ball in the net.

Yeah, that would pretty much stop them winning.

Rugby vs. England today. Soccer vs. Brazil tomorrow. Hard to believe we're a pissant backwater country at all sometimes.

[Kai Latvala]

ROOOOOOOOOONEY!

They won the game against Trinidad because of Rooney even though he didn't score a goal. Brilliant!

[HELLBLASTER-666]

Ghana played very good yesterday,defeated the Czechs 2-0.It would be
5-0 if they had better strikers.
USA also did very good against Italy(with 9 against 10),that was highly unexpected.

[far_beyond_sane]

A few minutes left, but it looks like 2-0 Brazil. Not a bad result for us. Not a particularly good one either.

More importantly, Brazil have a player called "Fred". There is something beautifully casual about a man who is simply "Fred".

[Disincarnate]

good game that.....Australia played some decent football

[BeastOfCarrion]

I know, Fred was awesome. Though Ranayldo (sp?) was shit. He is like a soccer tank.

All up though - I expected Aus to do a lot worse. Props especially for the first half.

Go Korea next (i have them in the sweep at work).

[HELLBLASTER-666]

The first half was boring.The second was much better.
Fred is a very good player,Pareira should be using him instead of Ronaldo.
Korea-France is 1-1 now hope it ends like this(or even Korea winning)

[Ten Ton Alien]

The first half was boring.The second was much better.
Fred is a very good player,Pareira should be using him instead of Ronaldo.
Korea-France is 1-1 now hope it ends like this(or even Korea winning)

to answer to all Brazil's problems is Robinho.

[HELLBLASTER-666]

Robinho is very good but he always manages not to score in the end.

[Black_Star]

and thats what happens when you play a TOP flight team

[YOUR_GOD_IS_DEAD]

Saudi Arabia got raped today. wow.

[Ten Ton Alien]

we ended first in our group. let's hope for Holland to get second place so we can rape them... again.

[Disincarnate]

awesome goal by j cole yesterday.......but england were shit defensively

argentina holland today...its gonna be one killer match

[HELLBLASTER-666]

awesome goal by j cole yesterday.......but england were shit defensively
The game was setup anyway.
Sweden's second goal proves it

[xgrafcorex]

well, usa is out...at least we put up a point that the other team didn't score haha

[metal_monkey]

WE THROUGH NIGGAS COME AND GET AN ASS WHOOPIN ITALY

[Black_Star]

WE THROUGH NIGGAS COME AND GET AN ASS WHOOPIN ITALY
hahaha no :smash:

[*insert name here*]

Oh shit,SOCCER PLAYERS ARE SO DAMN SOFT!

[problematic]

hahaha no :smash:
hahaha I reckon.

[Nihilist]

WE THROUGH NIGGAS COME AND GET AN ASS WHOOPIN ITALY
Shut the fuck up. Gilardino & co. will rip us a new one. This will be our first and last real test. Brazil played like complete faggots when we played them. how will Viduka get something past Buffon, let alone Nesta & Cannavaro?

I'm eagerly awaiting Holland vs. Portugal. Robben (pass the fucking ball, you twat) and Van Persie are playing like gods.

[metal_monkey]

Shut the fuck up. Gilardino & co. will rip us a new one. This will be our first and last real test. Brazil played like complete faggots when we played them. how will Viduka get something past Buffon, let alone Nesta & Cannavaro?

I'm eagerly awaiting Holland vs. Portugal. Robben (pass the fucking ball, you twat) and Van Persie are playing like gods.

yeah i know we gonna get our ass's handed to us on a golden plate but one can only hope

[Cloaca]

how will Viduka get something past Buffon, let alone Nesta & Cannavaro?
He won't. It's always someone else that scores. I thought Viduka sucked against Croatia.

[Disincarnate]

10 min down germany already up 2-0...i think this would be a match where ud get to see Alot of goals if germany keep playing the way they r playing now

[problematic]

12 min*

[problematic]

He won't. It's always someone else that scores. I thought Viduka sucked against Croatia.

Viduka can't fucking kick a penalty shot on target, let alone get past a defender.

[DeathCS]

i'm so happy the US lost.

[Slabbefusk]

Sweden didn't deserve to win and they got assraped by Germany, serves them right.

[Kai Latvala]

Mexico and Argentina just went into overtime.

1-1

100 bucks on mexico. :D

[Ten Ton Alien]

100 bucks on mexico. :D

i don't believe anyone with any common sense would put money against Argentina...
:p

anyways, bad match saved by that awesome goal by Maxi Rodriguez.

[Ten Ton Alien]

LET'S GO, HOLLAND
LET'S GO, HOLLA....

oh shit, they're out. what a shitty team. Scolari should consider this a warm-up match, to get us ready for the actual World Cup against actual teams.

[Slabbefusk]

It was a fun game to watch.

[YJM04]

Mexico and Argentina just went into overtime.

1-1

100 bucks on mexico. :D
yea, i was rootin for them too. it sucks my team lost. one hell of a match.
too bad argentina Dp'd mexicos goalie to get their other point.

[YJM04]

i'm so happy the US lost.
the u.s. is the gayest team. their all bout money

[BlackRoseImmortal]

lol 16 yellow's and 4 red's. What a ref, unlucky Holland. Clearly the better team, but I guess that's how it works out. Looking very good for England though.

[moe_blunts]

lol 16 yellow's and 4 red's. What a ref, unlucky Holland. Clearly the better team, but I guess that's how it works out. Looking very good for England though.


i wouldnt say clearly. portugal did very well down one man........althought they were extremely lucky with that ball hitting the upper crossbar. too bad they didnt break the record with "cards"

great game, i was hopin for a brawl afterwards. that argentina goal was the fuckin shit. best one i've seen so far, along with that other chest bouncy kicky one.......with beckham's bein a distant third.

[HELLBLASTER-666]

Yeah Poortugal played better.they deserve their win.
the referee was awful.he must of had too much vodka before the game

[moe_blunts]

fuckin communist bastard.......

although you have to admit, that woulda been a helluva game to have to referee.............

[Disincarnate]

who won portigal v/s holland ?????

[*insert name here*]

Australia vs Italy,any takers??

[johnmansley]

lol 16 yellow's and 4 red's. What a ref, unlucky Holland. Clearly the better team, but I guess that's how it works out. Looking very good for England though.

You're fucking joking aren't you? We haven't got a cat in hell's chance of beating Portugal if we play like we did against Ecuador. Besides, Scolari has a mental stranglehold over Sven that will reduce the silent Swede to a jibbering, dribbling wreck come Saturday.

Of the 32 teams, England have looked the worst. We look so disjointed and incapable of playing as a team it's unbelievable. It's like watching Liverpool under the latter years of the Houllier regime. Only worse.

Sven's a fucking idiot. The man is incapable of making tough decisions and leaves everything to McClaren. What exactly is he doing to justify £5m a year? For a start he's focussing his "team" around the wrong man. Beckham shouldn't even be in the team never mind captain and focal point. Steven Gerrard is the only player in the team with the ability to drag the whole team up by it's bootstraps yet he is stifled in favour of Fat Frank Lampard and Preening David Bckham.

Therein lies the problem. Sven hasn't got the balls to drop Beckham and make Gerrard captain. He also hasn't got the cojones to choose between Gerrard or Lampard. The team is unbalanced with both. In business management speak, Sven is adopting a person culture (the individual is more important than the job he is designated to do) when a role or task culture (the task to be completed is paramount) is more vital for a football team.

What we should have in midfield is a holding player, an attacking central midfield player and two tricky wide men with pace. At the moment England has two attacking midfielders in Gerrard and Lampard, a good tricky player in Joe Cole down the left and a plodder down the right that should have been taken out to the barn and put out of his misery years ago. In Sven's efforts to accommodate Captain Marvel and Fat Frank he's stifled the best midfielder in the world and Beckham's aimless long balls are negating the attacking might of Rooney.

I'm having a right good moan, and you may be wondering if I have a solution to all England's woes. The answer, of course, is yes. Peruse the team below and I challenge anybody to say it isn't more balanced:

Robinson

G Neville Ferdinand Terry A Cole

Lennon Gerrard Carrick J Cole

Rooney Owen

This is England's strongest team from the 23 out in Germany. The system should not be deviated from in any circumstances unless we need a goal in the last 15 minutes. Of course Neville and Owen are currently injured, so bring in Carragher at right back and Crouch up front to take some of the workload off Rooney.

Playing Rooney up front on his own was another masterstroke from Sven, the Roman God of tactics. Rooney is still regaining match fitness and struggled for stamina against Sweden so what does Sven do? That's right make him play up front on his own for 90 minutes. Fucking genius!

I hope Sven gets the United job when that red faced cunt Ferguson retires.

[metal_monkey]

Australia vs Italy,any takers??

Australia might have a chance seeing as they have nothing to lose and everything to gain

[metal_monkey]

still beckham has some how proved something by scoring a goal

[Slabbefusk]

I reckon they will get assraped by portugal, they played some fucking hot fotball last night despite all the warnings and stuff.

[moe_blunts]

to john:

i agree that beckham is a poster boy for soccer, but i think that is what you need to attract a wider range of spectators.......especially young horny females. beckham has such a marketable name........before the tourney, i didn't know one player on the english team (granted, i've never paid any attention to soccer before this world cup) except for the pretty boy.


when do brazil play?

[Robbie Filth]

ENGLAND ARE NOT GOING TO WIN THE WORLD CUP

+

WAYNE ROONEY IS AN OVER RATED SHITTY ARSED CUNT.

The guru has spoken.

[metal_monkey]

close first half australia vs italy. Toni's header in the first 3 mins...damn that was a close scary moment

[SARS]

to john:

i agree that beckham is a poster boy for soccer, but i think that is what you need to attract a wider range of spectators


when do brazil play?

Yes but that doesn't win you any trophies, as Real Madrid have found out.

And I believe they play on Tuesday.

[SARS]

Therein lies the problem. Sven hasn't got the balls to drop Beckham and make Gerrard captain. He also hasn't got the cojones to choose between Gerrard or Lampard. The team is unbalanced with both. In business management speak, Sven is adopting a person culture (the individual is more important than the job he is designated to do) when a role or task culture (the task to be completed is paramount) is more vital for a football team.

I don't think Gerrard needs to be captain in that midfield to have an influence upon the team. True, he does need to drop Lampard and Beckham...but John Terry would be a much better captain in my opinion. Plus he, Sven, can't go with that proposed formation - I doubt he wants to risk Crouch against tougher opposition, unless maybe in the last minutes if we need a goal, and against teams like Portugal a packed midfield might seem a better option.

I do, however, believe that Joe Cole is in the wrong position. If you play him in a more central position then he is a much better player, he can win you free kicks in central areas, make a killer pass and of course has those long shots in his lock up. If you see what he does when he plays for Chelsea in that position, who usually play with one striker and five midfielders, then you'd see he creates far more chances than he does on the wing.

The inbalance currently lies in Sven's starting line-ups. Hargreaves has played two different roles with two different performances, he usually plays central midfield for Bayern but played better at right back for England, doing what Beckham should be doing in getting foward, and covered his defensive responsibilities too, (in my opinion better than Nevielle). Frank Lampard has been woeful all tournament and he and Gerrard are never going to get it sorted, even more so when games become harder and harder. Beckham has been awful ever since he joined Real Madrid...so....nuff said there.

I can't stand the fact that Sven has taken Walcott and not even bothered to think about using him, even in the Sweden game when we needed a bit of pace, when there are two players back home, (Defoe and Wright-Phillips), who deserve to be in the squad. Then again, I don't suppose he has much to worry about after the tournament is over, except for an unwelcome return to England whenever he does.

The English press seemed to be adamant that we wouldn't win the World Cup if Rooney didn't play, nope - we won't win if Beckham is still our captain.

[metal_monkey]

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FUCK YOU WOGS

[moe_blunts]

man, that penalty kick was fuckin retarded. i hate how professional sports have become half acting. SEE BASKETBALL FINALS!

if that bicycle kick had gone in by Aloisi (sp?) i woulda came (cummed??) in my pants. too bad

[HELLBLASTER-666]

WAYNE ROONEY IS AN OVER RATED SHITTY ARSED CUNT.

The guru has spoken.
The guru is wrong!
@SARS
If Cole is put in the centre who play on the left side?
I also wonder why he doesn't put Walcott instead of Crouch.
Good thing Nevile is injured I hate that cunt!fucking useless
very disappointed by Lampard
Ericson sucks,why the fuck didn't England get an english manager?

[johnmansley]

We have after the world cup. His name is Steve McClaren. He's worse than Eriksson and - if you could ever believe that such a trait could be true - is even more boring and negative.

[brainsforbreakfast]

lol 16 yellow's and 4 red's. What a ref, unlucky Holland. Clearly the better team, but I guess that's how it works out. Looking very good for England though.

oh well.. i'm kinda happy we're out. Might make the country return back to normal. Seriously, if I had to go trough one day where everything was orange coloured, i'd kill myself.

[moe_blunts]

ha, the refs are scared to produce yellow or red cards now in fear of losing their job. this ukraine/swiss game is pretty fuckin violent and awesome. GO UKRAINE (that is where DRUDKH is from).

[HELLBLASTER-666]

We have after the world cup. His name is Steve McClaren. He's worse than Eriksson and - if you could ever believe that such a trait could be true - is even more boring and negative.
Isn't McClaren his assistant?
How is it possible to be worse?
I bet 15 euros on England winning the cup,a waste of money probably :(

[Def]

LET'S GO, HOLLAND
LET'S GO, HOLLA....

oh shit, they're out. what a shitty team. Scolari should consider this a warm-up match, to get us ready for the actual World Cup against actual teams.
eat a dick you portugese wanker!! lie down like the rest of your national team does and eat that theather-king figo's dick! :)



But on a more serious note. It wasn't much of a game since the referee killed it.

We may have played better at some moments but the portugese have played SMARTER.

We did create a whole bunch of chances but Kuyt was in front which was a BIG mistake the guy has been out of shape for the last few months! wtf?! It was a big fucking mistake to not take The Hunter to germany.

We will see him at euro 2008, which was the aim for our national team and Van Basten.
The world cup 2006 was meant to be a lesson and I think our team has learned a lot, they're a young team with not many of the old garde. (Seedorf, Davids, Stam, Kluivert, Bergkamp etc.)
They got though the 'poule of death' with Ivory Coast and Argentinia and showed some good soccer in a few matches, only losing twice out of 25 matches. Ofcourse you know it's over when you're in the knock-out phase, I didn't expect much after the group stage..

Other teams that have dissapointed me so far have been England and France, they both have been pretty shitty IMO but I can see England getting pretty far. For Mansley's sake I hope they do get far or at least play one attractive match because it's been pretty wank so far. Except for that goal from Joe Cole, holy shit!
Sweden was complete shit against Germany and France has been shitty all along, Spain will probably kick their asses tomorrow.

Like I predicted, Germany will get pretty far with their home-advantage. they usually play shitty soccer but they do get their goals in and you haven't beaten a german untill the final whistle sings! They're very good at firing shots. err. yeah uh, from distance. haha.

Australia was robbed against Italy, they deserved the extra time. In the extra time they would have probably lost but that would have been a more fair defeat then a penalty in extra time IMO.

My rant is pretty much over, I just came back for this thread since I remembered it. I think Holland has a pretty bright future ahead, our yought has won the EC2006 under 21 with some players that will definetly get into the selection for EC2008.
Huntelaar, De Zeeuw and Schaars will definetly make it, Van Persie, Gio, Robben and Van Bommel will stay on and Cocu plus Van der Sar will probably dissapear along with Van Nistelrooy...

From now on I'll be drinking beer with some English friends of mine and I'll be in the pub yelling for the 3 lions. I don't care that they're not the best team out there but I have a lot of sympathy for English soccer, they're just flawed because of a terrible coach if you ask me. The big plus of English soccer fans is that they can hold their beer, just like I can. World Cup 2006 has meant four gigantic hangovers for me, it should have been more but we'll be back in 2008.

I wish you all a good time with the coming matches, except for that portugese dude over here, I hope Figo dies of stage IV penile cancer. :beer:

[*insert name here*]

Im fcuking spewing,world cup level and they have shitty refs like this?Australia still had a damn good game to keep italy scoreless.

[moe_blunts]

tomorrow:

go ghana!

go france!

[metal_monkey]

tomorrow:

go france!

got that right Zidane will be back for the match. hopefully he can do something other than get yellow cards

[johnmansley]

Isn't McClaren his assistant?
How is it possible to be worse?
I bet 15 euros on England winning the cup,a waste of money probably :(

Yes.
Have you seen Middlesbrough ever play a Premiership match?
Yep!

Def: I don't think we've got a decent game in us at the moment! Here's to England gaining revenge on Portugal for our Dutch brethren :beer:

[Robbie Filth]

I want some really oscure shitty team like ecuador to win.

[Cloaca]

Well that won't happen, England knocked them out.

[problematic]

Im fcuking spewing,world cup level and they have shitty refs like this?Australia still had a damn good game to keep italy scoreless.
Haha, blame it on the ref. Awwww... Harry Kewell (The Englishman), and Mark Viduka (The Croatian), And John Aloisi (Also not 'Australian') lost thematch. Awww have a cry Jonas you peice of shit. Aww.

Dont Worry, Better luck next time.....in 32 years.

[*insert name here*]

What about problematic(The fucking douche)?

[metal_monkey]

Haha, blame it on the ref. Awwww... Harry Kewell (The Englishman), and Mark Viduka (The Croatian), And John Aloisi (Also not 'Australian') lost thematch. Awww have a cry Jonas you peice of shit. Aww.

Dont Worry, Better luck next time.....in 32 years.

how the fuck did aloisi lose the match? he was on for like 10 minutes

[problematic]

I was just showing how they're not really Australian.

What is this? The strike force of sympathetic Cricketers (MM and INH) hahha. Tards.

[brainsforbreakfast]

The soccer world cup is just like christmas. It only occurs halve as much.

[Ten Ton Alien]

don't hate on Figo, Def. you wish YOU had someone of his level playing for Holland.

and curse that shit-eating defender who almost ripped C. Ronaldo leg off.

[obrien20]

Brazil 3 x 0 Ghana

Ronaldo: the best striker ever.

[Black_Star]

don't hate on Figo, Def. you wish YOU had someone of his level playing for Holland.

and curse that shit-eating defender who almost ripped C. Ronaldo leg off.

Robben owns them all, and had the ref given the correct red card for his headbutt he would have been smoking Deco pole in the dressing room.

Regardless, I hate to blame losses on the "quality" or lack there of the officals but had it been a ref from the prem it would have been a holland victory.

Way to snake your way into the next round Figo et all. Clowns....

[obrien20]

Robben = overrated.

[metal_monkey]

france beat spain 3 - 1 and Zidane managed to score and not get sent off

[problematic]

The soccer world cup is just like christmas. It only occurs halve as much.
Christmas occurs every year. Fifa World Cup occurs every 4 years. Not half as much, tard.

Unless you're Ethiopian, because Christmas never comes.

[johnmansley]

Haha, blame it on the ref. Awwww... Harry Kewell (The Englishman), and Mark Viduka (The Croatian), And John Aloisi (Also not 'Australian') lost thematch. Awww have a cry Jonas you peice of shit. Aww.

Dont Worry, Better luck next time.....in 32 years.

Kewell is not English.

[humancorpse]

Brazil 3 x 0 Ghana

Ronaldo: the best striker ever.

lol, The last goal was fucking funny.

[*insert name here*]

Kewell is not English.
Hah,England doesnt want him,either.

[Nihilist]

He won't. It's always someone else that scores. I thought Viduka sucked against Croatia.
Win.

Argentina vs. Germany will be a scorcher. Surprising Germany are slotted as favourites. I think Rodriguez, Sorin and Messi have been absolutely outstanding. Crespo is shit and I hate him but his perfectly timed runs are pretty deadly. Fuck Riquelme, he's made like 2 good passes. One of the best playmakers in the world, however, he's so slooooooow and unflexible. Lahm has been killer for Germany, Ballack isn't showing too many good signs except a few crazy shots that have been on target from 800000000 metres away. I'm tipping Argentina 2-1.

Waiting for France vs. Brazil too. Good job Domenech hasn't played Trezeguet for longer than 10 mins, he's a fucking stinker. Hate the cunt. If Juventus get relegated I don't think he'd be able to get another club, bahahah. Is it just me or does Ze Roberto look like Wesley Snipes?

[johnmansley]

Hah,England doesnt want him,either.

I'd have him in the England team - he's just not English.

Jarrod: Good call on the Argies/Gerries game - I also think that Argentina will edge it by the odd goal. Brazil-France, though, is a bit tougher to call. Brazil have disappointed me hugely in this tournament and France seem to be improving so... I'll go for France in extra time, maybe even penalties.

[Nihilist]

Oh, on the topic of Juventus getting relegated (which now looks like it might even be Serie C1 HAHAHA) - what do you think would happen to their star players? Loaning is not an option because of the wage caps in place in Serie B and lower. Which means serious pay cuts and the like, so obviously a lot will move.

Apparently, Arsenal are linked with Buffon, Ibrahimovic is tipped as a replacement for Sheva at Milan, Trezeuget linked with a loan move to Roma (not an option, as I said before). And I dunno if I would want him. Emerson would move for more money, but he's a pile of shit and Gilberto Silva should be in the starting 11 for Brazil anyway. Vieria would definitely move for more money, but he's too old and should die. Everyone should swarm over Zambrotta. His versitility is amazing (can play all across the backline).

[Nihilist]

I'd have him in the England team - he's just not English.

Jarrod: Good call on the Argies/Gerries game - I also think that Argentina will edge it by the odd goal. Brazil-France, though, is a bit tougher to call. Brazil have disappointed me hugely in this tournament and France seem to be improving so... I'll go for France in extra time, maybe even penalties.
Same. But, as the saying goes, Brazil is everyone's 2nd favourite. I'd still like to see them win. Ronaldinho has been quite underwhelming, Ronaldo is slooooooowly picking up form (not food HEHEHE). Kaka is a diver and Adriano needs a new face. He's ugly, man.

If Ribery, Sagnol and Zidane can repeat their performances so far I think France might just do it. Henry needs to stay the fuck onside too.

[johnmansley]

They're all certain to leave as I'm sure relegation release clauses will be present in all of their contracts. Who to at this moment would be pure conjecture as I don't think any of them would move (maybe with the exception of Vieira) if they are not relegated.

I'd like to see the cheating bastards relegated, myself, although I wouldn't have any of their players in the Liverpool team except for Cannavaro maybe.

[Nihilist]

Cannavaro? Why, because he looks better now with a shaved head? =p

True about the contract thing, didn't think about that. Buffon is looking at leaving Italy anyway.

[HELLBLASTER-666]

I heard that their only players that will stay are Del Piero and Cannavaro.
Did you hear what Pessoto did?He jumped from the 2nd floor of the
Juventus offices.They said he will never walk again probably.

About today's matches,Germany will certainly win(even if they can't ;) )
and Brazil,France is shitty their only good game was against Spain,
Brazil has to play a good game since they haven't so far.
It's time for them to wake up(same goes for England,I still have faith)

EDIT:Oops Brazil are not playing today.Today is Italy-Ukraine.
It would be good to see Ukraine pass,but that's unlikely

[metal_monkey]

If Ribery, Sagnol and Zidane can repeat their performances so far I think France might just do it. Henry needs to stay the fuck onside too.

i hear that fucking Henry pissed me off so much, what was it at half-time? like 8 times he was offside. Zidane was playing a pretty good match, his plays were worth him coming out of retirement for it

[Disincarnate]

. Zidane was playing a pretty good match, his plays were worth him coming out of retirement for it


true

i hear that fucking Henry pissed me off so much, what was it at half-time? like 8 times he was offside

henry is shit.he can only play in England and no where else
and why the fuck did he come up with "the grass was too hot" excuse

[metal_monkey]

I think he also blamed his team mates passes and crosses not being fast enough

[HELLBLASTER-666]

henry is shit.he can only play in England and no where else
and why the fuck did he come up with "the grass was too hot" excuse
Yeah his games in Champion's League suck :rolleyes:

[Disincarnate]

the GER ARG game was a let down imo.i thought it would be a more interesting match probably something along the lines of france and spain.knew it would be decided on the basis of penalties

[Ten Ton Alien]

oh please, anyone who thinks France has even the a chance of going thorugh Brazil without a major clusterfuck involved is out of their minds.

most players (including Ronaldinho) haven't pulled their A level playing skills yet. i expect Brazil to destroy France.

[Nihilist]

Zidane just doesn't pair well with Henry. Totally different playing styles. Henry hasn't hit it off with Trezuguet or any other of the other striking options either.

I don't except Brazil to destroy them, they will win however.

Italy played a great game last night, I so didn't expect that. Pissed off about Argentina losing. But, great game. What a header by Ayala. Klose can suck a dick, he's feeding off Ballack's crosses haha. The punch-up afterwards was hilarious. When Cambiasso cried, I actually laughed. I cannot take anyone seriously with that sort of hair.

[Cloaca]

Don't you reckon he looks a bit like Luke from Sleep Terror? I laughed too.

Ayala rules.

[Nihilist]

HAHAHAH HE DOES TOO!

Ayala's penalty blew.

[Kai Latvala]

England and Portugal are in the last 15 of overtime.
PLEASE, NO PENALTY KICKS!!!!

[moe_blunts]

ENGLAND will win if it goes to PKs because tehy have the crowd. so i say go to PKs.

[moe_blunts]

guess i was wrong.

good game AND FUCK PORTUGAL

[Ten Ton Alien]

LET'S GO, ENGLAND
LET'S GO, ENGLAND

OOOOOOOOH shit, another warm-up match for Portugal against some amateurs. Portugal toyed with England for 120 minutes, especially after Wayne "I Stomp Balls" Rooney was sent off. Crouch is the most USELESS player ever in a World Cup. aside from height, the man is null and void in anything remotely close to football skills.

the penalties were a thing of beauty, as Beckham is the only player they have who can come up with anything close to a good penalty. Lennon get's props for being the best of all English players, which is the same as being shot in the chest when everyone else was shot in the head. needless to say that Ricardo didn't even tried, he just mocked England with simple dives to the ball.

maybe those training matches will end in the semi-finals, against a real team such as France or Brazil whom, as far as i can remember, actually constitute a challenge for the opposing teams.

well, i'm happy. my prediction of reaching the semis was met so from here onwards, i'll let fate decide.

[Disincarnate]

hahaha...dont be too happy dude.portugal is gonna loose the next match :p


get ready for a Brazil - Germany final

boring game Eng - Por....just like Ger - Arg

i just hope France - Brazil is a good one

[Kalmahswamp]

It's really too bad soccer is thought of as a gay sport in the U.S. I've been watching the World Cup since the beginning, and I must say I've been enjoying it a lot.

After watching Ricardo in those penalty kicks today, I'm pulling for Portugal. I still think Brazil will take it all though.

[Cloaca]

Wayne "I Stomp Balls" Rooney
Heheheh.

[moe_blunts]

Wayne "I Stomp Balls" Rooney


i agree, that was fuckin priceless. lets go FRANCE

[metal_monkey]

HOLY SHIT FRANCE ARE THROUGH THEY BEAT BRAZIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

[Ten Ton Alien]

holy shit, did France stepped up their game or what?

Brazil got sodomized, hard.

[Nihilist]

oh please, anyone who thinks France has even the a chance of going thorugh Brazil without a major clusterfuck involved is out of their minds.

most players (including Ronaldinho) haven't pulled their A level playing skills yet. i expect Brazil to destroy France.
Fancy that.

[metal_monkey]

Brazil was playing like a dirty shit, zidane just put in a penalty from outside they 18 and henry volleyed it in

[walpurgis]

I was watching part of the game at the gym today, last I knew it was 1-0 France over Brazil, which is pretty crazy, but it was a pretty cool goal. I thought it was pretty funny when the announcers said "France just has to keep going strong, and we all know that they're not about to give up" ...because obviously France has never given up on anything...

Anyway, what all countries are left in the World Cup?

[metal_monkey]

Portugal, France, Germany and Italy

[Nihilist]

Comical moment: seeing Cafu steal the ball from Ronaldinho on the left side was priceless.

#1 - what was Cafu doing there on the left side?
#2 - Why is Cafu touching a ball which only Ronaldinho should have touched? Faggot. Retire please.

Parreira should be shot. Roberto Carlos, Cafu, and Ronaldinho all played a terrible game. Now, we finally realize, soccer is not a scripted Nike ad. Adios, Joga Bonito.

[Ten Ton Alien]

Fancy that.

i ate 2 crows. with feathers.

[metal_monkey]

Comical moment: seeing Cafu steal the ball from Ronaldinho on the left side was priceless.

#1 - what was Cafu doing there on the left side?
#2 - Why is Cafu touching a ball which only Ronaldinho should have touched? Faggot. Retire please.

Parreira should be shot. Roberto Carlos, Cafu, and Ronaldinho all played a terrible game. Now, we finally realize, soccer is not a scripted Nike ad. Adios, Joga Bonito.

you can't just kill off Joga Bonito like that

[metal_monkey]

i ate 2 crows. with feathers.

you should of eaten more, saying france would be destroyed

[Nihilist]

i ate 2 crows. with feathers.
hahaha. Hey, no one really predicted it. I predicted Brazil to win, but not by a large margin (up there somewhere).

[Nihilist]

and z0mg it is 8am. the WC has destroyed my life.

[moe_blunts]

zidane and henry are just overall bosshogs, and i had a feeling that they would be able to pull it off.

ronaldo played a dirty game, and i'm suprised he didnt get a red, and what the fuck was with that slide tackle from behind. that shit pissed me off, shoulda been a red

[metal_monkey]

ronaldo is just a fat piece of shit he sucks so much ass now

[far_beyond_sane]

Just popped in to all the soccer mayhem to remind the English (http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/sri-lanka-humiliates-england/2006/07/02/1151778799075.html) that they suck copius quantities of lower intestine at cricket, too. Sri Lanka just beat them so, so badly.

"Set a formidable 322 to win the fifth one-day international, the pair both made explosive centuries to make a nonsense of the target as Sri Lanka cruised home by eight wickets with a massive 12.3 overs to spare."

...which makes a 5-0 series. Oh my.

[blizzard_beast]

Piss off 'sane, this isn't the cricket thread. :)

It was very amusing watching England and Brazil lose, but I had to tolerate drunk English fans walking around crying and singing "I believe I can fly..".

[Cloaca]

I nodded off halfway during the France - Brazil game and when I woke up the first thing I saw was Ronaldo with his head in his hands. I chuckled.

[metal_monkey]

thats what i did in the france - spain match, i went to sleep in the last 10 minutes and missed all the goals :bawling:

[*insert name here*]

Just popped in to all the soccer mayhem to remind the English (http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/sri-lanka-humiliates-england/2006/07/02/1151778799075.html) that they suck copius quantities of lower intestine at cricket, too. Sri Lanka just beat them so, so badly.

"Set a formidable 322 to win the fifth one-day international, the pair both made explosive centuries to make a nonsense of the target as Sri Lanka cruised home by eight wickets with a massive 12.3 overs to spare."

...which makes a 5-0 series. Oh my.

Ashes mate. :(

[HELLBLASTER-666]

I'm so disappointed,the two teams I supported got disqualified yesterday,I lost 49
Euros and in the semifinals the 3 teams I hate more are playing!:mad:
GO PORTUGAL!

[Nihilist]

DOOOOOOOOODODODODO

Italy vs. Germany. The best attacking side (in this WC) against the best defensive side. Could make for a fucking boring match. I'm secretely hoping Italy goes through, 'cos I have a soft spot for Milan. Germany definitely deserves it more.

[moe_blunts]

GO GERMANY! can't wait til the game, 40 minutes

[Disincarnate]

i bet it would be a boring match....like Eng-Portugal,Ger-Arg etc etc

[Kalmahswamp]

GO ITALY