The unofficial World Cup Thread,

[Krusader]

I've been anticipating this World Cup for months and it has been a disappointment so far.
I'm wondering if this will be remembered as the World Cup of the (B)Zzzzzz later on because of boring matches and the vuvuzela. We were 3 who bought internet access to matches and the other two are watching the matches with no sound on. I've gotten used to it, but as someone said, you can't really hear the crowd. A commentator on Norwegian TV commented that when Drogba entered the pitch it was the first time you could hear the people cheer over the vuvuzelas' monotone sound in the entire World Cup.
I'm curious to how the reaction will be if we can't hear Brazilian samba and crowd cheers in the match later tonight. And when it comes to the footballing itself, a friend of mine in Germany said it best: "It's a sure tell its a boring tournament, when the best team is Germany". I'm hoping Brazil will make some goals. I'd say 18 goals in 11 matches it not that great.

[johnhughthom]

Hmmm. Dogbreath will play for Cote d'Ivoire. Any chance I can change my prediction to a 1 all draw?


As far as I'm concerned, as long as the prediction is made before the KO then all's well. Bit like bookie rules.

I'm sure the others in the prediction thingy feel the same.

If you do want to change anything I would appreciate if you just deleted the original predictions and did a complete new set. I go through the predictions after the matches are over so there is no problem with changing.

[InsaneApache]

If you do want to change anything I would appreciate if you just deleted the original predictions and did a complete new set. I go through the predictions after the matches are over so there is no problem with changing.

Thankyou. :bow:

[seireikhaan]

Well I'll be. NK/Brazil's actually a fun to watch 0-0 thus far.

[naut]

Well I'll be. NK/Brazil's actually a fun to watch 0-0 thus far.
Needs more goals.

[Ferret]

Jong Tae-Se will get a hat trick :clown:

[gaelic cowboy]

I can't believe I gonna say this but what the hell

Go on North Korea hup ya boy ya

[naut]

Epic. That is all.

[Ronin]

the north korea goalkeeper might not live through the night.

[gaelic cowboy]

Ah well Brazil have scored two so far I suppose

Brazil 2 North Korea 0 Capitalism Strikes Back

ha ha Brazil 2 North Korea 1

Portugal or Ivory Coast are gonna struggle to break these guys and after the earlier game today I am sure there plan was to hammer North Korea. Looks like it's not beyond the bounds Portugal or Ivory Coast could end up catching the flight home

[Ronin]

Ah well Brazil have scored two so far I suppose

Brazil 2 North Korea 0 Capitalism Strikes Back

ha ha Brazil 2 North Korea 1

Portugal or Ivory Coast are gonna struggle to break these guys and after the earlier game today I am sure there plan was to hammer North Korea. Looks like it's not beyond the bounds Portugal or Ivory Coast could end up catching the flight home

not out of bounds?....I´d bet Portugal is on an airplane come the 26th.

[Crazed Rabbit]

I think Brazil-NK was the best match. A good finish by New Zealand as well. We do need more teams punishing bores who take a 1-0 lead and sit back to defend it for 50 minutes.

I was reminded of why I want Portugal to lose; Ronaldo's ever present diving. A boring game as well.

CR

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I was reminded of why I want Portugal to lose; Ronaldo's ever present diving.

I disagree. His diving is amazing. Other people wait until they get bumped or pushed to take a dive, he throws himself to the ground when there's no one within a yard of him and gets the call because it looks completely real.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I think Ronaldo's diving is so good because he only does it when he can see a foul coming. If he thinks there's more to be gained from the free kick, or if he's about to lose possession, he'll just let the other player go through with fouling him, only he makes sure he doesn't take a bad knock.

[Afonso I of Portugal]

What a boring tournament so far, gah! It seams every team is playing to avoid defeat instead to win...lack of shots to goal, lack of attacking atitude, teams are scared of each other? lack of goals...completely lack of...everything...gah, gah and...GAH!
I hope Spain can do something good tomorrow. I mean, a good game! goals and performance!

Ps: Let's make a twitter or facebook group to stop that f******g vuvuCRAPS MOSQUITO NOISE!!! I hate that sound!

[InsaneApache]

I disagree. His diving is amazing. Other people wait until they get bumped or pushed to take a dive, he throws himself to the ground when there's no one within a yard of him and gets the call because it looks completely real.

He's a master of the one and a half reverse pike. Should have been a swimmer.

[gaelic cowboy]

someone told me today if you turn off the bass and treble in your tv it makes a bit easier to listen to I cant tell the differ but what the hell

[Afonso I of Portugal]

He's a master of the one and a half reverse pike. Should have been a swimmer.

Come'on lads...confess that you love his "dives". Let us all cross our fingers for a another edition of the most exciting world/Euro cup derby game, Portugal vs England!

[Pannonian]

Come'on lads...confess that you love his "dives". Let us all cross our fingers for a another edition of the most exciting world/Euro cup derby game, Portugal vs England!

I prefer Portugal vs the Netherlands. One of the most entertaining World Cup matches I've ever seen.

[Afonso I of Portugal]

I prefer Portugal vs the Netherlands. One of the most entertaining World Cup matches I've ever seen.

The leg breakers? no, please GOD, not them!

[drone]

Ronaldo got booked for diving, which was nice. He'll have to be careful about his flailing in the next game. I thought it was hilarious when the Germans ate two yellows for diving, of course they went to the non-Germans Cacua and Ozil, but still, why did they think diving would be necessary against Australia? Divers are a plague on the game.


someone told me today if you turn off the bass and treble in your tv it makes a bit easier to listen to I cant tell the differ but what the hell
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19041-what-makes-the-sound-of-vuvuzelas-so-annoying.html
The base frequency of the vuvuzela is around 235 Hz. If your TV has an equalizer, supposedly you can lower the channel volume around that freq range and mute it somewhat.

[Pannonian]

The leg breakers? no, please GOD, not them!

Portugal got a few in too, like Deco scything down that Dutchie after they refused to give the ball back, and later a Portuguese defender taking out Robben with a flying kick to the chest.

[LeftEyeNine]

At last some points for Brazil...and me. :sweatdrop:

Brazil is just as I expected. Their lack of motivation due to the fragile-at-sight opponent was almost costing them dear but N. Korea, despite having flown higher over what I've expected out of them definitely, lacks tournament experience and organization. Just have a look at Japan in 2002 and what has become of them today.

Brazil is Brazil no matter what. Whether it is their most humble eleven or not, they are the reason for football. :brazil:

Congrats go to N. Koreans on surprising determination and late strike.

Tomorrow's predictions are as follows:

Honduras 2-3 Chile
Spain 1-0 Switzerland
South Africa 0-2 Uruguay

[Jolt]

Portugal got a few in too, like Deco scything down that Dutchie after they refused to give the ball back, and later a Portuguese defender taking out Robben with a flying kick to the chest.

Deco's tackle was awesome. He should have broken Sneijder's leg for the scum he was.

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Deco's tackle was awesome. He should have broken Sneijder's leg for the scum he was.

Yeah...and see them taste their own medicine...after all, they started that battle!

[Rhyfelwyr]

Now, predictions...

I was so close to getting my first three points today, then in the last moment the Kiwis took them from me! At least my tally has doubled from 1 to 2.

As for tomorrow:

:honduras: 1 - 2 :chile:
:spain: 2 - 0 :switzerland:
:southafrica: 1 - 0 :uruguay:

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Zero points but at least I was the only one predicting a goal for North Korea ... Kim Jong Il's gonna love me for that. :D

Predictions for tomorrow:

:honduras: 1 - 3 :chile:

:spain: 4 - 0 :switzerland:

:southafrica: 0 - 1 :uruguay:

Chileans are the Germans of South America and they played a good qualification. Spain will simply own the Swiss and Uruguay will win over South Africa with a lucky goal after another boring match.

[Ronin]

I prefer Portugal vs the Netherlands. One of the most entertaining World Cup matches I've ever seen.

ohhh yeah....full-contact football....
I´d tune in to see that one again.

[Marshal Murat]

:honduras: 1 - 1 :chile:
:spain: 2 - 0 :switzerland:
:southafrica: 1 - 0 :uruguay:

I'm a Bafana fan, so obviously something there. I favor Spain, but not too much. Not too sure about Honduras or Chile, so I'm favoring a defensive low-scoring game. So be sure to watch that game because it'll be a high-scoring drama if my luck holds.

[Louis VI the Fat]

:honduras: 0 - 2 :chile:

:spain: 2 - 0 :switzerland:

:southafrica: 0 - 1 :uruguay:




This probably belongs in The Arena, but I'm currently playing the great fps Call of Duty 5: Ronaldo.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4ZY9sJe0rY&feature=related

[Afonso I of Portugal]

:honduras: 0 - 2 :chile:

:spain: 2 - 0 :switzerland:

:southafrica: 0 - 1 :uruguay:




This probably belongs in The Arena, but I'm currently playing the great fps Call of Duty 5: Ronaldo.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4ZY9sJe0rY&feature=related

And i would love to play Call of Duty 6: Stupid videos about football director's

Thats a stupid video because mixed up divings and real fouls...:no:

[johnhughthom]

Update:

Louis: +2 = 13
Little Grizzly: 2
Psycho: +2 = 5
Sarmatian: 2
Insane Apache: +2 = 13
Secura: 2
Ser Clegane: +1 = 9
Romanic: +1 = 7
Joooray: +1 = 4
Rhyfelwyr: +1 = 2
Sasaki: 0
LEN: +1 = 6
Moros: 2
Marshall Murat: +2 = 3
Craterus: 3
Crazed Rabbit: 2
Beefy: +1 = 2
Centurio Nixalsverdus: 0
Ronin: 1

I counted Psycho's change but from now on please try to keep all your predictions for the day in the same post(which means getting them in before the first match kicks off), it's easy to miss one prediction as I'm skimming through the thread looking for them.

Louis and LEN shooting ahead, while a few people I expected to be up there are dropping behind in the early stages.

[||Lz3||]

Can I still join? It's too probably too late, but just for the thrill of it. eh?

https://forums.totalwar.org/images/smilies/flags/honduras.gif Honduras 0 - 1 https://forums.totalwar.org/images/smilies/flags/chile.gif Chile

https://forums.totalwar.org/images/smilies/flags/spain.gif Spain 3 - 1 https://forums.totalwar.org/images/smilies/flags/switzerland.gifSwitzerland

https://forums.totalwar.org/images/smilies/flags/southafrica.gifSA 0 - 1 https://forums.totalwar.org/images/smilies/flags/uruguay.gif Ur



It seems that our TV broadcast company has lowered the ambient sound altogether. I could barely hear any buzz.

Not having a lot of ambient sound isn't too bad, our commentators are talking all the time. https://forums.totalwar.org/images/smilies/flags/uruguay.gif

[johnhughthom]

Never too late to join. Well, maybe after the final...

[drone]

Finished watching the Group G games off the DVR. My notes:

Brazil's individual skill is amazing, as usual. Against the other two teams they will score often, Jabulani be damned.
The North Korean defense is coordinated and very solid. After watching the steaming pile that was the Portugal-Ivory Coast match, I'm not sure either of them are capable of breaking down the Koreans, much less progressing. Portugal will only beat NK on a Ronaldo dive and subsequent free kick combo. And the karma from that will be devastating.
On that note, someone really needs to break Ronaldo's leg. I can't believe refs give him any calls given the multitude of YouTube diving videos available. The crybaby goes to ground more than a terrier. If Portugal had any self-respect, they would man up and drop him from the international squad. What a disgrace. :no:
North Korea actually has a nice two-touch through the midfield. Didn't see it much since Brazil held the ball so much, but it's not bad. I had NK as the Wooden Spoon winners, and losing this match at least 3-0, now I think they might very well get to the round of 16.
Apparently ESPN has hired Martin Tyler and Ally McCoist to do the premier games. Excellent job with Brazil-NK, they did the Germany-Oz match as well. :2thumbsup: Ally, Ally , Ally!

[naut]

Brazil's individual skill is amazing, as usual. Against the other two teams they will score often, Jabulani be damned.
The North Korean defense is coordinated and very solid. After watching the steaming pile that was the Portugal-Ivory Coast match, I'm not sure either of them are capable of breaking down the Koreans, much less progressing. Portugal will only beat NK on a Ronaldo dive and subsequent free kick combo. And the karma from that will be devastating.

Brazil also has a tactical and defensive whiz as a manager, but they won't thrash anyone though, that's not Dunga's style, either as a player or a coach. My mistake was thinking that they'd trash NKDPR. I won't be surprised if Brazil just hold the ball, soak up any pressure and score at 60+ minutes in both the other group games. NKDPR have every chance to get draws in the next 2 games. I don't think they's score against Portugal, but they have a chance against Cote d'Ivoire. And defending for a solid 90 minutes is a big ask, it will work if they can mentally frustrate their opponents as well.

[edyzmedieval]

My full respect for North Korea after the Brazil game. Ladies and gentlemen, that is how you defend. Robinho couldn't do anything, Kaka nothing, it took Maicon's lucky goal to score.

North Korea for the win against Portugal, and draw with Cote D'Ivoire.

[Fragony]

Kinda sad for the NK team there weren't any North Koreans to cheer for them, the great leader flew in Chinese.

[Ser Clegane]

Honduras - Chile 1:1
Spain - Switzerland 1:0
South Africa - Uruguay 1:1

[Pannonian]

Kinda sad for the NK team there weren't any North Koreans to cheer for them, the great leader flew in Chinese.

When China were thrashed 4-0 by Brazil in 2002, 10,000 Chinese supporters cheered their side on, simply for reaching the finals and getting the chance to play the great Brazil in a competitive game.

[Fragony]

When China were thrashed 4-0 by Brazil in 2002, 10,000 Chinese supporters cheered their side on, simply for reaching the finals and getting the chance to play the great Brazil in a competitive game.

How very moving, shame the NK team who lost from Portugal wasn't there to see these Chinese cheering for them, as they are still in a working camp for shaming the great leader by not winning the bloody world championship.

[Joooray]

:honduras: 1 - 2 :chile:
:spain: 2 - 0 :switzerland:
:southafrica: 2 - 1 :uruguay:

I watched the game between Brazil and North Korea in a outside pub and it was kinda funny to see everybody go ecstatic after NK scored the 2-1. But well, they deserved it. NK is going to be a though nut to crack.
I hate Ronaldo, that's all I have to say about that game.
I'm wondering what was going on with Jong Tae Se, though, for one, why did he cry like a baby during the national anthem, and second why do you choose to join the North Korean team when you were born in Japan and also have South Korean passport. :inquisitive:

[Pannonian]

How very moving, shame the NK team who lost from Portugal wasn't there to see these Chinese cheering for them, as they are still in a working camp for shaming the great leader by not winning the bloody world championship.

From what I read, the Chinese supporters in 2002 were the first wave of a middle class that had excess money and the leisure to spend it. A similar social phenomenon as our Barmy Army, which uses overseas cricket tours as an excuse to go on extended holidays in Australia, West Indies, etc.

[Romanic]

:honduras: 0 - 2 :chile:
:spain: 1 - 0 :switzerland:
:southafrica: 1 - 1 :uruguay:

[InsaneApache]

Honduras 0 - 2 Chile

Spain 2 - 0 Switzerland

SA 0 - 1 Uruguay

:balloon2:

[naut]

Honduras 0 - 1 Chile

Spain 3 - 0 Swiss

South Africa 1 - 0 Uruguay

[Afonso I of Portugal]

On that note, someone really needs to break Ronaldo's leg. I can't believe refs give him any calls given the multitude of YouTube diving videos available. The crybaby goes to ground more than a terrier. If Portugal had any self-respect, they would man up and drop him from the international squad. What a disgrace. :no:

I have no time for youtube's videos about everything, craps and ****, including dozens against or supporting him!
I'm sure our opponents want him out of the pitch, i can understand that as his the best player in the world...

I want to see the best players in the pitch and i'm glad Drogba make it even with a broken arm. If you remove the best players all that you have are hammers! I hate hammers...

[Fragony]

Let's face it, if Portugese women had a similar talent for gravity as your national my last trip to Lisbon could have been fun.

[naut]

75% of possession and they lose....

[drone]

Let's face it, if Portugese women had a similar talent for gravity as your national my last trip to Lisbon could have been fun.
:laugh4:

Got to give Ronaldo credit though. He has made an industry of step-overs, getting near the box, falling down in dramatic fashion, and scoring on the resulting free-kicks. It pays well, you only have to turn in your dignity.

We have our first true upset of the tournament. Way to go Switzerland!

[johnhughthom]

75% of possession and they lose....

You should be used to seeing that being an Arsenal fan....

[Krusader]

The Swiss won!

On another subject, taking a quick look at goals scored during opening matches from 1990 to 2010.

Italy 1990: 27 goals in 12 matches
USA 1994: 30 goals in 12 matches
France 1998: 37 goals in 16 matches
Korea-Japan 2002: 46 in 16 matches
Germany 2006: 39 in 16 matches
South Africa 2010: 25 goals in 16 matches

Am I the only one who finds it amusing that Italy '90, by many said to be among the most boring World Cups, had 2 more goals in 12 matches than the 25 scored in 16 matches in South Africa? It was the football style in Italy '90 that made FIFA introduce the 3 points for a victory rule to encourage more offensive gameplay.

[Banquo's Ghost]

Spain lose to Switzerland - and a goal scored by a fellow called Fernandes. Irony FTW. :beam:

[naut]

You should be used to seeing that being an Arsenal fan....
I'm used to 75% pos. and a draw.

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Let's face it, if Portugese women had a similar talent for gravity as your national my last trip to Lisbon could have been fun.

Unfortunately, i can't say the same about ned women and Amsterdam...

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Spain 0 - Swiss - 1, unbelievable! ~:shock:

[Louis VI the Fat]

Today's been great!

Chile was entertaining. I kept hoping for that second goal, to move me ahead of that pesky IA, but in vain, although I can't fault Chile for not trying.



Well done to Switserland!

From the looks of it, this tournament will be between Brazil and Germany then.

[Pannonian]

From the looks of it, this tournament will be between Brazil and Germany then.

Aren't all tournaments?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I'm rooting for Germany...although they will be going through either the US or england, who I also root for...tch.

Brazil was fun to watch too.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Aren't all tournaments? :shame:

Well, sometimes the Italians manage to squeeze in. Which, the avid or even casual reader of .org footy threads will know, to me equals the Germans winning it a thousand times with Schumacher stopping the decisive penalty.



So, I had hoped for England to win it this time.

(Well technically I hope France wins it, but then I also hope to find Alizée and Kei$ha naked in my bed tonight.)

[Louis VI the Fat]

For the sake of amusement, I might be forgiven some politics in the Frontroom:


06 June

PARIS — France sports minister Rama Yade questioned Sunday whether the national football squad needs such luxurious lodgings at the World Cup, suggesting instead a thriftier option should have been used during a time of economic crisis.


http://thesoccerroom.com/?p=9364


16 June

The saga of the French football team's accommodation in South Africa rumbles on, with the revelation that junior sports minister Rama Yade, who criticised the squad's hotel for being too posh was, in fact, booked to stay in even plusher digs on a jaunt to the World Cup.

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/64630,sport,football,rama-yade-booked-posher-hotel-than-french-world-cup-squad?lost=1#ixzz0r2TxXvNI

:laugh4:

[Ronin]

Nice work from the Uruguai striker....that's when you take a dive man!

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Uruguay wins the most pathetic team so far award...

[Moros]

Uruguay wins the most pathetic team so far award...

why?

[Louis VI the Fat]

I thought Uruguay was fine. The first two goals were a bit lucky though - a deflected shot and off-side.

It is too early to tell whether this is a good result or not for France.


Argentina (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina_national_football_team) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Flag_of_Argentina.svg/22px-Flag_of_Argentina.svg.png 1 - 0 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup_Group_B#Argentina_vs_Korea_Republic) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Flag_of_South_Korea.svg/22px-Flag_of_South_Korea.svg.png Korea Republic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_Republic_national_football_team)
Greece (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece_national_football_team) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Flag_of_Greece.svg/22px-Flag_of_Greece.svg.png 0 - 0 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup_Group_B#Greece_vs_Nigeria) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Flag_of_Nigeria.svg/22px-Flag_of_Nigeria.svg.png Nigeria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria_national_football_team)
France (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_national_football_team) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Flag_of_France.svg/22px-Flag_of_France.svg.png 7 - 0 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup_Group_A#France_vs_Mexico) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Flag_of_Mexico.svg/22px-Flag_of_Mexico.svg.png Mexico (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_national_football_team)

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Yeah! al last! Portuguese broadcasting will remove the vuvuzela sound for the entire tournament!!!

[Marshal Murat]

:argentina: 2 - 0 :southkorea:
:greece: 0 - 1 :nigeria:
:france: 1 - 2 :mexico:

For the Uruguay - South Africa game, disappointment. Hoping for a good Bafana Bafana performace, but Uruguay was a capable defensive team who kept the South Africans at bay while the strikers could cut through the 4-man Bafana Bafana defense. It really showed the weaknesses of the SA team when going against a more experienced Uruguay team.

I think Mexico could get through France. Not expecting much from Greece, hoping for an Argentine blowout to knock down South Korea.

[LeftEyeNine]

France 1-1 Mexico
Argentina 3-1 S. Korea
Greece 1-3 Nigeria

[Ronin]

France 1-1 Mexico
Argentina 3-1 S. Korea
Greece 1-3 Nigeria


no..no...no

Greece has to keep the tradition up!

No goals ever scored in a World Cup Final.

[johnhughthom]

Update:

Louis: +2 = 15
Little Grizzly: 2
Psycho: +1 = 6
Sarmatian: 2
Insane Apache: +2 = 15
Secura: 2
Ser Clegane: 9
Romanic: +1 = 8
Joooray: +1 = 5
Rhyfelwyr: +1 = 3
Sasaki: 0
LEN: +2 = 8
Moros: 2
Marshall Murat: 3
Craterus: 3
Crazed Rabbit: 2
Beefy: 2
Centurio Nixalsverdus: +2 = 2
Ronin: 1
||Lz3||: 4

[gaelic cowboy]

I love Forlan he silenced the VuVuFNzelas tonight lovely silence after he scored :2thumbsup:

[Romanic]

France (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_national_football_team) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Flag_of_France.svg/22px-Flag_of_France.svg.png 7 - 0 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup_Group_A#France_vs_Mexico) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Flag_of_Mexico.svg/22px-Flag_of_Mexico.svg.png Mexico (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_national_football_team)


You should get bonus points if you're right about this! :laugh4:

:argentina: 2 - 1 :southkorea:
:greece: 1 - 1 :nigeria:
:france: 2 - 0 :mexico:

[Rhyfelwyr]

Well I've managed 3 points so far out of 13 games I've predicted, statiscally I should have got more than that just by guessing at complete random. :embarassed:

Now for tomorrow...

:argentina: 1 - 0 :southkorea:
:greece: 0 - 1 :nigeria:
:france: 0 - 0 :mexico:

[johnhughthom]

You should get bonus points if you're right about this! :laugh4:


My thoughts exactly, let's wait and see...

[||Lz3||]

:argentina: 2 - 1 :southkorea:
:greece: 0 - 1 :nigeria:
:france: 1 - 2 :mexico:

En garde, Louis!!

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

:argentina: 2 - 1 :southkorea:

:greece: 1 - 1 :nigeria:

:france: 1 - 2 :mexico:

The South Koreans will put up a good fight. Greece will shoot a penalty, and France will suffer a blunder against Mexico.

[InsaneApache]

Today's been great!

Chile was entertaining. I kept hoping for that second goal, to move me ahead of that pesky IA, but in vain, although I can't fault Chile for not trying.



Well done to Switserland!

From the looks of it, this tournament will be between Brazil and Germany then.

May the best man win! :knight: :charge: :bow:

[naut]

Not to be a stickler, but shouldn't I have +3 for yesterday? I got the correct scoreline in the Chile game.

[johnhughthom]

Not to be a stickler, but shouldn't I have +3 for yesterday? I got the correct scoreline in the Chile game.

:oops:
:stupid:

Update:

Louis: +2 = 15
Little Grizzly: 2
Psycho: +3 = 8
Sarmatian: 2
Insane Apache: +2 = 15
Secura: 2
Ser Clegane: 9
Romanic: +1 = 8
Joooray: +1 = 5
Rhyfelwyr: +1 = 3
Sasaki: 0
LEN: +2 = 8
Moros: 2
Marshall Murat: 3
Craterus: 3
Crazed Rabbit: 2
Beefy: 2
Centurio Nixalsverdus: +2 = 2
Ronin: 1
||Lz3||: 4

[Beefy187]

Argentina 2- 2 South Korea
Greece 0- 2- Nigeria
France 0- 1 Mexico

I think South Koreans are pretty tough to beat. While I'm rooting for Argentina to win the cup after the first round, they'll have some trouble beating South Korea.

Prove me wrong France. I want you in the top 16.

[Sarmatian]

Argentina 2-0 South Korea
Greece 0-1 Nigeria
France 1-1 Mexico

[Ser Clegane]

Argentina - South Korea 2:1
Greece - Nigeria 0:1
France - Mexico 1:1

[InsaneApache]

Argentina 2-0 South Korea
Greece 0-2 Nigeria
France 1-0 Mexico

:balloon2:

[naut]

Argentina 2 - 1 South Korea
Greece 0 - 1 Nigeria
France 2 - 2 Mexico

[gaelic cowboy]

At last the definitive proof the ball was at fault :clown:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZEzn1Xnziw

[naut]

Ok. Now don't score Argies/Korea and we will all (well almost all) get 3 points.

[Joooray]

Well missed some secure points, but what can you do.

Anyway for the other games:
:greece: 0 - 3 :nigeria:
:france: 1 - 1 :mexico:

[Romanic]

Ok. Now don't score Argies/Korea and we will all (well almost all) get 3 points.

You jinxed it! :brood:

[gaelic cowboy]

As earl Jay Hickey would say "Aint karma funny"



Come on the North American Boys in Green

That is all

[LeftEyeNine]

HAND BALL WORKS ONLY ONCE. GO HOME LES BLEUS.

AAAAAAZTECAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !

Edit: I want printscreens of Platini's and Sarkozy's faces right now. Lucrative pay.

[gaelic cowboy]

Being serious for a moment they were baaaad tonight anelka, ribery etc etc none of them impressed they just did not get stuck in.

[drone]

As much as it pains me to say it: Bravo, El Tri! for a job well done. :bow:

Comment from the ESPN Gamecast:

There's no team in the world that gets so little out of so much talent as France does.
:laugh4:

[gaelic cowboy]

It's almost like they just gave a Gallic Shrug and decided they did not want to die for the likes of Domenech.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Edit: I want printscreens of Platini's and Sarkozy's faces right now. Lucrative pay. I don't think you're up to speed with common sentiment. You're not seriously expecting devatsted, shocked faces? :huh:



It's relief mate, relief. It's over, at last.



The French FA thinks it indecent to sack a coach. Alas, perhaps they should have.

The face of domenech tonight was unbearable. Such complete resignation, to the loss, and to the end of his reign. One wonders what the point of all of this has been.

Wenger, Zidane, Vieira - all have launched scathing attacks in the past few weeks, perfectly describing everything that's wrong with the team at the moment. It's been obvious from the beginning that this was going to be a lost tournament, an exercise in pointlessness.


Tragedy, in the original Greek meaning, is a play were everbody in the audience is aware from the beginning the ending will be disastrous. It is about watching the impending and inevitable doom unfold. This is what this tournament is about. It is like watching the movie Titanic. You know it's going to sink before the end, even the exact manner is known. The spectacle, the very tragedy of it, is to watch it slowly unfold.

[Tellos Athenaios]

All the same: good for Mexico. For their part it might just have been the best game of the group.

[gaelic cowboy]

As I watched it you could see Domenech leaning against the dugout he didnt seem bothered to me.


Serious questions have to be asked about Ribery he is not worth his place for what he is expected to do.

Mexico were probably fortunate to get the first goal they had possibility of offside there, but the second was pure laziness on the part of frenchmen his name escapes me now, stupid the tackle to give away penalty twas silly.

[||Lz3||]

:grin:

We still have serious problems with our attackers. They still miss clear shots. And for some reason, our TD keeps on aligning Franco, who is just too old and slow for the job...

[johnhughthom]

Update:

Louis: +1 = 16
Little Grizzly: 2
Psycho: +1 = 7
Sarmatian: +1 = 3
Insane Apache: +1 = 16
Ser Clegane: +1 = 10
Romanic: +1 = 9
Joooray: 5
Rhyfelwyr: +1 = 4
LEN: +1 = 9
Moros: 2
Marshall Murat: +2 = 5
Craterus: 3
Crazed Rabbit: 2
Beefy: +1 = 3
Centurio Nixalsverdus: +2 = 4
Ronin: 1
||Lz3||: +2 = 6

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Unfortunately, France is almost out of the tournament, but don't worry Louis, we will be following you next monday...

[Louis VI the Fat]

Mexico and Uruguay will both progress if it's a draw between them in the next game.

I don't think anybody needs to have any illusions about what will happen. So much then for this tournament. Pity for South Africa too.


And to think my darling, Gourcuff, who's isolated in the team, didn't even get to make an appearance tonight. Such a skilled player. :shame:


As earl Jay Hickey would say "Aint karma funny" I can not begin to descibe the embarrasment I felt when thinking about eleven Irish guys fighting for all they're worth tonight.


:embarassed:

HAND BALL WORKS ONLY ONCE. GO HOME LES BLEUS.Yeah yeah. Alternatively, you could use the excited tone to write the Turkish FA and demand it changes its policy of disallowing gays in Turkish football.

[gaelic cowboy]

Yeah yeah. Alternatively, you could use the excited tone to write the Turkish FA and demand it changes its policy of disallowing gays in Turkish football.

Oh burned

[Louis VI the Fat]

:grin:

We still have serious problems with our attackers. They still miss clear shots. And for some reason, our TD keeps on aligning Franco, who is just too old and slow for the job...Oops, nearly forgot: Congratulations! :balloon:

Mexico has a good team. As far as I'm concerned, I didn't see too many problems with the forwards, nor with the team in general. Quite sturdy. It all works, if perhaps a few last bits of lethal efficiency are still lacking. Best of luck in the rest of tournament!

(Do try to make it a real game against Uruguay)

[gaelic cowboy]

I can not begin to descibe the embarrasment I felt when thinking about eleven Irish guys fighting for all they're worth tonight.

Is that it for Domenech so I mean is there the possibility he could survive or is he defo gone

[||Lz3||]

Merci. :bow:

I really hope Mexico beats Uruguay. If they just draw, Uruguay would get the upper hand and go on on first, thus leaving Argentina to us. That would be something not really pleasant. It's still yet to be seen if Mexico risks 2nd place for a possible 1st, avoiding Argentina in the process.

[Pannonian]

Les Bleus lose to a team in green shirts and white shorts... Where was Henry?

[drone]

I really hope Mexico beats Uruguay. If they just draw, Uruguay would get the upper hand and go on on first, thus leaving Argentina to us. That would be something not really pleasant. It's still yet to be seen if Mexico risks 2nd place for a possible 1st, avoiding Argentina in the process.
:yes:
It would not surprise me if they go for the win. France/South Africa will need to overcome a big goal differential deficit to pass either Mexico or Uruguay, and neither of those two want to end up facing the Argies. Worth the risk.

[gaelic cowboy]

Lol just seen this on Facebook


https://i.imgur.com/vrQPx.gif

Kayne West says it best (http://s-ak.buzzfed.com/static/imagebuzz/web03/2010/6/15/18/kanye-west-and-vuvuzelas-2694-1276640021-17.jpg)

[Joooray]

Wohoo, no points for me today. :no:

Can't wait for the game tomorrow!

:germany: 3 - 1 :serbia:
:slovenia: 1 - 2 :unitedstates:
:england: 3 - 0 :algeria:

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

What's up with les bleus? They seemed as if they did not really want to take part in that tournament. Or has Domenech some internal quarrel with his federation and decided to do nothing to win it? The French inability was really shocking, there must be a reason for this??

Anyway, next predictions:

:germany: 2 - 0 :serbia:

:slovenia: 1 - 1 :unitedstates:

:england: 2 - 0 :algeria:

[Marshal Murat]

:germany: 2 - 1 :serbia:
:slovenia: 0 - 2 :unitedstates:
:england: 1 - 1 :algeria:

[InsaneApache]

:germany: 2 :serbia: 1

:slovenia: 1 :unitedstates: 1

:england: 2 :algeria: 0

[Louis VI the Fat]

What's up with les bleus? They seemed as if they did not really want to take part in that tournament. Or has Domenech some internal quarrel with his federation and decided to do nothing to win it? The French inability was really shocking, there must be a reason for this??Zidane, last week: Domenech is not a coach.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/796510/ce/uk/?cc=5739&ver=global

Zidane slammed Doméchec again today, insiting Gourcuff should've played for more creative input. Gourcuff has problems with the rest of the squad. Pity, he has shown at Bordeaux he is best playmaker France has got.

But it is all not about who plays where. The team has been lacklustre at best for four years now, during qualifications and tournaments. Maybe they just aren't all that good. If you underperform thirty games in a row, you don't underperform, you just aren't all that good. France is not Brazil. Not Germany or Argentina either. The succeses the past decade still inflate expectations. But France should not be considered a real football powerhouse, more an England or Spain (if that) - who are also always said to dissapoint respectively underperform, when in reality maybe they simply always play to their actual possibilities.

Then again, the squad is excellent. The players do perform at their clubs. It remains puzzling how one can have Gourcuff and Ribéry and lack creativity.



:germany: 2 - 1 :serbia:

:slovenia: 1 - 1 :unitedstates:

:england: 1 - 0 :algeria:

[Louis VI the Fat]

Is that it for Domenech so I mean is there the possibility he could survive or is he defo gone Domenech's successor will be Blanc. He had been appointed well before this tournament. Which does little to add to what's left of Domenech's authority.

You know, part of me feels sorry for Domenech too. He's not a bad man. He really isn't. Out of his league perhaps. He's great with youth teams - I'd entrust any to him.
Tonight must be a lonely night for him. The sight of his leaning against the dugout was almost painful to watch. A man ran out of ideas, resigned. The players must've felt it, the energy carries over to the team. Domenech tried to solve the problems in advance of the game, tried different players, but when it didn't work, there was resignation.
The players did try, somewhat, at times. It is all not just about them being spoiled princesses, it runs deeper than that. The team needs a shrink.

That, or, preferably, the team needs Zidane, who could on His own lift an entire team like this to a World Cup final. There is only one diference between the tournaments of 2008 and 2010, and the one in 2006, which goes a long way to explain why I still worship Him so much after all these years. Domenech was not the coach in 2006, Zizou was. Without Him, there is nothing. When He was injured, in 2002, the team collapsed too. With Him, in 1998, 2000, and 2006, there is always glory (until He decided to shed His mortal coil in 2006, and turned Himself over to the Godless Romans to be crucified)


*weeps bitter tears, retreats from thread to worship at his Zidane shrine*


...and to think I once laughed at the silly Neapolitans for being so pathetic as to still think it's all only about El Diego. :embarassed: :laugh4:


I really do have a Zizou shrine. During important France and Bordeaux games I burn candles and pray for His intervention. :shame:

See, this is why I understand why Maradona should've been made coach of Argentina, despite his obvious drawbacks. Just for the sheer magic, the belief, the strenght drawn from it. Football is fueled by science in Germany, passion in Britain, witchcraft in Africa, and Catholicism in Latin countries. El Diego - that's like having the Virgin Mary around.

[naut]

Update:

Louis: +2 = 15
Little Grizzly: 2
Psycho: +3 = 8
Sarmatian: 2
Insane Apache: +2 = 15
Secura: 2
Ser Clegane: 9
Romanic: +1 = 8
Joooray: +1 = 5
Rhyfelwyr: +1 = 3
Sasaki: 0
LEN: +2 = 8
Moros: 2
Marshall Murat: 3
Craterus: 3
Crazed Rabbit: 2
Beefy: 2
Centurio Nixalsverdus: +2 = 2
Ronin: 1
||Lz3||: 4


Update:

Louis: +1 = 16
Little Grizzly: 2
Psycho: +1 = 7
Sarmatian: +1 = 3
Insane Apache: +1 = 16
Ser Clegane: +1 = 10
Romanic: +1 = 9
Joooray: 5
Rhyfelwyr: +1 = 4
LEN: +1 = 9
Moros: 2
Marshall Murat: +2 = 5
Craterus: 3
Crazed Rabbit: 2
Beefy: +1 = 3
Centurio Nixalsverdus: +2 = 4
Ronin: 1
||Lz3||: +2 = 6

Plus 1, not minus 1. I'm on 9, not 7. :bow:

[Tellos Athenaios]

But it is all not about who plays where. The team has been lacklustre at best for four years now, during qualifications and tournaments. Maybe they just aren't all that good. If you underperform thirty games in a row, you don't underperform, you just aren't all that good. France is not Brazil. Not Germany or Argentina either. The succeses the past decade still inflate expectations. But France should not be considered a real football powerhouse, more an England or Spain (if that) - who are also always said to dissapoint respectively underperform, when in reality maybe they simply always play to their actual possibilities.

Or a Netherlands: it is well understood that if you are going to root for Orange you had better have a backup favourite, too. <_<

[||Lz3||]

My thoughts on tomorrow games.

:Germany: 3 - 0 :Serbia:
:Slovenia: 0 - 2 :Unitedstates
:England: 2 - 0 :Algeria:

[Fragony]

Alol les bleus

[Sarmatian]

Since I am generally wrong with this predictions, I'm gonna go with Germany. Who knows... England's gonna trash Algeria. Slovenia-USA is a very hard game to predict...

Germany 3-1 Serbia
Slovenia 1-0 USA
England 3-0 Algeria

[johnhughthom]

Plus 1, not minus 1. I'm on 9, not 7. :bow:

Gah, sorry. I changed your total last time in thread, but not in the file I'm using to keep track of the scores. Changing both now.

Update:

Louis: +1 = 16
Little Grizzly: 2
Psycho: +1 = 9
Sarmatian: +1 = 3
Insane Apache: +1 = 16
Ser Clegane: +1 = 10
Romanic: +1 = 9
Joooray: 5
Rhyfelwyr: +1 = 4
LEN: +1 = 9
Moros: 2
Marshall Murat: +2 = 5
Craterus: 3
Crazed Rabbit: 2
Beefy: +1 = 3
Centurio Nixalsverdus: +2 = 4
Ronin: 1
||Lz3||: +2 = 6

[Ser Clegane]

Germany - Serbia 3:1
Slovenia - USA 1:2
England - Algeria 1:0

[Romanic]

:germany: 2 - 0 :serbia:

:slovenia: 0 - 1 :unitedstates:

:england: 2 - 0 :algeria:

[Rhyfelwyr]

:germany: 2 - 0 :serbia:

:slovenia: 1 - 1 :unitedstates:

:england: 3 - 0 :algeria:

edit: what's up with the serbia flag here? doesn't appear for anyone...

[naut]

Germany 3 - 0 Serbia
Slovenia 2 - 1 USA
England 2 - 1 Algeria

Predictions based entirely on statistics.... I wonder if that is a wise move on my part. Oh well. Time will tell.

[LeftEyeNine]

Yeah yeah. Alternatively, you could use the excited tone to write the Turkish FA and demand it changes its policy of disallowing gays in Turkish football.

Lol, what a sore reaction. :grin: That's almost the same as- oh nevermind, Backroom material.

Thanks for trying to fill irrelevancy quota of the day, Louis, you've made quite some effort. That I appreciate. :smoking:// (clapclaps)

I don't mind how much I love French football right now. I'm all about Platini's pro-French management of UEFA and Sarkozy's raid in the last minute to build up a pressure on undecided votes for EURO 2016. Great result there where they said they'd like the tournament to be held at first-timer countries.

Very well deserved for Les Bleus. I wonder if Sarkozy and Platini would use their authority to make an appeal claiming that "France can't lose".

I say Henry should play in the last match. You know, history recurs, all chances should be taken into consideration. :laugh4:


* walks away with a broken heart that's holding Cissé, Diaby, Gourcuff and Evra inside.

[gaelic cowboy]

Now we will see what Germany are made of eh, man down and a goal down also and a ball of the upright saved off the line too.


Oh this is shaping up to be a cracker even though there might not be another score.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Oh this is shaping up to be a cracker even though there might not be another score.The tournament has definately kicked up a notch in all the second matches in the groups. For better or for worse, there's been nothing but sensation for three days now!

Maybe teams were nervous for their opening matches, a bit too defensive, unused to the ball and circumstances?



@LEN - I know you had Turkey's failed bid for 2016 in mind. So had I. As a tip: don't fire and force into a hiding a referee for being homosexual just before the undecided must cast their vote.
Other than that, sorry for losing my cool. (But have some consideration for people who have just seen their teams (virtually) kicked out of the tournament. Speak your mind before a decisive game, not in excited CAPS directly after a devastating loss. Nerves are exhausted, tempers flare easily)

[LeftEyeNine]

Oh today's result predictions will follow as soon as I can get home. I apparently forgot all about them with the euphoria following the loss of Les Bleus Platini et Sarkozy.

[LeftEyeNine]

@Louis

I have no interest in whatever happened to some homosexual due to some decision of TFF for the topic has no connection to it.

Yet the connection, via the handball hence Platini, still stands for how French lobby in European football has gotten disgusting enough.

I have all rights to celebrate Mexico's victory, both fed by the hate towards Platini and Sarkozy and the joy of Mexico's win since they have achieved something for the first time against France. I am all ghey for underdogs.

If you feel like your nerves are exhausted and tempers are about to flare, go away in another direction, preferably rest your skull in the refrigerator for as long as you can.

This is how you do it in TW.org whether it is football or human rights of irrelevant gays being rejected by TFF. If you feel like going astray at some point, you HAVE TO disappear and chill, something I thought you knew better than me or you must know from now on being a moderator as you are.

Merci.

[gaelic cowboy]

The tournament has definately kicked up a notch in all the second matches in the groups. For better or for worse, there's been nothing but sensation for three days now!

Maybe teams were nervous for their opening matches, a bit too defensive, unused to the ball and circumstances?



I too excited to even reply properly

Oh god penalty saved

[Ser Clegane]

Aaaaaaargh!

'nuff said.

[Sarmatian]

C'mon guys don't argue, let's all focus on Serbia beating Germany after 37 years. What a nice timing :). You could also see how team spirit is alive and well, with Vidic showing Kuzmanovic that it is okay to use your hands in the box.

[LeftEyeNine]

May be failing at result predictions yet my favorites and surprises are coming into shape as Serbia beats Der Panzerererererer. :smoking:

[gaelic cowboy]

Germany are now hoping that the Aussies beat Ghana then everyone is on a win and loss.

Is it beyond the realm of science, magic and the Elder Gods that Germany could stumble in the last game???? I hope they make it tournament would be poorer without them.

[Ser Clegane]

C'mon guys don't argue, let's all focus on Serbia beating Germany after 37 years. What a nice timing :). You could also see how team spirit is alive and well, with Vidic showing Kuzmanovic that it is okay to use your hands in the box.
I expect that the Serbian field players will play with their hands tied behind their back in the next match...

[pevergreen]

C'mon guys don't argue, let's all focus on Serbia beating Germany after 37 years.

When this hits the 6 o'clock news tomorrow, its gunna be huge.

[Tellos Athenaios]

Why, a 2-0 lead for Slovenia. You've got to ask: will Algeria beat England ?

[LeftEyeNine]

Sorry for the late predictions but:

Slovenia 1-2 USA
England 2-2 Algeria
Germany 1-2 Serbia

I'll put up my predictions of tomorrow as well which are as follows:

Ghana 2-2 Australia
Nederland 1-1 Japan
Cameroon 0-0 Denmark

[LeftEyeNine]

Yanks are about to seal the first comeback of the tournament.

[naut]

Argh! USA had to score. I was al set for the 3 points and then, boom, prediction blown out of the water.

[LeftEyeNine]

USA WINNING STREAK !

2 -2

[drone]

Gah! Any idea why the third goal was disallowed? (i'm at work...)

[Crazed Rabbit]

Gah! Any idea why the third goal was disallowed? (i'm at work...)

It was disallowed because the ref is A BUG EYED FREAK WITH **** FOR BRAINS.

The man supposedly 'offsides' was getting fouled by a defender who had both arms around him.

I HATE THAT REF.

CR

[drone]

So it's the standard USA World Cup screw-job by the officials?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

That was an incredible game, shame about the moron ref at the end.

[Louis VI the Fat]

The proper football expression is: We wuz robbed!!

(To become a true Football nation, this is then properly followed up by an eightteen month long tabloid-driven campaign for a replay. Complete with lengthy essays about the Slovenes, who were so unsportsmanlike as not to inform the referee, which is in perfect accordance to their national character. a national character responsible for centuries of opression of Americans throughout the world.

Try this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/jun/17/world-cup-france-mexico-ireland :dizzy:)


It was nowhere near offside. The main explanation I can think of is that the free kick was easily awarded. Referees / linesmen get wobbly knees about that, they hate to see a goal result from it. They were going to react to the slightest transgression by America, going to give Slovenia the benefit of the doubt in any situation during the free kick. Alas, it was nowhere near offside.
(Which at any rate is the most difficult situation to judge properly. A linesman looks to the guy giving a pass, then by the time his eyes are set on the receiver, they can look to be miles offside, even if they aren't in the slightest. Almost by defenition offside is near impossible to judge correctly - eyes can only be in one position, while offside relies on two different positions)

Ah well, still a sensational game. America is always a delight to have at a tournament - they always deliver some sort sensational game of some sort.



Congrats Serbia! What an interesting group it is now, everything seems possible, including the impossible: an early Germany exit.

[drone]

America is always a delight to have at a tournament - they always deliver some sort sensational game of some sort.
Well, except for 1998. :hide:

Congrats Serbia! What an interesting group it is now, everything seems possible, including the impossible: an early Germany exit.
I wouldn't bet on it. But it does scramble up the desirability of the 1 & 2 spots in Group C. Is Klose suspended for just the next game, or 2? I can never keep the WC booking rules straight in my head...

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Well, except for 1998. :hide:

I wouldn't bet on it. But it does scramble up the desirability of the 1 & 2 spots in Group C. Is Klose suspended for just the next game, or 2? I can never keep the WC booking rules straight in my head...

It would be hilarious if the refs bad call in the US game leads to us getting 2nd spot instead of first, but then england ends up facing germany instead of us...

Click here for vastly improved .org browsing (http://www.vuvuzela-time.co.uk/forums.totalwar.org/vb/)

[Sarmatian]

I wouldn't bet on it. But it does scramble up the desirability of the 1 & 2 spots in Group C. Is Klose suspended for just the next game, or 2? I can never keep the WC booking rules straight in my head...

Just the next match. Two yellows - one match ban, a direct red - two match ban

[gaelic cowboy]

I watched the first half an thought they were unlucky to concede the first one an second goal happened when I thought USA was coming back into it.

Silly me I decided to go outside and finish a job thats staring me in the face I come back in an hour later and USA was robbed of a win.

England will breathe a sigh of relief cos USA win could seriously mess up the group from an English point of view with Slovenia last game.



Just seen some stuff on news that ref was a (insert national expletive here) he gave Findley a yellow card and now he misses the Algeria game when it clearly hit his face.






Tinfoil Hat time I smell FIFA either Slovene win or a drawn game is best result for UK and as a result the best for FIFA gotta keep those tv companies happy.

[gaelic cowboy]

Whats up with England tonight they look worse than the last night.



oh big loss there Carragher out next game

[Louis VI the Fat]

Come on England! :england:


Sorry for the late predictions but:

Germany 1-2 SerbiaOh, come on now. You predict Germany will lose by one goal after the game had finished? :inquisitive:

[drone]

I guess an England-Algeria draw was the best the US could hope for. If they beat Algeria, they are onto the round of 16, regardless of the Slovenia-England game. England are in the same boat, win and they are through. Tight group, if the US screw it up badly enough Algeria can still get through.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

These stupid 0-0 ties...I think we can even tie and get in, if england loses to slovenia. But if we both win, goal differential from those two games will decide seeding yeah?

[gaelic cowboy]

After that display it would be an injustice if england qualify now USA/Slovenia have played better so far.

That was shocking tonight

[Secura]

That was woeful.

I've never seen Rooney so out-of-sorts. :S

[gaelic cowboy]

That was woeful.

I've never seen Rooney so out-of-sorts. :S


They look dead on there feet, I think there overtrained and also they were not aggressive enough.

[drone]

These stupid 0-0 ties...I think we can even tie and get in, if england loses to slovenia. But if we both win, goal differential from those two games will decide seeding yeah?
We can get through if we draw and England loses or draws without scoring 2 more goals than the US. For seeding I believe it's goal diff, then goals scored, the US has a 2 goal advantage on England so far. But at least we know a win will put us through, if England had won it would have been a lot dicier.

[Knight of Ne]

That was the worst England game i have ever seen. There were so many bad moments but worst of all was Rooney. He never did anything with the ball and should of gone off half time.
Also, why did Capello bring off Heskey and Barry, they were the few good players in the side. I think Capello has to play Defoe and J.Cole next game because we need players like them ata the moment.

Very Angry ne:furious3:

[gaelic cowboy]

These stupid 0-0 ties...I think we can even tie and get in, if england loses to slovenia. But if we both win, goal differential from those two games will decide seeding yeah?

USA have three goals for and three against ENG only have one for and one against so Eng need to beat Slovenia.

Put another way America has there destiny in there own hands which is good for ye but not for Eng.

[gaelic cowboy]

That was the worst England game i have ever seen. There were so many bad moments but worst of all was Rooney. He never did anything with the ball and should of gone off half time.
Also, why did Capello bring off Heskey and Barry, they were the few good players in the side. I think Capello has to play Defoe and J.Cole next game because we need players like them ata the moment.

Very Angry ne:furious3:

Telling moment there five minutes before end when Algerian lad robbed ball of Rooner's

[Andres]

Also, why did Capello bring off Heskey

I thought it was a good decision; Heskey had an off day. He was trying very hard, but nothing worked.

Kudos to Algeria, they played well.

[Knight of Ne]

I thought it was a good decision; Heskey had an off day. He was trying very hard, but nothing worked.

Kudos to Algeria, they played well.

Yeh Algeria deserved more than a point. However although Heskey didn't do much up front (no surprise) he was constantly winning the ball back in Englands half and trying set something up. It would of been nice to see him play alongside Defoe.

On another note, it would be a shame if Slovenia don't make it out of the group.

Ne

[Crazed Rabbit]

So apparently the ref won't say what foul the US committed.

He needs to be yanked from the Cup and thrown into the under-10 leagues.

At least we can advance if we beat Algeria.

CR

[naut]

Hahahah. Typical England, Capello... I told you your squad selection was rubbish. That's why Theo Walchart should be in the squad... to make direct runs at tired defenders and create trouble.

[Knight of Ne]

Hahahah. Typical England, Capello... I told you your squad selection was rubbish. That's why Theo Walchart should be in the squad... to make direct runs at tired defenders and create trouble.

Walcott wasn't picked becasue Lennon and Wright-phillips can and do do that but can also produce a good end result which Walcott is not good at.


So apparently the ref won't say what foul the US committed.

He needs to be yanked from the Cup and thrown into the under-10 leagues.

At least we can advance if we beat Algeria.

CR

I hear theres a spot open in the Arctic premier league for a ref.

Ne

[Andres]

So apparently the ref won't say what foul the US committed.

He needs to be yanked from the Cup and thrown into the under-10 leagues.



I can feel your pain.

Belgium-Germany 1994; Josip Weber got tripped in the penalty area, but the Swiss referee, Kurt Röthlisberger, may he burn for eternity, did not give us the penalty ~:mad

16 years later and it still hurts.

[gaelic cowboy]

What 100 years an I still wont be able to eat a french baguette

[Louis VI the Fat]

What 100 years an I still wont be able to eat a french baguetteEat this instead:

The same Irish team, the same qualification campaign, shamefully robbing a smaller football nation of their victory.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_nLsOFDp6k&feature=related


What matters is not the ref making a bad call. No, the problem here is the Irish captain reflexively raising his hand to call for a penalty. He knows very well it isn't anywhere near a handsball. There was every opportunity to admit he tricked the referee. He didn't, no apology was issued afterwards, no campaign for a replay. The points were happily collected, and with collective amnesia the greens all cried murder when three months later karma got its sweet revenge with the Hand of Gaul. :smash:

[Louis VI the Fat]

Assorted comments:

Is is wise to appoint a referee from Mali to a USA game? Was a US win too much for him to bear?
/conspiracy.


I really loved how the Slovenian goalkeeper ducked for that Donovan shot. :laugh4:


Spain, France, Germany, England...is this the end of West Europe's football powerhouses? One would expect the Dutch and Italians to fail too at this stage, the point where push comes to shove. Spoiled brats, the lot of us!



Ghana https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Flag_of_Ghana.svg/20px-Flag_of_Ghana.svg.png (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Flag_of_Ghana.svg) 1 — 1 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Flag_of_Australia.svg/20px-Flag_of_Australia.svg.png (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Flag_of_Australia.svg) Australie
Pays-Bas https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Flag_of_the_Netherlands.svg/20px-Flag_of_the_Netherlands.svg.png (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Flag_of_the_Netherlands.svg) 1 — 0 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/Flag_of_Japan.svg/20px-Flag_of_Japan.svg.png (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Flag_of_Japan.svg) Japon
Cameroun https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Flag_of_Cameroon.svg/20px-Flag_of_Cameroon.svg.png (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Flag_of_Cameroon.svg) 0 — 0 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Flag_of_Denmark.svg/20px-Flag_of_Denmark.svg.png (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Flag_of_Denmark.svg) DanemarkBoring sidetracks:

@Louis

I have no interest in whatever happened to some homosexual due to some decision of TFF for the topic has no connection to it.

Yet the connection, via the handball hence Platini, still stands for how French lobby in European football has gotten disgusting enough.

I have all rights to celebrate Mexico's victory, both fed by the hate towards Platini and Sarkozy and the joy of Mexico's win since they have achieved something for the first time against France. I am all ghey for underdogs.

If you feel like your nerves are exhausted and tempers are about to flare, go away in another direction, preferably rest your skull in the refrigerator for as long as you can.

This is how you do it in TW.org whether it is football or human rights of irrelevant gays being rejected by TFF. If you feel like going astray at some point, you HAVE TO disappear and chill, something I thought you knew better than me or you must know from now on being a moderator as you are.

Merci.What I mean is, celebrate a victory, not a defeat.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

So congratulations to Serbia are due ... though I can't be very happy with it of course. I had the feeling the Germans played less effectively than normal. That and bad luck ... and a referee that likes to be in the center of attention. How ridiculous has the majority of this cards been, Serbian and German players alike?

Apart from that, I can only say that England will definitively NOT take part in the next round. There's simply no way.

:netherlands: 3 - 0 :japan:

:ghana: 1 - 2 :australia:

:cameroon: 0 - 2 :denmark:

[Sarmatian]

As much as I hate what Henry did, I have to side with Louis - referee's mistakes are and have always been a part of football. Just because replays have shown a particular goal should have been given that doesn't warrant a replay match. Should Germans demand to replay 1966 final because third English goal shouldn't have been given? It has happened million of times in football I don't really see why should different rules be applied in the case of Ireland.

[Joooray]

Man Germany - Serbia was a frustrating game to watch. The Referees are not as their best this time around, but Congratulation to Serbia, they deserved because Germany didn't use the chances they got.

Anyway, let's see if NL also slips up tomorrow:
:netherlands: 2 - 1 :japan:
:ghana: 2 - 1 :australia:
:cameroon: 1 - 1 :denmark:

[Louis VI the Fat]

Does FIFA take us for fools?

Those with an eye for the game have insisted since the beginning of the tournament the new ball ruins a passing game. And that the ball creates less goals instead of more, because the unpredictability is offset by players failing to shoot it straight, especially when trying to keep the ball from flying way over.

Statistics now prove us correct!

The Jabulani may not have hit the back of the net very often in this World Cup, but the net of public opinion is closing around it. To the naked eye, the controversial Adidas ball that was introduced for this tournament has been a significant factor in the lack of goals so far, and that perception is supported by statistics taken from the first round of group matches.


Opta figures show that, so far, only 33.44% of shots have been on target. That is down by almost 10% in comparison with the Premier League and Champions League last season, and also the World Cup in 2006. While this may be partly attributable to the small sample size, the fact the difference is so pronounced suggests that it is more than a statistical anomaly. Only four sides – Italy, Japan, Slovenia and Germany – have hit the target with more than half of their shots.

The Germans are at the top of most positive lists, as you would expect of a side who have scored twice as many goals as anyone else. Their passing accuracy of 91.54% is the best of the tournament so far.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/jun/17/world-cup-2010-statistics-ballTo which I would like to add, that the ball has been used for several months in Germany, Argentina and the USA. Not surprisingly, these teams have so far seemed the least affected by the ball. :idea2:



~~o~~o~~<<oOo>>~~o~~o~~


Speaking of a passing game, below what Spain is capable of. A friendly against Poland earlier this month. The beautiful game! Check out that second goal between 0:28 and 0:40. :sweatdrop:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2hnT__51vg&annotation_id=annotation_845929&feature=iv




~~o~~o~~<<oOo>>~~o~~o~~



As much as I hate what Henry did, I have to side with Louis - referee's mistakes are and have always been a part of football. Just because replays have shown a particular goal should have been given that doesn't warrant a replay match. Should Germans demand to replay 1966 final because third English goal shouldn't have been given? It has happened million of times in football I don't really see why should different rules be applied in the case of Ireland.Henry's handsball remains emberassing.

But no legs were broken, no elbow was planted in a face. On any given weekend, in any league, one will see far worse. Still I feel sorry for the Irish, embarrassed. The stakes were high, Ireland was the underdog, they put up such a phenomenal performance. It felt like an eightteen year old who has to resort to cheating to beat a twelve year old. Painful to watch.

What is football? I don't know any of these guys who play. I don't have any 'objective', material gain from them winning a game. What football is about, is pride and joy. When these are stripped by cheating, whats left? What's the point then? So, it doesn't pay to cheat. (Well for a professional player it does. But not for a fan. Except for fans who are good in mental exersizes about how the others 'deserved' it. Which, come to think of it, Lyon, Marseille and Italy always do...)


I must say a fair bit of my guilt was assuaged ever since I saw that video of Ireland, too, robbing a much smaller nation of their chance of victory, in the very same campaign no less. It puts it all in an entirely different perspective.

[gaelic cowboy]

Eat this instead:

The same Irish team, the same qualification campaign, shamefully robbing a smaller football nation of their victory.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_nLsOFDp6k&feature=related


What matters is not the ref making a bad call. No, the problem here is the Irish captain reflexively raising his hand to call for a penalty. He knows very well it isn't anywhere near a handsball. There was every opportunity to admit he tricked the referee. He didn't, no apology was issued afterwards, no campaign for a replay. The points were happily collected, and with collective amnesia the greens all cried murder when three months later karma got its sweet revenge with the Hand of Gaul. :smash:

Yet interstingly Georgia did not lose out on qualification because of Ireland they did that themselves coming last an Bulgaria still would not have made the qualifiers.



By the way Louis dont feel too sorry for Georgia they fully deserved to be cheated out of the game after this incident in a previous game.

Clickable1 (http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012/news/newsid=62609.html) Clickable2 (http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2003/0415/georgia.html)The game was bad tempered and hostile a thing that would never never be seen in Dublin against the same side

Now to show there is no bitterness I give you this
Clickable Hurrah for Henry -- he has spared us a double dose of southern hemisphere humiliation (http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/kevin-myers-hurrah-for-henry-he-has-spared-us-a-double-dose-of-southern-hemisphere-humiliation-2223279.html)

Hurrah for Henry -- he has spared us a double dose of southern hemisphere humiliation
By Kevin Myers
Thursday June 17 2010
YES, indeed, the Irish rugby tour in the Southern Hemisphere is going rather like Paraguay's armed attack on Texas. But only the visionary generosity of Thierry Henry's hand has prevented a far worse catastrophe: of our having to endure, alternately, both rugby and soccer news from the southern hemisphere, as the shallows of our sporting talent were ruthlessly plumbed -- by the Maoris one day, the Uruguayans the next, the Mexicans on another day, and one-legged Aborigines the day afterwards.

Now, we all know that Ronan O'Gara can't tackle. If you play him at out-half away to teams like France or New Zealand, his selection is more probably for reasons of squad-politics or some strange subconscious renal urges than for a desire to win. When this column criticised his selection after the French debacle, he wrote a letter of complaint to this newspaper. This triggered off an internet storm of the usual infantile vapidity.

Irish soccer has its own Ronan O'Gara, by the name of Robbie Keane: spot-on at the spot-kicks, and quite outstanding in the Sunday morning pub-league. Put Mr Keane up against The Red Lion, Crewe, or The Palsied Bishop, Lincoln, and he will score goals galore, followed by some neat forward-rolls in celebration. But put him up against a well-drilled defence, and he will wander round, baffled, like David Norris at an orgy of Catholic lesbian nuns.

However, at least he's not as woeful as Emile Heskey, the worst striker to play for England since Douglas Bader lined up as centre-forward against French POWs in Stalag Luft Legless in 1944. Indeed, two international goalkeepers, Colombia's Rene Higuita and Paraguay's Jose Luis Chilavert, have actually scored more international goals (and no, not own-goals) than Heskey has.

So actually, Ireland's soccer plight could be far, far worse: Emile Heskey could have had an Irish grandmother, and so too could Robert Green and Peter Crouch, and then where would we be? Where we are at the moment, probably, at home, which is where the Irish rugby team should also be, instead of serially re-enacting Custer at the Little Big Horn across the southern hemisphere.

Yet it could all be far worse. If the Republic were now playing in the soccer World Cup, there might be chaos in Montrose, as Eamon Dunphy and George Hook and Brent Pope and John Giles conducted endless post-mortems on the respective Irish football teams. But what with Georgie being the age he is, and with Eamo being a self-confessed explorer in the world of mind-altering drugs, it would be quite possible for the two of them to wander into the wrong studios, and end up discussing the wrong sport, with the wrong co-expert.

Mr Dunphy would be gazing in speechless horror at Brent Pope, wondering what on earth he had popped the previous night that has turned John Giles into an Antipodean Incredible Hulk. And an hour or so later, Mr Hook's Desperate Dan jaw would sag even more leadenly than normal as he surveys the wizened deep-sea crustacean that is Eamon Dunphy, and tries numbly to work out the nature of the overnight catastrophe that could have reduced poor Brent Pope to this. (What? Chernobyl? Global Warming?)

Moreover, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France are all competing in this World Cup, just as rugby teams from all four countries are simultaneously playing one another in the southern hemisphere.

Thus Eamon Dunphy might find himself struggling to do soccer studio punditry, as on-screen, the Australians are actually throwing the ball to one another, and the bleeding referee's whistle stays silent. Meanwhile, George's Hook's lower-mandible is resting firmly on his toes, as he sees a New Zealander hoof the strangely round ball upfield to a clearly offside player, who traps it with his feet, and the referee merely waves play on. With 20 minutes gone (and still no sign of a scrum) he erupts at a throw-in: "Oh, for f*%@'s sake, ref, you call that a bloody line-out?"

Be grateful, then, that we are spared such possible confusion, thanks solely to Thierry Henry's blessed hand. Yet there is one team with a green-white-and-orange flag that we might all now support: the Ivory Coast. This is probably the only version of the Tricolour -- though with the orange alongside the flagstaff -- that henceforth will ever again be in the World Cup. It is for the same reason that hapless incompetents like Emile Heskey and Peter Crouch are playing for England, and Scotland have made their last appearance in the World Cup finals.

The Brirish McProletariat has arrived: the total obesification of the Big Mac-eating, working-class young of these islands is now well under way. Meanwhile, West Africa has become the new world home of athletic excellence, and, henceforth, the standard-bearer of green-white-and-gold. Côte d'Ivoire go brath.

kmyers@independent.ie

- Kevin Myers

Irish Independent

[Marshal Murat]

:netherlands: 2 - 0 :japan:
:ghana: 1 - 0 :australia:
:cameroon: 2 - 1 :denmark:

[Wishazu]

Englands performance today was the most boring and shocking one I've seen in years. Rooney did nothing at all apart from hand the ball to the Algerians and Johnson should be booted out of the team, or at least forbidden from ever passing the ball again. Algeria played really well and seemed to be first to the ball 90% of the time.

The way Slovenia has played can only point to a slaughter of England in the final group match.

Sometimes I really hate being an England fan.

[tibilicus]

Rooney's comments about the "loyal fans" booing the team says it all.

It's ridiculous how he can come out with such a snarky comment straight after he, and the rest of the squad for that matter, had put out one of the worst England performances in a long time. The sheer lack of interest and inability of the England team to communicate in the game was also shocking. If Capello can't lift the England squad, then no manager can. It generally seems to be the English mentality to criticise the manager when things go wrong but its not his fault, the players lack passion and can't seem to gel together.

Back to Rooney's comment, ridiculous. Perhaps Wayne can't understand the situation; unlike him and his pals who get paid huge sums of money for doing their job, most people don't. Most of the fans are regular people who save up for the World Cup and hope to see the team do well. If I had flown to South Africa, invested a substantial amount of my own money to see England play and then had to see a performance like that, you can bet I would boo the team. The performance was completely uninspiring and inexcusable, Algeria are a a pale comparison to what this England squad should be capable of.

Unfortunately the team seems to take no pride or passion in representing their country. They seem completely indifferent. Or perhaps they struggle to play when they don't see a lavish match bonus at the end of the game. Rooney has been full of flair for United this season and yet he seems to half-heartedly play for England.

[gaelic cowboy]

I have a theory here that needs developing but bear with me here

1 Premier league is much played at a much faster pace than international football.

2 The other worldclass foreign players in the league enhance the english players giving them the ability to excell at this fast game.

So therefore it is not that the top english players are bad but there playing a differant style.

agree/disagree yes/no

The League both domestic and champions league is too long and ye played friendlies before ye left for south africa, there were men who showed up well but stayed at home.

Yer all missing Rio and Becks

Oh and I almost forgot it doesnt help when you play friendlies beofore a tournament to try players your squad should be settled at that stage

Basically Capello is an eejit he is as much a spoofer as Sven was before him and sadly the players are gone soft they have no bulldog spirit like Paul Ince who wear a bandage on his head to play on:no:

I fear the plane awaits England, unless they destroy Slovenia the cloud will hang over the squad and get beat in next round.

[tibilicus]

Yes, but that doesn't explain why England can play so well in qualifying and yet sink when it comes to World Cup itself. Also, the pace theory, it would be valid if they weren't so slow on the ball tonight. Rooney regularly has to take the ball past some of the best defenders in the world week in and week out for united, and yet he struggled to get past the Algerian defence.

To be honest England seem like they're out of ideas. There were times tonight when they were playing the long ball and no one was even on the end, not even within a solid 20 yard radius. The better teams will punish you for not having the greater possession too; Algeria couldn't execute as perhaps they lack the quality of the better teams and the skill needed to break the back four, teams like Germany, Spain and even The Netherlands would make quick work of them however. You have to have players with solid ball control to play the long ball game too, and England seems to lack that. It's been shown time and time again that they play better with the ball on the ground and when they're making runs and passing play which break up the defence, all the long ball game ends up doing is giving the ball to the opposing back four who kick it straight back out.

[gaelic cowboy]

I think Capello has decided to have them hoof the ball because he believe's he does not have the players to build an attack on the ground.

Lampard and Gerard are not natural midfielders they are attackers by hoofing the ball Capello hoped they maybe bag a goal as it came in on top of them.

Next time England play watch Lampard especially close, he does not demand the ball or try to win it to build an attack or at least only half heartedly. He wants to benefit from said build like an attacking player does, this is a big problem you can have one but not the other.


Also the Algerians they are like a big long distance running nation if any team could keep up with English tonight it was a team from there, ye were slow and looked shagged out.

[Pannonian]

Invictus trailer, pt 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9Ovkye6lac)
Invictus trailer, pt 2 (http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1937652)

[Marshal Murat]

The Serbia - Germany game was a good match, even if it was marred by misguided refs. It speaks to German defense that they were able to hold off the Serbians, and the Serbs to keep the Germans off-base. Polanski wasn't making the cross-kicks and the strikers weren't there to drive the nails in. Serbia has made that group more interesting and I'm hoping for a more inspired Cameroon performance to make that bracket even more competitive.

As I watched the Algerian - England game, I can only say that aside from individually impressive performances the team lacked that "connection". I thought that perhaps it was some good American defense that held off Rooney, but in the Algerian game he just wasn't there. Brilliant sparks failed to ignite the English team. I don't think there was any serious leadership from those on-field, no real direction or impetus to their play. If the captain isn't providing it, then someone should step up or I'll be forced to watch another adrift English ship wreck itself against an inspired and motivated Slovenian team.

[johnhughthom]

Update:

Louis: +1 = 17
Little Grizzly: 2
Psycho: 9
Sarmatian: 3
Insane Apache: +1 = 17
Ser Clegane: 10
Romanic: 9
Joooray: 5
Rhyfelwyr: +1 = 5
LEN: +1 = 10
Moros: 2
Marshall Murat: +1 = 6
Craterus: 3
Crazed Rabbit: 2
Beefy: 3
Centurio Nixalsverdus: +1 = 5
Ronin: 1
||Lz3||: 6

[Strike For The South]

Some thoughts
England is a joke
The French need to shoot there manager lest he gets a job somewhere else
America was robbed because god hates me
I will have a stroke before the cup is over
I need to stop drinking at 7 in the morning
Maradona looks like a troll
Why findley is starting instead of edu is mind boggiling
For some reason I have devolped a hatered of the Italians

[Beskar]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldhaveyoursay/2010/06/on_air_is_it_ever_ok_to_boo_yo.html#224165


England deserved to get boo'd. They are all overpaid wastes of space. They earn £160,000 per week (a doctors annual wage) just to kick a ball around and contributing nothing to society other than resentment. Excesses of capitalism.

[naut]

Netherlands 3 - 0 Japan
Ghana 2 - 0 Australia
Cameron 0 - 1 Denmark

[Ser Clegane]

Netherlands - Japan 2:0
Ghana - Australia 1:1 (wishful thinking ~:))
cameroon Denmark 1:1

[InsaneApache]

Netherlands 2 - 0 Japan
Ghana 2 - 0 Australia
Cameron 1 - 1 Denmark

:balloon2:

[Pannonian]

South African Vuvuzela Philharmonic Angered By Soccer Games Breaking Out During Concerts (http://www.theonion.com/articles/south-african-vuvuzela-philharmonic-angered-by-soc,17625/)


Spontaneous high-caliber soccer games have thus far plagued every orchestral vuvuzela performance of the season, which opened June 11 at Cape Town Stadium. As musicians took their places in the stands and began warming up for the evening's performance of lighter pieces by post-minimalist composers, they noticed the audience was not sitting in its traditional place in the stadium's central area.

As the Philharmonic learned later, its only spectators were the national football sides of France and Uruguay, who played to a 0-0 tie as the frustrated vuvuzela virtuosi played a full program of concerti written for the distinctive straight plastic horn.

"A virtually empty house is highly unusual in a vuvuzela-mad nation such as South Africa," said first-chair vuvuzela player Moses Mtegume, who is known as the "Father of the Vuvuzela" and considered a national treasure. "And because concerts are held in the round—the better to appreciate the sonorous tonality of the massed instruments—a performer gets a sense of the crowd early."

"It doesn't even seem like these football players are paying attention to us," Mtegume added. "In fact, I would go so far as to say they are trying to ignore us."

The following days, during which a string of large-scale vuvuzela performances were held, saw the unusual events repeat in Johnnesburg, Durban, Pretoria, and Port Elizabeth as audience after audience was driven away by FIFA national football teams. As a result, the South Africa Vuvzela Philharmonic, which is supported solely by money from ticket sales, has suffered staggering losses financially. And the musicians, many of whom trained for years and underwent a harrowing audition process to earn one of the orchestra's 50,000 seats, said the biggest blow was to their professional pride.

[InsaneApache]

*must remember to bookmark the Daily Mash*

[Romanic]

:netherlands: 2 - 0 :japan:
:ghana: 2 - 1 :australia:
:cameroon: 1 - 0 :denmark:

[Rhyfelwyr]

:netherlands: 2 - 1 :japan:
:ghana: 2 - 1 :australia:
:cameroon: 0 - 1 :denmark:

[Ibn-Khaldun]

Japan is doing good job ruining every Dutch attack.

[Beefy187]

So close... yet so far.
Tulio wasn't pleased with Nakumura. He was rather lazy for someone who wasn't in the starting 11..

[Fragony]

Why so defensive we don't get to play that way where are your manners

[gaelic cowboy]

Shock news breaking that Anelka is to be sent home from world cup just like the Roy Keane thing in 2002 :dizzy2: will someone just shoot or sack or something anything with that Domench this is devolving by the minute.

No news as of yet but RTE sport just announced a commitee will be convened due to a bust up at half time last night

unbelievable stuff


clickable World Cup 2010: France forward Nicolas Anelka could be sent home after swearing at coach Raymond Domenech (http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2890/world-cup-2010/2010/06/19/1984521/world-cup-2010-france-forward-nicolas-anelka-could-be-sent)

clickable Anelka and Domenech clash - report (http://www.rte.ie/sport/worldcup/2010/0619/france_anelkan_domenechr.html)

Anelka and Domenech clash - report
Saturday 19 June 2010

France striker Nicolas Anelka launched an astonishing verbal attack on coach Raymond Domenech at half-time of Thursday's 2-0 defeat to Mexico, according to reports. France striker Nicolas Anelka launched an astonishing verbal attack on coach Raymond Domenech at half-time of Thursday's 2-0 defeat to Mexico, according to reports.

The Chelsea forward, who has now not recorded a shot on target in 429 consecutive minutes' play for Les Bleus, was apparently criticised by Domenech for straying out of position during a goalless first half.

According to French sports newspaper L'Equipe, Anelka exploded in rage in the dressing room, verbally abusing the coach.

L'Equipe claim Domenech responded by substituting the player.

The coach, strangely, returned to the team's dug-out for the second half at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane a good minute or so before his players came out of the tunnel.

And Anelka was replaced by Andre-Pierre Gignac before the re-start.

The reported bust-up is just the latest in what has been a string of rumours about unrest within the France camp and claims Domenech has lost the support of his players.

Under-fire Domenech has brushed aside concerns rivals Uruguay and Mexico may manufacture a draw in their final Group A match to ensure they progress to the knockout stages at the expense of Les Bleus.

France have to convincingly beat hosts South Africa on Tuesday and hope there is a positive result in the other fixture.

With so much at stake it has been suggested the two teams from the Americas are more likely to settle for a stalemate rather than risk elimination.

It is not something which concerns Domenech, who has plenty of problems of his own to deal with.

'I am not bothered about the others,' said the 58-year-old, whose six-year reign as coach will come to end at the same time as France's participation in the tournament.

'We have to play and do our thing and the other match is not my problem.'

Midfielder Jeremy Toulalan, who is suspended for next week's game, hinted that dressing room disharmony were at the heart of France's problems.

But he admits it is time for the players to start delivering after two woeful and goalless performances.

'We've three or four days left to figure out what went wrong,' he said.

'You can talk for a long time but it's the pitch that counts.

'But if we don't all make the effort for each other it's hard.

'Everyone has to do their own self-analysis. I'm not going to do it for them.'

Reports in France suggest a disciplinary hearing has been convened by France Football Federation officials this afternoon.

Canal+ claim Anelka will be sent home from South Africa on Sunday.

[Beefy187]

Why so defensive we don't get to play that way where are your manners

If I was the manager, I would've swapped the entire team from the first match and did a offensive game.

But for our boys sake, I'm proud of them that we had Netherland on the toes for the last few minutes.

EDIT: Socceroos down to 10 players. That was so not worth a red :no:

[Tellos Athenaios]

Japan played a good game (considering the end result). Now they may even go through if they only manage a tie against Denmark.

[Fragony]

Katana -> pinkie isn't needed, Dutch team is about relentingly attacking so it makes sense to play defensively. We can't be outclassed in the attack department but we are sooo vulnerable

[Husar]

Well, what i heard was that the Dutch just dominated the Japanese and let them run, tactical victory but still a victory.
Japanese came somewhat close towards the end but nothing too dangerous from what I saw, the dutch just kept that 1:0 and that's sufficient.

I thought they were a bit passive to the end but perhaps it's correct and they just wanted to win with minimum effort, save their energy for more important games.

[Fragony]

Well, what i heard was that the Dutch just dominated the Japanese and let them run, tactical victory but still a victory.
Japanese came somewhat close towards the end but nothing too dangerous from what I saw, the dutch just kept that 1:0

Nah, japan played a good game, mucho kudos.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

heh, in several games this tournament I've watched goalies take pains to avoid picking up the ball so that they could kick it to one of the defenders instead, even when one of the other team's players was closing in. Seemed very strange to me but I guessed they had a good reason for it. But Denmark just got majorly burned...

-edit-

Good god, inches from being burned again. Maybe it's just that defender that's bad?

[Hosakawa Tito]

Both teams are playing bad defense. DEN is coughing up the ball in their own end time after time, very sloppy. Should be at least 2-2.

[Myrddraal]

About England, it seems to me that Gerrard isn't being a particularly good captain. The team is obviously demoralised, but every time Gerrard missed a pass or failed to connect with one, he turned around with a plaintive look on his face almost as if to say "Why didn't you get that?" or "Who was that to?". A captain should be apologising for missed passes, congratulating people on spotting him and passing, always trying to lift the team. Instead he's a pure passenger, captain in name only.

Here's an example of what I mean, sorry about the poor quality:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fevsOCoKplE#t=2m16s

[Ser Clegane]

Slovakia - Paraguay 1:2
Italy - New Zealand 2:0
Brazil - Côte d'Ivoire 2:1

[Louis VI the Fat]

Slovakia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovakia_national_football_team) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Flag_of_Slovakia.svg/22px-Flag_of_Slovakia.svg.png 1 - 1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup_Group_F#Slovakia_vs_Paraguay) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/27/Flag_of_Paraguay.svg/22px-Flag_of_Paraguay.svg.png Paraguay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraguay_national_football_team)
Italy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy_national_football_team) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Flag_of_Italy.svg/22px-Flag_of_Italy.svg.png 1 - 0 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/Flag_of_New_Zealand.svg/22px-Flag_of_New_Zealand.svg.png New Zealand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_national_football_team)

Brazil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_national_football_team) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Flag_of_Brazil.svg/22px-Flag_of_Brazil.svg.png 2 - 1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup_Group_G#Brazil_vs_C.C3.B4te_d.27Ivoire) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Flag_of_Cote_d%27Ivoire.svg/22px-Flag_of_Cote_d%27Ivoire.svg.png Côte d'Ivoire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B4te_d%27Ivoire_national_football_team)

[Meneldil]

Shock news breaking that Anelka is to be sent home from world cup just like the Roy Keane thing in 2002 :dizzy2: will someone just shoot or sack or something anything with that Domench this is devolving by the minute.

No news as of yet but RTE sport just announced a commitee will be convened due to a bust up at half time last night

unbelievable stuff


clickable World Cup 2010: France forward Nicolas Anelka could be sent home after swearing at coach Raymond Domenech (http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2890/world-cup-2010/2010/06/19/1984521/world-cup-2010-france-forward-nicolas-anelka-could-be-sent)

clickable Anelka and Domenech clash - report (http://www.rte.ie/sport/worldcup/2010/0619/france_anelkan_domenechr.html)


Yeah, and what about the bunch of scumbags the french team is made off? Even though it's by now plain obvious that Domenech is a failure, it doesn't mean that the players shouldn't be blamed either.
You don't make up a good soccer team by gathering a bunch of illeterate racist scumbags gangsta-wannabes and hope they'll kick the ball correctly. The french team is a joke, and it's been that way for a good while.

[InsaneApache]

Blimey.

[gaelic cowboy]

You don't make up a good soccer team by gathering a bunch of illeterate racist scumbags gangsta-wannabes and hope they'll kick the ball correctly. The french team is a joke, and it's been that way for a good while.

sheesh bit harsh maybe yes/no

[InsaneApache]

Anyroad. Back to the important stuff.

Slovakia 1 - Paraguay 0
Italy 2 - New Zealand 0
Brazil 3 - Côte d'Ivoire 0

:balloon2:

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

:slovakia: 1 - 2 :paraguay:

:italy: 1 - 0 :newzealand:

:brazil: 3 - 1 :cotedivoire:

[Marshal Murat]

:slovakia: 1 - 1 :paraguay:
:italy: 2 - 0 :newzealand:
:brazil: 3 - 1 :cotedivoire:

I'm so bummed about Cameroon, but the Danes earned their win with good defense and good goal strikes. The Dutch seem to be chugging along, hopefully Ghana will redeem it's performance next week.

[Myrddraal]

As they said on Match of the Day highlights: why send Anelka home, if they had waited a few more days they could all go home together :laugh4:

[Louis VI the Fat]

Yeah, and what about the bunch of scumbags the french team is made off? Even though it's by now plain obvious that Domenech is a failure, it doesn't mean that the players shouldn't be blamed either.
You don't make up a good soccer team by gathering a bunch of illeterate racist scumbags gangsta-wannabes and hope they'll kick the ball correctly. The french team is a joke, and it's been that way for a good while.Not too long ago, football was a means of integrating people into mainstream society.

In the current 22 man squad, five or six or so players are not from a deprived, undereducated background. These are an overwhelming minority. So integration goes the other direction (Ribéry), or leaves players isolated (Gourcuff). There are no Thurams, Zidanes, Yannick Noah's anymore.

What do you do? Football draws from this demography.


Just one more match, then it's over! I'm going to sit through it out of sheer masochism-sensationalism.

Hey, there's always rugby if you are not going to watch South Africa vs France. Just last week, the Boks crushed the French rugby team in Cape Town too. No a single vuvu:daisy:zelas in sight! :beam:

[Romanic]

:slovakia: 0 - 1 :paraguay:
:italy: 2 - 0 :newzealand:
:brazil: 2 - 0 :cotedivoire:

[Pannonian]

Hey, there's always rugby if you are not going to watch South Africa vs France. Just last week, the Boks crushed the French rugby team in Cape Town too. No a single vuvu:daisy:zelas in sight! :beam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B2LPxggvqY

[naut]

Italy 1 - 0 New Zealand

Brazil 3 - 1 Ivory Coast

[Banquo's Ghost]

heh, in several games this tournament I've watched goalies take pains to avoid picking up the ball so that they could kick it to one of the defenders instead, even when one of the other team's players was closing in. Seemed very strange to me but I guessed they had a good reason for it. But Denmark just got majorly burned...

A lot of that is due to the rule that forbids a goalkeeper from picking up a back pass from his own team. He can kick it, but not handle it without giving away a free kick.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B2LPxggvqY

Thank you for that - very funny. :laugh4:

[gaelic cowboy]

I think maybe the noise of those VuVu:daisy:Zelas caught them out a bit, the few times this has happened the fullback or goalie cannot actually hear any warnings about a man bearing down on them.

[Ferret]

heh, in several games this tournament I've watched goalies take pains to avoid picking up the ball so that they could kick it to one of the defenders instead, even when one of the other team's players was closing in. Seemed very strange to me but I guessed they had a good reason for it.

Were they back passes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-pass_rule)?

[Louis VI the Fat]

Come on you Pacific Gods! :newzealand:

Only eighty more minutes to go!



https://img256.imageshack.us/img256/7270/kiwiattack.jpg

[gaelic cowboy]

Come on you Pacific Gods! :newzealand:

Only eighty more minutes to go!



https://img256.imageshack.us/img256/7270/kiwiattack.jpg

Come on the All-Whites

[Louis VI the Fat]

Come on the All-WhitesHah! Italy could never beat the all-Blacks, but the all-Whites can beat Italy!


It's all over for Europe's big football nations...

[gaelic cowboy]

It's all over for Europe's big football nations...


I am sure that there is bound to be some correlation between how successful your domestic league is and how bad your national team is.

I off to puncture every football in Ireland then we will be unbeatable.

[tibilicus]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/20/world-cup-2010-france-training-ground-refuse-train

What became of France?

[naut]

Ugh. I blame the ball. It allows defensive teams to sit back and do nothing, because all attacks end up with the ball flying 100 metres into the air. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

[Sasaki Kojiro]

A lot of that is due to the rule that forbids a goalkeeper from picking up a back pass from his own team. He can kick it, but not handle it without giving away a free kick.


It makes so much more sense now... :idea2:

[Hosakawa Tito]

The Kiwi's played tough. Their goalie was a rock. The French are on strike...I think the vuvu's are part of a voodoo plot on you Colonizers.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I've been playing with the Jubilana ball recently, thanks to finding one abandoned in a hedge a local park. :shrug:

Can't say its that bad really, maybe on a windy day it might get caught up more but it doesn't seem to travel too wildly.

Plus it is very round. :yes:

[gaelic cowboy]

@Rhyfelwyr that must be one of the one's that the Daily Mail or The SUN reckon the FA lost from a batch of 50 so

[Rhyfelwyr]

@Rhyfelwyr that must be one of the one's that the Daily Mail or The SUN reckon the FA lost from a batch of 50 so

What are you saying they aren't on sale or something? So it's not the real thing?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

What are you saying they aren't on sale or something? So it's not the real thing?

Put it on ebay, quick! Advertised as the soccer ball football...ball that ruined the world cup!

[gaelic cowboy]

What are you saying they aren't on sale or something? So it's not the real thing?

Dunno about that but the Tabmongoloids reckoned the FA losta batch before the tournament and that it caused England not to be used to the ball :rolleyes:

[Ser Clegane]

For tomorrow:

Portugal - North Korea 1:0
Chile - Switzerland 0:0
Spain - Honduras 3:0

[Myrddraal]

Dunno about that but the Tabmongoloids reckoned the FA losta batch before the tournament and that it caused England not to be used to the ball :rolleyes:

Put that on eBay and you'll probably find a mob of angry hooligans knocking on your door looking for someone to blame for England's failures.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Good game, but the Ivory coast players got a bit whiny towards the end.

[Ronin]

Kaká red card should be lifted by FIFA....that call was a total joke!

For tomorrow.

Portugal 0 - 0 - North Korea

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Where's johnhughtom? I scored 2 yesterday and 4 today. :2thumbsup:

Kaká should have gotten a red for punching the ivory-man in the face. Was the second or third foul of him. What an arrogant :daisy: ... it's not all about being handsome I guess.

:portugal: 1 - 2 :northkorea:

:chile: 0 - 1 :switzerland:

:spain: 3 - 0 :honduras:

[Rhyfelwyr]

Dunno about that but the Tabmongoloids reckoned the FA losta batch before the tournament and that it caused England not to be used to the ball :rolleyes:

Funny how they should end up in Scotland... I sense a conspiracy, no doubt planned with French support!

EDIT: As for tomorrow:

:portugal: 0 - 0 :northkorea:

:chile: 2 - 1 :switzerland:

:spain: 2 - 0 :honduras:

[Marshal Murat]

:portugal: 0 - 0 :northkorea:
:chile: 1 - 0 :switzerland:
:spain: 2 - 1 :honduras:

[Louis VI the Fat]

This tournament belongs to the Latin Americans. Europe is rubbish. Asia mostly anonymous also-rans. Africa yet again does not live up to its promise.

Meanwhile, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico and Brazil are dominating everywhere. It's all about them, and the anglophony, US, NZ and OZ.




~~o~~o~~<<oOo>>~~o~~o~~


This tournament could well be about who can stop Brazil. Ever since 1982, only Maradona and Zidane have been able to defeat Brazil. That means this year only Argentina can stop the canaries.




~~o~~o~~<<oOo>>~~o~~o~~

World Volleyball Cup:

1) Maradona
2) Fabiano
3) Henry


~~o~~o~~<<oOo>>~~o~~o~~


:portugal: 1 - 0 :northkorea:

:chile: 1 - 0 :switzerland:

:spain: 2 - 0 :honduras:

[InsaneApache]

Portugal 1 - 1 North Korea
Chile 0 - 1 Switzerland
Spain 1 - 0 Honduras

:balloon2:

[Louis VI the Fat]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/20/world-cup-2010-france-training-ground-refuse-train

What became of France?What became of France? What Meneldil said. This is not an isolated incident, this is the face of 21st century France.

France has changed. Why should these players listen to coaches or old guys? Their rap videos tell of rage, of 'respect' (which nowadays means people must treat you like a ghetto gangsta king, or you go into full rage mode immediately), of gang bangs with underage girls. Which is what this team, what the (sub)society they come from, is all about.

When there are two or three of these players, they adapt. Use sports to uplift themselves, to become part of mainstream society. When they are the overwhelming majority, their values are the norm, dominate the values of the team. The ballet dancers of 82, 84 and 86 are a distant memory. The rainbow team of the 90's worked because of many strong characters. This new crop is worthless.



Will they even show up for the game on Tuesday? We'll have to wait and see!

Oh, the sensation of it all! :beam:

[Husar]

Meh, all these complaints about the ball, as someone said on TV, a lot of teams had one or two years to play with that ball and only now that they're losing in the world cup, they start to complain about it...just excuses IMO. It's not the first world cup where people keep shooting 100 meters above the goal either.

And it's interesting to see how Switzerland beat Spain, yet most people here bet on Spain winning and Switzerland losing their next games.
I actually like the idea that it's a bit more even this time and even the favourites have to fight a bit to get further in the tournament, it's either step up your game or go home, why shouldn't Honduras for example win the cup if they deserve it? Or the dutch? :eyebrows:

[naut]

Meh, all these complaints about the ball, as someone said on TV, a lot of teams had one or two years to play with that ball and only now that they're losing in the world cup, they start to complain about it...just excuses IMO. It's not the first world cup where people keep shooting 100 meters above the goal either.
It's set to be the lowest scored world cup in the current format. Less goals = boring tournament.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

It's set to be the lowest scored world cup in the current format. Less goals = boring tournament.

How true is that now? I can't find the stats anywhere. It seems like we've had a string of 3-5 goal games.



Kaká should have gotten a red for punching the ivory-man in the face. Was the second or third foul of him. What an arrogant :daisy: ... it's not all about being handsome I guess.


He didn't punch him in the face...the other guy ran into his back and then fell down clutching his face.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Kaká should have gotten a red for punching the ivory-man in the face. Was the second or third foul of him. What an arrogant :daisy: ... it's not all about being handsome I guess.


He was walking along when the Ivory player walked into him, touching Kaka's elbow with his chest, then fell to the ground clutching his face.

The Ivory player should have gotten a yellow.

CR

[Rhyfelwyr]

The commentators were talking about it and the Ivory Coast player may be facing a ban for one or two games, since that's what happened when (Rivaldo was it?) went down clutching his face pretending a Turkey player kicked the ball at it.

[Jolt]

http://gfx2.aftonbladet-cdn.se/multimedia/dynamic/01220/LOGNEN_1220472l.jpg

Enough said.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

http://gfx2.aftonbladet-cdn.se/multimedia/dynamic/01220/LOGNEN_1220472l.jpg

Enough said.

Yeah I saw that, but it was a great goal and a good no-call by the ref I think.