Come on England! :england:
Oh, come on now. You predict Germany will lose by one goal after the game had finished? :inquisitive:Quote:
Originally Posted by LEN
Printable View
Come on England! :england:
Oh, come on now. You predict Germany will lose by one goal after the game had finished? :inquisitive:Quote:
Originally Posted by LEN
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.
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?
After that display it would be an injustice if england qualify now USA/Slovenia have played better so far.
That was shocking tonight
That was woeful.
I've never seen Rooney so out-of-sorts. :S
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.
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:
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
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
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.
What 100 years an I still wont be able to eat a french baguette
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_nL...eature=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:
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/wikiped..._Ghana.svg.png 1 — 1 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...tralia.svg.png Australie
Pays-Bas https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...rlands.svg.png 1 — 0 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._Japan.svg.png Japon
Cameroun https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...meroon.svg.png 0 — 0 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...enmark.svg.png DanemarkSpoiler Alert, click show to read:
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:
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.
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:
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!
To 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:Quote:
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/b...tatistics-ball
~~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~~
Henry's handsball remains emberassing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarmatian
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.
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 Clickable2The 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
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
:netherlands: 2 - 0 :japan:
:ghana: 1 - 0 :australia:
:cameroon: 2 - 1 :denmark:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldhave...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.
Netherlands 3 - 0 Japan
Ghana 2 - 0 Australia
Cameron 0 - 1 Denmark
Netherlands - Japan 2:0
Ghana - Australia 1:1 (wishful thinking ~:))
cameroon Denmark 1:1
Netherlands 2 - 0 Japan
Ghana 2 - 0 Australia
Cameron 1 - 1 Denmark
:balloon2:
South African Vuvuzela Philharmonic Angered By Soccer Games Breaking Out During Concerts
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.
*must remember to bookmark the Daily Mash*
:netherlands: 2 - 0 :japan:
:ghana: 2 - 1 :australia:
:cameroon: 1 - 0 :denmark:
:netherlands: 2 - 1 :japan:
:ghana: 2 - 1 :australia:
:cameroon: 0 - 1 :denmark:
Japan is doing good job ruining every Dutch attack.
So close... yet so far.
Tulio wasn't pleased with Nakumura. He was rather lazy for someone who wasn't in the starting 11..
Why so defensive we don't get to play that way where are your manners
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
clickable Anelka and Domenech clash - report
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
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:
Japan played a good game (considering the end result). Now they may even go through if they only manage a tie against Denmark.
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
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.
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?
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.
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
Slovakia - Paraguay 1:2
Italy - New Zealand 2:0
Brazil - Côte d'Ivoire 2:1
Slovakia https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ovakia.svg.png 1 - 1 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...raguay.svg.png Paraguay
Italy https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._Italy.svg.png 1 - 0 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ealand.svg.png New Zealand
Brazil https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Brazil.svg.png 2 - 1 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Ivoire.svg.png Côte d'Ivoire
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.
Blimey.
Anyroad. Back to the important stuff.
Slovakia 1 - Paraguay 0
Italy 2 - New Zealand 0
Brazil 3 - Côte d'Ivoire 0
:balloon2:
:slovakia: 1 - 2 :paraguay:
:italy: 1 - 0 :newzealand:
:brazil: 3 - 1 :cotedivoire:
: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.
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:
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:
:slovakia: 0 - 1 :paraguay:
:italy: 2 - 0 :newzealand:
:brazil: 2 - 0 :cotedivoire:
Italy 1 - 0 New Zealand
Brazil 3 - 1 Ivory Coast
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.
Were they back passes?
Come on you Pacific Gods! :newzealand:
Only eighty more minutes to go!
https://img256.imageshack.us/img256/7270/kiwiattack.jpg
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...d-refuse-train
What became of France?
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......
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.
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:
@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