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Graham Poll was referee on game Italy - Croatia two years ago (I think on EURO 2004) and he didn't saw clear penalty for Italy and on Croatian State television they confessed that Poll was wrong. And now he did it again...:wall:Quote:
Originally Posted by [DnC]
Šimunić played twice with hand obviosily.
holy adidas! i think i just saw a game without extraordinarily bad reffing! togo/france. only like, 3 or 4 yellow cards! same ref that threw off around 10 players in the usa/italy game! maybe he got a word from above that he'd better clean up his act if he wants to ref any of the knock-out games...
sadly, so far, this is the world cup of awful reffing.. i hope it doesn't end up remembered that way. :no:
Concerning Graham Poll...this is from the [Manchester] Guardian.
:sweatdrop: Eerily factual....:laugh4:Quote:
GRAHAM POLL'S DIARY: FRIDAY JUNE 23, 2006
7.34am
Wake from sound night's sleep when alarm rings. My, it's early. Yawn! Never mind; rising with the lark keeps the old brain sharp. Time to rise and shine. Get up off floor and clamber into bed.
7.35am
No, that's not right. Get out of bed.
7.37am
Shower and shave. Then get dressed. Shorts on: check. Shirt on: check. Whistle in pocket: check. Notebook: check. Pencil: check. Green, orange and purple cards: check, check, check. Pull on pair of socks.
7.41am
Pull on pair of socks.
7.42am
Pull on pair of socks.
7.43am
Bah! Shoes don't fit! What's going on here? Oh to hell with it. Decide to make some breakfast.
10.08am
Carve the meat. Settle down and polish off delicious morning repast of roast beef, two veg, Yorkshire pud and lashings of thick custard.
10.31am
Sit down in chair to watch TV.
10.55am
Wonder why TV is not working.
11.01am
Turn chair round to face TV. Ah that's better. But the TV's talking about me! "We had a first in the history of the World Cup," says Fifa president Sepp Blatter. "Unfortunately, when a player received three yellow cards, this is a little bit too much." None of that lip, son! You're booked! Show TV orange card.
11.03am
TV doesn't stop backchat. "We have had four officials and what is not understandable is that nobody intervened. One of them should have intervened and run on to the field and said, 'Stop, stop'." Grrrr! Show TV five more orange cards and a green.
11.04am
TV plays on regardless. "In terms of the referee, this will be analysed. I place my trust in the referees' committee. I think they have enough tact to deal with this case." Alright, son, you've made your point, but now you've gone too far. Show TV three green cards and 17 purples. Any more of this and you're off! I mean it!
11.05am
Have totally lost control of the TV. "We should not forget that Graham Poll in previous matches achieved fantastic things. Of course, we cannot excuse it but we should understand it."
11.07am
Help! Living room descends into anarchy. Book chair, sofa, occasional table (four times), mirror and corner unit. Finally lose patience with TV and show green, purple and orange cards all at once to make a big brown card. An early bath for you!
11.08am
Run bath.
11.13am
Put TV in bath.
11.14am
Jump in car with square wheels. Drive to train station to catch flight home.
Yessss!!! Done it! Only team not to have conceded any goals...yet. I am sure that will change pretty quickly once we're playing the Ukraine. I think, however, that we should beat them. The quarters are waiting...
We will probably have to play the second round without Senderos. He dislocated his shoulder...
:switzerland: :switzerland: :switzerland: :switzerland: :switzerland:
!!!Hopp Schwiiz!!!
:switzerland: :switzerland: :switzerland: :switzerland: :switzerland:
Quid
Allez les Bleus!!!11!!!!UN!!1!
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Spain - France next! What a cracker, a true tradional.
Oh, and: Hopp Schwiiz! http://matousmileys.free.fr/swiss.gif
The Swiss have done well, and two nice goals for France as well - although
while I think Switzerland could take the Ukraine, I don't see France managing
Spain. But you never know, as Spain do have a habit of flopping at major
tournaments, don't they?
both france/spain and swiss/ukraine should be good matches. spain has looked very good, but they have a tendency to choke in the knock-out phases (maybe not this early though). france certainly has the talent to play with spain, but will they actually find their form, or will they play like they played through much of the 1st round? in the other match, neither the swiss nor the ukraine have looked particularly good to this point, imo. so that could be an exciting match-up, though the swiss have a tendency to make for boring matches, from what i've seen. hard games to pick.
France plays better without Zizu? The world that I knew is no more.:no:
Anyway congratulations there... I knew France will make it this time.
Hm. I would've said the Swiss were the better to watch, really. And whenQuote:
Originally Posted by Big_John
evaluating the performance of the Ukraine I personally would not be counting
the drubbing of a team that isn't up to the competition like Saudi Arabia, as
much as they did give Tunisia a good fight. The Ukraine simply haven't performed,
I agree with that - their lacklustre showing against Tunisia was evidence enough.
I'm not suggesting that Switzerland is the new Greece, but they certainly look
decent, and I think winning their group and not conceding goals will give them a
good morale boost.
oh man, i hope they are not the new greece.. that was one yawn-filled uefa euro championship. maybe i'm the only one, but i found the greek style in that tourney to be mind-numbingly boring. i wouldn't say the swiss are that boring. and yeah, they haven't looked bad like the ukraine, but they haven't looked terribly good either. i'll reserve any more judgement until i see them play a quality side.Quote:
Originally Posted by SSNeoperestroika
I'd have to agree that the Swiss haven't looked great yet. I think you can really feel how nervous the players are. Most of them are in their early twenties and have not had much international experience previously (apart from the fact that about five of them won the U17 European Championships).Quote:
Originally Posted by Big_John
Our goal has already been achieved - to proceed to the next round - but now we're being given the perfect opportunity to go on to the quarter finals. The Ukraine is really a one-man team and if we manage to quiet Shevchenko we should be ok. Unfortunately, we tend not to do particularly well against opposition from the Ex-USSR. Am not sure why that is so. I will just hope for the best...
Oh and...Allez les bleus!!! http://matousmileys.free.fr/parisien.gif
Quid
Well Germany is sure having a great start, 2 - 0 after a mere 10 minutes of play, very impressive.
Let's hope the Swedes manage to make the game a little more interesting!
:balloon2:
2 - 0 after the first half
I don't think I had that much fun watching our team play for 10 years. They might have played successful in 2002, but this year they actually played great in each match so far.
No matter how this game will end and how far they will get if they win today, I am already happy with the performance of our team at this World Cup and hope that Klinsmann will remain coach afterwards. ~:)
They keep giving out cheap yellows like that there'll be noone left to play in the finals.
10 man Sweden against that team, and that crowd... hard to see a comeback.
World Cup is now officially over for me... The 3 yellow cards = 1 red card + removed goal for Australia trick, and now today Swedish free kick = no whistle + next moment nothing at all = German free kick + Swedish 2nd yellow red card that results in red card... Where do they get these refs?!! This is ridiculous, if you have world class players you should try to get world class referees, not referees that wouldn't fit into a football beginner's tournament...
By the way Germany played very well and really deserved the lead - the ref actions up to the strange yellow card situation was ok, and the situation in question happened near the end of the first half. No doubts Germany would win even without that Swedish yellow card, but now the number of strange ref decisions are starting to look ridiculous. I think there are about 5 refs in this World Cup who haven't got anything at all to do in Germany and should go home with the next flight.
I don't now ... the second yellow card seemd harsh, however Lucic clearly held a player that would otherwise have run past him with the ball, even if there is no intention to hurt your opponent - if you have no chance of getting the ball and just foul an opponent, I think the refs actually have to give a yellow card (just like in the situation when Frings received a yellow card for intentionally playing the ball with his hand - nothing spectacular or dangerous, but a clear yellow card and the ref went by the books in both cases)Quote:
Originally Posted by LegioXXXUlpiaVictrix
Yes they have to if any free-kick giving offense is made to stop a breakaway, but this wasn't a free-kick offense. Frings reached out with his hand to stop the ball - deliberate usage of the hand, while Lucic was in an allowed duel for the ball. Anyway the point is that now we're up at some 5-10 incorrect red cards in the tournament, and about 5 incorrect penalty shot ref decisions. More than 5 of all these decisions were crucial to the outcome of the games, the latest one of course isn't included in those 5 though, but the latest included in some around 10-15 entertainment-value killing referee mistakes...Quote:
Originally Posted by Ser Clegane
I prefer it if Greece or Togo or something wins the World Cup by just ref decisions over seeing favorites winning over incorrect referee decisions. But now that I think about it last World cup had a fair amount of crucial ref mistakes too... This was the first game I actually had time to watch in four days so I was a bit disappointed to get back to World Cup seeing this, and seeing the 3 yellow card trick in the newspapers...
Well todays game was a clear win for Germany, they played great the first 30 minutes but after that they seemed to step on the breaks a bit - not surprising really after a quick two goals.
Sweden then had the chance to get back into the game 10 minutes into the second half, but failed to score the penalty - which also was a dubious one.
Had they scored it would have most certainly have added some flavour to the game, as it went however, the Germans were able to simply out position the Swedes.
And I must say they did that quite well.
PS: as a ref. you simply should not smile when you give a red card, really a stupid and tasteless thing to do...
:balloon2:
Yeah, the refs are destroying this sport as a spectacle. I finished work and sat down in the pub, pint in hand, ready for a good game between Germany and Sweden and it set off at a cracking pace, like a high-octane Premiership duel. Germany were playing really well, especially the Polish lads and I was having a laugh with some German students in the pub when a Swedish player becomes the latest casualty of our over-officious friends. The ref even laughed in the player's face as he sent him off! Surreal! Well, it killed another game for me, I lost interest and came home. What's the point of watching a non-contest?
The refs will make their standard excuse that it is the player's fault if he is sent off, not theirs (they are never wrong, even Graham Poll will have his excuses), but this is an emotionally charged, high-speed, physical contact sport and they want to turn it into a game of tick. In part it is FIFA's fault as they set the tone and train the officials for the competition, but I wish that the refs would stand up and run the games properly.
Yes, that irritated the hell out of me too. The creepy sadist. And what about that German player applauding and being all cuddly with the ref after the red card? Shameless.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch_guy
This disastrous refereeing has gone too far, something ought to be done about it. It undermines the quality of this world cup. Everything else is fantastic. Great crowds, friendly atmosphere, stunning stadiums, the usual top-notch German organisational talent.
Back to football: what on earth happened to the German team? They play more fluent than Argentina, like they're some samba kids from the Copacobana. I know they allways grow in a tournament, but this is incredible. What a make-over compared to two months ago.
The referee was shocking. I think more important than the cosy behaviourQuote:
Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat
between Germans and referee after the sending off was the fact that the
referee was not even going to give a card to Lučić, then you see the German go
up to him and make a card-waving gesture. Now it seems referees take advice
from opposition players rather than their assistants, and I cannot abide that. He
was merely waiting for an excuse to come back to Lučić, and I think the
expression on his face makes his delight all too clear.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...redcard300.jpg
You can't change the way these games are being reffed now, in mid-stream. That's what has brought us to this place, changing the way you ref at the insistance of Blatter and FIFA. Why do they change the way they call games just before the most important tourney?
Mexico are all over Argentina. They deserve the 1 - 0 lead.
1 - 1.
Yikes, own goal via header by Mexico. 1-1
Crazed Rabbit
very interesting game here! argentina doesn't look nearly as fearsome as they did in the 1st round. and mexico looks quite a bit sharper. 1-1 is a good score, sure it was an own-goal, but riquelme's corners are perfect.
also, huge bonus, the reffing isn't terribly awful! there's quite a bit of flopping being rewarded (it's argentina and mexico, what are you going to do?) but only 1 yellow card, and it was very clearly deserved.
looking forward to the finish. i picked mexico as my sleeper to win it all, but i didn't have them playing argentina until the final... great game so far.
I think it was a crucial mistake - it should have been a red card. If the tackleQuote:
Originally Posted by Big_John
had not been made, the Mexican would have had a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
it probably should have been red. but it was kind of close (not sure what the position of the other back was). at least, i'm glad to see slightly lax reffing than the fascist reffing of the 1st round.
The officiating in the Brasil - Japan match should be the standard. Unfortunately the officiating has been more like watching an NBA finals game.
mm.. second half wasn't nearly as good as the first. and the reffing kind of broke down too. but the outcome is deserved, argentina should have won in regulation (bad offsides call).
mexico did very well, had plenty of chances to win, and outplayed argentina in the 1st half, imo. took the best goal of the WC so far to beat them.. too bad they had to play argentina in the round of 16.
even though they didn't look so dominant against mexico, i'm picking argentina over the germans.
2- 1 for Argentina ... so now it's Germany vs. Argentina on Friday.
This should be an interesting game ~:)
The offside call was fair enough, taking into consideration that Heinze shouldn'tQuote:
Originally Posted by Big_John
have been on the pitch for the second half. And Argentina won with a nicely
taken unstoppable goal.
Now everyone goes on at England playing bad, argentina were woeful and showed me nothing to they are the best the WC has to offer. Great goal but i felt for the mexicans, all the arg did was dive and fall about. Riquelme the next maradona? Do me a favour
To say they were woeful seems harsh. England in the second half againstQuote:
Originally Posted by The Blind King of Bohemia
Sweden, that was woeful.
If we play as today Germany will win 4-0 at least. I think there's various keys to understand why Argentina played so "bad" today: 1- Scaloni: He entered in place of Burdisso who's injured, I'd have prefered Coloccini. Scaloni is more like Sorin he places himself in the defense but he quickly starts to move forward to add himself to the offense. However he isn't nearly as good as Sorin, he's mostly a player with attitude (i.e. only knows how to scream, insult and make the referee and the adversary nervous). 2- Sorin: He played pretty bad today. He was also very well marked by the mexicans, almost boxed, but even when clearing the ball he was unprecise and the attackers almost always surpassed him in speed and strenght hence wining the ball. 3- Riquelme: Opposed to the other three matches he played everything but football today. Full of unprecise passes (until now Riquelme was the most precise passer on the tournament), slow (well he's always kinda slow), he seemed a little out of concentration and lost many balls. Note this, if Riquelme fares bad the entire team follows. 4- Pekerman: Well he introduced Scaloni, but beyond that two changes that, even though they changed the game, were not right, principally Aimar, Cambiasso was playing pretty well, so was Crespo. 5- The actitude of the mexicans: They started with fury, pressing, having and stealing the ball, controlling its possesion and controlling the argentinian players wherever they were. 6- Saviola: He wasn't as sharp as in the first two matches, but that can be atributed in part to Riquelme. 7- Heinze: Well what to say. If it wasn't for Ayala who actually was one of the best players in the match today, the errors of this man would have been more noticeable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ser Clegane
About the referees: I haven't seen many good ones in this World Cup. The referees seem to have their priorities all mixed up, when, doubting, they should fail in favour of the continued gameplay they opt for stoping the game, when it's the contrary they opt for continuing the game. For example, in the game near the end of the second half, nor Messi nor Tevez were in off side, however before the doubt the referee on the corner opted for the off side. Like this there's a lot of examples, some more noticeable than others. The foul of Heinze in the first half deserved a red card, here, in Germany, in China and in any other place where people have at least one eye and a brain. Then again all referees, always, seem to fail also before the doubt, in favour of the team wich has a richer history (i.e. politics).
That's a press myth. Riquelme and Maradona by their very natures are two different players. Riquelme is a slow player, but he thinks every move before executing, if you give him the time to do so, wich didn't happen today, you'll suffer the consequences (all in all I prefer Beckham, who should be playing in the same possition).Quote:
Originally Posted by Blind King of Bohemia
Now the german press says that Messi is the new Maradona (or was it Tevez). I don't like this kind of comparission but it's freedom of speech. :shrug:
Why, none of you sound very excited. Maybe Argentina wasn't bad, but Mexico really good? I thought it was a thrilling game, very tense. And what a sensational goal! ~:eek:
Germany-Argentina could be a classic. The Germans are on a roll, Argentina oozles with talent. Today, they could afford to bring on Messi, Aimar AND Tevez from the bench. :skull:
LMAO! You think Argentina will beat Germany 4-0? You've got an other thing coming. I was personally rooting for Argentina today (I don't care about them too much, I just HATE Mexico). I think they'd be the harder team against Germany though, but I think this will be a VERY close game, but I will believe Germany will come out on top. Maybe because they'll have the crowd behind them.
We'll see...
No, the opposite mate..."If we play as today Germany will win 4-0 at least"...:oops: :2thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexanderofmacedon
Ah! My bad, I'm sorry. I didn't read anymore than that line and I didn't even read that carefully! :embarassed:Quote:
Originally Posted by Soulforged
Sorry. It'll be a good game.:2thumbsup:
unless argentina falls asleep, there's no way they are losing 4-0 to anyone. they didn't play badly at all today, it's just that no one knew how good mexico is. give them their credit, mexico is a world-class team, and they always play argentina close.
Crespo seems to have been officially credited as having scored the own goal.
Another thing to irritate.
Argentina all the way, since Romania will never again qualify, I chose the team I liked best at the beginning. Now I'm hoping they can take down Germany :dizzy2:
I can't understand all the fuss about giving red-cards. IMHO both Lukic and Heinze made stupid errors but still errors which deserved the yellow-red and the direct red card. The rules are clearly stated and have to be followed as closly as possible, starting with the group phase. If they are not and "good sense" takes over all becomes a free game of interpretations.
Said that it is clear that a good deal of countries lack really good referees, given the absence of high-class football. It is common knowledge that the big european nations - even if Germany and Italy suffered ref-scandals -had and have the best ones, but are unable to send more of them by the FIFA policy. So we must observe guys with little big game experience making terrible errors.
I'm sorry, but a good referee should be like an orchestral conductor, not an officious, bumptious traffic warden. It is easy to destroy a game of football with an over-zealous application of the 'rules'. Rules are guides, not holy commandments.
And as for refs coming from the best leagues, well the English Prem is the biggest, richest and supposedly best in the world, and all we could send was Graham bloody Poll !
two of the teams that have IMO been in best shape and both of which I'd like to see go far having to meet so early :juggle2: Same goes for Portugal-Holland game in two days from now...Quote:
Originally Posted by Ser Clegane
Probably will end Germany 2 - Argentina 1 and Portugal 2 - Holland 1
Red cards don't have to destroy a game as Italy-USA proved. The can give a game a very dramatic turn and charge it up emotionally.
The main problem is that the , IMHO right tough use of the rule is not enforced in the everyday football life. The players are simply not used to it. Football is mostly about instinct and reflexes grown over the years. Kinda hard to replace them for two months...
It seems like this years world cup has got a final round that is quite open to different results and very unpredictable:
England - Ecuador, Portugal - Holland, Brazil - Ghana, France - Spain could all go both ways...
:2thumbsup:
Well, Gealai, I'm not saying that there should be no rules! For instance, I agreed with all of the cards in the US/Italy game, they were for dangerous play of various kinds and well-deserved. However, the refs are repeatedly booking players for minor infringements, consequently disrupting the flow of games and having to send players off for technicalities. It's bloody frustrating, especially if you are a neutral and want to watch a competitive game. And, God help us if Michel Platini achieves his ambition to become FIFA president because he would lead the drive to eliminate all contact in football.
Todays game makes me want to laugh. Can you imagine what would happen to Nat Lofthouse these days if he'd bundled the Man Utd. keeper into the net ala '58 cup final?
Wow ze germans, sweden had a terrible defence but let's not throw the germans pwning them on just that :dizzy2: I was right all along, the germans are going to win the cup. Their heimat fuels them, I suspect they have ancient magic runes buried all over the place. Nasty red card by the way, the wissleboy really seemed to enjoy giving it. Let's bring in the heavie's....
http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven...oranjetank.jpg
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/dres/bw09.jpg
God I love football ~;)
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/may.../1940may14.jpg
:gah: :hide:
Maybe the last two pics were a step too far... time to return to the topic, eh?
yikes, ecuador looked awful. england didn't look too hot either. weak game. can't see england fairing well against either portugal or holland. hopefully that will be a good game.
ecuador.. get a new goalie. :uneasy:
No one will take down Germany :evil:Quote:
Originally Posted by Zalmoxis
Who vs. who?Quote:
Originally Posted by LegioXXXUlpiaVictrix
Germany vs. ____?
I thought Rooney was a bit under par, he might be a handful when he's firing on all cylinders. Pretty standard fare from Beckham, his goal could have been a bit tidier though. Anyroad we're through to the next round, so 'bring 'em on....' :sweatdrop:
Brazil. The second pic shows a EE-T1 Osório.Quote:
Who vs. who?
Germany vs. ____?
Panzer vs Osório ~:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexanderofmacedon
Edit: Damn you beat me to it ~:)
Panzer's are better.
Hmm, but Rooney produced some special plays in the second half and seemed to get stronger if anything. The defenders were backing off him by the end. I thought that Carrick was great at the centre of midfield with a good range of long and short passing as well as timely interventions. He should stay in. Could we be the 'New Germany', quietly grinding out results without being overly impressive yet going far in the competition ... we shall see. ~;)Quote:
Originally Posted by InsaneApache
Understatement dear boy, understatement. :toff:
Wanted:
Frank Lampard's shooting boots.
Big reward from all England fans.
Reply to England HQ Baden-Baden
Gah.. I sometimes really hate football..
Stand clueless for the entire match, get a freekick, let your handsome boy do it and steal away the match.
I wish England can not progress one more round further. I'm so disappointed with Ecuador letting the game slip away from their hands in which England did not make a single organized attack until Beckham's freekick.
:shame:
Anyways, for their courage and quality Ecuador still deserves my respects. :ecuador:
Lol! You're having a laugh, aren't ya?! Ecuador were rubbish, they were playing for extra-time and penalties.Quote:
Originally Posted by LeftEyeNine
And, as indifferent as they were, there was only one team really trying to win that match. England.
Where's ya Turkey gone! Where's ya Turkey gone!
:netherlands: vs :portugal: in 20 minutes.
If we win it will be us against :england:
RedPeasant, I seriously doubt that we watched the same match. I recommend you to cool down off the happy emotions of victory and watch the match again. Until the freekick England has no single serious chance of goal crafted.
..Trying to be more meaningful to you since you are a British : [SomePaperHeadline]Turkey is roasted long ago.[/SomePaperHeadline]Quote:
Where's ya Turkey gone! Where's ya Turkey gone!
While England were perhaps not as good as I would have liked, to say Ecuador played with 'courage and quality' is really wishful thinking. Decrying Beckham's excellent free-kick as somehow 'stealing' the match also seems like a rather sore-loserish thing to say, it was a lovely ball. It wasn't his fault the keeper was rubbish.
Based on his performance in the last ten minutes, I think Sven should play Lennon from the start in the next game. Rooney is also looking much fitter, and if they play someone else up front with him so he isn't so isolated he could really start earning his pay
No problem LEN, I was not happy with the England performance, although it had its moments and some patches of decent play, but to make the claims that you made for Ecuador showed the extent of your bias against England. Also, I can only feel that we can get better. You need to build slowly in World Cups and I'm an optimist. ~;)
I think England played really well, but had a weakness in Lampard and Gerrard. They never seemed to get the crucial passes through, and Lampard shot poorly even when he had good chances. Rooney got better by every minute, no doubt the man of the match IMO. Ecuador played well from start but got worse from 30th minute or so. I think England deserved the win, even if Ecuador had some great chances and played very well in earlier games, they simply weren't as good in this game IMO.
Portugal - Holland will be a nice game to watch! I think Portugal might be slightly better, but it should be quite even. I don't know which side I'd rather want to continue to the quarter finals - Portugal with their swift beautiful football, or Holland with their funny orange pyjamas - both are a pleasure to the eye...
I found the England - Ecuador match to be quite boring really, especially as the match neared it's end, Ecuador just didn't seem to want to win and England's players were all exhausted - Beckham nearly passed out from what I saw.
Ecuador played much and much better in the previous matches but this just wasn't their day, they could have hurt England more had they been in their previous form - why they didn't ,I don't know.
England played a decent first half, a great tackle by Cole in the 11th minute saved the English from a disastrous start, that was Ecuador's chance to force a lead - would have been a very different match had Ecuador scored that early goal.
Well, going to watch Holland - Portugal. Thinking it's going to be a 0 - 1.
But I surely don't hope so.
:balloon2:
BKS, I'm not an Ecuadoran and I didn't place any bets on them for this match ~:) "Stealing away" refers to a single moment that a single man of England shone and it doomed the score to finish that way. Who can debate over Beckham's mighty feet. As I had told in my Ecuador - Poland review, the Ecuadoran keeper Mora sucks indeed -he is the weakest link of that courageous and quality team.
After seeing the posts about England here, I got the impression that either I watched some other match or the England fans are easily satisfied.
Oh congrats on the progress but do not expect that team going any further. I was into laughter after how Sven cowardishly substituted Joe Cole with Jamie Carragher in '75. He is underestimating the squad he is managing and that damages England's reputation as a team and prevents them from shining all over.
If Turkish team was able to make passes like how Ecuadorans did, we wouldn't be [SomePaperHeadline]Turkish Delights[/SomePaperHeadline] through the preliminary stage.
I hope not, Holand have been playing fantasticly this tournament and it would be a shame to see them knocked out so early....getting knocked out in the Quarter finals by England wouldn't be so much of a shame :laugh4:Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch_guy
0-1 in Portugals favour, but they'll have to do with 10 men from now on. Should be exiting...
Portugal with 9 men.
This match will be remembered for its terrible reffing. What was the red for Deco for? The ref has lost control.
Still 1-0.
Crazed Rabbit
portugal/holland
1st half: pretty good game, some harsh yellows, but overall good half.
2nd half: holy wow! what can you say about this? at this point, i'm hoping they break the record for yellows. not much class being displayed on the field.. by the players or the refs. anyway, i think portugal has played better, but it's hard to tell at this point.
england must be elated.
why didn't van nistelroy play?
I blaming it all on you Dutch Guy, you jinxed it with your POR 1-0 HOL talk :juggle2:
:embarassed:
J/K ~;)
Ah well someone had to go through. Beware England.
Portugal vs Holland
That was so brutal with so much tension that you could hang an axe in the air. Football is war - true indeed !
Ok, well first of all: [DnC] and Dutch_Guy, I'm sorry, you guys deserved it not Portugal. Second of all, kill your coach for not putting Nistelrooy in at least if he wasn't going to start. (would you happen to have any info on that living in Holland?)
To all of the Netherlands. I was rooting for you so hard I gave myself a headache. I think you would have beat England and Portugal will not. It's a shame.
Good luck :bow:
Now maybe you can root for the country near you? DEUTSCHLAND DEUTSCHLAND!:2thumbsup:
That was one beautiful game!!!
Congratulations to Portugal for a hard fought and well deserved victory.
Good lord, what a farcical/incredibly close-fought game, depending how you look at it. 16 yellows and 4 dismissals?! I think I also counted about four fights of one kind or another. The Dutch deserved to at least equalise though, they were all over Portugal in the second half-even if they were diving all over the place. Most exciting game of the tournament so far.
I wonder what would have happened if it had gone to extra time? If they kept playing the way they were, there would have been another two players off.
No Deco against England! Hooray! [/partisan mode]