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I'm not the Dutch-guy here, but I think it was because he wasn't playing in accordance to the rest of the team. An scorer should know how to get the centers and all other balls in the area and van Nistelroy didn't should that feat during the games. Also van Basten has shown an strong actitud for renovation, van Nistelroy, Cocu and van Der Sar were the only old players (i think). Even so, I don't agree with the change.Quote:
Originally Posted by Big_John
SSSSHHHHHHHHH!Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexanderofmacedon
don't jinx it boy! :laugh4:
ah ok, that would make sense for not starting him, at least. but you have to put him in if you need a goal in the 70th minute, i think.Quote:
Originally Posted by Soulforged
hahhaha....that was a great fun game!!!
FULL CONTACT FOOTBALL!!!! :P
Van Nistelrooy hasn't given a stellar performance this WC sadly, but even so he should have been put in in the late game. We had nothing to lose afterall.
What the hell is the temperature like over there, anyway? Did Beckham actually toss his cookies on the field not long after his penalty kick?
It was in the 100sF. :laugh4:
Ecuador - England
Boring match for an outsider, really. The English don't look fit and their collective play looks awful. There were one or two highlights in midfield but the last deadly pass was always missing. Backham got a lucky punch and a deserved victory, after all. Ecuador showed nothing of the flair they produced in the first two games in the group stages. I think England can consider themselves lucky not to have played a rampant Germany...
Well done England nonetheless!
Portugal - Netherlands
A very exciting match indeed. A stark contrast to the afternoon fixture. Both looked strong but Holland simply lacked experienced leadership and seemed to have very little plan on how to score their goal (lob it forward and see what happens). The Portuguese were positioned well in defense and allowed very little while the game was still being played on even terms. Had the ref shown Boularouz the deserved red card for the foul on C. Ronaldo, maybe the match would not have turned out the way it did. Some dodgy decisions for yellows but all the send offs were correct. Perhaps one or two should have gone off straight away (Boularouz, Deco).
I suppose Van Basten is right in saying that their real aim is to do well in the Euro Championships 2008. The team is still very young and has much to learn. Pity the coach couldn't stop himself teaching Ruud a lesson for being a **** in practice...
Well played the two and well done Portugal for qualifying for the quarters!
England will have to raise their game considerably if they want to have any chance of getting into the semis. Lucky, however, that Portugal's midfield is missing their most important man in the next match...
Quid
Euro 2004, anyone?Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexanderofmacedon
What are you getting at?Quote:
Originally Posted by SSNeoperestroika
Don't follow European football much?Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexanderofmacedon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=najSAWgJZTk
Yes, Portugal had home advantage, but I would say England were stronger then.
Add to that the fact that Scolari knows well how to organise teams against England.
He did it 2 years ago, and 4 years ago.
[Just noticed the oh-so-friendly comments under the video, heh. No love lost between
Holland and Portugal, eh. The rivalry from the semi-final then has only been exacerbated
by the latest match.]
And the 2002 World Cup as well, unfortunately.
Third time's the charm!
Do you honestly think the team's good enough to be beat Portugal this timeQuote:
Originally Posted by Big King Sanctaphrax
around, though? There's just too much lacking, at least from what I have seen.
I think Portugal will be missing some players too much for them to win. I'm not saying it'll be a blowout, but I do think England will win. Maybe it's wishful thinking.Quote:
Originally Posted by SSNeoperestroika
England - Ecuador
It maz not be easy to play well against a defensive team like Ecuador, but the english side made a terrible impression on me. Look on the statistics of the match and the english players. Possession was even, shots on goal close, and so on. Only foulwise the Ecuadorians proved to be much more rough: 24 against 8.
Lampard and Gerrad just had a low number of passes and a underwhelming percentage: 78%. And this with a low-risk approach. Beckham was able to deliver a shameful 63% of his passes with absolutly no risk-taking :sweatdrop:
Basically he was just there to make freekicks - which he does supremly - and to defend a bit.
Rooney was almost all the time alone, never got a decent pass in the whole game. Still one of the best of the english side with the Coles - which was not exaclty difficult, given the woeful performance of almost all players - Ecuadorians included - on the field.
They really have to make a big step performances-wise and/or rely on their luck.
Deco is out next game, plus England played below their potential last game. They played in a way that made them look bad - missing the crucial last pass all the time. If they had got the crucial passes forward but the attackers hadn't been running so well everyone would have said they were playing extremely well but were unlucky not to score. But both scenarios are really equally far from being in top shape.Quote:
Originally Posted by SSNeoperestroika
===
Portugal - Holland was a pretty fun game, but I was disappointed about Holland who seemed to start the game with an attitude of playing ugly, and it seemed they were concentrating more on hurting Portugal's players than about actually playing well with the ball, which was a pity because if they had concentrated more on that they would probably have scored once or twice and probably won.
:italy: - :australia: will be Italian victory I think. Australia have done well but probably can't manage to beat Italy, who are looking quite good at the moment (though not in top shape)
:switzerland: - :ukraine: this will be fun - both these teams are teams that weren't expected to go that far, and it's difficult to predict who will win
:brazil: - :ghana: this too will be fun - ghana is the best African team this WC, and Brazil hasn't really been playing too well lately. Hopefully Ghana will win!
:spain: - :france: this is also interesting - both teams have problems penetrating good defense, and both teams have good defense. France attacks too much in the middle, Spain attacks with too much short passes and tend to get bogged down against good opponents. I wonder who will score the crucial goal
Well, I think everything has been said but I'll give my view on the Holland - Portugal match anyway.
Right from the start it was plain this was going to be one physical and tough game. Boularouz trying to break Ronaldo's leg is of course the prime example. Looking back on the match, and especially knowing the ref. , I'm surprised he wasn't sent off immediately.
We played decent the first 15 minutes, we had our long distance shots but in the end our static defence killed us. Lack of experience and communication is what caused the early goal, Deco should not - ever - be allowed to pass the ball, and Pauletta should not have been able to pass the ball back to Maniche.
We should have known what Maniche is capable of since he scored the winning goal 2 years ago...but obviously we didn't and he got to score the winning goal.
After costinho (sp?) was sent off the field just before half time, after hitting the ball with his hand, the game was all open again.
van Basten then started the second half by taking a defender off the field and putting an attacking midfielder (van der Vaart ) in the game. This meant of course that we we're going to risk it all. But we had to take chances of course.
It paid off almost immediately with a ball against the upper bar (is that the right word?) and some good shots from the second line.
Now I'm sure we must have set some kind of record concerning the yellow and red cards that were given. Something like 16 cards, total, I believe were given.
Something that I found really disgusting was the way how Figo fell to the ground when he lost the ball to Boularouz, it was smart yes, but disgusting, as the replays show there wasn't enough contact between the two to warrant a second yellow card, even though one might argue that Boularouz should have been sent of in the first half.
Now I didn't quite complain yesterday, but why the hell did he send Deco of the pitch, obviously that ref. completely lost it in the second half. A shame really.
Another thing that really bothered me was the fact that the ref. sent van Bronckhorst of the pitch in the fourth minute of the added time !
You just don't do that, not in the added time.
Other than that it was a great game, especially the exiting second half. I would have loved to have seen us score a goal, but it didn't happen. Although we were very, very close at times.
So as much as the ref. tried to destroy the match, he didn't quite succeed.
Good luck Portugal, and congratulations.
PS: I did manage to predict the match correctly, damn.
PPS: van Basten didn;t play with van Nisterlrooy because he disappointed in the games in which he played. And van Basten considered Kuyt to be the better played at the moment.
:balloon2:
Lots of diving going on in the Holland-Portugal match.
England-Ecuador, well, at least England won. It gets rather boring and pointless though if with virutally every goal kick the ball gets lobbed to Rooney, who of course has no chance of reaching it; I think that Rooney was getting tired, which strangely was a good thing, since he became more selective and went for the most promising runs and became more dangerous. Hopefully he keeps doing that. I'd like to see more of Lennon, but I guess while Beckham is still on the team there's not much chance of that. But in all, England was sloppy and need to tidy up their game before playing Portugal. At least some of their players are out.
I dont think theres much for me to add, as everything has generally been covered...except...
Luis Figo's headbutt.
Will Fifa ban him? I hope so!
Portugal - Netherland
What to say? There were deserved two red cards for both sides, but Ivanov should gave two more for both teams.
It was obvios that Dutch players targeted Ronaldo from start. Khalid Boulahrouz brutal tackled Ronaldo on game start and Ivanov gave him only yellow card. :wall:
I don't know why, too. Maybe the game would different...:idea2:Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch_guy
Yes, you have weak defense. You have lucky against Cot d'Ivore.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch_guy
Costinha deserved red card long before that. Remember that Ivanov didn't see his tacle on ... (I forgot).Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch_guy
As I remember you had only few chances.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch_guy
Valentin Ivanov is not good referee. :no: He was referee on qulification game between Serbia - Belgium and he didn't whistle two obvios penalties for us. Everybody saw that except him.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch_guy
But referee Oscar Ruiz on game between Netherlands - Cote d'Ivore was on Dutch side. He didn't whistled two clear penalties for Cote d'IvoreQuote:
Originally Posted by Dutch_guy
Bad mood in Dutch team...Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch_guy
I'm sure he didn't intentionally order Boulahrouz to tackle Ronaldo out of the game, I'm sure it seemed like that - even to us here in Holland.Quote:
Originally Posted by DukeofSerbia
But really, why Ronaldo and not a [more important] player like Deco or even Figo?
Boulahrouz is known for his toughness, everyone knows it, he isn't called ''the cannibal'' for no apparent reason...
:balloon2:
Yeah, he got lucky the ref didn't give him a red card for that. Later he hits the ball with his hand, obviously not by accident and gets one anyway. Idiot.Quote:
Costinha deserved red card long before that. Remember that Ivanov didn't see his tacle on ... (I forgot).
wow, great game. reffing wasn't awful either.. bad red card made it 11 v 10 for the second half, but that just made the game more exciting. ~;)
can't really say the PK was a bad call either.
edit: but what's with the thumb sucking? :inquisitive:
He just fell over the Australian - he wasn't taken down,Quote:
Originally Posted by Big_John
so it seems harsh to me.
Wasn't a PK. It was a good acting job and a good finish by Totti. If that didn't happen I would have said Australia in OT.:shame:
Surely you mean ET.
Well, was disappointed, but will look forward to Spain vs. France in particular.
Bad call of the ref.
And again the Italians played badly...
it was the australian's fault for going down in that position. sure it was a bit of acting, but almost all fouls in soccer are. remember, the ref called a foul, he didn't give the defender a card or anything, just a foul. had that play occured anywhere else on the pitch, it would have been a foul too. on the slow-motion replays it looks iffy, but in real-time, you had to call a foul.
edit: i don't think the italians played badly at all. australia is a tough squad, i have more respect for them now than i did after the 1st round. they needed to attack more and smarter when they had the advantage, but otherwise they looked impressive.
OT = Over-timeQuote:
Originally Posted by SSNeoperestroika
Would that not work?
EDIT: Big John: It was only like two seconds though! With all the factors I'd say not to call it.
i can see that. what i'm saying, i guess, is that it's not an especially bad call. you can argue that it should be called, and you can argue that it should not. but it wasn't a "terrible" call, imo.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexanderofmacedon
Really tough luck to the Ozzies, FFS 5 seconds to go.
Well played our Australian cousins, you gave the buggers a fine run for their money.
Bonza!
Well done Aussie, but personally I'm glad because it means the brilliant Tim Cahill is coming home injury free and now less likely to attract a hostile bid for his services from other clubs. He'll probably want a pay rise from Everton though. Cough up Blues.
Switzerland just aren't playing to win - if anybody's still watching.
[I can't say the Ukraine are doing much more.]
Nope. I'm watching 'Total Recall' and RP is catching some ZZZzzzz's :laugh4:Quote:
Originally Posted by SSNeoperestroika
I gave up about ten minutes into the second half. What a snooze-fest.
Well, well. Penalties. Finally.
YES! Finally we get to see some PKs. I hate pks personally being a goalie. I hate guessing. But i do love to watch them.
Haha, Schevchanko is denied.
lame ending to a lame game with lame teams. i was hoping that the inadequacies of each team would make for an exciting game.. but niether team had the skill nor the courage to take advantage of the others numerous mistakes.
too bad these teams played each other.. don't want to see either of them in the next round. :sick:
Me thinks the Aussies were robbed! That socceroo was never going to hit that Italian, his tackle was way off-target. That sneaky Italian rushed towards that Australian lying on the pitch, firmly planted his foot in his side and took a right good dive. Meh.
Too many games are decided by the referee at this tournament. :no:
*
So the Swiss finally went back to being their usual selfs. I was getting a bit worried, what with them nearly playing World Cup quarter finals and such. Back to their national character: utterly impregnable, if a tad dull. :coffeenews:
*
:spain: - :france: tomorrow!
Oh my! Oh my! :jumping:
Will we finally see the real France? Maybe they will play freely at last, with less pressure, with less of a weigth to carry on their shoulders. For the first time since 1998 les Bleus are the underdogs, and it should feel like a relieve.
I wonder if we'll see Zidane tomorrow. Could the unthinkable be true - that we're better without him? Possibly, but it shouldn't matter anyway. Zidane must play, for better or for worse. One last time. I want to cheer or suffer together with Zidane. Face it, we're not going to win this Cup, so let's settle for drama and lots of it. Let us share in both glory and defeat alongside ZZ, whatever may come. That's the fitting end to 98, the greater story demands it.
Louis demands Zizou!!!!11!!!:furious3:
Switzerland - Ukraine
A somewhat deserved loss in terms of the fact that the players (or perhaps the coach) were too chicken to risk something. We definitely have the class to beat the Ukraine but it wasn't to be. Perhaps the Euro 2008 will show a Swiss team that is more experienced, not weakened by injuries and generally fit to reach at least the semis.
The zero out of three penalties were telling that the nerves wouldn't have it any longer. I am sure in two year's time this won't be a problem anymore.
---
I think the matches tomorrow should be pretty clear. Brazil and Spain should go through easily. Not sure who to root for yet (it ain't gonna be Brazil, that's for sure...). Any suggestions?
Quid
Yes, I don't think that Spain will be the one, France has been sleeping but they'll wake up. By far the match with the most potencial on this round. Besides I don't want Spain to win, I want them to lose and badly if possible.:2thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Quid
watch out for ghana in a shocking upset!
just kidding.
or am i??
Ghana all the way. It's one less superpower Germany will not have to deal with!:dizzy2:
:embarassed:
Certainly not a match to be proud of, in fact the worst match in a tournament ever. At least the dutch fans know how to be a good sport. Won't be cheering for Portugal either this time, I hate actors.
Germany, mob the remaining teams up and congratulations in advance.
I'm rooting for Ghana all the way tomorrow! Although I expect the Brazilians to wallop them I hope for at least a good match.
And for Spain vs. France seeing as my friend Jose has opted to go for Spain I'm rooting for France! They'd better win because otherwise I have to buy Jose's beers tomorrow.
You guys should all realize how lucky you are! I need to wake up at 0500 to watch the Brazil Ghana game :furious3: Stupid 12 hour time difference.
Viva la France!!!!:balloon2: :balloon2: :balloon2: :balloon2:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/.../fr-lgflag.gif
Given that a lot of the footballers are on £40, 000 (+) a week giving them overtime at, say time and a half, or even double time on Sundays would be a tad expensive. :laugh4:Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexanderofmacedon
The correct term is extra time. It's bad enough people calling 'the beautiful game' soccer without incurring any more americanisms. :laugh4:
Well, condolences to all the Australians here at the Org. The penalty kick was - in my opinion - not called correctly, the Italian player had the chance to go around the Australian, but didn't and decided to go over him, and dive.
I do understand that without the chance to see it all over again the ref. went with what seemed best to him at the time. Too bad though, as a ref. you shouldn't give a penalty in the 94th minute of the game if you're not 100 % it's a penalty.
As Louis said, the referee's have had far to much influence on the outcome of the matches, too bad.
On another note, I think the winning team is either going to be Argentina or Deutschland. Argentina because they seem better than Brazil at the moment, and Germany just because they're Germany, they're playing better than I've seen them play in years....plus they have the advantage that the WC is hosted in their country, which 'll at least give them moral support - which 'll only grow with each win.
:balloon2:
Whoops. I'll try to be less American. Kind of hard living here!:2thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by InsaneApache
If France gets knocked out tonight, I'm going to find myself doing the
unthinkable, and backing Argentina. All of the other teams I would like
to see lose just too badly.
Hey no problem mate, the smilies I'd hoped gave it away. It's great that so many 'Yanks' are finally getting the bug, that you call soccer and we call 'footy'.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexanderofmacedon
Fair play to you and your kith and kin.
:party:
hmm, not very impressed with brazil. thought they'd found their form against japan, but ghana has played better than brazil except for the finishing. maybe an odd thing to say about a 3-0 game, but the 2nd goal was offsides, and the 3rd goal came in garbage time when ghana was all forward.
brazil can't play this way against either spain or france (well, maybe france, depending on which team shows up).
Me and a few of my friends were talking about this yesterday. If the US bread all of its best athletes for soccer like the European teams and the South American team, the US would be good. Instead of taking all our best athletes and making them football players and basketball players we breed them to play soccer. I mean if you put Brian Urlacher who is 6' 4" 250 and can run the 40 in a 4.4 at sweeper if would just be a question of how long the opposing forward was in the hospital with a concusion. If a player like Shaq was put up at forward to win balls out of the air like crazy and would make that Crouch guys look like an ant. If we put Reggie Bush at mid and have him fly by and juke out everyone. It is just kind of fun thinking about how good the US could be if we actually trained our best athletes to play soccer. Although I am pretty sure that this wont be happening in the near future because nobody in the US cares about soccer. But there is that old question "What if..."
ooophf.. ouch, france. up until henry's rediculous flop, i didn't care who won this game.. but now france goes up 2-1 from that foul call?
ouch...
i hope spain can come back.
edit2: great, now i'll have to pull for brazil.. see what you've made me do france? booo hissss!
I can't believe that was the same French team that played in the group stages. Louis will be pleased.
It was nice to see Zidane score.
Edit:Henry played it up, which was a bit disapointing, but Puyol did block him. It should have been a free kick without the face-clutching.
As much as I like Henry as a plaer, that was a blatant try at getting that defender sent off, not his shining moment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Big King Sanctaphrax
So what do you think England's chances against a depleted Portugal side?
No offence Louis, or any French fans, but I hate to see this happen. I would hate it if Spain won too. I'm just so torn. I love both teams. I wish both could advance. After every player on Germany my favorite player is Torres. He's such a badass. Also, Spain HAS to be the most underachieved nation. They're so good, but they just never make it.Quote:
Originally Posted by InsaneApache
To France: Congrats, and great win. To Spain: I love you, just bounce back.
I'm so sad :no:
I don't want the World cup to be over *cries*
Once again Spain flatter to deceive, offering virtually nothing in attack despite having a great deal of quality possession. France had less possession but they were more constructive and probing in attack with it. Well played France, and good to see ZZ score once more.
spain was maybe a tad too passive, but they put several great chances together, as did france. except for the flop (which was not a foul, BKS, sorry.. pujol simply beat henry to the ball), it was a great game. neither team clearly 'deserved' it more than the other. but henry's theatrics were game-winning, and thus i must hope brazil beats france (which i think will happen anyway).
so what do we have?
i'll take portugal over england, even though they'll be missing a few people. i think this could be a boring match. i can see both teams kind of sitting back and waiting for the other to make a mistake.
brazil over france.
argentina over germany, this should be the final, unfortunately. the winner of this should take it all.
italy over ukraine.. neither team is that impressive. i think this is the battle for fourth place.
Germany vs. Argentina is the first game tommorrow am I correct?
it's the next game, but there is no world cup until friday. sadly, we have a little break before the quarterfinals.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexanderofmacedon
germany v argentina 11:00am EST, friday, june 30
Yes... :book: :laugh4: ~:cheers: :jumping: :thrasher: :beatnik2: :creep: :2thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Soulforged
ZIZOU!!
ZIZOU!!
ZIZOU!!
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
We need to pretend the World cup is still going after it's done. I can't go back to my non-world cup life anymore. It's just not the same!:embarassed:
Never thought that I would watch soccer but it is really fun to watch I'm getting into it. Its pretty exciting.
Glad France won! I'm hoping for either a France Germany match or an England Germany match, love the great rivalry. My buddy Jose wanted to see a Spain Portugal match but that dream was crushed and he had to pay up in drinks!
I'm hoping for Germany to beat Argentina. Unfortunately even though I want to root for Ukraine because Jose lost today's bet he got to choose the next game.
I'm glad that there's other Americans enjoying soccer. I've always like it and loved playing it in Elementary and then being a linesman for my brothers games in Highschool but as everyone got older they wanted to play football or basketball. I'm glad that at least in my Army experience there are plenty of foriegners that enlisted that I could play with/against.
Well good job France, and nice goal Zidane and Ribery !
Looking forward to the germany - Argentina game, going to be a great match - it just has to be.
After seeing both teams play a fantastic tournament, it's bloody hard to predict who's going to take the win...
:balloon2:
Hmm, I now really hope that we, Germany, will win the Championship, because all my other favorites are out already...:help:
I reckon Argentina will struggle to beat Germany myself. They (Argentina) have been looking good, but have they played a good side yet? Mexico rank as only "Ok" IMHO and they didn't exactly put them away did they, and Germany are not an easy team to play against. Plus I want the Germans to go through because you all know an England-Germany final would be the most exciting sporting event in the history of the world ever. Even you Louis. (Oh cruel fate, I will be in France that day, this is what happens when you leave holiday arrangements to women)
I also reckon England-Portugual will be a stinker. Assuming Portugal play to their potential they should have it, but with their suspensions, plus, surely, England have to play at least one good game in this tournament, I'm hoping England will do the business. That would set us up for a semi against Brazil (boring) or France (we-hay, almost as good as Germany) Unfortunately for my beating-the-Germans-in-the-final fantasy I can't see us getting past the semis though
Spain again did what they always do in World Cups - excellent play in preliminary round and pathetic after that.:laugh4:
But when Henry will finally play good enough?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch_guy
On Croatian TV commentators called Boulahrouz as a butcher. When he got second yellow card they said that butcher finally go out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexanderofmacedon
The main problem of Spain in game was defense. They played defensive tactics called "offside's traps". Defenders were 35m from goalkeeper. It was matter of time whem Frenchmen would go through defense. Rebery was player of the game.
What to add - Ukraine was second and they are now in quaterfinal. Unkrainian tycoons promised 22 million euros if Ukraine won! :dizzy2: So far they payed over 2 or 3 million euros to players for succes.
I agree with the fact that Argentina will have a hard time beating Germany. However, Germany hasn't had a 'hard' game yet either. This will be the first proper test for both of the teams. Dare I say though, if Germany wins this one, they will go and win the championship. The euphoria will be so high that there will be no stopping them. Already now Germany is playing much better than they are supposed to be able to. Quite depressing, really.Quote:
Originally Posted by English assassin
Actually, I am also hoping for a 'good' game of England. It has been a long time coming. They have not performed really well ever since the 5 - 1 against Germany. Problem of course is, England is severely lacking a good and fit striker at the moment. The midfield has not lived up to their potential either. And let me just not lose a word about the supposedly best defense worldwide... Am still uncertain as to whether it was a good idea to play Lampard and Gerrard at the same time...I sort of get the feeling they are impeding each other and cannot live up to their best form. It will be a good game. Portugal being weakened by the suspensions and England...well, generally being weak so far.
Good luck to the both of them!
Quid
Oh, and common Argentina!!!
Germany - Argentina should have been the final of this tournament.Quote:
Originally Posted by English assassin
But I'll settle forDresden-CoventryGermany - England too. :balloon2:
Hahaha...:laugh4:Quote:
Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat
Spain and Ghana both showed poor defensive tactics in their second round matches.
With the rubbish new offside rules, the offside trap just does not work. Linesmen, referees themselves state they do not know what the rules are so it is easy for teams too take advantage of this. Playing high up the field trying to catch highly mobile, technical teams like Brazil and France, does not work.
Playing deep is the only answer, and they didnt do this, and thats why there out.
Who does everyone fancy out of Germany, Argentina? I believe whoever wins that game will go on too win the competition.
Confusing as they sometimes maybe, that is why I agree with the new offside rules. Previously, under the old rules, there was nothing more boring than teams who had perfected the off-side trap. Now, you are playing with a loaded gun if you persist with such tactics, as the Spanish found out.
PS My only real beef with the offside rule is that the benefit of doubt is supposed to reside with the attacker, but it very rarely does so in practice. However, in mitigation, it is a difficult rule to police for the officials.