The unofficial World Cup Thread,

[Louis VI the Fat]

0 - 2

1 - 1

2 - 0

[Marshal Murat]

1 - 1
0 - 2
3 - 0

[gaelic cowboy]

A few days ago I would have said Portugal would win 2-0 but the way things are panning out I dunno now.

I think though that Ivory Coast are basically team Drogba though an he aint there so maybe 2-0 is the score.

Brazil will only manage two cos I'd say there will 11 men in the North Korean box for the entire game lol.

[Beefy187]

While I'm happy for Japans victory, I'm still against our manager

Anyhow,

Newzealand 0- 1 Slovakia
Ivory Coast 1- 2 Portugal
Brazil 1- 0 North Korea

[Rhyfelwyr]

I'm not doing too well so far.

0 - 1

0 - 1

6 - 0

I'm going to be optimistic and hope Brazil pull of some real class, this tournament needs it.

I wonder how things will work for North Korea with fans etc. Are they even allowed out the country?

[Afonso I of Portugal]

It's not the most exciting tournament evar, is it?

Very few goals. Too many matches decided by some defensive howler. Boring, weak teams.

Not enough fans travelled to South Africa. What little atmosphere they wish to create is frustrated by those vuvu******zelas. And what little we hear of this little atmposphere I can't hear because I turn down the volume of that awful monotenous noise.
Imagine what Saturday's game would've been like with a sing-off between God Save the Queen and the Star Spangled Banner. The players would've fought twice as hard.

The ball is a disaster. Players are looking for long distance shots, and defenses are kept tight to block attempts. Once again, Fifa managed the opposite of what it intended with some weird supermarket beachvolleyball - rather than more goals, we see fewer, of lower quality, with less of a passing and attacking game.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

One would almost think the lack of atmosphere is standard. Not so. Here's what a football game should be like, for atmosphere, audience participation, sounds, oohs and ahs, anthem sing-offs, taunts:

Agreed! did you record that video Louis? Euro 2004 was in fact a great tournament...too bad we lost in the final. I remember the greeks saying terrible things about the ball...in the end they won.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Agreed! did you record that video Louis? Euro 2004 was in fact a great tournament...too bad we lost in the final. I remember the greeks saying terrible things about the ball...in the end they won.

I wish I took it! I just grabbed that video of the internet. Was just looking for some football atmosphere. I was beginning to wonder whether I was imagining things, or maybe suffering from nostalgia, or whether there really is a slight lack of (Euro / South American?) atmosphere in this tournament.

Needless to say, I was rooting for Portugal in the final. I was perfectly happy for the Greeks to have their party, but not with that team.
Euro 2004 was a great tournament. Germany's World Cup was fantastic too, as was Euro 2008. We really should just invite Brazil and Argentina over to the EC in Poland in 2012. Cheap beers, fun girls, lots of fans everywhere - it'll be great.



Ah well, 'nuff of this complaining. The tournament will kick up a notch when the pressure is on in the deciding group matches, certainly in the knock-out phase - which is really what football was meant to be. One game, two teams, best on the day takes all.


I thought Drogba would be fit for tomorrow....if not, I might regret predicting 1-1.

[Ronin]

I don´t think we'll beat Ivory Coast.....

[naut]

New Zealand 0 - 1 Slovakia

Ivory Coast :ivorycoast: 0 - 1 Portugal

Brazil 4 - 0 North Korea

[Ronin]

New Zealand 0 - 1 Slovakia
Ivory Coast 2 - 1 Portugal
Brazil 3 - 0 North Korea

[Marshal Murat]

I want Cote d'Ivoire to win, but I wanted Cameroon to win as well, but this tournament is unpredictable. I would just like to see a good, fast-paced game between two attacking teams. With Brazil, I just want to watch them play and have fun.

[Romanic]

0 - 1

0 - 2

3 - 0

[drone]

Just watched the Italy-Paraguay match on the DVR. Not exactly the prettiest display, but quite fun. Man of the match = Benito Tellez, the referee. Fairly physical, but mostly clean, and the ref let them play without too much interference and kept it under control. Bodies flying everywhere, heads and feet in dangerous proximity to each other, but the maliciousness was kept to a minimum and everyone was trying hard. Probably the first Italy match I've watched that I enjoyed in years. The work rate from Paraguay was impressive, and it appears they like to slide around in the rain. It's a shame De Rossi scored the equalizer, I would have preferred he contracted a potent and debilitating venereal disease during qualifying.

[Joooray]

0 - 2
1 - 2
3 - 0

[LeftEyeNine]

New Zealand 0-2 Slovakia
Cote d'Ivoire 3-2 Portugal
Brazil 2-0 Korea DPR

[Ser Clegane]

New Zealand - Slovakia 0:2
Cote d'Ivoire - Portugal 1:3
Brazil - North Korea 2:0

[johnhughthom]

Update:


Louis: +3 = 11
Little Grizzly: 2
Psycho: +1 = 3
Sarmatian: 2
Insane Apache: +3 = 11
Secura: 2
Ser Clegane: +4 = 8
Romanic: +3 = 6
Joooray: +1 = 3
Rhyfelwyr: +1 = 1
Sasaki: 0
LEN: 5
Moros: 2
Marshall Murat: 1
Craterus: 3
Crazed Rabbit: 2
Beefy: 1

[InsaneApache]

0 1

1 1

3 0

[naut]

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

[InsaneApache]

No.

[edyzmedieval]

It's not the most exciting tournament evar, is it?

Very few goals. Too many matches decided by some defensive howler. Boring, weak teams.

Not enough fans travelled to South Africa. What little atmosphere they wish to create is frustrated by those vuvu******zelas. And what little we hear of this little atmposphere I can't hear because I turn down the volume of that awful monotenous noise.
Imagine what Saturday's game would've been like with a sing-off between God Save the Queen and the Star Spangled Banner. The players would've fought twice as hard.

The ball is a disaster. Players are looking for long distance shots, and defenses are kept tight to block attempts. Once again, Fifa managed the opposite of what it intended with some weird supermarket beachvolleyball - rather than more goals, we see fewer, of lower quality, with less of a passing and attacking game.

The groups are not too interesting either, come on. The only one worth watching from beginning to end is Brazil's group, with Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea which will put up a serious fight. Most of the teams are boring too, the game is too tactical. Netherlands - Denmark. I expected some high flying attacks from the Dutch with Sneijder, Van Persie and Co...

Right... Very boring game. The best part was Poulsen's own goal.

[naut]

No.

Note to self. Don't post predictions until the very last minute.

[InsaneApache]

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.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Come on, Slowakia, make that second goal!

Why oh why did I predict 0-2, when all the sane people here have understood this tournament is all about 0-1, and predicted as such!?



Edit: it's johnhughthom's game. As far as I'm concerned, predictions can be made until one minute to kick-off, so long as one does not make a complete circus of it - bear in mind the host must keep track.

[Ser Clegane]

Why oh why did I predict 0-2, when all the sane people here have understood this tournament is all about 0-1, and predicted as such!?

I guess that point is moot now...

[Louis VI the Fat]

Ooh! Well done All-Whites!!

Serves the Slovaks right for not pushing for that second goal. This is what the tournament needs, some cool team brutally punishing a team for boring the world with another 1-0.

I proclaim NZ the Supreme Ruler of all the Pacific, the Kiwis the superior master race in Oceania (that includes Oceanic countries playing in Asian qualification matches).

[naut]

New Zealanders with a last minute goal. Don't think anyone predicted that result.

Ok, I'm torn. Portugal has kept 15 clean sheets in the last 20. But, Dogbreath is playing. Yet, Portugal score on average 1.5 goals a game and concede 0.5 a goal. And Ivory Coast score almost 2 goals a game and concede 1. So. I think I'll throw all that data out the window. And go with:

Revision:

Ivory Coast 1 - 1 Portugal

[Ronin]

there are things the stats don´t show....the Portuguese team might have won the last few games...but they were generally bad performances....
I say we don´t win today...and given a first game slip up we might even lose.....

i´m sticking to my initial gut feeling....2-1 Ivory Coast

[naut]

Ronaldo dives twice in 10 minutes. Awesome.....

[Ronin]

Ronaldo dives twice in 10 minutes. Awesome.....

come on....go easy on the kid....it's just the first game...he'll pick up the pace.