World Cup 2006

[reed]

bbloke,rhisiart, fryke & gang....

Screw the Bud ads. And the brew too. Sorry you have to see them during the commercial breaks. Have Tartan Special for me.

Germany HAD to win. Home "is an advantage." Indeed. To much money involved? Just a conspiracy thought.

Italy in a minute.


In anycase, these are more or less good matches now. You guys are experts...the best is always the quarter, etc. finals. No? Saturday should be a riot both in the UK and here in Paris.
Best of luck.

[Rhisiart]

Originally Posted by reed

bbloke,rhisiart, fryke & gang....you guys are experts...

Experts? bbloke, fryke and lilbandit yes. Me, definitely no. I predicted Argentina to win, so that shows how much I know.

I think it has been a good competition, but the cheating by players has left a sour edge to it all (e.g. Thierry Henry of all people, complaining about bad refereeing in the European Champions Cup final, yet clutches his face when elbowed by Puyol in the chest during their crucial win over Spain). Robben of the Netherlands has been the biggest cheat of all.

And whilst I am in critical mode, what is it with TV soccer directors who have a fetish for close-up shots of footballers gobbing (aka. spitting)? Given the timing of these matches, I am usually eating my wife's famed Irish cabbage and bacon during these games and the sight of spittle is really off-putting.

[bbloke]

Not impressed. I'll keep my mouth shut unless anyone else raises the England match.

Going out for a walk now.

[lilbandit]

Bad luck bbloke, always tough to go out on penalties. Ireland lost out to Spain in last World Cup, I remember the hurt like it was yesterday!

[fryke]

So I won't mention the England game. And I have to admit that although I was for Brazil and I actually thought France should've been out before this round (definitely), they simply played better than Brazil. Not understandable that Ronaldo played 90 minutes. Parreira's fault. Definitely. Most definitely. Why hang on to this old man. He had his best game against Japan, when Brazil played _all_ its game towards him against a weaker team, but against a stronger enemy, he just has to leave early or not play at all.

[Rhisiart]

Originally Posted by bbloke

Not impressed. I'll keep my mouth shut unless anyone else raises the England match. Going out for a walk now.

I am going to respond.

I still rate England's defence as equal to any team in the world. However, serious mistakes were made:

1. A manager who doesn’t understand that Rooney is there to support the striker up front, not be the man up front himself (leading to Rooney becoming unnecessarily frustrated and prone to foolishness).

2. The typical bottling out of otherwise excellent players in international tournaments, e.g. Frank Lampard.

3. An over long English premiership season, with not enough opportunity for the England squad to play 'friendlies' and bond.

4. A post-1966 arrogance that England deserves to win the World cup.

Don’t miss understand me. I may be Welsh, but I wanted England to triumph. I feel very sorry for England fans. They have been badly let down.

[bbloke]

Originally Posted by lilbandit

Bad luck bbloke, always tough to go out on penalties. Ireland lost out to Spain in last World Cup, I remember the hurt like it was yesterday!

Thanks. It's getting to be a very annoying habit for the England team, though!

Originally Posted by rhisiart

I am going to respond.

OK, that's fine. Nothing you've said has rattled me, either, just so you know where I'm coming from.

I felt very disappointed by the outcome, obviously, and I felt there were also a number of contentious issues, in addition to one of the biggest talking points of the game... It will probably take a little while for me to calm down a bit!

Originally Posted by rhisiart

I still rate England's defence as equal to any team in the world.

I'd agree.

Originally Posted by rhisiart

However, serious mistakes were made:

I agree there too.

Originally Posted by rhisiart

1. A manager who doesn’t understand that Rooney is there to support the striker up front, not be the man up front himself (leading to Rooney becoming unnecessarily frustrated and prone to foolishness).

Yup... I also think the systems we've been using might add to confusion, with players being a bit fish-out-of-water-like at times; that can't help our performances.

Originally Posted by rhisiart

2. The typical bottling out of otherwise excellent players in international tournaments, e.g. Frank Lampard.

Agreed, again. Time and time again, excellent players who can do amazing things at club level, seem to go to pot when it comes to the world stage. It's almost inexplicable, as it is not down to better quality opposition or something like that, they sometimes miss very easy chances and make basic mistakes.

Originally Posted by rhisiart

3. An over long English premiership season, with not enough opportunity for the England squad to play 'friendlies' and bond.

I don't know. This is possible, but I've never been too sure where I stand on this.

Originally Posted by rhisiart

4. A post-1966 arrogance that England deserves to win the World cup.

I'm not sure if it went as far as people feeling England somehow deserved it from the start. I had the feeling it was more a feeling of frustration that England have underachieved for decades now, that the fans feel "forty years of hurt," as it were, and that we now have a collection of young, talented players. It was more that the conditions felt right, or very promising, for the first time in a long time, and so we didn't want to miss this chance after the numerous disappointments of the past (especially in recent years).

Originally Posted by rhisiart

Don’t miss understand me. I may be Welsh, but I wanted England to triumph. I feel very sorry for England fans. They have been badly let down.

I think I understand you, and it all seems pretty fair. Thanks.

[Veljo]

I watched the English game, and while they haven't played that great this World Cup, they played pretty well against Portugal. It's a shame that it had to come down to penalties, cause then it's basically all about luck.

Anyway, I'm still hoping Italy get knocked out by Germany in the semis after their free ticket into the quarters from that stupid call in the Australian game. Germany vs. France I'm probably tipping for.