Fifa Germany 2006 - world cup thread

about the whole wanting to beat another country thing... i support wales. if we beat england, wales goes insane. why? well for me, its because i can honestly say.... they're a better team than us at most sports and they set the benchmark. its like every football team want to play brazil in teh final and beat them, as it'd be an amazing way to win. some people i'm sure, enjoy wales beating england for entirely other reasons. people like that do not deserve to enjoy sports.

the england and germany thing, i'm sure the rivalry started with the war, but now i'm sure its more to do with the amount of times they've come up against each other in tournaments. rivalry is a good thing. racism towards another country, is not. its just a shame that there are those minority groups in teh football world that are that way inclined.

Originally posted by -hh-
wow i just noticed something!

where is Russia???

they played in 98' and 02'...

anyone know what happened?

They failed to qualify for this WC. They finished third in their group behind Portugal and Slovakia. Really pathetic cuz it was a pretty easy group. I don't know why it really surprises you, Russia's always been crap at futbol. Especially after they got broken up. Just like China. It's amazing how a country as small as T&T can make it and yet a country with 2 Billion people like China can't.

how do you guyz think Czech Republic will do?

Originally posted by RZA
They failed to qualify for this WC. They finished third in their group behind Portugal and Slovakia. Really pathetic cuz it was a pretty easy group. I don't know why it really surprises you, Russia's always been crap at futbol. Especially after they got broken up. Just like China. It's amazing how a country as small as T&T can make it and yet a country with 2 Billion people like China can't.

but i see ur point

¡Viva México! sombrero2

Another pathetic outing for England today against the world powerhouse T&T 😛 but they did get the win. Man it's amazing how 1 made goal changes everything, I was expecting everyone after the game to crucify both Crouch and Sven for the loss. Crouch's whole performance up until that made goal was like a blooper real. And then when Sven decided to take Owen out instead of Crouch everyone started commenting on his sanity, some even went as far as to claim that Sven was secretly working for the Swedes and deliberately sabotaging Englands chances 😆

Anyway, I believe even though they've been playing bad these two wins no matter how ugly have given England momentum and now with Rooney coming back this gives them even more momentum. The WC is all about building confidence and gaining momentum with every win. The teams that start off well are usually the ones that finish well by carrying that momentum all the way to the finals, case in point Germany last WC went all the way to the finals after demolishing Saudi Arabia 8-0 in their first match. Also, Korea and Japan both made it farther than anyone anticipated, with every win they gained more and more confidence.

Based on early performances so far, both the Czechs and the Spaniards looked every impressive. Italy also got a solid win but they're chosen style of defensive play still doesn't sit well with me. Of course no one can ever rule out the defending champs Brazil and Germany with their home field advantage. It was nice to see Sweden finally score a goal, hopefully that will get them rolling as well. Holland is another team to keep an eye on, it will interesting to see how they do against Cote d'Ivoire. That should be another cracking game. A lot of good final group stage matchups coming up, hopefully they will all be played to win instead of just for positioning.

Originally posted by -hh-
how do you guyz think Czech Republic will do?

I see them in the Semis ; though they could face Brazil in the 16s. And we all know what Brazil is.

On a different note, I am seeing some refs handing out yellow cards for some challenges that would be deemed acceptable, yet hold back on two footed tackles. If i am not mistaken a T&T player did tackle an English player 2 footedly ; I think it was Owen.

Didnt the wok see it ? Does he need eye-opening ? Whats His excuse ? Being Japanese ?

I think Czech will put up a good fight but they wont win and I think USA USA lol sorry win make it to the finals along with Poland

Spain will probably get Brazil in the quarter finals I think, may have made a mistake though. That'll be an awesome game. Based on their performance against the Ukraine and the unbelievable strength of their squad, I think they definitely have a chance of knocking Brazil out. I really hope they do, in fact I want anyone to knock Brazil out, as long as it's not a really negative, cynical team like Italy or Germany, who don't even deserve to be on the same field as Ronaldinho and Kaka. Another Brazilian victory is not what we need though. They saved the sport in '94 and '02, but it's high time a new country stepped up and took it. Preferably an Eastern European or African team, but I don't think it'll happen this time, so I'll go with Spain.

England are a frustrating team to watch, merely because if they lived up to their potential, and if their manager actually let his team play to their strengths, they would probably be the best in the world. Well maybe not the best, but certainly one of the top three.

Anyone else saw how Crouch pulled the T&Ters hair at the goal....that's a goal that should never have been given if I ever saw one...oh yes, there was one in 1966.

VS

Should be one amazing game, Im rooting for Argentina and I think Messi might play today. 😄

Originally posted by Bardock42
Anyone else saw how Crouch pulled the T&Ters hair at the goal....that's a goal that should never have been given if I ever saw one...oh yes, there was one in 1966.

yeh but hurst scored again anyway so quit moaning 🙂

they think its all over...it is now!!

i didnt see the trinidad player complaining did you?

Originally posted by El_NINO

Should be one amazing game, Im rooting for Argentina and I think Messi might play today. 😄

Yeah but, Holland are playing Ivory Coast today ;

Its the Battle of the Oranges !

Originally posted by Deathblow
Spain will probably get Brazil in the quarter finals I think, may have made a mistake though. That'll be an awesome game. Based on their performance against the Ukraine and the unbelievable strength of their squad, I think they definitely have a chance of knocking Brazil out. I really hope they do, in fact I want anyone to knock Brazil out, as long as it's not a really negative, cynical team like Italy or Germany, who don't even deserve to be on the same field as Ronaldinho and Kaka. Another Brazilian victory is not what we need though. They saved the sport in '94 and '02, but it's high time a new country stepped up and took it. Preferably an Eastern European or African team, but I don't think it'll happen this time, so I'll go with Spain.

England are a frustrating team to watch, merely because if they lived up to their potential, and if their manager actually let his team play to their strengths, they would probably be the best in the world. Well maybe not the best, but certainly one of the top three.

Whoever plays well enough to deserve to win, deserves to win. That's all I hope for, really.

Greece and Liverpool are prime examples of teams winning trophies undeservedly. Right now, England don't deserve this trophy, they don't anyway, in my opinion, unless they start playing brilliantly and winning games convincingly. At the moment, Argentina look like favourites. I obviously support Brazil, so I hope it's them.

I don't think "we" need them not to win. We "need" a deserving team, and if that's Brazil, so be it.

-AC

argentina look hot favourites right now

I definitely agree there.

On that note, Messi came back from a bad long term injury, set up one goal and scored another. Does anyone remember when Rooney did that? No? Me neither.

-AC

Argentina is dangerous and I did pick them to win it all but lets not forget that it was serbia montenegro. Yes i know they did well in their qualifying group but Spain was the only team in that group that could challenge anyone.

Originally posted by Alpha Centauri
I definitely agree there.

On that note, Messi came back from a bad long term injury, set up one goal and scored another. Does anyone remember when Rooney did that? No? Me neither.

-AC

game wasnt as tight though. messi woudnt of scored against t&t i doubt.

Spain were playing Ukraine, hardly a step up is it? They have Shevchenko and that's it.

Let's also not forget that Ukraine got one man sent off for hardly any reason, an unjust penalty and also, one of their goals was a deflection. Two of the four were deserved.

-AC

well Ivory Coast vs Netherlands is at 10:55 and end's at one

Ivory Coast, from what I have seen they are not that different than Ukraine. One very very good player (Drogba) and not a whole lot other than that. The fun thing will be to see how all of the bickering in the locker room will effect Holland.