2006 Soccer Football World Cup in Germany

UK Skins Fan · Post by **UK Skins Fan** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 2:50 pm

Sir_Monk wrote:

After Pope was sent off, I kept thinking back to 2002 and the no call hand ball vs Germany, and how this may be the second World Cup that has been taken out of our hands by questionable calls or non calls. But that's how the ball bounces.

Well, if it helps, there's only one set of fans and players every four years that doesn't believe the World Cup was taken out of their hands by what ifs, and maybes.

Sorry, as an England fan, I've just realised that doesn't help at all. Pardon me for mentioning it.

Redskin in Canada · Post by **Redskin in Canada** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 5:58 pm

I am happy with the level of performance by African teams in recent games. Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo and Tunisia played well. Like the NFL, very little separates the great teams from the bad ones. Great parity without salary cap in the World Cup. :shock:

Call me sentimental if you wish (I am anyway) BUT I am beginning to feel real bad for the teams and mostly the fans of the teams that will not go to the next round of the last 16.

Spain played very well today after giving a goal at the beginning. They may not be champions but they might go deep in the further stages. Ukraine recovered and I have no doubt that they will go on. Group G with Korea, France, Switzerland and Togo ended up being theweakest group in this tournament IMHO.

French DID score that second goal, which the ref did not count yesterday thugh. But France is flat like a pancake. No ryjthm, no threat.

Redskin in Canada · Post by **Redskin in Canada** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 1:32 pm

OK, England v. Sweden, which team from each country will show up? I bet it will be a great match. It will show whether England is truly a contender or not.

Germany played a well executed, machine-like, typical boring game with crosses and arrivals. Typically germanic, typically boring. Argentina and/or Netherlands will deal with it. -IF- it even beats England or Sweden first.

welch · Post by **welch** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:19 pm

Perhaps US fans should borrow a chant from fans of Millwall or Leeds over here in England - "No one likes us, but we don't care"

I believe that's Millwall you're talking about. The Lions. And I had a customer and friend from JP Morgan Bank -- a class organization -- who was a life-long Millwall fan.

In '91, he gave my son a Millwall jersey and I gave his son a Redskins jersey, and later threw in a Super Bowl 26 t-shirt.

Little did I know about the reputation.

Hmmmm. Good slogan, though.

*****

And, re England / Sweden...shouldn't Ashley Cole have been at the back-side post instead of standing around, gawking and admiring the second Swedish goal? And the other England defenders...why were they just hanging out? What would Greg Williams say about that sort of defense?

TincoSkin · Post by **TincoSkin** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:54 pm

did everyone see owens knee explode? gooooo i think he might never play again

Redskin in Canada · Post by **Redskin in Canada** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 7:55 pm

welch wrote:And, re England / Sweden...shouldn't Ashley Cole have been at the back-side post instead of standing around, gawking and admiring the second Swedish goal? And the other England defenders...why were they just hanging out? What would Greg Williams say about that sort of defense?

Well, let me tell you. If England plays like that against Ecuador in the next round, they are dead, out and finished.

They were getting killed with those corner shots and still-ball set plays. All in all, the result in a tie was fair BUT if I was an England's fan, I would be real worried.

I do not know what G. Wiliams would do but I suspect what Vince Lombardi would have done:

VL: Alright boys, this is a ball. It is round. Let;s go back to the fundamentals of the game. This is how a corner shot is covered. Do it again, and again, and again and ...

Redskin in Canada · Post by **Redskin in Canada** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 8:36 pm

This is how the next round (last 16) is shaping up:

Games Tree

I say the upper part of the tree (top two teams of groups A to D) is -FAR- more difficult than the lower part of the tree (top two teams from groups E to H). Brazil has it somewhat easier than England, Germany, Netherlands, Ecuador, Portugal, Mexico, Sweden and Argentina (all likely in the upper part of the tree).

Current Group Standings: HERE.

Redskin in Canada · Post by **Redskin in Canada** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 10:28 pm

Owen injures knee
By KRYSTYNA RUDZKI
Tue, June 20, 2006

England's Michael Owen winces as his knee is examined by a trainer during the England vs Sweden World Cup Group B soccer match at the World Cup Stadium in Cologne, Germany, Tuesday, June 20, 2006. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
COLOGNE, Germany (AP) - Michael Owen's World Cup is pretty much over.

Rest of the story:

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/WorldC ... 10-ap.html

Sorry about that UKSkinsFan and BH. :cry:

welch · Post by **welch** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 11:11 pm

RiC wrote

I do not know what G. Williams would do but I suspect what Vince Lombardi would have done:

VL: Alright boys, this is a ball. It is round. Let's go back to the fundamentals of the game. This is how a corner shot is covered. Do it again, and again, and again and ...

It came to me that coaching is coaching. I had thopught, for instance, that Joe Gibbs could step in to soccer-football and become a winning manager-coach in a couple of years. Detail, precision, motivation. If he could move into NASCAR...

Then that England ending seemed to say: Greg W...agressive...never back off...never let up...never wait and react...blitz..."give me my ball".

*

Michael Owen...bad, sad, ugly injury. It hurt to see it, especially in slow-motion.

*

Meanwhile, I say (my wife is Dutch):

oranje boven, oranje boven
leve de kongingin

organje boven, oranje boven
leve de kongingin

*

I don't know about the rest of you, but I have thoroughly enjoyed this Cup. My company moved into a new office this summer, and the architect decided to add a spiffy "coffee bar", with marble tables, stools, soft chair, and a huge flat-panel TV. We don't know what a financial messaging computer company needs with a TV set...I've never seen anything similar...but every day the men in the office somehow gravitate to the kitchen.

Good games.

gus · Post by **gus** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 11:11 pm

Redskin in Canada wrote:Germany played a well executed, machine-like, typical boring game with crosses and arrivals. Typically germanic, typically boring. Argentina and/or Netherlands will deal with it. -IF- it even beats England or Sweden first.

I think Germany finally made his presence felt, IMO they played a very good game today. Home field advantage is going to be hard to defeat now that look like they are in sync.

Gus

gus · Post by **gus** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 12:22 am

welch wrote:RiC wrote
I don't know about the rest of you, but I have thoroughly enjoyed this Cup. My company moved into a new office this summer, and the architect decided to add a spiffy "coffee bar", with marble tables, stools, soft chair, and a huge flat-panel TV. We don't know what a financial messaging computer company needs with a TV set...I've never seen anything similar...but every day the men in the office somehow gravitate to the kitchen.

Good games.

I don't know anything about financial messanging computer cos, but can I send a resume anyway, that coffee bar sounds great to watch games of any sport.

Gus

Redskin in Canada · Post by **Redskin in Canada** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 12:52 pm

Portugal and Mexico qualified to the next round. None of them may go far in the tournament but they played a very entertaining game. It could have gone either way. The Iran v. Angola game had a fair result as a tie.

Two of the top teams go next: Argentina v. Netherlands. The winner plays Mexico, the loser plays Portugal in the next round. A tie leaves Argentina in first place and Netherlands second on goal average.

This is the BEST World cup I have ever watched with so many teams so evenly matched.

UK Skins Fan · Post by **UK Skins Fan** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 3:05 pm

Well, I'm 24 hours late, but I didn't really want to post straight after the England game last night. It's best to get a night's sleep before responding to what I saw last night.

Firstly, injuries. The Michael Owen injury was sickening. First and foremost at this time, I have to think of the guy himself. Never mind what it means for the team, or the nation, let's just think about the man. This was his third World Cup, and he has never yet had the opportunity to play at full fitness and as a first choice player on the coach's list. The only time he was fully fit was in 1998, and he didn't get to start a match until that fateful game against Argentina, when a legend was born, and England went out of the World Cup. He is young enough to play again, and anterior cruciate ligaments are no longer necessarily career breakers, but I fear that he may never be the same player again. Best wishes to Michael Owen.

The game itself? In my opinion, England were the better side in open play, and Sweden only really threatened when England simply forgot how to defend against corners (and throw ins). It was bizarre to watch. England should have won, but could have lost. The Joe Cole goal was sensational.

The way ahead? Well, the injury to Owen has an implication obviously. But, you might be surprised to read that I don't think the loss of Owen is all that important. I wouldn't have said that before the tournament, but three games have convinced me of one fact - England must play one striker and five in midfield to have any chance of winning the cup. Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard can take this team to the semi finals at least, but they are not playing in a system that utilises their strengths. A five man midfield, with Owen Hargreaves or Michael Carrick playing the defensive/holding role, would enable both Gerrard and Lampard to get forward much more. We have seen in two consecutive games what a threat Gerrard can be when allowed to get near the opponents' penalty area. In a one striker system, Owen would not have been the right man for the job, but Rooney might just be able to pull it off.

But the coach is unlikely to make the change, and England will grind to a halt in the quarter finals.

The quarter finals - yes. I am confident that England will beat Ecuador. This is for two reasons - 1) England are better than Ecuador, and 2) Ecuador are not as good as England (or Sweden for that matter). They will then have to play against Holland or Argentina, and go down to a gallant defeat.

Talking of Holland and Argentina, I'm off to watch these two teams battle it out right now.

Redskin in Canada · Post by **Redskin in Canada** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 8:46 pm

Poll: Canadians love World Cup
Wed, June 21, 2006
(CP) - Canada may not have a team entered but that hasn't stopped millions of Canadians from being bitten by the World Cup bug, a new poll suggests.

Rest of the article:

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/WorldC ... 70-cp.html

Redskin in Canada · Post by **Redskin in Canada** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 8:53 pm

UK Skins Fan wrote:... But, you might be surprised to read that I don't think the loss of Owen is all that important.

I am surprised. I think your team will face big difficulties with Ecuador and -IF- it still moves ahead, the Netherlands (more likely) or Portugal (less likely) has a good chance to eliminate your team.

Rooney is not 100%. The system is not at its best. Defense ... What defense? But then again, it is England. If it goes down, it will do so heroically! Oh! I forgot: with a gallant effort.

You know what? NOT TRUE. This is the most unpredictable World Cup of our time. ANYTHING can happen. Keep the faith!

TincoSkin · Post by **TincoSkin** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:13 pm

i think the loss of owen isnt good but its somthing they can over come

crouch is looking great and rooney may not be in top form but he had a few good chances at a goal, and you could see he was pissed for missing the net when he was subbed out

i think with lampard and gerrard and cole they still have a great scoring group (dont forget beckham crossing to crouch)

they do need help on D

Punu · Post by **Punu** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 10:46 am

U-S-A.... U-S-A!!!

Punu · Post by **Punu** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 10:48 am

okay we just got robbed. there should have been no penalty kick for that crap.

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 10:59 am

Amen brother. Not just against us, this has been a terribly officiated world cup. I think they must have flown in NFL refs for some of these games.

Redskin in Canada · Post by **Redskin in Canada** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 11:26 am

JansenFan wrote: I think they must have flown in NFL refs for some of these games.

And this is the biggest and well deserved insult against those terrible refs at the World Cup. :evil:

What a pieceo of crap! USA will vercome though... just watch!

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 11:57 am

Ghana's too fast for them. It's been the story all day. They win the race for every ball. The US puts in Eddie Johnson and that was supposed to make a difference. He is lethargic and apathetic as a player. He consistently stands there whe a ball is in his area and doesn't even make an effort. Ghana will win, and deserves to, even with the bogus goal.

Oh yeah, and Bruce Arenas seems to have become too passive to coach in the World Cup. They should have been attacking like this ALL DAY, not just when they are losing.

Redskin in Canada · Post by **Redskin in Canada** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:47 pm

USA, for some reason, did not play anywhere near as well in this World Cup as it did in the qualifiers. Two different teams.

I agree with JF that they did not play with a sense of desperation. They did not play with true hunger.

Having said that...

... the USA should have at least tied this game with a decent ref. This is also a game of inches and there were plenty of chances, some bouncing back, that could have been clear goals.

There goes my third Concacaf team. Now all I have is Mexico. And they face ... Argentina on Saturday! :shock:

It should be a good math. The two teams play well and tough against one another and know one another -perfectly well-.

Irn-Bru · Post by **Irn-Bru** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 1:43 pm

Well, the US team had its fate in its own hands, even after a loss to the Czech Republic and a tie with Italy. We couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to make it in the group of death. Refs or no, the USA had every chance to make the cut, and they simply didn't have what it took when it came down to it.

Oh well. See you in 4 years, I guess. . . (Isn't that when our special training program is supposed to take effect?)

frankcal20 · Post by **frankcal20** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 2:24 pm

The USA team played like crap. If I were the coach I would have replaced Donovan at halftime after all of those blown free kicks. I also think that we could have seen better play from the midfield. But they should have been more agressive.

On a really cool note though, my surgeon, Dr. Bert Mandelbaum was the doctor that helped out Claudio Reyna when he got hurt. So, that makes me feel really good b/c the commentators said that he was one of the top ortho. surgeons in the world. Nice. He did my knee operation a month ago and I'm alreay jogging and on the bike for 1hr a day.

UK Skins Fan · Post by **UK Skins Fan** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 2:54 pm

Redskin in Canada wrote:
UK Skins Fan wrote:... But, you might be surprised to read that I don't think the loss of Owen is all that important.

I am surprised. I think your team will face big difficulties with Ecuador and -IF- it still moves ahead, the Netherlands (more likely) or Portugal (less likely) has a good chance to eliminate your team.

Rooney is not 100%. The system is not at its best. Defense ... What defense? But then again, it is England. If it goes down, it will do so heroically! Oh! I forgot: with a gallant effort.

You know what? NOT TRUE. This is the most unpredictable World Cup of our time. ANYTHING can happen. Keep the faith!

I'm sure England will have difficulties against Ecuador, but no way in a million years would anybody back Ecuador to win. That doesn't mean it can't happen, because we've lost to worse sides than them (Northern Ireland is a very recent example), but no betting man would put his money on Ecuador. I am of course preparing myself psychologically for these words to come back and haunt me on Sunday evening.

The loss of Owen is not such a huge deal, mainly because he really wasn't fit anyway, and the team just wasn't playing to his strengths. Owen is a player who relies on the rest of the team functioning well to create chances for him. The team has just not been playing in a way that utilises Owen's strengths. If the loss of his talismanic striker forces the coach to change to a more effective 5 man midfield, then you may just see a different England. He may well still play two men up front against Ecuador though, because I feel that Peter Crouch will strike fear into their defence.

England's defence on the other hand, has shown itself able to concede stupid goals against any opposition under this coach. It may well happen again on Sunday.