The inevitable World Cup thread!

Oscuro_Sol · Post by **Oscuro_Sol** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 5:49 pm

Did Australia win today?

Luis Antonio · Post by **Luis Antonio** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 5:53 pm

[QUOTE=Oscuro_Sol]Did Australia win today?[/QUOTE]
3x1 australia wins. Poor Japan, had the game on their hands, but it seems they couldnt quite hold it.

Oscuro_Sol · Post by **Oscuro_Sol** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 7:36 pm

Good. D'you know about the Italy game?

C Elegans · Post by **C Elegans** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 7:55 pm

Italy won 2-0 against Ghana, as expected. They played well but did not impress.

Czech Repulic won 3-0 against USA, but at the cost of a serious hamstring injury at their striker Koller. A hard blow for the Czechs, which in my opinion were the team that impressed the most today.

Sytze · Post by **Sytze** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:56 am

I think the Czechs play way below their full potential. They've got some great players, more than 'some' actually, but still they play ridiculously defensive and let their opponents do all the playing. 4-5-1 does not do a team any honor, unless your name is Greece. The Czechs can, and should do better.

A note on Holland: the only real danger came from Robben, through the rest of the game Holland was more like a harmless kitten. The midfield has no creativity whatsoever, and our Van the Man (Van Nistelrooy) is playing like a bag of hay.

Yes, I'm a bit pessimistic concerning my own country, and no, I have no idea when that happened. My roommates don't like it, at any rate.

dj_venom · Post by **dj_venom** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:57 am

[QUOTE=Luis Antonio]3x1 australia wins. Poor Japan, had the game on their hands, but it seems they couldnt quite hold it.[/QUOTE]

I scoff at that. *scoffs*

The goal was as dodgy as a used-car salesman. They had two guys pushing the Schwazer out of the way, and even the ref afterwards apologised saying it should not have been given as a goal.

We had complete control over the game, huge posession, our only risks were filling the attack, which left us wide open, but in the end it worked, thanks to some nice work by Cahill.

It was our first win in the World Cup ever, and infact, our first goal ever in the World Cup.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 2:02 am

[QUOTE=C Elegans]Italy won 2-0 against Ghana, as expected. They played well but did not impress.
<snip>[/QUOTE]

I think the italians played solid, but I'm not to convinced it wasn't because of the quality of Ghana as much as the qualities of Italy

Looking foward to the Brazil match today .... Brazil has some very very easy warm-up matches prior to the World Cup. Perhaps they have forgotten that the oppersition also wants to score and tackle

I got a mental image of "Harlem Globetrotters" each time I think of Brazils warm up to the cup.

I think Croatia can - if keeping the disciplin and concentration - possible tease Brazil today - although I do think Brazil will walk away victorious.
The two other matches seems like no brainers though - but France, well - they can flop again if they wish to, but I'm sure they got something to proove

Minerva · Post by **Minerva** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 3:46 am

As Japan lost badly, it is the end for Xbox 360 in Japan, I can tell.

Ashen · Post by **Ashen** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 3:56 am

I loved the Czechs yesterday, that's the kind of football that can being them a long way - they played fast and simple. It is one of my theories actually and usually pans out - play that way and you have more chance to win.

Italy way typical Italy - they played for the score, they always do. I don't think people can discount them but you can never really be sure for them. Cudos to Australians, great win, but in all honesty I do not see them doing a lot.

Now Brazil tonight - mmm - that should be good. I doubt Croatia can do more than give more than a decent resistance, I've watched them play, good team indeed but still, it's Brazil ... France, well they want the title but no way imo, though this they should win.

Dottie · Post by **Dottie** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 4:47 am

Xandax wrote:I think the italians played solid, but I'm not to convinced it wasn't because of the quality of Ghana as much as the qualities of Italy

I think Italy lacked some sharpness. It was a lot of failed passes, particularly one the attack. I hope they can fix this problem for the later games.

Looking foward to the Brazil match today .... Brazil has some very very easy warm-up matches prior to the World Cup. Perhaps they have forgotten that the oppersition also wants to score and tackle I got a mental image of "Harlem Globetrotters" each time I think of Brazils warm up to the cup.

I think Parreira is doing the right thing. Other teams can peak early and be satisfied if they go far, but for Brazil even second place is a loss. Then you have to peak later in the tournament.

dj_venom · Post by **dj_venom** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 5:00 am

[QUOTE=Ashen]Cudos to Australians, great win, but in all honesty I do not see them doing a lot.[/QUOTE]

Then open your eyes, because we're coming for you

.

But yeah, I know what you mean. We were playing well in the mids etc., but we just weren't getting any decent shots at goal. We would play around with the ball, try to get to our forwards, but they were either bunched up, or they'd dance around then loose it. But with a win under our belt, I think we'll go better and better.

Dottie · Post by **Dottie** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 6:45 am

Don't fear Australia, fear Guus Hiddink.

Luis Antonio · Post by **Luis Antonio** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 6:51 am

[QUOTE=Dottie]Don't fear Australia, fear Guus Hiddink.

[/QUOTE]

I thought the referee would give him a red card during the game. Twas ridiculous, what he did.

Today Brazil will play. My country will stop in the afternoon. The banks, government institutions, schools - everything halts due to the game. It may seem weird for you guys but it does happen. The banks have included warnings on their websites, and the Brazilian Central Bank has allowed them to stop today, and on every match Brazil plays. The time will stop, everyone will be ahead of a TV (except for that very few persons who dislike football here).

I expect this game to be a hard one. Croatia has style and knows how to play, (unlike Japan and Australia) but they had a problem with a virus and it seems they're recovering. I hope it to be a nice football game, just that, no matter who wins.

But...

Brazil 3x0 Croatia.

Ashen · Post by **Ashen** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:24 am

[QUOTE=dj_venom]Then open your eyes, because we're coming for you

.

But yeah, I know what you mean. We were playing well in the mids etc., but we just weren't getting any decent shots at goal. We would play around with the ball, try to get to our forwards, but they were either bunched up, or they'd dance around then loose it. But with a win under our belt, I think we'll go better and better.[/QUOTE]

*runs away and hides*

Sorry, was imagining Auzzies invading my home .. lol ... seriously though, you have one great advantage and that's your coach. I mean just look at your game and the Dutch-SM game. Your coach does the sensible thing, and you end up with the win, and the other one kept his player in the defensive and look how 'well' that turned out. You also played to the very end, and that is terribly important. I am always reminded of that game Italy-Nigeria when Baggio scored the equalizer in the 89th minute and then they won in overtime. Good teams play till the end, and they play to win. And besides you never really know in the WC, anything can happen. With good moral, good and not brilliant play you can do something. Look at the Germans last time.

@Luis Antonio - I can imagine that, it must be grand!

I expext something of that sort as well, result-vise, though I saw the Croatian coach muttering about how they will win and no reason why anyone should be surprised. I imagine he will be, just not the way he would like it. :laugh:

Darzog · Post by **Darzog** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:19 am

OK, so I'm looking through the FIFA page that Lestat linked to and I'm having some trouble understanding what these scores reported mean. For example, for the US match it lists the score as "0:3 (0:2)". What does that mean? [url="http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/schedule.html"]Link.[/url]

And the fact that the US got trounced so soundly just proves that [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76108"]football is for terrorists[/url]!

mr_sir · Post by **mr_sir** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:34 am

The score in the brackets is the half time score so at half time the US were losing 2-nil and then lost 3-nil by the end of the game.

Ashen · Post by **Ashen** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 3:04 pm

Well ... Croatia played really really well. I honestly did not expect them to do so well. I must admit I think Brasil played far from their maximum but what you show on the night counts and tonight they were almost equal. Great game though, am happy B won!

Congrats Luis Antonio!

Reaver32 · Post by **Reaver32** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 3:21 pm

Ronaldo is getting bigger, and i think that Brasil will go far if not win. with ronalhino(dont know about spelling), Brasil should be able to make at least a 10 game winning WC streak

Sytze · Post by **Sytze** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 3:55 pm

Ronaldinho was nowhere to be seen during the game. Neither was Ronaldo, who was too lazy to move his ass more than a few metres. Put the guy on the bench, and let some other, more enthousiastic players give it a try.

Loved Kaka, though. Great goal, great attitude, great actions. Superb, really.

Ashen · Post by **Ashen** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 3:56 pm

[QUOTE=Sytze]Ronaldinho was nowhere to be seen during the game. Neither was Ronaldo, who was too lazy to move his ass more than a few metres. Put the guy on the bench, and let some other, more enthousiastic players give it a try.

Loved Kaka, though. Great goal, great attitude, great actions. Superb, really.[/QUOTE]

Couldn't agree more. When I noticed Ronaldo going off, I was like - oh he's in the game?