The Official World Cup Thread

[Kingsmills]

Credit to England, they never looked in serious trouble.

[Harry Chibber]

And now they have to play a portugal team without Deco...

what a mess of a game.... I'm sick of watching players diving and even more sick of stupid ref's falling for it!

some role models..... I'll stick with my hard working ICT thankyou!! 

[Glebeict]

    Figo has to be the biggest ----- of all time.

[Heilandee]

Thought England did just enough to win and deserved to,what a fiasco the Portugal V Holland turned into eh?16 feckin yella's and 4 reds!! whits ah that about ,felt the ref started a bit harsh  :32: then had to be seen to be consistant but struggled to spot ah the divin and cheatin going on.The only winner's are Engerland who will benefit from suspensions and injuries in the 1/4 finals with no Deco and C Rohnaldo, can see them making the semi's now!!  :o

[davieB]

I'm getting a horrible feeling that the jammy feckers could fluke their way all the way :009:

The easiest qualifying group in WC history, the worst 2nd round opponents in WC history, Portugal reserves in the quarter-finals.....it's not looking good :019: :019:

And they've been playing pish too.

[Interthenet Jnr]

Well England are already exceding expectations. They are ranked 10th in the world and have reached the last 8.

[kencar]

Deco is hopefully the only big name thal'll be missing from Portugal's line up (assuming Ronaldo is fit). Figo somehow has escaped punishment for his head butt  :010:

As for England exceeding expectation you are having a laugh!!  :015:

Arguably the easiest group in the WC then they play the worst of the 2nd round teams. Teams like Mexico must be gutted

The 'best' team England have played is Sweden and they were a team on the decline and England couldn't beat them.

Still England have reached the 1/4 finals regardless of how poorly they are playing and that worries me.

Remember Greece winning Euro 2004 with some of the most boring and negative tactics ever. It could happen again which would be bad news in general.

After Euro 2004 4-5-1 became the standard tactics of many teams especially the lesser lights in the premiership and despite the fact teams like Bolton have prospered I think its to the detriment of football on the whole

[Interthenet Jnr]

As for England exceeding expectation you are having a laugh!! 

According to Fifa that's true :010:

[Scotty]

England will reach the semi-final at least .... playing a weakened Portugal side who will be without the two red carded players plus possibly Cristian Ronaldo AND Figo if FIFA review the headbutt incident ... it should make it easier for them.

I fancy Brazil and Spain to get through to the other QF and for it to be an England-Brazil S/F where Brazil will shade it (I hope). From the other side of the draw, the winner of Germany-Argentina will be in the Final at the expense of ... Italy.

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/bracket.html

[Yngwie]

ITN jnr, what you fail to realise is that England have scraped through every stage of this competition despite getting the luckiest draws in the history of football. You cannot say they have exceded expectations when they have not faced any strong teams yet. Their highest ranked opponents have been Sweden at 16 (aye right, above Germany?!) and they didn't even beat them.

Here are the rankings of the teams they have faced, and made very heavy weather of. Find me another team with such an easy route to the QFs, ever!

Qualifying tournament

29 Poland

41 Slovakia

74 Wales

79 Austria

96 N Ireland

112 Azerbaijan

(Your Dad might be old enough to remember any of those teams qualifying for anything!)

Group stage

16 Sweden

33 Paraguay

47 T&T

Last 16

39 Ecuador

This is supposedly a tournament for the best 32 teams in the world, and England have got this far without beating a single team ranked in the top 32!!

I expect them to go further, as they play a team that really has had to battle against good teams to get this far and is weakened as a result. But there is no evidence yet that England are a good team.

[Harry Chibber]

Figo can't be suspended because he was given a yellow card at the time... if the ref didn't give him a card and then claimed he didn't see the incident only then could fifa intervine

So they'll just be without Deco, Coustinha and maybe Ronaldo but I still think Scolari has the edge over Ericsson

[Scotty]

Figo can't be suspended because he was given a yellow card at the time... if the ref didn't give him a card and then claimed he didn't see the incident only then could fifa intervine

The commentary team* at the time said that FIFA could use video evidence to review the incident regardless of the ref. You could also argue that the ref did not see the incident and was merely brandishing yet another yellow in this farcical encounter because if he had actually seen a headbutt the card most certainly would not have been yellow. I guess FIFA will have to wait for the referee's report and also gauge how much outrage there is before they decide whether to act or not.

*NOTE: I cant remember if we had the American "ESPN" or UK "SKY" commentators at the time of the incident as our audio coverage was switching back and forth because of 'technical difficulties'. If it was ESPN I will concede that HC may be correct as ESPN have proved to be somewhat inaccurate on specific administrative rules !!!

[Harry Chibber]

BBC Link

What do Americans know about football :016:

[Scotty]

fairy snuff  :notworthy01:

ps - dontcha know .... its "sahh-kerr"  :017:

[Harry Chibber]

:015:

[Scotty]

Gotta love SKY SPORTS 'live commentary' on the web go to http://home.skysports.com/livescores/football/ and click on the LIVE COMMENTARY link on the ticker for gems like this ......

68: I'd love to be able to report a chance or even a move of some significance but it's just not happening here in Cologne. There's plenty of niggly fouls and overhit passes if that's any consolation. David Quinn, bored in America, asks if this a real job. I'd like to think so sir.......

77: Barnetta has just left his foot in on Vashchyuk but he has escaped the caution that would have meant a red. Thanks to Rich Englert, who informs me the Mexican wave is not in actual fact Mexican. Apparently it was conceived in Washington during an american football game. From now on I shall refer to 'Washington waves' only.

81: Alexander Shovkovsky has punched a corner away from under his own bar. Ukraine's keeper is not too keen on catching but he does get quite a distance with a clenched fist.

84: Switzerland left back Ludovic Magnin shall now be referred to as 'Mental Magnin'. Every time he picks up the ball for a throw in veins pop from his neck as he waves his arms frantically and demands extra support. He makes Julian ***** look mild mannered. And to think he's Swiss - home of the clock.

85: The whole crowd are united - in whistling. It's that turgid. Those in yellow and red are united in a peaceful boredom. Ukraine have just put a cross in, an event in itself, but punched clear the chance is lost.

90: FULL TIME: It's all over. If only that was true. It's extra-time here in Cologne. Both teams seem content to have taken the game to an extra thirty minutes nobody wanted. Not one off-side in the whole contest as the defences are that deep. Please lord of football let there be a change in extra-time.

[Harry Chibber]

The Proclaimers were being belted over the speaker before the start of Extra Time.....quality :001: :015: :003:

caak game.... but at least it's 2 honest teams giving everything for their countries, penalties could be interesting!!

[Interthenet Jnr]

Am only bothering to watch for the penalties. Worst game of the tournament so far :sleep01:

[Yngwie]

What a terrible game. Both sides deserve to be out.

[Ritchie Sacramento]

Are Switzerland the only team to go out of a world cup without conceding a goal ? :017: :010:

[Heilandee]

Ehm feckin glad the WC's no on Pay per View,ehd be well peed aff if ehd paid for that pysh  :sleep01: boring Toberlone munching chunts....

[tm4tj]

It was a bit like watching Scotland play, very little to enthuse over, however, the two games today should make it all worthwhile. Brazil will have their work cut out to contain Ghana if they get a head of steam on, but I would have thought their experience will see them through in the end, although it may well be very close. Spain and France should also throw up a decent game, one would have thought on present form that Spain would stroll this one, but I don't think it will turn out to be so clear cut as that. France will be up for this one, and with the quality of players at their disposal this may well go all the way. Spain have not really been tested yet, this will be their first big hurdle of the tournament, it may prove to be a big one.

On another note, I agree with junior. England have exceded expectations. Nobody thought they were very good, FIFA had them ranked outside the top eight, and surprise surprise, they have reached the last eight. How they got there is neither here nor there, the hard fact of the matter is that they are in the quarter finals and having already exceded expectations they may well with the help of the numpty ref remove Portugal from the competition. In a nutshell, the comment about exceding expectations is correct, exceding our hopes.............................................................

................we are all made differently.

[Harry Chibber]

If anyone is looking for a team to win the cup with outside odds... I just stuck a tenner on France at 25-1 :010: :010:

They'll probably get gubbed tonight though but you never know!

[Harry Chibber]

:004: :016:

Brazil are next on the hit list

[RiG]

Thierry Henry is cheating scum.

I hope he is hammered for his disgraceful dive tonight  :008: