| Author | Message | ||
     skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 666 Registered: 10-2008 |
Less than a week to go. I actually thought England had a great chance of winning it before Rio Ferdinands injury, now I'm not so sure. Still, I'm sticking with England, unless Rooney gets injured in which case they have no chance and Spain will win it :-) Lots of stars missing due to injury, Ferdinand, Robben, Ballack, Essien, Drogba and Pirlo - hopefully there arent many more or the tournament could be a dead duck!! | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 304 Registered: 05-2005 |
My prediction: New Zealand to beat Australia in the final. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3570 Registered: 05-2005 |
America is going to beat England in a week's time. You heard it here first. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3571 Registered: 05-2005 |
USA! USA! USA! | ||
| billy Member Username: Bongo_billy Post Number: 9 Registered: 06-2008 |
USA could beat England, perhaps if one of their forwards handles the ball a couple of times to help it over the line (tee hee)..... | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 667 Registered: 10-2008 |
60 years on from 1950: USA 1-0 England :-) | ||
| billy Member Username: Bongo_billy Post Number: 10 Registered: 06-2008 |
it couldn't happen again could it? Could it??!!?! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3572 Registered: 05-2005 |
So Billy, are you English or French to be so delighting in Mr Henry the cheat? | ||
| billy Member Username: Bongo_billy Post Number: 11 Registered: 06-2008 |
English since 1958, Chelsea FC since 1965. I don't delight in cheating in football believe me. I've seen enough of it, and it's not confined to the modern game as a lot of people think. Looks like we both took the bait, apologies if I've offended you | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3573 Registered: 05-2005 |
Not at all Billy! No offence taken. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3578 Registered: 05-2005 |
Well, I was half right with my USA v England prediction. I also predicted (though not here) that Australia would be trounced by Germany. A Germany v Spain final maybe? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3579 Registered: 05-2005 |
Really funny World Cup blog on, of all places, the Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424 052748703389004575304783846077168.html?m od=WSJ_latestheadlines Verbeek must go. | ||
| Charles Coy Member Username: Coy Post Number: 190 Registered: 10-2006 |
..oh dear from an OZ view, where was Kennedy (played 8 years in Germany), Bresciano and Harry K..Germany cut and diced at will...they were to good..4 zip says it all... | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1798 Registered: 01-2005 |
Germany did look really strong. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1482 Registered: 08-2006 |
With all due respect, and mucho respect for OZ's rugby abilities, Germany looked like they were playing a high school team. It was the most dominant performance - and not just score-wise - I've seen so far in the Cup. Now I wish Paraguay would win over the Italians. Yes, I'm still bitter over the last World Cup. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1011 Registered: 08-2004 |
Bitterness is what footy's all about, Rob! Looking forward to Brazil tonight. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3582 Registered: 05-2005 |
Pathetic headline in the Sydney Morning Herald as they try to claim vicarious glory for New Zealand's fantastic draw last night. http://www.smh.com.au/world-cup-2010/wor ld-cup-news/australasia-1--slovakia-1-ki wis-get-the-point-20100616-ydks.html It reminds me of when Margaret Thatcher called Bob Geldof "a true Brit". | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 675 Registered: 10-2008 |
somebody wake me up in 3 weeks time. fucking bored to tears with overpaid prima donnas moaning about horns or balls. i'm supoorting north korea!! | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 260 Registered: 03-2007 |
Skulldisco, have you checked your Forum e-mail address inbox recently? | ||
| Peter Collins Member Username: Tyroneshoelaces Post Number: 159 Registered: 05-2005 |
It's a bit of a dull one so far, Germany's very strong first peformance apart (difficult one, that, for an Englishman - to root for Germany or Australia? - in the end, it's never a bad thing, I guess, to see Australia humbled at sport). North Korea were good, but not entertaining, and I think Brazil were just going through the motions to be honest. Holland looked good in patches, and Italy when they finally woke up. But it's been a bit too cautious I think. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3583 Registered: 05-2005 |
My letter to The Sydney Morning Herald about the dreadful headline I mentioned above was published today. It's near the bottom of the page here http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/s ometimes-the-tough-thing-is-to-speak-up- 20100616-yga9.html | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 729 Registered: 07-2006 |
you n me both kev... go the red wall offense! the nippon warriors and south korea are my other two faves. team asia's running hot! my respective homelads can both go climb a rope. italy seem to possess even less modesty than usual and oz clearly has no right to be there. they should have given bahrain a crack instead. | ||
| Andy Member Username: I_am_andy Post Number: 17 Registered: 08-2006 |
Padraig, was just listening to the stereo/music server on random, Lovers Lane came on, and while it was playing I realised I hadn't finished reading the SMH letters this morning ... and lo and behold, there you are. PS. No-one has interviewed me for any newspaper articles on the World Cup this time around. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 679 Registered: 10-2008 |
my dream final is north korea vs argentina. not gonna happen, but argentina are the team of the tournament so far and i hope they win victoria, diego!!! | ||
| billy Member Username: Bongo_billy Post Number: 12 Registered: 06-2008 |
Mexico looked pretty good last night. Don't think I've seen a better left back than Salcido in a good while and Dos Santos looks twice the player he was at Spurs. Nice comment after the match on the BBC - "Well the French needed a hand to get into the World Cup, now they need one to stay in it". | ||
| David Gagen Member Username: David_g Post Number: 306 Registered: 02-2007 |
Ad on Oz TV for World Cup features song i havent heard in years - Focus song called Hocus Pocus. Took me back a while! Great guitar riff | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3585 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hey Andy! Hope you are well. Don't fancy our chances tonight... | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 372 Registered: 10-2006 |
Yeah, Jan Akkerman can maybe retire in style now and stop knocking himself out on tours around the Dutch hinterland. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 684 Registered: 10-2008 |
so the yooessay qualify as top of englands group, with england limping over the line a nervy second - bad news is england now meet germany. just as well the yooessay dont take football seriously eh? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3593 Registered: 05-2005 |
Told you they'd top the group (well, I told other people, not this specific board). | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1802 Registered: 01-2005 |
Odds are decent that a South American country will win it this year. Great job by the Kiwis! | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1014 Registered: 08-2004 |
Yeah New Zealand & North Korea have been the highlights for me. Genuine passion for the game shouldn't be considered an under-achievement. They weren't prepared to win at all costs. Unlike so many other teams. It's a shame that despite all the noodlings by FIFA ahead of what should be the greatest football contest. Ends up with injustice & bad feeling where diving, timewasting & referee manipulation is not only tolerated but also not dealt with post-match. Kaka sent off for standing still, which seems to be largely his job for Brazil, honestly. ^o) | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 689 Registered: 10-2008 |
I read an article today which points towards Brazil winning it. Hardly the most shocking prediction of all time, but if you disect the guys theory its hard to see past them. I've posted it below "There is a whole lot of nonsense spoken about the World Cup. If, like me, you live in Scotland, you will have had your fill of the greatest team never to beat Algeria, England - who are "man-for-man better than anyone in the tournament". The Spanish arrived believing this was their time but have been a disappointment. We expected Barcelona +, but all we've had is Barcelona - Messi. Plenty has been written about the French, so I'll not bore you with my synopsis, but look beyond the strikes and tantrums and you'll find the universally mocked France manager, Raymond Domenech, deserves to leave the World stage with some credit. Until 1962 the World Cup was an open tournament in which one small nation reached the final game of each tournament: Uruguay in 1930, Czechoslovakia in 1934, Hungary in 1938, Uruguay in 1950, Hungary in 1954, Sweden in 1958 and Czechoslovakia again in 1962. Sweden and Uruguay (in 1930 only) reached the final with home advantage but all other small-nation finalists got there on merit. Since 1962 teams reaching the World Cup Final have followed a simple formula: they have either been: Brazil, (West) Germany, Italy, or The host nation, or The Dutch team from the 1970s, Diego Maradona's Argentina, or Raymond Domenech's France. We often hear about four top nations but in truth there are only three. Brazil, Italy and Germany. Argentina have only reached a final as hosts or when Diego Maradona managed to work his unique magic. Without home advantage or Diego they consistently underachieve. It is difficult to overstate what the Dutch did with the game in the 1970s. In the 1960s Dutch football was a joke, Luxembourg knocked them out of the 1964 European Championships, but as the decade ended they reinvented the game and "Total-football" took the world to school. Four consecutive European Cup wins and two successive World Cup finals, both lost to host nations. That Dutch team, with and without Johan Cruyff, deserve their place at the top table alongside Maradona, Germany, Italy and Brazil, but only that Dutch team, since the 70s they have been a World Cup side-show. All of which leaves us with an interesting conclusion. Raymond Domenech's France, who lost the 2006 World Cup Final on penalties, are the only team outside a very select group of the games titans, and teams with home advantage, who have reached a World Cup Final since 1962. This infers a few projections: Spain will not win the World Cup, neither will Portugal, Argentina or any of the other outside bets. The hosts are out, as are Italy, and Domenech failed to keep the reins on his slightly mad thoroughbreds. 48 years of form says Brazil and Germany will contest the World Cup Final. As European countries have only ever won in Europe, it looks like it's Brazil's trophy this year." | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 690 Registered: 10-2008 |
Before the tournament I did think England had a very good chance of winning the World Cup. A lot of water has flowed under a lot of bridges since then. I now think they have absolutely no chance. If you look at their route to the final, they will probably have to beat Germany, then Argentina, then Spain and then Brazil. There is as much chance of that happening as Kettering Town winning the FA Cup, although for what its worth I think they will beat Germany. | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 160 Registered: 05-2005 |
My moneys going on Kettering next year then! Well thats that for another 4 years then - over rated, over paid and over ere | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 692 Registered: 10-2008 |
Didnt see the game due to being at work, but apparently England had a goal chalked off which would have made it 2-2, at least a foot over the line!! Was the linesman Russian haha? It might have taken 44 years, but what goes around looks like it has finally come round :-) | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1810 Registered: 01-2005 |
Kevin, England did get a raw deal. Why isn't there a goal judge? The ball was close to a foot over the line. I wouldn't mind one of the little South American countries (Paraquay or Uruguay) winning it all. | ||
| Peter Collins Member Username: Tyroneshoelaces Post Number: 160 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hardly, skulldisco. The one in 1966 was at least close. This one wasn't. Everyone except the officials saw it was at least a foot over. Anyway, in 1966, Germany's equalising goal came from a free kick that shouldn't have been given, which was then handballed before Schnellinger put it in. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 695 Registered: 10-2008 |
and if my my aunt had balls peter,she'd be my uncle ;-) | ||
| billy Member Username: Bongo_billy Post Number: 13 Registered: 06-2008 |
Wolfgang Weber wasn't it Peter, not Schnellinger? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3597 Registered: 05-2005 |
England were robbed of that goal. Still deserved their whuppin' though. | ||
| billy Member Username: Bongo_billy Post Number: 14 Registered: 06-2008 |
q. Why did the chicken cross the road? a. the linesman said it didn't | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1017 Registered: 08-2004 |
England were decidedly average throughout. We'd have let in 4 against Ghana if we'd topped the group anyhoo. They didn't deserve it, simple as that. The goal line incident turns it into a 'what if?' Just like 'the hand of god', Beckham & Rooney's red card woes in years gone by. They need to let it go. There are more important things. Like failing to qualify for the European Championships & so forth. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1824 Registered: 01-2005 |
Netherlands or Spain? | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 715 Registered: 10-2008 |
probably spain. the dutch wont have the ball for as long as they are used to, and spain will ultimately wear them down by 1-0. i have been disappointed by spain. yes, they can pass you into submission but wheres the cutting edge? portugal scored more in one game (7) than spain have managed in six. it hasnt been the same since argentina and mad diego went home! | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1825 Registered: 01-2005 |
Sixteen years ago in World Cup action: Four of the first round 1994 World Cup games were held two towns away from me in Pontiac at the Silverdome. The 1994 matches were: U.S.A. - Switzerland (1-1),Romania - Switzerland (1-4),Sweden - Russia (3-1) & Brazil - Sweden (1-1). Pontiac was really on a roll back then with some great places to eat, enjoy music (at the 7th House were I saw Robert and Grant, Aimee Mann, Julian Lennon) and art gallaries. They installed a railroad bypass about 10 years ago and it killed the after work crowd that use to wait out the train at a downtown bar or restaurant. One-by-one the cool places went belly-up. There is a new music venue, but it lacks the atmosphere that the 7th House had. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3611 Registered: 05-2005 |
I say Spain. As I predicted all along. More importantly though, Paul the Octopus says Spain. | ||
| Charles Coy Member Username: Coy Post Number: 193 Registered: 10-2006 |
....an Oranje day for me...doorgaad Nederlands, primarily wife influence..think Spain are more aggressive though as Skulldisco recalls Spain have been short on Goals...just think the Dutch have the game plan to clinch it... | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1826 Registered: 01-2005 |
Germany got 3rd place for the fourth time. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 717 Registered: 10-2008 |
just as i predicted spain wore holland down and won the final 1-0. the first half was dreadful, the second half slightly better and extra time was thankfully pretty exciting. how holland finished the game with as many as 10 men was a mystery though. overall a disappointing world cup. the next world cup will hopefully be better, the african teams will have had 4 more years to develop, the south americans are finally back on home soil for the first time since 1986 so should fare better which will be good from a flair point of view. the european teams will by that point have probably invented a new 6-4-0 system with the aim of boring the pants of us. | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 311 Registered: 05-2005 |
I'm happy Spain won. It means New Zealand were the only undefeated team at this world cup! | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1828 Registered: 01-2005 |
I thought that it was a fairly boring match, but then again I haven't watched a lot of football since the Detroit Express (featuring the great Trevor Francis) and the NASL were around back in the pre-Lindy Morrison days of the Go-Betweens. |