Now, let's talk some SOCCER!

Australia to 1/8 finals

btw they should send the referee home with the first train, what a blundering guy.

 

I agree but he made up for it at the end of the game

 

i think Owen being injured will really help England. they can play so much better then they have been and the fact we don't have enough forwards means there'll now be 5 in midfield with two fast wingers crossing the ball.

England can only improve and changing the shape of the team is going to be a great help.

the second round is going to be great the World Cup will start getting better with each day


England World Cup profiles - England's strikers
By Alan Shearer
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/england/4944206.stm

 

Aaaah...icy....the eternal optimist!

As the WC is the showcase for the top talent it pains me to miss the opportunity of seeing any of them perform especially due to injury.

I was always a big Lions fan til '02. I thought Mills, Heskey, and Scholes were awesome. Mills and Heskey got most of the criticism in that one!!

No question that they have an abundance of talent. I don't envy Sven trying to choose the right matchups. Too bad Shearer isn't available!

To the others who jumped on Graham Poll (English Ref) ......there was a flurry of action occurring at the time....and believe me....it's easy to lose track of stuff when you're trying to keep people from maiming each other. He always has been, and still is, one of the top Officials in the game! Certainly not at this level...but I've walked in his shoes!

Play on, big ed

 

Schedule for the coming days.

 

Only a few minutes into the game and it's already 2-0, Germany leading Sweden.



snowbound

 

England have too many good midfielders, i think Lennon should play on the right, but i don't think there's much chance of Beckham being dropped - he can't play in the middle because Lampard and Gerrerd are better then him. i think if Beckham is dropped Gerrerd can take the free kicks.

i was going to say somethng about Poll earlier, then i remembered you said you were a ref. lol

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6047222244158682635

 

Oooh...Germany really did a job on Sweden! Likely the most one sided match I've seen yet! Seemed like a bit of a dodgy Red Card for the Swede but the player never said a word so maybe the camera didn't catch the whole action.

Argies and Mexico next....hope it's a good one!

Play on, big ed

Ps....Icy..being a former Ref...defending the indefensible is not in me! Graham Poll made a big Boo Boo and he'll have to live w/it. I have been in contact w/a few of my former colleagues and one of them made an excellent obsevation. If Football is all about "Fair Play" why didn't the player do the decent thing and continue off the field instead of continuing to play.

The part that is truly baffling to me is that none of the other 3 Officials called his attention to the gaffe. Thats a big part of their job as the man in the middle has enough to worry about.

 

refs can't have it both ways - you either 'play to the wistle' or you don't. i would never, ever have said anything to the ref if it was me.

 

As you imply, unfortunately, you are right! It appears that the Officials are the only one's interested in "Fair Play". It makes sense to me....the one person in the whole stadium who is concerned about the safety of the players is the one they are always trying to trick.

I thought that Cricket was a gentleman's game!

Play on, big ed

 

No real surprises today. Maybe tomorrow,

England vs. Ecuador
Portugal vs. Netherlands



snowbound

 

Nice to see that all the matches are going smoothly....smilies don't work so I'm rolling my eyes!!!

 

I think the final match will be: Referees1 vs Referees2.
With lots of cards and "schwalbes" ofcourse.

Gerard

 

Yeah...you're progably right! Maybe they could play the match w/o Refs.

Now..that would be worth taping!!!!!!!!

 

We wuz ROBBED !!

...and the back lash:...
http://www.smh.com.au/news/aussie-u...e-a-bad-soprano/2006/06/27/1151174202868.html

just let us have a few sour grapes Ok.

Now onto the game they play in heaven; Bring on the Trinations Rugby.

 

After two days without games in about 3.5 hours from now the start of the quarter finals.
To begin with Germany - Argentina.

Gerard

 

Italian football training video.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-77073027039150763

Enough said.




snowbound

 

rofl

 

Good one. Heh.

 

Portugal advances. England once again, goes home.

Final score after penalty kicks
Portugal 3
England 1

Next up, France vs. Brazil.



snowbound

 

wow that was hard to watch, and the result hard to take....hey ho, we are used to it Good luck to the teams that are left!!

 

England were very poor all tournement. They did not deserve to advance any further.

Sven could have done a lot more with the so called "golden generation".

A hopeless 4-5-1 formation with a half-fit Rooney up front. BUT unlikely that things will change for the better with McLaren taking over. Send for Mourinho and let's get rid of Beckham.

 

Been enjoying some great matches lately!
But I've also seen acting that rivals what goes on in the NBA.
And some of the refs have been giving a lot of cards unfairly (IMO).

Came across this article, what do you think?
Ban World Cup Flopping

 

agreed, we (I say we, the England players ) weren't a full team really, and pinning so much hope on Rooney pulling something out of the bag just shows how much the rest of the team are lacking - must be hard for them to hear the crowd chanting for Rooney all the time. I do think beckham still has an important part to play though.

I'd like it if the WHOLE national squad had to be 'born and bred' of that country, i.e. English players and English Manager. Then when a country wins an international competition it's entirely down to that country. just my thoughts though.

 

France beats Brazil.............1-0

Who guesses that?