I am with Ovidiu now. :)
Ecuador :thumb:
After watching yesterdays match I doubt if England can reach Quarter Finals. Till now only Argentina has been upto the expectations. Even Brazil has not yet fired.
Printable View
I am with Ovidiu now. :)
Ecuador :thumb:
After watching yesterdays match I doubt if England can reach Quarter Finals. Till now only Argentina has been upto the expectations. Even Brazil has not yet fired.
:D...anyway you feel convinience:D...Quote:
Originally Posted by cilu
whatever happen to those 3 games?...I didn't see them except highlights...I was on my way to JB that night(Max will know where it is)...I heard Sauid Arabia loose their concentration after the 2nd goal...hmm...maybe they still can't overcome their nightmare losing 6-0(or is it 7-0?) to Germany on 2002:D...
can England beat Ecuador?:D...
Yes, England can beat Ecuador, and that's it. After that, they will go back to England and let others who actually play the sport called football to fight for the cup. Oh, map, I'm so pissed of with their performance. I really liked Sweden last night. They played a very good football. It won't be easy for Germany to beat them.
Wow, well done Australia! :thumb: A well deserved draw against Croatia and a place in the last 16.
There was this extremely funny moment, when Graham Poll booked a second yellow card for Simunic, but didn't notice it was actually the second, so for a few minutes Simunic remained on the field, until he commited another fault and received a third yellow card. At that moment Poll remembered he just booked him a couple of minutes before, and sent him off just seconds before the end of the game.
Hm, I got the feeling that I'm blogging lately. :D ;)
I like your blog, Cilu. Don't worry. Keep on writing.
The game between Croatia and Australia was one of the worse for the referee.
There was a Croat player who did not hesitate to play twice with his hands, although he is not the goal keeper. The first time, his hand offered a penalty to the lucky Australians. The second time, his hand was not seen by the referee. It's incredible that a profesionnal player is trying to cheat with his hands. He does not respect the spectators. I wished the coach would have taken him away right after the first hand.
There were also two Australians who pushed the Croat goal keeper. They should have received a yellow card, because this is not allowed and the goal keeper could have been injured.
The game between Japan and Brazil was much more correct. The players were not savages. The first fault came after a long time. The goal for Japan was splendid.
Then, there was a beautiful goal for Brazil with a player making a head and sending the ball to Ronaldo who took it on the head and scored the goal.
Unfortunately, I did not see the other goals because I was looking at the other game.
Bye bye the USA team.
There won't be many teams from Asia either.
Let's hope the team of Togo will not be bribed by the French, who need a victory.
Well, we tried. Not bad for a sport that nobody knows about, here.
I got up at 4:30AM this morning to watch the Australia vs Croatia game and it was such a surreal experience. That referree omg what a bonehead! :D :D
I don't know if the score was fair but hey, Aussies made it to the next round! WOOHOO!!! Now Italy can eat us alive :eek:
I've just read an article about football in National Geographic Magazine, with some statistics. It turns out that while in the world the percentage of female players out of the total fotbal players is something like 1-2%, in USA it is about 30%. Wow!Quote:
Originally Posted by dglienna
So USA is out along with Croatia. Brazil's game was good and finally Ronaldo fired.
But what happened at the end of the Australian Game, the guy from Croatia got a Red Card, but I did not understand why. Actually I was watching the other game. Probably Deniz can tell us what happened.
Congratulations, Australia!Quote:
Originally Posted by Deniz
Don't worry about Italy... You can apply some tips from rugby some tricks from cricket which they don't know. :D
See you in the final! ;)
Basically a couple of the Cro's were playing a bit rough. One guy (Simic?) got a second yellow card and the ref forgot it was his second so he stayed on. Then he got a 3rd yellow card right at the end of the game and got red carded but only after playing an extra 10 minutes which he shouldnt have.
FIFA will investigate this and I doubt they will let him referree any more world cup games.
Here is an article in the Australian paper Sydney Morning Herald:
'Bizarre' refereeing blasted in UK as 'thick'
English newspapers have served it up to Graham Poll, blasting the country's supposed best referee for his "thick" handling of the Australia vs Croatia game.
Poll had reportedly been in line to officiate the World Cup final, but a "bizarre" effort should ensure the game was his last in this tournament, they said.
Calling Poll "Three Card Thick" The Sun's football writer was aghast Croatian defender Josip Simunic survived a trio of yellow cards before being marched off.
"Graham Poll could have cost Australia a place in the World Cup last 16 with a staggering blunder," he said.
"If the Aussies HAD gone out, FIFA may have been left in the embarrassing position of having to order the game to be played again, which would have thrown the tournament into chaos."
The Guardian described the match as the most extraordinary of the 2006 World Cup, but said the refereeing was as tumultuous as the deeds of the players.
"The English official Graham Poll seemed to be overwhelmed by a frenetic contest that has deservedly borne Australia off to a last 16 match," it said.
"Poll will wish he could forget all about the entire night."
Poll would pay a "heavy price" if FIFA's inspection of the game DVD revealed he had erred in not dismissing Simunic earlier, the Daily Telegraph said.
"It appears that when Poll showed Simunic his second yellow card in the 90th minute he forgot about the first," it said.
"If that is confirmed Poll will pay a heavy price - FIFA are unforgiving when a referee transgresses the law."
The Independent said Poll had been "groomed for the final" but "would not find his schedule cluttered when the knock-out stage appointments are made".
"[It] will have been a sleepless [night] for Graham Poll, whose failure to disallow [Harry Kewell's] precious goal for offside was the least of his misjudgements in a performance that will almost certainly represent his last in Germany," it said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world-cup...845363774.html
Well, it seems that FIFA's microphones and headsets give to the referrees are pointless, so no one bothered to let him know about the error. It was a funny moment (both hillarious and weird). And it's unique in the history of football, that a player received 3 yellow cards in the same match. :D
I think, Simunic will be recorded in Guinness Book, as the only one football player with three yellows in a single game. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Deniz
Beside the Graham Poll's mistake (imo excusable in a very tensioned moment of game) there is another one: no australian (player, coach, and so on) claimed that. You still have to learn a little: in football it's not like in rugby in that nobody protests on a (wrong) decision... :p
:lol: The refree might have been busy looking at the Chicks in the stadium, so he might have forgotten that he has already given him 2 yellow cards.
The Australian commentator on tv pointed it out straight away. maybe he should have let them know :rolleyes:
Well, all commentators knew, the official statistics shown that immediatelly. That's why I said the FIFA's official that assisted the referrees should have let Poll know about that. After all, referrees are only humans, and as Ovidiu said, in the heat of such a match like that one, people can make mistakes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Deniz
A referee has no business getting affected by the heat of the game. He is supposed to retain a cool head regardless of what happens.
Graham Poll did not any discrimination. He mistook in the same degree either for Croatia or for Australia.
Unlike others... like for example one named Urs Meyer, which has now a lot of fan clubs in Romania.
/don't try to translate! there are too many nice kind thanks in there. :D ;)
Yeah, I remember that in a week, he received 10,000 emails from Romanians after ProTV made his e-mail address public ([email protected]), and he requested police protection fearing for his life.Quote:
Originally Posted by ovidiucucu
I didn't vote for the USA :).
Football? Why didn't they just pick up the ball and throw it.
At last, Urs Meier didn'tmake so big mistake. Just...Quote:
Originally Posted by cilu
For sure, there was not his fault.Quote:
Originally Posted by somebody in the net
Just was because of his wonderful swiss watch. :D ;)
I did vote for USA. That stupid PK @ 47th min wasn't right. That wasn't a foul. So many ***** calls with so many ****** referees. Darn it, I woke up early to watch the game between USA and Ghana. USA should have won that game if it wasn't for that *********** PK. ARRRRR... hahhaha... OH well, I go back to watch our football where they pick up the ball and throw it hahaha... Can't wait for the season to start!Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Frohman
HEAT won! I picked them to win 4-1, but I was off by one.
I never understood why american football si called football, since it's equally played with the hands and feet.Quote:
Originally Posted by NewBeginC
Well, anyway, right now, at half time, France is not looking good at all. At this score, they are out of the competition. It seems like 2002 all over again. ;)
So France made it to the next phase. It will be a very interesting match against Spain. ;)
You can find the answer here: http://www.askwimble.com/archives/2003/june/10.htmlQuote:
Originally Posted by cilu
Football is much more exciting to watch than soccer.
I heard on ESPN that watching World Cup is more important to Dutch men than celerating their wives' birthday. Is that true?
This is how the table looks right now. The second half looks pretty tough.
Code:Germania - Sweden
___________ - ___________
Argentina - Mexic
___________ - ___________
Italia - Australia
___________ - ___________
Switzerland - Ukraine
___________ - ___________
Ecuador - England
___________ - ___________
Portugal - Netherlands
___________ - ___________
Brazil - Ghana
___________ - ___________
Spain - France
And this is how I see the matches until the semi-finals. ;)
Code:Germania - Sweden
Germania - Argentina
Argentina - Mexic
Argentina - Italia
Italia - Australia
Italia - Ukraine
Switzerland - Ukraine
__________ - __________
Ecuador - England
England - Netherlands
Portugal - Netherlands
England - Brazil
Brazil - Ghana
Brazil - Spain
Spain - France
First of all note that "football" and "soccer" are synonyms.Quote:
Originally Posted by NewBeginC
Football is an english composed word from foot (the lower extremity of the vertebrate leg that is in direct contact with the ground in standing or walking) and ball (any of various rounded, movable objects used in various athletic activities and games).
So its name suggest a sport game in which the players maneuver a ball mainly by kicking it with the foot.
Football (as defined above) is the most popular sport over the world and it's named Fußball (german), fotbal (romanian, <sometimes it spells like in english>), fútbol (spanish) le football (french), calcio (italian), كره القدم (arabic), サッカー (japanese), 축구 (korean), 足球 (chinese), and so on...
In few countries it is named also soccer.
If you refer to american football, well that can be better named "minirugby", "rugbyfordummies", and so on.. The list is open. :D ;)
So I guess we will see two European Countries fighting for it in Finals. Any guys voting for Italy??
I would like a final Ukraine - Ecuador.
Absolutely no kidding.
Ok cool next match for Argenina :D
Germany-Sweden.
Once again, the goals came in the first minutes. It's a pity, you don't have time to bring the snacks and sit in the armchair.
By the way, the Japanese word you shown, Ovidiucucu, is spelt "saaka" (almost "soccer" rather than football).
As expected Argentina make it for the quarter finals. However, Mexic performed much better than I expected. It will be a big clash on the 30th of June between Germany and Argentina.
What a show by Mexicans. If Mexico were to proceed , it would've been well deserved. Well, finally, the better of the 2 good teams prevailed. My hats off to a valiant effort by Mexico.:thumb: The Germany-Swden game was a true let down.
Code:Germania - Sweden
Germania - Argentina
Argentina - Mexic
Argentina - Italia
Italia - Australia
Italia - Ukraine
Switzerland - Ukraine
Argentina - Brazil
Ecuador - England
England - Portugal
Portugal - Netherlands
England - Brazil
Brazil - Ghana
Brazil - Spain
Spain - France
Again, what an awful game from England. What the hack was wrong with Lampard? Was it a dumb clone of him that was on the pitch today? :confused: I bet that on 10 men, but without Lampard, England could have played better. The only good thing that comes to my mind right now is that Germany played in the same manner 4 years ago and they made it to the final.
While I was listening to the fans singing God Save the Queen over and over again, I was thinking that perhaps they should tailor it for this championship to God Same the Team. They surely need God's help with this.
The Mexico Argentina game was fantastic. Just no sure why Argentina waited
so long to bring Messi on.
I am very torn on the Germany-Argentina game. I don't know which team I
want to win.
Argentina has such a great team, that I would love to see them go all the way,
but I am German.
Yep, that sounds like a tough decision. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by souldog
Well, the Netherlands vs. Portugal match was rather a corrida than a football match. There were 12 yellow cards and 4 reds (if I correctly numbered them). But I think Ivanov's prestation was so lame. He should have eliminate Figo for kicking in the face a Dutch with his head (a shot taken from street fightings) and also Deco should have been booked with a red card for the fault that booked him the first yellow.
The good news is that Protugal will play without two importand players against England. And it's now known at this point whether Ronaldo will be able to play also.
The Netherlands deserved to loose that one just on the basis of poor sportsmanship.
They should be ashamed of themselves.
On a side note: I have gotten all fired about "soccer" again.
It is the only team sport I ever played. (I spent most of my youth as
a skateboarder. Actually used to ride for Gullwing and Dogtown and my older
brother is a well known professional skateboarder from the late 80's and 90's)
I have not played soccer since I was twelve, but decided to go play a game
in a parking lot with some Mexican guys. Unfortunately I can't run for more
than fifteen minutes without getting worn out. Guess I am getting old and it is time to quit smoking. :)
Anybody else getting back on the field?
The problem with USA "soccer" is AYSO and the fact that most professional
players come out of colleges. Kids go into AYSO (american youth soccer organization). The teams are couched by parents which 90% of the time
have no idea what they are doing. Even in the MLS here the games are played
at an entirely different pace than in other countries. I think that this style of
play is entrenched in the colleges. Two things need to happen for the USA to ever be able to compete on an international level.
1. Fire all the current couches.
2. The number of immigrants into this country finally makes "soccer" the
main sport in the country. This has already happened in Los Angeles.
This will result in money going into the sport, so the really telented
athletes in this country will go into soccer instead of American Football or basketball.
Things are so bad here that I finish watching a game on the channel ESPN
and then during the next show a bunch of idiot sports commentators come
on and start making fun of "soccer"
Almost prefer to watch the game on Spanish channels where it is taken seriously, even though I can't understand it.
Until "soccer" stops being a kids game here, the USA will never succeed.
Finally a prediction.
Brazil is going to win this thing again.
The game just isn't that popular here. I don't think the US will really compete in the sport until that changes.
So portugal were able to win the war against Holland. :blush: I guess it was a war rather than a Wolrd Cup Match.
Anyways so I we have Germany, England, Portugal and Argentine in quarter Finals. I see England playing in Semi-Fnals also because Portugal will be playing without three important players.
This fan was quite funny. :D
Italy was lucky
The penalty was debatable, wasn't it?
Souldog's hierarchy has been valid till now. Hope it will be till the final. Argentina should win the cup :)
That was robbery on daylight. Shame, shame, shame to Cantaleho. :thumbd: After ruining the last match between Real Madrid and Barcelona he did it again. First, the red card for the italian player should have been only a yellow, and the penalty... What penalty for god's sake?! The prestation of the referrees at this world cup is at least as worse as at the previous ones. Where the hack do they find these referrees?Quote:
The penalty was debatable, wasn't it?
After the huge scandal in Italy with Juventul, Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina buying referrees and fixing matches in connection with the mafia of betting companies, matches both from Il Calcio and Champions League, I wouldn't be surprized to hear they bought the spanish referree for this match. :(
Soccer is gaining in popluarity in the US. Now, it's played a lot more in schools, and there are lots of local teams around here. I have nieces and nephews that play soccer. They are 8, 10 (twins), and 12.
I've been watching it lately. I think it's more like ice hockey than football, but, that is just my impression.
I'm reproducing figures from the latest edition of the National Geographic Magazine.Quote:
Originally Posted by dglienna
North America (not just USA), has 29,040,900 football (the sport you call soccer) players. 56% adult men, 27.6% adult women, 10.5% under 18 boys and 5.9 % under 18 girls.
South America has 15,235,800 players, 85.3% adult men, 13.9% under 18 boys and under 1% women and girls.
Europe has 35,783,000 football players, of whom, 71.5% are adult men, 3.5% adult women, 23.8% under 18 boys, and 1.2% under 18 girls.
Asia has 34,708,100 football players, out of whom 95.7% are adult men, 3.8% are under 18 boys, less of 1% are women and girls.
Africa has 6,984,500 players, 89% adult men, 1.8% adult women, 8.9% under 18 boys and under 1% young girls.
Australia and Ocenia has 628,300 players (no distribution given).
The Ukraine vs. Switzerland is so awful that I cannot watch the extra time, so I'll go to sleep. Pitty that teams like Netherlands or the Czech Rep. or even Australia are out and one of these two will go futher. ;) Whoever it will be, Italy will have no problem progressing to the semis.
Well. It seemed like a game of equals. Both Swiss and Ukrained played equally awful :thumbd: