No I wouldnt actually :p, :middlefinger:Quote:
Originally Posted by Psychotic
Germany v England games probably arent the best from a spectators point of view, but between German and English fans, its the best the game can get lol.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yamaneko
But have you seen Germany play since they started the world cup? Its not the same sort of team it was 8000000 years ago. A different style.
Yes thats right, its Germany - England, not England - Germany. :p
Don't say that ever again! l0l. I'm not W***h.Quote:
Originally Posted by Croyles
and...
French, it's their "I'm better than you" attitude!
That good enough!? l0l
"Location:
S.wales"
I just figured you were from that, no offence. :p
And yeah I guess the reason is good enough for me :)
lol @ Spain
That's it.
Ok, I wouldn't mind if Brazil had lost to Ghana. I don't care if Brazil doesn't win this WC. I won't be bothered if Portugal beat us. But we can't lose to France AGAIN! NOT AGAIN! :p
I really thought Spain would dominate France what a shocker!
I hope so. But if 1998 comes back to (overweight) Ronaldo's mind, we're pretty much screwed. Cafu and Roberto Carlos are naturally slow, Adriano isn't doing much (besides scoring on offside, that is), Juninho is sitting on the bench... We're gonna need some luck to win.Quote:
Originally Posted by Russielloyd
Too bad for Spain. Better luck next time. (Isn't that what we've been saying for 50 years now? Oh, sorry.)
I've seen Germany play as a team for many years now. I'm not particularly fond of their football. If the final is England - Germany ( :p ), I will go for Germany. :D
Brazil versus France could be very good. So could Argentina versus Germany. Portugal versus England is sort of murky for me since England STILL hasn't shown me too much. Finally, does anyone think the Ukraine have a chance against Italy?
France - Brazil
Zidane looks in form, it would seem the "old man" still has some magic left. I'm not really a fan of the French team, but I love watching Zidane, I must say. Yet, as a whole, I think Brazil is just too loaded, there are too many weapons there.
Side questions: What's up with Adriano and Ronaldo? I was hearing talks of some sort of rivalry going on between them, what's the deal? There was a moment in the game where it looked like Adriano didn't pass to an open Ronaldo, which flies in the face of Brazlian soccer. Does it stem from the Euro Cup in 04? Where is Ronaldinho, he's not really made an impact yet.
Can Henry STAY ONSIDES? Does Zidane have some more magic left?
Argentina - Germany
I'm really looking forward to this game. Both teams are playing well, though Germany hasn't really gotten pushed too hard yet. Still, Klose looks fantastic and the Germans are really using the home field to their advantage. Argentina, I still think, is the only team that might have more depth than Brazil, and they seem to be in form, though did they perhaps peak too early during the first round? I've been hearing rumors of some unrest about playing time, especially with Tevez and Messi. In the end, I think the Germans get through here, somehow, someway. They seem to have that magic "Home team run" going.
Italy - Ukraine
In my opinion, Australia gave Italy all it had and deserved better, but them's the breaks. Still, that makes two underdog teams, Australia and the USA, who gave Italy all it could handle and it makes me really wonder what Italy has left. The Ukraine, I must admit are a mystery to me as I haven't seen them play, but from what I've read, they're very tough and physical, which doesn't translate too well to Italy, which is drawing more and more criticism for its questionable fouls being rewarded in their favor. That's Italian tradition, but could this be the tipping point? I'm going for an upset, let's pick the Ukraine here. Proving what Seinfeld made famous.
Aside2: Tough break for the Swiss as they became the first team EVER to lose without allowing a single goal in the World Cup.
Finally,
England - Portugal.
England has underachieved by a lot of people's standards, but are still plugging away. Beckham bought himself one more match, but if he doesn't deliver here, I expect the English to be ruthless. Losing Owen is a severe blow indeed, but looking at the flip side, Portugal is going to be missing some big players too due to red card suspension. Also, what's the latest on C. Ronaldo? Is he going to play? If not, I think England might find a way, but unless they really improve, it's going to be mighty tough to get past the next opponent.
To recap:
I like Brazil and England, Germany and in an upset, the Ukraine, who might not be weak, at least according to the game of Risk.
Feel free to comment, correct and answer my questions, since there's a lot I don't know because I'm a Yank and my knowledge of soccer isn't as great as all of you across the pond and around the world.
Take care all.
I want Ukraine to go as far as they can go.
Couple of comments on The Captain's post.I haven't heard of any rivalry between the two, although you can be sure that they would like to score more goals than the other, but I didn't know it was public. If you mean by the Euro Cup in 04 the European Championship held in Portugal, then Brazil were not present, because it is a tournament for European teams. I absolutely agree with you on Ronaldinho, and perhaps the pressure and hype has got to him.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Captain
Apparently he is indeed going to play, but I don't think it will affect much. To be honest, I think C. Ronaldo is extremely overrated, and while he can run at a defender and do all sorts of fancy tricks, his final delivery is poor, and I'd rather England faced him than Simao of Benfica. I do agree with you about the need for us to improve, but so far we have mostly faced teams that want to shut up shop and defend (an exception being Sweden), and I doubt Portugal will do this, so perhaps we will see the best out of England in a much more open game.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Captain
Oops, silly me, of course Brazil didn't play in the Euro Cup. I'm trying to recall which it was then.. I vaguely remember a tournament where Ronaldo decided not to play and in his place, Adriano exploded onto the scene. There were some commentators on some of the South American networks and newspapers saying that Adriano thinks he should be the superstar striker of the team, not Ronaldo, but I wish I could find the links, oh well.
Take care all and thanks for the info!
It was on the Confederations Cup. Adriano played really well, but I don't know about any public problems with Ronaldo. But it does seem that Adriano is jealous. Today he tried dribbling the keeper only because Ronaldo did it. Against Lucerne, before the WC began, Ronaldo didn't pass the ball to Adriano (he was offside). Later on, it was Adriano's time for not giving the ball to Ronaldo (he was in a good position to score). I think that all problems come from Adriano. Ronaldo is acting normally in the field (he was the one who passed the ball to Adriano in the goal against Australia).
And Ronaldinho isn't playing well because he's playing as a midfielder, not as a striker. As he said, in Barcelona, he dribbles a couple of defenders and then has a clear view of the goal. In Brazil, he is playing so behind that, even if he dribbles 3 opponents, he's still far away from the goal. Also, unlike in Barcelona,he has defensive duties, so he also has to run a lot more, and he then gets tired earlier. It's all Parreira's fault, not his.
I got to admit that Germany's football isnt exactly entertaining, and it never used to do well with the popular stereotype of the extreme military-like efficient Germans, but thats all changing for me in this world cup, I really think they have come together as a team. Now, whether we can beat Argentina will have to be seen, but i'm a pretty optimistic kind of guy! :D
To be fair, as an international he's about 200% better than he is at Manchester United, probably because of the playing style. Having said that, he made more tackles than any other player in Manchester United last season, and he'll run up and down the pitch all day. As a winger, he's right up there because of that. Some of his crosses may be poor, but the rest of his game is fantastic, and he probably makes as many good crosses as Simão purely because he's ten times more likely to get the ball off the opposition than Simao is. Simao may be more dangerous at club level, but at international level Ronaldo has him pipped. More tackles, more ball, more crosses, more goals.Quote:
Originally Posted by Psychotic
I really hope that Italy is demolished by Ukraine. Of the other teams, I only really care for Argentina, Germany and England. It's great being a neutral, you can like both of those latter two countries. :p