2006 World Cup Chock full o' spoilers thread

[Jobu]

Argentina vs. Ivory Coast really was a great game. Argentina just outplayed them, but IVC had a lot of good chances. They just lost heart and couldn't find a way to hit Drogba. If they had played more like they did in the last 20 minutes, it would have been a lot closer. I'd love to see how they play against the lesser teams in their group. The announcers for that game were the WORST. I got really sick of one of them trying to come up with (bad) analogies to baseball or football to explain the situations in the game. Dipshits.

England was doing their normal crap. They're a great team, and I'll be cheering them to the end, but so often they just wander around listless waiting for someone else to do something. It's frustrating as all hell. Crouch is decent... but he's not going to be enough to break teams open in the later games. The rest of the team needs to wake up and make runs onto him, or around him if they keep relying on him. Owen too was a little out of it. I can't believe he botched that pass that Beckham dropped right into his stride in the box. Few more games, he'll be sharp. I'm optimistic. And Praguay? Man, FUCK them. Filthy shit divers.

Watching the Holland game now... Robben just scored the opener. NIIIICE. My dream final would be the Dutch and England.

[CmdrSlack]

So, I thought that my memory from 2002 was right about how scoring works...after seeing some of the scores, I guess my memory is wrong.

Do you not get points for goals?  Or is there some kind of strange point scheme? 

I thought there were points for wins, points for draws, but also points dependent on how many goals you scored.

After seeing that Ivory Coast has no points, I must assume that you only get points for goals if you win or draw?

[Abagadro]

Goal differential comes into play if there are ties in points at the end of round robin play.

[Paelos]

The Mexico-Iran match was great. The header goal by Mexico in the second half was gold. Iran can go eat shit now.

[Cyrrex]

I always enjoy watching Netherlands for some reason...maybe it is the retina-burning orange they usually wear.  Robben was a freaking dynamo.  Easily the best individual performance I have seen to this point.

England, Sweden and Poland all appear to be in deep shit.  Even if they all manage to get out of the first round, which I wouldn't bet on.

[Righ]

I always enjoy watching Netherlands for some reason...maybe it is the retina-burning orange they usually wear.  Robben was a freaking dynamo.  Easily the best individual performance I have seen to this point.

England, Sweden and Poland all appear to be in deep shit.  Even if they all manage to get out of the first round, which I wouldn't bet on.

Please add Germany to the shit list. The way they played the last game was a farce.

[Der Helm]

Please add Germany to the shit list. The way they played the last game was a farce.

We are going to win anyway.

Or at least play the final.

But you knew that already if you know anything about soccer.
 

[Signe]

Well, of course Germany will be there for the final! 

But only because they're hosting the cup.   

[Tale]

My national side is about to play in a World Cup for the first time in 32 years ... there are people everywhere with green and gold flags, country is going nuts. Driving home now, then watching it with beer. Woot.

[Tale]

YES

[Horik]

Australia 3 Japan 1

What a match! Best of the Cup so far. Hiddink looks like a genius with his subs and Cahill's second goal was a beauty. 3 goals in the final 8 minutes...wow. I hope this gets them  into the second round.

[Tale]

3 goals in the final 8 minutes

Just awesome. Pity it's 1:20am here on a Tuesday morning and only about 5 degrees celsius (very cold for us). I went outside to see if anyone was celebrating and it's silent - there will be parts of Sydney where everyone is going nuts though.

USA vs Czech Republic up next. Hope you Americans get some World Cup glory too.

[WayAbvPar]

Arrgh! I was catching up on the last few days of game comments and read too far- I have AUS v JAP on TiVo! I should have known better! I will still probably watch it (or FF through it), but now I can watch it AFTER the US game without fear of spoilers. Now I am panicking- I feel like I forgot to set my TiVo for USA, but I KNOW i did. Heh.

What a fun weekend! Mexico and Argentina were the best teams I saw over the weekend. England looked poor, Germany gave up 2 goals to Costa Rica (!), and Holland (other than Robben) looked lethargic.

I    Tommy Smyth. He is just far too fun to listen to; he really provides COLOR to the game.

I am nauseous with anticipation for the US game. World Cup fever, baby!

[Tale]

If you have to get wtfpwned, you want to get wtfpwned by quality goals like those.

[Abagadro]

Yikes, the US-Czech game is painful so far. 2-0.

[Abagadro]

Those were nice goals but were set up by atrocious defense. I'm amazed at the height difference between these two teams. The US looks like midgets out there.

[Tale]

Don't worry, all you need is the last eight minutes.

[sigil]

Don't worry, all you need is the last eight minutes.

If you have a team with some heart, maybe.

3-nil and counting.

Fucking Beasley looks like a scared little kid out there. Take him off now and never let him back on.

First person to find a world class defensive wing or two  who could be a us citizen would probably be appreciated as well.

Absolutely fucking pathetic play.  Italy comes Saturday. God help us. I don't want us to finish behind Togo in the overal.

[Numtini]

That was a complete utter disgrace. Absolutely disgusting. Obscene.

The Czech's were everything they were made out to be, very skilled, team oriented, and far more athletic than they were made out to be.

But they were completely beatable.

Had the US bothered to put anyone out on the pitch to play them.

Basically everyone but Eddie Johnson slept through the match. No energy. I saw players meandering around because they were too lazy to chase. Did a single pass connect? Landon, you're supposed to shoot the ball, not pass it back to the midfield. Did we have a defense? Oh yeah, they were the ones passing the ball back to Keller. Seriously, did we set a world record for the most passbacks to goal?

We always fold if they score on us first, but this was an all new low.

Is this 1998?

Absolutely disgraceful.

[Wolf]

That were some nice goals. Rosicki is a fucking machine :)
I really hope Coller is ok, if there's a team I'm cheering for at this world cup (our slackers fucked up the quals... again) that would be the Czech. With Barosh hurt, if Coller was hurt badly, that would be really bad :(

[Righ]

Perhaps the US team will watch the match on TV back at camp, and learn that its not the best idea in the world to stand still and wait for the ball to be passed to you. I'm surprised that when the US actually managed to get a shot on goal that the Czech goalie wasn't caught reading a book.

The only consolation is that the Czech team did play well. perhaps Italy will fuck up, as they often do in group matches. But the US will need to play well enough to capitilze on that - and that wasn't there. Wake up.

[Nebu]

I think the first round of matches have pretty much shown that THESE were a joke.

[Abagadro]

And with the Italian game starting I'm sure we can look forward to Divefest 2006.

[sigil]

And with the Italian game starting I'm sure we can look forward to Divefest 2006.

2-0 Azzuri.

US realistically needs a win on Saturday or it's over.

Fuck.

[Righ]

I'm assuming that the 'fuck' comes form the fact that Ghana were bloody unlucky to go down without getting a goal. They need to tether their keeper, and as expected, Italy still needs to get into their stide. However, I was seriously impressed with the quality of football from that young Ghanaian team. They were outclassed by an Italian side that was off their game, but nonetheless they put on some serious pressure and distinguished themselves as a very capable second string side, which is probably more than most people were expecting.

Good job by the Aussies! The Japanese goal was a farce, and it'll be talked about long after the contest is over. What a travesty, etc. When not being elbowed in the face, the Aussie goalie was in top form. He got a serious testing today. But those late goals - fine footwork in each one. First real upset of the tournament, but I knew that second place in this group was going to be tight.

[sigil]

I'm assuming that the 'fuck' comes form the fact that Ghana were bloody unlucky to go down without getting a goal. They need to tether their keeper, and as expected, Italy still needs to get into their stide. However, I was seriously impressed with the quality of football from that young Ghanaian team. They were outclassed by an Italian side that was off their game, but nonetheless they put on some serious pressure and distinguished themselves as a very capable second string side, which is probably more than most people were expecting.

Good job by the Aussies! The Japanese goal was a farce, and it'll be talked about long after the contest is over. What a travesty, etc. When not being elbowed in the face, the Aussie goalie was in top form. He got a serious testing today. But those late goals - fine footwork in each one. First real upset of the tournament, but I knew that second place in this group was going to be tight.

Yes, The evils of Goal Differential.

[Tale]

Last 8 minutes of Australia vs Japan, from Australian TV: http://tinyurl.com/n9uze (174Mb download)

(general opinion is that the commentator isn't great, but the history of soccer in Australia means it's in the hands of a broadcaster called SBS that was set up to cater for ethnic minorities, so they are not exactly big budget)

[Horik]

No matter how bad it is, they are better than that fuckwit Shep Messing we had to listen to here in the States.

[Tale]

BTW our lives have turned into Lineage 2:

http://au.messages.yahoo.com/sports/world-cup/1358/
http://au.messages.yahoo.com/sports/world-cup/1502/

[pants]

BTW our lives have turned into Lineage 2:

http://au.messages.yahoo.com/sports/world-cup/1358/
http://au.messages.yahoo.com/sports/world-cup/1502/

Heh heh - didnt even think of that.  Our squad could have run onto the field with machetes chasing the Japanese, and the Koreans would have been cheering us on every step of the way :)

[HaemishM]

Don't worry, all you need is the last eight minutes.

If you have a team with some heart, maybe.

3-nil and counting.

Fucking Beasley looks like a scared little kid out there. Take him off now and never let him back on.

First person to find a world class defensive wing or two  who could be a us citizen would probably be appreciated as well.

Absolutely fucking pathetic play.  Italy comes Saturday. God help us. I don't want us to finish behind Togo in the overal.

Agreed. If the US plays as pathetically against Italy as they did against the Czhechs, write this Cup off. They looked like they'd never played socceer before this game. It was embarrassing. Rociscky was a fucking madman.

EDIT: I didn't finish watching the Ghana-Italy match, but Ghana played pretty damn well against a clearly better Italian team. The Ghana goalie needs to learn he isn't a field player. Every time the ball came near the goal, he was running out to get it.

[WayAbvPar]

Wow...sure am glad I spent my whole day in solitude to avoid being spoiled on the US match. That was easily the worst game I have ever seen them play- they even looked better with the 1990 group of misfits. The back line was getting abused by the Czech forwards, and our midfield and front did absolutely dick. As Numtini said, only Eddie Johnson looked like he cared (although Convey had a couple of moments of competence too). If Beasley plays the next game, he had better be on the left side where he is actually effective.

Sucks that the game with Ghana is going to be a consolation unless they find a way to beat Italy Saturday. If they show up, they do have a chance. They will have a better chance if 90% of the calls don't go Italy's way, which is what happened to Ghana. I have been favorably impressed by all the African teams so far- they all beat some more established sides to qualify, and they look like they belong. Unlike, say, the US.

To add insult to injury, my fucking retarded TiVo changed channels incorrectly, and I got 2 hours of fucking car racing instead of the Oz v Japan game, which sounds like it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Oh, then I got ganked by pirates in EVE. Was quite a lovely night.

[Righ]

To add insult to injury, my fucking retarded TiVo changed channels incorrectly, and I got 2 hours of fucking car racing instead of the Oz v Japan game, which sounds like it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Oh, then I got ganked by pirates in EVE. Was quite a lovely night.

Even if it was the British F1 Grand Prix, it wasn't much of a race. The most important parts of the Japan & Australia match are the 8 minutes at the end in the link above (which is good quality) , and the Japan foul, er goal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52zXFz-dYYA

Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nvd7Cf1wHc

Watch John Aloisi's footwork on the third Australian goal. Superb.

[Jobu]

EDIT: I didn't finish watching the Ghana-Italy match, but Ghana played pretty damn well against a clearly better Italian team. The Ghana goalie needs to learn he isn't a field player. Every time the ball came near the goal, he was running out to get it.

]

To be fair, their goalie also kept the match from being a riot. He made so many important, spectacular saves. Got a little lost on the crosses, but that game could have EASILY been 5-0. I was really impressed with his performance.

Likewise the Japanese keeper. He made some great stops in the first half that crushed the Australian morale early on. But Guus Hiddink kept his reputation up as being a genius, and subbed on the exact players his team needed.

[WayAbvPar]

To add insult to injury, my fucking retarded TiVo changed channels incorrectly, and I got 2 hours of fucking car racing instead of the Oz v Japan game, which sounds like it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Oh, then I got ganked by pirates in EVE. Was quite a lovely night.

Even if it was the British F1 Grand Prix, it wasn't much of a race. The most important parts of the Japan & Australia match are the 8 minutes at the end in the link above (which is good quality) , and the Japan foul, er goal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52zXFz-dYYA

Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nvd7Cf1wHc

Watch John Aloisi's footwork on the third Australian goal. Superb.

Thanks for the links! That keeper for Japan played his ass off- that game could have been 5-0 easily.