Football (Soccer) World Cup (2 Viewers)

Interesting to note that if Germany and Ecuador draw their game then Ecuador top Group A. The England-Sweden game is later that day. This could mean that neither England nor Sweden would want to win the game, as the winner of Group B would face Germany. (The final round of Group A and B games on 20th June should have been held at the same time).

I will try to cheer for England because if they beat Sweden then Trinidad & Tobago can still qualify from the Group if they beat Paraguay. However, the likely outcome is a 0-0 game which would see both England and Sweden go through, England then meeting Germany in the next round.
 
If England meets Germany, based on recent host history, that's not going to be too good for England. Going back to at least 1990, the host (except for 1994) has always won. I think that probably applies to 1986 although I think in 1982 Spain didn't go through.
 
I think the smaller nations will often cause trouble to larger nations like
england etc as the big footballing nations have so much expectation placed on them by their fans,you get the impresion they are playing not to lose sometimes rather than just playing their own game .Trinidad and even Ausie etc are rapt just too have made it too the world cup so have vary little too lose.
Their will be no day of morning at home if they are elliminated.So too a certain extent they can just have a crack.
 
vandilay said:
I think the smaller nations will often cause trouble to larger nations like
england etc as the big footballing nations have so much expectation placed on them by their fans,you get the impresion they are playing not to lose sometimes rather than just playing their own game .Trinidad and even Ausie etc are rapt just too have made it too the world cup so have vary little too lose.
Their will be no day of morning at home if they are elliminated.So too a certain extent they can just have a crack.
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I'm confused Vandilay :confused: If you are refering to your home (NZ) I'm surprised you couldn't be more supportive of Australia in the world game. However if you are refering to home (Australia), we would be very upset over it.
Btw, Australia and New Zealand's previous placement in the Oceanic section of the FIFA world cup have historically disadantaged both our countries.
 
OzDigger said:
I'm confused Vandilay :confused: If you are refering to your home (NZ) I'm surprised you couldn't be more supportive of Australia in the world game. However if you are refering to home (Australia), we would be very upset over it.
Btw, Australia and New Zealand's previous placement in the Oceanic section of the FIFA world cup have historically disadantaged both our countries.
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I,m simply refering to the fact that football isnt followed like a religion in
australia the way it is in England etc,The expectations placed on their players are huge.What would hurt the average aussie more loosing a soccer game or a cricket match ?
Its the same here if our soccer team looses ,its disapointing but if the All Blacks lose the whole country Doesnt here about anything else for weeks.
Of course i,m supporting The australians i,m married to one.:)
 
I'd love to see the Aussies make it through and then keep moving on. It's the underdog nations like Ecuador and Australia that make the Cup interesting. Unless you're the fan of that particular company, it can get boring to see the usual suspects winning the title all the time.
 
vandilay said:
I,m simply refering to the fact that football isnt followed like a religion in
australia the way it is in England etc,The expectations placed on their players are huge.What would hurt the average aussie more loosing a soccer game or a cricket match ?
Its the same here if our soccer team looses ,its disapointing but if the All Blacks lose the whole country Doesnt here about anything else for weeks.
Of course i,m supporting The australians i,m married to one.:)
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Thanks for clearing that up vandilay, you had me worried there for a while.

I agree that soccer is not as well supported downunder as it is in England. However Australia is now a very multicultural country and you may be surprised at the amount of support there is for the game here. It is the only game that combines the wide variety of 'Aussies' in this country including those from Anglo-celtic, European, South American and other cultures.

In addition, more Aussie males played soccer as a weekend sport during their school age years than any other team game, myself included. It's not so much that the game isn't loved here, it's more the fact that we may have to many 'national sports' downunder. We do luv our sport :)
 
Hi Oz
soccer is the same here, amongst kids it is by far the widest played sport[largest number of players also],
But as we get older it seems to drop of the radar a little ,people still watch
and support it ,but compared to rugby it just doesnt realy rate here.
probably because we have been more succesful at rugby than soccer.
And as you pointed out until oceania gets direct entry to the world cup it will stay that way here.Having to play of against south america makes entry almost impossible .
 
For most Aussie and Kiwis kids I guess Soccer just lacks the macho/coolness factor of League, Union, or Rules as peer pressure is huge in teenage years.

Most Aussies respect the skill and fitness level required to play soccer but I've found some are 'uncomfortable' with two major aspects of the game which are:

* After goals most players run around the field and hug other guys while pulling their shirt over their heads etc. Aussies just don't like show-offs. It's ok to celebrate a goal as they are hard to come by, but keep the antics down imo.

* The other downer are fakes, or professional fouls I think they are called. Where a player falls to the ground when another guys almost nearly kicks him or whatever. The object apparently being to receive a penalty kick etc - what a lot of hot crock. There is absolutely no need for that fake crap and penalties should be issued when players do it. I noticed a few japanese players did it while playing against us and thought if I could jump into the screen I'd give em a good actual kicking.
 
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Oz,

A professional foul, is when a player makes no attempt to get the ball, but instead plays the man. What you are discussing is just pure cheating, something which unfortunately is endemic in football.

Can't wait to see the Brazil v Australia game tomorrow, should be a cracker.

Andy
 
Well, I've got to say: the USA played a marvellous game against a weary Italy! It's just amazing of this team, after being overrun by the Czechs (my favourite in that group :) ), that they perform a stunt like this against one of the greatest football nations in the world!

I think because of the shock the Americans gave the Squadra, they immediately had the advantage over a team that said in the press to not know any American players. Even with 9 Americans against 10 Italians, these guys were so overtaken by a strong USA, they couldn't play a good game any more.

Though it was a fairly rough game, and a lot of red cards have been given, too much in fact... (but all cards were "earned", imo)

After this 1-1, everything is possible in group D. It's going to be pretty exciting next week, and I'm certainly looking forward to those matches...
 
UK_BOD said:
Oz,

A professional foul, is when a player makes no attempt to get the ball, but instead plays the man. What you are discussing is just pure cheating, something which unfortunately is endemic in football.

Can't wait to see the Brazil v Australia game tomorrow, should be a cracker.

Andy
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Thanks Andy, I'm not up with footy speach.
 
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I'm very proad of the way Australia played and it was anyone's game imo, despite being 2-0. In fact I think we were a bit unlucky as for much of the match we played the better football (I bet that would surprise a few people - including myself).

However as was warned by several 'experts', you can't give Brazil an inch and they took full advantage of Australia's few periods of less than ideal defence. And although it didn't affect the score, the referee seemed to favour Brazil with fouls much more than considered fair imo.
 
I actually think Merk called a good game. He established order early and as a result you saw few yellows in the second half.

Outstanding defense, helped a bit by Brasil's inability to cross well. Too bad they gave up the second. Hope they get through. They should as the other two teams have shown nothing. Brasil is unlikely to lose to Japan so a tie with Croatia would put Australia through. It would be well deserved.
 
Ana,

Holland should give them a good game tonight, but with a number of players being rested because of yellow cards I think both teams will cancel each other out and it'll be a draw. So far, Argentina have been the team of the tournament but it is unusual for the form team in the early rounds to win the competition (Brazil 2002 excepted) and also for a South American team to win in Europe.

England are through, wasn't nervy at all was it?

England V Argentina Final anyone?

Andy:D
 
From what I've seen, the German team is growing, growing, quite rapidly, and they are playing at home. Don't rule them out. As for England, they are looking a lot like in the 2002 World Cup: relatively disappointing. I do like Joe Cole, though, or Gerrard or Lampard. Problem is Owen is gone, Rooney is getting back, well... I have a hard time imagining England winning against Brazil, they are in a different class.
I am happy with Portugal, we're in the last sixteen, I also have a hard time imagining us winning against Brazil, but hey, let's see how far we go!
 
My picks for the final are Germany or Argentina v. Brasil or Spain. I don't really see anybody better than that. If I had to make a pick it's an all South American final and it will be a beauty.
 
I would also respect Italy, they are specialists in spoiling the other teams beautiful game. I'll never forget how they tore apart the best football team I have ever seen, Brazil at the 1982 World Cup ( Zico, Falcão, Éder, Sócrates, remember? ) and went on to win the title.
The Italians let the other teams attack, play and play, easily absorb their pressure and than finish them off with their counterattacks. Not very pretty but very efficient. And they are already in the last sixteen...
 
...at the cost of the Czech republic... :mad:

Yes, the Italian "catenaccio" (chain; hope I spelled it right...) tactics of the Italians spoil a match. I hope they get kicked out pretty fast, just as last time against South Korea.

As for the Germans: pretty fast, an excellent Podolski (he's not even German:D ),and a pretty bad Swedish defence who gave Podolski so much space that he could just sit back, relax and wait for the ball so that he could easily finish off Alexanderson.

Though I was rooting for the Swedes, it would have been awful to see the home team being kicked out in the 1/8 finals...

Argentina getting trough is a good thing too...
 
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