World Cup 2006 Official Discussion

[Torcidas 8]

 

Talk all about your team, players, matches, and anything else relating to the World Cup in Germany.

 

My team is Croatia. Their best finish in the World Cup was in 98', they appeared in the Semi-Finals. Their first match this year is with Brazil, and then we have Japan and Australia. Today, Germany started up the first game, against Costa Rica.

 

 

• Group A
• Germany
• Costa Rica
• Poland
• Ecuador

• Group B
• England
• Paraguay
• Trinidad & Tobago
• Sweden

• Group C
• Argentina
• Ivory Coast
• Serbia & Montenegro
• Netherlands

• Group D
• Mexico
• Iran
• Angola
• Portugal

• Group E
• Italy
• Ghana
• Czech Republic
• USA

• Group F
• Brazil
• Croatia
• Japan
• Australia

• Group G
• France
• Switzerland
• South Korea
• Togo

• Group H
• Spain
• Ukraine
• Tunisia
• Saudi Arabia

 

 

 

Group A - Match #1 - 93 min

Germany Costa Rica

(0 Pts) 4 2 (0 Pts)

 

Klose 60 min

Klose 16 min Wanchope 11 min (Gómez)

Lahm 05 min Wanchope 72 min

Frings 86 min

 

Group A - Match #2 - min

Poland Ecuador

(0 Pts) 0 2 (0 Pts)

 

Tenorio C 23 min

Méndez 69 min

 

Best of luck to everyone's team!

 

 

[Kippers 471]

That was a seriously awesome opening match there by Germany and Costa Rica. 3 goals withing 30 minutes?

 

And i was surprised with Ecuadors result, didn't think they'd do that well.

 

I remember having the official FIFA world cup sticker book back in 98. Good times indeed.

[Cuse510 0]

 

Group A - Match #2 - min

Poland        Ecuador

(0 Pts) 0 2 (0 Pts)

 

            Tenorio C 23 min

                  Méndez 69 min

I believe it was Augustin Delgado who scored the second goal for Ecuador. And I'm pretty sure it was later than the 69th minute.

[B Rob 1]

Great opening game. Germany got a little scare but played well offensively.

[G MONEY $$$ 13]

Great opening game although I'm surprised Germany even let Costa Rica score lol.

 

Disappointed with the Poland vs Ecuador game since I'm Polish. Poland played a pretty pathetic game up until about the 80th minute.

[dr zoidberg 0]

Poland just didn't attack enough, once they started really going for it they looked lively, and were really unlucky to hit the post twice. Ecuador were far better than I expected though, they did beat Brazil and Argentina but those games were in weird conditions something like 1,000 metres above sea level which obviously affects the stamina of the players. Looks tough for the Poles now unfortuately.

 

Germany looked decent going forward but their defence is poor, they play the line far too high up the pitch and Wanchope exploited that. Against a better team they could be in serious trouble. Attacking wise though Schweinsteiger, Klose, Schneider and Lahm were very impressive and I suppose you can never write them off.

 

Overall it was a great opening day, two exciting matches to kick it off. Hopefully it'll stay like that. England-Paraguay is tomorrow (well, today really), it could be tough for the English but if they play as well as they can they'll have no problem. The question is I suppose how they gel, and whether Rooney plays or not.

[Mafia Righthand_Man 1]

The first game was great, I really enjoyed it. First goal came pretty quick. Exciting. Nice to see Klose almost get a hat trick.

 

The second game wasn't my favorite since I was pulling for Poland. It also got really dull after that first goal by Ecuador.

[BrassKnuckles 0]

Well, my thoughts.

 

The Germany-Costa Rica match was clearly the most interesting out of the three I've seen so far. That Wanchope character (though probably offsides on the second goal) is one fast mother, and he can score--the way he beat Lehmann was brilliant. But the goals by Frings and Lahm sealed the deal, and they were amazing. High-velocity, high accuracy, nothing better. The commentators, as usual, were moronic (bitched at Porras for saving Klose's initial shot), and it was good to see Germany on form.

 

I was glad to see Ecuador take the win against lackluster Poland, that was also a really good game. Delgado should've put away his first chance (skied it), but thanks to Kavietes' team playing, he made up for it. And damn, I really like Tenorio. Fantastic forwards for the South Americans, and Poland, as usual, bites the dust.

 

England-Paraguay was f*cking boring as Hell, and neither side put up anything spectacular. I know as an Argentina fan I may have some bias, but if that's the best team England can put up in 40 years, the rest of the world should be chuckling. Between Crouch whining and Gerrard missing, it wasn't much to see. Oh yeah, and Paraguay sucked balls. Paredes just dove and fouled, Valdez continued to miss, and supreme playmaker Cuevas wasn't substituted in until second half. Weak.

[Kippers 471]

Woo, great match there by England. 1-0

 

I thought getting the goal in the opening 5 minutes was a bit risky, becuase from previous World Cup matches they've let it slip after a quick first goal. But no, they managed to stay tight in the first half and keep Paraguay away from their half, up until that last ditch attempted before the whistle, which was too close for comfort.

 

Then in the second half, England stayed far too defencive for my likeing, they should have started attacking more and gottena second goal to secure a comfortable lead early on in the second half. But the Paraguay coach must have said something to the team because Para kept possension of the ball for the most of that last 45 mins.

England defended well against them though and had a few ok chances as did para.

 

The last 2 minutes of added time was heart racingly close, with the whole paraguay team going into attack mode and having a good chance at getting a painful equalizer.

 

The in between bits were full of misses, corners and fake falls. Nothing too special.

 

That ref was as biased as f*ck towards England, not giving England free kicks when he gave para free kicks for pretty much the exact same tackles earlier on. And then there was not allowing the team to get a drink or letting the England physio(sp) on when there was an injured player.

 

All just my view on it though.

Edited June 10, 2006 by kippers

[vALKYR 7]

England started off quite well and played a good game in the first half but the 2nd half was for from what I expected from England.

 

Paraguay really sucked, I think even more than Costa Rica. And yeah, the ref was sh*t... really sh*t.

[BrassKnuckles 0]

Sweden and Trinibago (abbreviation mine) is getting pretty interesting. Sweden couldn't capitalize for the first half, but now that Trinibago only has 10 men (undeserved red card for a hard challenge by Avery John), we might get to see one of Larsson or Ibrahimovic's great goals. This is a good game.

[vALKYR 7]

Yeah I said it at the Footy Desk and I'll say it again, Trinibago (©Brass) played a really good game and it's my favo team apart from England in Group B now

[Burning-Ice 0]

My thoughts: I was hoping Paraguay could score a goal at end to tie with England and teach them a lesson to not f*cking play so much defense when you are only ahead 1-0. I woke up pretty early to watch the game and was very disappointed and how easily England could of outclassed Paraguay..but they didn't.

 

As for Trinidad and Tobago, they made a fan out of me that's for sure. Every loose ball they went after and they managed a tie in their first ever World Cup game. Who knows, they might even make it past the 1st round if things go right

 

Argentina game starting soon, against another first timer Cote d' Ivoire(sp?), I, of course, love the underdog, but I hope Argentina really starts out strong in this world cup.

[Cuse510 0]

I hate Drogba, but I gotta pull for Ivory Coast to make a run in this tournament. I think if Kolo Toure and co. can hold down the defense, this team can definitely beat the Argentines today. Go Elephants

[RMT 16]

Average England today. Heat played a factor in it no doubt. But if Sven plays Hargreaves again, someone will be hurt.

 

 

RMT warms up blender

[BrassKnuckles 0]

Though the Elephants played well, Argentina is too dominant on offense for them. It's 2-0 at half after a pair of wonderful goals by Crespo and Saviola. It just feels so good when you see that offsides trap fail by a few inches...

[vALKYR 7]

Argentina played good imho but same goes for Cote D' Ivore. I just hope Holland wins tommorow, if Argentina wins against Servia-Montenegro then, they'll put their chill team on the line against Holland to enable us the easy win when we need it.

 

[BrassKnuckles 0]

Right, we'll put in our "chill team" to avenge the tragic loss in 1998. Good luck with that one, Valk.

[facugaich 0]

Omg, didn't know that another argentinian was active on these forums. Glad to meet you. I don't know crap about football, but I do enjoy watching the matches. Oh, and the score should've been 3-1, those blind a**holes.

 

I believe Argentina is going to win the cup this year, not because I know about football but because I had a revelation.

[Torcidas 8]

Argentina is actually quite good.

 

Group B Match #3

England(1) - (0)Paraguay

 

Eng- Gamarra 03' Min

 

 

Group B Match #4

Trinidad-Tobago(0) - (0)Sweden

 

 

 

Group C Match #5

Argentina(2) - (1)Cote d'Ivoire

 

Arg -Crespo 23' Min

Arg- Saviola 37' Min

Cote d'Ivoire- Drogba 81' Min

 

 

Lets go Croatia!! June 13 Brazil vs. Croatia

[Mafia Righthand_Man 1]

Good for Trinidad and Tobago. I was looking forward to Sweden finally getting some goals in that match but it was nice to see T&T tie it up and move on.

[Gamer2255668 0]

A draw would've been a fair result in the England-Paraguay game. England didn't create that many clear chances, and their goal came from a woeful peace of defending.

[Antero 0]

A draw would've been a fair result in the England-Paraguay game. England didn't create that many clear chances, and their goal came from a woeful peace of defending.

Actually I don't think that is true. England made many clear chances, it was their poor finishing touches that was apparent.

[vALKYR 7]

Right, we'll put in our "chill team" to avenge the tragic loss in 1998. Good luck with that one, Valk.

Ok, you're right, you might. But why go full speed against us when it's best to conserve for the 1/8 Finals??

[Waddy 481]

I think this world cup is setting up for a tasty England V Holland at some stage!

That would be a cool game!

 

England played average yesterday, but the sign of a good team is to win games when playing bad, we did that, we contained them, we got the points, dosent matter how, we just did!

 

Thought Argentina played well last night, they have some top players, they are challengers!

[Crokey 10,436]

Do we really need a seperate thread for the World Cup since there's no domestic football to talk about in the Footy Desk.

 

But anywho to round up, the Germany, Costa Rica match I only saw the last 15 minutes as I'm still working at that time, not a bad game. Poland, Ecuador, not a bad match I didn't think it was the upset everyone was talking about considering their qualifing record. Argies, Ivory Coast, that was a good match that one, I really want Ivory coast to do well in that one, and they nearly did.

 

England, Paragay, quite a boring match really, we got the win which is the important thing, but they didn't set the stall out like Argentina did last night to say to everyone else 'look we're here to win this thing' they plodded along and I have to agree with what Alan Shearer said after the match about Sven's subbing.

 

But the best game I've seen so far was T'N'T vs Sweeden, what a belter that was, the Swedes have been well stunned by them and we had better watch out when we play them on Thursday, they are going to be a tough one to crack.

 

GC

[Torcidas 8]

I'm watching Iran vs. Mexico ATM, and it's 1-1 at just about half time.

Mexico at 27' Min (Bravo)

Iran at 35' Min (Golmohammadi)

 

Serbia-Montenegro played the Netherlands today, finishing at 1-0 for the Netherlands.

Netherlands at 17' Min (Robben)

 

I'm looking forward to watching Portugal's match with Angola. I'm going for the underdogs, I don't like the Portuguese team much.

 

Australia vs. Japan is something I will also be watching, it'll show Croatia weaknesses and strengths of the two teams, so we could possibly prepare ourselves correctly.

 

Who do you think will recieve the Golden Boot Award this year? It's too early to decide yet, but I would think someone like Thierry Henry, or Luca Toni.

 

[Wolfwood 42]

I got to be honest with you, I am really impressed with all the games so far. I just adore international football matches and so I am one happy bunny to say the least!

 

England, I'm rooting for my home boys and I was really chuffed with the way we played in our first game, and well, everyone is saying how it is our best chance since 1966, and I think they're right. Second odd favourites to win aswell. A great line-up and we even have Robert Green in the squad! That guy is a legend, and so nice to me!

 

Germany and Ivory Coast have really really shone for me at the moment. I'm just like 'wow' and the opening game was a cracker. Not missed one game yet, and I hope it stays that way!

 

I am not sure why, but I am really hoping for an England - Brazil or an England - France game.

[Antero 0]

If I recall the groups correctly, the only time England and Brazil could play would be in the Final, so that would be excellent indeed.

 

Angola and Portugal kick off in 15 mins. Portugal is another of my favourite teams - can't wait.

[BrassKnuckles 0]

Iran was looking good, almost dominant, for the better part of the first half. But they haven't got much of a defense and they leave plenty of holes, which Mexico really exploited. I guess that's the most goals Mexico has ever scored in a World Cup game, that's pretty cool.

 

Didn't watch the Holland game (although I hear they played well, and the Argentina-Netherlands game, June 21 should be FANTASTIC), and now I'm rooting for Portugal. Even though Cristiano Ronaldo is a big girl.