# Off-Topic Discussion > Sports >  world Cup 06

## Katy

Germanys begun, with England beating paraquay 1 - 0 im=n a rather poor match. Equador put 2 past poland and Germany beat Costa Rica 4 2 despite two good goals from Paulo Wanchope. 

Whether you love it or hate the world cup, any opinions on the games could be posted in this thread.

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## di marco

i watched the first half of the germany/costa rica game yesterday and i have to say i was pretty disappointed with germanys performance, i thought they played quite poorly

today i watched the england/paraguay game, i think england played really well in the first half, but they came out for the second half and werent playing that well at all, its like they thought the first half is over we dont have to try as hard now! and i thought svens choice of subs was stupid as well! oh and also i thought the referee was a bit unfair in places

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## Pixie

the ref seemed to have it in a bit for poor Gerrard, first the yellow card and then not letting the physio onto the pitch for him when he hurt his knee

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## di marco

> the ref seemed to have it in a bit for poor Gerrard, first the yellow card and then not letting the physio onto the pitch for him when he hurt his knee


yeh he did seem to have it in for him, and crouch. i think he was more unfair to england than paraguay but he was pretty strict with both, like when he gave a free kick to england cos the goalkeeper held the ball for too long or something?!

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## .:SpIcYsPy:.

Weh-hey  :Big Grin:  Here's the lovely thread I was looking for!!

England won 1-0 to Paraguay!!  :Big Grin:  Didn't really watch the match because I had to go to a wedding.. me and dad was complaning all through it and mum got a bit 'annoyed' with us  :Rotfl:  But we came home for the last bits, watched the highlights.. just enough to sum it up for us!!

Dosen't seem like I missed much though since there was only 1 goal scored througout the whole game but it's good enough  :Big Grin: 

Go On England!!  :Cheer:

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## Chris_2k11

Who scored please?? I was out.

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## lollymay

david beckham kicked a free kick and it rebounded off on of the players from paraguay into the goal so basically it was an own goal.

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## Chris_2k11

> david beckham kicked a free kick and it rebounded off on of the players from paraguay into the goal so basically it was an own goal.


Cheers Paraguay!  :Rotfl:   :Thumbsup:

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## di marco

> Cheers Paraguay!


lol! it looked like it would have gone in anyway, but either way im not bothered lol!  :Smile:

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## Katy

I felt really sorry for the paraquay goalie i hope hes not out for the rest of the world cup. Trinidad and tobago did England a big big favour as the managed to keep sweededn to a 0 0 draw with 10 men. They were fab all the way through. Shak Hislop was a complete legend and he wasnt meant to be first choice goalkeeper, kelvin jock who plays for dundee was injured walking back to the dressing room after the prematch warm up and Shaka had 10 minutes to get his gloves on. Looking forward to the trinidad and tobago England game now.

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## alan45

On the basis of yesterdays poor performance I dont think Sven and the |boys should be makinany hotel reservations fot the quarter finals

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## Jojo

No-one shoot me down in flames here, but I thought yesterdays performance was diabolical....

If it hadn't been for the own goal, it would have been a goal-less draw.  The players didn't really seem very enthusiastic about it at all, yet during half time the commentary team were talking about a fantastic performance in the previous half!  Ermm, i couldn't really see anything fantastic about it.  OK, so the ref seemed to be over enthusiastic about his yellow carding and there were 2 Paraguay players that seemed to love eating the grass, but if I were one of the players or coaches, I wouldn't have been overly proud with that performance.  We'll be lucky to go much further than the first round.  The Trinidad and Tobago match may bring a host of surprises.  Lets hope they aren't for England eh.

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## lollymay

> No-one shoot me down in flames here, but I thought yesterdays performance was diabolical....
> 
> If it hadn't been for the own goal, it would have been a goal-less draw.  The players didn't really seem very enthusiastic about it at all, yet during half time the commentary team were talking about a fantastic performance in the previous half!  Ermm, i couldn't really see anything fantastic about it.  OK, so the ref seemed to be over enthusiastic about his yellow carding and there were 2 Paraguay players that seemed to love eating the grass, but if I were one of the players or coaches, I wouldn't have been overly proud with that performance.  We'll be lucky to go much further than the first round.  The Trinidad and Tobago match may bring a host of surprises.  Lets hope they aren't for England eh.


i agree totally with this. england start uppin your game, im very glad i didnt waste the money on watching that match in germany, id be asking for it back!

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## Layne

I mean i missed the first half of the game 'couz i was working, but i watched the second half which was pretty crap to be honest, And what the hell was Sven thinking taking owen off and putting a defender on, leaving poor Crouch on his own, I mean he had no one to pass to, if Sven had kept owen on they i think the score would of maybe been maybe 3/2-0. What does he think he is doing playing the 5-4-1 formation  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):  what a pleb.?!
I personally don't like sven and to be honest i don't particularly think he is a brilliant manager. So lets just hope our lads play better next game.

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## Katy

Sven was playing more of a 3 - 6 formation as from where I was watching there was no forwards in sight, and he must have been having a flipping laugh when he bought on Owen "the canadian born German" Hargreaves on the pitch. In my opinion Trinidad and Tobago played better as a team, i dont get why the England players dont play how the do in the EPL, Gerrard is cracking for Liverpool but yesterday he was not in the game at all, the same applys to Lampard i hardly ever saw him. 

However some of the other games i have seen have been really good. Holland played well today even though it was only 1 0. But after the Argentines performance last night i wouldnt be surprised if they won it.

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## di marco

i saw the first 20mins about of the argentina/ivory coast game yesterday and then a bit of the second half as well, i thought the ivory coast played really well for the bits i saw, especially as they were playing against a big team like argentina, but i got a bit bored through some of it to be honest, when they were just walking around with the ball like they had all the time in the world! the first goal from argentina which wasnt counted, thats a bit unfair in a way, but i have to admit i did laugh when it happened lol!

didnt see any of the sweden/trinidad and tobago game but my dad said that trinidad and tobago played well so im looking forward to seeing how well england as well as trinidad and tobago play on thursday

i saw some of the holland/serbia game, i liked watching holland, i thought they were great, annoyingly though their goal happened as i was in the loo lol!  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): 

also saw some of the iran/mexico game but didnt really see much as i had a headache so decided to stop watching, the bit i saw though, i thought iran played better than i expected them to

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## Katy

Its been really good so far, i have dipped in aout to loads of them. Usually the opening matches dont live up to expectaition. 

Felt really sorry for borgetti, i hope his World cup isnt over.

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## Rach33

The england match could have been so much better but they won on a fluke and pure luck the second half was ok Paraguay to me seemed twice as good as england in the last 45 mins 

As for Trindad and Tobaga I'm sooooo looking forward to this match I think England will need to work hard they are a good side who played well the other day

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## Katy

The socceroos showed the japanese what a comeback was, 1 - 0 down to win 3 1 after scoring 3 goals in 8 minutes. It was a great game, kept me hooked from start to finish. However the aussies did get a little desperate and even reverted to plan B, being Kick anything that moves. Also we saw Mr Kewell sporting anew short haircut having cut off that ridiculous bun.

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## di marco

id have liked to have seen that game, seeing as they scored 3 goals in such a short space of time near the end. watched some of the czech republic/usa game, im liking the czech republic

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## Katy

the czechs surprised me abtually, heard there big guy, Jan Koller got stratchered off , dad thinks he tore his hamstring, Painful. 

it was 3 0 in the end i think. I saw Reyna hitting the post, that was all i was having tea. the USA were out of it copletly looking at the highlights.

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## pookie1968uk

> I mean i missed the first half of the game 'couz i was working, but i watched the second half which was pretty crap to be honest, And what the hell was Sven thinking taking owen off and putting a defender on, leaving poor Crouch on his own, I mean he had no one to pass to, if Sven had kept owen on they i think the score would of maybe been maybe 3/2-0. What does he think he is doing playing the 5-4-1 formation  what a pleb.?!
> I personally don't like sven and to be honest i don't particularly think he is a brilliant manager. So lets just hope our lads play better next game.


i agree with everything you have said! i have never much liked sven, and not just because he's going either, why does he keep changing to silly formations that the players dont do well. if he had kept it the same as the first half we would have been playing much better im sure.

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## di marco

> the czechs surprised me abtually, heard there big guy, Jan Koller got stratchered off , dad thinks he tore his hamstring, Painful. 
> 
> it was 3 0 in the end i think. I saw Reyna hitting the post, that was all i was having tea. the USA were out of it copletly looking at the highlights.


i didnt see much of it either, cos hollyoaks was on lol! and i didnt see the first half. yeh he got stretchered off, not sure what was wrong with him though

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## Siobhan

The italians play very very dirty last night.. Ghana tried their best but were deny 2 penalties that would had have them back in the game

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## Katy

The Italians plan 1 b c d e and f, all seemed to be get the ball, lose the ball then fall over to get the free kick. There was a lot of cheating going on.

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## Katy

Come on Togo, equalise. Flipping south korean cheats. As for Graham poll sending that guy off, hes ruined the game. The fellows an embarrasment to the premier league. Other countrys think that hes the best referee the EPL has. Whoever sent him to the World cup is haveing a laugh. I could do a better job myself.

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## di marco

the togo/south korea game was one of the most interesting ive watched so far, although either team arent the most brilliant, i thought it was a really good match, and the goals that were scored were good, i really wanted togo to equalise. one thing i hate though is when near the end of the match the winning team just pass the ball backwards and forwards, i know its a good idea from a tactical point of view but its boring to watch!

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## alkalinetrio

talking about argie and ivory coast game did anyone see that blatant dive the argies done? it got eboue booked aswell haha i can not tell you how bad my swearing was when i saw that! come on ivory coast:P i enjoy watching them but england all the way poor first game but then again in 66 we drew first game and then went onto win it so im still confident! bring on the germans:P

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## di marco

i thought the france/switzerland game was good today too, i really wanted switzerland to get a goal, but both teams played well

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## alkalinetrio

yah same i wanted the swiss to win! and i want croatia to win but there lose 1-0 at moment noooooooooooo

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## di marco

> yah same i wanted the swiss to win! and i want croatia to win but there lose 1-0 at moment noooooooooooo


im not watching that game, i wanted to but my parents are watching something else instead!  :Sad:

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## Katy

ONly 1 0 to Brazil, with Austrailia ahead of them, wouldnt it be a laugh if they didnt qualify. Croatia deserved a goal at the end.

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## di marco

> ONly 1 0 to Brazil, with Austrailia ahead of them, wouldnt it be a laugh if they didnt qualify. Croatia deserved a goal at the end.


yeh that would be funny lol! but i think after the next game brazil will probably be top of the group, and australia having gone down to second, maybe even third, but i could be wrong, we will see, stranger things have happened!

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## Siobhan

What a cracking game last night!!! Croatia deserved a goal.. they battled so hard against brazil.. It should have been a draw cause they were very evenly matched

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## Katy

Spain currnetly 3 - 0 up against Ukraine it didnt take very long. Xabi Alonso scored first, but the commentator got very excited and said Luis Garcia, getting the wrong player, that made me laugh.

A very Lame penalty, it was a poor decision of the referee, cracking dive from Garcia.

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## xXxJessxXx

Cant believe england are the only team in our group to have won a game! lol (not really suprising as the maximum it could be is 2!lol but it sounds good doesnt it!)

People are saying England didnt play too good the other day agaisnt Paraquay (Which is true) but dont forget they were running about for 90mins in a odd country and it was about 30 degrees on Saturday! I cant barley even stand up for 30 minutes when its that hot! Cut them some slack!  

If we beat trinidad and Tobago tomorrow then its a dead certainty that we will qualify even if it means loosing to Sweden on the 20th!  :Cheer:  

I watched the Trinidad and Tabago v Sweden Game and they were so good to draw with sweden and with only ten men! They were really quick and i do think that England will have to pull something out of the bag if they are to do well in this competition. A lot of the under dog teams are suprisingly really good!And all though i love watching them in think its safe to say we all hope England dont find them self in a penalty shoot out because they never win! You'd think sven would start practising them with the boys especially after both Lampard and Crouch missed them during the friendlies!

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## Katy

The spainards got of to a cracking start, 4 - 0. Thats what you call a game. Im actually looking forward to tomorrow, see what T and T can pull out the bag. I think they will surprise with 11 man and could be an evenly contested game. I dont think that Sven actually knows what hes doing, if he plays rooney i think he has made a big mistake and even Owen as he isnt match fit either. Id play 4 5 1, the big man on his own up front, with Lampard Gerrard in the middle being held by Michael Carrick, cole and Beckham on the wings.

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## di marco

> I dont think that Sven actually knows what hes doing, if he plays rooney i think he has made a big mistake and even Owen as he isnt match fit either. Id play 4 5 1, the big man on his own up front, with Lampard Gerrard in the middle being held by Michael Carrick, cole and Beckham on the wings.


hes not going to start with rooney, but he hasnt decided whether to bring him on or not, i personally dont think he should. i think he should start with owen though (but maybe substitute him in after half time with theo walcott seeing as sven brought him he should let him play otherwise what was the point?!) but i dont think only playing crouch at the front will work, it was evident on saturday that when owen came off, there was no one to pass to up front and so i think they need to start with 2 up front, even if afterwards they change it down to one

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## alkalinetrio

no way could you play 4 5 1 with crouch up front hes not a natural pocher if thats spelt right! 4 4 2 shud stick with i seriously cant wait till owen comes back he shud give walcott last 20 mins and if we score keep attacking and dont defend like we have been its pointless were turning into the italians

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## di marco

> no way could you play 4 5 1 with crouch up front hes not a natural pocher if thats spelt right! 4 4 2 shud stick with i seriously cant wait till owen comes back he shud give walcott last 20 mins and if we score keep attacking and dont defend like we have been its pointless were turning into the italians


yep i agree with the 4 4 2, it works so why change it? plus 4 5 1 proved not to work on saturday. i think in a way we should still try and attack and get goals cos even if youre 1-0 up that could change really easily, even 2-0 is a bit risky, but you should also try and defend as well, but i hate it when any team just gets one goal and thinks that the attacking is done and all thats left is defending, its so stupid

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## .:SpIcYsPy:.

England have just won the game against T + T by 2-0!!  :Cheer: 

Fantastic game played today!! Just excellent!! Keep it up England!!  :Cheer:  x 100

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## Kim

How did they score 2 goals?! I watched five minutes of it before I went upstairs, and the way they were going, if they moved any slower they would have fallen asleep on the pitch!

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## .:SpIcYsPy:.

I personally think they really started to speed up when Lenon and Rooney came on.. especially in the 2nd half!! Excellent!! Always keeping the ball in their half!!  :Bow:

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## Katy

> England have just won the game against T + T by 2-0!! 
> 
> *Fantastic game played* today!! Just excellent!! Keep it up England!!  x 100


No offence, but what game were you watching. England were shockingly bad,  the T and T players get payed a 10th of what the likes of Lampard and Gerrard do, Gerrard did nothing for 90 minutes then gave Shake deja vu of the cup final. Im sorry but but they are not going to beat a team that are any good, if Trinidad could finish a ball then they would definatly not have won. As for Beckham call himself a captain, 1 out of 10 kicks he did made it into the box and Lampard left his shooting boots in the hotel. They were poor without Lennon and Rooney they changed the game as he put one foot in front of the other and ran.  Sven got himself out of jail by 1) Crouchs goal - should have been dissalowed as he was fouling the trindad bloke and a god goal by Gerrard. T + T played so well and did there country proud, they play for the likes of Wrexham, Gillingham and Port Vale. Sven took no risks, Lennon should have been on at the start. As for there goal no way should it have been dissalowed. 

OK rant over, im just dissapointed for Trinidad and Tobago as they worked there socks off, they Deserved the point.

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## Kim

My friend just told me that they scored a goal in the last four seconds of the match. It's like going to school, sitting and chatting and then writing a page in the last five minutes or something.

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## Katy

Any one would have thought they were having a kick about on the park. Id fine there wages i tell you is Sven had the bottle. People have paid 500 quid a ticket or whatever and i know at the end of the day they won but it was still 85 minutes of pure drivel. I admire the tobago fans. They Cheered whenever they got the ball and did show some quality football. When they are meant to favourites to win, you dont expect 2 goals in the last 5 minutes. You expect a massacre a bit like Spain did, they showed Ukraine they were up for the world cup by banging 4 past them, 4 Quality goals as well.

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## .:SpIcYsPy:.

Lol yes playing T+T they should have done a lot better and especially a lot faster than they did!! Yes they do need to speed it up.. alot.. if they are going to play someone better and win it!!

I was just impressed by how the ball didn't go to T+T's half in the 2nd half lol  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## Em

> Lol yes playing T+T they should have done a lot better and especially a lot faster than they did!! Yes they do need to speed it up.. alot.. if they are going to play someone better and win it!!
> 
> I was just impressed by how the ball didn't go to T+T's half in the 2nd half lol


did you miss  the goal they scored chick? :Stick Out Tongue:

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## Katy

It did go in there half. Everytime Glen got the ball he had the beating of Ferdinand and Tery. The beat Robinson twice but were unlucky Terry ws there both times. 

did you see when dwight yorke got hit in his erm..privates. That was funny. Him and his trainers found the funny side. I was laughing so much.

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## alkalinetrio

that crouch goal was no way a foul and as for that goal being disalowed he was just offlside by a nudge

but i agree on england playing crap they just dont attack the ball as much as i wud like to see need fast players running at people like rooney and lennon did! im expecting better at the sweden game

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## Em

did anyone else think rooney looked really unfit?

he had to keep stopping and was sweating buckets by the end.

if thats match fit .....

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## di marco

well that match, as much as i hate to say it, was pretty dreadful really! trinidad and tobago played really well, and at times i was genuinely worried that they were going to score, especially when robinson missed the save and was no where near the goal for the next shot, thank god for john terry lol! im glad england scored 2 goals though and they won so im happy enough! gerrards goal was good

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## di marco

> Always keeping the ball in their half!!


erm they were loads of times when trinidad and tobago charged up the pitch with the ball without an english player in sight!

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## di marco

> T + T played so well and did there country proud, they play for the likes of Wrexham, Gillingham and Port Vale. Sven took no risks, Lennon should have been on at the start. As for there goal no way should it have been dissalowed.


the player was so blatantly offside, of corse it should have been disallowed!

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## di marco

> did you see when dwight yorke got hit in his erm..privates. That was funny. Him and his trainers found the funny side. I was laughing so much.


lol yeh that was funny, me and my sis couldnt stop laughing!

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## .:SpIcYsPy:.

I really need to choose my words carefully  :Rotfl:  Well most the times in the 2nd half I thought they kept the ball well on their side..

Dwight Yorke had me in stiches!!  :Lol:  Least he saw the funny side  :Thumbsup: 

Terry... I have no words for him... he was just excellent...just brilliant!!

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## Siobhan

> erm they were loads of times when trinidad and tobago charged up the pitch with the ball without an english player in sight!


they did that so many times but they don't have the world class players to finish the job.. if that had been the likes of Ronaldo (in his prime) it would have been a walk over by T&T.. great in midfield and getting forward but just can't finish

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## di marco

> they did that so many times but they don't have the world class players to finish the job.. if that had been the likes of Ronaldo (in his prime) it would have been a walk over by T&T.. great in midfield and getting forward but just can't finish


yep precisely, its all well and good having as many english players as possible in the box for a corner/free kick, but they cant all be there cos when something like that happens then theres no one there to defend

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## Katy

> that crouch goal was *no way a foul*l and as for that goal being disalowed he was just offlside by a nudge


He was pulling his dreadlocks. that in my opinion is a foul. How can it not be. 
dont get me wrong its great that the won but every one is reacting like they were heros and amazing. It was a pretty poor game with lots of cheating that if a decent referere was in charge it might have been better.

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## di marco

> He was pulling his dreadlocks. that in my opinion is a foul. How can it not be. 
> dont get me wrong its great that the won but every one is reacting like they were heros and amazing. It was a pretty poor game with lots of cheating that if a decent referere was in charge it might have been better.


im now lost to which goal we are talking about lol! but from the games ive watched, there has been a lot of cheating going on in all of them

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## .:SpIcYsPy:.

Argentina 6-0 Serbia & Montenegro  :EEK!:

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## di marco

> Argentina 6-0 Serbia & Montenegro


did you see the match spicy?  :Smile:

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## .:SpIcYsPy:.

Nope!! Missed it.. would have loved to watch it if I knew they were going to get that.. would have been interesting and entertaining.. obviously  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## di marco

> Nope!! Missed it.. would have loved to watch it if I knew they were going to get that.. would have been interesting and entertaining.. obviously


oh right, it was a really good match, i was disappointed with argentinas first game but this one made up for it, it was brilliant! if you have interactive, you can watch it again at 8pm

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## .:SpIcYsPy:.

> oh right, it was a really good match, i was disappointed with argentinas first game but this one made up for it, it was brilliant! if you have interactive, you can watch it again at 8pm


 :Big Grin:  I do.. lol.. Any ideas what channel? x

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## di marco

> I do.. lol.. Any ideas what channel? x


erm im not sure, i dont have digital but they mentioned it, i think maybe you press red but i dont know, sorry they werent that detailed about it!

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## .:SpIcYsPy:.

Not to worry.. clashed with EE + BB anyways  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## Katy

There going to take some beating. cant wait for Brazil Austraillia tomorrow. I think the aussies might win. They have a more aggresive style of play. The mexica Angola match was incredible boring.

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## Katy

That referee was a bit suspect in the USA Italia game. They did well to hang on to 1 - 1 with 9 men. I the goal should have been allowed as when McBride was offside then he wasnt "active" as he was not interfering with play.

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## alan45

My goodness what happened with the Czech Republic. Congratulations to Ghana for a well deserved win and a very entertaining match :Smile:

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## di marco

> My goodness what happened with the Czech Republic. Congratulations to Ghana for a well deserved win and a very entertaining match


yeh i know, i couldnt believe it, well done to ghana though, just goes to show really that anything can happen  :Smile:

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## Katy

I hope Ghana can get through to the second round. They really have taken over the role that was Cameroon, Nigeria.

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## alkalinetrio

ghana just need to win and there through italy and the checs will be fighting it out to win if ghana win cause one of them will go out if ghana win

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## alan45

What about the South Koreans    Real Roy of the Rovers stuff.  Bad luck to the snail eaters. LOL :Rotfl:

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## di marco

> What about the South Koreans    Real Roy of the Rovers stuff.  Bad luck to the snail eaters. LOL


lol! my dad was well pleased about that result last night, he was going round the house singing "the frogs might be coming home" lol!  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## alkalinetrio

i hope the swiss go through come on SENDEROS! WEEEY ENGLAND GAME tomorrow COME ON ENGLAND

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## Katy

Bad luck to Tunisia, last night. Scoring that earlys not that good especially when they dont score again, thats a bit like what the aussies did to the Japanese.

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## pookie1968uk

Come on England!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
show those swedes and our  manager what we're made of!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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## alan45

Whats wrong with Wayne Rooney.   Does he not know the words of the National Anthem :Angry:

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## alkalinetrio

all i now is god save the queen lol

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## pookie1968uk

> Whats wrong with Wayne Rooney.   Does he not know the words of the National Anthem


some of them are complete miseries when it comes to singing our national anthem! they should be proud of it!
i noticed in the first game we played the only player not singing was neville and he had his head down! was he ashamed to be english or something!!?

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## alkalinetrio

nah i think he was making sure he didnt drop hes wallet

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## alan45

> nah i think he was making sure he didnt drop hes wallet


 Yeh probably thought he was at Anfield. :Stick Out Tongue:  


Anyway  magnificent goal by Joe Cole :Cheer:

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## alan45

1 - 1   now it looks like a football match

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## pookie1968uk

i can hardly watch! the swedes have hit the crossbar twice!!
and hey alan, watch those comments about my beloved football ground and fellow merseysiders!!!!!!!!

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## Meh

I'm waiting for England to bring on Theo.

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## Meh

Looking at this match, only positive is that we play Ecuador. WTF was Sven thinking when picking the team. Moron

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## lollymay

yet again a rubbish match - i dont think we can go much further unless we up our game.

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## pookie1968uk

at least we avoid germany for now anyway! how much longer will we survive with our team falling apart!

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## di marco

> Whats wrong with Wayne Rooney.   Does he not know the words of the National Anthem


thats like loads of teams ive watched, quite a lot of them dont know their national anthem

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## di marco

> some of them are complete miseries when it comes to singing our national anthem! they should be proud of it!
> i noticed in the first game we played the only player not singing was neville and he had his head down! was he ashamed to be english or something!!?


i noticed one of the swedes yesterday had a well grumpy face on while their national anthem was being played. my dad said that neville has never sung the national anthem and always stands like that, my dad said he thought he read somewhere about a reason why he didnt sing it but i cant remember what he said it was now

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## di marco

although england still didnt play brilliant, it was a much more interesting game than the other 2 cos of the fact that sweden were a better opposition, during the first half england definitely played better than in the second half, i didnt really think they were going to get a win but it did actually look like they would near the end when gerrard scored the second goal, but a draws all we needed and they got that so i cant really complain. does anyone know whats actually wrong with owen, i couldnt find anything about it, hes having a scan today isnt he? i cant believe he injured himself so early on, i hope hes ok but it didnt look good really. and im glad that gerrard, lampard and crouch didnt pick up a second yellow card though

----------


## di marco

> I'm waiting for England to bring on Theo.


i cant believe sven still hasnt given him a chance, and the commentators commenting that we only have 2 strikers now cos of owen being injured, erm last time i looked there were 4 in the squad lol not just 3! i think svens realised though that he made a mistake bringing him and isnt going to use him unless absolutely necessary, which was then pointless in bringing him

----------


## di marco

> at least we avoid germany for now anyway! how much longer will we survive with our team falling apart!


yep its good that we avoid germany, and if all goes well today we will also be avoiding argentina in the quarter finals which is another good thing lol! i agree england havent been playing their best but theyve done enough to get through which is the main thing, ive noticed that other big teams have also been playing like this just doing enough for what is needed, hopefully as the tournament goes on england will improve but i dont think its just england that havent been playing to their best

----------


## Jojo

I thought we played better this time, although the second half started to bore me again.  It was far better than our first  games though, although thats probably more to do with the fact that we are through to the knockout stages no matter what happened during this match - shame they play the better football when under no pressure.  Though as soon as Sweden equalised, the heads went down, and play started getting worse as time went on again.  And we still haven't beaten Sweden for however long it is...grrrr.

----------


## Gadders

in last nights game i think england played really well considering they have now lost micheal owen. joe coles goal was the best england goal of this tornament. in the second half england let themselves down. the second sweeden goal could have been cleared. but i think steven gerrards goal was pretty good.

----------


## alan45

> yep its good that we avoid germany, and if all goes well today we will also be avoiding argentina in the quarter finals


 You are forgetting the small matter of Ecuador on Sunday.  Any talk of progressing any further is wishful thinking at this stage

----------


## Gadders

i think that if we put the effort in against equador on sunday we will w'in. 'Fingers crossed' jst hope we can do alot better than what we have played in the group stages of this competition. were has the form that we hit before we got to germany. we need to get that back and win.

----------


## lollymay

i really think sven should have let theo wilcott play yesterday - what is the pint in bringing him if you dont let him play?

----------


## Gadders

i no they should ave put him on and played with 2 up front insted of 5 in midfield cause his plan obviously didnt work also i think micheal carrick should play aswell.

----------


## di marco

> You are forgetting the small matter of Ecuador on Sunday.  Any talk of progressing any further is wishful thinking at this stage


i was wondering when someone would say that, yeh they do have to beat ecuador first but i was just stating the fact that another good point from winning the group is not only not having to play germany but also that by winning the group there is now a very very very high chance that they wont have to play argentina cos its highly likely argentina will also finish top of their group, thats what i didnt get about germany saying that they wanted to win their group so they didnt play us, well if i was germany id rather have played england than argentina, i know you have to get past the second round before you can even get into the quarterfinals but out of all the 32 teams only 1 can win, that means the other 31 are going to lose no matter whether they dont get past the group stages or whether they lose in the final, therefore surely youd want to be looking ahead and plan which is the best route to take to the finals, yes every team will want to play the easiest teams (obviously germany thought sweden were a better bet than england) but theres no point beating a weak team if youre then going to come up against one of the biggest teams in the round after that, surely it would be more intelligent to play 2 semi-good teams?

----------


## alan45

> i was wondering when someone would say that, yeh they do have to beat ecuador first but i was just stating the fact that another good point from winning the group is not only not having to play germany but also that by winning the group there is now a very very very high chance that they wont have to play argentina cos its highly likely argentina will also finish top of their group, thats what i didnt get about germany saying that they wanted to win their group so they didnt play us, well if i was germany id rather have played england than argentina, i know you have to get past the second round before you can even get into the quarterfinals but out of all the 32 teams only 1 can win, that means the other 31 are going to lose no matter whether they dont get past the group stages or whether they lose in the final, therefore surely youd want to be looking ahead and plan which is the best route to take to the finals, yes every team will want to play the easiest teams (obviously germany thought sweden were a better bet than england) but theres no point beating a weak team if youre then going to come up against one of the biggest teams in the round after that, surely it would be more intelligent to play 2 semi-good teams?


 Sorry I wasnt getting at you but what I meant is that everyone is saying that Ecuador will be a walkover and the media are in their usual jingoistic form.  Ecuador may be a more difficult match than folk realise and its certainly not a foregone conclusion.


.........Alan heads off to bookies to put a few quid on Ecuador....... :Smile:

----------


## Siobhan

> Sorry I wasnt getting at you but what I meant is that everyone is saying that Ecuador will be a walkover and the media are in their usual jingoistic form. Ecuador may be a more difficult match than folk realise and its certainly not a foregone conclusion.
> 
> 
> .........Alan heads off to bookies to put a few quid on Ecuador.......


Just to back up Alan on this.. Ecuador played without 4 of their top guys against the Germanys yesterday to rest them for the next round. If England plays they way they have been, it don't see them progressing... England has to pick up there game to get further

----------


## di marco

> Sorry I wasnt getting at you but what I meant is that everyone is saying that Ecuador will be a walkover and the media are in their usual jingoistic form.  Ecuador may be a more difficult match than folk realise and its certainly not a foregone conclusion.
> 
> 
> .........Alan heads off to bookies to put a few quid on Ecuador.......


yeh i know you werent, just wanted to explain what i meant. i think people assume ecuador will be easy to beat just cos theyre a team that not many people have heard about before (well i dont mean heard about exactly but couldnt think of the word i wanted) i mean, theyve only been in the world cup once before and that time that went out in the first round, this year they have already proven that they are good enough to get through to the second round and managed to beat poland who although they may not be anywhere near the best team were expected to beat ecuador and come second in the group. also although germany werent playing that great but managed to beat ecuador 3-0 doesnt mean a lot when half of ecuadors first choice team werent playing so they could rest for the next round. although im fairly confident that england can beat ecuador if they play properly (although it will no dealt be harder now that owens out of it) i dont think that everyone should think they dont have to try, i think england have the ability to be the better team but they actually need to play to the standard they are capable of if they want to make sure that they proceed any further

----------


## x Amby x

i thought it was good match last night! It was well freaky at the beginning of the match i go to my bro, oh i bet Joe Cole  :Wub:  will score tonight and then he did and when they sais they were bringing Steven Gerrard  :Wub:  on i was like oh we'll start scoring goals now and then they did! lol OMG  :EEK!:  poor Michael Owen! it will be good though because now Theo can play to show us what hes made of! lol x

----------


## di marco

> poor Michael Owen! it will be good though because now Theo can play to show us what hes made of! lol x


yeh its a shame about owen, hes going to be out for 5 months!  :Sad:  i dont think theyll play theo though in his place, i think theyll play rooney and crouch and if they take one of them off then theyll only play 1 up front

----------


## Meh

England really make it a game of two halves. The last goal conceeded was poor defending and goal keeping.

Sven's decission to include Theo Walcott is coming back to haunt him. What he needs to do now is drop the dead donkeys from the team. Lampard, Beckham and Hargreaves (even though he had a decent game) must go. Lennon, Gerrard, and Rooney should be given priority. Even though Ronney is not at 100%, his 50% is better than most players.

Ecuador will be no walkover and England would do well not to take them lightly. Sven is a total moron for letting the wifes/girlfriends/family come and distract the players. They need to be 100% focused now and be building up that desire to win. Its a well known fact that sex before a match saps a players strength and aggresion. Most boxers go months without just so they are aggressive in the ring.

----------


## .:SpIcYsPy:.

Theo was still not playing and I was beggining to get mixed up and started questioning myself, thinking was Theo 'bought' to play England and not some other club/country?!

Dad bet with his friends that J.Cole would score and he did so  :Big Grin:   :Stick Out Tongue: 

This game was definatly better than the other two.. Good luck playing against Equador (sp?)!! Go England  :Big Grin: 




> all i now is god save the queen lol


Same here!! We never were really taught (sp?) it or however your meant to learn it!! I think footballers should get a lesson on it though!!

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## alkalinetrio

hargreaves is a good player if more people gave him a chance instead of booing him all the time what really anoy me is if one person boos then the rest follow it was the same with crouch! i still dont agree on crouch being put straight in he cant play the attacking football we need yeah hes scored goals but the mount of chances hes had so far in world cup so far and hes fluffed them i know its big gamble but i wud chance theo hes got pase and if he was given a chance i reckon it wud be good

i agree on the wifes should be banned from going abroad with the players! btw if my writing seems bit weird cause i feel dizzy from drinking a little bit so i apoligise

----------


## Katy

Sven has a little problem, with no fit strikers. I bet hes regretting leaving Bent or Defoe at home and taking useless midfielders that will never get a game, hmm, Jenas. Poor Owen, it looks like 6 - 9 months, he must be gutted and so must newcastle i dont tink that he has really played for him, first his metatarsil and now this, hes having a rough time.

----------


## Xx-Vicky-xX

Anyone know how Holland did lastnight??

----------


## alan45

You can find all the results http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/default.stm

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## Siobhan

What an incredibly boring game last night... I saw no passion from Argentina at all. would have prefered if they showed the other match

----------


## Meh

> What an incredibly boring game last night... I saw no passion from Argentina at all. would have prefered if they showed the other match


Yeah, it was boring. The other match was a cracker - Ivory Coast coming from 2-0 down to win 3-2

Holland defended well, and Argentina held the ball well. The rest of the game was boring. Would have been better if at least one team needed to win to go into the next round.

----------


## Siobhan

> Yeah, it was boring. The other match was a cracker - Ivory Coast coming from 2-0 down to win 3-2
> 
> Holland defended well, and Argentina held the ball well. The rest of the game was boring. Would have been better if at least one team needed to win to go into the next round.


It was like they had given up.. they had a "well we are in the next round" attitude.. I hate group like that... I like the groups where it is still possible for anyone to get through.. they fight for the next round

----------


## Meh

> It was like they had given up.. they had a "well we are in the next round" attitude.. I hate group like that... I like the groups where it is still possible for anyone to get through.. they fight for the next round


In that case, watch Ecuador go through against England. Everyone here is thinking we're guaranteed a place in the quater finals.

----------


## Siobhan

> In that case, watch Ecuador go through against England. Everyone here is thinking we're guaranteed a place in the quater finals.


I don't.. Ecuador rested their best players and they are no walk over... I predict it will go to penalities.. or England to lose by 1 goal cause they are not playing well at all.. I like the germans this year, there is a togetherness about them and they are playing like friends and not all going for glory... I want German to make it to the finals (i don't mind if they don't win) as I will be in Germany for the final and the atmosphere will be electric if they make it

----------


## alan45

> Everyone here is thinking we're guaranteed a place in the quater finals.


 I dont.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):   Unless England make a vast improvement on recent showings they will be in for a shock.  Ecuador is no Jamaica

----------


## di marco

omg i cant believe the english referee giving that player 3 yellow cards before he sent him off, what an idiot!

----------


## Siobhan

> omg i cant believe the english referee giving that player 3 yellow cards before he sent him off, what an idiot!


but he didn't send him off until after the final whistle.. that was just plain weird!!!

----------


## di marco

> but he didn't send him off until after the final whistle.. that was just plain weird!!!


didnt he? i didnt see it, my dad told me, how can you make such a mistake like that though?!

----------


## Siobhan

> didnt he? i didnt see it, my dad told me, how can you make such a mistake like that though?!


yeah the Austrialians were going for Goal, just as the ball was passed into the box, ref blew final whistle, they scored (but it didn't count cause it was in the air and not in the net when the ref blew the whistle) and then he sent a czech player off, after the match was over

----------


## di marco

> yeah the Austrialians were going for Goal, just as the ball was passed into the box, ref blew final whistle, they scored (but it didn't count cause it was in the air and not in the net when the ref blew the whistle) and then he sent a czech player off, after the match was over


thats just stupid, he might as well just not bothered!

----------


## Siobhan

> thats just stupid, he might as well just not bothered!


well it means that he will miss his next international match which I assume in the european cup qualifiers

----------


## di marco

> well it means that he will miss his next international match which I assume in the european cup qualifiers


i never knew that, i thought like after a tournament was over then like the yellow/red cards were wiped and there was a clean sheet for the next tournament or qualifiers

----------


## Katy

I asssume Mr Poll will not be refereeing the Finals then the Loser. What a plonker i now assume in the Graham Handbook of how to be a bad referee 3 Yellows = 1 red. He uses that book alot. Well England had to make the headlines some way. Obviously he didnt get his maths GCSE. He is an idiot referee though, he is famous for it.

----------


## .:SpIcYsPy:.

David Beckham's goal against Ecuador sends England through to the World Cup quarter-finals.

----------


## Katy

that was quite a poor game, Beckham could have waited till he was off the pitch to start throwing his guts up, i was trying to eat. England were lucky Equador were not really a good side. Fed up with J Coles Diving. Was getting excited when robinson went down Injured thought maybe Jamo would get 5 minuites but he was ok. Holland or Portugal in the next round.

----------


## Jessie Wallace

how can you eat during a match, shame on you, your supposedto be concetrating, not eating!
Yes it could have been a better game, but hey we got the right result.

----------


## Katy

I have to eat other wise i get bored, and its like the law to have a pie with loads of brown sauce on top while watching a game. Just thinking about its making me hungary.

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## Jessie Wallace

Fair enough i suppose, i can't eat whilst i'm watching i get to nervous, have to keep moving around, i'd end up wearing my food!! lol

----------


## Katy

lol, well just have to wait to see whose in the quarter finals. Holand or Portugal. I personally would like to see Holland.

----------


## alan45

Yet another below par performance.  No way can they win the world cup

----------


## Katy

i doubt they will beat holland or Portugal, the first 20 mins of there game this evening has been quicker than al Englands game put together, England wont be able to keep up with the game.

----------


## shannisrules

tbh i think the other team should have won they deserved it...not that iw anted to im glad we got through  :Big Grin:  but we only did it throughthe skin of our teeth!

----------


## Katy

Another referee has shown the red card, theres been loads in this competition and most have them have been due to stupid fouls that were not bookable offences and the card has only been shown dur to great diving from the other teams. Its blatent cheating.

----------


## shannisrules

whats going on with portugal and holland! i ony just went downstirs and someone had a red crad! is it 9 against 10 now!

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## Siobhan

> whats going on with portugal and holland! i ony just went downstirs and someone had a red crad! is it 9 against 10 now!


it finished 9 - 9.. and about 10 yellow cards flying all over the place.. it was a farce... although the Dutch have done england a favour.. they got rid of all the good portugal players for the next match

----------


## Jade

> it finished 9 - 9.. and about 10 yellow cards flying all over the place.. it was a farce... although the Dutch have done england a favour.. they got rid of all the good portugal players for the next match


I think we may have a chance as all of their best players are going to be banned!!!! (I dont think we would otherwise!!!)

----------


## pookie1968uk

im pretty sure portugal are going to beat us. they are a far superior team to england and as we are playing so badly do we have a chance?
i cant understand how we have all these great english footballers but put them together in a team and they just under perform. it looks like they havent practiced together at all!

----------


## Katy

The portugal game was quite good actually. Ronaldo went off in tears as he was injured so i guess he wont be playing in the quarter finals. referees have been dong so much booking though. I have never known a game where more than one player has been sebnt off.

----------


## Siobhan

> The portugal game was quite good actually. Ronaldo went off in tears as he was injured so i guess he wont be playing in the quarter finals. referees have been dong so much booking though. I have never known a game where more than one player has been sebnt off.


I checked the stats.. 4 red cards and 15 yellow.. Figo might not be playing next match either.. if FIFA decide via video evidence that the yellow card he got was not for the headbutt, they can ban him from next game

----------


## shannisrules

> im pretty sure portugal are going to beat us. they are a far superior team to england and as we are playing so badly do we have a chance?


we do now! some of their best players are either injured or have been shown the red card! i reckon we have a pretty good chace of winning ven thougfh we are playing pretty crap at the moment

----------


## Katy

Lucas Neill you big wally. he literally managed to blow asutraillias chances all by himself.

----------


## Siobhan

> Lucas Neill you big wally. he literally managed to blow asutraillias chances all by himself.


what a big rip off for Aussie yesterday!!! there was only suppose to be 3 mins added time so how the hell did Italy score in the 95th min?? it doesn't take 2 mins to set up a penalty that in my opinion should even have been one  :Angry:  :Angry:  :Angry: 

and how boring was the swiss/urk match last night YAWN

----------


## alkalinetrio

come on england! i wanted the swiss to win last night :Sad:  feel sorry for the aussies that wasnt a penalty and to give it in last minutes of the game is anoying! but for today come on ghana :Smile:  :Smile:

----------


## Katy

Man how good would it be if Ghana won. I dont think it will though especially without Michael essien.

----------


## alkalinetrio

they played very well without essien the amount of times they should have scored tho was a good game looking forward to spain and france match tonight! come on france

----------


## Katy

I was really pleased France turned up the game in the secoind half, they really went for it. They apparently manage themselves the manager doesnt usually go in the dressing room till 5 mins before the game. Maybe England should do that. Zidanes shot was amazing.

----------


## di marco

> Ronaldo went off in tears as he was injured so i guess he wont be playing in the quarter finals.


apparently they think hes going to be fit enough to play in the quarter finals




> referees have been dong so much booking though. I have never known a game where more than one player has been sebnt off.


yeh i know, theyve already overtaken the record for the most amount of red cards in a world cup and its not even finished yet!

----------


## Katy

Polls been given the Red card from Germany as he was one of the referees sent home due to his 3 yellow card blunder. the plank, i really hate him. 

I think England will bave a job beating Portugal for one, scolari will be out for revenge after all the stress the english media pout on him.

----------


## alkalinetrio

glad the germans won :Big Grin:  get rid of them argies! what started that fight near the end? COME ON ENGLAND TOMORROW

----------


## di marco

i thought argentina would win, i personally dont like either team but thought that argentina had played better throughout the whole tournament than germany, though i suppose when it gets to penalties, it doesnt really matter whos the best team overall, just whos good at penalties. i cant believe the fight though, that was disgraceful, id be so embarrassed and disappointed if i was an argentinian supporter and my team started like that! obviously theyre just bad losers

----------


## Jojo

What was the fight about though, because the player that was involved in it, was fine with the German players - it was one of the officials that he had the problem with and the way he seemed to be gesturing to one of the German subs, it was as if the official had done something that really offended him in some way  :Searchme:

----------


## di marco

> What was the fight about though, because the player that was involved in it, was fine with the German players - it was one of the officials that he had the problem with and the way he seemed to be gesturing to one of the German subs, it was as if the official had done something that really offended him in some way


i dunno what the fight was actually about, my dad thinks that maybe one of the german subs made a comment about them losing or something that annoyed them, thats why they started on him?

----------


## Jojo

> i dunno what the fight was actually about, my dad thinks that maybe one of the german subs made a comment about them losing or something that annoyed them, thats why they started on him?


 It looked like something like that - thats the thing with the Germans - so gracious about winning, especially on home turf  :Rotfl:

----------


## di marco

> It looked like something like that - thats the thing with the Germans - so gracious about winning, especially on home turf


yeh lol! it was probably just one little thing that ended up spiralling out of control!

----------


## di marco

im hoping england win today!  :Big Grin:  but if they dont, all the other nonsupporters on here arent going to stop critising them, even though theyve got to the last 8, which i think is pretty good, and considering that other good teams, such as argentina, have also gone out in this round (and a few other decent teams in the rounds before) i dont think england should be slated cos of it. anyway, come on england lol!!!  :Big Grin:

----------


## Abbie

well well well, we are out of the world cup, how is everyone feeling?

----------


## diamond1

I really would like to be a dfly on the wall in the old trafford locker room when ronney see's ronaldo :Angry:

----------


## diamond1

I could take the easy way out and blame the ref but we played absymal f' ericson is a b*****
and whats the point in taking joe cole off all the time is there much point especially for crouch :Angry:   I know we need an upfront but joe cole is a player that keeps us going its a useles exercise taking him off.

its obvious sven and arsenal chairman david dein have done a backdoor deal by putting little theo in the squad just to bump up his price cause sven never had much intrest in him....espcially when defoe would be 10x better to have

its svens fault rooney got sent off a player as violatile as rooney shouldnt be isolated like that its obvious he would get frustrated and with these refs descion in this cup we was asking for him to get sent off

I never thought stevie would miss a penalty or frank lampard I dont know what to think

----------


## Abbie

> I really would like to be a dfly on the wall in the old trafford locker room when ronney see's ronaldo


 ooo lol i forgort about that well that is going to cause some awkwardness

----------


## alan45

England getting put out of the World Cup is all the fault of the thug that is Wayne Rooney. Not content with ruining someones wedding tackle he goes on to push Ronaldo.

Of course th rubbish penalty kicks didnt help. Who in their right mind kicks low balls at a goalie who is 5'10''

The team played their best match of this world cup but were let down by the scouse thug

----------


## Chloe O'brien

It's the same old story with the england players. They don't get their own way so they start lashing out at the players in the other team.  Normally its beckham who lashes out kicking another player

----------


## tv_addict245

there's no way you can blame Rooney for that sending off. He was fouled about 3 times first then he trod on the guy by accident, there was nothing vicious or remotley thug-ish going on. The ref wasn't going to do anything until that dirty cheating @#!$ Christiano Ronaldo came over and started mouthing off. 
But Rooney or no Rooney, England played rubbish, Gerrard, Lampard and Crouch were useless. Sven got it all wrong again. Hargreaves was England's best player by far because he actually tried, he never stopped running or working unlike most other players who just turn up and do nothing, like they couldn't be bothered. 
Saly, England don't deserve to go through because they played rubbish the whole tournement. Neither do Portugal either because they are all dirty cheats. 
Ok, rant over.
Bex
x

----------


## Jojo

I have to agree with you Bex - Ronaldo was trying to wind Rooney up on a couple of occasions and whilst I don't excuse Rooneys behaviour, he was watching the ball, not where he was standing.  It wasn't till Ronaldo ran in complaining (like he does) and Rooney (stupidly) retaliated that the ref got his red card out.  I think the wink that Ronaldo gave his team mates etc after Rooney walked said it all to be honest.  Though I'd love to be in the Man Utd camp when they get back - that could be interesting.

England didn't deserve to win though - they've played diabolical all the way through the World Cup, the best game the played was today and whilst they did well to keep the goals out with 10 men, they shouldn't really have got as far as they did.

But then to me, football is all about how many dives you can get away with and how many free kicks you can be awarded.  Its not the game it used to be.

----------


## alan45

Sorry folks I have to disagree. England played their best match of this World Cup.  Rooney is always a cert to get red carded. He is a vicious little bully who cannot control his temper. His fellow players know this and he is so easy to wind up  making a red or yellow card inevitable.  He has to shoulder the blame for Englands humiliating demise. :Thumbsdown:

----------


## irish eyes

Couldn't give two hoots about England going out of the world cup, they never had it in them to win the world cup! Although in saying that, most teams have performed well below par  Im still going with my prediction for a Germany v France final, might even stick a few quid on france.

----------


## Katy

It was a dreadful game but really were England ever goingto win the world cup. I could still win a few Quid with Portugal in the sweepstake if they come third. It is nice to blame sven, but there were 11 (10 for a bit of the game) on the field that could have made it happen. The France Brazil game was how you want to see worldcup football. Rooney and ronaldos behaviour was like a True United players. Its what happens when you play in that dump Old Trafford.

----------


## di marco

i think england did pretty well yesterday considering they played with 10 men for an hour and still portugal didnt manage to score. even though i think it was the best england have played in the world cup this year, especially after rooney was sent off, they didnt play brilliantly, but then again i thought portugal werent that great either, some of their passing was dreadful!

i reckon near the end though portugal stopped trying cos they wanted it to go into penalties, they knew that theyd easily beat us on penalties. i think the england team definitely need to practise penalties though, they said theyd been practising but i think they definitely need to practise a lot more, though isnt ricardo meant to be one of the best at saving penalties so that really wasnt in englands favour

ok, rooney, well what can i say about him. i can fully understand why he got frustrated, i know thats not an excuse, but its understandable when hes been pushed around and nothing gets done, and then he accidently treads on the other player. christano ronaldo knew rooney would get worked up by it thats why he came over, if it hadnt been for him, i dont think rooney would have been sent off, it was obvious what he was trying to do, evident from the wink he gave afterwards. and also did you see him start on crouch afterwards as well, im not sure what he started about, but he was shouting and flying his hands around, just that crouch wasnt as easily wound up as rooney and so calmly ignored it. if i was rooney, id have given him a good thump as i went off, hopefully damaging his "pretty" little face in the process! but rooney as a player, i dont think hes brought much to the england team tbh, everyone says how great he is, but england played better footie once hed gone off and i havent seen him winning the game for us in any of the matches hes played in!

id also like to make a comment about hargreaves, im not sure what everyones problem with him is, i think he played really well yesterday, better than most of the other players on the pitch, and he was the only one that scored his penalty, i think people need to give the guy a break. and lennon i think he was pretty good yesterday too

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## di marco

> It's the same old story with the england players. They don't get their own way so they start lashing out at the players in the other team.  Normally its beckham who lashes out kicking another player


thats not strictly true, they dont always do it, and i think beckham did it quite a lot when he was younger but i wouldnt say he does it often now. yeh im not denying that some of the english players have a temper, but did you not see the argentina/germany game, nearly the whole argentinian squad starting and joining in the fight, and other scraps that have happened in some of the other games, so i dont think the england players are as bad as you make out, and definitely not as bad as some of the other countries

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## diamond1

> Sorry folks I have to disagree. England played their best match of this World Cup. Rooney is always a cert to get red carded. He is a vicious little bully who cannot control his temper. His fellow players know this and he is so easy to wind up making a red or yellow card inevitable. He has to shoulder the blame for Englands humiliating demise


once again if he wasnt isolated up the front with defenders swarming round him I doubt he would of been so wound up to get sent off the great manager of ours should of known this from the last few games...the ref himself should of blown up ages before he did anyway and people get shoved all the time
in situtations like that...figo near enough headbutted someone last week
its not like rooneys the first player ever to do it.

 rooney himself cannot take the blame for getting us out the world cup your like all those people who blamed beckham last time.yes he got sent off but theres 10 other people out there to carry us on sometimes whe a player gets sent off it usually fires the team up more and in all honesty it did.Where rooney was anyway i doubt he would have scored.

 he's from the same breed as Paul Gascoigne and several others who have such a passion for the game I like his temperment of not being scared of going in for the ball or playing.we are a strong team anyone so with half a brain would know portugal would dive around to get us sent off sven should of worked it out but no he thought his 'out of the box' thinking would work and it didnt.

all those who missed penaltys shoulder the blame as much as wayne rooney
the only players I felt where constructive where lennon,cole,terry,ferdinand and bless his heart owen hargreives the rest seemed lost

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## alkalinetrio

i dont think the manchester fans will want ronaldo there anymore i can see him getting a lot of stick! im in mourning haha ive seen worst pushes then that and they've got away with it!

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## Pinkbanana

I know folk are gutted about being out of the world cup, but the state of people out last night that I saw...... dear me.  People looked like it was the end of the world, literally! It is the beautiful game, i know, but still its only a game!

Anyway, in 4 years time.......

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## alkalinetrio

yeah its just a game but to some people it means a lot to them
it means a lot to me and i can not tell you how angry i was when barca beat arsenal and last night i just went to bed and slept lol

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## xCharliex

We were stiched up once again!! Ronaldo is gonna have one big target on his head once he returns to Man U, if they have any sense they will get rid of him once and for all. Ronney is not entirely to blame i dont blame him, i blame Ronaldo and the Ref!! We were already entitled to a penalty in the match and we never got given it!! I just hope France win the World Cup!

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## Pinkbanana

> yeah its just a game but to some people it means a lot to them
> it means a lot to me and i can not tell you how angry i was when barca beat arsenal and last night i just went to bed and slept lol


Oh bless.........it's a tough ol' life being an England supporter! :Wal2l:  

Well England's lot might improve now the swede has gone and you've got my local team's (middlesbrough) boss as head coachie.

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## Layne

i thought that okay England didn't play their best yesterday, but i thought we deserved to go through. The ref was rubbish, so biased, specially when he only gave that portuguise player a yellow card. And the portuguise were playing quite dirty yesterday i think. Poor Becks, and i don't think Rooney needed sending off but whatever. I am still hating Sven, the worst manager.
Lennon was good yesterday and Hargreves and Crouch when he came on And of course Robinson - he was great yesterday.
Lampard placed his penatly - he shouldn't have, that is why the goalie saved it. Gerrard i am suprised didn't score. I really wanted us to at least go through to the Semi's. Shame.

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## di marco

> Ronaldo is gonna have one big target on his head once he returns to Man U, if they have any sense they will get rid of him once and for all.


i know, if i was him, i wouldnt wanna come back to england! but i heard he wanted to move to real madrid anyway, so getting rid of him would mean him getting what he wants, i think they should keep him but not let him play any of the matches, thatll teach him haha!

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## diamond1

> yeah its just a game but to some people it means a lot to them
> it means a lot to me and i can not tell you how angry i was when barca beat arsenal and last night i just went to bed and slept lol


 when barca beat arsenal god that was one of the worst nights of my life,arsenal getting that far to me was more important than the world cup....no joke when I say that,

when people say its just a game  my dad never thought that he lived football all his life bless him so im carrying on the traddition so footballs more than a game to me,its my dads traddition

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## Pinkbanana

Did anyone see the Beckham press conference?! Bless him, he really was emotional.  You help but feel for him and the rest of the team.  Its a real shame he is stepping down as the England captain. I wonder who will replace him?!

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## Katy

I dont, he was a crap captain. Gerrard or Tery to replace him. At least they speak to the players. I am so looking forward to the final few games. Ill miss the world cup when its over.

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## diamond1

yeah its gotta be gerrard or john terry....Ill be annoyed if its ferdinand 

watch any chelsea match to see why terry desrves it or watch the FA cup final to see why gerrard should!

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## Pinkbanana

> I dont, he was a crap captain. Gerrard or Tery to replace him. At least they speak to the players. I am so looking forward to the final few games. Ill miss the world cup when its over.


And your reason for saying he is a 'crap' captain is?!

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## alan45

It shows how obsessed the country is with Beckham when his resignation as England Captain is the number one item on the news ahead of two of our soldiers being murdered in Afghanistan. What a sad indictment of society. :Angry:

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## Pinkbanana

> It shows how obsessed the country is with Beckham when his resignation as England Captain is the number one item on the news ahead of two of our soldiers being murdered in Afghanistan. What a sad indictment of society.


I dont think you can compare the two. One is a very sad situation, and yes merits making the news especially when two men have lost their lives serving their country, but that doesnt mean people cant talk and discuss other things or that other things aren't news worthy.  Plus this is a thread pertaining to the world cup, not current affairs.

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## alan45

> I dont think you can compare the two. One is a very sad situation, and yes merits making the news especially when two men have lost their lives serving their country, but that doesnt mean people cant talk and discuss other things or that other things aren't news worthy.  Plus this is a thread pertaining to the world cup, not current affairs.


 Yes but I dont think the resignation of an overpaid *WORLD CUP* captain should have been the lead story on the national news. Resignation was the very least he could have done

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## Pinkbanana

> Yes but I dont think the resignation of an overpaid *WORLD CUP* captain should have been the lead story on the national news. Resignation was the very least he could have done


Thats fine, as you have highlighted in capital letters the above is about the world cup. I thought your other message was inappropriate for such a thread, but all people are entitled to their opinions and beliefs, but in the right place and time.

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## diamond1

> Yes but I dont think the resignation of an overpaid *WORLD CUP* captain should have been the lead story on the national news. Resignation was the very least he could have done


Yes very true,I feel more annoyed when 'stars' such as victoria beckham and chantelle coming out of a shop with a few bags is more important than people getting stabbed,mugged,attacked.it happens all the time

A few years ago my mate got stabbed and died and there wasnt an article anywhere part from the local rag but there was plenty of coverage of what a z list celebrity was doing.....

back on topic david beckham is most likely trying to escape the media using him as a scapegoat  mr beckham should know that they will use his performance as a scapegoat and try and make his life a misery

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## Pinkbanana

> Yes very true,I feel more annoyed when 'stars' such as victoria beckham and chantelle coming out of a shop with a few bags is more important than people getting stabbed,mugged,attacked.it happens all the time
> 
> A few years ago my mate got stabbed and died and there wasnt an article anywhere part from the local rag but there was plenty of coverage of what a z list celebrity was doing.....
> 
> back on topic david beckham is most likely trying to escape the media using him as a scapegoat  mr beckham should know that they will use his performance as a scapegoat and try and make his life a misery


I think the knives will be out more for Sven, especially now he is going, going, gone. Bet loads of people (players ect) who would not criticise him before will be crawling out of the woodwork to, rightly, have a go!

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## Katy

> And your reason for saying he is a 'crap' captain is?!


My reason is what does he do on the pitch. Nothing, he doesnt speak to anyone give out instructions. Hes only captain as Sven is to scared to change it. He can curl a free kick and even that hasnt been that good this season. When you watch Terry captain Chelsea or Dunne when he was captain of Ireland they were both instructing there players, even Micah Richards was a better captain and showed more leader ship skills than Becks when he was the Captain in the FA youth cup. distin has even been sent off when trying to get a referee to explain whet his teammate had done wrong. Its just my opinion but Beckham was shocking in this world cup not only should ha have been dropped as captain he should have been Dropped all together. Lennon is a far better player, sos Wright Phillips if he hadnt been left at home. They run up the wiong and make play like Joe cole on the Left, Like Damien duff or Trevor Sinclair. 

Basically i dont reat Beckham. And i think hes overpaid muppet that needs to stop worrying about the way he looks.

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## xCharliex

Heres a great site! I HATE RONALDO

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## tammyy2j

> Did anyone see the Beckham press conference?! Bless him, he really was emotional.  You help but feel for him and the rest of the team.  Its a real shame he is stepping down as the England captain. I wonder who will replace him?!


Yes i saw the press conference and did feel for him. It was the whole team's fault that England are out not just Beckham. I think Gerrard or Terry would be a good choice as both captain their clubs and are proven as captains.

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## Pinkbanana

> Its just my opinion but Beckham was shocking in this world cup not only should ha have been dropped as captain he should have been Dropped all together.


I think he stepped down because he knows he will be dropped from the team sooner, rather than later.

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## Katy

Iread the other day on SSN that Sven gets paid more than the four coaches who are the teams in the semi finals put together. Between the four of them the get 3.77 million a year and sven on his own was getting 4 million a year,. How shocking is that.

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## di marco

> Iread the other day on SSN that Sven gets paid more than the four coaches who are the teams in the semi finals put together. Between the four of them the get 3.77 million a year and sven on his own was getting 4 million a year,. How shocking is that.


that is shocking, although im sure i read somewhere that sven gets way more than that

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## Katy

there was a great headlione in a pa\per the other day ther was a big picture of Sven waving, and the headline was 

"I'M OFF...Thanks for the 24 Million.

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## pookie1968uk

i totally agree with you about beckham, Cornetgal,  but because he is the blue eyed boy he was never going to be dropped. sven said if beckham had played bad he would have not played him but i dont believe sven he would have never dropped him from the team.

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## tammyy2j

It is not just Beckham and Sven fault the whole team are to blame they played bad. Lampard and Gerrard score penalites for their clubs where they are getting the big bucks everyweek but cannot for their country. Ronaldo played well for his country and now they are in the semi finals. Rooney played bad and got himself sent off. England need to get over it and move on they lost they are out.

Great match last night between Germany and Italy. I'm glad Italy wins i hope it is Portugal and Italy in the final.

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## alan45

Last nights Italy v Germany match was fantastic. One of the best of this World Cup. How could England ever imagine being anywhere near as good as these two teams. The match was worthy of a Final

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## xXxJessxXx

I think *Beckham* has been a great captain over the years. Being a *captain* isnt about how well you play! A lot of it is to do with motavating the team and a lot of work being done off the field as well as on which a lot of that we dont actually get to see. *Beckham* has been a great player and has given a lot to our team. He didnt play particually well during this world cup but i'm still trying to find a single player who actually did! (Only two that spring to mind are *Lennon* and *Hargreaves*) 

*Beckham* is now 31 years old so he has now probably hit his peak in his career. You cant compare him to the young footballers of today for two reasons. Their fitness levels, and another they will probably not give the team as much as he has in his career. I'm not a huge fanatic fan of *Beckham* and sometimes he doesnt always excell himself. But he has played a huge part in *England's* football history. Thats proven as he is the only English player to have scored in three different world cups! Ever! Thats an achivement in its self. 

Some of you have been saying that *Sven* and his cloesness to *Beckham* could have played a part in *England's* departure of the world cup. I cant see how this is ture. A lot of people are also questioning other players part in the world cup. *Lampard* and *Gerrard* are top players for *Chelsea* and *Liverpool* but fail to deliver for *England*? The players are partly to blame, but I cant see how players skills can change so dramatically over over a few months. Its down to more than that. They play with their clubs a lot more than with *England*. I believe *Sven* perhaps didnt give them the encouragement they needed to play well as a team together. We had the best in we've had in years. But just putting top class players on a field together and expect results wont do a thing. They need time to gel and play as a team together. The team *Sven* picked to go to germany also had a part in it. Only picking four strikers knowing two of them wernet 100% fit and one not ever playing a full length game or even ever playing a permiership game was always going to end in disaster. Changing the formation at the last minute also was obviously not going ot work as expected. Players need time to get used to the new formation. They all know *442* like the back of their hand but the one *sven* used needed more practise. 

*Rooney* showed us all what he was capable of in *Euro 2004.* Undoubtably the best player in the team. But after two major injuries in such a short space of time he was never going to be as fit as he was. A young lad with a major temper on him is never good for this type of competition. In the game agaisnt *portugal* all he had in the back of his mind was what happend in euro 2004 and all he was going out to do was seek revenge! You cant balme any of the players on the penalty front. *Lampard* scores penalties day in and day out for *chelsea* but you can hardly compare that to a world cup quater-final situation. The pressure is on and there's nothign to switch it off. Its his first world cup and with the highest amount of shots in the tournament without conseeding a goal was only bound to knock his confidence more. Something that could be in question however is why *Sven* subed Aaron *Lennon* (Attacker) for Jaime *Carrigher* (Defender) in the closing minutes of extra time, knowing penalties were apon them. *Lennon* could have even scored in the dying minutes wipping out the option of penalties completly!

After watching the shocking game *france v Portugal* last night its embarrsing to think they beat us! Ironically the man who saved so many penalties that put them through, it only took one to knock them out! lol. It seems that *Portugues* seem to have confused grass for water! They were diving all over the place and some of them cant be argued they were definatly dives. On three occasions i noticed *portugal* players dive when no one had even touched them and watchin the reply's its very embarsing. *Ronaldo* calling for a penalty when the ball wasnt even in his possension to loose was rediculous and highly embaressing for them! And to top it all off *scolari* complaining at the end because he lost a game. Bad looser is all i can say! You didnt see *Sven* kicking up a stick last week when *Rooney* was sent off and *Carrigher's* penalty was disalowed. 

My ranting isnt from the point of view of a bad sportsman english person. I hold no grudges agaist portugal for beating us. They beat us fair and square on penalties and i've ben around long enough to know in that situation *england* will never have a chance. But to watch them play agaisnt france and demand punishments when they dived is incredible. Even comentators said yesterday that the game was ruined by the way they played. Its actually quite offending that they can get away with it. Again im not just an uptight person who is angry about *england* being out of the world cup. I will say the same for another team who we didnt even play but i will keep quiet about that because they are in the final and people will obviously want them to win!

Finally sorry this is so long! I get carried away sometimes!  :Angel:  And sorry for my poor spelling!  :Embarrassment:  

*FRANCE 2 WIN WORLD CUP 06*

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## Meh

Sven has been a disaster for England. He's been more on the front pages of the news than the sport pages. He should never have played Gerrard and Lampard together. Bringing Theo to the worldcup made him a total laughing joke.

England have world class players. Its the managers responsiblity to make sure they gel on the field, and if they aren't doing that, have the balls to make the changes. I've always said Beckham is overrated. Yes, he can cross the ball in well, but apart from that, what else can he do? Is he an inspirational captain? No doubt, everyone points out about his ability to score when it matters i.e. when we're looking down the barrel of a shotgun. But I would say he part of the reason that we get in such positions. If we had a better player instead of Beckham who could do more on the pitch, maybe we wouldn't get to these do or die situations.

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## xXxJessxXx

> He should never have played Gerrard and Lampard together. Bringing Theo to the worldcup made him a total laughing joke.


 *Lampard* and *Gerrard* are both great players but they dont really gel. Thye may have been able to do so if sven had given thm the time to get used to each other and bounce off one another. Neither have been in a world cup before so it was all new to both of them. *Theo*....  :Rotfl:   where to start with that one! *Sven* had the oppourtunity to play him during the *sweeden* game. *England* didnt have to win that game. A loose would have suited them (Apart form the fact they would have played *Germany* and undoubtly gone out striaght away!) It was obvious that once in the knockout stages *Sven* had no intention wat so ever of playing *Theo*. No one really knows what he is capable of. It could have gone two ways. He could have been the hero and saved *England* from defeat and been the best player on the pitch suprising everyone.... Or he could have been under too much strain and pressure and mess the whole thing up completly, which i think was in the back of *sven's* mind the whole time. But to get far in this sort of competition you have to take risks! *England* had everything to play for during their game agaisnt both *Ecuador* and *Portugal* so he wasnt going to start taking unessecary risks. But if *Sven* had played him during the *sweeden* game then he would know which way it could have gone and whether *Theo* was a top class player or a poor kid with a wasted journey. Then by having a clear understanding of his skills *Sven* could have made decisions to play him or leave him off when it really mattered. The fact he didnt even get a look in is embaressing. He could and should have brought *Wayne Right-Philips*! 




> England have world class players. Its the managers responsiblity to make sure they gel on the field, and if they aren't doing that, have the balls to make the changes.


My point exactly!  :Smile:  




> I've always said Beckham is overrated. Yes, he can cross the ball in well, but apart from that, what else can he do? Is he an inspirational captain? No doubt, everyone points out about his ability to score when it matters i.e. when we're looking down the barrel of a shotgun. But I would say he part of the reason that we get in such positions. If we had a better player instead of Beckham who could do more on the pitch, maybe we wouldn't get to these do or die situations.


 I have to disagre. I dont think *Beckham* is the blame for any of this. I think *Sven* was right to play him in every game. This is his 3rd world cup! He knows what he's doing and its second nature to him. I think he encourages the younger players in a way that they can get the best results our of their performance. He's the best player for the job of Free kicks, Penalty kicks and crosses. He rearly feels pressure which is an advantages when so many of the other players do. It is down to sven for not making the right decisions. After all he is the one with the power to chnage anything on that picth, but he never really used his power to do anything mind blowing. Compared to *Scolari* I always thought *Sven* was weak. Comapred to their reaction when their teams score and how they use their ability and power to turn things around. *Sven's* team has been knocked out by *Scolari's* in the 3 last major tournaments. (Brazil wc 2002, Portugal ec 2004 & Portugal wc 2006) He was even in the talk of beign *Englands* next manager after *Sven*. But after last night and seeing *Scolari* loose out for once, he showed his true colours and i now think *Sven* is better than he and he's not so bad! He may be a bit dim and useless at times but he has a semi good head on his shoulders and can hold his head high in a bad situation!  :Smile:

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## di marco

> Something that could be in question however is why *Sven* subed Aaron *Lennon* (Attacker) for Jaime *Carrigher* (Defender) in the closing minutes of extra time, knowing penalties were apon them. *Lennon* could have even scored in the dying minutes wipping out the option of penalties completly!


well maybe carrigher is better at penalties than lennon so sven wanted to sub him on and lennon was the man he wanted to take off, just cos carrighers a defender doesnt mean he cant be good at penalties, the portugese goalkeeper takes penalties for portugal and hes not an attacker




> Ironically the man who saved so many penalties that put them through, it only took one to knock them out! lol.


i said that before i saw the penalty, how he was meant to be one of the best at saving panalties, but when i saw a replay, the penalty was difficult to save and seeing as he nearly got his hand to it he did surprisingly well




> It seems that *Portugues* seem to have confused grass for water! They were diving all over the place and some of them cant be argued they were definatly dives. On three occasions i noticed *portugal* players dive when no one had even touched them and watchin the reply's its very embarsing. *Ronaldo* calling for a penalty when the ball wasnt even in his possension to loose was rediculous and highly embaressing for them!


yeh from the parts of the game i saw there seemed to be quite a bit of diving. ronaldo looked stupid when he dived between those 2 defenders, it was so obviously a dive as well! and henry dived too, i know that he was fouled so yes a penalty should have been given but he did go a bit over the top in the way he fell over lol!

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## tammyy2j

> well maybe carrigher is better at penalties than lennon so sven wanted to sub him on and lennon was the man he wanted to take off, just cos carrighers a defender doesnt mean he cant be good at penalties, the portugese goalkeeper takes penalties for portugal and hes not an attacker
> !


Carragher missed his penalty maybe Lennon would have scored

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## Jojo

> Carragher missed his penalty maybe Lennon would have scored


 Carragher did originally score though, unfortunately he decided to take this penalty prior to the ref blowing his whistle.  Lennon is young still, Carragher is more experienced. Carragher volunteered to take a penalty apparently and maybe Sven etc didn't want Lennon exposed to the ridicule of the media and the nation if he missed, at such an early point in his international career and therefore took him off so as not to put him in that position  :Searchme:   Just a thought  :Big Grin:

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## xXxJessxXx

> well maybe carrigher is better at penalties than lennon so sven wanted to sub him on and lennon was the man he wanted to take off, just cos carrighers a defender doesnt mean he cant be good at penalties, the portugese goalkeeper takes penalties for portugal and hes not an attacker


I know that with penalties it doesnt matter if your a defender or a striker because really all you have to do is get it past the keeper and get it in the back of the net. (As we've seen even a keeper take the winning penalty in euro 2004!lol) But Strikers are so much more confident when taking penalties because strikers are confident people. Rooney is overdosed with confidence and as we saw Ronaldo is also overly confident, its in their nature and the characteristics of a striker. Obvuiously beign as young as he is Lennon could possibibly have been a bit under pressure if he were to take one and for Carrighar who is older is perhaps a little more calm. But this varies from person to person. Carighar didnt even score his penalty. Ok it did go in first time but of the goalie wasnt reayd and the ref didnt blow then its not really that hard to get it in. But then its all about the question that cant really be answered 'are penalties luck or skill????'

What i meant though with subbing Lennon for Carighar was that Sven had a good 99.9% chance that it would go to penalties. And seeing englands track record with them he must have known it wouldnt go too well. But with minutes left if he hadnt have made the chnage Lennon could well have scored and saved England from a penalty shoot out. Its all about taking risks! It seems Sven would rather take a risk by stopping Portugal scoring a last minute goal and basically hanging on to go to penalties than to take the risk to attack and mayeb be the team to score a last minute goal and knock portugal out. Obvuiusly by stepping up the attck it would loosen the defence givin portugal perhapsd a better chacce. But then like us didnt have much up front. Thats the risk you have to take if you want to go far in a competition like this. You cant just play a game in the idea that if you hang on long enough it will go to penalties and not mch workd will have to be done (running about) and it all being down to 50 50. Because when you have a team and a record like we do its not going to run smoothly.

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## di marco

im surprised no ones commented about the final lol! i thought it was a good game, and im glad it went into penalties lol as that makes it more exciting! also im surprised a few of you havent commented on zidanes headbutt, i mean you were all quick to comment on rooney being sent off!

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## xXxJessxXx

I watched the final. I got a bit bored here and there but it was a good game. I couldnt decide who i wanted to win but after watchin the chat before the game i felt sorry for Zidane. It would be his last ever game before he retires and i thought for them to loose and be so close to winning the cup it would be a shame. But after Italy scored the excitment they shared was great. They seemed more happy to score than France were when they scored. It seemed Italy wanted it more than France did. 

After i saw the headbut i knew i wanted italy to win and i didnt feel sorry for Zidane anymore. He hasnt done himself any favours and that is how he will be rememberd. It doesnt matter what they italian said he should never have acted the way he did. It cant be proven what was said either as obviously one of them would lie. But of course there's no denying what Zidane did as we all saw the reply. I couldnt believe the crowd begun to Boo the italians when they had the ball after that. Did they not see the reply in the stadium! There was no excusing this was a straight red.

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## alkalinetrio

lol the final was boring i thought the zidane thing atleast gave it entertainment. hahaha the italians really hate him now anyone seen picture of that coffin they hold up with zidanes name on it?

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## Em

> I watched the final. I got a bit bored here and there but it was a good game. I couldnt decide who i wanted to win but after watchin the chat before the game i felt sorry for Zidane. It would be his last ever game before he retires and i thought for them to loose and be so close to winning the cup it would be a shame. But after Italy scored the excitment they shared was great. They seemed more happy to score than France were when they scored. It seemed Italy wanted it more than France did. 
> 
> After i saw the headbut i knew i wanted italy to win and i didnt feel sorry for Zidane anymore. He hasnt done himself any favours and that is how he will be rememberd. It doesnt matter what they italian said he should never have acted the way he did. It cant be proven what was said either as obviously one of them would lie. But of course there's no denying what Zidane did as we all saw the reply. I couldnt believe the crowd begun to Boo the italians when they had the ball after that. Did they not see the reply in the stadium! There was no excusing this was a straight red.


gota be honest, if what is getting said is true (that the italian called zidanes mom a wh**e, and his mom is dying in hosp) I would be pretty pissed as well.

heard the aboveon the five news,one of the reporters had spoken with the France footie team members - who would make that up anyway?

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## di marco

> gota be honest, if what is getting said is true (that the italian called zidanes mom a wh**e, and his mom is dying in hosp) I would be pretty pissed as well.
> 
> heard the aboveon the five news,one of the reporters had spoken with the France footie team members - who would make that up anyway?


well i dont think it can be proved what was said, so i still dont think it was right for zidane to headbutt him

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## Em

> well i dont think it can be proved what was said, so i still dont think it was right for zidane to headbutt him


Im not saying i think its right, just that in those (alleged) circumstances I can see how it would be easy to react angrily. I would. 

We will necer know what was said, as the Italian is higly unlikely to come forward and admit it. However, we all know he said something to Zidane, so maybe he should take part of the blame regardless of what he said. he's there to play football not mess with another players head. You cant say things and not expect reprecussions!

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## di marco

> However, we all know he said something to Zidane, so maybe he should take part of the blame regardless of what he said. he's there to play football not mess with another players head. You cant say things and not expect reprecussions!


so in that case, would you say that ronaldo was partly to blame for rooney pushing him?

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## Em

> so in that case, would you say that ronaldo was partly to blame for rooney pushing him?


Im not sure, but I dont think Ronaldo said anything to Rooney direct - I thought he only complained to the Ref ? 

But, if he did then technically yes he is also at fault - I dont believe Ronaldo shoudl have got involved period as it was nothing to do with him. 

what I dont agree with is the way the english media are having a go at Ronaldo - whats happened has happened it shouldnt be dragged on for weeks!

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## Meh

Its seems that Zidane has come out of this fiasco relatively unscathed. There's different ways of getting revenge. I'm more like Zidane - I'd have ****ted the Italian as well. But my friend is of the opinion that he should have won the world cup and waved that in his face.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned about the Italian team is the amount of racism in the team. Some of the players are right wing nutters that believe Hitler had the right idea. Look at how many times FIFA have warned Italian clubs about racism.

Doesn't excuse what Zidane did though.

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## Em

Good point about the racism of the Italians, I dont think many will disagree on that point. 

While i do not condone what Zidane did (though in all fairness as I said previously if the alleged stories are to be believed I would probably have done the same thing if I was pissed off, knackered and had been running around a pitch for almost two hours) I think the antagonistic approach of the Italian player prompted what happend - in essence it started because of him. Had the Italian kept his mouth shut he wouldnt have been hit - and he may not have won the world cup either

Zidane has put up with  a lot of racism directed towards him becuase of his background and even the French arent exactly the most tolerant lot when it comes to race but the Italians are a damn site worse. We dont know what was said, but anyone with half a brain can have a guess, and Zidane has publicly said the comment regarded his mother and sister. I actually think a damn site more of him for not coming out and saying the whole of what the Italian ACTUALLY said - Cause im sure if it got out that Italian woudl be in for a high amount of grief from everyone not from his country.

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## di marco

> Im not sure, but I dont think Ronaldo said anything to Rooney direct - I thought he only complained to the Ref ? 
> 
> But, if he did then technically yes he is also at fault - I dont believe Ronaldo shoudl have got involved period as it was nothing to do with him. 
> 
> what I dont agree with is the way the english media are having a go at Ronaldo - whats happened has happened it shouldnt be dragged on for weeks!


oh right ok, just wondering cos a lot of people have said that rooney was a useless thug (or things to that affect) but no one said anything really about zidane, and after you said that the other player was in the wrong too, i just wondered what your views were on the rooney/ronaldo thing, seeing if you thought the same

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## xXxJessxXx

It can never be proven what was actually said. But from what ive heard no it isnt nice and yeah a lot of people would react in the way Zidane did. But if this is true of what the italian said then why couldnt Zidane let it blow over and wait till after the match at least! He's like 34 35 years old and is a grown adult and should no better than to go round attacking people no matter what they sad. He should learnt to rise above it and ignore stupid comments. Obviously it could have been an offensive comment but then again it could have just been a heated moment and perhaps Zidane was annoyed that there wasnt much longer left in the game, knowing it was his last match and they may not win the cup he just took it out on the nearest player. The italian obviously said something to him but this somethign could have been minor and looking back he may realsie how stupid he was and perhaps made up some other tale. It can never be proven!

Players must get in this situation all the time. Heated up by the way the game's going or by what someone says. But most people rise above it and show thier maturity. If what was said was true then im sure that family members would be so so so proud of him defending them and attackign another player, being sent off, in his last ever match, loosing out on the cup, not even being able to come out at the end for a medal and making an idiot of him self in the publiuc eye. Oh im sure they'd be so proud!  :Ponder:   :Thumbsdown:

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## Katy

I watched it in a bar in Barcelonas the left hand side consisted of Italiens and the other side French, The atmosphere completly made the game. I cant believe its finished for another 4 years. I think Italy did deserve it thouugh no one can take that away from them especially with the problems there having in serie A.

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