The Official 2006 FIFA World Cup thread. (4 Viewers)

[bazookajoe]

God I hate Robben.

 

[stazi]

I didn't think Holland dominated. They played well, but so did Serbia. This is a really upsetting group, as I think all four teams in it are excellent and deserve to go onto the next round.

 

[stazi]

This game could be very exciting. It has certianly showed promise in the first few mins as well

 

[katietheskatie]

I didn't think Holland dominated. They played well, but so did Serbia. This is a really upsetting group, as I think all four teams in it are excellent and deserve to go onto the next round.

mmm i thought the same thing, some of the groups are pretty uneven. i know it's just luck, but like .. yeah, mexico's pretty much guaranteed to get through

 

[...]

anyone know any stores/online stores that sells leisure stuff for soccer?

i want this jacket , or their away jersey(white one)
http://www.kitbag.com/stores/kitbag_4_5/_artwork/english/departments/football/holland/tlm/tlm-c.jpg

 

[stazi]

mmm i thought the same thing, some of the groups are pretty uneven. i know it's just luck, but like .. yeah, mexico's pretty much guaranteed to get through

mexico: no
portugal - yes
then it'll be mexico or iran. a lot of people are writing off iran, but are forgetting how well theyve been playing recently. plus they have nukes.

 

[matt#1]

Goal to Mexico...1-0...scored by Omar Bravo. I can't wait to see Portugal in action in the next game. Hopefully they can put a few past Angola.

 

[matt#1]

...goal scored by Iran. I can't tell you the name of the guy who scored because his last name contains about 20 letters . That equaliser makes for an interesting contest.

 

[stazi]

What a bloody great game. The first of the world cup where it's been played like soccer should be played:
-Fast-paced
-Lots of shots
-Physical
-Not much 'milking' the foul

 

[stazi]

that was an excellent sustained effort by Mexico. I think they could go quite far this time. Iran ran out of steam, yet Mexico powered on, even after losing their star player. Absolutely wonderful.

 

[withoutaface]

I think the Netherlands had some individual brilliance, but Serbia played better as a team and deserved a draw out of it. The Mexican match I only caught a few minutes early in the second half, but Mexico were looking good spending a lot of time in Iran's box.

 

[katietheskatie]

mexico: no
portugal - yes
then it'll be mexico or iran

that was an excellent sustained effort by Mexico. I think they could go quite far this time. Iran ran out of steam, yet Mexico powered on, even after losing their star player. Absolutely wonderful.

*cough* mexico absolutely fucking NAILED iran.

 

[stazi]

lol and I just realised that aussie betting sites are biased valuing us at about $80 to win the world cup (equal to croatia). US ones values us at $101, whilst croatia is valued at $67.
However, we're still favourites (veeeeeery marginally) to win the Australia v Japan match.

Furthermore, if my Fifa WC game is correct (simmed matches), the scores will be:
Australia 2 - 1 Japan
Croatia 0 - 2 Brazil
Australia 1 - 3 Brazil
Croatia 1 - 1 Japan
Japan 0 - 1 Brazil
Australia 0 - 0 Croatia

Very plausible results, which I would kill for.

 

[withoutaface]

Then pit us up against Italy or Czech Republic, pwned

 

[stazi]

Waf, 1st half was great: very evenly matched.

Oh and today the match is going to be crazy. If we lose it, we're pretty much knocked out of the world cup. If we draw, well, we need to win the croatia game, and that's a long shot. This will be a tough match with 30+ degree weather expected. Harry Kewell is also likely not to start (however, this was effective in the Uruguay match). Chances are after we go one goal up, we'll start defending. But I have a feeling the score will be 2-1 our way, as Japan will find a way to score. Ninja style.

Also, one would hope that Brazil plays very well in their match against Croatia - they need to beat them, for us to have a good chance of going through. Luckily, this is croatia's first match: brazil will likely want to come out firing. With the new balls, as well as their fresh legs, they should outclass an out-of-form Croatia side strongly. 2 or 3 - 0 is a possible scoreline (unless Brazil get lazy in defense). Also, the heat will not disadvantage them much, as opposed to the conditions Croatia are used to.

The question also remains if we'll do better against Brazil than Croatia. Well, Brazil will desperately want this win so that they can rest some players for the Japan game. I think a 2-0 scoreline their way is quite likely (lets be realistic).

Then we're onto Japan - Croatia. Well, if luck is on our side, this will be a draw. This will be mega-luck, though, as I'm sure Croatia are quite capable of taking apart the Japs, if not better than us. Prediction: 2-0 Croatia's way

Japan - Brazil? Not very important, but I would expect a low scoreline of about 1-0 Brazil's way (they may bring on some good players late in the game)

Then it's onto the big game. The one that will decide who gets in. We'll likely need a win (as I expect better results from croatia against the other teams). Can we do it? Maybe. However, I have a bad feeling it'll be a close 1-1 draw, however, I wouldn't be surprised if they do screw up an earlier game (hopefully) especially against an opponent like Japan.

 

[stazi]

Then pit us up against Italy or Czech Republic, pwned

Oh, we dont have much chance in the 2nd round, if we make it. I'm hoping for the Czechs, as it may last until penalties, where it could swing either way.

Also, our advantage is that we know Japan (and they know us) better than Croatia and Japan know each other, which could result in a draw there (which is peeeerfect for us).

 

[stazi]

hmmm i just thought of another possibility: the Brazilian coach has commented about us playing too rough and physical. Perhaps he will see it better to perhaps avoid injury of some star players by playing them maybe 50-60 mins (or until they get a 1/2 goal lead) and then just playing defense to maintain that lead. Then they will come out and beat Japan convincingly. Now, that would be good.

 

[matt#1]

Força Portugal!

Pauleta scores after almost scoring the earliest goal in Cup history. Set up by the legendary Luis Figo .

 

[matt#1]

1-0 to Portugal at half time. Ronaldo has crashed a header off the crossbar and had numerous shots saved. We should be ahead by alot more. Credit to Angola for hanging on though.

 

[acmilan]

Mexico are fucken fantastic. I mean sure, they were only playing Iran, but you cant take anything away from them. Almost every world cup (recently) they present themselves as someone not to be taken lightly and have even caused a few upsets, most notably theyve almost kicked Italy out in the group stages in 1994 and 2002 by drawing with them (whilst topping the group at the same time), they also drew with Netherlands in 1998. Unfortunately they always seem to stumble out in the 2nd round I cant wait for their game against Portugal, should be a great game and I wouldnt be surprised if they come away with all 3 points.