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- Thread starter ScriptOhio
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sandgk
Watson, Crick & A Twist
That was a complete and utter embarrassment in the final minutes.
They have Sweden down - for the first time in 38 years - then let the glory slip away. Not because of great Swedish play, no, that wouldn't be sufficiently ironic. Instead England has to play spectator while a throw in ambles it way into the goal - virtually untouched. The Defense is at fault, the Goalie is at fault. Frankly, the whole fucking team is at fault.
They had chance after chance in the first half to put the Budgies away and didn't close the deal.
Then Gerrard's excellent and (counting the team effort) singular good play of the 2nd half is completely and utterly wasted. Thrown away like yesterdays newspaper.
Absolutely totally, fucking ridiculous.
They have Sweden down - for the first time in 38 years - then let the glory slip away. Not because of great Swedish play, no, that wouldn't be sufficiently ironic. Instead England has to play spectator while a throw in ambles it way into the goal - virtually untouched. The Defense is at fault, the Goalie is at fault. Frankly, the whole fucking team is at fault.
They had chance after chance in the first half to put the Budgies away and didn't close the deal.
Then Gerrard's excellent and (counting the team effort) singular good play of the 2nd half is completely and utterly wasted. Thrown away like yesterdays newspaper.
Absolutely totally, fucking ridiculous.
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(hint: they probably agreed with England ahead of time to just go ahead and tie so neither team got left out)sandgk said:That was a complete and utter embarrassment in the final minutes.
They have Sweden down - for the first time in 38 years - then let the glory slip away. Not because of great Swedish play, no, that wouldn't be sufficiently ironic. Instead England has to play spectator while a throw in ambles it way into the goal - virtually untouched. The Defense is at fault, the Goalie is at fault. Frankly, the whole fucking team is at fault.
They had chance after chance in the first half to put the Budgies away and didn't close the deal.
Then Gerrard's excellent and (counting the team effort) singular good play of the 2nd half is completely and utterly wasted. Thrown away like yesterdays newspaper.
Absolutely totally, fucking ridiculous.
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sandgk
Watson, Crick & A Twist
And that is meant to make me feel better?
A Fix?
Besides which if that were true, all they had to do was keep track of the T-n-T Paraguay score - which both teams were definitely doing, and they would realize that neither had anything to worry about (in terms of going through). So, the only thing to play for was, pride.
So no, I don't buy that theory, not even for 5 cents.
England simply played badly after getting what should have been a final lead. And by badly, I mean bad enough that it would be cause for wind-sprints by the backline after the game in school, college or anywhere else.
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Well considering the deal was probably made before either game had been played, I doubt the tnt & paraguay score meant much.sandgk said:
Why are you getting all worked up over it? It's just england.
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Portugal leads Mexico 2-1 with about 15 minutes left. Mexico missed a PK (good call) that would have tied it. Portugal was up 2-0 in the first half, their second goal was on a PK (another legit call).
Mexico is a man down due to a dive that was the second yellow for one of their guys. That call was tough, since there was some contact.
If the score holds, Mexico will advance (unless Angola gets about 3 more late goals), but will probably have to play Argentina in the round of 16.
Mexico is a man down due to a dive that was the second yellow for one of their guys. That call was tough, since there was some contact.
If the score holds, Mexico will advance (unless Angola gets about 3 more late goals), but will probably have to play Argentina in the round of 16.
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I just now got a chance to watch the England - Sweden match on my DVR, and all I can say is... WOW. A U-14 team wouldn't have given up that last Swedish goal. That was freaking horrible.
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sandgk
Watson, Crick & A Twist
As BN27 might say - don't get sandgk started on that one again
The match I am eagerly looking forward to today is Netherlands vs Argentina. We shall (I think) see just how prolific they can be against one of Europe's best squads. Now, both teams in that match are through to the next round which might normally lead to dullness. But, there is still much to play for as the winner of group C gets to meet Mexico instead of the stiffer challenge posed by on-and-off again Portugal.
Anyway - I am optimistic that the game will be entertaining - if only because of the different styles of play.
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sandgk
Watson, Crick & A Twist
Interesting Idea - Can Something Like This Be Done for College Football Season?
I don't if it is all done in Perl but there is an interesting concept that would seem ideally suited to our vCash system - A Trading System based on the outome of World Cup Matches, your predictions regarding players, matches etc.
Run as a "Stock Exchange" with an initial 10,000 unit buy-in.
BBC's World Cup Daq
I don't if it is all done in Perl but there is an interesting concept that would seem ideally suited to our vCash system - A Trading System based on the outome of World Cup Matches, your predictions regarding players, matches etc.
Run as a "Stock Exchange" with an initial 10,000 unit buy-in.
BBC's World Cup Daq
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And if I would have attempted a diagnosis from the one time I saw him fall before I typed that, you would have mocked me like I was Senator Frist.
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Ghana appears to be confident that they will beat the US:
Updated: June 21, 2006
<!-- end page date -->Ghanaian pride
<!-- end pagetitle --><!-- begin bylinebox -->By Wayne Drehs
Archive
NUREMBURG, Germany -- Perhaps there was some sort of communication gap. Perhaps something was lost in the dialect. Or perhaps there is no such thing as a bulletin board in the West African nation of Ghana.
Whatever the case, the Ghana Black Stars soccer team paraded into this city's Franken Stadium on Wednesday, the eve of its Group E showdown with the United States, beaming with confidence.
Bongarts/Martin Rose/GettyImages
Ghana's coach Ratomir Dujkovic is confident his team will beat the U.S.
In the news conference before the team's final workout, coach Ratomir Dujkovic and captain Stephen Appiah seemingly spent as much time talking about Brazil, a potential second-round opponent, as they did the United States. And when they finally did get around to discussing the Americans, it was in a way only New York headline writers could appreciate.
First, there was Dujkovic: "I'm not worried. I'm an optimist. I still believe Ghana Black Stars will reach the semifinal."
Then, Appiah: "This team is not afraid of any team in this tournament. We can face anyone at any time."
There is good reason for that confidence. Ghana thoroughly outplayed the Czech Republic in a 2-0 victory Saturday afternoon that could have been even more lopsided. The win created Carnival-like celebrations back home, where the Accra Daily Mail compared it to the day the nation gained its independence in 1957.
Thursday will be a half-holiday in the country, and everyone will be allowed to leave work at noon to watch the match. Randy Abbey, a spokesman for the team, estimated that "99 percent" of the country will watch. Several of them will gather in town squares wearing Lance Armstrong-type bracelets that say, "Black Stars 2006, Believe It -- Believe It!"
"The Czechs are a powerful team," Abbey said. "But once we got past the Czechs, everybody back home feels like the gate swung wide open."
In a poll on the Ghana FA Web site, 87 percent of respondents expect the Black Stars to defeat the U.S. That echoes the confidence the team has carried with itself all week. Monday's news conference, at the team's training headquarters in Wurzburg, was just as eye opening as Wednesday's.
First, there was Dujkovic: "The USA will suffer because we are strong and not afraid of anyone."
Then, midfielder Michael Essien: "We'll go for a win against the United States and our chances are good."
Back home, even Ghana president John Agyekum Kufuor got in the act, saying: "We've beaten the second-best team in the world, who else is left?"
So what to make of all this talk from a team that is playing in its first World Cup? What to make of the Terrell Owens-like confidence from a group that will play without two of its top players, forward Asamoah Gyan and midfielder Sulley Muntari, both of whom are suspended after receiving two yellow cards?
Maybe the Ghanaians don't worry about irritating the opposition. Maybe they look at their drubbing of the Czechs and remember that nearly the same Czech team dominated the United States 3-0. Or maybe they just don't care about giving the U.S. enough bulletin board material to fill a warehouse.
Even without Gyan and Muntari, the two who scored the goals against the Czechs, the Black Stars appear fearless.
"We're going to miss them -- they are good players -- but all the guys are ready to die for the nation," Appiah said. "They all want to play."
Thursday's matchup couldn't bring together two nations of more polar opposites. When the World Development Movement put out its rankings of the 32 World Cup countries -- factoring in not soccer ability but 10 other categories including poverty, military spending, debt corruption and human rights -- Ghana came out on top in cheerworthiness. The U.S. was ranked 30th.
In Ghana, the average yearly income is right around $2,000 a year. In the United States, it's around $39,000.
On the field, the West African nation that borders the Gulf of Guinea has an impressive past. Although it hadn't reached the World Cup before this year, Ghana was the first nation to win the African Nations Cup four times. It also won a pair of Under-17 world titles and defeated the Landon Donovan-led U.S. U-17 team 2-0 in the 1999 third-place match.
Midfielder Essien, who at $40 million is the highest-paid African soccer player in the world, was on the field that day and will lead the Black Stars on Thursday.
"He's a modern midfielder at the highest level," U.S. captain Claudio Reyna said. "Where with Chelsea he works with the team, with Ghana he's more of the main man."
Dujkovic is the team's fourth coach in the past three years, but he has brought much-needed discipline and a confident, if not cocky, attitude. He began this World Cup by saying his team could reach the semifinals.
And Wednesday, he took an interesting approach to a question about how he feels about potentially facing Brazil in the second round. U.S. manager Bruce Arena sidestepped the query, saying only that he hopes he gets the opportunity to face the Brazilians. However, Dujkovic took the opportunity to critique Brazil's play, talk about how the Black Stars would match up and take one more veiled shot at the Americans.
"Facing Brazil, well, you know the Ghana Black Stars have a nickname, the Brazil of Africa," he said. "So that will be a great match, two Brazilians."
Will it be a great match?
We'll see.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=372018&root=worldcup&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1&cc=3888
Updated: June 21, 2006
<!-- end page date -->Ghanaian pride
<!-- end pagetitle --><!-- begin bylinebox -->By Wayne Drehs
Archive
NUREMBURG, Germany -- Perhaps there was some sort of communication gap. Perhaps something was lost in the dialect. Or perhaps there is no such thing as a bulletin board in the West African nation of Ghana.
Whatever the case, the Ghana Black Stars soccer team paraded into this city's Franken Stadium on Wednesday, the eve of its Group E showdown with the United States, beaming with confidence.
Bongarts/Martin Rose/GettyImages
Ghana's coach Ratomir Dujkovic is confident his team will beat the U.S.
In the news conference before the team's final workout, coach Ratomir Dujkovic and captain Stephen Appiah seemingly spent as much time talking about Brazil, a potential second-round opponent, as they did the United States. And when they finally did get around to discussing the Americans, it was in a way only New York headline writers could appreciate.
First, there was Dujkovic: "I'm not worried. I'm an optimist. I still believe Ghana Black Stars will reach the semifinal."
Then, Appiah: "This team is not afraid of any team in this tournament. We can face anyone at any time."
There is good reason for that confidence. Ghana thoroughly outplayed the Czech Republic in a 2-0 victory Saturday afternoon that could have been even more lopsided. The win created Carnival-like celebrations back home, where the Accra Daily Mail compared it to the day the nation gained its independence in 1957.
Thursday will be a half-holiday in the country, and everyone will be allowed to leave work at noon to watch the match. Randy Abbey, a spokesman for the team, estimated that "99 percent" of the country will watch. Several of them will gather in town squares wearing Lance Armstrong-type bracelets that say, "Black Stars 2006, Believe It -- Believe It!"
"The Czechs are a powerful team," Abbey said. "But once we got past the Czechs, everybody back home feels like the gate swung wide open."
In a poll on the Ghana FA Web site, 87 percent of respondents expect the Black Stars to defeat the U.S. That echoes the confidence the team has carried with itself all week. Monday's news conference, at the team's training headquarters in Wurzburg, was just as eye opening as Wednesday's.
First, there was Dujkovic: "The USA will suffer because we are strong and not afraid of anyone."
Then, midfielder Michael Essien: "We'll go for a win against the United States and our chances are good."
Back home, even Ghana president John Agyekum Kufuor got in the act, saying: "We've beaten the second-best team in the world, who else is left?"
So what to make of all this talk from a team that is playing in its first World Cup? What to make of the Terrell Owens-like confidence from a group that will play without two of its top players, forward Asamoah Gyan and midfielder Sulley Muntari, both of whom are suspended after receiving two yellow cards?
Maybe the Ghanaians don't worry about irritating the opposition. Maybe they look at their drubbing of the Czechs and remember that nearly the same Czech team dominated the United States 3-0. Or maybe they just don't care about giving the U.S. enough bulletin board material to fill a warehouse.
Even without Gyan and Muntari, the two who scored the goals against the Czechs, the Black Stars appear fearless.
"We're going to miss them -- they are good players -- but all the guys are ready to die for the nation," Appiah said. "They all want to play."
Thursday's matchup couldn't bring together two nations of more polar opposites. When the World Development Movement put out its rankings of the 32 World Cup countries -- factoring in not soccer ability but 10 other categories including poverty, military spending, debt corruption and human rights -- Ghana came out on top in cheerworthiness. The U.S. was ranked 30th.
In Ghana, the average yearly income is right around $2,000 a year. In the United States, it's around $39,000.
On the field, the West African nation that borders the Gulf of Guinea has an impressive past. Although it hadn't reached the World Cup before this year, Ghana was the first nation to win the African Nations Cup four times. It also won a pair of Under-17 world titles and defeated the Landon Donovan-led U.S. U-17 team 2-0 in the 1999 third-place match.
Midfielder Essien, who at $40 million is the highest-paid African soccer player in the world, was on the field that day and will lead the Black Stars on Thursday.
"He's a modern midfielder at the highest level," U.S. captain Claudio Reyna said. "Where with Chelsea he works with the team, with Ghana he's more of the main man."
Dujkovic is the team's fourth coach in the past three years, but he has brought much-needed discipline and a confident, if not cocky, attitude. He began this World Cup by saying his team could reach the semifinals.
And Wednesday, he took an interesting approach to a question about how he feels about potentially facing Brazil in the second round. U.S. manager Bruce Arena sidestepped the query, saying only that he hopes he gets the opportunity to face the Brazilians. However, Dujkovic took the opportunity to critique Brazil's play, talk about how the Black Stars would match up and take one more veiled shot at the Americans.
"Facing Brazil, well, you know the Ghana Black Stars have a nickname, the Brazil of Africa," he said. "So that will be a great match, two Brazilians."
Will it be a great match?
We'll see.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=372018&root=worldcup&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1&cc=3888
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0