World Cup 2006

[Julius]

thank u Ko, Dubbel end Asg for your wellcome.
I support Holland in this WC of course. And I know that Ajax is the best team (not only in the Dutch league)
Saw Argentina - Ivory Cost this evening, they seem good teams to me. They can run all the way, never give up, posses good technique..it will be difficult. I havent seen Holland yet in a WC match, hope they will do well against Serbia tomorow.

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

I would blame the coach if I were you. Why on earth did he keep four defenders at the back against ten men of the weakest team to hit the world cup in ages? Looks like a coward to me.

In a sort of way they had that already with Alexanderson as right back, and Benhakker decision to include Cornell Glen as a second striker alongside Stern Jhon was a key point in lagerback not withdrawing another defender.I dont think Lagerback should be called a "Coward" i would call him someone who is smart enough to not commit suicide against a team who fought hard and gave it their all. Sweden had the chances ( Man i cant believe the one Allback missed :nooo: ) but just wasnt in their day, at the end a point was still good. Some people say statistics are worthless but if you take a close look you'll see that the last time Sweden won their opening match in a world cup was in 1958.....Yes on home soil.

It's going too be crunch time against Paraguay but Sweden will prevail. At least i think.

[aveslacker]

With all due respect to my Swedish friends... congrats Trinidad! How can you not pull for the Trinis (unless you are Swedish)?

I think the Swedes were unlucky, but they clearly underestimated the amount of pluck and passion the Trinis would play with. I think the Swedes figured that they could push the Trinis around -- wrongo! Having lived in the caribbean and played there, I can vouch for the fact that the caribbean teams play a very physical style, and can't be pushed off the ball. Now they have a coach who has given them some backbone. I hope they buck the odds and qualify for the next round.

As much as I dislike Ljungberg, he was fantastic. It just wasn't Sweden's day. I disagree with my colleagues -- I thought it was an entertaining match.

Fortunately for Sweden, if they get their heads on straight, they can beat England and Paraguay. Neither of those teams looked all that good.

[carcajou]

aveslacker.... I DEMAND your opinion on these Argentinian c*nts.

[Blind3]

I never thought a 6'7" goalkeeper could come up bigger than, well, 6'7", but Chaka Hislop was excellent. Speaking of GK's,I heard that Paraguay's #1 maybe done for the WC. If so, a possible edge to Sweden in the next match.

As for England, send your thank you cards to Carlos Gamarra. I thought Beckham, Gerrard, and Lampard were good, but wasn't impressed with anyone else.

[ZoefdeHaas]

Crouch?

What's with these coaches, England wanted to attack but he puts Hargreaves and less impressive Downing, Sweden were bombarding TnT with tired strikers and 4 defenders, and Poland hardly got any attacking in, WTF.

As for Argentina, lucky win, Holland will (better) show true class against Serbia

[DanK]

So far I think the games have actually been pretty entertaining (apart from the yawn fest that was England-Para). For first round/first games I think the standard has been pretty high. Maybe I am just easier to please :D

To my Swedish friends, keep you heads up. Think you can still beat Paraguay and based on the first games maybe England as well (although if Rooney is back by then look out!).

So onto tonights game (well tonight if you live on this side of the world). A win for the Dutch would set us up nicely for a 2nd round placing. C'mon boys...3-0 :yes:

[Kowalczyk]

So far I think the games have actually been pretty entertaining

Yeah. I agree, to be quite honest...

Don't think it's boring at all so far, except for England vs Paraguay. Even Sweden vs T&T was quite entertaining, in my opinion...

Here is the expected Holland line-up for today, btw...

----------------------- Van der Sar -----------------------------

Heitinga --------- Ooijer ------ Mathijsen ---- Van Bronckhorst

-- Van Bommel ------- Sneijder ---------------Cocu ----------

Van Persie --------- Van Nistelrooy ------------------ Robben

K.

[ZoefdeHaas]

If Cocu is on the far side, good. Serbia have a tendancy to attack from the flanks and since our fullbacks aren't the greatest then we need defensive players on far side.

[AsgAarD_xxx]

Here is the expected Holland line-up for today, btw...

----------------------- Van der Sar -----------------------------

Heitinga --------- Ooijer ------ Mathijsen ---- Van Bronckhorst

-- Van Bommel ------- Sneijder ---------------Cocu ----------

Van Persie --------- Van Nistelrooy ------------------ Robben

K.

Van Persie as a right winger? Is something wrong with Dirk Kuijt? He used to be one of the main players in van Basten's tactics in qualifies.

As much as I dislike Ljungberg, he was fantastic. It just wasn't Sweden's day. I disagree with my colleagues -- I thought it was an entertaining match.

Fortunately for Sweden, if they get their heads on straight, they can beat England and Paraguay. Neither of those teams looked all that good.

I agree. But - on the other hand - England will show better form against Sweden for sure. Anyway - they still have a chance to advance after draw against England and win against Paraguay.
PS: What do you think about Wilhelmsson's form yesterday? He was really great!

[ZoefdeHaas]

If you watched Holland's recent string of friendlies, Van Persie impressed on the right wing, though I think Kuyt still has a major role in the team

[DanK]

If you watched Holland's recent string of friendlies, Van Persie impressed on the right wing, though I think Kuyt still has a major role in the team

Totally agree Zoef. vP has played some decent football in Hollands last few matches. He played really well against the boys from Aus and probably should have had a couple in the back of the net as well.

Man I hope we kick some serious arse tonight. We need the 3pts as I think CIV could show us for pace. Great to see Sneijder/Coco/vBronks all back in the starting 11 as well.

Hup-Holland-Hup...don't make me stay up to 1am for nothing!

[Julius]

I fear about Holland defensive line. What can u say about our defenders? Are they any good? I mean, i know something about Heitinga but the others? In an italian site i have read about Real trying to buy one of Mathijsen Boulahrouz or Maduro. You think they are that good?

[dws]

Great result against a very tough opponent. I was expecting this game to be as difficult as the match up v's Yugoslavia at France '98 ..... it was :yes:

Can all relax now and enjoy the footy 'til Friday.

Oranje should get more joy out of the CIV defence .... they seem very week on defending crosses, but they will pose a real threat in attack.

[jakobg]

I thought Holland's defence was a little bit shaky in the second half. Great result though, with Robben in excellent form I think this World Cup might turn out to be a very good one for you Oranjes. :xyxthumbs:

[AsgAarD_xxx]

The only one player that played on very good level was Arjen Robben (man of the match for me). The rest was only quite good (Sneijder, van Persie, Ooijer) or bad. Unfortunately, it wasn't best game for Heitinga, who was bad in defence (especially in the first half) and useless in offensive actions. But the worst dutch player (for me) was van Bommel. Geez, he didn't have any contact with ball...

Quite a good game with good result for you ;) .
PS: Respect for the owner(s) of "Vortum" flag. They are everywhere. I see this flag every time when Ajax or Holland play. They must be great supporters :worshippy: .

[ajaxperu]

Great result for Holland. Robben played really well today but unfortunatly Sneijder and Heitinga didn't have a good game. Especially Heitinga who got a really stupid yellow card. The game against CIV is going to be interesting, both teams have really good attacks but shacky defenses (and their goalie is not so good). I'm looking forward to an open game and a dutch victory :xyxthumbs:

[ZoefdeHaas]

I thought Heitinga was pretty solid tbh, good passes and held firm at the back, though Ooijer did most of the work.

Ruud was nowhere in this game, though he did have some moments, he was in and out of the game. Van Bommel too, while it's good to see Sneijder and Cocu hold solid. Good game for Oranje, I'm sure we'll have problems against Ivory Coast, but I think I'm looking at a 3-1 scoreline for Holland, keep it up guys!

[manila]

Good match and very important win againt a tough opponent. I think we were quite poor in attack (except Robben of course). Too many chances were wasted. Tactically a very good match. I liked the way the midfielders followed the play and defended throughout the pitch.

Let's wait for the other two engines to switch on - Van Nistelrooy and Van Persie. Then we could really kick some a**.

[SE6Ajacied]

Well, great result and a good game (in that order). De Hems was absolutely packed with people outside on the pavement, bouncers and a ticket system so ended up watching in the Golden Lion, the nearest bar, which was full of Dutch supporters who couldn't get in De Hems.

Anyway, a good result for NL, I shall watch the Angola game now and then the recording of NL :xyxthumbs:

[acab]

hup holland! robben was a little selfish, but anyway...good win for a beginning :xyxthumbs:

[aveslacker]

I tried to post this yesterday, but for some reason couldn't. Anyway, here it is:

With all due respect to my Swedish friends... congrats Trinidad! How can you not pull for the Trinis (unless you are Swedish)?

I think the Swedes were unlucky, but they clearly underestimated the amount of pluck and passion the Trinis would play with. I think the Swedes figured that they could push the Trinis around -- wrongo! Having lived in the caribbean and played there, I can vouch for the fact that the caribbean teams play a very physical style, and can't be pushed off the ball. Now they have a coach who has given them some backbone. I hope they buck the odds and qualify for the next round.

As much as I dislike Ljungberg, he was fantastic. It just wasn't Sweden's day. I disagree with my colleagues -- I thought it was an entertaining match.

Fortunately for Sweden, if they get their heads on straight, they can beat England and Paraguay. Neither of those teams looked all that good.

Also, congrats Holland!

[FlaFlu]

You did manage to post it yesterday, Aveslacker:

With all due respect to my Swedish friends... congrats Trinidad! How can you not pull for the Trinis (unless you are Swedish)?

I think the Swedes were unlucky, but they clearly underestimated the amount of pluck and passion the Trinis would play with. I think the Swedes figured that they could push the Trinis around -- wrongo! Having lived in the caribbean and played there, I can vouch for the fact that the caribbean teams play a very physical style, and can't be pushed off the ball. Now they have a coach who has given them some backbone. I hope they buck the odds and qualify for the next round.

As much as I dislike Ljungberg, he was fantastic. It just wasn't Sweden's day. I disagree with my colleagues -- I thought it was an entertaining match.

Fortunately for Sweden, if they get their heads on straight, they can beat England and Paraguay. Neither of those teams looked all that good.

;)

[AjaxPDX]

robben was a little selfish, but anyway...

I've heard/read a few commentators make similar remarks today, and I don't get it. If Robben had an ineffective day, wasn't creating a lot, was going nowhere with the ball, was losing the ball a lot, and yet was still being selfish and not passing enough... then yes, I totally 100 percent would agree with this commentary. But Robben was by far the best player on the field today. He scored the only goal, he had six shots on target, and every time he touched the ball he scared the crap out of the Serbians and looked like he was going to create a chance at goal. When a player is having a great day like Robben had today, let them take the opponents on and create as many opportunities as possible, I say. I'm in the U.S., and while watching the Portugal-Angola match, one of the TV announcers (Tommy Smyth... ugh, just all around pretty bad no matter what he's saying) was discussing the Holland match, and said something like, "If I were Van Nistelrooy, I'd be very upset at Robben right now," because in his opinion Robben didn't feed the ball to Van Nistelrooy enough. Even though in the few chances that he did have today, Van Nistelrooy was ineffective and created nothing. So, essentially what he's saying is that he'd rather take the ball away from the guy that's having a great day and give it to the guy that's having a very average day. Makes no sense to me.

[Stevie Super Samba Skillz]

Holland's full-backs were, defensively, sh*te. Heitinga got bypassed repeatedly, stood too far away from his opponent to begin with, and often wasn't to be seen at all. So nervewracking to watch when Serbia went down their left. Van Bronckhorst has always been a defensive liability, that's nothing new. This seems to have been an issue with Oranje for a long time and could be their fatal flaw. Ooijer would be a defensively better player at right back. (Mind you, so would a sack of potatoes.) Not sure who could replace Van Bronckhorst, though.

If the commentators say 'Schneider' again, the smoke will stream from my ears...he's not fucking German! It's SNAY-drr, like in 'Sauce' or 'Sand'! For fuck's sake...

And I stood up and sang the Dutch national anthem on my own in the bar, to (perhaps ironic?) applause. I mixed up 'vrij onverveerd' with 'altijd geeerd', as if anyone would notice anyway...