World Cup 2006

Bericht door **Kowalczyk** » di jun 27, 2006 10:46 pm

I didn't watch the game, as I was at a concert, but by all accounts France did well and deserved the win. Good for them.

But to be honest I am quite sorry to see Spain go home. They were arguably the best side in the first round, but they always f*ck up early in the tournament, don't they. Holland underachievers? Look at Spain! They always have a beautiful side and always seem to do well in the group phase, but they always go home early.

This time it's particularly bitter. Spain finished tops in the group, but it would have been better if they hadn't, because Switzerland surprisingly won their group, ahead of France. So Spain played the #2 (France). Had Spain finished 2nd, they would have played Switzerland instead... Now, Switzerland were eliminated by Ukraine, who got stuffed 4-0 by Spain in the group phase...

Oh, irony.

Also quite remarkable: Switzerland go home without having conceded a single goal...

K.

SE6Ajacied · Bericht door **SE6Ajacied** » di jun 27, 2006 10:48 pm

This geezer Nostradamus. I think he got his dates all wrong.

You see, I think the bit he definately got right was the geography and I've read that Prague is the capital city most would consider as the geographical centre of Europe. Now Sparta didn't play a Spanish team in the CL this year but they did play Arsenal which means that the King of Spain is presumably Cesc Fabregas (I think Zizou and Ronaldinho would be disqualified under aristocratic rules for not being Spanish). On second thoughts though we did get a point there so perhaps it's King Juanfran???

Either that or we are wrong to cite football and Spain will invade somewhere with the King personally leading the charge

I do love it when a thread goes so seriously :offtopic: :baaa:

Cedric · Bericht door **Cedric** » di jun 27, 2006 11:34 pm

Kowalczyk schreef:But to be honest I am quite sorry to see Spain go home. They were arguably the best side in the first round, but they always f*ck up early in the tournament, don't they. Holland underachievers? Look at Spain! They always have a beautiful side and always seem to do well in the group phase, but they always go home early.
K.

I wonder what will say Spanish newspapers tomorrow (or today now...). They were so optimitic, arrogant (a bit like the players in fact) and sure of their victory that I don't think they even considered defeat as an option.

The next game against Brazil will be even more "funny" though... :D It will be the revenge of 1998 for one side, a new "et 1, et 2, et 3-0" song for the other side who is now probably over the moon with its victory against Spain, whereas few days ago it was only about pessimism, crisis, bad coaching, etc... :eusa_liar:

DrDuncan · Bericht door **DrDuncan** » di jun 27, 2006 11:42 pm

You have all missed the subtlety in Nostradamus. The King of Spain is Juan Carlos. The Brazilian defence is Juan Carlos and a couple of others. Get your money on Brazil!

carcajou · Bericht door **carcajou** » wo jun 28, 2006 1:06 am

Kowalczyk schreef:I didn't watch the game, as I was at a concert, but by all accounts France did well and deserved the win. Good for them.

But to be honest I am quite sorry to see Spain go home. They were arguably the best side in the first round, but they always f*ck up early in the tournament, don't they. Holland underachievers? Look at Spain! They always have a beautiful side and always seem to do well in the group phase, but they always go home early.

Spain was great yeah.... But come on... Look who they played a lame-ass Ukraine, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. It's not like they faced a single good game in the first round. They were so mouthy before the game. I'm pretty happy to see them going back home.

Dubbel · Bericht door **Dubbel** » wo jun 28, 2006 4:42 am

Congrats France. Good to see them play well again. And now send the Canaries home to their loving homefront. If Germany also does their job against Argentina then we will have an all European semi-final. :cheer:

Venezuelan Ajacied · Bericht door **Venezuelan Ajacied** » wo jun 28, 2006 5:07 am

ajaxperu schreef:this are going to be the best quarter finals in a looong time. In my opinion we are going to see 2 anticipated finals: Argentina-Germany and Brasil-France. The Italy Ukraine one will be interesting because we'll see Shevchenko against the italians and the Portugal England one is really difficult to predict who will win.
Good game by France today. this is just the perfect moment for them to play against Brasil.

The best quarter finals in what name's and history represents but not in football terms. The teams that have shown he bes football have been eliminated except for Argentina( I hate them but must admit they have played well) and Germany (same as Argentina) both will eliminate themselves in the next round. The rest off the teams have played moderate at best, i mean Portugal kicked they're way too the next round, Italy dove to the next round, England has been living through own goals,set pieces and free kicks not good football, France barely made it from the group stage( although i was quite impressed by their victory today), Brazil has only been a shadow of the mighty Brazil we have all comed too expect, Ukrane ???? What the hell is this team doing here???? They only had 2 shots on goal against the swiss :pukey:.

The teams that have shown the best football, Spain, Czech Republic(Tough group and Injury problems), Ghana, Holland( at times), Switzerland ( not great but highly organized), Ivory Coast and Mexico (great but unfortunate game VS Argentina) are all out. Even teams like Sweden,Korea and Australia have showed more football than teams like England,Italy and Ukrane.

I just hope the eight teams step up their level off play so we can see some good,exciting and honest football. I'm hoping for a Germany-France final.

jakobg · Bericht door **jakobg** » wo jun 28, 2006 7:28 am

If you don't want to watch the rest, I can give you the results here and now:

Semi's will be: Argentina-Italy and England-Brazil
Final will be: Italy-Brazil
Winners will be Brazil

I'm no Nostradamus, but this is how things will end. :yes:

AsgAarD_xxx · Bericht door **AsgAarD_xxx** » wo jun 28, 2006 8:48 am

Geez... I'm afraid there is not team to support for me in the quarter-finals... I was rooting for Switzerland (how is it possible that they couldn't score penalty kicks?), Australia (no comments... another dive by italian player) and Spain (great secod half for France, I was impressed). The only team that I like is Argentina, my favourites to the gold medal.

PS: Ronaldo became the best striker in the World Cup finals history after his 15th goal (scored against Ghana).

carcajou · Bericht door **carcajou** » wo jun 28, 2006 9:44 am

Venezuelan Ajacied schreef: Holland( at times), Switzerland ( not great but highly organized)

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. PLEASE MATE.......

Bericht door **Kowalczyk** » wo jun 28, 2006 10:16 am

carcajou schreef:
Venezuelan Ajacied schreef: Holland( at times), Switzerland ( not great but highly organized)
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. PLEASE MATE.......

Holland were the Holland you want to see for precisely one hour: the first half hour against Serbia and the first half hour against Ivory Coast. Apart from that they were pretty boring. Much less entertaining than the 1994 and 1998 teams, unfortunately.

K.

bluedaddy19 · Bericht door **bluedaddy19** » wo jun 28, 2006 10:52 am

well... i'm bummed that my teams are out in shame, but very glad to be back in mokum

one can only listen to german spoken for so long :eusa_dance:

Monkey Tonk · Bericht door **Monkey Tonk** » wo jun 28, 2006 5:50 pm

The only reason Zidane returned to the national team was a dream he had.
Somebody came to him in the dream and asked him to play at the World Cup. At first he didn't want to say who, but he later clarified it was his dead brother. Some people may laugh at this, but from a Native American (or African) viewpoint that is some pretty heavy medicine.

I'm not impressed by any of the eight teams left, so I wouldn't put it past France to beat Brazil next. As we say in Holland: een bal kan raar stuiteren. (a ball can bounce in strange ways)

manila · Bericht door **manila** » wo jun 28, 2006 6:15 pm

Very disappointing but we all know that this WC was too early for this team. It's a young team with a young coach and there are other young players who can fit in. Let us not forget that we're Champions of Europe U21. So I think this team with Van Basten will give us some joys in the next 2 or 3 international tournaments.

I think the coach has now to work on the midfield although once VDV is back to his form the team will make a huge step forward. Holland are a young team and didn't play very good football but nonetheless they could have easily drawn and qualified against Portugal. We couldn't win the tournament however with the likes of Germany, Argentina & Brasil.

Let's hope that this team will continue to grow under Van Basten's command.

Ayman · Bericht door **Ayman** » wo jun 28, 2006 10:45 pm

Italy are going to win the world cup. Most probably against Brazil, they have to good omens.

Venezuelan Ajacied · Bericht door **Venezuelan Ajacied** » do jun 29, 2006 3:24 am

man i missed football today, you kind of get used to watching games every single day, then you realize that like all good things in life they have to come to and end some day :sad: .

ajaxnumberone · Bericht door **ajaxnumberone** » do jun 29, 2006 7:57 am

Van Basten: 'Dominant spel niet realistisch'

28/6/2006 14:08

Drie dagen na de uitschakeling van het Nederlands elftal op het WK heeft Marco van Basten teruggeblikt op het toernooi in Duitsland. De bondscoach van Oranje zag dat zijn ploeg wel wilde maar op teveel tegenstand stuitte.
'Helaas hebben we niet dat dominante spel gespeeld, dat we wilden spelen', vertelde Van Basten op de persconferentie. 'Simpelweg omdat je op een WK goede tegenstanders treft. Zij hebben ons naar achteren gedwongen. De wil was er wel, maar je moet ook de realiteit niet uit het oog verliezen.'

Toch heeft Van Basten goede hoop dat Nederland in de toekomst zijn wil gaat opleggen aan sterkVan Basten: 'Dominant spel niet realistisch'

28/6/2006 14:08

Drie dagen na de uitschakeling van het Nederlands elftal op het WK heeft Marco van Basten teruggeblikt op het toernooi in Duitsland. De bondscoach van Oranje zag dat zijn ploeg wel wilde maar op teveel tegenstand stuitte.
'Helaas hebben we niet dat dominante spel gespeeld, dat we wilden spelen', vertelde Van Basten op de persconferentie. 'Simpelweg omdat je op een WK goede tegenstanders treft. Zij hebben ons naar achteren gedwongen. De wil was er wel, maar je moet ook de realiteit niet uit het oog verliezen.'

Toch heeft Van Basten goede hoop dat Nederland in de toekomst zijn wil gaat opleggen aan sterke opponenten. 'Bij vlagen hebben we goed voetbal laten zien, daarom hebben we ook een tevreden gevoel overgehouden. We willen die weg blijven bewandelen. Op die manier willen we bekend worden en daar zijn we ook beroemd om geworden in het verleden.'

Oranje strandde zondag in de achtste finale in een tumultueus duel tegen Portugal. Van Basten vond dat zijn team zich had laten ringeloren door de gehaaidere toneelspelers van Portugal. Bovendien was Nederland te vaak vergeten te voetballen op momenten dat het er op aan kwam.

e opponenten. 'Bij vlagen hebben we goed voetbal laten zien, daarom hebben we ook een tevreden gevoel overgehouden. We willen die weg blijven bewandelen. Op die manier willen we bekend worden en daar zijn we ook beroemd om geworden in het verleden.'

Oranje strandde zondag in de achtste finale in een tumultueus duel tegen Portugal. Van Basten vond dat zijn team zich had laten ringeloren door de gehaaidere toneelspelers van Portugal. Bovendien was Nederland te vaak vergeten te voetballen op momenten dat het er op aan kwam.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can anyone here translate it to English? I'm so worried about Marco van Basten, he has little coaching experience, how can he get it more if he only meets our players several time per year ??

The Purple Cow · Bericht door **The Purple Cow** » do jun 29, 2006 8:55 am

This is the best analysis of the Portugal v Nederland game I've see so far, from Simon Kuper in the F.T.

***

Wayward Dutch eclipsed amid shower of cards

By Simon Kuper in Nuremburg

Published: June 26 2006 03:00 | Last updated: June 26 2006 03:00

It has been clear since Euro 2004 that Portugal are a better team than Holland, but just to make sure they proved it again on Sunday night, in a slugfest in which four men were sent off.
Costinha and Deco got double-yellow cards for Portugal, and Khalid Boulahrouz and Van Bronckhorst for Holland, but more could have gone after the first bench-clearing melees of the World Cup. The Russian referee Nikolay Golubev ended up booking a majority of the players.

Two years ago this week Portugal had outclassed Holland 2-1 in the European semi-final in Lisbon. On Sunday Holland again lost at their own game, being outpassed by a team with wingers.
Once again Luis Figo excelled. Once again Miguel marked Holland's most important forward, Arjen Robben, into invisibility. Once again the Portuguese identified Holland's weakest defender in Gio van Bronckhorst at left-back, who seems to hate tackling, and ran their attacks through him. Once again Holland replied with an opportunistic game that has been called "total kick-and-rush-football", punting balls at the centre-forward's head Ã la early Cambridge United. This time that centre-forward was Dirk Kuyt, picked ahead of Ruud van Nistelrooy. Kuyt's main strategy was to seek penalties.
Punishment came on 23 minutes. Van Bronckhorst watched as Deco put in a clever low cross from the right, and Pauleta laid back to Maniche, who found the corner of the net amid Dutch mayhem.

Holland's defenders Khalid Boulahrouz and Andre Ooijer fell over for the goal, and that Joris Mathijsen played a World Cup will be a source of wonder to future generations. Maniche, voted man of the match, could have had two more, but he once fired just over from long range, and later, from a pass from Figo, saw his drive caught by the Dutch keeper Edwin van der Sar, Holland's record international probably playing his last international.

The best Dutch chance was a typically opportunistic one. Just after half-time a bad cross rebounded off Nuno Valente to Phillip Cocu, playing his 101st and last international, and from eight yards he drove at the underside of the bar. He deserved a better end, though Holland didn't. A defence will struggle when its best passer is the goalkeeper.

Portugal's chief weakness is a tendency to play in too low a gear, and Holland got the odd chance. On 80 minutes Kuyt, put through alone on Ricardo, pushed straight at the keeper. There followed a lengthy injury break for the clownish Ricardo, who last night managed to waste almost as much time as in the 2004 encounter despite the change of rules in between.

Van Bronckhorst, Deco and Boulahrouz finished the game sitting side by side on a bench discussing the match together. "I think the referee didn't dignify football," said Maniche. "We dignified our country." His coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, said: "I believe victory was normal."

Dutch coach Marco Van Basten simply said: "Portugal pulled the game over the finish-line with tricks, theatre and time-wasting."
Afterwards Holland's players lay slumped on the pitch, while the speaker played the presumably ironic song, "Oh Netherlands, you are the champion." The demise of this unexciting side was rubbed in by German chants of "Without Holland we're going to Berlin."

To the hosts, this practically felt like a German victory. Holland didn't simply lose but had the pointlessness of their unimaginative campaign made undeniable.

DanK · Bericht door **DanK** » do jun 29, 2006 11:33 am

I am still sticking to my earlier call...2010 the wc of Orange.

DanK · Bericht door **DanK** » do jun 29, 2006 11:53 am

Just read over my predictions from before the wc started. a few misses, but one or two on the money.

Starting from rnd 2.
Germany 0 1 Sweden
Argentina 1 0 Portugal
England 2 1 Poland
Mexico 1 2 Netherlands
Italy 1 0 Australia (if i had the option I would have chosen 1-0 from a disputed penalty)
France 2 1 Spain
Brazil 3 1 Czech Rep
Ukraine 2 1 Switzerland

1/4 finals:
Sweden 1 2 Argentina
Italy 2 1 France
England 2 1 Netherlands
Brazil 1 0 Ukraine

1/2 final
Argentina 0 1 Italy
England 0 2 Brazil

3rd place
Argentina 2 - England 1

Final
italy 2 - Brazil 1

So italy to win? God no!

AsgAarD_xxx · Bericht door **AsgAarD_xxx** » do jun 29, 2006 7:01 pm

Venezuelan Ajacied schreef:man i missed football today, you kind of get used to watching games every single day, then you realize that like all good things in life they have to come to and end some day :sad: .

Man, I thank God that Germans made 2 days break... It's extremely hard to learn anything when you do it during the one hour break between the World Cup games :D . I have a lot of stress every single exam, just because I'm watching football instead of books... I have my last exam tomorrow and I have to pass it if I want to have great holiday. These 2 days are the God's gift for me ;) .

Manneken Pis · Bericht door **Manneken Pis** » do jun 29, 2006 9:06 pm

From Kerala News in India (apparently!).........

ASIA NEWS
Fan leaps to death in China over Netherlands defeat

Hong Kong: China's World Cup death toll has risen to nine after a fan jumped from a seventh floor hotel balcony following the Netherlands' elimination, a news report said Thursday.

The fan, aged in his 30s and believed to have bet heavily on the Netherlands beating Portugal in Sunday night's match, leapt from the hotel balcony in Baoji, Shaanxi provine, shortly after the game.

The fan's death is one of nine attributed to the World Cup fever sweeping China since the tournament kicked off in Germany on June 9, according to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

The deaths include at least six people believed to have dropped dead of excitement or stress after watching the games broadcast late at night in the nation of 1.3 billion.

In another incident, an overexcited fan in Shandong province was stabbed and left in a coma after he was assaulted after hugging a female stranger as he celebrated Switzerland scoring against South Korea.

It was unclear in the immediate aftermath of the assault whether his assailant was the female stranger's boyfriend or husband or a disgruntled South Korea supporter.

Millions of people in China have been staying up as late as 5 a.m. to watch the World Cup live, even though China did not qualify for the finals.

Monkey Tonk · Bericht door **Monkey Tonk** » do jun 29, 2006 9:37 pm

DanK schreef:I am still sticking to my earlier call...2010 the wc of Orange.

Isn't South Africa very hot this time of year?
May as well give it to Brazil, again.

When are we going to do this thing in the winter?
Let's have it in ... Australia!

SE6Ajacied · Bericht door **SE6Ajacied** » do jun 29, 2006 10:04 pm

Monkey Tonk schreef:
DanK schreef:I am still sticking to my earlier call...2010 the wc of Orange.

Isn't South Africa very hot this time of year?
May as well give it to Brazil, again.

quote]

Well, my physical geography isn't that good but surely it's Winter in South Africa in June as well as Australia....doesn't it depend on whether we are talking Northern or Southern Hemisphere??

(but then again Winter in ZA still sounds quite hot to me)

dws · Bericht door **dws** » do jun 29, 2006 11:34 pm

SE6Ajacied schreef:
Monkey Tonk schreef:
DanK schreef:I am still sticking to my earlier call...2010 the wc of Orange.
Isn't South Africa very hot this time of year?
May as well give it to Brazil, again.

quote]

Well, my physical geography isn't that good but surely it's Winter in South Africa in June as well as Australia....doesn't it depend on whether we are talking Northern or Southern Hemisphere??

(but then again Winter in ZA still sounds quite hot to me)

Winter it is :yes:

Rugby world Cup 1995 was hosted by South Africa ........ players had no problems with the conditions ...... and Rugby is a far more exhausting sport than poofball. :D

ps: it absolutely pissed down during the South Africa V France SF .