World Cup 2006

[DanK]

Odds from Bet365.
Add Sweden 40/1 Bet

Sweden @ 40/1...I'll put a bet on that one. Thats not a bad return.

Good DanK, wee need believers!

So far there are two of them, Zlatan and DanK who believe Sweden can win it :D .

If I had to pick an 'outsider' Sweden would be the one without a doubt. They have some classy players and as a unit they are strong. With a bit of luck along the way, I have no doubts they will be 1/4 finals, possibly semis, then you just never know.

[DanK]

Anyway, as another general point, Which african side do people think will cause a stir this time around?

Ghana I would think would be considered one of the African favs to do well. Would love to see Togo do well also (unless they play Holland or Australia (if we qualify of course)).

Togo to beat the Germans in the opener 1-0...how sweet would that be? :eusa_pray:

[aveslacker]

Sweden @ 40/1...I'll put a bet on that one. Thats not a bad return.

Good DanK, wee need believers!

So far there are two of them, Zlatan and DanK who believe Sweden can win it :D .

If I had to pick an 'outsider' Sweden would be the one without a doubt. They have some classy players and as a unit they are strong. With a bit of luck along the way, I have no doubts they will be 1/4 finals, possibly semis, then you just never know.

Sweden would be a good value. They were a bit unlucky not to go farther in Euro '04, made it through the "group of death" in 2002, and could easily go far this time around. They're a classy team, although Ljungberg is a bit of a bitch.

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

Didier Drogba,Kalou brothers(Bonaventure and Salomon), Arouna Kone, Kanga Akele,Aruna Dindane. Jesus thats a damn fine ofensive corps for the world cup. From where ??????

Ivory Coast :D look for them to be a surprise in Germany ;)

[aveslacker]

Didier Drogba,Kalou brothers(Bonaventure and Salomon), Arouna Kone, Kanga Akele,Aruna Dindane. Jesus thats a damn fine ofensive corps for the world cup. From where ??????

Ivory Coast :D look for them to be a surprise in Germany ;)

Isn't one of the Kalou boyz now a Dutch citizen, and seeking an Oranje cap?

Nonetheless, that is still a pretty sharp array of firepower.

[ZoefdeHaas]

No he didnt get a passport and we dont need him :eusa_liar:
Which of the Ajacied can we expect to see?

Vonk
Pienaar
Trabelsi
Charisteas
Rosenberg
Boukhari
Babel
Maduro
De Jong
Sneijder
Galasek
Grygera
Lobont
Mitea (if he recovers)

Am I missing anyone?

[Frans]

No he didnt get a passport and we dont need him :eusa_liar:
Which of the Ajacied can we expect to see?

Vonk
Pienaar
Trabelsi
Charisteas
Lobont
Mitea
Boukhari

Am I missing anyone?

All these players' teams have been ousted already I think, except maybe Tunisia and Morocco still have a chance. The Czechs aren't in yet either.

[Per]

Re who will we see:

Yes, we'll probably see Markus Rosenberg in the squad. But he will need to step up a notch if he wants to keep his place.

I do think he'll get around to it during spring season. If anyone is willing to wait that long.

I'm with Ko, he need to not play in order to save him at Ajax. As strange as it might sound.

[ZoefdeHaas]

O right I forgot many teams didn't qualify.

I do hope Stekkie is on form to make it, I'm not a fan of Timmer too much

[Blind3]

Very much looking forward to WC 2006 . Seriously looking at a vacation package.The US, The Netherlands, England, and my favorite long shot of longshots,Cote` d'Ivoire. Now if Pearl Jam will only tour Europe at the same time, it could be THE ULTIMATE HOLIDAY !! :xyxthumbs:

[cdnajaxfan]

I just saw on the "Holland" page on skysports.com that the Netherlands - Italy friendly said "Postponed". Is that true? WTF happened?! I hope it is still on, I just ordered RAI International yseterday to watch the game. D'OH!

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

I just saw on the "Holland" page on skysports.com that the Netherlands - Italy friendly said "Postponed". Is that true? WTF happened?! I hope it is still on, I just ordered RAI International yseterday to watch the game. D'OH!

Thats strange....maybe its just postponed till tomorrow :yes: .Still if not played will be a shame, Espn deportes had it covered :sad: . Anyway i've been ctching some other games today, England -Argentina was as always and excelent entertaining match with a spectacular late comeback by the English, 3-2 final score Owen scoring the game winner at the 90 plus 1 minute mark (bet a lot of people on this board are happy about that ;) ).
Right now watching the Czech versus Norway playing in a dessert like field in Oslo. 1-0 Czech Republic 5 minutes from halftime.

Later on going to see Australia-Uruguay,Germany-France,Spain-Slovackia and maybe.....Italy-Netherlands :sad: , tomorrow Poland-Ecuador.

I love these types of weekends :eusa_dance: :headbang:

QUE EL FUTBOL NO PARE, NO PARE,NO!!!!!!!!!

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

Game ON !!!!!!!!!

Netherlands
1. Edwin Van der Sar
2. Jan Kromkamp
4. Joris Mathijsen
5. Giovanni Van Bronckhorst
8. Phillip Cocu
6. Denny Landzaat
10. Rafael Van der Vaart
3. Ron Vlaar
11. Ryan Babel
7. Romeo Castelen
9. Dirk Kuijt

Italy:
1. Christian Abbiati
5. Fabio Cannavaro
3. Fabio Grosso
6. Alessandro Nesta
2. Gianluca Zambrotta
7. Mauro German Camoranesi
4. Gennaro Gattuso
8. Andrea Pirlo
10. Alessandro Del Piero
11. Alberto Gilardino
9. Luca Toni

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

Babel scores :cheer: 1-0 Dutchies

[john_stein]

bad game for Vlaar. unlucky in the second italian goal and terrible in the third.

[dws]

bad game for Vlaar. unlucky in the second italian goal and terrible in the third.

I think Ronnie boy was at fault on all three goals. Maybe Van Basten should accept that Vlaar is not yet ready to play at the highest level.

Andre Ooijer is not a particular favourite of many followers of Dutch football, however i think he should be considered ahead of Vlaar for the 2006 Finals Squad.

[DanK]

Later on going to see Australia-Uruguay...

Well the Gay's go 1 up. They can expect a barrage of attack from the boys back in sydney. make no mistake though...this is going to be tough for us.

Man, we should have scored. Australia totally dominated the first half and most of the 2nd. Guess it could have been worse though. 1-0...this is still anyones.

Re: Holland - Italy. Is this our first loss under van Basten?

[dws]

Yep, first defeat Dan .

Nothing much to worry about; goals against down to Vlaar's lack of experience at this level. I'm sure if Mathijsen, opdam or Ooijer had played instead of Ron result would have been different.

edit: Mathijsen partnered Vlaar in central defence.

[Tom_]

Man, we should have scored. Australia totally dominated the first half and most of the 2nd. Guess it could have been worse though. 1-0...this is still anyones.

Did you think? I thought we were quite lucky not to be 3 or 4 nil down in the 2nd half. U R Gay looked dangerous every time they attacked and Australia looked tame and slow. Still, nothing to stop us putting 3 past the buggers in Sydney. Australia desperately needs to qualify for the good of the game here.

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

Later on going to see Australia-Uruguay...

Well the Gay's go 1 up. They can expect a barrage of attack from the boys back in sydney. make no mistake though...this is going to be tough for us.

Man, we should have scored. Australia totally dominated the first half and most of the 2nd. Guess it could have been worse though. 1-0...this is still anyones.

Re: Holland - Italy. Is this our first loss under van Basten?

I think the game was very wide open, both teams had chances and both dominated for large periods of time.The game could have ended 3-3,3-2 or something like 3-0 for either of both sides.The aussies still have the advantage of finishing at home, its really now o never for them, their is absolutely no excuse left.

Bad luck for the oranje ugly second goal for italy and bad outing for Vlaar i think he totally blew his chances for 2006.
Spain is going to the world cup, Grygera and Galasek are a safe bet too, the swiss will still have a tough test in Turkey but that second goal is crucial.Bahrein(who????) also got a nice result in Trinidad 1-1.

The final 32 are almost complete :eusa_dance: .

[ZoefdeHaas]

Yeh its our first loss, and Babel scored so thats good.
Timmer is a crap keeper imo.
And I thought Holland would wear the anti-racism uniform for friendlies?

[DanK]

Man, we should have scored. Australia totally dominated the first half and most of the 2nd. Guess it could have been worse though. 1-0...this is still anyones.

Did you think? I thought we were quite lucky not to be 3 or 4 nil down in the 2nd half. U R Gay looked dangerous every time they attacked and Australia looked tame and slow. Still, nothing to stop us putting 3 past the buggers in Sydney. Australia desperately needs to qualify for the good of the game here.

Hmmm. Yep. Probably could have gone down 2 or 3 nill in the end if the Gays had converted. For about 15min late in the 2nd half, we looked like the Australia of old (ie: panick stricken), but based on the overall game I think we deserved at least a point.

You can see Guus' influence on the strucutre of the team. I haven't seen Australia dominate possesion like that over a stronger nation for some time.

I think the game was very wide open, both teams had chances and both dominated for large periods of time.The game could have ended 3-3,3-2 or something like 3-0 for either of both sides.The aussies still have the advantage of finishing at home, its really now o never for them, their is absolutely no excuse left.

Amen to that! Playing at home we really should win. No excuses this time.

Actually one thing I would like to point out as well. Credit to Uruguay. Only a few times did they do the 1 million roles along the ground after a dive. Most of the time the game was played in a fair way. Will be interesting to see if they try anything here to hold the lead. Australia supporters cannot stand play acting in sport...EVER! The 85000 in Sydney wont tollerate any bullsh*t.

The final 32 are almost complete :eusa_dance: .

C'mon boys lets qualify for the first time in 32 years (the last time was in Germany...maybe its fate?).

Thats the good thing about being a Dutch-Aussie. If Australia dont make it, I have Oranje to support...failing that there's the Germans to NOT support (ie: will be supporting any team that plays them).

[aveslacker]

Good luck Aussies. Having just spent a few days in Oz, I have to say what an awesome place it is. I'll certainly be pulling for you guys.

I usually pull for the Aussies, except in their current series against the WI because I used to live in the Caribbean. And lord knows, the Windies need all the help they can get.

But anyway, if you guys qualify (and I think there is a good chance that you will), I promise to dust off my favorite emoticon!

[DanK]

Good luck Aussies. Having just spent a few days in Oz, I have to say what an awesome place it is. I'll certainly be pulling for you guys...
But anyway, if you guys qualify (and I think there is a good chance that you will), I promise to dust off my favorite emoticon!

Cheers :xyxthumbs:

Fingers crossed when I return from seeing the game in Sydney later in the week I hope to see the emoticon Aves.

One thing is for sure...if we qualify (for the first time in 32 years) it will be one hell of a party. either way though, I am getting drunk if we lose and even drunker if we win :alc:

U-R-Gay (well Recoba in particular) have stated that it is their 'divine right' to qualify. Didn't realise that diving and playing dirty gave you that right, but maybe thats just me.

Talk to you on my return...hopefully I will have recovered (I am also there for a mates bucks night!) and am a happy chappy after qualifying...will know tomorrow night.

Oh yeah and if we do make it a certain Mr Guus Hiddink will become a national hero.

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

Divine right my ass, f'''king Uruguayans have the same arrogance of the Argentinians except the Argentinias play ahell of a lot better.They think they have a divine right just because they won two world cups in the 30's hell there were less than 10 teams playing on both ocasions.

I for one will be up at 4 am venezuelan time to watch the game on Espn 2, dont really care who wins just want to have memories reminiscent to Korea-Japan 2002.