World Cup 2006

[Van der Vaart]

1- France
2- Germany
3- Portugal
4- Italy


Zizou deserves one more trophy

[AsgAarD_xxx]

I hope that Portugal win the cup. Before the World Cup's start I believed that it will be the tournament of surprises. I wanted to see Poland, Czech Republic, Holland and a few other countries as the black horses of Weltmeisterschaft. Unfortunately - it didn't happen. So now I would like to see gold medal for Portugal. It's the only team from those which stay, which didn't won a cup. I hope it will be their first time. How many times can you watch Brazil, France, Germany or Italy on the top? It's time to change ;) .

1) Portugal
2) Italy
3) Germany
4) France

[Arthur]

I hope Germany won't win. It would be a disgrace to the sport if such poor players win the most important trophy. I actually think Italy play much more positive than they get credit for, so I'm rooting for them.

[FlaFlu]

Portugal have been the dirtiest team of the tournament. The Portugese players are stars in diving, asking for cards and theatrics. Players like Figo and Ronaldo are a disgrace to the game with their antics. :pukey:

I'd prefer the Italians over them every day.

[Blind3]

Quoting Germans everywhere... F**K!!!!! Now I really have to hope for France. That said, Italy created more and pushed harder for the win.Just can't warm to the whining. Like having a team of eleven Arjen Robben Crybabies 'R Us clones.

So much for Germany being undefeated in Dortmund.

[aveslacker]

How fucking depressing. I knew this was going to happen. FIFA's desire to "crack down" on fouls to protect the "artists" has actually rewarded the divers. In other words, with FIFA's blessing, cheating pays off.

Please, France, don't lose to those goat felchers.

Here's a good article that sums up how I feel about these things.

[DanK]

...Here's a good article that sums up how I feel about these things.

Great read. Esp the part "...Sanctioning players that bring the game in to disrepute in this fashion - with serious, lengthy bans - through trail by video would tip the balance back in the favour of the honest professional...."

Wake up FIFA, get some balls and suspend the little cheating shits, they blight our beautiful game. Video evidence. Its there. Use it!

[DanK]

Gallas ready for dirty tricks - PA Sport

France defender William Gallas has warned that Portugal will play it dirty when the teams clash in Wednesday's (Thursday morning AEST) World Cup semi-final in Munich...."In this sort of match we must be careful of the Portuguese - they like diving, you can see that."

LOL...full write up > http://www.theworldgame.com.au/home/ind ... &cid=73038

[Blind3]

Klaus DiBiasi, Greg Louganis, AND the chinese men's and women's teams took lessons from the Portugese. They should give out number cards and line-up cards at today's match. :worshippy: = a Portugese front dive, no twist .

[SPL]

A Portugal Italy final, what a terrible prospect for the game.

Portugal have been the worst team for diving cheating. (And No I do not blame Ronaldo for getting Rooney sent off )

I really do hope France win ,( inspite of Henry's disgraceful act.)

[Per]

Hi.

One thing to share:

Sat in a car for a total of 3830 km to see Sweden get humiliated in 12 minutes.

Drank beer. Lots.

Had a nice vacation.

Catch you all on the flipside.

[Cedric]

Gallas was right, Portugal "strikes" again... But it doesn't work right now, France 1, Portugal 0, thanks to a penalty by Zidane. Henry fell again, but I think this time there was a real foul.

[AsgAarD_xxx]

The best thing is that Cristiano Ronaldo, the worst diver I've ever seen, is a face of "Joga Bonito" and other campanies about fair play :hypocrite: ...

Anyway, I'm still for Portugal. Just don't know why Scolari still puts Pauleta in the first squad. He is useless in attack. Maybe another player will be better.

[Cedric]

C. Ronaldo is crying !!! :cheer: The best news of the night :yes:

[SE6Ajacied]

C. Ronaldo is crying !!! :cheer: The best news of the night :yes:

Yeah, terribly "sad" that :D . Well done France, the BBC commentators were having a right old moan about Portugal after the game, replaying all the dives and Scolari apparently supporting/encouraging them.

France did not play that well (more comedy goalkeeping from Barthez!) but I am very happy they are through.

...and yes, I'm sure that was a foul on Henry, they replayed that a few times too after the game.

[dws]

Gallas was right, Portugal "strikes" again... But it doesn't work right now, France 1, Portugal 0, thanks to a penalty by Zidane. Henry fell again, but I think this time there was a real foul.

It would be interesting to know why the ref. awarded the penalty. Was it for the contact that occurred or was he convinced by Henry's dive?

[SE6Ajacied]

Gallas was right, Portugal "strikes" again... But it doesn't work right now, France 1, Portugal 0, thanks to a penalty by Zidane. Henry fell again, but I think this time there was a real foul.

It would be interesting to know why the ref. awarded the penalty. Was it for the contact that occurred or was he convinced by Henry's dive?

I didn't think there was much doubt on that one. If it said in the rules that the trip must stop a 'genuine goalscoring oportunity' (or similar) then maybe but I though Henry was definately fouled and it was in the area.

I think he was lucky in the sense that he wasn't going anywhere in particular at the time though but the tackle was stupid in the penalty area.

[mick]

Yes, another game, another free kick goal by the french who created nothing......and......another dive by thierry henry. there was contact by the defender (was it carvalio?), and the arms went up (i'm sure this was well practiced) and a penalty. this was just about the only chance france created all game. portugal was guilty of diving all over the place the rest of the game, but they were just looking for the obligatory make up penalty. but it was never to be. well, another dive by henry makes the difference in another game, first against the spanish, now the portugese. can henry dive his way to a world cup trophy???? we will see on sunday. and gallas was warning about portugese diving and being unfair! how funny after henry against the spanish going down holding his face after puyol stepped in front of him! disappointed in the fact that divers are deciding so much in this world cup, and not good fair creative football. we need video refereeing introduced that doesn't hold up the play so actual players can decide games on fair playing rather than diving

[Monkey Tonk]

Diving is a huge problem. The days of 'the best team doesn't always win' are far behind us. Both finalists have received a decisive PK after a dive, Italy against Australia, France against Portugal. This is not the only problem in soccer. Yawning and falling asleep at the strangest hours of the day come to mind as well.

Suggested rule changes. I believe van Basten has mentioned these in the past:

1) No more offside. I want end to end action with lots of scoring opportunities. I'd much rather 'skip' midfield than watch 90 minutes of midfield action.

2) Forget yellow cards and their accumulation. After a hard foul or any type of dive, send the player to the bench for ten or fifteen minutes. Will be great to see power plays as in (ice) hockey.

I would also like to see a limitation on how many defensive players can be on their own half. An obligatory two players on the opponents half at all times would open up the game more. Anything to create a fairer brand of soccer and loads of action in front of the goals.

[dws]

Gallas was right, Portugal "strikes" again... But it doesn't work right now, France 1, Portugal 0, thanks to a penalty by Zidane. Henry fell again, but I think this time there was a real foul.

It would be interesting to know why the ref. awarded the penalty. Was it for the contact that occurred or was he convinced by Henry's dive?

I didn't think there was much doubt on that one. If it said in the rules that the trip must stop a 'genuine goalscoring oportunity' (or similar) then maybe but I though Henry was definately fouled and it was in the area.

I think he was lucky in the sense that he wasn't going anywhere in particular at the time though but the tackle was stupid in the penalty area.

There was certainly a penalty offence, but I'm questioning whether the ref awarded the penalty for the penalty offence or for the bit of theatrics which followed.

It's something I have seen happen a few times .... the ref fails to award a penalty for a clear offence ..... a second or seconds later he awards a penalty for a non offence. I'm just wondering which it was .... for the former or the latter.

[aveslacker]

I'm pretty sure that the offense was a foul. The defender clearly kicks out at Henry and gets him square on the leg. Henry did make a meal out of it, and I'm saddened that he chose to do so, but the defender committed a foul either way. I can't condone what Henry did, but there was still a foul committed, imo.

But I'm glad that France won, and I hope they beat the Italians.

I thought this was the best-officiated match I've watched. The ref almost never bought the diving crap that the Portugese pulled (possibly good gamesmanship by the French in calling attention to it before the game).

I lost count of the number of times Portugese players fell down in or near the penalty area with their arms in the air, and then looked at the ref. Disgusting. It seemed as though that was Portugal's entire offensive strategy was to send balls into the box and fall down, hoping for a call.

The best thing about France is that, even though they were ahead by only one goal, no one went down with a phantom broken ankle, waiting for the stretcher, in order to kill the clock and the other team's momentum. They are to be commended for playing within the spirit of the game. I must say that I don't appreciate Henry's playacting, though. That is a disappointment.

And, I can add another picture of C. Ronaldo crying to my collection. Awesome! :xyxthumbs:

[ZoefdeHaas]

Yep players these days seem to fall too easily, and from last night:

Pauleta
Postiga
Ronaldo
Maniche
Valente

Henry
Abidal (ok ball strikes hurt but get up)

[AsgAarD_xxx]

FIFA and UEFA said a lot about divers before the World Cup... And? What happened? Most of them didn't get even a yellow card! It has to change if we want to see Joga Bonita
About offsides - I'm for that rule. Offside traps are part of the tactics of many teams and it's great view for me to see rival player caught on the offside. To make a game better we need not changing of rules, but better referees. Or maybe the idea of watching the actions on TV when referees are not sure (just like in ice hockey)... It will also be hard, because a lot of people think that mistakes make this game more interesting.

[DanK]

OK, seeing we are getting onto the rules a bit, here's my 2 cents.
1. Trial by video.
For me FIFA needs this ASAP. FIFA need to review all games and check for clear cases of diving, play acting etc. They also need it to stamp out vicious attacks, or attempted attacks on players (eg: Figo's headbutt). Suspend players who do this. You dive, you suffer.

2. An official time keeper (other than the ref)
Its about time there was a time keeper. Everytime the ref blows his whistle for a foul, clock stops and stays stopped until play is resumed (this could be ignored for the ball going out of play for a throw in). IMO, this would also help with play acting. A player can roll around all he likes, but it wont waste one single second of the game. The time could also be displayed to show how much is left etc. Happens in most sports. Get with the times FIFA.

3. Video Replays - Depending on how its implemented
I would also like to see videos used for disputed goal line goals, and if possible use it to confirm penalty decisions (although this could be tough - How could you decided Henry against Portugal - was a foul, but Henry fell from his own accord, a second or two after the incident).

I am wary though, what sort of impact it would have to any flow of the game.

4. Professional Refs
Makes sense. Simple as that.

I think footballs biggest issue (apart from corruption!) is the cheating of players. This WC has been a joke in regards to this. The only way to stop it is to take action, and strong action against those who cheat. Suspend the shits for a few matches - make an example out of them. It will stop pretty quickly.

I am not for change just for change sake, but I really think FIFA could introduce (or at least trial) some other options into the game. Remember the concern about removing the passback to the keeper? Some commentators were concerned that this would just have players booting the ball to the heavens in order to clear it...it ended up being one of the better changes I can remember.

I want to watch a game were 'Fair Play' actually means something.

[mick]

I agree with danK and the others who have called for new implementations of technology/rules. The truth for me is this: soccer has always been great for me, simple as that. i look forward to the World Cup and European Championships as much as anyone. I even chose a profession where I have the summers off so I can watch these competitions live. Anyway, this World Cup was ruined in a way by all of these yellow cards and players falling around diving. It has to stop. In fairness to the English, they will not tolerate their own players diving (e.g. didier drogba with chelsea). The man u players and staff seem to have weened c ronaldo off of this diving for his club as well. But for the biggest, grandest and best sporting event on the face of the earth, how can this cheating and diving go on? we need to introduce new technology so the games can be fair. the refs can't catch everything on the field. no matter how many refs you have, how can they catch every dive? no way. my idea is to have referees in a media booth and have access to all of the replays; exactly what we see on tv. if there is a replay (e.g. an offside or a dive) that needs correcting, correct it on the fly with minimal stoppage in play. the refs already have their headsets on, use them for this. chenges that would have occurred in this world cup just off the top of my head include: ghana's decisive penalty kick v the us; brazil's 2nd goal v ghana (2 yards offside); italy's penalty v australia; henry falling holding his face from puyol v spain (clear play acting); argentina's disallowed goal v mexico (i think it was crespo, they scored, but it was called offside, replays showed it was onside, and a great goal). these are jsut a few. think how many opportunities there would be to stamp out diving by penalizing it after the fact through suspensions or fines from this world cup? this would give sepp blatter something to do. anyway, this great game is being ruined by all of this. how can football attract new fans, like in the u.s., when they see this kind of stuff? who wants to look at people cheat to win games when they can look at basketball, american football, baseball and hockey where they use technology to make sure the game is fair? there is no fooling the ref in these games!!