2006 FIFA World Cup

[FLAK]

I am a complete soccer neophyte.

I will root for a "Falkland Crisis Part Deux"

England v. Argentina

Fingers crossed for that war, it would be the third year in a row that they meet in a WC.

[Brent Burns]

Germany vs. Argentina

Italy vs. Ukraine (Italy advances on their theatrics by "selling" their acts to the ref)

England vs. Portugal (it is more of an attrition thing for Portugal with their 2 players out due to red cards and C. Ronaldo is questionable due to some kind of injury to his thigh)

Brazil vs. France (I would not be surprised that it may be the battle of the goalies of both teams; Zindane may be 34 years old, but he acts and runs like a 25 year old).

[horn17]

Germany vs. Argentina

Italy vs. Ukraine (Italy advances on their theatrics by "selling" their acts to the ref)

England vs. Portugal (it is more of an attrition thing for Portugal with their 2 players out due to red cards and C. Ronaldo is questionable due to some kind of injury to his thigh)

Brazil vs. France (I would not be surprised that it may be the battle of the goalies of both teams; Zindane may be 34 years old, but he acts and runs like a 25 year old).

Ronaldo will be playing...Deco will be sorely missed, and is very difficult to replace....

[jessexy]

you know what, i had to make this comment after great internal debate......I'm glad that Ghana went through instead of the US. They gave Brazil a great game and 3-0 doesnt tell the story of the game. i watched it last night, already knowing the result and was amazed at the fearless attack from Ghana. Im sad they were missing Essien after a rather innocuous yellow card against the US. he looked dejected every time that he was on camera. Most of Ghana's players were better in their position battles with the Brazilians. Appiah beat Kaka, Muntari beat Emerson, Gyan and Amoah beat Lucio and Juan. the thing that held the game together for Brazil was Dida, who made every save look easy.

Brazil cannot play like this against Argentina, France, or Portugal if they want to advance. then again, those teams may not attack relentlessly like the Ghanains did.

[Brent Burns]

Im sad they were missing Essien after a rather innocuous yellow card against the US. he looked dejected every time that he was on camera.

After the loss to the Ghanians, Bruce Arena made a comment that he disagreed with the ref's decision on issuing Essien a card because he mentioned that Ghana would sorely miss Essien's services.

[Brent Burns]

This info may be a blip on the radar, but I just read that Luis Medina will officiate the Brazil-France game. He was the one who awarded a debatable penalty kick to Italy. The ref, Graham Poll from England and the ref from Russia did not make the list to officiate the quarterfinals.

[jessexy]

Josue, any thoughts or comments on the SPanish crashing out of the WC (again!) in the quarterfinals? Is raul done at 29 with so many other forwards coming thru the ranks? what about Puyol's foul to set up the second goal for France? what about the Spanish fans making monkey noises at France's black players, following the lead of the racist head coach Luis Aragones?

[Sonny]

what about the Spanish fans making monkey noises at France's black players, following the lead of the racist head coach Luis Aragones?

I didn't see that game Jesse. Got a link or background info for that one?

[StrykerFSU]

I've been waiting for this issue to raise its ugly head. You can say what you want about race relations in the States but I've never seen bananas thrown on the field in this country as has happened in Europe.

[sohotrightnow]

jessexy wrote:
what about the Spanish fans making monkey noises at France's black players, following the lead of the racist head coach Luis Aragones?


I didn't see that game Jesse. Got a link or background info for that one?

There was a story on ESPN leading up to the start of the WC. During one of Spain's practices, Aragones was badgering/motivating one of his players to "step up his game" and to not play like "the black" and other derogatory terms for Thierry Henry that I will not use.

In addition to this clip of Aragones, it showed highlights from the past few years of fans throughout Europe chanting racial epithets at black players.

As far as the game, I did not see that happen, but I think it is safe to say that Aragones is without a doubt a racist.

[jessexy]

what about the Spanish fans making monkey noises at France's black players, following the lead of the racist head coach Luis Aragones?

I didn't see that game Jesse. Got a link or background info for that one?

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/5737962

the did a brief review of the Aragones situation on the ESPN World Cup halftime show during the France-Spain game. they actually showed the clip where Aragones was urging his player to be better than "the Black" and that the player didnt wanna be beaten by "the black." this occurred while at an open media practice in Spain prior to EURO 2004, so it goes back a couple of years. it was very hard to watch even this clip with the subtitles.

It reminds me of LaVell Edwards from BYU a few years back. did he lose his job?

[sohotrightnow]

Here is an article from December 2004 outlining some recent incidents

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar ... Dec12.html

[Sonny]

Germany over ARG on PK's. Good match!

[Brent Burns]

Italy apparently had an easy time over Ukraine, 3-0.

Germany vs. Italy.

Tomorrow, we await the final two teams from two more matches tomorrow.

Other than that, I found it interesting that the British tabloids are "mad about England's WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends)", and some of the Scottish papers are not very forgiving of the WAGs. One British paper even criticized Victoria "Posh" Beckham for flying back to England to do her hair and do her shopping.

Tail WAGs

[cjwilhelmi]

Germany over Argentina by 1
Italy over Ukraine by 2
England over Portugal by 1
Brazil over France by 1

HA! I got both correct today. Too bad I missed out on goal margin.