World Cup 2010

PhilXZ said:

Aether13 said:

I can't believe that Green messed up that goal today, it was an epic fail.

USA got lucky on that shot, they really did. I don't see them making it past the group stage though now, since Slovenia is leading with 3 points. I'm pulling for England on this one!

You don't think the United States can beat Slovenia? If Tim Howard starts they should post a relatively easy win.

I think they'll tie 2:2, but I don't see them winning with the way their defense relied on Howard during the England match. If they didn't have him, the English could've taken the game 4:1 or so.

PhilXZ said:

Aether13 said:

I can't believe that Green messed up that goal today, it was an epic fail.

USA got lucky on that shot, they really did. I don't see them making it past the group stage though now, since Slovenia is leading with 3 points. I'm pulling for England on this one!

I don't think Slovenia beating Algeria will change anything in the group, there was always a good chance of one of those teams winning anyway. The USA are definitely underestimated and they play as a team a lot better than what England have displayed.

I'm pretty confident England and the USA will progress from Group C.

ducky2 said:

PhilXZ said:

Aether13 said:

I can't believe that Green messed up that goal today, it was an epic fail.

USA got lucky on that shot, they really did. I don't see them making it past the group stage though now, since Slovenia is leading with 3 points. I'm pulling for England on this one!

I don't think Slovenia beating Algeria will change anything in the group, there was always a good chance of one of those teams winning anyway. The USA are definitely underestimated and they play as a team a lot better than what England have displayed.

I'm pretty confident England and the USA will progress from Group C.

Are you an American? Because if not, that is a tremendous compliment which I appreciate.

Yeah Algeria is not really legitimate contender, and Slovenia beating them on a fluke goal (Dempsey's goal was a fluke, but so was the one scored by Koren) does not really make me think of Slovenia as a contender. I could be wrong though, as one mistake by the Americans could give them the game and put them through.

Italy is playing just as I expected. Currently 1-1 against Paraguay.

I am backing my good old ngland <3 Though there match against the USA wasn't very impressive :/.

Also for some strange reason i think Germeny will win :P.

They have a chance, but I doubt it.

dx_hbk said:

I am backing my good old ngland <3 Though there match against the USA wasn't very impressive :/.

Also for some strange reason i think Germeny will win :P.

Nah just because they murdered the Aussie's doesn't mean alot, I think it will be Brazil or Spain.

I still think Spain will crack under favoritism. Brazil has always done good, but I don't think they'll bring the performance we all expect.

I honestly don't know who could win, it only has been the 1st Round.

Brazil may not play jogo bonito this time around, but they are still the most tactically brilliant team in the world. It will take a huge effort to overcome them.

Wait until they play North Korea tomorrow. If they perform like Italy or Argentina did, there will be doubts about the team's ability to be a contender.

Bronco11 said:

Are you an American? Because if not, that is a tremendous compliment which I appreciate.

Yeah Algeria is not really legitimate contender, and Slovenia beating them on a fluke goal (Dempsey's goal was a fluke, but so was the one scored by Koren) does not really make me think of Slovenia as a contender. I could be wrong though, as one mistake by the Americans could give them the game and put them through.

Nah, I'm Australian but I've seen the USA play a few times and they really do look like they have the potential to cause a few headaches to the bigger teams. (:

Although the goal was pretty lucky, you can't say that the US didn't deserve it. I don't think England played well enough to deserve the win and the draw is a added boost for the Americans to get out of the group.

ducky2 said:

Bronco11 said:

Are you an American? Because if not, that is a tremendous compliment which I appreciate.

Yeah Algeria is not really legitimate contender, and Slovenia beating them on a fluke goal (Dempsey's goal was a fluke, but so was the one scored by Koren) does not really make me think of Slovenia as a contender. I could be wrong though, as one mistake by the Americans could give them the game and put them through.

Nah, I'm Australian but I've seen the USA play a few times and they really do look like they have the potential to cause a few headaches to the bigger teams. (:

Although the goal was pretty lucky, you can't say that the US didn't deserve it. I don't think England played well enough to deserve the win and the draw is a added boost for the Americans to get out of the group.

Yeah England definitly sucked it up in that game, to me the most dissapointing thing (besides the goal) was Rooney's performance. They were predicting him to just break down the US defence and he had about two shots throughout the whole game.

I've come for my little happy mention of my lil countries effort in stealing a last minute stoppage time goal against Slovakia. Game ended not 5 minutes ago.

TBH - I don't know much about Footy; but I'm in a house atm with 10 semi-"pro" players & they felt that there was astoundingly stupid calls from the ref.

I'm not going to go all out & complain & curse the ref for his calls. But even the 3 Australians that are here with us thought the red was incredibly moronic in his calls against NZ.

But thankfully NZ held their nerve & managed to pull out a goal.

For those who live in larger more prominent countries it may not seem like much of an acheivement but NZ being ranked 73rd in the world being able to stick with a mid 30s ranked team is quite an accomplishment. Especially when a lot of people wrote us off. Even I did

Anyway, euphoric rant over.
Well done to the All Whites

sphynxx said:

I've come for my little happy mention of my lil countries effort in stealing a last minute stoppage time goal against Slovakia. Game ended not 5 minutes ago.

TBH - I don't know much about Footy; but I'm in a house atm with 10 semi-"pro" players & they felt that there was astoundingly stupid calls from the ref.

I'm not going to go all out & complain & curse the ref for his calls. But even the 3 Australians that are here with us thought the red was incredibly moronic in his calls against NZ.

But thankfully NZ held their nerve & managed to pull out a goal.

For those who live in larger more prominent countries it may not seem like much of an acheivement but NZ being ranked 73rd in the world being able to stick with a mid 30s ranked team is quite an accomplishment. Especially when a lot of people wrote us off. Even I did

Anyway, euphoric rant over.
Well done to the All Whites

Haha well done New Zealand, I was watching and did a little celebration when you guys scored. :D

Only bad part now is that you have more points than Australia :/

Didn't think the ref was that bad though.

Well he was a lot stricter compared to what a lot of other Refs we've been seeing lol so that was probably it.

Either that or the baldness got in his eyes so he couldn't see properly

Spain cracked, like I predicted.

Now the facts :

• Only 8 percent (That's 3 out of 36!) of the teams that lost their opening match advanced to the knockout stage.
  
• No team that has lost their opening match has ever won the World Cup
  

Now I do admit that Spain played excellently, the only thing missing was the final concentrated touch towards goal. They rushed that process in my point of view. So getting passed Benaglio was troubling. What really frustrated me is that Spain started to take up an Italian playing style towards the end of the match (i.e.: Dramatizing and faking fouls)

Sorry Espana, but I don't see you defying history anytime soon!

Favorites in the last 3 World Cups:

• Brazil (1998)- Lost 3-0 to France in finals
  
• France (2002)- Sent home after 1st round
  
• Brazil (2006)- Lost in quarterfinals to France
  

« Last edited by PhilXZ on Jun 16th 2010 »

Wow, what a shocker. Gotta love sports. possible that the Spanish do not even make it out of the first round.

I'll think they'll get at least a win against Honduras. Most likely a tie against Chile since they proved dangerous against the Hondurans. But the Swiss have watch out now, with the win against Spain a lot is expected of Hitzfeld's squad.

Hitzfeld is a great manager, and you can never count out any team he coaches. If I am not mistaken, isn't he one of the few coaches to win European Cups/Champions Leagues with multiple teams?

Also, what about the prospect of Brazil and Spain meeting in the round of sixteen? Would be a bit earlier than most expect them to meet. I know Spain have a lot of work to do first though. This could be a nightmare for them.