2010 World Cup South Africa

Here we go, brief compilation of fans:

[globoesporte.globo.com]

If anyone knows how to make that slideshow display directly here, go ahead!

Guimengo Wrote:
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> Australia just confirming what everyone expected
> from them.


I agree, gui. I love that we qualified for the world cup but but but we're not anywhere near developed enough to be playing with the big boys. I had hopes we'd somehow defend against Germany to salvage a draw or a respectable loss, but nope, we suck that bad and frankly I think until we get a decent league in this country we're only going to let this happen. Here's hoping we can fluke through the group stages like we did in '06!

My fanship is behind England. An accidental draw there with the US is still cool, they'll be right. I have a British passport courtesy of my mother being from Oxford so let's see them do well.

Australia had a very good chance to get through the group stages, but they're probably stuffed now Cahill will be suspended.

They had a poor first half, but looked the better of the 2 teams when they added a striker until the (horribly wrong) sending off. Starting with Cahill as the sole striker was utter madness - he can't do any damage leading the line - he thrives on getting into the box late from a deeper position - the Gerrard and Kaka sort of role, though doing it in a very different way.

Germany looked strong. Much stronger than expected. But it's hard to determine how good they are given the dodgy Aussie tactics early on and the sending off.

gav Wrote:
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> Germany looked strong. Much stronger than
> expected. But it's hard to determine how good they
> are given the dodgy Aussie tactics early on and
> the sending off.

I think Australia made them look good. Selecting an untested line-up up front was ridiculous. The tactics of attempting to trap the German strikers into offside was also a big mistake. It was almost as though they knew they weren't going to win and just tried to hold back the damage even from the start.

Australia did have some bad luck though with the umpiring, in particular the red card call and the missed handball call. Apparently Schweinsteiger even went and told Cahill after the game he didn't think it was a red card challenge.


Hopefully Australia can rebound against Ghana and Serbia, but it will be very tough - it could come down to goal difference, which now counts against us.

---

X (@ed24f1)

Ozil is an impressive player, he can be one of the players to watch in the whole cup

I enjoyed Özil too. The German team looks better than the 2006 one, better skillwise. 2006 was a well oiled machine that overachieved. This is an well oiled machine that has been playing together for a longer while and has a bit more talent to achieve good results.

I really didn't think Serbia could give that game away to Ghana, I definitely got that outcome wrong.

Guimengo Wrote:
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> Why the US shouldn't bother covering the World
> Cup:
>
> [i444.photobucket.com]
> st-3789-1275597586.jpg


They got mixed between Africa and South America, how basic!!!

I still don't understand how Cahill's foul on Schweinsteiger was a red card...it was late, but innocuous enough.

Anyway, England might pick up and beat Slovenia and Algeria, as the US were probably the most difficult opposition in the group. Time, as usual, will tell.

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GPGSL: S6 - TafuroGP Tester (14th) /// S7 - ART Tester (6th) /// S8 - Demon Driver (13th) /// S9 - Demon/Snake Driver (13th) /// S10 - Snake Driver (???) ///]
"My ambition is handicapped by laziness" - Charles Bukowski

Anti Vuvuzela Petition

Please sign this. You guys can at least get it off the TV's.

Us, on the other hand, who live in this F@!$ED country will never get rid of the stupid thing. Neighbour's little snotty kid blowing it from dusk till dawn over the weekend.

Slash Wrote:
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> that was a win for USA

Apparantly so...




Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it

Wow, probably the only newspaper in the world not showing poor Green on the front cover.

The English seem to think that game was the end of the world. Come on. Its a draw against the second best team in the group, and the disparity isn't as big as a lot of people think. All it shows is that England aren't good enough to win the Cup, and a reasonable person probably could have figured that out anyway. Issues at keeper (and not just because of that Green mistake) and central defense and except for the Gerrard goal (well taken but terrible defense) couldn't seem to figure out how to break down the US. Onyewu and DeMerit are monsters at heading balls out, you need more creativity than that. And Heskey kept shooting right at Howard.

From the US perspective we still should go through, but having watched qualifying we're capable of giving away points to some very bad teams, so it will be interesting to see if we can manage to press forward without getting caught on the counter. Last week in the friendly, all the best chances for Turkey came on US set pieces, because the backs were up and couldn't track back.

As big as that game was in the media, I still don't think it matters overall. England will still win the group unless they total choke against Algeria and Slovenia. The point gives the US a little margin for error, but still the next two games are the ones that will decide things.

Put it this way, disregarding Green's mistake, they still only scored once, in itself, highlighting an otherwise feeble effort.

Then again, we usually get better out of the group stages. At least two games, usually LOL!


Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it

Yes, I think England will get better over the next few games. Playing the US in the first game was probably a good thing, as England have not had to play many competitive games lately. Friendlies are okay but just not the same.

Still I'm a bit disappointed, as an American I always support England when we go out, but I doubt this England team will go any farther than previous ones.

Sod England, I'm supporting North Korea from now on.

A Brazil goal was inevitable as North Korea tired, but 0-0 at half time, and with Brazil offering little, it was already awesome. :D

They're not just sitting back either - they're countering occasionally and have had shots on target (including the first of the match).

I expect another couple of 'zillion goals in this match, but so far they've been very, very uninspiring. Guess that sums up the tournament so far - some of the big hitters haven't started yet.

So it looks proven that Brazil can only be thought of as a contender if:

Luis Fabiano is replaced with Nilmar
Elano is replaced with D. Alves
G. Silve/F. Melo is replaced with Ramires

Kaká clearly shows he isn't 100% recovered from his injured season. Would have been much worse had Real Madrid done better, he'd already been playing injured for months.

I think, looking at the tables as they are, there could be quite a lot of 'cupsets this time next week.


Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it

Guimengo Wrote:
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> So it looks proven that Brazil can only be thought
> of as a contender if:
>
> Luis Fabiano is replaced with Nilmar
> Elano is replaced with D. Alves
> G. Silve/F. Melo is replaced with Ramires
>
> Kaká clearly shows he isn't 100% recovered from
> his injured season. Would have been much worse had
> Real Madrid done better, he'd already been playing
> injured for months.

i really hoped that north korea could beat them...
that's the sh*tiest brazilian team of all time...

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Guimengo Wrote:
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> So it looks proven that Brazil can only be thought
> of as a contender if:
>
> Luis Fabiano is replaced with Nilmar
> Elano is replaced with D. Alves
> G. Silve/F. Melo is replaced with Ramires
>
> Kaká clearly shows he isn't 100% recovered from
> his injured season. Would have been much worse had
> Real Madrid done better, he'd already been playing
> injured for months.

Ramires ranks alongside Serginho (1982 forward) as one of the worst Brazilian internationals I have ever seen!
I wanted North Korea to win (sorry Gui ), they showed great effort and determination.
I don't really want any team that has that little twerp Robinho in to be successful, his conduct at Man City was disgraceful...
[www.extrafootie.co.uk]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2010 02:16AM by salvasirignano.

Ramires is not bad at all ! He's more of a classic defensive midfielder but because he can distribute the ball he's been used quite a bit as an offensive midfielder! Robinho's conduct at City may not have been the best but I don't believe most of the tabloid news about him, to be honest. When he only cares about playing and having fun, he's awesome as he showed with some quick flashes of brilliance today. Not my favorite guy either but I learned to appreciate talent.

Little O-T, Fox Soccer Channel here has been showing a Greatest players profile thing and it's been awesome :D. They started with Zico, showed Pelé, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Maldini (last night!), and have showed Maradona and will have P. Schmeichel, Bati-gol, and Bobby Charlton. I can't wait for the next batch, if I can see some Garrincha or other 50s/60s legends like Coutinho, I'll be so happy!