FIFA World Cup 2010!!!

[Mr Phlanj]

:clap:hyper:hyperFIFA WORLD CUP 2010!!!!:hyper:hyper:clap

It's here!! Everone get you flags out, get your face painted and get the football boots on!!!

It looks like its going to be a real slobber knocker of a world cup this time round with some old faces, new faces and hopefully a few surprises on the way. It's a time when people can unite together no matter what club colours you were wearing a few weeks ago, now its time to jump! and drink! and sing! and drink! and some football!!! all of us together with our bellys full of beer and our national anthems in are hearts.

so lets get this pride pudding going with the World Cup MEGATHREAD!! as you can see i have listed the teams in there respective groups and i will be updating with the scores when it all kicks off (what a pun!). So lets remember people this is all about having fun and it wouldnt be football without some banter but keep it all clean! There will be no yellow cards given just straight reds to the people who dont play nice.

So its all about having a fun time but remember that FOOTBALLS COMING HOME!!:beer


Local time in South Africa (Johannesburg) (http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=111)
Date - Time(GMT+2) - Match - Result

Final!!

11 Jul 8.30pm Spain vs Netherlands 1 - 0

Awards

Winner: Spain
Runners-Up: Netherlands
Third: Germany
Fourth: Uruguay

Golden Ball: Diego Forlan

Golden Boot: Thomas Mueller

Golden Glove: Iker Casillas

FIFA Fair Play award: Spain

Last Man of the Match: Andres Iniesta

Best Young Player Award: Thomas Mueller

[SaturnReturn]

Aw, but what if we don't drink beer? What can I fill my belly with instead :?:

[Mr Phlanj]

hmmm how about spirit?? (but not the drink :P)

[mic-dk]

Oh man... NL v DK at 13:30. On a monday. How the hell am I supposed to get any work done?

[SaturnReturn]

It's at 1330? Damn! I was really loooking forward to watching that. Might have to take the afternoon off work. They should put it on at a reasonable hour, like 2222 or something. ;)

[Mr Phlanj]

lol sat :P

if anything this makes it worse but the times are at gmt+2 because that will be the local time in south africa

edit: silly me :P

[SaturnReturn]

I think you were right the first time Phlanjee. The times on the site say 1330 local time, then I click my time and they change to 1230. Local time in the UK is BST, which is equivalent to GMT+1, so one hour ahead of that would be GMT+2. GMT is always the same, but sometimes countries in the GMT time zone change their clocks, like us, in summer, at which point it's no longer GMT. Confusing it is.

This usually helps figure it out.
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=111

[Mr Phlanj]

oh yer your right i completely forgot about daylight savings :P

Ill add that link to the post aswel because im sure people will find it useful

[KGB]

Before it starts, what's everyone's tip to win. I'm going for Argentina. It would be amazing if an African team won it though, even more if England won it :D. That isn't going to happen. I have a feeling I won't see them win it in my life time :(.

[DreamyElf]

GO Greece!!!
seriously even though i'm from Greece i have already bet Argentina to win the WC!!!

[Medusa]

I don't even know who the heck to cheer for this time...
Anybody know if there's free online streaming somewhere?
(I'm too cheap to have TV :redface:)

[mic-dk]

Germany always wins in the end.

Edit. I just learned that the NL-DK game is shown on a certain danish TV station intent on asking money for the live-streams. Even though I've already paid once for their stupid channel on my satellite receiver it's just not enough for them :blarg

German ARD show the game as well, I'm hoping for them to be a bit more understanding... If they do stream it, I promise to cheer for Germany as soon as we're knocked out.

[Mr Phlanj]

i want england to win and im sure everyone can understand when i say REALY dont want the french to win :P

so if its not england i dont mind as long as its not the french

[DreamyElf]

@ Medusa
go to www.myp2p.eu ;)
you may have to download some programs like sopcast,tvu or veetle in order to see the matches though.

[KGB]

There's another http://livefooty.doctor-serv.com/ Same thing with downloading Sopcast first.

Should we be putting these on here, not sure of the legality of these sites? Delete if necessary.

[blackwiggle]

Our first match Australia V's Germany 4.30am ouch!
We were the first team to arrive, got to train for altitude in Johannesburg, which might be the undoing of a lot of teams unless they ajust quickly.

I just saw that the Australian broadcast commission has taken the World Cup of the anti siphoning list [FOX had a monopoly on live broadcasts], so that now means we get all games free to air live.
Yay!!!
I HATE FOX SPORTS, DIE DIE DIE, they have ruined everything in sports and made it far too expensive to watch.

And they just announced that all the games shot in 3D will be going free to air as well on a separate side band 3D channel, they will play in a loop until the next 3D game is shown.
All other countries have limited matches and pay per view only.

When too much sport is not enough.
World Cup, Wimbledon & Tour De France all on at the same time.:g

[yeldar2097]

Main team - England

Backup team - The Neds :pirate

**** live streaming, my net's too slow to stream low quality YouTube. Good excuse to toddle off down the pub :beer

Is it being shown on BBC or has Murdoch nicked everything again?

[mic-dk]

I go back on my prediction. Thinking it over in the shower, I now think Spain will be world champs.

Argentina is a good bet too, but I'm just not comfortable with their coach. I think he'll find a way to ruin it all and blame everyone else in the process.

[blackwiggle]

Here you go Yeldar.
List of which UK channels are showing what game when.

http://www.livesportontv.com/football/

[JJPAP]

Untill 4 minutes ago, I wouldn´t bet a single danish krone on Denmark, but after watching this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-eAhyMi54c), I´ve changed my mind :o
Really weird ... A japanese pop-duo making a remake of an old danish football-song ... in danish ... and some unknown people pretending to be former danish footballers ... :dizzy :rock
Thanks Japan - we need all the support we can get :) :lol

[mic-dk]

Those wacky japanese - thats too funny... :lol

But lets face it. We're in so much trouble. After todays friendly against Australia, our head coach blamed the decidedly poor performance on... the ball... THE BALL!?!

I know it's a kinda new ball, but come on...

I'll start practicing my spanish chants now...

[SaturnReturn]

Main team - England

Backup team - The Neds :pirate

:naughty No no, that's fine. The Oranje don't need your traitorous backup 'support'. We have enough passionate fans without Chumpy McChumpersons chumping around with other teams until they chump out and come chumping to a better team. Hmph!

Seriously though, how can people support one team more than another, or switch when their team goes out? I like to see England do well because I live here and am grateful for what I have in this country, and it will make the people around me happy. But I don't really feel anything whether they win or lose, and I certainly am not bothered at any point during their matches. Whereas with Holland I feel anxious when they play and really want them to do well. If they score I'll be elated in my own understated way, i.e. some way in which no-one will know I'm elated so they don't realise I care and therefore don't bother winding me up when Holland loses. That's how I know I support them, because I feel it.

I expect a pretty good explanation for this one yeldar, or at least a long list of girly excuses.

Also, I mean chump in an affectionate way...obviously.

[KGB]

There's loads of teams I would like to see do well (not at the expense of England mind). In no particular order, teams that I will be routing for are Denmark, The Ivory coast, Spain and Japan.

I can't stand Arjen Robben so that's reason enough to not want Holland to do well :P.

[SaturnReturn]

I'm not his biggest fan either to be honest. Maybe if he passed more and fell down less... -_-

[KGB]

Agree on the falling down bit mate :+

Sorry, can't resist
New Order and football = Heaven (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhSZFrII40Y)

Edit: Final squad for world cup

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, David James, Robert Green.

Defenders: Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock.

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Strikers: Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney.

Hope we get no injury's this time. Looking at you Rooney.

[UB3R~JKP]

Hey Guys! Incase you don't know, im gonna be your official WipEout Zone Match reporter. :D

I'm backing the elephants(Côtè De Ivorè)

[Mr Phlanj]

its good to hear that barry passed the medical

@jeramy sorry for not waiting but we were relying on luck to be online at the same time :(

[UB3R~JKP]

Hey No Sweat man!


No Walcott for England :O

[yeldar2097]

Shh, Sat, shh! You're ruining everything :p

I'm 3/16ths Dutch so they get 3/16ths my support. If Indonesia were any good they'd get 5/15ths but they suck so they don't get any love.

England matches will be in the pub and I have to look away when they take Pens so I know I support them :pirate

Arjen can get out, he always underperforms. Wesley Sneijder rules all :rock

Anyone up for a WZ World Cup Convention in the Pub and/or at my house?

See Sat? Not girly, valid. Uhuh, yep :nod

[Mr Phlanj]

that would be funny, a Wipeout FIFA World Cup :D

[Tomahawk]

Germany always wins in the end.

LOL. I think the original quote from a former english coach sounded something like this: "It's Germany vs England and in the end Germany always wins in the penalty shootout."

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this year's world cup though I' not really sure how far Germany will get this time without our team captain (Michael Ballack) and our first goalkeeper (René Adler)...

As said before the german ARD will show all games free of charge. I don't know if there will be live streaming, but you can always switch your satellite reciever to the following frequencies to get ARD via satellite:

Satellit analog

Astra 1E
Transponder: 19
Frequenz: 11,494 Ghz
Polarisation: horizontal
Zwischenfrequenz: 1,494 Mhz oder 1,744 Mhz

[OBH]

Should get some sort of "betting" on the go. Not for real money of course :) Like peoples predictions for things.

Personally i think England will win it (not bias at all! :beer), van persie will be the competitions top scorer, and portugal will be the first "big" team to flop in the group stage (i didnt theink they even qualified to be honest!)

[OneAVGNFan]

I hope for a Brazil-Spain championship with Spain as victors (unlikely to happen due to schedule that might lead to a sooner match).

As for the U.S., second in the Group Stage is a solid expectation.

Mexico will win the opening match and should reach the quarterfinals (second-round exits since '94).

[UB3R~JKP]

Was looking over past predictions over big tournaments:
EURO 04- Greece
WC 06-Mexico
EURO 08-Turkey
Now WC10- Ivory Coast

CAN...NOT...WAIT

[Mr Phlanj]

well rio ferdinand wont be playing :(

[yeldar2097]

Brilliant -_-

Upson here we come... :blarg

Don't think Drogba will be there either.

[KGB]

Great! Here we go with half the team out injured. Reports are saying Michael Dawson will replace him. Steven Gerrard is now captain though, it might make him play better.

1000 posts :)

[Feisar31]

And who injured Rio? Heskey! (who shouldn't have been in the squad in the first place IMHO) Good to see Dawson getting a chance though.

That's a real shame if Drogba can't play either. Still, I can't wait for next Friday. :g

[mic-dk]

Just watched the first half of DKs final testmatch against South Africa.

We're so screwed...

I know it is a test/warmup match, but Ye Gods... They better stop drinking and pick it up several notches if we're gonna have any hope against the Dutch!

[JJPAP]

They better stop drinking

Or just drink some more!!! It can´t get any worse ..... The danish way to suck ... Well, next monday will be different ... hhhmmmhhh ... :paperbag

[SaturnReturn]

Holland only beat Hungary 6-1 today, so nothing to worry about for you guys then. :p

[mic-dk]

LOL, oh my god... I am readying my two-handed facepalm!

Ah well, on any given sunday and all that. We'll see how it goes, but I am not as optimistic as I was this morning...

[blackwiggle]

Australia got beaten by the USA 3-1 in a friendly today.
The USA are a underrated side that could go further than a lot give them credit for.
I don't know what the mood in the Australia camp was pre match as it might of effected the way they played, but one of the squad had to fly home yesterday after his child was suddenly diagnosed with a terminal illness.:frown:

[Harvai]

Hmm, things aren't going Australia's way at the moment. A shame about the secondary goalie, though. Poor bugger.

Anyway, i've got a second team to cheer for; Paraguay. Entered a World Cup sweep at my mum's work and got this little team. I have no idea about them, though. Anyway, GO TEAM(S)!

[Mr Phlanj]

so it all kicks off tommorow. Ive got my money on mexico and france to win :D

[mic-dk]

My money's still on Spain.

beating Denmark in the final, of course...

[DreamyElf]

the ceremony has now officially started!
may the best (argentina XD) win!!!:D

[Mr Phlanj]

what a goal by south africa :D

[mic-dk]

Indeed! Quite a cannon on that dude.

I think Mexico should have closed that match way earlier, but kudos to S.A for sticking it out.

[atom_bomb]

YES!!

It took quite a time for FIFA 2010 to arrive, but our boys did it. I am so proud to be South African right now. Might not be a win, but hey, Mexico was a beast and Bafana Bafana kept strong.

And for everyone who is not here, I wish you could feel the spirit here. It really is incredible. ;)

[yeldar2097]

Who's cheering for France?

BBC HD ftw. First time I've seen footie in HD :)

Edit: Anyone else getting really annoyed with the replay-spamming in the France match? They're not even good replays.

[Mr Phlanj]

well no one has taken the lead in group a and quite a boring 2nd game im my view


Anyone else getting really annoyed with the replay-spamming in the France match? They're not even good replays.

i know! and when i wanted to see a replay they wouldnt show it >.<

[OneAVGNFan]

The only thing other than our teams is wondering how much Brazil will slaughter Korea DPR in the group of death.

[Woopzilla]

Bah, am I the only one annoyed by those damn vuvuzela trumpet things? The match sounded like it was being played in a turbine test chamber or something...

I'm not a huge football fan but always watch the world cup. USA vs ENG will be an interesting watch. :D

[atom_bomb]

Bah, am I the only one annoyed by those damn vuvuzela trumpet things? The match sounded like it was being played in a turbine test chamber or something...

Haha, it's not just in the stadium people are blowing those things, on the streets, in the shops, everywhere. It didn't stop till well past 2 AM last night. :brickwall

[OBH]

In a month the whole world will go insane from those vuvuzela's by thinking giant bee's are stuck in their tvs :)

As for the football, france were poor :beer

[SaturnReturn]

Watching South Korea vs. some guys and fully agree - those horns really are starting to get annoying.:mad:

[JJPAP]

thinking giant bee's are stuck in their tvs :)

Thinking?!
It IS giant bees, strange mate!
Only half an hour ago, I threw some white bread beneath the telly ... Kids find the honey nice and delicious ...
If only the bees would start attacking the danish players on monday, they would look like a team, which strength and speed is up for a World Cup ... :paperbag

[SaturnReturn]

Yer man Larson seems to think your "strength is definitely the team (http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1240254/)". I guess that's just bravado? I'm expecting big things from the Dutch this time, as they seem to be similarly confident. I wonder if I can get away with watching the match over an extended lunch break on the office projector, hmmm.

[Medusa]

Who's cheering for France?
I wanted to cheer for them this time, for wholly sentimental reasons...but really, Henry has sullied their entire presence. The only way they'd be free from his cursed hands-on play is if he was sewn up in a body bag. (takers? J/K!)

But I'm still gonna cheer for them, just not as wholesouled, and it will be tempered by my booing Thierry. BOOOOOOO...

I'd like to see Spain win. 'Twould be neat to say it happened in my lifetime. :D

[Mr Phlanj]

i enjoyed the 1st of todays games :D apart from when i thought "now would be a good time to make a cup of tea" only to walk back to my room and hear "that was a realy clever goal park"......damit......

[JJPAP]

Yer man Larson

Hehe, Sat :D

This Larsen (who was not the hero of the danish qualification!) has been sitting on a bench (2nd Bundesliga) for a whole year, having loads of time to think up outrageous ideas ... :rolleyes:

[yeldar2097]

Which cretinous wanker decided to put in an advert break during the middle of play at the exact moment that England scored? :bomb

****ing ITV bullshit.

In other news: Poor Greeny, he looked so sad when the ball rolled in :(

[SaturnReturn]

Erm, no-one? I don't remember an advert on my TV. Are you watching it in HD or something? Maybe you get adverts on HD and not on SD. Does ITV even have HD?

[Woopzilla]

I didn't see any either on normal ITV. They do have an ITV HD channel, though none of the HD channels are available in my area yet, so I suppose I was spared that annoyance if that was indeed the reason.

Really unfortunate with that one goal slip up... :/

[Amorbis]

ITV HD had an ad-break whilst Stevie Gerrard scored. It wouldn't have happened if the BBC were broadcasting, or if your like me and don't have HD but watched Sky news during half-time to find out about ITV's mishap.

Apart from Green's slip up it went okay, but if it continues England's world cup probably won't go any further than the quarter finals. Still, only the first game against an underrated side.

[yeldar2097]

Yeah I was watching ITV HD. Absolute disgrace. Literally during the build-up to the goal.
Someone should pwn whoever it was that did it.

Not a bad start from England, quite a few decent performances from people. Bit worried about the defence though, they really can't handle people with any amount of pace.
And can we please never EVER put Crouch on the pitch. EVER.

[RedScar]

LOL England!

[andy]

Bit gutted, but not to worry, accidents happen, sometimes you're just a little unlucky and I don't think we played badly. I reckon we can do okay this year. Anyway, is anyone here gonna back the beard for england? xD I think I will.

[SaturnReturn]

I thought England played well. I actually wanted them to score again as I think they deserved it.

ITV coverage does my head in in general. Ex-footballers aren't the most interesting people in general, but none of them have anything interesting to say at all. Well maybe Keegan is alright, but the others just talk in cliches and state the obvious the whole time.

[stin]

All I can say you guys!...Sh!t Happens!!!!!!!!

stevie:rock

[UB3R~JKP]

England Vs. USA


Key Players:

Good:
USA:
-Donovan 8.6/10 " Whenever he got a chance to shine against the rallying English he did, very very fast.
-Howard 9.2 " May call football "soccer" but knew how you perform as a goalie the right way round...actually stopping shots"
England:
-Gerrard 8.8 "Sparked early with an incredible outside-of-the-boot finish, rest of match followed realitivley in the same manner constant power and presence"
Bad:
-USA defence 6.3 "Very nervy, midfielders showed up saving their blushes"
England:
-Green 1.9/10 "Howler. Just Howler. Beckham's face was a exact mirror of the one he pulls whenever he sees Posh's latest shoe shopping reciept. ITV pretended ANOTHER fumble was a great save and from 2nd looks it was a bog standard save that he nearly messed up, putting by another own goal. Needs a confidence boost from the gods.



Fans:

Well behaved and let themselves be heard. England fans were rampant untill the USA scored which left them as quiet as a countryside mouse. Picked up the noise later on. 7.9/10


TV Watch:
The BBC would have been in hysterics at the sheer ametuerism on show here.
-Adverts impeding a goal
-Making out the simplest of saves out to be extraordinary.
-Completely ignoring England's opposition in favor of dribble nobody gives 2 monkeys' about...poor poor show 5.3/10
ROLL ON BBC

Final Judgement:
8.7 "An exciting match which was fantastic for the neutrals but the English fans will be raging after another bumpy flopstart that will make them think twice about winning the tournament after scoring their first goal. The US on the other hand will be fairly happy!



WipEoutZone Sports corrospodent:
JKP

[mdhay]

...And I'm silently laughing inside. :P

[KGB]

I thought England played OK last night, they had plenty of chances to win the game. The collective groan in the pub last night was followed by a few choice words aimed towards Green ;). A few injury's we could of done without out though.

[mic-dk]

Heh, I just saw the ITV HD incident on the danish news.

Like you just don't mess with another mans automobile, you don't mess with a World Cup broadcast. Is that really the norm? Commercial breaks in the middle of a game?

Here, even the most commercial stations know better than to interrupt a game.

[mdhay]

Well, advertising is the worst thing to happen to the planet. But, seeing as ITV is a commercial network, I wouldn't expect no less. :rolleyes:

[ProblemSolver]

GER 4 : 0 AUS

:rock

party on.... :g

[OBH]

Heh, I just saw the ITV HD incident on the danish news.

Is that really the norm? Commercial breaks in the middle of a game?.

ITV are the only UK broadcaster to occasionally go to adverts in a game. There was one famous incident before todays a few years ago in onoe of Liverpools european where it went to a break 4mins before the end of a game and missed a winning goal :|

They lost the F1 TV rights this year too cos they suck balls.

Back to the football, Germany looked like the most accomplished team thus far. Hope England win their group, I wouldnt like to face zie germans in the last 16.

[UB3R~JKP]

Germany 4 AUS 0. What a flippin' game man xD

Will do a write-up later on guys!

Podolski the polish playe- I mean German was intense :)

[amplificated]

gah! well... at least I took over a German's WR in WO yesterday to sort of make up for that loss, if just for me :(

can't say I didn't expect Aus to get a result like that though, unfortunately.

[Woopzilla]

First and foremost I support germany (since I was born and lived there), then comes england since I'm officially british. :g

Finally a game that could distract me from all the noise, a superb match. Only thing I didn't like was the two diving attempts which were the only yellow cards handed out to germany.

BBC annoyed me a bit by instantly labelling germany's win as "ruthless" in their article title. I can't help but think if it were england or another country that it would be "fantastic" or "brilliant".

Anyway, they've since renamed the article (edit: or at least the one link from the main news page).

/small rant over :|

On a side note, we've arranged for a special setup here to receive german channels after moving to england. Decided to watch this on ZDF instead of ITV... didn't want to risk any ads ruining my experience. :g

[UB3R~JKP]

Smart choice Woop for your reason about the ads PLUS the commentators STILL talked about England in a match/group they aren't even in! :lol

[OBH]

BBC annoyed me a bit by instantly labelling germany's win as "ruthless" in their article title. I can't help but think if it were england or another country that it would be "fantastic" or "brilliant".

Mate, ruthless isnt a bad trait to have in football, you have no idea how much i wish England could be more ruthless :)

[mic-dk]

Meh... just meh...

Congratulations NL! :+

[yeldar2097]

Well that was a pretty dire match by all accounts. I'm not sure what van Persie was doing today, hope he gets it sorted for next time. Unlucky OG for Denmark pretty much ruined their chances. I think during the first half they were doing quite a good job of hanging back and hitting on the counter-attack, they had some decent chances. As soon as the OG happened they were forced to open up and come forward, allowing the Dutch easier entry behind the back four.
Crap decision starting with both Sneijder and vd Vaart, they can't both play at the same time. If anything stick Wesley on the wing instead because he's a bit more versatile than one-trick-pony der Vaart. Should have stuck Elia on earlier, it clearly wasn't working. Still, a win's a win. Go Team!

Can we also please get rid of the Scottish commentator, he doesn't have a clue what he's on about and annoys the hell outta me. Get rid, pronto.

Oranje Boven :pirate

[mic-dk]

Hah, I watched most of the game from a... dubious-sourced feed with those scottish commentators. I quite liked how they, during the first half, went on and on, on how NL was underperforming ;) Which they were - big time. DK played pretty much as expected, though a bit too defensivly for my taste.

The second half weren't pretty. You could just see everything fall to pieces after the OG. One minute in. Aargh!

Ah well. Hopefully we'll beat Japan and Cameroun and then hope for a spot in the next round.

[yeldar2097]

Hooray for Japan ^_^

Can't say much for Cameroon or their tactics. Bit lacklustre all around. Got dominated by Tanaka and Nakazawa in defence, good show :+

[JJPAP]

and then hope for a spot in the next round.

"Hope is the answer to everything," the non-religious man said ...

Decent first half, then an unfortunate OG, but but but: An absolute lack of will and power - Like drinking a coke w/o fizz ... :frown:

[SaturnReturn]

I couldn't get the ITV live stream to work at work so had to listen to Holland v Denmark on Radio 5 Live. It didn't sound particularly interesting or impressive. I'm not too worried though as it's only one match, and we all saw what happened in the Euro champs when they got a flying start and then failed. I'm glad as it sounded like van Marwijk changed the game up a bit in the second half, which is probably what they need to do more, as teams will be reasonably familiar with Holland, so they'll be easier to keep locked down with the right tactics.

Has Van der Vaart ever done anything good in the national team? I think he's way overrated.:?

Also, yay Japan! :D

[Mr Phlanj]

great 1st half. i think this is the most entertaining game so far

[KGB]

Just watching the Italy game now, how many empty seats??? That's a disgrace, FIFA probably priced the locals out of it. If they can't fill a stadium then they should give the seats away for free. It's not like they are short of money.

[RedScar]

$ makes the world go round

I've officially stopped caring about this Fifa cup, some of the complaining I've read and heard has again made me remember why I don't care for soccer, to much drama. Give me a stick, puck, and a pair of skates.

[Mr Phlanj]

how many empty seats???

that was because people were craming together at the top to get out of the rain, there was alot of it.

[OneAVGNFan]

Tomorrow is when Brazil proves that North Korea will be defeated.:!

[blackwiggle]

The empty seats at the games are a result of "Payola" to FIFA officals from certain countries who received blocks of seats for voting for South Africa to host the World Cup, they don't show up so the seats remain empty, the same thing happened at the opening game and will probably happen at later games as well.
The same crap goes on at the Olympics.

On a lighter note.
Have a look at this funny "Lego replay" of England's first match.:D:D:D

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2010/jun/14/world-cup-2010-england-usa-brick

[Mr Phlanj]

haha nice :+

did u notice after the england game the adverts were talking about what happend??

[Harvai]

Germany 4 AUS 0. What a flippin' game man xD

Not if you're Australian. Bawwwww

Truth be told, I didn't think we'd have much of a chance of winning, but to lose 4/0? That's just sad, man. :frown:

Oh well, it gets a bit better with Paraguay drawing with Italy.
I also wish I could get SBS ONE, the station that's showing the World Cup games down here back again. I always used to, but since they bought out SBS TWO, I've somehow lost number one... :brickwall

[blackwiggle]

Try CH30 for SBS One, it's CH32 for SBS two and the 3D SBS is CH40

[UB3R~JKP]

NZ 1 SLO 1
How the hell did NZ nick a point in THAT game?
Great job anyways lads. :D

[infoxicated]

The Brazil v North Korea game has been a bit... well... dull in the second half, but the first half was quite compelling. Proper David & Goliath stuff with NKO enjoying some good attacking moves.

It was kind of inevitable that Brazil would come out on top, but I think Kim Jong Il can give the green light to broadcasting the first half at least.

Heh! As I post that they score! Brilliant goal, too!

[yeldar2097]

Good on you NKO, you deserved that goal :clap

[SaturnReturn]

I think the vuvuzelas are having a bad effect on how the games appear on TV. There's no chanting or singing, or other instruments. There's just no notable atmosphere, so when games aren't great, they seem even more dull because of the monotone drone in the background. Even when there's some good football on show, the droning kind of dampens it, for me at least. Any life, colour or excitement is drowned out. I Was willing to accept it as part of the tournament at first, but after watching several matches I think it's far worse now than just a being bit annoying. :(

I did enjoy seeing North Korea score. I think they played pretty well overall - far from the walkover I expected them to be.

[Woopzilla]

Damn, was hoping the RPK could make a surprise comeback for a major upset. :P I'm happy to see them score after going up against a team like Brazil... the first time they ever met.

Regarding the vuvuzela... I think we can probably be sure that anyone who'll remember this world cup won't vote for SA to host again in the future. :P It really is an atmosphere killer.

[Amorbis]

I was surprised at how well the North Koreans played, looks like they could cause some upset to Cote d'Ivoire and Portugal if they aren't careful. I'll have to keep an eye on Group G. :P

[yeldar2097]

There's no chanting or singing, or other instruments.

There has been one exception; the England match. It's the only one where on occasion the constant hum of the vuvuzelas was broken by chants and music.

Good old Great Escape theme tune :rock

[infoxicated]

I even thought the USA match was lacking in atmosphere - could be that all the hype from the English commentary team built up a sense of occasion, but I was on the PS3 until just after kick-off so I missed all that (intentionally!).

I think the vuvuzela's are really sapping the atmosphere, though - if folk are blowing trumpets they aren't cheering and, at least from my more European standpoint on what happens at a football game, it's the cheering and singing that lifts a big match.

The games I've seen I've watched in the house and had the volume quite low just to take the edge off of it. Don't think I'll bother watching a match down the pub, as they normally crank the volume up to stupid levels and I couldn't be arsed with a 100 minutes of vuvuzela's droning away.

[JJPAP]

Lots have been said ´bout the Vuvuzela.
They´re really annoying and somehow destroys the matches (in my opinion), but think positive: Use the Vuvuzela to your advance!
I bought one myself (very cheap, I promise!) and when ever the missus wants to watch some stupid girly-stuff TV, while there´s a WC-match, I start blowing The Vuvu and she leaves the telly-area immediately.
Works like a charm ... :)
Viva La Vuvu!!!

[mic-dk]

:lol JJ

Poor, poor Spain... I feel a bit sorry for them. About 300 shots and attacks, beautiful play all round, but not a single goal. The Swiss Steelcurtain held firm. And then that goal, just muscled in. Spain better start scoring - I'll get angry if my prediction of then being world champs does not come through!

Hopp Suisse!

[UB3R~JKP]

You may have heard of the rick roll guys, but THAT was the swiss roll!


ZING.

[xEik]

Spainlol :g

[OBH]

Poor, poor Spain... I feel a bit sorry for them. About 300 shots and attacks, beautiful play all round, but not a single goal.

Spain ran out of ideas big time :)

Swiss defended brilliantly and were HUGELY composed on the ball. Managed to pass the ball accurately and calmly out their own box while under pressure. Was hugely impressed with the Swiss.

Got to say, for all his skills and shot power, Jesus Navas cannot cross TO SAVE HIS LIFE :beer

[yeldar2097]

My thoughts exactly :+

I have noticed that a bit though, none of the 'big' attacking teams have managed to make much of a breakthrough. The only real exception is the Germans. Not sure if the ball is anything to do with it, despite all the complaints. Although having said that the Germans have been playing with this ball for over 6 months... hmmmm

Course, it's early days yet so who knows, gotta wait for the teams to get into their stride. Looking forward to the matches today, some good ones coming up :g

[OBH]

Most teams set out not to lose the first game, get rid of the nerves, then start pressing on from there.

Understandable really that many players suffer from the pressure in the first game, it must be immense (some of the south african players looked truly terrified!).

As well as the germans played, they were helped out by a pretty poor Australia side, and (in my opinion at least) a harsh red card.

Tempted to put a sneaky bet of on either the swiss or north korea reaching the quarter finals :) both teams played with bags of confidence :)

[Mr Phlanj]

sorry forn the late updates but ive been working nights so not only have a i missed some games but i wont get to see the england game :(

[DreamyElf]

Go Greece!!! :rock

at last we played a nice game, like the Euro 2004 games! :)
even though we were a little lucky in the 1st goal we fully deserved the victory today!

i'm happy even though we should have played with this system (5-3-2) against S.Korea too...
the only mistake today by Otto is that he should start Ninis from the beginning,
the kid is our messi! lol
now we need a miracle against Argentina!
but we (Greeks) have proved before that if you understimate us you will pay for it!
we maybe a small country but we have HUGE history, remember that ;)

[yeldar2097]

Well deserved victory for Mexico against France, really worked for it.

Also made for another rare occasion where you could actually hear the supporters over those vuvuwotsits. Love the Mexican crowd ^_^

England tomorrow :g

[kaori]

:paperbag Why France hasn't a team ! :paperbag

[tug_14]

:clap mexican team


french team .... well french something but not a team

:redface: :paperbag :bomb :- :brickwall

[kaori]

Thanks to mexican supporters, it's the first time I heard singing fans, and not always VzVzvZvZVzVzvZvZVzVzvZvZVzVzvZvZ :g

[infoxicated]

Great display by Mexico - the French team looked like they'd all been told their pet cats had died shortly before kick-off.

I can't remember seeing such a heartless performance from them - such a waste, I bet the Ireland fans watching were seething at seeing that.

[UB3R~JKP]

Mexican(s) wave......










goodbye to the french.



ZING!

[OneAVGNFan]

I was glad that Mexico won today, esecially my family because they are from there.:):rock:hyper
...and that it's my 150th post.

[DreamyElf]

France was very disappointing...
they didn't create a real chance in the whole game.
what is really strange is why France Federation still supports Domenec...
imagine someone like Wenger in the seat of France :)
i believe France has a lot of talents so when they play that bad its obviously because the team has no spirit and system plan.
i guess that's why they struggled in the WC qualifying stage.

the guy didn't even made a 3rd sub!(Cisse,Henry, Gourcuff ?)
he just smiled and waited for the game to end, weird...

kudos to Mexico for a strong and passionate performance. ;)

[OBH]

Seriously now, what are the french playing at?


Hiring clearly the most stubborn manager alive
Dressing room bustups
Didnt take Benzema!
Took 4 strikers in Henry, Anelka, Cisse & Gignac yet only ever played 1 on thier own
DIDNT PLAY RIBERY ON THE WING, I mean their best player playing out of position... Domenech should manage england with that sort of rubbish. You know your in trouble when steve mchlaren would have done a better job.


Naturally I didnt want france to win the world cup, but i was REALLY looking forward to seeing them play some lovely football. They took such an attacking team I was expecting something special - 2 strikers up front, Gourcuff (who I was looking forward to seeing play but disappointed) playing behind, and then some huge amount of pace on the wings with Sagna, Evra (or Clichy), Govu and Ribery.

I understand no one wants to lose thier first game so fair enough if you play with caution, theres nothing wrong with that, but youd think that at 2 - 0 down to Mexico youd try something new......?? Henry was warming up the whole game and was never used. I just dont get it. Wenger would have done so much more with that team, he was doing commentary for french tv/radio wasnt he? Wish I heard what he had to say!

Still, your not out of it yet.

[yeldar2097]

Oi, Steve McClaren won with FC Twente and they suck balls :P

100% agree on the rest though.


Edit: WHO IS THIS REF AND WHAT THE HELL IS HE PLAYING AT?!

[Woopzilla]

Did this ref enter some bet to see who can hand out the most cards? More reds on the way if everyone continues to get booked. :/

I couldn't help but swear out loud when the red was followed by a goal. :@

[JABBERJAW]

I may not watch soccer again, unbelievable. horrible officials, against the usa 100%. USA should have won the game, should have been a goal, and a couple penalties as well on that very play.

That yellow card when the ball hit the guys face was bogus as well. Goodbye to the second round for the US because of officials, wonderful. There should be a replay camera on goals for that sort of crap, it is 2011. Same with baseball (wrecked perfect game due to official).

IF that official is not removed, it will be a travesty.

[KGB]

That's football I'm afraid.

It should of been a goal, two defenders were holding U.S.A players back and there wasn't a reason he should of disallowed it, I still don't know why he blew the whistle!

Off out to the pub in a bit, Come on England :g

[mic-dk]

There should be a replay camera on goals for that sort of crap, it is 2011.


Maybe next year, eh? :lol

USA got robbed with that goal, he was never offside or what ever the reason for the whistle was.

Unfortunately I didn't catch much of the games so I won't comment on the many cards (exepct that... uhm Dempsey? Bradley? should have had at least a yellow for that elbow 10 seconds in!)

Oh, and bad, bad Podolski! Hohum, moving on - Go England!

[JABBERJAW]

you don't get your team together for 4 years to be subject to a ref rooting for another team, disgusting. He would not give a reason for the penalty, except a smug look. Even if we do make it now, meeting a better team in the next game than it would have been.

[Tomahawk]

I didn't watch the USA match today, but heard about the goal which was denied by the ref. It's pretty sad that referees decide whole games by their decisions, but that's sports I guess. Australia got an imo too harsh red card in their match versus germany and today germany's Klose got a red card which was also very questionable. 1 minute later it's 1:0 for serbia... I think serbia deserved today's win over germany because they played very clever. The only thing I'm a little bit angry about was that the ref totally changed his attitude from first to second half. While he was giving out (sometimes very dubious) cards to the players like states gave out guarantees and loans for banks within the last year he didn't keep up his hard attitude in the second half. He should have kept up his hard line and taken the record for most cards handed out during one fifa world cup game and we would have seen something like an 8 vs 8 players in the end I guess. Might have been fun to watch...

[UB3R~JKP]

English commentators are h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s:
"The eventual winners always start out slowly." :lol

Ohboyherewegoagain.jpg

Ignorance is undisputable:
"England have already seen of their hardest opposition in this group stage" :lol ok then.

[yeldar2097]

ITV are just **** generally. **** coverage, **** commentators, **** post-match, **** adverts.

Bin 'em.

[UB3R~JKP]

Do England fans REALLY be as delusional as these 2 t**ts? I feel bad for you...

[mic-dk]

England is France.

Did someone bother to tell them that it was an actual game, not a light training?
Sorry England, you got pwned. By Algeria.

I'll climb back down from my high horse until our game tomorrow... :D

[SaturnReturn]

It's times like these I'm glad I don't support England. It is massively disappointing to watch them play like that though, just like it's disappointing watching France suck arse too. Rooney looked like he didn't even care. He just stands around looking like a big stupid potato head.:g Gotta love the commentators blaming Copello for tension when the media goes on like it does...

Oranje Tomorrow. Yay!

[UB3R~JKP]

England qualifying?
Wayne Rooneychance







ZING!

[OneAVGNFan]

If the U.S. and England both draw on Wednesday, U.S. has a the advantage of scoring 3 goals compared to England's one (since both of their goal difference is zero). In that senario(sic), England must have a 3-3 draw while U.S and Algeria lay goose eggs (0-0 draw) to advance(3 more goals than U.S.)

Of course, if there is a winner in one of Group C's last two games, then what I said is useless.

[yeldar2097]

A sad day for English football :/

[JABBERJAW]

If England and the US both win, they both go.

[OBH]

WHY DO I BOTHER!!?? REALLY???
Anyone else find the game about as worthwhile as smashing your face with a hammer?

My god what a waste of time.

honestly, a few hours ago i winged about france not playing their best players, WHY TAKE JOE COLE IF YOUR GONNA PLAY ROONEY ON THE LEFT!!!!??? :bomb

and i had so much faith......

[infoxicated]

This is something I just don't understand about England fans. Yes, the media builds up the team prospects and won't shut the **** up about 1966 - as if it's somehow relevant to the chances of the current team pulling it off - but in reality the team are mediocre.

You'd have to want to believe all the **** the commentators and the pundits are spewing (pre-match and during) to convince yourself that the current team are going to be lifting the world cup. And, if you do, you're going to be disappointed. You're allowing yourself to have your hopes raised to unrealistic levels and you're allowing yourself to wallow in the depths of despair by coercion from the media.

In the England squad there's one player in there who could be considered in the top tier, and he's a petulant red-card-in-waiting. The supporting cast are average, Gerrard is past his best, and as for goal keepers... well... the least said the better.

So why the hell do England fans complain so much when the team fails to deliver the demolition job to all-comers that has been painted up by the media?

I didn't think it was too bad a performance - both teams seemed to cancel each other out in the final third and you get games like that all the time. Big frickin' deal. But no, for the English media it's a whole new crisis - one much deeper than the previous draw, of course.

England fans should snap out of it and stop lapping up the bullshit that the media is feeding them. The reality is that the English squad is an average one and average results should be expected and are not the end of the world, anything above that is worth celebrating.

The USA v Slovenia game was fantastic, though - both teams showed a lot of heart and determination, and the Americans deserved the win there and were only robbed by a referee who really shouldn't have had a say in the outcome at that point.

[OBH]

Thing i dont understand, are fans from other countries who think english fans do nothing but lap up what the media say, and talk about '66 all the time.
Ive never, ever expected to win the world cup, and I dont expect england to win each and every game.

The only thing I ever expect, is that if you take 23 players to the world cup, the least you can do is play people in their proper positions surely? You can be knocked out in 2 games, so if the 11 youve picked arent doing the business, give the lads on the bench a chance as well.

Totally agree on the USA game, cant believe their winner was dissalowed, 3 USA players were in a headlock in the box, and he gave a free kick the other way!!

[lunar]

Rob, I think that`s a very sober assessment of English international football, generally.

But this performance was below the average you talked about. There`s the fact that the players looked like rabbits in the headlights. Some of that has to be blamed on the coach. Also simple scoring opportunities were missed as they were unable to make a few passes of the like that they could have made when they were in their academies as 10 year olds. No confidence or belief or enjoyment of playing. Heskey has never had a first touch - the others are technically okay but couldn`t even control the ball and consistently made bad decisions, a sign of pressure or fear I think. It`s obviously not a happy ship. The team are not the most technically gifted, but a lot of other teams would gladly have some of these players on board. They are good players, but were way way short of their own potential.

You also have to wonder if they couldn`t just try harder. There was so little movement off the ball which is something my 12 year old son gets taught all the time at his team. His local under 13s team understand it. Sometimes I wonder how much the England players really want to do well for England. Yes they want to win, but is the deeper motivation there? Algeria have a lot to prove in this world cup; maybe some of England`s players feel they are already eating at football`s top table in the Premier League/Champions League. Are their hearts really with Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool, Spurs etc in the weekly drama of the Premier League? Also can these players who are paid to be rivals week in week out really play together? Doesn`t look like it. Blah....

Finally this crop of english players just don`t have the character or ability of the generation of Lineker, Hoddle and further back. Rob is dead right that England are just average, but some Englands are more average than others.

[KGB]

England fans are like any other passionate fans, we just get caught up in the drama of it all, we don't think we are brilliant, but we think we should be. That's all we are guilty of. The England squad is full of world class players and we qualified for this thing easily so we should be doing better.

I would be hard pressed to remember a game they were so bad, I don't think we will get to the next round. :frown:

[OBH]

I forgot to say, that despite being gutted myself, I thought the England fans booing was out of order.

[infoxicated]

Thing i dont understand, are fans from other countries who think english fans do nothing but lap up what the media say, and talk about '66 all the time.Because you do. Time and again. I've observed this cyclical behaviour first hand from the 11 years I've spent living in different parts of England.

Doesn't matter if it's Cornwall, London, or Liverpool, the media seem to be able to conjure up a frenzy of unwarranted belief that an average team is capable of ripping the likes of Brazil a new one.

Because it sells newspapers and makes people tune in to MotD.

Even better is when the team fails to live up to the hype - as if they could - the fans turn on them, the media turns on them... and that sells newspapers!

It's genius!

I'm not entirely sure how 7 days was enough time to forget how mediocre they were in the first game, yet somehow victory was assured last night. Lunar is right - it was a poor performance - an average team playing below average, as opposed to lifting themselves for the occasion.

As to why, it's hard to tell, but there was definitely a fear factor at work last night. Fear of the coach? The fan reaction? The media reaction?

Hard to put a finger on it, really, but I felt sorry for those players last night. I don't care much for Wayne Rooney - the guy's a dick - but when you're being suffocated by fear of failure it's hard to perform and you could see the desperation their faces.

How many of us have choked potting a ball on a pool table with a bunch of friends watching us? I certainly have, and these guys are no less human than me or anyone else, except they have unspeakable pressure on them.

It's the old psychological tailspin that can affect anybody; I have to, but I can't. I can't, but I have to.

[SaturnReturn]

Good luck to both Holland and Japan. Two of my favourite nations. :D

[OBH]

@infoxicated
I can only speak for who i know, but (due to age no doubt) we never, ever, ever talk of '66 when we lose. In fact its not even spoken of generally, and why would we? We were not even born then anyway.

Personally, i hate that it still gets mentioned from time to time in the papers and on the TV as if it was relevant to current day football, Its when they start doing comparisons between the team of the past and the team of the present i start to get riled, but there's no harm in remembering the past. Id be gutted if the Dutch weren't being shown goals of Marco Van Basten in world cups gone by, the man was amazing.

Its just this bs impression that every English fan is hung up on the past that does my nut in :)

[blackwiggle]

The "66" result was dubious at best anyway, even now nobody knows if the ball actually crossed the German goal line, yet it is held up as the high water mark of English football
The Germans don't give a hoot or probably even remember about the "66" result,the only team that ever matters for the Germans to beat are the Dutch.

Only the English press keeps bringing it out, most English football fans weren't born when that game was played, yet they allow themselves to get gee'd up by the press and react like a disloyal mob of yobs when England don't win.

They just showed Roony on TV here talking to a camera when leaving the field after last night game to a hail of boo's, saying sarcastically there is nothing like a loyal English fan.

No wonder they aren't performing.

There's nothing like English tabloids to build up, then undermine, any English teams spirit and turn it's fans against them, they have been doing it for years, they do it to the National Rugby & Cricket teams just as badly.

[SaturnReturn]

Oranje boven!

By my calcs a draw or Denmark win today puts Holland through.:)

Still, although the Dutch haven't set the world alight, they haven't tried too hard either. That's a bit disappointing, but hopefully it means they will have more energy later and can pick up momentum. Perhaps they're also not showing their full hand so that they don't get caught out tactically like in the Euros 2 years ago.

All in all it looks pretty good for Holland at the moment.:)

[Woopzilla]

The Germans don't give a hoot or probably even remember about the "66" result,the only team that ever matters for the Germans to beat are the Dutch.

This here holds quite a bit of truth and provided me with a bit of a headache while attending secondary school and sixth form after moving to england from germany. I would never hear the end of it when england was poised to simply meet germany or happened to beat them in friendly matches. It seems to be a very passionate one-sided rivalry.

I actually root for england second... but both 'my' teams have had rather disappointing matches. It's put me right off watching the world cup. Maybe I should start rooting for Argentina or something. :P

[stinkleroy]

I probably shouldnt be posting here due to intentionally, and successfully managing to avoid anything world cup related in the past week ;) But I've been reading this thread and also saw the story on the booing English fans yesterday...bad behaviour, most certainly but part of me understands this reaction. Football is'nt and has'nt been a game here for a long time now, it's a multi milllion pound industry. Players don't play for passion anymore they play for cash, and that effectively makes the fans their employers.

In an industry like this not only do the fans believe the hype, but it seems so do the players themselves...and that's where the real problems lie. As long as the pay cheques keep rolling in, everything is fine :/

Both fans and players need to wake up and try a little harder to be more in tune with what is actually true....regardless of media hype. Ok rant over.

[UB3R~JKP]

"66 is here again herp derp" pfft, arrogance

[blackwiggle]

Well Australia just had another disastrous game, 1-1 draw with Ghana, well not on the scoreboard but with a red card for Harry Kewell in the first half for unintentional handing the ball in the penalty area, giving away a penalty in the process, plus we lose arother player for the next match for a second yellow.
The referees have killed any chance Australia had of getting through the group round.
We need Germany to thrash Ghana and Australia to beat Serbia by 2 to make it.
Maybe if we had Mike Basset as manager ;):D

[KGB]

The simple truth is England are ranked 8th in the world and Algeria are 30th. So my expectation is that we should beat them. FIFA's expectation is we beat them. That's why we were seeded top. But we are playing crap and not showing the qualifying form that we had.

To me 1966 never happened, I wasn't born and have never seen the match. It never comes up amongst my friends. It's all in the media and in those who choose to believe it, most intelligent people can see the bullshit that The Sun, Star and Daily Mirror print and don't get taken in. I can understand people are sick of pages and pages of England hype but that's what they are like and have been for a long time.

The English obsession with beating Germany is obviously rooted in the war and will always be there. Do Germans not feel a little rivalry when they play us?

[SaturnReturn]

Do the Danes know the meaning of indomitable? I hope not. Good luck Denmark.:+

[amplificated]

Anyone see the Australia-Ghana match? As someone who doesn't exactly follow soccer (that's right, soccer!), I'm curious if anyone else thinks that red card for Harry Kewell was deserved. I can see it was a handball, but from what I can tell it didn't exactly look deliberate (by any stretch); and yet he got sent right off.

[Tomahawk]

The rules say that a player has to use his hand(s) intentionally and prevent a goal by his actions. Only in that particular case a red card must be given to that player. If you'll watch the slow motion replay you'll notice that Harry Kewell already had his eyes closed a second before the ball hit him. I've never seen anyone comitting an intentional handball while having his eyes closed. How would he see where exactly he has to hold his hand? So imo this red card was another one of those bad jokes we've already seen a lot of within this world cup... If the ref had only a little bit of style and class he would have punished the obvious foul two seconds before Kewell's handball (some australian player pulling a ghana player to the ground) which would have resulted in a yellow card for another australian player and a penalty for Ghana, but Australia still would have been 11 players on the field and it wouldn't have been another game totally ruined by some idiot referee...

[Hellfire_WZ]

Whether it was deliberate or not, it denied a clear goalscoring opportunity. That's a straight red. Unfortunately when it comes to handball directly in front of goal there's very rarely any room for discretion.

EDIT: Ah bugger, beat me to it :P

[JJPAP]

Well, now the best team of the WC has just played their 2nd match ... :) ... A solid 2-1 ... Everything seems to be okay: A ****ed up defense opening up for some serious entertainment, 2 great goals ... First team to revenge an obvious defeat (0-1 to 2-1). If AKA-SHO and Reach-Big are injured, D(ee)K(ay) will join the 1/8-finals ... (for sure) ... :)

[Mu5]

Well its 1am here in Auckland and im staying up to watch the All-whites get demolished by Italy :D I should get to sleep about 4am, then im up at 7am for work LOL

World cup fever ye cannae beat it! :D

WTF : Italy 0 - NZL 1

:D:D:D:D:D

[JABBERJAW]

JABBERJAW'S RULE CHANGE: sees lots and lots of yelling :)

IF game ends in tie, start overtime 10 on 10, after 5 minutes, 9 on 9, and so on until someone scores. It is pretty frustrating to see these great teams dominate, and get held to a tie. I know, "that's soccer", but I just don't like ties, it seems like a waste of time. The got rid of them in hockey with some good rule changes, and the only place they happen in sports in the US is in American Football, and this is like once every two years.

[KGB]

Italy just drew with New Zealand and the French are imploding, what's England got to worry about ;)

[yeldar2097]

Pirates ftw I reckon :P

*crosses fingers*

[UB3R~JKP]

Cmon the ivory coast :D

[KGB]

The referee had a stinker in the Brazil match, I don't think he will be having many more games in charge.

[SaturnReturn]

I thought they were saying this ref had a good tournament so far. That was early in the match though. He did cock up a bit a couple of times. At least it gives us a bit of entertainment, although in this match it was unnecessary, as the football was entertaining enough, which makes a change.

[KIGO1987]

Well Australia just had another disastrous game, 1-1 draw with Ghana, well not on the scoreboard but with a red card for Harry Kewell in the first half for unintentional handing the ball in the penalty area, giving away a penalty in the process, plus we lose arother player for the next match for a second yellow.
The referees have killed any chance Australia had of getting through the group round.
We need Germany to thrash Ghana and Australia to beat Serbia by 2 to make it.
Maybe if we had Mike Basset as manager ;):D

The game had high hopes, went to crap towards the end. I reckon our country went ok.

But whats with these red cards recently?? They are been given out like bloody chrissy presents to all of the Aussie players....

I hope Australia does well against the Serbians. Game is on the 24th. Going to be another late night here in Perth again.

[ACE-FLO]

Take Engalnd - we're so out of this it's silly man! I'm only watching the Brazil and Argentina games from now on. ... then again :lol

[KIGO1987]

Was in a voice chat room with Vince watching the England game on my Bravia with the two screen feature button at the same time. Was pretty crappy game i agree. You English supports are nuts, lol, was a good laugh though. Hearing someone from Cheltenham yelling at the tv is quite epic.

[Woopzilla]

Damnit North Korea, I was hoping you'd beat portugal... :P

Have to feel sorry for them though... 7-0, ouch!

[UB3R~JKP]

:O, just :O,
Outstanding ;)

[KGB]

Never thought I would say it, but come on France. Show us what you are made of.

[blackwiggle]

They are saying here that there isn't even agreement on who will be on the field tonight for France.
What a situation.:redface:

[KGB]

Oh dear. FRA 0 - RSA 1

[UB3R~JKP]

Bye Bye Gourcuff ;)

[OneAVGNFan]

Mexico and Uruguay advance. Hurray for Mexico for advancing for the second round for the fifth straight time.:hyper

[Medusa]

Poor PRK, I saw the first 25 minutes or so of them versus Portugal and I was really impressed! But 'twas not to last...
France...ick. So embarrassing, now they've got four years to try and forget how pathetic that was...

[Mr Phlanj]

goodbye frenchies and unlucky to South Africa, i just hope england dont follow out the door :(

[DreamyElf]

so we are out...(Greece)
we fought hard last night but we lost our chances after the lost against S.Korea... :(
now i hope Argentina will win the world cup.
Messi was extremely unlucky so far in the tournament and i think he'll score the goals in critical matches!:D

the team that has impressed the most so far is Uruguay.
a very well balanced team with amazing spirit and lethal attack!
thank god argentina avoided them in the round of 16! :)

[yeldar2097]

Much better from Team England :+

Gabby Logan needs to stop talking about shackles -_-

[Cyberio]

Do you ever imagine a WipEout track with vuvuzela ambient?

Here's a tip.

http://www.vuvuzela-time.co.uk/www.wipeoutzone.com

http://www.vuvuzela-time.co.uk/www.wipeouthd.com/

BTW: Go Spain go! Only one match, at least 1-0 and we're in!

[KGB]

The first England game I've watched at home and not in the mucky pub, the England fans are the only ones so far to drown out those awful horns. Much better from England but should of scored more to calm the nerves.

Well done to USA as well, top of the group!

[WolfKill01]

is anyone else surprised that the U.S.A. has done so well? it's actually funny really; let's pretend the US won, every other country would be freaking out, but 95% of americans when asked about it would probably just shrug and say, 'what's fifa?'. :lol

[IDReaper]

Lol not me USA! USA! I watched the game today, 91 minutes in we got one, SUPER close ;D

@Wolfkill01 Yeah u are right though I feel so alone in my area xD.

[RedScar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-0j2vQH0Ho&feature=player_embedded

I'm sry to any french man on the board, but that right there is an embarrasment to your country. Sad to see something like that on this level of play.

UnStoppAble

[yeldar2097]

I know it's an absolute disgrace. Poor form, Dom, poor form -_-

[KGB]

And then they were sent home in the standard seats on the plane back to France...the shame :redface:. I've just read that Thierry Henry has requested a meeting with president Sarkozy on Thursday. Why, why, why?

[SaturnReturn]

Ghana are playing lovely football. It's more like how I expect Holland to play. I hope they are able to beat Germany, even though they only need a draw, because the whole England-Germany thing would just be too over-hyped. But I think Germany kind of do deserve to go through as well, overall.

[Woopzilla]

Yeess!!! Go germany! My teams will play each other next but... germany gets my support first. ;)

[yeldar2097]

Well done to Germany and Ghana.

I have to say I'm getting rather fed-up of the ITV coverage: After a really good match with great play from both teams, what do they do? They show one clip of the goal and that's it, just a bit of chit-chat and then EnglandEnglandEnglandEngland.

Yes, we know England won, but some of us actually like football and like to see a bit of analysis and some cool replays.

Useless :turd

[SaturnReturn]

Completely agree - and they were really stirring the bad vibes with the Capello/Terry stuff as well. They showed the Capello interview before AND straight after a match that had nothing to do with England.

I really enjoyed that Ghana match, while also watching a bit of the crazy tennis at the same time. It's the first time I've been bothered by a result, and that was because I really wanted Ghana to go through after seeing them play lovely positive football. They're now my new 4th favourites (as in teams I like, not to win it), after Holland, Japan and South Korea.

[amplificated]

fffffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuuuuuu... that first game against Germany.

[KIGO1987]

Agreed.

atm

Aus - Seb
2-1

[Eleven_GG_Ex]

ghana's match vs germany was really great, i'm happy they both go through,
Usa did really good match too,they never give up, it must be the "Yes we can" mind lol, even if the referee sucks with them..
I hope my team saw that --'

[Mr Phlanj]

what a game!!!!. well done slovakia!!!.

So both the french and the italians are out and both wouldnt shake hands.

[Tomahawk]

Ciao Italia. The world cup champion from 2006 just lost 3-2 to slovakia... I'm feeling a bit sorry for New Zealand though, they put up a good fight against any team they played during this years world cup but it wasn't enough to reach the next round. Strong defense play and good teamwork Kiwis! :+

[Woopzilla]

I'm sooo enjoying this... makes me feel better after how Italy humiliated Germany with all the last minute goals they thumped in the last time they met. :g

Also have to laugh at a comment I saw on google while searching: "Italy will be meeting france again this time... but at the airport!"

Now it's time to cheer on Japan!

[JJPAP]

Now it's time to cheer on Japan!

I hate you, Woop :D

The Danish way to rock (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kvkaFKoYlI)

Danish :bomb (Dynamite) ???
So god damn nervous - you might call me 8-finger JJ in a few hours ...
Better drink some national-coloured glasses ...

Japanese mates: Allow me to hate you until 21.20 London Time :)

:bomb :bomb :bomb ... Explode!!! ........................ PLEASE!!!

Have an exceptional match - Mic, Fab, Soc and Mulvad!!!

[Woopzilla]

Haha, sorry. xD

Those were two beautiful free kicks there :D... it's looking really bad for the danes though. :cold

[KGB]

Come on Denmark, you can get back in this....but then again Japan have the better haircuts so maybe they deserve it :D.

[SaturnReturn]

Holland 1st, Japan 2nd. Just how I like it. :D

Think Holland might be screwed up against the better teams though. Despite not conceding many goals at all, they do look a bit shaky at times.

[Woopzilla]

Nearly saved the penalty! Oh well...

I'm really excited to see how far Japan can go. :g

[Harvai]

I'm feeling a bit sorry for New Zealand though, they put up a good fight against any team they played during this years world cup but it wasn't enough to reach the next round. Strong defense play and good teamwork Kiwis! :+

Wait, what? Well, I guess all the soccer news got pushed to the side with K-Rudd being dumped as PM and all. And here I was, going to jump on the New Zealand bandwagon too.

Oh well, Paraguay's still in, I really wanna see how far they get!

[KIGO1987]

Blame everything in recent times on the Labor government. Fair enough :lol (Big Ears Abbot is going to be our next PM i reckon)
It was a plan and simple rotten World Cup for Australia, 2 bullshit red cards. Me losing my voice at the tv, the bloody dutch coach should of got all the good players out in the Germany game, then it would of been less sh it.

Tell you what if a hear another fuking vuvuzela im going to shove the entire 3feet of the pointy end up the guys arse.

[Dark_Phantom_89]

Tell you what if a hear another fuking vuvuzela im going to shove the entire 3feet of the pointy end up the guys arse.

The England V Slovenia game was the only one I saw where the fans chanting actually drowned out the sound of the vuvuzelas for quite a while. Makes a nice change hearing the English national anthem being chanted rather than the vuvuzelas all of the time.

[JJPAP]

(Unfortunately) a well-deserved japanese victory :clap :+ :banzai

Good luck in the 1/8-finals :)

Now it´s time for cheering for the best playing teams!

[Medusa]

Half-time in Portugal-Brazil and already a blatant handball by Brazil and seven yellow cards between the teams! Some bad tackling going on. Including a full on body check by Filipe Melo (sp?) on Pepe...wow.
The score may be 0-0, but who will get the first red?? I wonder if Brazil will win,with ten men, LOL.

Nope I was wrong. Ends 0-0.
First time since 1978 Brazil hasn't scored in a group game...they weren't trying too hard it seemed, nothing much to go for.

[ACE-FLO]

I woulda thought the world cup was plenty enough motivation :D

[Hellfire_WZ]

The England V Slovenia game was the only one I saw where the fans chanting actually drowned out the sound of the vuvuzelas for quite a while. Makes a nice change hearing the English national anthem being chanted rather than the vuvuzelas all of the time.

In fact, at one point our lot were singing "You can stick your vuvuzelas up your arse" :)

[Woopzilla]

Oh man... quite the goalkeeping error there, Chile.

I suppose any miracle Honduras qualification is not going to happen now. :P

[Medusa]

That was pretty bad...but, the atmosphere for this game (Spain-Chile) was great! No vuvuzuelas at least for the first few minutes, and actually a pretty good game I thought! Until the dreadfully boring last minutes.
Viva Espana, viva Espana...

[SaturnReturn]

The way Chile passed and controlled the ball was amazing. The commentators said they spent 15 minutes practising ball juggling skills in the warm-up, and it seemed to pay off. I'm glad they went through because they were mostly great to watch, but they do need more discipline because it got a bit too messy at times. What happened with the red card? Apparently Torres was just caught and tripped, but from the replay it looked more like he tripped himself. Was really odd.:?

Looking at Holland's potential route to the final, the toughest hurdle is obviously Brazil, but it would mean they would only have to pull off one real upset if they did make it, compared to England who would have to see Germany, Argentina, and Spain bow out before they get to the final. Not looking good for the Angles.

[Medusa]

Yeah, the second yellow for that guy was pretty tough, he wasn't even looking at Torres and happened to clip his heel while running...but earlier on I thought one of the Chile players should have got a red. Replays showed him deliberately kicking backwards to kick Torres in the right knee. Evil!! Chile will have it tough if they make it another round, it looks like most of them have yellows.

[SaturnReturn]

First disappointment for me - South Korea bow out. A few of them will be kicking themselves for a couple of wasted chances, and conceding an early goal due to sloppy defending. What the keeper was doing is beyond me. :(

[KGB]

Have to plump for Ghana tonight I'm afraid. Last African team and all that business. :rock

[Medusa]

Ahhh extra time...now I can't finish watching the game! I really wanted to see who would get through to get beaten by Uruguay, too. :P

[OBH]

Happy for Ghana, but gutted for the US.

US is such a big nation, ive always wanted them to be as interested in football as the rest of the world, a great world cup run wouldnt help towards that :)

Still, fair play Ghana, the q finals without even having Essien in your team.

[JABBERJAW]

US is gutsy, however, very pathetic at beginning of every game, almost like I was out there playing defense. I preferred the non-calls of this game to the fake calls of the previous games. Although, Altidore should have had drawn the penalty going up for the header, since he was taken out. We unfortunately don't have even one guy who can score with the slightest defensive pressure on him. That last goal was pathetic, don't know who that first defender who gave up even though he was right next to him, but he was the reason that went in.

[RedScar]

Aw, my dark horse USA is out of it, but it was a good game overall. Not really behind any team atm, I can only hope that its good soccer from here on out.

[KGB]

Come on England!! :twisted:g

[OBH]

Rule Britannia!
Britannia rule the waves.
Brittons never, never, never shall be slaves (http://www.fanchants.com/football-songs/england-chants/rule-britannia/)

:beer

or the ring of fire (http://www.fanchants.com/football-songs/england-chants/great-escape-england-new/) chant i have as my msg tone! :g

[ACE-FLO]

Klose just scored :( England losing this one unless they pull their finger out. Germany are on fire so far, but its early days yet...

COME ON ENGLAND :rock

EDIT: Podolski just banged a goal in. Germany - 2, England - Sucking Epic :?

EDIT: Hudson You Beauty :D Good header :) Germany 2 - England 1 come on guys, come on...

[SaturnReturn]

This is awesome for a neutral. But having seen the England goal not given, I'm not so neutral any more. COME ON ENGLAND!!! :D That was a blatant goal, even before the replay.:bomb

[kaori]

Referees are not very good...

[UB3R~JKP]

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

[ACE-FLO]

good old video chat open :) for the half time banter break :D

[infoxicated]

This match is hilarious!

If only to hear the BBC commentary team turn on the England squad and then do a complete 180 as soon as they scored! :D

[mic-dk]

LOL, the same thing happened on DK TV. But to be fair, the first 30 minutes weren't exactly top class by England. That first goal didn't make the middle defence look good.

More than made up for it in the following 15 though! Massivley unfair by not seeing that goal.

Now a quick run to the fridge so I'm ready for 2nd half.

GO ehm... DEU... arh... EN... oh I can't decide.

[ACE-FLO]

This match is hilarious!

If only to hear the BBC commentary team turn on the England squad and then do a complete 180 as soon as they scored! :D

Everyone is doing 180's atm. The first half was pretty poor to be fair. I was hating on Englang for playing like that - then they scored :D and I too did 180 :D

Just got out of a voicechat session with German Pilot - Sinus1. Good banter there :)

EDIT: Make that a 360 ... We muffed it :(

EDT 2: 4 fackin' 1. England just got made to look silly... (time to enjoy the weather, atleast something is going right today ;))

[stin]

LMAO!, goalkeeper actually closed his eyes while trying to save it!!!!

stevie:)

[mdhay]

Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Bye, England! See you fail in four years time! :twisted

[Dark_Phantom_89]

What an interesting match. I'm still reeling from the fact that we were blatently robbed of that goal which would have made it 2-2. How different things would have been if that had (and should) have happened...

[Woopzilla]

xD

Damnit, it should've been 5-1... then maybe I'd get some peace and quiet for once. You won't believe how much I've been reminded of that score for the past 9 years. :P

[SaturnReturn]

Things might have been different, but how likely is that? Up until that point England had been all over the place. Then they got back to the same point in the second half. They couldn't keep the ball, and when they lost it, they just straight up didn't defend at all.

[infoxicated]

So... in summary, when I said that the England team were average... that was what I was getting at. They scraped through an average group in 2nd place and were found out when they met some real competition.

That situation with the Lampard goal was ridiculous, though - hard to see how that wasn't seen by the ref or the linesman, but it isn't the first time it has happened at international level and with FIFA's refusal to employ cameras it won't be the last.

Next game I'm looking forward to will be Japan v Paraguay - the Japs looked like the Harlem Globetrotters of Football in their last game. Great to watch. :)

[SaturnReturn]

Gotta love the Japanese. Wonderfully positive all the time, but still modest in their attitudes.

I've got a day off tomorrow so I'll be able to watch Holland play. Hopefully Slovakia will be a win similar to the three before them. If it is, then I'm not looking forward to Brazil if Chile can't pull off a surprise today.

[infoxicated]

I actually really enjoyed watching the USA team play this Word Cup.

No diving, no back-chat to the ref. Just sleeves up, workman-like performances regardless of the score. They will be a force to be reckoned with in 2014, I reckon - their talent level is improving all the time.

I'd like to see the Japanese go all the way and break the Euro/South American stranglehold. That and I just don't like the way the Portuguese or the Argentinians play - far too much play-acting.

[KGB]

I'm open to ridicule here but I thought England played really well, they passed the ball well but got caught out on the counter attack very easily. The best game they played in the whole tournament! Germany were just too good for us and cut through us like very soft butter when it counted. Even when we were two nil down I still thought we were the better team but it was not to be. No one was down hearted in the pub at the end, we knew we were beaten by a better team. How much does everyone hate the English (rhetorical).

come on Japan then :).

The drink has got to me, who was the better team? (rhetorical again)

[mic-dk]

Next game I'm looking forward to will be Japan v Paraguay - the Japs looked like the Harlem Globetrotters of Football in their last game. Great to watch. :)

heywaitaminnite...

That would make us the Washington Generals?
In the words of Homer: "it's funny 'cause it's true" :|

I'd really like to watch ARG-MEX tonight, but unfortunately I don't subscribe to that channel. I think it's going to be good fun!

VIVA MEXICO! :sombrero :tequila

[infoxicated]

The drink has got to me, who was the better team? (rhetorical again)
Germany, hands down. If they'd taken all their chances it would have been the heaviest defeat handed to any team at that stage in the competition, ever!

They took their foot off the gas after scoring the second goal and were punished for it twice, but I don't think the winner of the match was in any doubt. England looked slow and tired and there for the taking in every counter attack. It could have been so much worse of a score line.

And I say that comfortable in the knowledge that Scotland are so far behind the likes of Germany that we'll probably never have to worry about it happening to us.

[mdhay]

And I say that comfortable in the knowledge that Scotland are so far behind the likes of Germany that we'll probably never have to worry about it happening to us.


And people used to take the mick for me supporting Scotland.. :g

There must be seven pages worth of racist BS on my Facebook news feed, most people my age need to learn that England, as a team, aren't worth anyone's attention anymore, and thet Germany doesn't have any Nazis in it anymore. :rolleyes:

[KGB]

Fair enough! but it was rhetorical so it didn't need a reply but probably screamed for one anyway :) . We got beat :|. I still think England weren't that bad. I'm perhaps deluded :P.

[Woopzilla]

My god, what was that?! Just passing it straight to the opposition.

Things aren't going well for mexico at all since that first goal.

Also, have to laugh at that argentinian player turning into the camera and slapping it in a 'rage reaction'. :g

[Medusa]

Whoa, TEVEZ!!! What a lovely goal. Made up for his offside goal which should've been disallowed.

This world cup is sure making a case for video replays/goalline officials.

[mdhay]

So, erm, have you guys heard about the flash flooding due in Scotland? It's caused by millions of scottish people pissing themselves laughing. ;)

[stin]

LMAO!!!!!!! Mr M. Hay!!!!!!!

stevie:g

[mdhay]

Got it off one of my relatives in Glasgow. Need to get used to it, I'm going up there on Tuesday. Not good reasons though.

[Aeroracer]

A sad day in football..

france elimination was very humiliating and i was sad:redface:

now england was beaten severly by germany (just like they told us would happen yestaday):redface:

and no scotland or ireland either in the cup
:frown:
so who am i supposed to support now all my teams are gone (or never were):frown:

@england team

i dont think fabio is to blame he tried to make england good but it was just to hard to do when the F,A ties your hands and restricts his decisions and choices..maybe i am wrong but i think it may be true..

as for the england players..i cant really comment cos i dont know enough about football to really know for sure..ill leave that to the footy pundits to fight it out..:frown: