World Cup 2006

[Pumaman]

Well well well, a draw! To be fair it was probably the right result, both teams played fairly well and neither stood out as the better side.

So, to the second round!

[Andail]

We had at least three more extremely good chances with shots in the crossbar etc. The corners were really dangerous.
Cole and Lampard shot at everything that moved which payed off every now and then.

[Privateer Puddin']

Considering how many goals Lampard does score (normally for Chelsea, but he was our top scorer in qualifying), that's not really too surprising.

[2ma2]

Argh.. England owned the first half, and I do think we owned the second. So yeah, a draw was fair enough but SOOO CLOOOSE for England there.. needless to say, I screamed like a madman at 2-2..

[m0ds]

Haha 2ma2!! Yep - it was a good match!! I agree that England played best in the first half and Sweden the second. I was genuinly impressed with the England goals but not the Swedish ones so much, they just seemed to trickle in by "accident". But maybe thats a form of skill, or sloppyness on our behalf!!

Still, the corners were dangerous as Andail says, and that cross bar saved the day quite a few times - so close too! Hehehe!

Oh, and a Scottish guy screamed like a madman in celebration of Sweden's second goal in the pub and one English guy wasn't too happy & nearly started a fight :p It's a chilled pub, really!!!!

It's only a game! Bit of a laugh too

Onto Ecuador!

[Harvester]

And today it's Mexico vs. Portugal. Now that one is going to be interesting. Mexico has to win to secure the first place, and if they lose they are in danger if Angola beats Iran. With a draw, Portugal is first, Mexico second.
Those two teams meet Holland and Argentina in the next round. Probably everyone wants to avoid Argentina now, but the Dutch are just as dangerous (they failed to score six or seven goals vs. Serbia, so no one is taking them seriously  ). It seems that Van Basten is going to rest five or six players in this game. The thing that goes against Argentina now is the pressure. Everyone already expected them to win the World Cup (in their country, I mean) and now after 6:0 vs. weak Serbia they are widely recognized as favorites (with Brazil). In reality, they are not that good (and neither is Brazil) and I think they will get beaten by the first really strong team they run into (of course, this doesn't mean that I'm rooting against them, or that I think their team sucks, they are great, one of the best teams, but in my opinion not THE best).

[Tuomas]

They're playing the Finals in berlin. THat I can understand, but the bronze game, in Stuttgart... Why? I mean, whyu not use Westfalen in Dortmund, it's got space for up to 69 000 spectators. I mean, what's the point in having them in a smaller stadium when they could sell more tickets to a bigger stadium? It's not like there's such a long way to travel

[2ma2]

I do think Argentina could pose a real threat to anyone this year, they seem to play well and produce against lesser nations - not something you can say about Brazil.

[Oz]

Cole and Lampard shot at everything that moved [...]

I didn't know the nets moved.

[Tuomas]

I think, that if Italy wins this game and Czech falls from the cup, I'll lose all my interest in the cup. I think I'll bet on Ghana then and wish someone beats the shit out of Italy. Damn I hate how they play, how they look, how they suck and especially how they play. Damn, I wish they lose, and I wish the Serie A gets into trouble with the money scandals. Nothing personal, just the fact that I'm Czech fan.

EDIT: There. All I have to say now is ,|,, I blame Polak. Bloody idiotic two yellow cards! SHIT! Football sucks!

[Vel]

I say, Go Croatia!
Unfortunately, the bulgarian television will air the other match which has no intrigue in it. 

[Oz]

Ghana! The most entertaining team is the tournament.

[Layabout]

I say, Go Croatia!
Unfortunately, the bulgarian television will air the other match which has no intrigue in it. 

Watch the Aussie's wipe the floor with their arses...

Australia will be triumphant!!! Hahaha...

[Las Naranjas]

Vel has the money on yet another team that fails to qualify!

If he goes for The Ukraine I'm going to bet all my money against them.

* Las Naranjas kisses Guus.

[m0ds]

Awesome!!! I saw three quarters of the Japan vs Brazil match and was really impressed that Japan scored - and I was routing for them When it became obvious Brazil were going to win it was over to the other game and man - all those yellow cards and incidents in the last 15 minutes or so were hillarious! I really enjoyed it, well done Australia for getting through

[Timosity]

Well, who would have thought the Australians would have made the 2nd round? ranked 42nd or something similar, although are much better than that, they just don't get many games against decent sides to lift their ranking, I'm sure it will continue to go up after this tournament.

I wouldn't like to predict how far they can go, but when you're still in it you have a chance, especially when Australia is such an unknown quantity, teams can underestimate.

That curse that John Safran lifted with that witch doctor in Mozambique sure has come in handy.

It was an interesting match for the 2 countries cause there is some Croatian heritage in the Australian team and vice versa, not sure which guy but he decided to play with Croatia instead of Australia because he thought he would have more chance in the World Cup (or to even get into it), then to get knocked out by his birth country, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

also Surprising is Ghana going through and the Czech Republic being knocked out.

Every other group so far seems to be as predicted

[mätzyboy]

Ghana! The most entertaining team is the tournament.

Couldn't agree more! Having recently come back from a trip to Ghana, I'm even more excited. It's a shame I had to leave one week before the World Cup started. Would have been soo much fun to be there during this time of success! Gooooooo Black Stars!

[Las Naranjas]

I could certainly see the Melbourne bred AFL influence in the Croatian box, some fine tackling and a few fists through for the behind.

[Timosity]

I could certainly see the Melbourne bred AFL influence in the Croatian box, some fine tackling and a few fists through for the behind.

Yeah, I thought the exact same thing

I got up early to watch the game thismorning, left for work at half time, heard a score on the radio 2-1 and had no idea how it ended. I had a feeling of the result after I heard some car horns beeping round the place but was not sure if it was frustration or they were Croatian, but then one of my mates phoned and filled me in.

[TheCheese33]

The US is officially out of the competition. Somehow, I knew this would happen (even though I'm American). Our football team stinks compared to everyone else's this year. Oh well. There's always next year!