I've seen the Italians do it before... But the South Americans do it like this

si... si...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALL!!!!!!!!

bieno

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!

Then you hear a summary of how amazingly fantastic the ownage was before hearing

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALL!!!!

 

lmao, very true.

 

Well, Italy really didn't play as well as expected. Mainly no ideas, just long passes to the Ghanaian defense. They had their chances, but Ghana had them, too. Just that Ghana doesn't even make anything out of them remotely. For that reason, Italy is going to win.

 

I think despite glimpses of Ghana (aka Essien) magic it was an assured Italian victory. For a while I thought they'd die out like all the other European teams but I was pleasantly surprised. Italy definitely deserved the second goal (yeah Kuffour I'm looking at you) and should qualify quite comfortably as long as they don't fall into the usual Italian curse of greatly underperforming.

Brazil tomorrow *rubs hand together in anticipation*

 

God damn, I hate fucking Italy.

Few flashes of inspiration, more of 50% of which are turned into goals
+
Killing the game rhytam, while keeping the ball as long as possible
+
Using every mistake of opponent defense players
+
Lots of luck
+
Help of referees
=
Italy wins their games with 1-3 scored goals.

Don't get me wrong, they have great players and all, but they are ALWAYS playing like some stinking corporation, trying to achieve maximal profit with minimal invested effort. Blah! I do hope USA or Czech put them to their place...

 

The problem with that is that the most likely scenario would be that both Czech and Italy will have qualified by the time they face each other. Therefore it's likely that game won't be worth watching as a lot of the good players will be rested. That's why I wanted the big clubs to face each other earlier.

 

What's sickening is how the announcers in America roll.

To be honest, I'd prefer commentators akin to the English ones, or at least their reporters. How anyone can have a positive outlook after a three - nil stomp that pitted a Czech team that wanted to play against an American team that looked like they had been teabagging hookers and drinking vodka all night is boggling to the mind. That's the kind of treatment America doesn't need.

I think their chances just went from slim to none.

And I'm a die-hard Oranje-fan but I'll still be rooting for America.

 

Well I watched two matches last night. The Aussie v. Japan was a disappointment. The game seemed choppy and neither team played that well. I don't think Japan will go to the second round. They have a pretty strong defense for sure but their attack sucked. Aussie wasn’t too good either though they had a stronger offence. But against teams like Brazil… not a chance.

The US v. Czech was fun to watch. The US really needs to get some sort of offence going. At most they seem to make half hearted attempts at scoring. Not to mention they need work on their crosses. Czech was surprisingly strong with a solid defense and powerful offence. I think they will be the team going to the second round along with Italy. USA... I don't think so this year.

 

Italy vs Czech will be an interesting game to watch and the teams will try as hell to win because the team who finish second most likely to face Brazil in the next stage.

 

I think will seriously want to face non-European teams and if they do, they could go all the way. In Europe, we know that they're one of the best teams in the world but I'm sure a lot of non-European teams will underestimate them. This is a team that scored the most in qualifying and should have won Euro 2004. 'nuff said.

 

Here are fixes for today.

15:00 Korea Republic - Togo

Korea wins. Don't know a thing about Tongo, and Korea did well on the last cup.

18:00 France - Switzerland

The old guys from France should still have it in them to win against solid Switzerland.

21:00 Brazil - Croatia

The game I'll definitely watch... Because I LOVE Brazil and I'm so looking forward to see them kick Croatia's arse.

(note: these are local times)

 

Giovanni took the words right out of my mouth. Unbelievable how bad the U.S looked. It's like they couldn't give a shit if they won or lost. Complete embarrasement to lose that bad

 

But you have to remember that Korea only did well because they were the host nation. I don't think we'll ever see Korea in 4th place ever again (or at least until the next Japan/South Korea World Cup).

 

Yeah, based on their last performance, I'd have thought Japan would be better than what they did against Australia. Same with the US. So I doubt Korea will be very successful.

 

I'm watching the Togo - Korea match at the moment... and I'm bored. 1 - 0 to Togo at the moment.

Togo have had it hard this week. The players were refusing to train at one point because the weren't getting paid enough. Their manager and one of their coaches walked out three days ago over a pay dispute, only to return today to take charge of the first match.

And now they've had a player sent off.

EDIT - Now 1 - 1 excellent goal by Korea

 

That second goal stemmed more from Togos faults than Koreas aptitude. The keeper took a step into the wrong direction and couldn't ge back fast enough. Otherwise it wouldn't have been that hard to get.

I guess Korea will now have the upper hand...

 

I thought that Togo played very well for the first half. Past halftime, and after that red card, they just fell apart at 60-70 minutes. I thought it was really funny how every time the Koreans got a breakaway, the Africans would just kind of lope by them effortlessly while the Koreans were running their asses off.

Anyways, it's time for France vs. Switzerland, and the papers have been talking about France's talent for a week, so I'm looking forward to this one.

 

Disappointing for France, indeed; but they sort of game out and played like America. Good game, nonetheless but not as satisfying as the other 0-0 draw.

 

Henry=Poor, Vieira=Poor, Makelele=Poor.

For me, this was the most disappointing match of the tournament so far. France have shown once again that they cannot replicate the antics of '98. There were several fatal errors in the setup. Why the fuck is Wiltord playing? The manager had an excellent player in Guily yet he's decided to not even include him in the SQUAD! Why?! He should be in the frst team and unchallenged for that place. Second, Henry playing up front on his own unassisted. Yes, he can do that for Arsenal but that's because he's got the likes of Ljungberg and Hleb running ahead of him for support. There was no support today. Either Saha or Trezeuget should've partenered him.

Another error was playing too damn defensive with the team choices. There were just too many holding players today, one is enough, especially when you're playing a lone striker. What Henry really missed is a young playmaker like Rosicky, especially as he was marked by the very good Senderos (a player who knows exactly how Henry plays).

While Brazil have allowed their older players to move on and brought up exciting talent, France have clung on to their oldies; 5 of the players were in the '98 setup. Ridiculous. Deservedly, the French press are going to smite their asses tomorrow.

Vive La France? Unlikely. Viva La Revolution? Definitely not.

 

Zidane is the problem.

Clearly he should be subbed, but the manager hasn't the balls. And he's dishing the bollockings without showing any effort himself.

Someone ought to tell him.